Leon returned to his room and glanced at the wall clock.

"It’s already an hour late. I might as well skip college today."

Frenrir had already returned to his soul sanctuary. After changing into a set of casual clothes, he sat down at his desk and began studying.

Nearly two hours passed before he stretched his shoulders.

"Ughhh... I wish there was a system that could level up my studying endurance too."

With that, Leon got up and headed for the kitchen.

"For some reason, I’m feeling a little hungry after the fight. Ever since I became a cultivator, I could go for a long time without eating. I wonder what’s different today."

He took out a packet of instant noodles, ready to cook it. Just then, his phone started ringing. Leon put the noodles down and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Seeing the caller ID, he raised an eyebrow.

"Henry should be at college. Why is he calling me now?"

He slid the answer icon and held the phone to his ear. Immediately, Henry’s excited voice came from the other end.

"Leooooon! Where are you, dude? Why didn’t you come to college today?"

"I had some personal matters to take care of. Why? Don’t tell me Miss Cicimore is looking for me just because I skipped today’s classes."

"Nah, it’s not that. We’re all heading to a nearby gym today to test our physical strength. The college has to submit online applications for the military training camp. Only students who perform well in the finals will be recommended, but before that, everyone has to pass a basic physical assessment. The college authority doesn’t want to embarrass itself by recommending someone who’s unawakened... or, in other words, someone below F-Class. That’s why they’re conducting the test beforehand."

Henry paused for a moment before continuing. "I’m sending you the location now. Don’t be late."

"Okay."

Leon hung up the phone. "A physical test, huh? If only the instrument at the Hunter Association could measure my Qi, I wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble. I’d already be rich by now. What a pain."

He started walking toward his room. Then, something suddenly crossed his mind.

"By the way, System," he said as he entered the room. "What about the loan I took from you earlier? After the last mission and today’s battle, I should have a lot of monster corpses in my storage, right?"

[Affirmative, Host.]

"Then what are you waiting for? Sell all those corpses and tell me how many Spirit Coins I still owe you."

[Understood, Host.]

[Monster corpses are being transacted.]

[Transaction complete.]

[Evaluating total value.]

[Outstanding debt is being deducted.]

[Transaction complete, Host.]

[The Host’s debt has been fully repaid.]

"What? Really? I’ve already paid back that many Spirit Coins?" Leon stopped in his tracks. Then realization dawned on him.

"Of course... Five Disaster Class monsters are no joke. Their corpses alone should be worth enough to cover the debt."

He looked at the panel again.

"Were all the Spirit Coins used to repay the debt, or do I still have some left?"

[The Host has remaining Spirit Coins.]

[Spirit Coins: 1.39 M]

"Hahahahaha!" Leon burst into laughter as he changed into a fresh set of clothes for going out.

"Finally, some truly good news. What reward could be more precious than money? Nothing. Whether it’s real-world currency or Spirit Coins used by the System, it doesn’t matter." He grinned shamelessly. He felt even happier than he had after breaking through just hours ago.

After changing his clothes, Leon quickly left the house and headed toward the location Henry had sent him.

Somewhere else, at that very moment...

Inside a spacious hall, several people sat around a D-end conference table. Standing beside the seat at the head of the table were two young figures.

They were none other than Hazel and Wren.

Bang!

A middle-aged man with long, curled mustaches slammed his palm onto the table.

"Nonsense! Clan Master, are you implying that one of us betrayed the clan? How can you even suspect us? We’ve devoted our entire lives to this clan, and our families have followed the same path for generations."

"Calm down, Dansel." A bald middle-aged man, who had been sitting with his eyes closed, finally spoke. "At least hear what the Clan Master has to say first."

Another woman with dark navy-blue hair nodded in agreement.

"Perhaps there’s been some misunderstanding, Clan Master. I don’t believe any of us would do something like that."

Besides Hazel’s father, who occupied the main seat, there were five other clan leaders in the hall. Hazel and Wren stood silently behind him.

Hazel’s father remained seated at the head of the table, his fingers interlocked, his chin resting on the back of his hands. His expression was grim, as though he were weighed down by countless thoughts.

Seeing his gloomy expression, everyone gradually fell silent.

Only then did the Clan Master slowly raise his head and sweep his gaze across the room.

"We are here to discuss an extremely serious matter. Yet, after seeing how you’ve all behaved, I can’t help but wonder how every one of you became clan leaders in the first place."

His voice turned colder. "It makes me question whether I should even be discussing this matter with you at all."

Silence descended upon the hall.

After a long moment, the Clan Master let out a weary sigh before speaking again.

"What I’m about to discuss very important and a delicate matter. We must act quickly."

He paused for a brief moment.

"Outside Summitas Valley, an individual has been found who can wield the Demon-Purging Aura. And he is definitely not from our clan."

The moment those words left his mouth, the expressions of everyone in the room changed. Their brows furrowed in disbelief.

One of the clan leaders instinctively opened his mouth to question him. However, the Clan Master’s cold gaze landed on him, forcing him to swallow his words.

The Clan Master continued calmly.

"Many of you may think that’s impossible. But it isn’t. Hazel witnessed it with her own eyes. Wren was there as well. If you have any doubts, you may ask them as many questions as you like later."

His expression gradually turned solemn. "But that isn’t the most important part. The Demon purging aura he wielded wasn’t ordinary. It was Indigo Demon purging aura... Dense indigo to be exact."

Every pair of eyes widened and snapped toward the Clan Master.

’Impossible.’ They all thought.