Mosca College won the first place in the four-school league after a long absence. Principal Buckel burst into tears.

In recent years, let alone the first place, they couldn't even touch the edge of the top three. They were at the bottom of the list year after year. They didn't know how many years it had been since they went to the award ceremony in Central City.

So, he waved his hand and immediately decided to charter a plane to Central City, and everyone would go.

Principal Buckel's decision was supported by all the participating teams. Central City is such a mysterious place. If it weren't for this opportunity, they might never see it in their lifetime.

A gossip king like Eric is usually the most active in such things, but this time he was out of character and said that he was not feeling well, so he didn't go with them.

Although other teammates thought it was a bit strange, they didn't think much about it.

Therefore, Gu Xingmian didn't realize Eric didn't come until he got on the aircraft.

His teammates were talking to him excitedly, and suddenly they found a familiar face in the back seat of the aircraft.

"G, Admiral Gwen!!"

Admiral Gwen greeted them gently.

If they were not afraid of disturbing Admiral Gwen, everyone would scream.

This kind of close contact with the idol can be taken to the Star Network forum and posted tens of thousands of words.

But everyone still barely suppressed their excitement and only communicated with their eyes.

Fu Fenglin frowned, sat next to Gu Xingmian and Xiao Qiong, and asked them in a low voice: "Why is Admiral Gwen going to Central City with us?"

Gu Xingmian: "..."

Good question, I want to know too.

Without Eric, their news instantly fell behind.

Facing two pairs of eyes that were as puzzled as his, Fu Fenglin could only helplessly analyze himself: "If Admiral Gwen has something to do in Central City, the military district also has a special aircraft, so there is no need to squeeze with us..."

He subconsciously looked at Gu Xingmian.

Is it for Xingmian?

He just found out not long ago that Gu Xingmian can treat God's Card. Before he had time to digest it, he found out that the mysterious owner who turned the card maker family upside down was actually him.

To be fair, such a person...ah no, Ka Cai, if he were Admiral Gwen, he would definitely protect him well.

But Gu Xingmian thought differently.

Although he thought his recent skill points were quite impressive, he always felt that he would not let Gwen, a general of a military region, abandon such a big military region to be his bodyguard. But if Gwen didn't say it, he couldn't ask.

Gwen bent his index finger and tapped the recorder lightly.

It contained the whole process of the invasion of Cor City by evil spirits and various evidences, as well as the testimonies of Gu Xingmian and others, and even the various doubts about Quilmo City found by Aigla and others.

Countless thoughts fell into Gwen's mind like rolling beads, and the only thing missing was the thread that strung all the beads together.

Thinking of this, Gwen couldn't help but look at Gu Xingmian.

He always had a strange premonition that Gu Xingmian might be the thread that strung all the beads together.

The management of the Central City is strict, so they cannot go in directly. Instead, they must first park the aircraft in the subsidiary city of the Central City and undergo strict inspection before they can enter.

Gu Xingmian and his friends saw many familiar faces as soon as they got off the aircraft.

The award ceremony was attended by the champions, runners-up and third-place winners, so people from Tianhe College and Feken College also came. However, compared to the full participation of Mosca College, both of their colleges only sent representatives.

Gu Xingmian and his friends saw Carlos, who was very conspicuous in the crowd.

Compared to the four-school league, Carlos seemed to have completely changed. His temperament became much colder and harder, and his original arrogance seemed to be gone.

However, as soon as he saw Gu Xingmian and his friends, he smiled, and his little tiger teeth reduced his cold temperament a lot, and he had a familiar shadow again.

Although they were rivals at the time, they also shared hardships. After the game, they were taken back to the academy to recuperate. Carlos also asked someone to tell Xiao Qiong and the others that he would come to Denning City to find them later.

But they didn't expect that they would meet in Central City first.

Carlos came over and said, "Long time no see."

Although it was Carlos' first time to attend the award ceremony, Faken Academy had rich experience in this matter and rescued the Mosca people without Eric.

After a series of complicated inspections, they were finally able to get back on the aircraft sent by the temple and fly towards the central city.

In the distance, everyone saw the tall divine tower.

Several students from Mosca leaned over the portholes: "Is this the divine tower?"

Gu Xingmian took a quick glance. The divine tower was not actually very tall, but there were almost no tall buildings in the entire central city, so the divine tower looked very tall.

The outer wall of the divine tower was carved with various patterns and painted with gold powder, making the divine tower mysterious and solemn.

However, Gu Xingmian frowned unconsciously.

Even though it was his first time seeing it, he could clearly feel it.

He hated this divine tower.

Clement followed the priest step by step to the bottom of the divine tower.

From the seventh floor down, there was no elevator, only stairs. The spiral black stairs went down continuously. As they walked, the lights on the wall lit up little by little, but it still couldn't dispel the darkness in front of them.

The two walked all the way to the second floor.

Clement wanted to go down, but was stopped by the priest, who said sternly: "The downstairs are not a place you can go. After the blood punishment is over, you must leave immediately. Don't stay for a moment."

Clement took another look at the road that was almost submerged in darkness, and then retracted his gaze.

After the priest finished speaking, he turned around and pressed his palm on a tall door next to him.

As if recognizing his identity, the heavy door slowly opened, and a piercing chill rushed out.

Clement pursed his lips and followed the priest inside.

When he reached the innermost part, he found that the room was completely dark. The only light source was a pool in the middle of the room.

In the pool was a pool of slightly viscous red liquid, glowing faintly.

This was where he was punished with blood.

Clement had only vaguely heard of blood punishment, which was said to be very painful, and some people went crazy after enduring it.

But blood punishment was the only thing he could use to negotiate with the temple.

As long as he could endure the blood punishment, the temple would not interfere with him again according to the oath, otherwise it would be retaliated.

But even so, who would give up a good life and endure such extreme pain?

There were still a few in the early years, but in the past few decades, the nobles enjoyed a life of ease and comfort, and no one was willing to do so anymore.

At least, this was the first time the priest had seen a fool voluntarily endure blood punishment.

He asked Clement again: "Have you really thought it through? Once the blood punishment starts, it can't be stopped."

"I have thought it through." Clement said lightly.

Seeing that he was so stubborn, the priest was too lazy to persuade him anymore. He pointed to the pool and said, "You will go in soon. The first blood punishment will not last long, only five minutes. Each time after that, you will have to add five minutes until you can fully endure the blood punishment for an hour."

"But I have to remind you that once you fail, all your efforts will be wasted and you will have to start all over again until you can no longer bear it and choose to give up."

Clement nodded to show that he understood.

The priest said, "Go in."

Clement once again held the ring box in the bag and walked in with gritted teeth.

But as soon as he walked into the pool, he immediately felt a piercing pain from his skin into his muscles and into his bones.

His face suddenly turned pale and countless beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

But he still insisted on walking into the pool of blood.

The pain kept getting worse, and he seemed to feel as if someone had broken all his bones, but he still gritted his teeth and sank his body into the pool of blood little by little.

His body seemed to have lost consciousness due to the pain. His

body began to convulse, but he endured it with great willpower.

In just a dozen seconds, sweat had soaked Clement's hair and then flowed down his cheeks. He had never felt that time was so slow, and every minute and every second seemed to be torture.

Clement felt that what he had experienced was not five minutes, but five days, or five months...

He didn't know how long it had passed, but he seemed to feel that the pain in his body had eased, and he vaguely heard the priest's voice in his ears: "It's over, are you okay?"

Clement opened his eyes with difficulty, and found that the sticky liquid in the pool had disappeared.

The priest looked at him with a complicated expression: "The first blood punishment is over, come with me."

Clement became a little sluggish because of the pain. He slowly controlled his hands and feet. The pain seemed to have an aftertaste, and with every movement he made, it could pull his nerves.

It took Clement more than ten minutes to climb out of the pool.

Seeing him staggering, the priest frowned and supported him, muttering, "Why do you have to do this?"

Clement slowly turned his head and said, "Thank you."

The priest rolled his eyes, but did not mock him again. Instead, he helped him walk out of the door and went up the stairs with difficulty. There was an elevator on the seventh floor.

He helped Clement to the elevator and was sweating all over. He thought that Clement usually lived a comfortable life and had never done such a hard thing. He should let an apprentice priest take him next time.

The two did not say a word in the elevator.

Until Clement returned to the top floor, several aircraft flew over, and the hurricane brought by the aircraft almost knocked them over.

"These card masters!!" He gritted his teeth while tidying up his clothes and hair.

"Card masters?" Clement was stunned for a moment.

The priest said unhappily: "Aren't they just the card masters who came to participate in the Four Schools League Award Ceremony! As expected of a small country town, they don't know any etiquette!"

Four Schools League!

Clement's eyes lit up.

Although he was very busy with the affairs of Denning City in the later period, he had been paying attention to the Four Schools League. Naturally, he also knew that this year Mosca broke the curse of being at the bottom of the list in previous years. Mosca

should come to this award ceremony.

Then... Gu Xingmian should also come, right?

Thinking back to not long ago, he was still cheering for Gu Xingmian with Alicia and the brothers in the guard team, but in just one month, everything had changed. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

But then he thought, even if he met Gu Xingmian, what should he do? With the temple monitoring him, he couldn't tell Gu Xingmian anything.

Clement's eyes dimmed again.