143: Chapter 143 Refusal

Four beautiful eyes.

Were staring at her without blinking.

One pair of beautiful eyes was filled with shock, ecstasy, daze, heartache, and other emotions, while the other pair shimmered with tears.

After a long silence, Ye Jingjun was the first to speak.

"You found him."

"His name is also Su Chen."

"And, you had already suspected it for a long time, right?"

...

Meanwhile.

On the square.

After the giant white hand insta-killed the Men in Black Robes, the young martial artists on the entire square fell silent.

Following her instructions, they very honestly and consciously lined up in a single file according to their point rankings.

Su Chen stood at the very front of the line, looking at the contract area ahead that was shrouded in soft spiritual light, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

Sorted by points, he was the well-deserved first place.

Theoretically, he possessed the highest priority of choice.

Or rather, the right to be chosen by a Heroic Spirit.

Behind him, the surviving young martial artists cast complex gazes upon him.

Jealousy, curiosity, scrutiny...

All sorts of looks.

Jiang Luoli stood half a step behind him, gently squeezed his hand, and whispered.

"Don't be nervous. With your strength and points, there will definitely be powerful Heroic Spirits willing to contract with you."

Su Chen nodded, took a deep breath, and stepped into that patch of spiritual light.

In an instant, his vision cleared.

What surprised him somewhat was...

The space within the spiritual light was not a great hall as he had expected.

Instead, it was a void that resembled a starry sky.

Specks of spiritual light floated like stars, and within each cluster of light, a human-sized figure was vaguely visible.

Presumably, these were the powerful Heroic Spirits who had been famous in Great Xia's history and even its mythology.

Dozens of gazes pierced through the spiritual light and landed on Su Chen.

Su Chen composed himself and, following the process previously informed by the Hall of Valor, bowed slightly.

Since his cover had already been blown by Su Zixi, he no longer hid his identity.

"Junior Su Chen, ranked first in the point trials."

"I have come to humbly ask for guidance from the senior Heroic Spirits."

"I wish to seek a fated bond, form a contract, and climb the peak of martial arts together."

His voice was clear and bright, neither humble nor arrogant.

He steadily released his aura of the peak of the Seventh Rank.

Although he was only at the Seventh Rank, it was power bestowed by the system after all.

His aura was exceptionally solid; one could tell at a glance that he was a martial artist sprout with infinite future potential.

The void fell silent for a moment.

Su Chen could feel those gazes probing him, carrying scrutiny and evaluation.

However, the expected proactive inquiries did not occur.

The atmosphere felt somewhat subtle.

Finally, from a cluster of crimson spiritual light to the front-left, a gruff and steady voice spoke.

"The kid has a solid foundation, with killing intent contained within rather than leaking out. He's a good sprout, possessing the same flair I, Old Sun, had back in the day."

"Pity..."

Su Chen took two steps forward and vaguely saw a face like a Thunder God appearing within the spiritual light.

His heart tightened.

It was actually this person.

A household name in Great Xia...

Even if this person hadn't been ranked as a Transcendent Heroic Spirit, he probably wasn't far off.

He paused and did not continue.

But that "pity" made Su Chen immediately feel a sense of foreboding.

Following that, another steady male voice rang out from the back-right.

"Tenacious character and powerful strength—truly rare."

"Pity, the timing is just wrong."

Su Chen looked at the figure within the spiritual light holding a halberd with a third eye on his forehead, and shook his head with a bitter smile.

"Yes, the karma entangled within him is quite deep; it's not something an ordinary contract can resolve."

A younger male voice sounded, sounding relatively more hot-tempered.

"It is already destined; forcing it is useless."

"It's not that we are unwilling, but that we truly cannot."

One voice after another rang out with various tones.

These Heroic Spirits belonged to different mythological and historical systems, but the meaning they expressed was strikingly consistent.

Rejection.

Moreover, their rejection was not aimed at Su Chen's talent or character.

On the contrary, they first affirmed that his abilities were sufficient, yet they all pointed vaguely to some kind of "destiny," "karma," or "timing."

Su Chen's heart sank bit by bit.

He looked up, his gaze sweeping across those blurred spiritual figures, trying to find some clue from them.

However, those Heroic Spirits seemed to have reached some kind of tacit understanding; they spoke no more and simply floated silently.

That kind of silence was more embarrassing than a direct denial.

"Seniors."

Su Chen couldn't help but speak up.

"This junior is dull. I do not know what this 'destiny' refers to?"

"You seniors have all said 'my life is mine to command, not the heavens'. Why is it that when it comes to me, the matter of a contract becomes 'destined'?"

"If this junior has any shortcomings, please state them clearly, seniors. This junior is willing to do his utmost to make amends."

The void fell into silence once again.

After a long time, the first voice that called himself Old Sun finally said slowly.

"Kid, it's not your fault."

"Your talent and character are the kind that even I, Old Sun, am envious of."

"To tell you the truth, if this were back during the Havoc in Heaven, I, Old Sun, would definitely have signed with you without caring about anything. Your natural talent is worth a gamble for me."

"It's just that, after that, I finally understood that some people simply cannot be offended..."

"Go. Your path does not lie here."

Hearing this, Su Chen's pupils constricted slightly.

A higher-level power play?

In this case, he could only think of three factions.

First, the authorities.

Pressure being applied to him because of that background of unknown authenticity.

Second, the faction the Men in Black Robes belonged to, but they shouldn't be able to order these legendary figures around, so they could be ruled out.

Third.

Transcendent Heroic Spirits.

A surge of emotion, hard to tell if it was anger or absurdity, welled up in his heart.

Relying on his strength, he had rightfully taken first place.

Yet he was losing the chance to contract a Heroic Spirit because of some inexplicable high-level power play.

What was this supposed to be?

But he did not lose his composure after all.

Two lifetimes of experience had long ago taught him to bury his emotions deep in his heart.

He bowed again, his voice revealing no hint of joy or anger.

"Su Chen thanks the seniors for their guidance. This junior takes his leave."

After saying that, he turned and walked out of that spiritual light area without hesitation.

Almost the instant he stepped out of the spiritual light area, his powerful divine sense clearly perceived it.

The entire square was instantly filled with low-voiced clamor and discussion.

"He's out, so soon?"

"It looks like... it didn't work?"

"How is that possible? This is the first place in points. With so many Heroic Spirits, not a single one took an interest? This has never happened to a first-place point-earner in previous years."

"Tsk, as expected, he's a fraud. A first place gotten by relying on a woman to farm points. He could fool those idiots in the government, but the eyes of the Heroic Spirit Lords are sharp as a tack."

"Hahaha, I'm dying. Wasn't he acting all impressive just now? Now he's dumbfounded, right?"

"I said it before, a kid of unknown origin, on what basis does he..."

Voices of schadenfreude that had been waiting for a long time came from every corner.

They were particularly loud coming from those few martial artists who had been scared silly and speechless just now, but were now raring to go upon seeing his "failure."

Half of this group was envious of Su Chen's opportunities, and half was envious of the "White Moonlight" of the younger generation of martial artists by his side—Jiang Luoli.

(I didn't expect that waking up, it would really be enough! Wuwuwu, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have doubted the readers.)

(Kowtowing to everyone!)