The Soul Palace Master is an incredibly powerful Divine Soul Master, who is usually obsessed with alchemy and artifact refining, and rarely goes out.

This time, the reason he came to watch the Newcomer Competition was to see if there were any promising seedlings among the newcomers that would catch his eye.

Ye Chen, at such a young age, has brought two Yellow Level Lower Grade Martial Arts to Perfection. In terms of martial arts talent, he barely managed to catch the Soul Palace Master's interest.

Of course, he was only mildly interested in Ye Chen.

After all, he had seen far too many geniuses; their Soul Palace even had a few geniuses possessing Upper Grade Martial Arts Talent.

Compared to these geniuses, Ye Chen was still lacking.

"It's just that he has mastered two Yellow Level Lower Grade Martial Arts. It's nothing exceptional. Our Profound Sword Peak recently admitted a seed student, Ye Lin'er, who has perfected five Yellow Level Lower Grade Sword Techniques." Duanmu Ying spoke nonchalantly, not even sparing Ye Chen a glance.

Although there exists a great enmity between Ye Chen and Ye Lin'er.

But as the Peak Master of Profound Sword Peak, Duanmu Ying was usually too busy to pay attention to such trivial matters.

So, until now, she didn't even know who Ye Chen was.

In her eyes, Ye Chen was merely a newcomer with passable martial arts talent, hardly worth her time.

"Ye Lin'er is indeed a very promising seedling, having awakened a Profound Level Second Grade bloodline. She has a significant chance of being selected as an Immortal Seed." The Celestial Flame Peak Master nodded in agreement, quite appreciative of Ye Lin'er too.

To know that a genius who has awakened a Profound Level Second Grade bloodline is incredibly rare, even in the Celestial Flame Academy. Each has the potential to become an Immortal Seed.

Such individuals are targets of full cultivation by the Celestial Flame Academy. Even the Celestial Flame Peak Master wishes to recruit her to their Celestial Flame Peak.

Unfortunately, Ye Lin'er favored the Sword Dao, so she ultimately chose to join the Profound Sword Peak, which indeed turned out to be a stroke of luck for Duanmu Ying.

"Ye Lin'er? I've heard Xue'er mention her before; she, like Ye Chen, comes from the Ye Family in Kunzhou Prefecture. Ye Chen offended the Duanmu Family because of this Ye Lin'er," Ouyang Xue's father, Ouyang Zhong, frowned slightly, pondering inwardly.

Although Ye Lin'er's current strength isn't yet formidable, her awakening of the Profound Level Second Grade bloodline means her future achievements are boundless.

Even Ouyang Zhong would not want to offend her, lest she becomes a significant threat.

However, his daughter Ouyang Xue has deep regard for Ye Chen.

If their War King Hall intends to protect Ye Chen with full effort, they would surely offend Ye Lin'er.

This notion alone gave Ouyang Zhong a headache.

"Ye Chen, if your potential displayed in this competition cannot satisfy me, no matter how much Xue'er pleads for you, I will not accept you into the War King Hall. I do not wish to offend Ye Lin'er and Duanmu Jie for your sake." Ouyang Zhong's eyes flashed with a keen light.

As the Grand Elder of the War King Hall, he must think about the future of the entire War King Hall and the Ouyang Family, not act on impulse.

Only if Ye Chen's potential proves enormous would he be worth his protection.

Otherwise, Ouyang Zhong would definitely not offend Ye Lin'er and Duanmu Jie for Ye Chen's sake.

Swish.

At this moment, Ye Chen had already stepped down from the Dragon Map Battle Platform and returned to the ranks.

Many newcomers hurriedly made way for him, their eyes filled with intense wariness.

Of course, some newcomers still remained indifferent towards Ye Chen.

After all, the Zhang Yue defeated by Ye Chen was merely a minor character, with many stronger participants in the competition than him.

"Look quickly, it's Zhao Ling, the top genius of Qingfeng City. He achieved first-place results in Qingfeng City's assessment competition." At this moment, a newcomer exclaimed, and everyone's eyes turned toward the boy on the Dragon Map Battle Platform.

This boy was slender and pale, giving off a sickly appearance.

Yet, he exuded an extremely dangerous aura, like an ancient fierce beast, bringing an unparalleled sense of oppression.

"What could this be, Divine Soul Power?" Even Ye Chen was slightly surprised.

He could actually sense a powerful divine soul fluctuation from the boy, a fluctuation that brought significant mental pressure to the crowd.

"Master, he is a Divine Soul Master, and his soul has already entered the Second Layer Exorcism Realm, enabling him to fight using telekinesis," the Tower Spirit's voice echoed in Ye Chen's mind.

"A Divine Soul Master in the Exorcism Realm—what a powerful soul indeed!" Ye Chen couldn't help but exclaim.

It was his first time seeing another young Divine Soul Master besides himself.

After all, Divine Soul Masters are exceedingly rare, with there being not even one in a million.

Among the younger generation of the three major families of Kunzhou Prefecture, there isn't a single Divine Soul Master.

If Ye Chen hadn't relied on the power of evolution to develop the potential of his brain, he wouldn't have become a Divine Soul Master himself.

And right in front of him, this sickly-looking young man is not only a Divine Soul Master but has also stepped into the Second Layer of the Exorcism Realm, which is even more powerful than Ye Chen.

This naturally surprised him greatly.

"Master, there's nothing to be surprised about. Even the most ordinary Divine Soul Masters, once they have condensed a Divine Soul Puppet, can generally cultivate to the Exorcism Realm within two years. And your Divine Soul Talent is much stronger than his, you'll probably break through to the Exorcism Realm within three months," the Tower Spirit said with a slight smile.

"It's starting, Zhao Ling's opponent has actually reached the Ninth Layer of the True Qi Realm and even has a double Qi Sea Foundation."

"Even Zhang Yue might not be his match."

"Alas! There are just too many geniuses participating in this talent contest. We don't have the slightest hope of advancing," many freshmen sighed, looking extremely dejected.

On the Dragon-shaped Battle Platform, a young man holding a Treasure Saber erupted with the True Qi of eighteen Seas of Qi, charging towards Zhao Ling.

This young man's strength was actually greater than Zhang Yue's; he had cultivated a Saber Technique to Perfection.

Moreover, he immediately used this technique, intending to finish Zhao Ling off instantly.

"With just that bit of strength, you dare show off in front of me? Such arrogance, perish." Suddenly, a cold gleam flashed across Zhao Ling's sickly face.

Whiz.

Soon after, a streak of purple-gold light shot out from Zhao Ling's sleeve, appearing like lightning in front of the young man.

"Not good!" The young man's pupils shrank, and even his hair stood on end.

Though he swung his Treasure Saber in an attempt to intercept the purple-gold streak, it was already too late.

The speed of the streak was simply too fast, and it was wildly powerful, easily piercing through the young man's Protective True Qi, passing through his abdomen.

Ah!

A horrifying scream echoed from the young man's mouth, sounding utterly chilling.

With just one strike, he suffered unimaginable damage, lying on the ground convulsing, as if he could die at any moment.

"A Divine Soul Master, an Exorcism Realm Divine Soul Master."

"Terrifying, his strength is truly terrifying, even powerful as Qian Li was, he's no match for him." Many freshmen gasped, feeling chills run down their spines.

"Damn it, this guy is too ruthless. Qian Li had no enmity with him, yet he struck so heavily. Who knows if Qian Li can even be saved?" someone said indignantly.

"Hmph! Blame yourself for lacking strength, there's no sympathy in death." Zhao Ling glanced indifferently at Qian Li, then walked off the platform without looking back.

It was as if Qian Li's life and death had nothing to do with him.

"He's dead." Soon, a teacher arrived in front of Qian Li, only to find that Qian Li had already stopped breathing.

This caused many freshmen to feel a growing fear.

Even though they knew unexpected events could happen at any time during the talent contest, it was still difficult to accept when witnessed firsthand.

"Hmph! The talent contest is no joke. If you lack strength, you should quit early, to avoid losing your life in vain." Zhao Ling coldly chuckled, his eyes full of cruelty, feeling no remorse for killing Qian Li.

As he passed Ye Chen, he suddenly stopped, a slight smirk on his lips, and provocatively said to Ye Chen, "Your strength barely passes in our team, but if you meet me, you'd better concede obediently, so you don't end up like him."

"Rest assured, if it comes to life and death, it'll definitely be you who dies." Ye Chen replied with a cold smile.

Even he found Zhao Ling's behavior intolerable.

This guy is excessively cold-blooded. Qian Li had no feud with him, yet he killed him without hesitation.

One wonders what his heart is made of.

However, he should never have, under any circumstances, provoked Ye Chen.

Ye Chen is no pushover for others to bully.

"Ha! Truly, ignorance is bliss! You better hope we don't meet in the competition, or you'll understand the taste of fear and despair." Zhao Ling's features twisted slightly, looking particularly sinister, making one shudder.

"Get lost." Ye Chen glared coldly at Zhao Ling, ordering him with scorn.

He couldn't help thinking this guy must be crazy, with definite psychological issues.

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