Chapter 1374: The Golden Sword Token

Suddenly, an inexplicable palpitation surged in his heart, and a powerful pressure descended from the sky.

Lei Dong, Mu Sen, and the academy students all bowed respectfully.

“Greetings to the City Lord!”

A middle-aged man in blue robes slowly stepped out from the void. As soon as he appeared, he exuded an invincible aura.

“So strong! Is this the level of a Divine Lord?” Ye Yuan thought to himself in shock.

He hadn’t expected that this legendary Divine Lord powerhouse would come in person!

This blue-robed middle-aged man looked refined, but his strength was impossible to conceal.

Xiao Feng was already a peak Return to Void expert, yet the pressure he brought to Ye Yuan was incomparable to that of this man!

“Heh, this is merely a thought projection! The real Divine Lord realm martial artist is countless times stronger than this.” Wu Chen’s voice suddenly rang out.

Ye Yuan was startled again—such a powerful pressure was just a thought projection!

City Lord Wu Meng said calmly, “All of you who have passed the assessment are the top geniuses of my Wu Meng Royal City, with limitless future achievements! Wu Meng Academy is a gathering place for elites, and your path to strength has just begun! I hope… some of you will surpass your predecessors and reach the Divine Lord realm!”

His words ignited the passion of everyone present.

For these students, the ultimate pursuit of their lives was the Divine Lord realm!

However, reaching that step was extremely, extremely difficult.

Although these genius martial artists were now far ahead, once their potential was exhausted, they might not break through even a minor realm for tens of thousands of years!

Students of Wu Meng Academy with weaker talent could reach the Great Perfection of the Insight Heaven realm.

The better ones could even reach the Great Perfection of Return to Void!

But those who could break through to the Divine Lord realm might not appear even once in a hundred thousand years!

If Xiao Feng hadn’t met Ye Yuan, he might never have found the opportunity for this breakthrough in his entire life.

Even so, whether he could truly break through was still uncertain.

City Lord Wu Meng paused and then said, “I have come today to accept the top scorer as my nominal disciple! Qin Shao!”

Since the assessment began, Qin Shao had always been calm and composed.

But at this moment, his entire body was trembling.

It was trembling from excitement!

He had waited for this day for far, far too long.

“Disciple Qin Shao pays respects to the City Lord!”

Qin Shao knelt directly before City Lord Wu Meng and performed the disciple-bowing ceremony.

City Lord Wu Meng nodded slowly and said, “In this assessment, you have suppressed all the geniuses and become the top scorer! According to the rules of Wu Meng Academy, I accept you as my nominal disciple today. This is the Golden Sword Token, representing my disciple’s identity. Seeing this token is like seeing me!”

City Lord Wu Meng pointed his finger, and a golden light flew toward Qin Shao. A golden sword several inches long appeared in his hand.

Seeing this, all the students were filled with envy.

They all knew that the Golden Sword Token not only represented the identity of the City Lord’s disciple but was also a Heavenly Divine Artifact of immense power!

With it, it was like having a get-out-of-death-free card!

Qin Shao said excitedly, “Disciple thanks Master!”

City Lord Wu Meng nodded and said, “Although you are now my nominal disciple, you must guard against arrogance and impatience, and not become spoiled by favor! If you fail the assessment in the future, I will take back this Golden Sword Token!”

Qin Shao’s heart tightened, and he said, “Disciple will remember Master’s teachings and will work even harder, striving to formally become Master’s disciple one day!”

City Lord Wu Meng nodded slightly and said calmly, “Alright, this assessment has been successfully concluded. After entering the academy, you must work even harder and become the pillars of my Wu Meng Royal City! I take my leave!”

As he spoke, City Lord Wu Meng’s figure gradually became illusory.

And at that moment, Ye Yuan felt as if all the hairs on his body were standing on end.

He clearly sensed that City Lord Wu Meng’s gaze had fixed on him.

Being stared at by such a powerful being made Ye Yuan’s hair stand on end.

But soon, City Lord Wu Meng’s figure disappeared.

That prickling sense of crisis finally vanished.

“Could it be… he saw something?” Ye Yuan asked Wu Chen.

Ye Yuan had too many secrets; just the two Supreme Spiritual Treasures, Soul Suppressing Pearl and Realm Suppressing Stele, were enough to drive the world mad.

That was why Ye Yuan kept such a low profile and didn’t want to attract too much attention.

Otherwise, even if he hadn’t earned many points in the second round, the top scorer position wouldn’t have fallen to Qin Shao.

“Heh, he’s just interested in you! You went too far earlier; how could a powerhouse of his level not notice anything? But with his level of strength, he can’t see through my secrets, so rest assured.” Wu Chen laughed.

Ye Yuan finally breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that in the last round, he had indeed gone a bit overboard.

“Alright, now take your wooden tokens and return to the lotus seats. The lotus seats will teleport you to Wu Meng Academy!” Lei Dong said.

Hearing this, everyone returned to their lotus seats and were teleported away one by one.

Just as Ye Yuan was about to move, Lei Dong called him back.

“Ye Yuan, wait a moment!”

Ye Yuan was startled and said, “Teacher, what business do you have with me?”

Lei Dong stared at him intently and said, “Ye Yuan, tell me honestly, how much of your strength did you hold back in the third round?”

Ye Yuan was taken aback and said blankly, “Hold back? Teacher, I gave it my all. How could I have held back?”

Pretend!

Just keep pretending!

Even a fool could see that Ye Yuan had held back.

He exited the consciousness space in three days and then directly rushed to the eighteenth mark.

Not more, not less, just enough to surpass Jia Chong!

To say Ye Yuan hadn’t held back would be too far-fetched, wouldn’t it?

If Jia Chong’s result had been twenty marks, Lei Dong had no doubt that Ye Yuan would have rushed to twenty-one marks!

But since Ye Yuan was playing dumb, Lei Dong couldn’t do much about it. He waved his hand and said, “Alright, go on.”

“Teacher, I’ll take my leave!” Ye Yuan cupped his hands.

As Ye Yuan slowly walked toward the lotus seat, Mu Sen approached and said, “Do you believe him?”

“Only a fool would! This kid is not honest!” Lei Dong said discontentedly.

Mu Sen smiled and said, “Qin Shao is formidable, but you and I can see through him at a glance. But this kid is truly unfathomable! It seems he has many secrets. To be honest, I’m quite optimistic about him!”

Lei Dong nodded and said, “It’s hard to say with this kid. His future achievements may not be inferior to Qin Shao’s!”

…

The chubby guy sidled up and quietly asked Ye Yuan, “Brother, tell me honestly, what’s your limit in terms of marks?”

Ye Yuan glanced at him and smiled, “What do you think?”

Xie Jingyi thought for a moment and said uncertainly, “Twenty… three?”

That was the limit he could imagine.

Ye Yuan shook his head and smiled without speaking.

Xie Jingyi’s gaze sharpened, and he said again, “Twenty… six?”

Ye Yuan shook his head again and laughed, “Stop guessing. I won’t tell you!”