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nIn the small courtyard of the Divine Sword Guards headquarters,

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nLittle Zhou stopped and wiped the sweat off his forehead before complaining, “Brother Xiao, you came at the right time. This Fleeing Cataglyphis Technique is simply too difficult to master!”

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n“No pain, no gain.” Xiao Ran said with a smile.

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n“Is there a shortcut, the kind that allows one to quickly master a skill?”

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nXiao Ran shook his head in reply.

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nLittle Zhou became dejected, and his expression instantly clouded over.

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nPatting his shoulder encouragingly, Xiao Ran comforted him, “Your talent is not bad at all. You have been practicing for such a short time, but you’ve already made it to Minor Achievement level in your Fleeing Cataglyphis Technique. Continue to train hard. When you have evolved your skill to the Genesis level, even a Grand Master Realm Warrior won’t be able to catch you.”

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nLittle Zhou’s eyes lit up and he said excitedly, “Brother Xiao, you’re right. As long as I run fast enough, they can’t do anything to me.”

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n“…” Xiao Ran did not know what to say.

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nAs he stood there in stupefied silence, Little Zhou continued.

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n“Have you dealt with the matter at the Celestial Dungeon?”

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n“It’s nothing serious. AIl I did was clock in, send some food to the Eldest Princess and at the same time, dealt with some demon.” Xiao Ran said.

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nLittle Zhou stood up from the ground. “Do you have anything else this afternoon?”

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n“You have plans?”

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n“Let’s go to the Scholastic Incubation Institute to watch the show! The Yin Incubation Institute challenged the institutes and won three matches in the morning. If they win in the afternoon, our Great Xia kingdom will be completely humiliated.”

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n“All right,” Xiao Ran decided to tag along.

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nLittle Zhou quickly entered the staff quarters and changed his clothes before returning.

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nBoth of them left the Divine Sword Guards headquarters and quickly made their way down to the Scholastic Incubation Institute.

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nThere were a total of Four Great Institutes in the Great Xia kingdom. They were namely the Dragon Lake Institute, Scholastic Incubation Institute, Dark Helianthus Institute, and Lunar Reflection Institute.

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nTheir strengths were more or less on par with one another, with nothing much to set them apart.

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nIn the early afternoon,

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nafter the Yin Incubation Institute had presented themselves before Emperor Sheng Wen, they started their challenge to the Scholastic Incubation Institute.

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nTheir immense clout and might was proudly put on public display without any attempt to conceal.

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nIt attracted almost everyone’s attention in the capital city.

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nWhen Xiao Ran and Little Zhou arrived, the square was filled with people from all walks of life.

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n“We can’t squeeze in anymore. Brother Xiao, let’s go up!” Little Zhou pointed at the roof.

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nThere were quite a few people standing there.

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n“Let’s go,” Xiao Ran said.

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nThe two of them chose a spot nearer to the challenge arena and stood on the roof, watching the competition below.

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nThe first match had just begun.

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nTwo young men walked out from the back of the arena. They launched their attacks as soon as they saw each other. They deployed their Immense Righteous Energy in tandem with their martial arts techniques, and fought very fiercely.

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nXiao Ran frowned a little. Just as the two of them commenced fighting, wisps of Immense Righteous Energy entered his body and were absorbed by the Sanctifying Righteous Treasure Tome that was circulating in the background.

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n“What’s going on?”

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nConfused, he immediately activated his Spiritual Clarity Eye to check.

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nThe people from Yin Incubation Institute were unaffected. The student from the Scholastic Incubation Institute, however, would lose a bit of Immense Righteous Energy every time he deployed it. The amount lost could be seen wafting towards a certain direction in the crowd.

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nWith the interruption by Xiao Ran’s Sanctifying Righteous Treasure Tome, the Immense Righteous Energy split into two streams, with one flowing towards him.

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nNot only that,

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neven the powerful Immense Righteous Energy that the scholars of the Scholastic Incubation Institute had accumulated over the years inexplicably surged into the crowd.

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nHe cast his eyes over the crowd.

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nIn the midst of the crowd,

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na middle-aged man with an ordinary face stood as still as a stake.

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nThe Immense Righteous Energy surrounding him surged into his arms and was absorbed by a bead.

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nXiao Ran could detect a Daoist aura emanating from him.

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n“Is this an accident or premeditated?” Xiao Ran wondered in silence.

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n“Is anything wrong, Brother Xiao?” Little Zhou turned to ask him.

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n“Nothing’s wrong.” Xiao Ran replied with a shake of his head.

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nHe withdrew the Spiritual Clarity Eye and then activated the full strength of the Sanctifying Righteous Treasure Tome to snatch the Immense Righteous Energy from the perpetrator.

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nThe Immense Righteous Energy that was originally surging towards the other party was promptly intercepted by Xiao Ran and absorbed by the Sanctifying Righteous Treasure Tome.

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nThe sudden turn in events gave the middle-aged man a shock.

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n“What’s going on? Where’s the Immense Righteous Energy?”

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nHe looked around, searching for the cause of the change, but could not detect anything.

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n“Dual-pupils!” The middle-aged man activated his skill.

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nHis eyes turned very bright and he could see the Immense Righteous Energy clearly in front of him. Following the direction the stream was wafting to, he soon found Xiao Ran, who was watching the competition from the roof.

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nXiao Ran had been watching him closely and was not surprised to see him using a eyesight-type of Dao technique to locate him.

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nHe gave him a glance before turning his attention back to the competition.

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nThe middle-aged man was confused and puzzled. “That’s strange! This person clearly doesn’t display any signs of fluctuations of numinous treasures in use. How can he still absorb Immense Righteous Energy? He can even snatch it away from my Source Consuming Pearl?”

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nAs he thought long and hard,

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nhe finally thought of one possibility.

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n“Could it be that he has some special physique, or the skills that he possessed have evolved to very powerful levels?”

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nAt the thought of this,

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nthe middle-aged man sneered and made a mental note of Xiao Ran. “So you want to devour the Immense Righteous Energy? I’ll let you absorb all you want first. After that, I’ll dig out all your secrets when we leave this place.’

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nThe three matches ended quickly.

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nScholastic Incubation Institute lost all six matches in one day. Not a single victory.

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nWith a stony countenance, the principal handed a treasure to the representatives from the Yin Incubation Institute and left in huff.

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n“Are the people from the Scholastic Incubation Institute all trash? In six battles, they did not win a single one. If they had sent a dog into the arena, it would have been more powerful than them.” Little Zhou lashed out at the losers in anger.

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n“Why don’t you give it a go then?” Xiao Ran prodded him in a teasing fashion.

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n“Brother Xiao, are you indirectly calling me a dog?”

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n“No, I’m not.”

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n“Yes, you are!”

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nAfter leaving the Scholastic Incubation Institute, Xiao Ran stopped in his tracks. He detected that an aura had locked onto him and that someone was following him.

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nIt seemed to be coming from that middle-aged Daoist priest.

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n“You go back first. Don’t step outside for the time being,” Xiao Ran gave a solemn reminder.

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n“What about you?” Little Zhou asked.

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n“Why are you asking so many questions?” Xiao Ran gave him a kick in annoyance.

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n“Do be careful, Brother Xiao.” Little Zhou obediently went back.

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nXiao Ran walked briskly in the direction of the Divine Sword Guards headquarters.

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nHe then abruptly changed direction and headed into a deserted back alley.

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nAround the corner,

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nthe middle-aged Daoist priest emerged from the shadows and looked at Xiao Ran’s back in a sinister fashion. “Let me see what secrets you’re hiding on your body!”

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nA quarter of an hour later,

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nat the end of the alley, the middle-aged Daoist priest emerged out of nowhere and stood in front of Xiao Ran.

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nA wicked smile spread across his face as he threatened. “Hand over that item you are holding.”

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n“What item?” Xiao Ran asked.

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n“Hmph!” The middle-aged Daoist priest gave a scornful snort.

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n“Do you really think you can hide it from me? Previously, at the Scholastic Incubation Institute, you stole the Immense Righteous Energy from me.”

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n“What’s your relationship with them?”

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n“Do you think I’ll tell you?” The middle-aged Daoist priest replied disdainfully.

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nXiao Ran shook his head. “I believe you will.”

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n“Who gave you that confidence?” The middle-aged Daoist priest shouted out and came charging straight at him.

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nWith a single step that reduced a large expanse of the ground to inches, he re-appeared in front of Xiao Ran. A supreme green light swirled around and as he stretched out his claw-like hands, a powerful force swept out and clamped onto Xiao Ran’s neck.

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n“I gave myself,” Xiao Ran said.

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nHe met his grasping palm with a lightning kick from his leg.

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nIt was too fast, several times faster than he was. The explosive force of that kick sent him flying backwards.

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nIt left a thousand-foot drag mark on the ground before the Daoist priest came to a stop.

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nBefore he could get up, Xiao Ran attacked again and stomped on his dantian.

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n“Ah…” The middle-aged Daoist priest screamed in anguish and fainted from the unbearable pain.

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nWith a wave of his right hand, he retrieved the Source Consuming Pearl from his chest.

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nThe green light swirled around it, seeming to imply that it contained a special power. The pearl stored a tremendous amount of Immense Righteous Energy.

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nPutting away the Source Consuming Pearl, Xiao Ran unleashed three consecutive shots of Heavenly Slave Divine Finger on the fallen figure.

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