"How indifferent. When will you ever be able to form a spirit contract with a highly talented spirit master?"
Qi Mulan muttered to herself, then patted Xiao Chunan's shoulder with a smile—making him wince in pain.
Xiao Chunan's cheeks flushed instantly, as if he'd been thrown into a furnace.
Qi Mulan's touch was seemingly intimate yet domineering; it brought not just a dull ache to his shoulder, but also a suffocating sense of being casually toyed with by someone far more powerful.
"Little brother, don't worry—I know some healing methods too. I won't be as irresponsible as her, just dumping you at the hospital."
Qi Mulan's attitude toward Xiao Chunan was starkly different from how she treated others, proving she truly was a woman who valued talent above all.
Xiao Chunan instinctively tried to step back, but Qi Mulan's fingertips held him firmly in place.
Never before had he been so close to a woman this assertive—one clearly drawn to him for his "talent," not for who he was as a person.
A mix of high-end perfume and faint energy fluctuations filled his nostrils, making his heart pound wildly, his mind go blank. He could only stammer:
"No… no need to trouble you, sister…"
His voice was barely a whisper.
"Oh my, are you shy?"
Qi Mulan seemed to have found an amusing new toy. Her laughter was clear and crisp, yet carried an undeniable air of control. "Don't worry, little brother—I've seen it all. There's nothing I haven't encountered before. You can trust me."
To Xiao Chunan, her hands felt like deadly claws reaching for his clothes, clearly intent on examining him.
This absurd scene played out in full view of everyone, yet no one dared utter a word of protest.
There was nothing they could do—might makes right.
Meanwhile, Gao Lan emerged from the secret realm's entrance.
He raised a hand to shield his eyes from the sudden glare of sunlight, glanced over the dense crowd in the square, and let out a soft, surprised sigh. "Wow, quite the crowd here."
The moment Gao Lan appeared, the Mayor of Suzhou and Hangzhou stepped forward eagerly. "Inspector Gao! My deepest apologies for not greeting you sooner!"
As one of the ten inspectors of Xia State's Eastern Theater Command, Gao Lan was well-known to the mayor. They had even met at a banquet before, which is why the mayor felt comfortable approaching him directly.
Gao Lan turned toward the voice and saw a well-groomed face etched with urgency. He searched his memory for a moment.
"Oh—"
He drew out the word, feigning recognition. "It's you…"
In truth, he'd met far too many people at that banquet to remember the mayor's name. Worse still, he hadn't paid much attention to it in the first place, so he had no real recollection at all.
Even so, he maintained proper decorum.
Gao Lan quickened his pace and shook the man's hand warmly. "Ah, it's the Mayor! Hello, hello!"
The Mayor of Suzhou and Hangzhou nodded, his face flushed with excitement. "Hello, hello!"
"Now that Inspector Gao has exited the secret realm, all the students inside must have been evacuated, right?"
Gao Lan's smile turned awkward at once.
"Hehe, I wish that were the case. Unfortunately, one stubborn fellow refused to leave—says he can't bear to give up on his college entrance exam scores."
The smile vanished from the mayor's face instantly, and he spoke in a sharp voice.
"Preposterous! With an accident unfolding in the secret realm, even Spirit Emperor-level experts and inspectors have been mobilized. How can a mere student be so reckless?"
"We must organize a rescue team to go in at once…"
The mayor paused mid-sentence as Gao Lan cut him off. "There's no point—the secret realm's entrance has already reset. Even if we sent people in now, they'd never reach the same space as before."
Gao Lan tilted his chin toward the entrance and spread his hands helplessly.
"Whether he survives or not now depends entirely on his own luck. That said, we've already intimidated most of the beasts inside. As long as he doesn't go looking for trouble or provoke them, he should be safe enough."
...
Elsewhere, inside the Weeping Sky Gorge secret realm.
Icy mountain winds swept through jagged rocks like restless ghosts, letting out a mournful, whistling cry.
Bai Hao moved like a shadow blending into the terrain, lurking silently behind a large boulder bathed in shadow. His gaze was as sharp as a blade, fixed on an unassuming deep cave carved into the steep cliff opposite—its mouth and passage resembling a giant beast's throat.
He'd just seen several mountain apes dart inside; if he was correct, this was their nesting ground.
Rushing in would be far too dangerous, and visibility inside would likely be poor.
"Is brute force from the outside the only way to break through here?"
After a moment's hesitation, Bai Hao decided to destroy the lair outright.
With that thought, he clasped his hands together, and chaotic energy surged within his body.
While his chaotic power was nearly limitless in supply, its destructive potential was relatively low—it worked for emergencies, but could not fully replace psionic energy.
To put it simply: chaotic power was like a river's endless flow, while psionic energy was like "black gold"—a critical fuel source for machinery.
Using psionic energy alone would drain him too quickly in his current state, but combining it with chaotic energy would yield extraordinary results. The boundless chaotic power provided sheer volume, while psionic energy acted as a catalyst.
The effects of his ability [Daylight] built up rapidly in his palms, then spread to his entire arms.
A blinding flash of light erupted without warning!
Bai Hao's arms gleamed as if forged from liquid gold, and a dazzling golden film—flowing like molten flame—coated and solidified over his skin in an instant.
The light was so intense it banished all surrounding shadows. The air warped and hissed under its heat.
A destructive aura—powerful enough to level the mountain before him—rippled outward from his body!
Elisa's eyes widened as she watched through the Spirit Pact Mark.
Can a spiritualist really produce effects like this?
She'd been a Spirit Master herself once, and even she hadn't possessed such power at that level.
This kid is definitely extraordinary!
Elisa bit her lower lip, her thoughts racing. I never imagined Xia Kingdom was hiding someone with such talent. From what I can tell, he must be an Emperor-grade Spirit Envoy…
But then she considered: since Xia Kingdom hadn't hidden the existence of other Emperor-level Spirit Envoys, this boy's identity might not be a secret either.
Looking back on her interactions with Bai Hao so far, she suddenly realized he was far more calculating than he appeared. Though young, he acted with remarkable maturity and confidence.
After all, how many Spirit Masters would dare threaten a foreign Holy Spirit?
Given all the strange events surrounding him, she was nearly certain Bai Hao was hiding something significant—she just had no idea how he'd managed to conceal his abilities.
Her opinion of him shifted completely.
When the destructive power peaked and compressed to its breaking point, Bai Hao's tense muscles tensed further, and he gave the command!
His left hand pressed down on his right arm like the steady base of a cannon, while his right index finger—glowing like a miniature sun—pointed sharply at the beast's lair a hundred meters away.
"Destroy!"
There was no earth-shattering shout—only a beam of light that seemed capable of splitting heaven and earth, tearing through the air in perfect silence.
The beam was narrow, but concentrated to a soul-freezing degree. Its core was so brilliant it was impossible to look at directly!
BOOM!
The deafening roar came a heartbeat later, like a colossal hammer striking the world itself!
The deathly beam pierced through the mountain's thick rock face without resistance.
A golden-white shockwave then rippled outward like a ring of annihilation!
The entire cliff, along with its hidden cave, was split apart as if by a god's axe—cleaved by the piercing beam and subsequent blast.
With a sickening crunch of stone, the upper half of the mountain broke off like a chunk torn from bread, collapsing and tumbling downward.
"Whoa! Awooo—!"
Dozens of mountain apes shrieked in terror and despair from within the shattered rock—their cries a lament for their impending doom. Many fell with the boulders into the dark, bottomless ravine below.
Those unfortunate enough to be in the beam's path were reduced to ash in an instant by its extreme heat and light, leaving only the smell of scorched flesh and smoke in the air.
The light from [Daylight] gradually faded away. This attack—like a laser cannon—had consumed most of Bai Hao's psionic energy and vast amounts of chaotic power.
Watching the destruction unfold from within the mark, Elisa's eyes twitched uncontrollably. She couldn't help muttering aloud:
Is this really the kind of power a Spirit Master can wield?
While most spiritual practitioners still relied on close-quarters combat like warriors of old, Bai Hao was already unleashing power akin to cutting-edge modern weaponry. It left Elisa thoroughly stunned.
Accumulating psionic energy usually took time—but how had he managed to store such a massive amount in his body?
This prepared attack was far more powerful than the hasty strike he'd used against her earlier. If he'd hit her directly at close range, Bai Hao might have been killed in the backlash, but Elisa would have been gravely wounded—losing a limb at the very least.
After all, she had no physical enhancement abilities. Being caught off-guard by such an attack would be nothing short of deadly.