40: Chapter 40 Curiosity is the beginning of downfall

He whispered inwardly in his heart: "Ye Feng, oh Ye Feng, you might still be able to endure and wait-and-see during the projection match, but with a major tournament concerning the qualification for the Federal League and your narrow-mindedness, you definitely won't be able to hold back."

"You have always wanted to take the opportunity to crush me and cripple my divine kingdom. Now that the opportunity is right in front of you, you surely won't miss it."

"However, if you want to kill me and crush me, you'll also have to see if you have the ability."

"In this arena duel, who loses and who wins, who crushes whom, is really not certain!"

Without special resources, an A-rank familia's attribute values would at most be below fifty, and Lin Ye's current familia stats were basically not much different; moreover, Lin Ye's current number of familia was huge, so Lin Ye was not timid at all!

The crowd in the classroom gradually dispersed, and the students left in twos and threes, discussing the upcoming tournament or mocking Lin Ye for biting off more than he could chew.

Lin Ye unhurriedly packed up the books on the desk, stood up, and prepared to leave the classroom to go home, rest, and prepare for the battle.

Just as he walked out of his seat, a cold and aloof figure stepped forward quickly and blocked his path.

It was Xiao Qingwu.

The young girl had a tall and slender figure with cold and aloof eyebrows and eyes. Her normally calm and waveless eyes now carried a hint of genuine worry. She slightly raised her eyes, looked at Lin Ye, and spoke softly: "Are you really going to go head-to-head with Ye Feng?"

Lin Ye raised an eyebrow, his expression casual: "Otherwise what? By hiding and dodging, can one escape everything?"

Xiao Qingwu was silent for a moment, as if she had made some kind of decision, and said earnestly: "I know that fiendish aura is rampant in your divine kingdom, and the familia are not easily able to survive. My family has special channels and can find a batch of special familia that can survive and fight in a fiendish aura environment for a short time."

"If you need it, I can have my family help you connect, temporarily reinforce your combat strength, help you deal with this projection match, and contend against Ye Feng."

She spoke sincerely, without any hint of showing off or bestowing charity, purely out of old friendship, wanting to help Lin Ye get through the difficult time.

But as her voice fell, Xiao Qingwu herself gently sighed, her heart already having the answer.

She knew Lin Ye's personality too well: arrogant, resilient, never asking others for help, and always relying on oneself for everything.

What's more, Lin Ye was deep in thought and his trump cards were hard to gauge; in all likelihood, he didn't need her help at all.

Looking at the unhidden care and struggle in the young girl's eyes, the corners of Lin Ye's mouth slightly curled up, revealing a playful smile, and he slowly teased: "Squad Leader Xiao, you care about me so much and think of me everywhere. Are you curious or have you fallen for me?!"

"Don't forget, the old saying goes: When a woman develops a strong curiosity and care for a man, it is the beginning of falling."

Xiao Qingwu was stunned for a moment, her cold and aloof cheeks instantly dyed with a layer of faint blush. Both shy and angry, she glared at Lin Ye.

Clearly it was a sincere help, yet it was misinterpreted into other meanings by this fellow. However, looking at his calm and confident appearance, she couldn't get angry at all, and could only helplessly say: "Glib-tongued and unappreciative."

After saying that, she didn't say anything more, turned around and walked away quickly, except that the blush on her earlobes didn't fade for a long time.

Lin Ye looked at her cold and aloof departing back, laughed and shook his head, then raised his feet and walked out of the classroom.

Downstairs of the teaching building, a stout figure had been waiting for a long time—it was Wang Hu.

Seeing Lin Ye come out, Wang Hu immediately greeted him with a hearty smile and said bluntly: "Brother Ye, I don't even have to guess to know that you definitely signed up for the tournament. I signed up too! This time the two of us will fight side by side!"

As early as the first moment the class meeting news spread, he submitted his registration application without the slightest hesitation.

Lin Ye looked at his loyal brother, nodded slightly, and his expression was gentle: "You've got quite the gut. Aren't you afraid of overturning in the arena?"

"What is there to fear! With Brother Ye you here, my heart is at ease! Even if I can't beat the top geniuses, taking the opportunity to temper myself is not a loss!" Wang Hu grinned, showing no fear.

The two walked side by side on the tree-lined path back to school, the evening breeze gently blowing away the hustle and bustle and sarcasm inside the classroom.

Along the way, the two briefly discussed the battle preparation plan for the two-day holiday, sorted out the combat ideas for the projection match, and planned the basic tactics for familia dispatch.

There were no complicated plots, only the most secure battle preparation arrangements.

The two returned to the Wang family residence and went back to their respective rooms.

Inside the quiet and silent room, he sat cross-legged on the bed, his mind sinking into his sea of consciousness to thoroughly peep into his exclusive divine kingdom.

As his mind settled into the divine kingdom, a fiendish aura far richer and sharper than before rushed toward his face.

In the past, the fiendish aura in the divine kingdom was heterogeneous, scattered, violent, and disorderly, and its corrosiveness was chaotic; but now, after several rounds of self-grinding and tempering, the fiendish aura of the entire divine kingdom had completely shed its superficial, tyrannical impurities, slowly transforming into a highly condensed, pure, and domineering fiendish spirit aura.

The overall concentration of the fiendish aura had risen sharply, and its deterrent and destructive power had doubled compared to before. It was no longer a messy violent aura, but had formed a highly aggressive and pure fiendish spirit origin.

What made Lin Ye's heart move the most was that the countless fiendish aura crystals precipitated deep in the earth of the divine kingdom were quietly completing a grade transformation.

The D-rank fiendish aura crystals that were originally distributed all over the territory and of uneven quality were condensing, purifying, and sublimating at a speed invisible to the naked eye, steadily leaping towards C-rank fiendish aura crystals!

Don't underestimate the gap of just one level; in the martial arts resource market, for every grade the tier increased, the value would skyrocket by several times or even dozens of times.

The purity, energy density, and cultivation utility of C-rank fiendish aura crystals were far from being comparable to D-rank crystals. Whether it was tempering the familia or one's own cultivation breakthrough, there was a qualitative improvement.

Lin Ye's gaze flickered slightly. With a thought, he precisely extracted a small portion of the newly advanced and formed C-rank fiendish crystals from the divine kingdom's crystal vein.

Previously, he had used D-rank fiendish crystals to help Wang Hu's familia strengthen their physical bodies, enhancing their resistance and combat strength.

Now that the quality of the fiendish crystals had advanced and the purity had greatly increased, with a little stimulation and tempering, he could once again elevate the overall foundation of Wang Hu's familia, helping his brother consolidate another layer of combat strength, which would be enough to give him a bit more confidence in self-preservation and victory in the arena.

Soon, Lin Ye knocked on Wang Hu's door, and Lin Ye once again helped Wang Hu temper the physical strength of his familia.

With the resistance from last time, not a single Crimson Flame Heavenly Ape died this time, but those new familia suffered more than half casualties once again, which really broke Wang Hu's heart.

However, there was no other way. Compared to the greatly improved combat power, dying or being injured in part was merely growing pains.

"You also can use a familia card again. With a few days left, you can form some combat power. Use it today!" After giving instructions, Lin Ye returned to his own room again.

Lin Ye reined in his mind, his gaze seriously swept across all the familia inhabiting the divine kingdom, and he began to tally and plan the arena battle lineup one by one.

Inside his divine kingdom now, as many as six types of familia had been nurtured. The categories were complete, with offense, defense, control, assassination, and poison types all available, and the combat strength system had long taken shape.

Targeting the upcoming divine soul projection match, Lin Ye had long finalized a secure battle plan in his heart.

For the early-stage arena clashes and dealing with ordinary opponents, he still planned to send out only the Marrow-Eating Demon Hound.

The Marrow-Eating Demon Hound was swift in speed, extremely strong in explosive power, and ferocious in physical body, making it adaptable to all conventional battles. It was enough to deal with the vast majority of ordinary students in the grade and wouldn't expose too many of his own trump cards.