Chapter 885: I Want to Know Your Purpose! Guilty Su Qingli!

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

That's the same Ge Lin who crushed several ninth-rankers—how dare Lei Di challenge him?

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

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

No one expected that Xu Jingming, who had just accepted Meng Ke's challenge, would immediately challenge the stronger Ge Lin!

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

He actually accepted?

Where does 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 re-entered the Wild Zone and missed something critical, the consequences would be disastrous.

"Our purpose?"

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

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

"He dares challenge me?"

Ge Lin's gaze flickered; his low voice erupted like thunder throughout the gym: "Nine PM tomorrow night, same place. Win, and you'll get what you want."

"Accepted! Lei Di and Ge Lin will fight again tomorrow night!"

"Too impulsive—Lei Di is one minor rank below Ge Lin; he's at a disadvantage."

"True, this fight will be extremely difficult."

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

With those words, everyone began arguing fiercely.

Some backed Xu Jingming; others believed Ge Lin was unbeatable.

Notably, the vast majority of young men and women didn't think Xu Jingming would lose.

There was no choice—Xu Jingming 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 swept all his opponents.

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

While the audience still debated, 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 Ge Lin?"

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 replay footage of Ge Lin's previous battles.

The opponent possessed an Element Earth SS-rank ability—"Meteorite Dust"—brimming with oppressive force.

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

In those battles, whether against ninth-rank lower-tier Martial Saints or Elemental Saints, his performance was utterly dominant.

But that's as far as it goes—SSS-rank Chaos Divine Thunder will teach him humility.

"Eighty percent?" Su Qingli sighed. "I feel like your power is almost surpassing mine now."

At these words, Song Qiuyun and Jiang Chu exchanged glances, both seeing shock in each other's eyes.

This might be an exaggeration.

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

Yet his power already rivals Su Qingli, an S-rank ninth-rank Elemental Saint?

"How about we test it right now in the virtual world, 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 Technique to learn tonight—we'll do it another day."

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

Though nominally Xu Jingming's teacher, she had actually taught him very little.

She merely tossed him combat manuals, and he learned them on his own.

Even his cultivation of the Divine Mind Art 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 think much of it and nodded.

"The arena may not match reality, but it's still good for testing limits."

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

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

But she didn't expose her—only sighed inwardly.

Who would have thought that her once fiercely proud, almost heavenly prodigy of a friend would ever show fear?

"I'll leave you to it—I'm heading to the training room."

To avoid exposure, the guilty Su Qingli rose from the sofa and hurried into the training room on long legs.

After chatting with Xu Jingming, Ling Shuang, Song Qiuyun, and Jiang Chu about their recent gains in the Wild Zone,

Xu Jingming put on the neural helmet again and entered the virtual arena to test his maximum power.

Meanwhile, the three from the Xinhuo Divine Temple had also returned to the real world.

But unlike before entering, a middle-aged man now stood in the room.

He was muscular, with a full beard and a rugged face.

"Master Boke."

Seeing the man, the three immediately called out.

"Hmm, I know what happened. Rank 8 challenging Rank 7—losing is normal."

Boke spoke.

His voice was low and powerful, making the surrounding air tremble.

After a pause, he turned to Meng Yu:

"Xu Jingming has great potential—try to befriend him.

After the Great World opens, invite him to join our Xinhuo Divine Temple."

This time, they must not only defeat the prodigies of the Third Civilization Era, but also recruit as many as possible.

Ge Lin was stoic and quiet; Meng Ke was too arrogant—so recruiting naturally fell to Meng Yu.

Besides, her beauty made her better suited for social interaction.

But Meng Yu's face darkened at this.

She had a feeling Xu Jingming wouldn't be easy to recruit.

Besides, her brother Meng Ke had mocked him just now in the arena.

Though her mind churned with thoughts, Meng Yu still nodded:

"Understood. I'll do my best."

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

But if I lose, we must reveal our purpose to him."

At this moment, Ge Lin spoke.

"No problem."

Boke didn't care. "In a few days, the task left by our Grand Priest will be complete—then our purpose will naturally be revealed.

Telling them a few days early won't hurt. Besides, before you, Xu Jingming has no hope of winning."

Though not the strongest Radiant Prodigy in the temple, Ge Lin was more than enough to handle prodigies of the Third Civilization Era.

"By the way, today we noticed Xu Jingming's ability is no longer golden—now it's cold, deep black.

But without more data, we can't tell if it's an evolution or just a deception."

Meng Yu mentioned the change in Xu Jingming's ability.

"Observe closely in tomorrow's arena.

Xu Jingming's ability has evolved twice already—there's a chance it will evolve a third time."

Boke ordered.

Even in their Jin Nation, Xu Jingming's history was unique.

If his ability truly evolves again, Xu Jingming is an ideal specimen for study.