"An hour?"

Upon hearing Ye Qingchen’s words, a wave of fury washed over Wang Teng, and he spat out another mouthful of blood. Darkness flickered before his eyes, and he nearly collapsed.

Given the current situation, I’d be lucky to hold on for another ten minutes. If I really have to wait for an hour, it won’t be a question of whether I can survive, but whether I’ll have been completely digested by the Spirit Beasts and turned into a pile of dung. Clearly, Ye Qingchen is deliberately messing with me!

Wang Teng was utterly enraged. It is said that the extremity of fear is anger, and this was perfectly exemplified by him.

He yelled at Ye Qingchen, his voice hoarse with exhaustion and fury, "Ye Qingchen, you never intended to let me go! Those words just now were to humiliate me and trick me out of my Spirit Beast Egg, weren’t they?"

Ye Qingchen just shook his head indifferently. "Wang Teng, you can be careless with your food, but not with your words. Don’t say I never intended to let you go; you brought this upon yourself. Besides, you swore an oath that the Spirit Beast Egg was a voluntary gift. You’d best not bring it up again. And anyway, wasn’t I planning to help you? It’s just that my abilities are limited, and after the huge expenditure of energy in that last battle, I need time to recover..."

Ye Qingchen’s words made Zi Xing chuckle, surprised to see he had such a shameless side.

However, Wang Teng had no mind to ponder whether Ye Qingchen was shameless or not. In that short time, he had been struck by the Spirit Beasts several more times. His academy uniform was reduced to shreds hanging from his body, and his arms, chest, and legs bore dozens of wounds of varying sizes. Blood flowed from them, covering almost his entire body. His injuries had reached an irreparable state.

Knowing his life was at its end, Wang Teng hurled a final curse at Ye Qingchen.

"Ye Qingchen, even as a ghost, I won’t let you go! I am the sole heir of the Wang Family! If I die because of you today, just you wait for the Wang Family’s relentless revenge! Not just you, but all of your relatives and friends will be wiped out by our Wang Family!"

Faced with Wang Teng’s threat, Ye Qingchen simply shrugged it off. Hadn’t he been threatened countless times before? And wasn’t he still living just fine?

But at that very moment, an overwhelmingly powerful energy, enough to make one’s heart tremble, shot from the distance. It pierced the sky like a long rainbow and struck the trapping Formation with immense force!

BOOM!

A muffled sound erupted as the first layer of the trapping Formation instantly crumbled.

This sudden turn of events left everyone present too shocked to react, but Ye Qingchen’s gaze was locked onto the figure that had suddenly appeared in the sky. The ability to fly meant the newcomer’s strength had reached the Martial Emperor Realm.

The man was very young and clearly not an instructor from Central Celestial Academy, so his identity was obvious: he had to be a disciple of the academy.

If I remember correctly, the strongest participant in this Inner Sect Disciple examination was only at the Peak of the Martial King Realm. So where did this Martial Emperor Realm expert come from? 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Trapped within the Formation, Wang Teng also saw the newcomer. His despair turned to elation as he shouted, "Brother Wang Meng, hurry, save me!"

Wang Meng could see that Wang Teng couldn’t hold on any longer. He immediately struck again, shattering the final layer of the trapping Formation in an instant.

He then rushed into the siege of the six Spirit Beasts, cradling Wang Teng’s faltering body. With one hand, he formed a series of Seal Formulas, continuously attacking the Spirit Beasts.

The Spirit Beasts, which had been so imperious just moments before, couldn’t even withstand a single one of Wang Meng’s moves before he obliterated them.

"Wang Meng? An Inner Sect Disciple from Duanjin Academy!" Zi Xing exclaimed, surprise flickering in her beautiful eyes as she looked at the newcomer.

Ye Qingchen looked at Zi Xing, puzzled. "Senior Sister Zi Xing, you know this person?"

Zi Xing nodded. "Because of our conflict with Wang Teng during registration, I went back and specifically looked up information about him. Wang Teng’s uncle, Wang Tong, is the Vice President of Duanjin Academy. The Wang Family only has one male heir in Wang Teng, so his status is exceptional. However, Wang Tong once saved an orphan and brought him to Central Celestial Academy. That orphan is this Wang Meng."

"After growing up, Wang Meng displayed an unparalleled talent for cultivation. He smoothly joined Central Celestial Academy, becoming a disciple of Duanjin Academy. Vice President Wang Tong also adopted him as a son. It’s said that a year ago, Wang Meng had already reached the third level of the Martial Emperor Realm. He hasn’t been seen for a year, so no one knows how much stronger he’s become."

After hearing Zi Xing’s introduction, Ye Qingchen nodded grimly. Regardless of whether Wang Meng had made a breakthrough in the past year, the strength of a third-level Martial Emperor Realm expert alone was far beyond what he could currently handle.

After rescuing Wang Teng, Wang Meng hastily took out his Spirit Pill and gave it to him, then urged him to meditate and absorb its medicinal power to recover.

Once that was done, Wang Meng’s gaze turned cold as he walked toward Ye Qingchen and Zi Xing.

Wang Meng had been training in the core of the Secret Realm when he suddenly received a message from his adoptive father that Wang Teng was in trouble, so he had rushed over. Although by seniority he was Wang Teng’s older brother, the arrogant and unruly Wang Teng had never truly treated him as one.

Even so, Wang Meng bore no resentment toward Wang Teng. After all, if Wang Tong hadn’t taken him in all those years ago, he might have long since perished in the jaws of wild beasts and would never have achieved his current success. Wang Tong’s affection for Wang Teng was undisguised, and Wang Meng was well aware of this. So, upon hearing Wang Teng was in trouble, he dropped everything to come.

As soon as he arrived, he saw Wang Teng surrounded by six Spirit Beasts and on the brink of death. Although Wang Teng had immediately gone to heal without explaining what happened, everyone else present, aside from Ye Qingchen and Zi Xing, was a disciple of Duanjin Academy. Furthermore, judging by their recent attitudes, Ye Qingchen and Zi Xing seemed to be enjoying the spectacle. Wang Meng was convinced that they had to be involved.

As Wang Meng walked toward them, Ye Qingchen knew that with his strength, facing a third-level Martial Emperor Realm expert—or stronger—he had no chance of victory. Even escaping was unlikely. As Wang Meng drew near, Ye Qingchen instinctively moved to shield Zi Xing, on full alert.

Wang Meng completely disregarded Ye Qingchen’s defensive posture and said coldly, "Tell me what happened. If you dare to lie, then there’s no need for you to live."

Before Ye Qingchen could speak, Zi Xing answered first, "Your brother and his companions were trapped by a Formation. We helped them defeat the Spirit Beasts and promised your brother we would help him break the Formation, but we didn’t expect you to arrive."

Wang Meng frowned. "So, you’re saying you’re my brother’s allies?"

At that moment, a disciple from Duanjin Academy shouted from a distance, "Senior Brother Wang Meng, don’t believe them! They’re the ones who set up the Formation! They only killed the Spirit Beasts to snatch our points! Senior Brother Wang Teng was seriously injured because of their treacherous plot!"

Hearing this, Wang Meng’s pupils contracted sharply as a surge of murderous intent erupted from him.