Chapter 48: Li Xin's Shock, Wang Yuanyuan Appears, One-Word Battle Armor — Thorn!
"Not bad, I'm not far from the fifth rank now." Facing Li Xin's beautiful face, Ye Ling laughed heartily and shared his current progress.
"Looks like there's a good chance I'll break through this year."
Hearing this, Li Xin nodded, clearly happy for Ye Ling's advancement. Her little brother was just too strong—already about to hit the fifth rank!?
Wait a second—what did he just say?
About to break through to the fifth rank!?
"What did you say?"
"You're already about to reach fifth rank!?"
"What's going on here? When you left here, weren't you barely at the late third rank—maybe rank 3 level 6 or 7? It hasn't even been a full year, and you're almost fifth rank!?"
Li Xin's voice rose sharply, fully displaying how stunned she was.
Her outburst drew curious looks from people nearby. Realizing the attention, she quickly led Ye Ling and the others away.
Once they entered another hall, her mood had somewhat calmed down, but her gaze toward Ye Ling remained filled with astonishment.
"Twelve hundred and fifty points of internal spiritual power… That's double what I have. How did you even increase it like that? Your talent is completely beyond conventional logic!" Li Xin exclaimed.
She wasn't jealous—just deeply astonished by Ye Ling's incredible growth.
Then her gaze moved behind Ye Ling and fell upon Long Haochen and Cai'er.
She paused. She remembered Ye Ling had gone to Odin Town, so…?
"Ye Ling, are those two little girls behind you here to test their external spiritual power? Already pre-knights after just one year? That's terrifying!" Li Xin asked.
Cai'er didn't respond. She merely looked curiously at the woman standing so close to her Brother Ye Ling.
But Long Haochen reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "I'm a boy, Sister Li Xin! It's me—Long Haochen!"
Li Xin blinked, finally realizing it. Of course—it was Long Haochen.
She stepped up and playfully pinched his cheek, scrutinizing him with a grin. "Tsk, so it really is little Haochen. Big sister didn't recognize you at first—sorry about that."
Though she apologized, her tone was anything but serious—still smiling mischievously.
It left people a bit helpless, but no one could really complain. After all, Li Xin didn't mean any harm.
"Haochen's here to test his external spiritual power and officially register as a pre-knight under the Hao Yue Sub-Temple. Cai'er doesn't need to—she's not a knight; she's an assassin," Ye Ling explained. "Sister Xin, take Haochen for his test and make sure to call Uncle Nalan. I'll take Cai'er to explore the Hao Yue Sub-Temple."
Li Xin nodded and left without much else to say.
Ye Ling then led Cai'er out of the hall as well.
But just as they exited the temple doors, they were met with the sight of a tall woman clad in red armor, her figure strong and graceful, hair tied in a ponytail. She stood there, looking straight at Ye Ling.
Seeing her, Ye Ling paused for a second.
Good heavens. She might look gentle, but aside from her appearance, she had nothing to do with gentleness.
Because this was Wang Yuanyuan.
"Ye Ling, you finally came back. I've been waiting a long time. Ever since the last battle ended, I've been training nonstop, waiting for the day I could challenge you again. I've been at Hao Yue Sub-Temple for a month—now you're finally here," Wang Yuanyuan said seriously.
In the past year, she had reached one thousand points of spiritual power. Among her peers, she was truly elite.
Cai'er's ears perked up at this and she glanced curiously at Ye Ling, clearly wanting to know what was going on.
Ye Ling quietly explained everything to her.
After hearing the story, Cai'er's eyes lit up. "Brother Ye Ling, let me do it. Let me fight her."
Since Cai'er had spoken, Ye Ling had no reason to refuse. He nodded and said, "Alright."
"You're letting this little girl fight me?" Wang Yuanyuan looked at Ye Ling in confusion. "This little girl looks like she's maybe eleven or twelve at most? Shouldn't she still be a page, or maybe a pre-profession level?"
"You're sure about this?"
Ye Ling nodded firmly.
"Don't underestimate Cai'er," he thought inwardly as he led them toward another arena.
This match would be between Cai'er and Wang Yuanyuan directly.
Facing Cai'er, Wang Yuanyuan felt a bit helpless. Fighting this little girl wasn't something she wanted to do—but since Ye Ling insisted, she had no choice but to go along. After this match, she would challenge Ye Ling again.
Better to end it quickly.
Of course, Wang Yuanyuan didn't look down on Cai'er in the slightest. A lion still uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit—having fought countless battles, Wang Yuanyuan knew this truth all too well.
In the next moment, she moved toward Cai'er, her gauntlets radiating a dense glow. A spirit-level aura surged forth from them.
It was at that moment that she noticed the two daggers appearing in Cai'er's hands.
"She's an assassin," Wang Yuanyuan thought. But in the next instant, she was speechless.
She could clearly sense that the daggers in Cai'er's hands were of Radiance-grade quality!
And someone capable of wielding Radiance-grade weapons could never be weak.
At that very moment, Cai'er moved.
Wielding her daggers, her figure flickered—and vanished from sight.
Wang Yuanyuan was well prepared. She reacted instantly, flashing away and bringing forth the Divine Titan Shield. Just before Cai'er's dagger struck, she raised the shield to block the attack.
All of it happened in the blink of an eye.
"Whew." Wang Yuanyuan exhaled, shaken as she looked at Cai'er. She gritted her teeth. "As expected, everyone around that freak Ye Ling is another freak. Looks like I have no choice but to use the technique I originally prepared for him. If I can't beat you, what right do I have to challenge Ye Ling?"
With that, Wang Yuanyuan clenched her jaw and pulled out three gemstones, intending to socket them into her Divine Titan Shield.
But just then, Cai'er spoke.
"There's no need to use your trump card—because it won't help."
Wang Yuanyuan looked at her, puzzled.
And then, she understood why Cai'er had said that.
A moment later, a faint purple glow began to shimmer around Cai'er. A deep aura of reincarnation pulsed out from her body—immense and ancient. Even Wang Yuanyuan felt a tremble in her heart just sensing it.
Soon, armor components began to appear: starting with a circlet, then a breastplate, followed by the rest of her spirit armor piece by piece—each one radiating a special aura that sent chills down one's spine.
Finally, the last pair of battle boots appeared beneath Cai'er's dainty feet.
Ye Ling could've cried. The whole reason he had forged this set of spirit armor for Cai'er was so she could have shoes to wear.
This full set of battle armor was the same one Ye Ling had crafted for her earlier.
Its name: Thorn.
[End of Chapter]
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