"Brother Feng, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Gao Hai, who was standing behind Lin Feng, seemed to notice something strange and asked in confusion.
"It's nothing, just feeling a bit dizzy."
"Oh." Gao Hai turned to look at Ya Ge, pointed at Lin Feng, and whispered, "Brother Feng seems to be in a bad mood. Why don't you go comfort him?"
In Gao Hai's eyes, Lin Feng was clearly frustrated and sad because he couldn't fuse with a demon spirit, while Ya Ge had merged with the Enchanting Butterfly and soared high. It would have been fine without the comparison, but with it, Lin Feng's disappointment was even more painful.
Gao Hai wanted to console Lin Feng, but didn't know how to start and could only signal to Ya Ge.
Seeing Lin Feng's heavy expression, Ya Ge—still in her demonized state after merging with the Enchanting Butterfly—slightly parted her lips, her pink pupils gently flickering, as if she wanted to say something, yet ultimately she said nothing.
After standing in line for more than half an hour, it was finally Lin Feng's turn. Somewhat anxious, he stepped forward, only to find the Demon-Revealing Mirror completely empty.
"Lin Feng, sixteen years old, Jiangxin Middle School senior, Body Cultivator, Seventh Rank..."
After recording his identity information, Lin Feng was escorted away.
"Inside the Sealing Evil Seal is a special space—it must've shielded the Demon-Revealing Mirror's detection." Lin Feng, whose heart had been pounding, finally let out a sigh of relief and thought to himself.
"The Sealing Evil Seal can actually block the Demon-Revealing Mirror. If used properly, this could be quite the money-maker."
Lin Feng thought quietly to himself.
These days, all kinds of rare and precious secret arts are exposed in front of the Demon-Revealing Mirror. No one dares to take risks. Right now, there are likely only a handful who know the Sealing Evil Seal, and even fewer would know it can block the Demon-Revealing Mirror.
Just this one secret technique and piece of intel would be worth at least ten million.
Lin Feng did consider selling this information. But after thinking about it, he quickly gave up on this tempting idea.
If anything went wrong with the transaction, people might guess he had already captured a rare demon spirit. By then, the Nightmare inside him would be in danger.
Moreover, the Sealing Evil Seal demands extremely high control over spiritual power and Spiritual Power. In his previous life, Lin Feng was an Eighth Grade Martial Artist, seasoned and skilled, which was why he succeeded. For any sixteen-year-old peer, it would be impossible to cast it, let alone imprison a demon spirit.
Right after Lin Feng, it was Gao Hai's turn for testing. The Demon-Revealing Mirror showed a burly Ox Demon. After Gao Hai, it was Ya Ge's turn. She was still in her demonized state, so everyone knew she'd fused with an Eighth Grade Enchanting Butterfly.
Standing before the Demon-Revealing Mirror, the girl enjoyed the admiring glances from the crowd, a slight smile curling her lips.
Before everyone's eyes, a brilliantly colored butterfly demon with seven-colored wings and an aura of enchantment appeared slowly.
The moment this butterfly demon emerged, bursts of exclamations rippled through the crowd.
"Ya Ge, sixteen years old, Jiangxin Middle School senior, Body Cultivator, Sixth Rank, refinement of Eighth Grade Enchanting Butterfly..."
And just after her information was recorded, as Ya Ge was about to leave, the heads of various martial arts halls and clubs rushed forward, impatiently saying: "Miss Ya Ge, please join our Ruiyi Club! We have a contract worth ten million ready for you."
"Miss Ya, we at Hurricane Martial Arts Hall are the most established in Jiang City. As long as you sign, we'll provide you with a residence right away, plus a five-million New Coin joining bonus."
"Student Ya Ge, why not join our Lightning Club? Our club is A-grade! We'll give you an eight-year contract worth forty million New Coin, and when you graduate from university, you're guaranteed a ten-million New Coin endorsement deal."
"Our Jazz Club offers a ten-year contract at one hundred million New Coin, with a sixty-forty profit split—you get sixty. The terms are absolutely top-tier, just like superstar Wang Jue had back in the day."
The various martial arts halls and clubs all threw out olive branches. Having never experienced this before, Ya Ge was clearly a bit overwhelmed. But while she'd never tasted pork, she'd certainly seen a pig run; the clever girl knew well how to keep her value high. She didn't agree to anyone, politely collected all the business cards, and replied with a smile: "Thank you for your interest. I need to go home and discuss this with my family."
This answer was hardly satisfactory to the crowd, so some began raising their offers. Even so, Ya Ge refused to commit. Though they didn't get what they wanted, her respectful attitude left everyone pleased.
"Student Ya Ge, I'm the head of the Jiang City branch of Juxing Club. We invite you to join!" At that moment, a voice rang out and everyone immediately fell silent.
Juxing Club—ah!
They didn't even mention any terms, but just their name says enough.
The club that can reach the top three in the War of Honor every year.
"No way, even Juxing Club is making an offer."
"Damn it, now Juxing Club is getting involved! What's the point of competing anymore? Just forget it!"
Though Ya Ge had turned them down, the clubs didn't give up and planned to contact her privately, but now—hearing Juxing Club's recruitment—their intentions vanished.
Juxing Club is the giant among clubs!
No exaggeration: joining Juxing Club is harder than getting into one of the Three Heroic Academies. Even top graduates from those schools would struggle to join.
Ya Ge's Eighth Grade Enchanting Butterfly was rare, its value and special effects comparable to a Ninth Grade demon spirit, but it likely wouldn't impress Juxing Club.
Their targets should be the blond-haired boy—or Ye Qiu.
Only geniuses like them, who've refined a Ninth Grade Six-winged Illusion Python or the Thorny Demon Dragon that's ranked on the Earth Chart, would be recruited by Juxing Club!
"Why are you so excited?"
Lin Feng looked at the man beside him, Gao Hai, feeling amused. The latter was quivering with excitement, his bull-like face flushed crimson!
Is it really necessary to be this worked up?
It's not like you've been invited.
"You ask why I'm so excited? Come on, that's Juxing Club!"
Gao Hai turned, clenched his fists, and said, half in disbelief.
Now, in the year 2389, ever since 2056, small cracks began appearing all across Earth—at first, almost paper-thin—so nobody knew what lay inside.
But as the cracks appeared and widened, they brought a strange new energy.
This energy was called Spiritual Power by humanity.
The emergence of Spiritual Power greatly enhanced human physical fitness, Martial Arts returned, and the era of cultivation began for all. At the same time, animals underwent mutations—or evolution.
Countless birds and beasts evolved into demon beasts, gaining all sorts of powerful and bizarre abilities. Compared to humans, demon beasts naturally had the advantage of flesh and blood; the wildness and slaughter in their blood drove them to attack humanity.
Against such powerful demon beasts, ordinary hot weapons were useless. Nukes—if used—couldn't kill some demon beasts, and detonating them could even make the beasts mutate, becoming stronger.
Only powerful Martial Artists could kill top-level demon beasts, yet clearly, the number of demon beasts far surpassed the number of Martial Artists.
At that time, the sky was devoid of sunlight, covered by birds, the earth soaked in blood—humans reduced to fugitives and prey.
In barely three years, humanity's population plunged from nine billion to five billion; some small nations vanished outright, until one bold Martial Artist had the idea to fuse a demon spirit into his Dantian. Only then did mankind escape from extinction.
Demon spirit in the body, refinement of demon spirit—one could gain part of the demon beast's powers, soar through the skies and burrow through the earth, nothing impossible.
The rise of Demon Spirit Masters finally let humanity stand its ground, gradually grow stronger, and ultimately drive out the demon beasts.
During the disaster, humanity united as never before, eventually expelling the demon beasts.
Soon after the fighting ended, as the cracks widened enough for people to enter, peace was shattered.
Inside those cracks lay a vaster and more mysterious world.
It was named the Otherworld.
The Spiritual Power on Earth poured in from there, and the concentration of Spiritual Qi in the Otherworld was three times greater than Earth's. All sorts of Treasures of Heaven and Earth formed there, along with even more mysterious demon beasts.
To humans, the Otherworld was a natural goldmine—thus, the scramble began.
Within a decade, humans fell into fierce chaos. Powerful Martial Artists and Demon Spirit Masters from many countries battled in the Otherworld, war broke out, global population dropped another billion, and the demon beasts took advantage and triggered the "War of Dawn." Humanity almost got wiped out, until the creation of Guardian Divine Artifacts finally put a stop to it.
To prevent repeating history, nations signed an agreement to create a game.
That game is the War of Honor.
In the War of Honor, each country's rank determines the division of territory in the Otherworld, allotment of resources, scientific research rights, even international sway and voting rights.
That's why, in today's era, actors and singers are just distractions in life—the only real stars are War of Honor contestants.
They are the pride of the city, and the glory of the nation.