Jiang Xinyue clearly couldn't hold on much longer. After all, given such a close distance, the malice carried by the Demon-eating Tiger Shark and the [Aether Recharge] driven by Lin Guang were greatly interfering with her maintenance of [Wave Unceasing], which was already operating at its limit.

However, her opponent, Lin Guang, seemed even less likely to hold on.

He looked like he was burning with all his might.

Despite being only three or four meters away, this step seemed like an insurmountable distance, and the demon-flame-surging Tiger Shark couldn't advance even a fraction, appearing to be gradually exerting itself to exhaustion.

At that moment.

Behind them, Lisa, who seemed to have been forgotten, finally seized the opportunity to take action!

She completely abandoned maintaining the strong mental effort on herself, clenched her teeth, and veins slightly bulged on her temples as she exerted [Illusory Foxfire] with all her might!

A ghostly blue flame surged against the tide, blasting into the huge water screen rising in front of Jiang Xinyue...

Surely she must have anticipated such flagrant power accumulation for so long?

But the next moment, she suddenly found.

The attacking flame was not just one.

But full five flames!

Five ghostly blue flames simultaneously penetrated the water screen, then rapidly spread out from it, causing her to suddenly feel a momentary delay in the ether around her and her own spiritual power.

"No..."

This wasn't the most fatal thing.

The worst part was, due to the linking effect of the Mystical Technique, this brief delay would equally affect her Contracted Partner, who was extremely close to her.

In an instant.

Just for that instant.

The Demon-eating Tiger Shark swiftly broke free from the stalemate, swung its tail and emerged from the tide, biting onto the shield.

Crackling.

This ghostly blue foxfire was effective for no more than a second, yet Jiang Xinyue quickly regained her senses.

But the consequences of that second were decisive.

She was utterly powerless to turn the situation around, able to only watch blankly ahead of her.

At the last moment before the water shield shattered, Jiang Xinyue saw Lin Guang inside the giant shark.

At this moment, Lin Guang's entire body was a bloody mess, actively roasted dry by his own Samadhi True Fire, covered in blood scabs, looking extremely horrifying, except for the faint sheen on his lips.

On that handsome face, there wasn't a hint of pain.

Instead, a wild, exuberant, childlike innocent grin.

This is...

The true self Lin Guang had been hiding all along.

For some reason, at this moment, a thought suddenly arose in Jiang Xinyue's mind.

Perhaps she would never forget this scene...

Nor this person.

The next instant, the water shield was directly shattered by the explosion force.

With a flash of white light, she vanished from where she was.

...

In the sky, witnessing Jiang Xinyue and her Spirit Beast being teleported out of the Secret Realm, the Spirit Masters from the Three Major Families were momentarily left speechless.

"Hahahahaha—"

"Good, very good, truly excellent."

Kong Guofeng laughed heartily, sparing no praise and admiration.

If Kong Guofeng's assistant were here to watch, his jaw would likely have dropped in shock.

After all, not only was Kong Guofeng over one hundred fifty years old, but his status as a True Man endowed him with a transcendental calm, rarely showing emotional fluctuations. Even his assistant, who had worked with him for over a decade, had never seen Kong Guofeng exhibit such intense joy.

"Infinite potential, truly infinite potential, there's hope for True Man!"

Kong Guofeng's words left even the Spirit Masters from the Three Major Families without the courage to counter, and Huai Risheng was stricken silent for a moment.

Strictly speaking, Lin Guang wasn't fighting two opponents at once, Wang Feng was just a sacrifice, but even though Jiang Xinyue initially amassed her Mystical Technique, Lin Guang could completely prioritize handling the situation; Wang Feng, who excelled in defense, couldn't stop him, while "Slow Start" Jiang Xinyue couldn't resist Vishdair's Explosion Fist.

In this world, ultimately, strength rules.

Whoever wins, is right!

But moments later, Huai Risheng scoffed coldly: "You're overly optimistic, his potential can't be concluded so quickly."

"Having too many True Intent Inheritances at a Low-Star level can be detrimental, Hua Bo is the most vivid example of this."

"With his talent, he could easily achieve Six-Star, even go further, reaching a level even I would have to look up to, but his excessive pursuit of various True Intent Inheritances in his youth led him to be stuck at Five-Star Peak and became a laughingstock."

"Laughingstock?"

Tianmu couldn't help but laugh: "Would you dare to say that to his face? Could you even last five minutes against him?"

"..."

A hint of unease flashed across Huai Risheng's face, and he forcibly changed the subject and said:

"The phrase 'Spirit Master' has never meant mastering a Spirit Beast, but rather controlling one's True Spirit."

"In the Low-Star period, encountering several different True Intent Implantations prematurely, and absorbing them all at once... Do you not know what might happen?"

"Throughout the entire history of Great Xia, such examples are not uncommon."

"The Huai, Jiang, and Wang families can dominate in Zhen Sheng, and even make a name for themselves in an entire region, slaying countless Demon Races on the Outer Battlefield, not only because their combat power boost is quite formidable among the various inheritances, but also because it's complete enough to be stably passed down, with almost no risk of being lost."

"The reason is that it doesn't involve True Intent in the Low-Star stage. The ancestors of the three families expended immense Heart Power in arranging and summarizing their own True Intent Inheritances, breaking them down into Spirit Patterns and Skills, gradually forming a complex but stable structure. Thus, during the foundational phase, it doesn't affect the mind and spirit, and only then is one required to undergo the True Intent baptism."

"Although climbing step by step is also difficult, limited by Talent and the capacity of the Sea of Spirit, it is very stable. Although it may not be as helpful as a Natural Spirit Pattern, it can still be considered one's own, and won't affect the breakthrough to True Man."

Huai Risheng scoffed again: "And several of his inheritances are not even of the same style, let alone complete. They're just a few scattered techniques."

"The gifts of the strong, inheritances of True Intent from the Otherworld, enhancements to various Attributes with no side effects through Implantation... All kinds of True Intent Inheritances indeed seem enticing and make many people covet them, but in reality?"

He shook his head, seemingly a bit pained: "If he had encountered such opportunities after achieving Five-Star Spirit Master, it would indeed have been enormously helpful, with the possibility of refining his studies, condensing True Intent, and successfully breaking through."

"But now, he's only a Two-Star, and even has Blue Talent."

"At this stage, bearing too much beyond his level, diverse Intentions, Memories, and Power... It may seem glorious, but in reality, it's putting the cart before the horse, with a strong guest and a weak host."

He coldly said: "Talent is a reflection of a person's soul, their most fundamental essence. The fact that his Talent Grade is only Blue proves that his Spiritual Strength ultimately has a limit. No matter how much potential he accumulates, reaching this step is his limit."

"Even if he can maintain his self-will without being eroded, with his spirit imprinted with too many other colors, can he still find his own path in the future?"

"He even contracted with Magical Beasts, and this madness in him has already shown its signs. It would be good enough if he doesn't become mentally deranged in the future, let alone break through the shackles to become True Man. It's somewhat of a pipe dream."

But unexpectedly.

Hearing this, Tianmu suddenly showed an extremely satisfied expression, his eyes gleaming: "Good! Good! Good!"

"Isn't this just right!"

"Is it not just several True Intents that are difficult to digest, with a battle-mad nature?"

"If there were as many True Intents as Hua Bo, it would be a different story, but there are only three True Intents currently. Isn't our military's secret tradition underestimated?"

"If Lin Guang is willing to come to our military, I can make the decision to let the corps commander condense a True Intent Inheritance of the Furnace of War Intent for him, to follow the path of perfecting battle through endless intent."

"His combat style just now is simply too suitable for this path. The probability of success won't be low."

Tianmu laughed heartily, glancing at Lin Guang atop the mountain, his eyes flashing with intense and passionate light, "Lin Guang, the Eleventh Army will have you for sure!"

"Stop, stop!"

Kong Guofeng's expression finally changed: "All the geniuses are picked, are you going to cut down your own realm, change your age, and enter the state competition for us?"

Tianmu and Kong Guofeng were both old comrades from the military earlier, and the Eleventh Army also paid great attention to the intensified joint exams, naturally looking to select some appropriate seedlings from these outstanding high school talents for early recruitment into the Eleventh Army for training.

"Moreover, Lin Guang has a mentorship, the same kind of existence as us, so don't be greedy."

"Mentorship?"

He shook his head: "Lin Guang's teacher is at least a Senior Researcher True Man, so you don't have to worry."

"... Are you implying that she has researched a method to help people digest True Intent?"

Upon hearing this, Huai Risheng's eyes flashed with brilliance.

"You're overthinking it. I simply have faith in this boy's talent and trust his teacher's judgment, as they wouldn't undertake something without confidence."

"Humph, just guessing."

"From my point of view, his hope of breaking through to True Man in the future is slim."

"In the end, you just refuse to believe that a genius can emerge from commoners, and are full from arguing with us here."

Tianmu looked up and down at Huai Risheng, clearly a bit disdainful: "If you're really idle, we can go out later and spar."

Huai Risheng was not to be outdone, sinisterly saying: "Tianmu, I heard you're most proud of the military array joint attack method, how about we each find two Six-Star True Men and have a duel?"

Kong Guofeng sighed a bit: "Stop arguing, are you elementary students?"

If it were a one-on-one, Huai Risheng would indeed be inferior to Tianmu, who is about to condense the third Dao Mark, but if the three families' inheritances were united, mutually enhancing one another, the combat power would undergo a qualitative change, and the outcome might be reversed.

But both were the chief executives of this joint exam, and starting an impromptu duel like a hot-head would be a matter of appearance, regardless of who wins or loses in the end.

"All right, the champion of this year's joint exam has already been decided, there's no point in staying any longer. The joint exam continues, stay vigilant."

"Hey, leaving so soon?" Tianmu stroked his chin, "I still wanted to see the effect of our army's 'Fire Refining Ascending Dragon Celestial Opening Array'."

For some reason, when this was mentioned, the expressions of the Spirit Masters from the three major families turned unpleasant, and the members of the Jiang Family seemed as if they had swallowed a few flies.

"I will later record a 'disc' for you, no need to worry."

Saying so, Kong Guofeng waved his hand, pulled out a small bell, and gently shook it. Everyone's Spiritual Power was then drawn, transporting them out of the Secret Realm.

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