C21 The Divine God Religion Retreated the Grandmaster Appeared!!

Outside the Martial Artist Association, Bai Zhan erupted in a golden radiance as he threw a punch, causing the very air around him to ripple slightly. This was the power of the Golden Body Stage, where one's skin became as impervious as gold. At this level, not even the sharpest of weapons could inflict a scratch, unless wielded as a Spirit Weapon.

Facing Bai Zhan stood a man cloaked in black, his body too shimmering with a soft golden glow, though it paled in comparison to Bai Zhan's brilliant aura.

"Curse the Divine God Religion for daring to invade our human cities!" Bai Zhan seethed with rage. It was a rare occurrence for the Divine God Religion to launch such invasions, given the immense manpower and resources required. Little was gained from taking over smaller cities, and they lacked the strength to conquer larger ones. This attack was an exception, likely spurred by the exposure of Su Yu's exceptional golden talent. Bai Zhan's fury grew, blaming himself for the oversight.

"Ha, what's the harm in paying a price to slay one of your God's Favored? In the end, we come out ahead," taunted the man in black.

Suddenly, a youthful voice cut through the tension. "Are you here to kill me?"

"What?" The man in black whipped around to locate the source of the voice.

There, beside a room's glass window, stood a young man dressed in white sportswear, flanked by a robust middle-aged man and an elder. It was Su Yu, Dong Buwei, and Lau Kuang, fresh from their recent skirmish.

The black-robed man's pupils contracted in shock. "Impossible! How could you survive against three Viscera Refining Stage and six Blood Refining Stage cultivators? A bunch of incompetents!"

With Su Yu's appearance, the man in black knew instantly that their mission had failed. They had been too rushed this time, attempting to thwart both the grandmaster of Jiangnan Province and Bai Zhan, the instructor of the God's Favored Camp. They had exhausted their available forces, and it had not been enough.

Unexpectedly, in the end, failure was still the outcome.

"Hahaha, the heavens favor our human race. You villains will not succeed!" Bai Zhan exclaimed with glee, launching a punch to finish off the black-robed man.

The black-robed man, having held his own against Bai Zhan for so long, was clearly no pushover. He effortlessly parried Bai Zhan's punch.

His sinister eyes fixed on Su Yu. "Su Yu, is it? Excellent. You're now on my radar!"

"You may have been lucky this time, but brace yourself for the relentless onslaught of assassins from my Divine God Religion!"

With a roar, the black-robed man summoned all his strength to repel Bai Zhan and began to make his escape.

But Bai Zhan wasn't about to let him off that easily. "Stay right there!"

With a thunderous bellow, Bai Zhan thrust his fists forward, a surge of golden light enveloping them, and struck the black-robed man with full force.

The black-robed man was tough, enduring Bai Zhan's blows and spewing blood wildly.

Yet, he seized the momentum from Bai Zhan's punch to accelerate his escape into the wilderness.

Bai Zhan's expression turned grim. "Damn, he got away!"

Choosing not to pursue, Bai Zhan pondered the possibility of other Divine God Religion experts lurking in Hengcheng. Right now, the priority was to ensure Su Yu's safety!

Once the Divine God Religion's experts, lacking the Golden Body Stage, had withdrawn, the turmoil within Hengcheng quickly subsided.

An hour later, inside a room at the Martial Artist Association, Bai Zhan, Dong Buwei, Lau Kuang, and Su Yu sat in silence on the couch.

"To think that a moment's oversight could have led to such peril," Bai Zhan remarked, still shaken.

Dong Buwei chuckled. "Fortunately, we've thwarted the Divine God Religion's schemes."

Bai Zhan shook his head. "That's not quite right. Over the years, too many of our brightest have fallen to the Divine God Religion. We must always be vigilant."

"But as for Su Yu... he can no longer remain in Hengcheng."

Bai Zhan's gaze settled on Su Yu, whose expression grew somber.

To be honest, even with the aid of a Spirit Weapon, I could take down a Martial Cultivator who's just stepped into the Blood Refining Stage. But if the Divine God Religion were to deploy someone from the late Blood Refining Stage or the Viscera Refining Stage, I'd stand no chance at all. I'd be a dead man walking! So, I need to plan ahead.

"Here's what we'll do: as soon as Old Master Wang arrives, we'll head to the God's Favored Camp. Other things aside, Su Yu's safety will be guaranteed there," Bai Zhan mused.

"But from what I've heard, the God's Favored Camp isn't open yet. There's still about half a month to go, right?" Dong Buwei inquired.

Bai Zhan gestured dismissively. "This year, the situation in Jiangnan Province is somewhat unusual. We've got an orange-level God's Favored... and then there's Su Yu..." He glanced at Su Yu before continuing, "So the authorities might decide to open it earlier, which is actually good news."

At that point, Su Yu looked puzzled. "I thought the God's Favored Camp was always open?"

Bai Zhan, now treating Su Yu with much more kindness, explained with a smile, "Strictly speaking, those aren't the true God's Favored. They have a different status."

"Oh?" Su Yu prompted.

"Repeaters!" Bai Zhan revealed.

"Repeaters? What does that mean?" Su Yu asked, clearly baffled.

Bai Zhan elaborated, "Repeaters are individuals who've taken the college entrance exam before. If they didn't make it into their desired Martial Dao Academy, they can try again. But they're only allowed to do so three times at most."

"Currently, those in the God's Favored Camp are all repeaters. Their scores are tallied with yours. Having gone through the college entrance exam once and with an additional year of preparation, they're bound to perform even better this time around."

"The better their performance, the more resources the Martial Artist Association of Jiangnan Province can secure. That's why the repeaters also have their own quota in the God's Favored Camp."

Listening to Bai Zhan's explanation, Su Yu finally had a moment of clarity.

However, as Su Yu was about to delve deeper with his questions, a formidable surge of energy pulsated throughout Hengcheng.

All four turned their gazes toward the window.

There, they beheld an elderly man with youthful features and white hair, standing barefoot upon the void, his detached eyes sweeping over all of Hengcheng.

While Su Yu, Lau Kuang, and the others looked on with curiosity,

Bai Zhan hurriedly stepped forward.

"Instructor Bai Zhan of the God's Favored Camp, at your service, Mr. President!"

This individual was none other than the president of the Martial Artist Association of Jiangnan Province, and concurrently, the only publicly acknowledged Grandmaster Stage Expert in Jiangnan Province—Wang Loong!

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