"My Taryn has always been upright and honest. Naturally, he cannot stand the sight of someone violating sect rules to frame a fellow disciple."

The exact words Torin had just used to defend Blair were now thrown right back in his face by Sylra.

Torin was so angry he bared his teeth, his face flushing the color of pig liver. Yet he had absolutely nothing to say.

"Torin, say no more." Aerin pondered for a moment and said faintly.

"I saw it with absolute clarity just now. It was indeed your disciple Blair who dug the trap to lure Taryn Lark in first."

"Taryn Lark was merely counterattacking for self-preservation, which is why he injured Blair. We’ll consider them even."

"As for your bet with Senior Brother Sylra, I also heard it clearly from the side. Do not go back on your word."

Hearing Aerin actually stand on Sylra’s side, Torin was so angry his face turned blue and purple.

He had originally counted on Blair seizing the championship in this assessment and winning the fortuitous encounter rewarded by the Sect Master.

He would then take the opportunity to crush the spirit of an old stubborn fool like Sylra and win some weapons from his hands.

Now look at this, not only did he not win any weapons, but he had to lose five of his own to the other party.

Never mind Blair seizing the championship, it was hard to say if he could even keep his little life.

Just as Torin’s heart was twisting in pain, Nerin suddenly spoke up.

"Senior Brothers, look."

"This one... also seems to be a talent?"

The crowd was instantly drawn over, arriving before the light curtain in front of Knox, their expressions instantly became somewhat complicated.

"Isn’t this... the brat who was just speaking crazy nonsense, insisting that Taryn Lark was the Hale family’s Saint Lord?" Lorin said with a bizarre expression.

"He seems to be... from the Sanitation Department of Radiant Sun Peak?"

"Correct." Loris nodded.

"If Senior Brother Torin hadn’t pleaded for leniency, I was planning to strip him of his qualification to participate."

"This brat... is a talent?" Nerin nodded confidently, indicating that his judgment had always been accurate.

Loris tapped a beam of light onto Knox.

The crowd focused their gazes and were instantly stunned.

"Ten..."

"Ten..."

Knox’s cultivation inside the Azure Dragon Valley was shockingly at the Tenth Level of Body Tempering.

After confirming that Loris hadn’t made a mistake and their eyes weren’t playing tricks on them... everyone on the cloud, including the previously calm and composed Aerin, erupted in a boil of excitement.

To still possess Tenth Level Body Tempering cultivation within the Sword God Restriction, what was that? 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Blair’s Ninth Level of Body Tempering was already a genius rarely seen in a century.

As long as his cultivation path went smoothly enough and he had an expert to guide and lead him, he was guaranteed to be a Supreme Realm talent in the future.

But for this brat to reach the Tenth Level meant his absolute floor was stepping into the Saint Realm in the future.

If protected by Destiny, even vindicating the Dao as a Great Emperor wasn’t impossible.

In an instant, the crowd of elders couldn’t remain calm, their faces full of excitement and envy.

"Loris, I didn’t expect your Radiant Sun Peak to actually produce such a heaven-defying, peerless genius!"

"A genius at the Tenth Level of Body Tempering is a rarity in ten thousand years!"

"You absolutely must cultivate him well. Do not ruin this precious jade under any circumstances!"

For a time, the crowd didn’t even have a moment to lament Blair’s fall. Because what entered their eyes now was a genius whose aptitude was a hundred times more formidable than Blair’s.

Including Torin, all the elders stared unblinkingly at Knox on the light curtain.

However, after watching for several minutes, everyone’s expressions became somewhat bizarre.

"Why is this Knox, who clearly possesses the strongest martial prowess, not in a hurry to climb to the mountain peak at all?"

"Instead... he keeps circling around, as if he’s looking for someone?"

The elders looked at each other, all having their own guesses, discussing animatedly.

Of course, they couldn’t possibly know what was going through Knox’s head at this very moment.

At first, after entering the Azure Dragon Valley and discovering his cultivation had regressed to the Tenth Level of Body Tempering, Knox felt great panic in his heart.

But immediately after, upon learning that the Sword God Restriction suppressed everyone’s cultivation to the Body Tempering Stage according to their potential... and realizing that his Tenth Level was an absolute ceiling-like existence within the Azure Dragon Valley...

Knox’s first thought wasn’t to rely on his martial advantage to seize the championship of the assessment.

Rather, it was to roam around the Azure Dragon Valley, searching all over the mountains and plains for Alex’s tracks.

This was a golden opportunity rarely encountered in a thousand years.

In the outside world, Alex’s terrifying Supreme Realm strength made him only able to look up in awe, feeling suffocated by it.

Yet inside this Azure Dragon Valley, Alex’s cultivation would also be suppressed to the Body Tempering Stage, and would be 100% weaker than himself.

Knox quickly realized that this was perhaps the one and only chance in his entire life to easily eliminate Alex.

He knew that the several elders were monitoring their every move from somewhere. However, he still made up his mind that, no matter the cost, he had to kill Alex.

Even if he committed murder right in front of the elders’ faces, they would still have to consider the face of the Heavenly Flame Empress.

At most, it would be a violation of sect rules. Resulting in him being expelled from the Divine Blade Sect.

But if he missed this opportunity and didn’t take the chance to kill Alex, he would definitely die by Alex’s hands in the future.

Therefore, at this very moment, Knox was frantically searching within the Azure Dragon Valley. Even if he had to dig three meters into the ground, he swore to dig Alex out.