Clang—!
Clang—!
Clang—!
Three bell tolls that shook heaven and earth rang out, their deep resonance piercing the clouds and sweeping across the entire Magic City. A dazzling pillar of light shot up from the top of the Trial Tower, interweaving 245 types of law patterns in a brilliant display.
All eyes turned at once. Whether students and teachers of the academy or the city’s powerhouses, everyone stared at the exit of the Trial Tower in shock.
Su Yun’s figure slowly stepped out of the Trial Tower. The fatigue from the final battle and the weakness from the life backlash were completely reset by the Trial Tower’s rules the moment she stepped through the gate. Her complexion was rosy, her breathing steady, and her mana was full and abundant. Only a trace of sharp clarity from the intense battle remained in her eyes.
In just a few seconds, the power that had been suppressed within her erupted completely. Mana from heaven and earth crazily converged toward her. Her level broke through the low-tier bottleneck without any hindrance, skyrocketing all the way to 30th-level mid-tier mage. The glow of promotion enveloped her, warm and comfortable, almost making her sigh.
Before Su Yun could digest the dual surprises of clearing the Trial Tower and breaking through to mid-tier, or even look at the cheering crowd around her, the scene before her changed in the blink of an eye. The familiar Trial Tower Square vanished, replaced by a grand and solemn principal’s office. The walls were engraved with endless law runes, flowing with ancient and mysterious light. The air was filled with three completely different yet equally unfathomable auras of pressure, inspiring reverence but not oppression.
The Sovereign of Rules, the Power Sovereign, and another sovereign shrouded in hazy light with an indistinct form stood in a triangle before her, gently surrounding her. The three of them emanated an aura as vast as heaven and earth; every move they made affected the surrounding laws.
“Don’t be nervous, child.”
The Sovereign of Rules spoke first. He wore a plain white robe, his face gentle, surrounded by golden light, his tone like a spring breeze, instantly smoothing away Su Yun’s slight confusion.
“I called you here to tell you two things.”
He smiled warmly and spoke clearly. “First, you cleared a hundred floors of the Trial Tower while still at low-tier and defeated the strongest version of yourself from a parallel timeline. Your talent and character are both one in ten thousand. From today, you may choose one of us three to be your primary teacher, and the other two will also assist you fully.”
“Don’t rush this. You can take your time to think it over.”
The Sovereign of Rules changed the subject. “For now, the most important thing is the reward: a custom divine artifact from the Trial Tower. State your requirements, and we can forge it for you.”
As he finished speaking, the Power Sovereign and the mysterious sovereign remained silent, waiting for Su Yun to speak. The Power Sovereign was tall and burly, clad in battle armor, with eyes sharp as an eagle’s, full of admiration. The sovereign in the light had an ethereal and elusive aura, as if merged with time and space, inexplicably making people feel close.
Su Yun did not hesitate at all. She blurted out, her voice clear and firm: “A jade seal!”
She looked up at the three sovereigns, her tone unwavering. “I want a jade seal that condenses all kinds of laws and can suppress everything!”
“The inscription should read… ‘To Be Opened by the Heavenly Lord.'”
As soon as she said this, the flow of law energy in the office faltered for a moment. The warm smile on the Sovereign of Rules’s face stiffened noticeably for an instant, and a trace of barely perceptible difficulty flashed in his eyes.
‘Condensing all kinds of laws, and also able to suppress everything… That’s a bit tough.’
But the Sovereign of Rules pondered for only half a moment, then gritted his teeth and nodded heavily. “Okay!”
As the word landed, his figure turned into a flash of golden light and disappeared from the office instantly. He was obviously going to forge the jade seal with all his effort.
“Good kid! Such guts!”
The Power Sovereign burst into laughter first, stepping forward with sweeping power fluctuations that radiated an invincible momentum.
“Come with me! I’ll teach you the purest law of power. Let you shatter mountains with one punch and shake the universe with one palm. As for suppressing everything? A hard fist is the real truth!”
He was enthusiastic, full of intent to recruit, as if he wanted Su Yun to become his disciple immediately. But the mysterious sovereign remained silent the entire time. He just stood there quietly, his hazy light hiding all appearance and aura, yet Su Yun’s gaze uncontrollably fell on him.
An extremely intense sense of familiarity surged from the depths of her soul. Su Yun’s heart shook violently.
‘So familiar! I definitely know him!’
Even though her memory seemed draped in a thin veil, her perception gently blurred by some power, making it impossible to see his face clearly, Su Yun could still confirm that he was someone she knew.
‘Who is it?’
Su Yun’s mind flashed through everyone she knew: the gentleness of Grandmaster Lin Mo, the cheerfulness of Ning Die, the charm of Chu Yu’er, and even the moody expression of Mo Qingqing clearly emerged. Even the disaster victims and neighbors she vividly remembered all passed by one by one. But no one matched the mysterious sovereign before her.
The sense of familiarity was genuine, but she could not grasp any clue. Su Yun was full of confusion, her gaze never leaving the blurry figure of light.
Just then, golden light flashed, and the figure of the Sovereign of Rules reappeared.
In his hand, a square dark-gold jade seal floated quietly, surrounded by a faint halo of law energy, an oppressive weight bearing down. The seal was covered with dense patterns that intertwined and merged perfectly with each other. On top, nine dragons coiled around, lifelike and imposing. On the bottom, four ancient and powerful characters were carved deeply into the stone, displaying an aura of suppressing all things.
As soon as the jade seal appeared, Su Yun’s heart trembled, and a feeling of blood connection swept over her entire body. She looked at the jade seal as if she were looking at her own arm. Perfectly fitting, perfectly familiar, as if the seal had always been a part of her body, innate.
“I forged it using a wisp of your soul. It’s unique in the world, and only you can command it.”
The Sovereign of Rules’s voice carried a trace of barely noticeable fatigue, obviously having expended a great deal.
“Even if a sovereign attacked, it would take over ten seconds to destroy it.”
To forge this jade seal, he had accelerated time by more than a thousand years and exhausted all his effort. The power of this seal was so great that if another sovereign held it, it could instantly shatter the head of a sovereign of equal rank—a heaven-defying treasure.
The Sovereign of Rules gently sent it over, and the jade seal landed steadily in Su Yun’s hand. It felt warm and heavy. A pure and vast force instantly surged into her body, merging perfectly with her mana and laws.
“Now, have you decided who to choose as your teacher?” the Sovereign of Rules asked, looking at Su Yun with a renewed gentle smile.
Su Yun gripped the jade seal tightly, feeling its immense power. She glanced at the Power Sovereign, who was full of expectation, and then her gaze firmly fell on the blurry figure of light. The pull from the depths of her soul and an inexplicable trust made her decision.
She took a deep breath, bowed respectfully to the mysterious sovereign, and said with sincere tone, “May I ask, can you be my teacher?”
Should’ve asked to break the slave contract