Chapter 143: Successful Master Selection

Chapter 143: Chapter 143: Successful Master Selection

Lucius was dressed very thinly.

The moment Jeremy’s hand touched the fabric pressed against his abdomen, warmth transferred through the thin shirt and spread out. The outline of the abdominal muscles beneath his palm was extremely distinct, firm, and slightly rising and falling with each breath.

Jeremy wasn’t swayed, trying to retract his hand. But the hand covering his pressed down even tighter, and the fox tail wrapped around his waist also silently pushed him a half-step closer.

The distance was so close it couldn’t be any closer, almost close enough to hear the other’s heartbeat.

"..."

Jeremy remained silent.

Indeed not a stick insect. In all fairness, both his physique and face were flawlessly impeccable.

But he had only said that in passing, not expecting this guy to hold such a grudge.

Isn’t this a bit too childish.

"Am I... right?"

Lucius deliberately leaned down slightly. His voice rang right by Jeremy’s ear, dropping a few degrees.

Every word was distinct, carrying an indescribable magical charm.

Jeremy stared at him for a few seconds.

No answer.

Even less indulging him.

He used his free right hand to tightly grab the base of the other’s tail, then gave it a hard squeeze.

"!"

A bizarre sensation shot up his tailbone, quickly coiling and spreading throughout his whole body. Lucius flinched, let go of the hand, and jerked backward.

The one who was just complaining about the cold was now flushed red in an instant. Unclear if it was from pain, or for some other reason.

"You..." His voice was as small as a mosquito’s buzz, blowing away with a single gust of wind.

Not knowing what else he intended to complain about after that "you." In short, it couldn’t be heard clearly.

Couldn’t handle the cold, couldn’t handle the heat, couldn’t even handle talking. Had a severe cleanliness obsession and was also afraid of pain.

If you gathered all the complaints from this picky guy’s list, an entire empire wouldn’t be able to hold them.

Jeremy didn’t bother much, satisfied as he retracted his hand, ignored him, and turned to walk towards the edge of the sea.

Lucius watched the retreating back, unable to believe it.

He just left like that?

Suppressing the subconscious urge to tail him, he gave a cold snort, coldly turned his back, and walked in the opposite direction.

Waiting until he disappeared into a corner, still unable to swallow his anger, he summoned a water mirror to evaluate himself.

...Isn’t it very good?

In that guy’s eyes, he looked like a stick insect?

Lucius raised his hand to pull the furry hood over his head, hiding a face full of gloom.

...Should he start training again a bit?

His condition had been terrible lately; his appearance had indeed become somewhat haggard.

"..."

But it wasn’t to the point of being hard to look at.

And why did he have to care so much about that guy’s view...

He clearly already knew getting close brought no more benefits. Was it still necessary to continue acting.

Lucius realized the absurdity of this moment a beat too late. But just thinking about being treated coldly like a stranger by someone, or the sight of someone else like him snuggling close to that person, he felt inexplicably irritable.

Jeremy had no idea Lucius was standing in a corner evaluating himself in a mirror.

Seeing the current condition of the others was still acceptable, he walked straight to the edge of the sea, channeling magic power into the water, preparing to probe inside.

Unfortunately, before his magic power could penetrate ten meters, it was repelled by a force, only faintly allowing him to see a layer of golden barrier.

Jeremy retracted his magic power, pondering slightly.

Earlier, among the seven Magic Tower people, someone had mentioned the phrase "Caelum Jade’s master-selection trial."

The current phenomenon probably indicated the trial had begun.

The sea surface was extremely calm, but the elemental magic power concentration was rising incessantly.

And the barrier trapping this entire area wasn’t weakening with time; conversely, it was continuously expanding its coverage.

Jeremy casually picked up a spear from the ground, channeled magic power into it, and hurled it with all his strength straight at the barrier.

A humming sound rang out. The pale golden barrier didn’t budge an inch, not even a single crack appeared. Conversely, the spear forged from black iron shattered to dust.

At the same time, the calm sea surface abruptly surged. A wave of spiritual power rippled out, a coercive pressure descending in the blink of an eye.

That warning phenomenon forced Jeremy to completely abandon the idea of forcibly breaking the barrier.

A head-on confrontation would yield no benefits. And diving to the seabed was a clear dead end.

For now, he could only wait for this battle for serendipity to end.

The number of deaths in this area wasn’t small; the "random legacies" that needed gathering were all gathered. This trip couldn’t be said to be empty-handed, it could even be called a very decent harvest, but sitting around waiting like this was a bit of a waste of time.

Jeremy looked at his teammates: "The magic element concentration here is almost ten times that of the academy, and before the serendipity selects a master, it will probably rise even more. If we can’t get out right now, we might as well take advantage of this to cultivate and absorb magic power. We might actually gain something real."

Evelyn, upon hearing this, immediately stood up, found a relatively clean spot, sat down, and entered a meditative state.

Phoenix and Leon followed suit.

As for Lucius, he curled up in the fox fur cloak he had just complained was too short, turned his back to the group, and huddled in a corner against the wall, not knowing what he was thinking.

Jeremy didn’t ignore him. When his hand was grabbed earlier, he had taken the opportunity to use magic power to scan the other’s body once over.

The external injuries had fully healed. The internal injuries hadn’t completely recovered, but after all those days of treatment, there was nothing to worry about anymore; a day or two more and he would be fine.

The recent anomalies were probably truly just because he hated this place and was afraid of the cold.

Once immersed in cultivation, time passes invisibly as if someone pressed the fast-forward button.

Two months flew by. For the majority of the time, all five were in a meditative state, focusing on absorbing magic power.

To prevent midway incidents, they didn’t meditate simultaneously but took turns standing guard, concurrently observing the external situation to guard against contingencies.

Under the influence of the serendipity’s birth, the elemental power in the entire secret realm converged here, thickening by the day. Up to now, the magic power concentration had reached a terrifying level, nearly a hundred times that of the outside.

It could be said that one hour of cultivation here equaled one day of normal cultivation.

Unfortunately, the higher the realm, the harder it is to level up, pressed down by the Covenant Mark number.

Therefore, even after grinding solidly for two months, their realms hadn’t bumped up much.

Evelyn went up one star, currently Intermediate Stage Four-Star.

The remaining three also gained one star, all currently Intermediate Stage Three-Star.

But it was still better than standing still.

Coupled with the time before being swept into this sea area, they had set foot in the Myriad Beasts Domain for sixty-nine days.

The three-month deadline Griffin set was drawing near. Afraid of missing the chance to leave, all five decided to stop cultivating.

On the seventy-first day, the calm sea surface abruptly surged with massive waves. The solid, unbreakable barrier also began to crack like a mirror.

Clouds rolled on the horizon. The ground began to tremble.

A series of anomalies all signaled that the Caelum Jade had chosen a master.

This secret realm was about to dissipate.

When a massive suction force yanked the group outwards, the chain whip in Jeremy’s hand appeared, wrapping around the four to avoid being separated.

A bout of the world spinning. Very quickly, they were forcibly pushed out of the secret realm.

Standing steady, Jeremy retracted the chain whip, resting for a beat to let the dizziness pass, then immediately swept his gaze around.

It was the forest they had stood in on the very first day, before entering the secret realm.

The difference was that the secret realm gate in the center had vanished, replaced by a pitch-black black hole hanging on the horizon.

From that black hole, figures were continuously spat out; the lucky survivors were being forcibly ejected.

Jeremy blinked, signaling his teammates.

The four understood, following him to quickly withdraw from this area that was about to turn into a place of conflict.

A dozen minutes later, after entirely leaving that area, Jeremy finally stopped.

He took out the Myriad Beasts Domain map, just about to say they would choose the shortest route to leave, when he suddenly caught a familiar magical fluctuation.

Jeremy’s gaze paused. He put away the map, looking ahead.

In less than three seconds, a magic array appeared in mid-air.

A tall figure leisurely stepped out from the spatial gate.

The newcomer wore a pitch-black long cloak. His long blue hair, usually left loose, was rarely tied back with a ribbon, hanging down over his right shoulder.

Perhaps because he came in a hurry, the black cloak was stained with patches of dark red blood.

The loose inner shirt revealed his collarbone and a large patch of skin, also speckled with blood spots like plum blossoms.

On that handsome, almost gorgeous face, he wore silver-rimmed glasses.

The tassels attached to the frame swayed gently with every step; every single movement drew people’s eyes.

But in the very first second of his appearance, his emotionless sentence shattered that atmosphere.

"The Nyxfrost Immortal Herb, did you get it?"