Chapter 983

Silence—

The entire scene was as silent as death.

Everyone already knew that Xu Jingming possessed Ninth-Stage power, having earned the Aurora-Level access.

But no one expected that Xu Jingming could instantly kill a Ninth-Stage Mid-Level cultivator!

Remember, this was a Martial Saint possessing Imperishable Matter!

Martial Saints are notoriously hard to kill—that’s a universally accepted truth.

Once the situation turns unfavorable, a Martial Saint immediately uses Imperishable Matter to regenerate and flees.

But Owen never even had the chance to escape—he was obliterated in one strike by Xu Jingming.

This proves that Xu Jingming’s combat technique’s power far exceeded Owen’s physical limits.

It was even strong enough to overwhelm the use of Imperishable Matter entirely!

“Xu Jingming... is he really this strong?”

Someone swallowed hard, lifting his gaze upward.

There, in midair, Xu Jingming stood firm.

Black thunder coiled around him, a phantom image of Lei Shen hovered above his head, and behind him, a circular halo resembling a divine aura slowly rotated.

The wild, icy aura radiating from him gave him an air of supreme dominance over all things!

“Xu Jingming! The new Aurora-Level! If he doesn’t perish, he will surely ascend to the Supreme!”

Someone, awed by this aura, let out an astonished sigh.

Yet in midair, Xu Jingming’s cold, deadly expression remained unchanged as he accepted five exchanged items from Hei Yu.

“Thank you, Lord Hei Yu.”

Xu Jingming handed Hei Yu a space ring already filled with Void Stones.

The progress bar in the Void instantly changed:

Void Stones consumed: /

Whoosh—

Spatial energy surged, and a vast, pitch-black teleportation gate immediately appeared beside him.

“Damn it! You can’t leave!”

Leo had reached the final three kilometers; his world-ending, ferocious blood qi surged forth with a roar.

“Leo?”

Xu Jingming’s cold, black dragon eyes fixed on him, and a reckless smile spread across his face:

“You, old dog, think you deserve the Supreme God’s Blood? Wait for your next life!”

Old dog?!

Everyone present trembled at the words.

This was a Ninth-Stage Peak powerhouse! Who dared insult him like that?

Instantly, all eyes turned toward Xu Jingming in midair.

Their gazes held surprise, disdain, and varied emotions—but mostly admiration.

An Eighth-Stage Mid-Level Grand Master dared to insult a Ninth-Stage Peak.

Xu Jingming was truly the first in history to do so.

Leo was so enraged his body shook violently, his blood qi churning even more fiercely, as if the air around him would ignite.

He accelerated once more—but Xu Jingming and Su Qingli moved faster, stepping directly into the teleportation gate and vanishing.

“Bastard! Don’t go!”

Leo’s figure arrived moments later and shot into the gate like a meteor, disappearing.

After Leo left, the Ninth-Stage Peak aura that had dominated the entire scene vanished, allowing the remaining crowd to finally breathe again.

“Xu Jingming... has he become this strong?”

Ryan, lion-like in presence, only now came to his senses.

Though he possessed an S-Rank ability and had reached Eighth-Stage Peak,

He could barely hold his own against a Ninth-Stage Low-Level Martial Saint with an A-Rank ability.

He couldn’t even force the opponent to use Imperishable Matter, let alone kill them.

Yet Xu Jingming had instantly killed a Ninth-Stage Mid-Level Martial Saint—this was simply too powerful...

Ryan instinctively glanced at Catherine, standing elegantly beside him.

Back during the Global Talent Exchange Competition, Xu Jingming had ranked first, and his cousin Catherine second.

Now, Xu Jingming was already Eighth-Stage Mid-Level and could instantly kill an A-Rank Ninth-Stage Mid-Level.

Catherine, however, was only Seventh-Stage Low-Level, barely able to kill A-Rank Eighth-Stage opponents.

“He’s a monster—don’t compare me to him.”

Sensing her cousin’s scrutinizing gaze, Catherine muttered discontentedly.

“That’s true.”

Ryan nodded, then added with a smirk: “But looks like he won’t escape this time—he’s caught by Leo, he’ll either die or lose half his skin.”

As America’s prodigy, Ryan naturally didn’t wish Xu Jingming well.

With the Supreme Elder Ai Mose looming as a deterrent, Leo would likely not kill Xu Jingming even if he caught him.

But even seizing Xu Jingming’s resources and gear would be enough to make him happy.

“Not necessarily.”

Catherine, with her golden hair and blue eyes, crossed her arms and murmured: “Don’t forget—Xu Jingming’s woman, Ling Shuang, is a Spatial Ability user.”

“So what? She’s not even here right now,” Ryan retorted.

“She’s not here, but Xu Jingming likely has a teleportation item,” Catherine sniffed.

During her time in Great Xia, she had witnessed firsthand the terrifying power of Ling Shuang’s Spatial Ability.

“This...”

Ryan was speechless, exasperated: “Which side are you on? You won’t even defend your own brother?”

“I’m on no side.”

Catherine’s face lit up with a bright smile as she strode forward with her long legs:

“The teleportation channel has opened—let’s go.”

Seeing this, Ryan had no choice but to follow.

Catherine possessed an SS-Rank ability; even though his level was higher, he still had to obey her...

On another front, the Leng Yue Xi sisters were equally stunned by Xu Jingming’s display.

After a long moment, Leng Yue Xi’s face twisted with complex emotion as she sighed softly:

“The gap is growing wider...”

Back when they operated together in the Chaos Triangle Zone, her power had surpassed Xu Jingming’s.

Now, even after her ability evolved to S-Rank, she was still left far behind by him.

“At twenty years old, with this power—he’d be considered a Second-Tier Prodigy even in the Noah Holy Land.”

Too bad he was born in this remote star system.

Whatever. Let’s keep observing—perhaps he’ll still surprise us later.”

Hei Yu the raven’s crimson eyes watched the direction Xu Jingming had vanished, then—POOF—he dissolved into countless threads of light and disappeared.

As Catherine had predicted:

Upon entering the 10th Layer of Po Xu Tower, Xu Jingming immediately activated the Spatial Beast Bone and teleported away with Su Qingli.

“Spatial teleportation?! The Void Divine Palace’s technique! Damn it!”

Leo, just emerging from the teleportation channel, could only watch helplessly as the two vanished from his sight.

He didn’t know Xu Jingming used the Spatial Beast Bone—he assumed it was a special item from the Void Divine Palace.

After all, in the Xinhuo World, anything related to space was inevitably tied to the Void Divine Palace.

“This is troublesome—finding Xu Jingming again will be much harder,” Leo’s eyes flickered.

Xu Jingming isn’t a fool; now that his identity is exposed, he’ll surely go to great lengths to avoid me.

“The Supreme God’s Blood still has four portions left...”

Leo looked up at the sky.

The exchange ranking, previously visible only at the endpoint of the previous layer, now projected across the entire sky.

“Forget it—I’ll keep searching for Void Stones. Xu Jingming, I’ll settle accounts with you next time we meet!”

With a cold snort, Leo shot off like a streak of light toward the distance.

He had already accumulated over two million Void Stones—just two million more would grant him one portion of Supreme God’s Blood.

Better to spend time hunting Void Stones than wasting it chasing Xu Jingming.