Elder Wang shook his numb arm, his gaze sweeping over the two people standing at the doorway. Countless emotions churned beneath the depths of his eyes.
Eventually, he gave an impatient click of his tongue before turning directly toward Wang Jingchen. Crouching down, he began checking the young man's condition without sparing so much as a single glance at either Director Yanxi or Yu Ziqin.
Director Yanxi naturally noticed this, but...
What about Wang Jingchen?
Chen Yuxuan seemed to read Director Yanxi's thoughts and subtly signaled toward the corner of the training room with his eyes.
Following his gaze, Director Yanxi's heart jolted the moment she saw the scene.
Wang Jingchen was sprawled in the corner of the room, his clothes in disarray as blood continuously trickled from the corner of his mouth. He looked utterly miserable.
The moment Elder Wang reached out to help him up, Wang Jingchen slapped his hand away without hesitation.
His resentful gaze was like a poisoned arrow, locked firmly onto Yunli standing in the center of the room.
Seeing this scene, Director Yanxi instantly pieced together what had happened.
It was nothing more than this arrogant young master, who didn't know the immensity of heaven and earth, provoking Yunli without understanding the consequences, followed by his overprotective elder rushing in to stand up for him.
However...
Director Yanxi (｡ŏ_ŏ): Yunli actually managed to injure him right under Elder Wang's nose...
Although the Celestial Phenomenon from before had been shocking, no one had truly witnessed it with their own eyes.
Within the Ability Bureau, aside from Mo Xin, the person who had the greatest confidence in Yunli's strength wasn't Captain Chen—
It was Director Yanxi herself.
She had long possessed a strong intuition that Yunli's strength was already comparable to that of a Special Grade Ability User.
Now...
That feeling had become even stronger.
Before Director Yanxi could recover from her thoughts, Mo Xin had already curled her lips into a grin from ear to ear.
Crossing her arms, she teased mercilessly.
"Oh my, isn't this the mighty Wang Jingchen? In such a short amount of time, how did you end up getting beaten so badly?"
The merciless sarcasm drifted lightly into everyone's ears.
Seeing Wang Jingchen's resentful gaze sweep toward her, Mo Xin acted as though she hadn't noticed and continued cheerfully rubbing salt into the wound.
"Are you okay? Why aren't you smiling anymore? Don't you like smiling? Do you want me to call an ambulance for you? If that's too troublesome, I can contact a funeral home directly instead. How about that?"
"Pfft—"
A muffled laugh suddenly rang out.
Everyone instinctively turned toward the source of the sound.
They saw Mu Yao hurriedly covering her mouth with both hands, desperately trying to suppress the corners of her lips from curling upward, while her innocent eyes stared at the ceiling.
Her entire expression practically screamed—
"The one who laughed definitely wasn't me."
"Pfft—"
Everyone turned again.
Lu Hao had already laid back down.
His head was tilted to one side, his hands folded neatly over his chest, and his eyes were tightly shut as he once again entered a state of "coma."
Judging by the smile still lingering on his face...
It was probably a very peaceful coma.
Seeing that the atmosphere was on the verge of becoming tense once again, Yu Ziqin was the first to step forward.
"What happened here?"
Hearing the question, Mo Xin immediately looked ready to spill everything like beans from a bamboo tube.
Fortunately, Captain Chen reacted quickly this time.
He covered her mouth in one swift motion.
At the very least, he managed to stop this chatterbox from making the situation even more chaotic.
Under Mo Xin's bewildered expression...
Yu Ziqin turned toward Wang Jingchen and asked in an even tone,
"Mr. Wang, what happened to the injuries on your body?"
Wang Jingchen's face immediately turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
"N-Nothing...I just accidentally got a little injured during a spar."
Every single word seemed to be squeezed out through clenched teeth.
His fists tightened until his knuckles turned white as boundless fury churned within his chest.
How could he possibly admit—
That he had been caught completely off guard by a little girl and ended up in such a miserable state?
Moreover...
Wang Jingchen sneered inwardly.
He refused to believe this woman couldn't understand what had happened.
This was obviously deliberate.
She wanted to embarrass him in public.
Since this woman had clearly decided to side with that girl, there was no point in asking for trouble here.
Some debts...
Could naturally be settled later, in private.
There was no need to completely tear off all pretenses here.
Standing beside him, Elder Wang had naturally realized the same thing.
His calm gaze swept across Yunli before turning toward Captain Chen.
His voice carried a deliberate calmness.
"Captain Chen's squad truly hides some remarkable talents. May I ask this young expert's name?"
Although it sounded like a simple inquiry, the probing and dissatisfaction in his eyes were practically overflowing.
Clearly...
He had no intention of letting today's humiliation end so easily.
Chen Yuxuan (눈_눈): As expected... he won't let this go.
At that moment, Yunli voluntarily answered.
"Yunli."
As her voice fell, Yunli casually put away Old Mettle before lowering her head to carefully inspect the longsword she had confiscated moments earlier.
She had long expected this fellow to continue making trouble.
After all...
Considering that the other party was merely an "ordinary person," her earlier punch had already been heavily restrained.
However...
That seemingly casual action immediately caused Yu Ziqin and the two members of the Wang family to change expressions.
Various emotions flashed through their eyes simultaneously.
Putting away a weapon so casually...
Was it a Space Ability?
Or perhaps some kind of storage artifact?
In today's world, there might indeed exist storage treasures capable of holding objects like those in cultivation novels.
Whether they truly existed, however, remained uncertain.
But one fact was universally acknowledged—
Within the Dragon Kingdom, the known storage-type items could be counted on both hands.
Every single one was unimaginably precious.
Yu Ziqin (ಠ_ಠ): Is that her own ability... or an item from another world...?
Elder Wang (*ﾟﾛﾟ): A storage artifact?!
Wang Jingchen ψ(｀∇´)ψ: Looks like this trip to Muyun City has yielded even greater rewards than I imagined!
At the same time, the Wang family finally realized who Yunli actually was.
So this is the rumored Otherworlder.
Looking at Yunli's delicate and adorable face, a cold glint flashed through Wang Jingchen's eyes.
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth before silently walking toward her.
Yunli kept her head lowered.
Only after his shadow completely enveloped her did she slowly lift her golden eyes.
"You're lucky this time."
"Give me my sword back."
Clearly...
Within the Ability Bureau, Wang Jingchen had no intention of causing further trouble for the time being.
Just as everyone thought the matter was finally over—
Yunli's calm voice interrupted him.
"I'm afraid that won't do."
Everyone: ???
Wang Jingchen's outstretched hand froze in midair.
"What did you say?"
Yunli naturally tucked the sword behind her back before crossing her arms.
Her golden eyes calmly met his.
"You want your sword back? Fine. But not like this. The rules of my Zhuming are simple."
"A sword lost on the battlefield...Must be reclaimed on the battlefield."
The instant those words were spoken, the atmosphere became tense once again.
Even Captain Chen and the others were momentarily at a loss.
Wang Jingchen finally failed to suppress the fury boiling inside him.
The veins on his temples bulged violently as he shouted,
"Brat! Don't refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit! If it weren't for the Ability Bureau's sake...Do you really think I wouldn't dare touch you?"
Yunli couldn't even be bothered to spare him a glance.
She merely shook her head with obvious disdain, her voice as cold as ice.
"With such a narrow state of mind...I'm afraid your achievements have already reached their limit."
"What did you say?!"
Yunli looked at him with undisguised contempt before speaking calmly.
"If you had openly and honestly taken your sword back from me with your own ability...I, Yunli, would have accepted my defeat. But you didn't. Instead, your first thought was to use your status to suppress others...And force me to hand the sword back in front of everyone."
She paused briefly before continuing.
"Forgive me for speaking bluntly. You show no respect whatsoever for the sword that helps us slay our enemies and protect ourselves."
"You...Are unworthy of wielding this sword."
Wang Jingchen: (╬◣д◢)