Outside the Little Spirit Realm, above the Spring of Life

Zheng Xuejun sat on a rock, hands crossed under his chin, eyes filled with tension as he looked towards the direction of the Little Spirit Realm, hoping the three would return safely.

Actually, exploration in the Little Spirit Realm is dangerous. If there’s no life-saving tool, it’s entirely possible to die in the Little Spirit Realm. Therefore, before entering the Little Spirit Realm, he secretly left spatial marks on the three of them to save them at critical moments.

But these marks aren’t used for free. If they’re triggered, Zheng Xuejun has to pay a hefty price on their behalf, which pains him.

So he hopes the children will return safely.

Zheng Xuejun glanced at his arm and murmured, "It’s been almost seven hours. Almost three days have passed inside. I wonder how their exploration is going."

"As long as they don’t act recklessly and avoid the most dangerous canyon, there shouldn’t be any major problems. Even though Sea Beasts are relatively numerous, as long as they quickly break through, they can avoid being excessively besieged. The concentration of Spiritual Energy near the shore is relatively lower, so there’s no need to worry..."

"Bang!"

Suddenly, a familiar figure emerged from within the Spring of Life. It was Ye Mingqiu, who calmly stepped forward, followed by Tang Ruobing and Feng Xinglie, who also emerged one after another from the Spring of Life.

Zheng Xuejun squinted to observe. Ye Mingqiu and Tang Ruobing’s expressions were relatively indifferent, without any sign of joy. Feng Xinglie’s mood seemed somewhat low as well, as if having experienced some setbacks, yet having gained some enlightenment from them, his eyes appeared firmer than ever.

If nothing unexpected happened, their exploration likely encountered unexpected events, forcing an interrupted return, hence their spirits weren’t high.

In the past, when others succeeded in the challenge, they’d usually express their joy exuberantly, making it obvious they had completed it smoothly.

However...

Zheng Xuejun still felt somewhat puzzled. Tang Ruobing and Ye Mingqiu were strong, with high intelligence levels, and Feng Xinglie was someone he watched progress through high school; how could they possibly fail? Many who were weaker than them had succeeded in previous challenges.

Yet he didn’t ask much, merely offering a calm smile, saying, "This challenge is just a small part of your life journey. There’s no need to feel any special emotions because of it. The path ahead is still long, and I hope you all reach peaks unattainable by those before you. I believe in you."

"Hmm."

"Okay."

Ye Mingqiu and Tang Ruobing’s expressions didn’t change much, simply responding calmly, with the former even casually fiddling with the structure of Technique models, attempting to optimize the speed of Technique construction learned from books.

And Tang Ruobing, she was lowering her glass-like eyes, a strange light flowing at the base of her pupils, pondering the deconstruction of Technique compositions within the Demon Secret Scripture, wondering if mental calculations could be reasonable and effective.

Finally, Feng Xinglie smiled and said, "That’s right, I still have a long way to go in the future."

"Hmm."

Zheng Xuejun felt Feng Xinglie’s mindset seemed fairly good, not as bad as he had imagined. It felt more like he had grown stronger and more resolute through tempered experience, rather than being determined to rise again after failure.

Perhaps things weren’t bad, maybe even fruitful, so he tentatively asked, "How was the exploration? If inconvenient, you can choose to keep it private."

"There’s nothing inconvenient, an S+ level rating has no need to be hidden," Feng Xinglie said.

"S+ rating?"

Zheng Xuejun was momentarily stunned.

Because, previous challengers would mention which layer they reached, rather than any rating. Since he mentioned his rating, it meant...he had already successfully cleared the Nine-Story Tower! He actually succeeded in clearing it!

Instantly, joy surged across Zheng Xuejun’s face, smiling as he patted Feng Xinglie’s shoulder and said, "Hey, you cleared it, why are you still lacking confidence in your strength? You had me thinking you failed. I knew you could do it, kid."

"No need to brag, they came out much earlier than me, I’m the slowest, the weakest," Feng Xinglie sighed in response.

"?"

Zheng Xuejun turned his gaze to Ye Mingqiu, his heart suddenly skipped a beat, asking, "Then...what’s your rating?"

"SSS+."

"Same."

Ye Mingqiu and Tang Ruobing replied calmly, showing no change in emotion, as this challenge wasn’t difficult for them. Achieving the highest rating was a normal occurrence.

However, when Tang Ruobing spoke, she instinctively glanced at Ye Mingqiu, a peculiar change flashing in her eyes.

She felt surpassed, a feeling that made her uncomfortable. She achieved full score because she met the full score requirement, while Ye Mingqiu got full score likely because the maximum rating was only SSS+. In terms of time, his completion speed was much faster.

"Two full ratings?"

Zheng Xuejun’s face blossomed with laughter, full ratings meant securing 100% experience, various tools, or even enhancements to Body Basic Potential and Soul Potential—substantial improvements.

Now, Tang Ruobing’s level should have already risen to Level 10, soon able to be directly admitted. Combined with Feng Xinglie, Chenghai Second Middle School had three direct admissions into Tier Two, greatly enhancing its prestige.

He deliberately restrained his smile, but still beamed with joy, saying, "Ahem, before advancing, try to improve your foundational strength as much as possible. The stronger, the better. As they say, a shaky foundation leads to earth-shaking consequences. The higher your foundational strength, the greater the gain during advancement."