The smile on Shen Lang’s face froze.
Alice’s thoughts jumped around so erratically that Shen Lang was still having trouble keeping up. It was like how she’d suddenly taken off her top in front of a strange man—always leaving one feeling a bit shocked by her unconventional behavior.
"Alice, this isn’t a matter of ’good’ or ’not.’ It’s a lifeti commitnt, not sothing you can promise lightly." Shen Lang wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, then stood up. "I still have so things to take care of, so I have to go back now. You be good and stay here. I’ll co see you in a few days."
"Oh..." Alice might have seed like a wild girl, but in front of Shen Lang, she was remarkably obedient, hanging on his every word.
She was clearly reluctant, but one look at Shen Lang’s no-room-for-negotiation expression told her she had no choice. She obediently remained inside the Array.
Shen Lang had planned to refine the Nine Immortals Lingzhi into Elixir Pills that night. However, Alice’s sudden appearance had thrown his plans into disarray. He had to put the matter aside for now. He broke into a sprint, racing toward the arena in Thorn Valley.
...
The Thorn Valley Trial was an annual grand event jointly held by Tayun Academy and Celestial God Academy.
Those who qualified for the selection trials were invariably the most outstanding and top-performing students from their classes at the two academies.
For as long as anyone could rember, ever since their founding countless years ago, the two academies had been rivals.
They competed over everything, anyti and anywhere, always trying to prove which one was superior.
According to the official narrative, the tutors from both academies would lead their students to the public areas of the Phoenix Mountain Range each year to "exchange pointers."
Each of these etings was supposedly held in a "very harmonious and congenial atmosphere," where they would engage in "cordial and friendly conversations" and "fully exchange opinions" on matters such as which side was stronger and whose students were more talented.
Afterward, most participants would leave bruised and battered, their clothes in tatters.
For Shen Lang, who had the lowest Cultivation but had famously taken down nurous opponents with a brick, these gatherings held a special aning.
To put it in his own words, it was much simpler: a few tutors would lead a group of students to have a massive brawl with a group from the other academy. Sotis they won, sotis they lost.
It was that simple.
The Thorn Valley Trial was just an upgraded version of the conflict between the two academies.
But unlike a simple brawl... this trial was more official, a little more grandiose.
At that mont, in the huge circular arena at the entrance to Thorn Valley, most of the people from both academies were gathered on the east and west sides. The trial hadn’t even begun, yet the air was thick with tension.
Down in the arena, Xue Dangdang had one foot planted on a young man in a blue shirt and was sneering endlessly. "Brother Lang isn’t here, so the trial can’t start! Anyone who has a problem with that, I’ll cripple them myself. Go on, try if you don’t believe it!"
The young man under her foot looked utterly miserable. "Miss Dingdang, I was just relaying a ssage from the elders! This has nothing to do with ! You can’t just pick on because I’m a little more handso than everyone else... PFFT—"
Before he could finish, Xue Dangdang stomped down hard, nearly making him cough up blood.
"Shut up! Keep whining and I’ll stomp you to death!" Xue Dangdang said coldly. The terrified man on the ground imdiately clamped his hands over his mouth.
What was even stranger than the scene itself was that no one stepped forward to intervene.
The people from Tayun Academy were, of course, delighted to see soone from Celestial God Academy getting stomped on. It was a wonder they weren’t cheering her on.
Even the people from Celestial God Academy had run far away, every one of them treating Xue Dangdang like a humanoid Fierce Beast to be avoided like the plague.
Directly in front of her, several old n sat in a row of chairs. They were so of Celestial God Academy’s most influential figures present, and also so of the organizers for this trial.
The old n wore miserable expressions and repeatedly shot aningful glances at their counterparts from Tayun Academy. Unfortunately, the Tayun Academy elders were all suddenly very busy. So were intently focused on counting clouds in the sky. Others were sipping tea, smacking their lips, and nodding thoughtfully. Absolutely no one was paying any attention to the people from Celestial God Academy.
Flanking Xue Dangdang, a group of Tayun Academy tutors on the left were arguing with the tutors from Celestial God Academy. The point of contention was whether they should postpone the trial to wait for Shen Lang.
The scene to her right... was rather odd. A young man in a white robe stood with his hands clasped behind his back, surrounded by a throng of swooning female students from Tayun Academy. They were facing off against a group from Celestial God Academy.
The reason it was so odd was because his opponents... a group of female students from Celestial God Academy... were also gazing at him with the sa infatuated expressions. In this standoff, it seed the lines between friend and foe had blurred.
The young man was divinely handso, with eyes as bright as stars. He carried an ethereal, otherworldly air, exuding a peerless and unforgettable charm.
This was none other than the young man who had slain the Gu Corpse that escaped from Shen Lang that day, before leading a little donkey away!
He wore a constant, gentle smile and possessed a comfortable, pleasant aura. However... it wasn’t just the male students from the opposing Celestial God Academy who were glaring at him. Even the male students from his own Tayun Academy, standing so distance behind him, stared at his back with looks of absolute, furious hatred.
Clearly, this was the kind of guy who was adored by won and despised by n.
"Chu Qingcheng, are you bored out of your skull?" the leading woman from Celestial God Academy said coldly. "Look at the ti! Dingdang won’t let us start the trial, and you’re actually taking her side? On what grounds does that little bastard Shen Lang deserve to have two entire academies wait for him? Give one good reason!"
As soon as this woman spoke, all eyes on the field were instantly drawn to her.
In the crowd behind her stood none other than a sullen-faced Ye Xue and Xu Daolin.
...
The woman who spoke was twenty-four or twenty-five years old. She was quite tall and clad in a tight-fitting black leather suit. Her long hair cascaded over her shoulders, falling all the way to her shapely hips.
Her stunningly curvaceous and fiery figure exuded a wild, seductive allure, radiating a bewitching and mature charm.
However, her expression was as cold as ice, making her utterly unapproachable.
Forget the people from Tayun Academy; even her fellow students from Celestial God Academy instinctively kept their distance, not daring to approach her.
"I’ve just been roped into this... but speaking of which, if Xiaolang doesn’t co to the Thorn Valley Trial, I suppose I’ll have to forfeit as well. Moran isn’t here anyway, so I’m not feeling motivated. This whole ga is just too dull... Heh, so lonely!" Chu Qingcheng said with a forlorn air.
The Tayun Academy side was in an uproar.
If even Chu Qingcheng didn’t participate, Celestial God Academy would likely wipe the floor with them.
Without Chu Qingcheng, who else could keep Nalan Ziyun in check?
If Chu Qingcheng was the "big brother" of Tayun Academy, then Nalan Ziyun, who was confronting him, was the "big sister" of Celestial God Academy.
Both were prodigies of stunning and extraordinary talent from Celestial Phoenix City, the standard-bearers for their respective academies.
If either of them were to sit out, the trial would lose most of its aning.
The situation imdiately beca even more chaotic...
On one side, the Little Witch Xue Dangdang was imperiously pointing at the Celestial God Academy elders and cursing them out, with none daring to retort.
On another, Nalan Ziyun was being held in check by Chu Qingcheng, the two of them "politely" debating the issue.
anwhile, in the crowd behind Nalan Ziyun, Xu Daolin and Ye Xue were constantly fanning the flas, whipping the Celestial God Academy students into a furious frenzy.
Not to be outdone, among the Tayun Academy crowd, Qin Hun Tutor was putting on a great show of sighing and lanting Shen Lang’s various misdeeds, stoking the anger of his own students.
The tutors from both academies were squabbling like fighting cocks, trading barbs back and forth... The scene was absolutely explosive.
It was so explosive that the students from both academies couldn’t hold back any longer and started brawling right there on the trial grounds!
"We protest! Why should we have to wait for soone from Tayun Academy just because they’re late?"
"That’s right! Why should we wait for that piece of trash, Shen Lang? What gives him the right to waste all of our ti?"
"Damn it, this is ridiculous! That loser has no power and no backing. Making two whole academies wait for him? What a joke!"
The Celestial God Academy side erupted into chaos. Though they were afraid of Xue Dangdang’s tyranny, they still dared to point and mutter from a safe distance.
No matter how powerful Xue Dangdang was, she couldn’t shut so many people’s mouths.
To make matters worse, even the students from Tayun Academy were doing the sa. A group of them began shouting, and on the matter of blaming Shen Lang, the two rival sides reached a rare and surprising consensus:
"Down with Shen Lang! Start the trial!"
"Eliminate the loser, fight for our rights!"
But their voices weren’t loud enough...
Xue Dangdang fiercely stomped her right foot. A violent ripple of energy spread out in all directions as she let out a furious bellow like a Gale Lion’s Roar: "Who fucking dares!"
From the jungle, great flocks of birds took flight with a sudden WHOOSH...
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