Chapter 885

Did I hear that right? The Lei Di is challenging the Rank 8 Challenge Board?

That's the same Rank 8 who crushed several Rank 9s—how dare the Lei Di challenge him?

No matter how you look at it, the Lei Di is too bold!

As Xu Jingming's calm voice echoed through the stadium, everyone erupted.

No one expected that Xu Jingming, who had just accepted Meng Ke's challenge, would immediately challenge an even stronger Green!

In midair, Meng Ke's smug and arrogant expression froze on his face, replaced by confusion and disbelief.

He actually accepted?

Where did Xu Jingming get the confidence to challenge the boss?

"But I have one condition—if I win the Rank 8 Challenge Board, I need to know your purpose for coming here."

Xu Jingming's voice rang out again.

It was a condition he had just thought of.

If he could learn the true purpose of the Xinhuo Divine Temple ahead of time, he could plan his next moves better.

Otherwise, if he entered the Wild Zone again and missed something crucial, the consequences would be disastrous.

"Your purpose?"

Meng Ke blinked, then quickly turned to look at the Green in the VIP lounge:

"Boss, what should we do? Should we accept?"

"He dares to challenge me?"

The Green's eyes flickered; his deep voice exploded like thunder throughout the stadium: "Tomorrow night at nine, same place. Win, and you'll get what you want."

"Accepted! The Lei Di and the Green will fight again tomorrow night!"

"Too impulsive—the Lei Di is one minor rank lower than the Green; he's at a disadvantage."

"True, this battle will be extremely difficult."

"So what? Have you ever seen the Lei Di lose? Even if he loses, just the courage to challenge is more than most have!"

With his words spoken, everyone began debating fiercely.

Some backed Xu Jingming; others believed the Green was unbeatable.

Notably, the vast majority of young men and women did not think Xu Jingming would lose.

There was no way around it—he had left too deep an impression over the past two years.

Whether in the National University League or the Global Talent Exchange Tournament, Xu Jingming had swept through all his opponents.

To these young people, he was already a god of invincibility!

While the audience continued debating, Xu Jingming, having finished his match, had already returned to the real world with Su Qingli, Ling Shuang, and others.

"Jingming, do you have confidence you can defeat that Green?"

After removing the neural helmet, Su Qingli asked curiously.

"If he has no other hidden cards, I'd say about an 80% chance."

Xu Jingming mused.

That afternoon, he had already reviewed the replays of the Green's previous battles.

The opponent possessed an SSS-rank elemental ability: "Meteorite Dust," which radiated overwhelming pressure.

Like him, the Green was an extremely rare dual-practitioner, skilled in both martial and elemental combat.

In those battles, he had crushed both Rank 9 Lower-tier Martial Saints and Elemental Saints with ease.

But that was as far as it went—the SSS-rank Chaotic Divine Thunder would teach him humility.

"Eighty percent?" Su Qingli sighed. "I feel like your strength is already nearly surpassing mine."

At these words, Song Qiuyun and Jiang Chuxuan exchanged glances, both clearly startled.

This might be an exaggeration.

Remember, Xu Jingming is still under 21—he should still be a third-year student at Mo University by normal standards.

Yet his strength is already comparable to Su Qingli, an S-rank Rank 9 Elemental Saint?

"How about we test it in the virtual world right now, Teacher?"

Xu Jingming raised his sword-like brows, eager to try.

"Alright..."

Su Qingli was about to agree, but her beautiful eyes flickered, and she suddenly changed her mind:

"I just remembered I have a new Lightning-element battle technique to learn tonight. Let's do it another day."

In truth, there was no such Lightning-element technique—she simply didn't want to.

After all, though nominally his teacher, she had taught Xu Jingming very little.

She had merely tossed battle manuals at him, and he learned them on his own.

Even his instruction in the Divine Mind Cultivation and Lei Shen Jiang Shi surpassed what she had taught him.

If he won this time, fine—but if he lost, wouldn't that destroy the last shred of her authority as his teacher?

"Too bad. I'll head to the virtual arena later then."

Xu Jingming didn't suspect anything and nodded.

"The arena isn't as good as reality, but it's still useful for testing strength."

Seeing Xu Jingming hadn't noticed anything odd, Su Qingli exhaled softly and smiled gently.

Yet as Su Qingli's close friend, Ling Shuang beside her spotted her true intentions at a glance.

But she didn't expose it either, only sighing inwardly.

She hadn't expected that her best friend, always so strong and a true pride of the heavens, would one day show a moment of weakness.

"Then you all carry on, I'm heading to the training room first."

To avoid giving herself away, the guilty Su Qingli rose from the sofa and strode on her long legs quickly into the training room.

After Xu Jingming chatted with Hearing Ling Shuang, Song Qiuyun, and Jiang Chuxuan in the living room about their recent gains in the wilderness zone,

He once again put on the consciousness helmet and entered the virtual world's arena, preparing to test the limits of his strength.

At the same time, the three from the Spark Divine Hall had also already returned to the real world.

Only now, unlike before they entered, there was one extra middle-aged man in the room.

This middle-aged man was burly, with a full beard and a rough, rugged face.

"Master Boke."

Seeing this middle-aged man, the three immediately called out.

"Mm, I already know the situation. An eighth-tier fighting a seventh-tier, losing is normal."

Master Boke spoke up.

His voice was deep and powerful, causing the surrounding space to tremble along with it.

After a pause, he immediately said to Meng Yu:

"This Xu Jingming has very strong potential; we can try to befriend him.

Once the Greater World opens later, invite him to join our Spark Divine Hall."

This time they not only had to defeat the prodigies of the Third Civilization Era, but also absorb as many of them as possible.

Green was steady and taciturn, Meng Ke was too brash, so the recruitment work naturally fell to Meng Yu.

Added to that, she was pretty, making her more suited to interact with others.

But upon hearing this, Meng Yu's face turned bitter.

She had a premonition that Xu Jingming might not be so easy to recruit.

What's more, on the arena just now, her older brother Meng Ke had mocked him like that.

Despite the myriad thoughts in her heart, Meng Yu still nodded and said:

"Understood, I'll do my best."

"Master Boke, I accepted Xu Jingming's challenge.

But if we lose, we need to tell him our purpose."

At this moment, Green spoke up.

"It's fine."

Master Boke didn't really care about this. "In a few more days, the mission the High Priest left us will be completed, and then our purpose will naturally be revealed.

Telling them a few days early is no big deal; besides, in front of you, Xu Jingming won't have much hope of winning."

Although Green wasn't the strongest Radiance-tier prodigy within the Divine Hall, dealing with a prodigy of the Third Civilization Era was already more than enough.

"Oh right, today we also discovered that Xu Jingming's ability is no longer the golden yellow of Dou Tian Shen Lei, but a cold, deep black.

Only because we lack more information, we don't know whether his ability has undergone a metamorphosis, or if it's merely a deceptive trick."

Meng Yu mentioned the difference between Xu Jingming's ability and before.

"Observe carefully again at tomorrow night's arena.

Xu Jingming's ability has already undergone two metamorphoses; we can't rule out a third."

Master Boke instructed.

Even in their Jin Zhi Guo, Xu Jingming's experience was unique.

If his ability really has undergone another metamorphosis, then Xu Jingming is absolutely an excellent research specimen.