Chapter 256: The Second Kiss, Eating the Second Crown

"They told me you kissed Lune."

Solomon took a quick step backward, holding his hands up defensively. "I did nothing of the sort. She was the one who kissed me."

Elizabeth hissed loudly, her cheeks flushing a bright pink. "That is the exact same thing!"

"How is that—"

Before Solomon could even finish his sentence or attempt to play dumb, Elizabeth reached out and grabbed the collar of his gray sect uniform with both hands.

Then, she forcefully yanked him downward, pulling him close, and pressed her lips directly against his.

The kiss lasted for a few breathless seconds.

She finally let go of his collar and pushed him away. Her face was flushed a brilliant shade of crimson. She refused to meet his eyes, staring stubbornly at his chest.

"Y-You should not misunderstand my actions," Elizabeth stammered, her voice trembling slightly. "I only did that because it was a live challenge issued by my chat. It means absolutely nothing."

Before Solomon could process the blatantly fabricated excuse, Elizabeth spun on her heel and practically ran out of the courtyard, fleeing directly toward the girls’ dormitories.

Solomon stood frozen in the dirt ring, staring at the empty archway where the white-haired royal had disappeared. He touched his fingers to his lips.

"If I had done something like that," Solomon muttered to the empty courtyard, "I would be instantly canceled across the entire network for assault and harassment."

Solomon eventually left and returned to his private VIP dorm. Since he no longer had a broadcasting owl constantly hovering over his shoulder, he decided to take full advantage of the privacy.

He filled the large tub in his washroom and sank into the hot water, taking a long, luxurious bath. He had only taken rapid, functional showers since arriving at the sect to accommodate his live stream.

Now, he could spend as much time as he wanted soaking his tired muscles.

While leaning his head against the wooden rim of the tub, a strange thought crossed his mind. ’Nobody is watching me anymore. I can literally do whatever I want right now. Should I rub one?’

He let out a quiet sigh.

The constant, 24/7 surveillance of the Live Streaming Academy had completely warped his perception of privacy. ’Even without the drone here, I still constantly feel like I am being watched.’

After thoroughly relieving his tension, Solomon stepped out of the bath, dried off, and dressed in a fresh set of clothes.

He walked back into his bedroom and inspected the loot piled on his mattress. He slid the Heavenly Demon’s leather diary far underneath his bed to keep it hidden. Then, he placed the two glowing winter serpent rubies into a wooden drawer and leaned Eden’s Penance securely against the desk.

Finally, he picked up the crystallized divine gemstone. He carried it over to the washbasin and cleaned it meticulously, scrubbing away four hundred years of grime and decay. Once the gem shined with a pure light, Solomon stood in the center of his room.

He took a deep breath, opened his mouth, and swallowed the divine gemstone whole.

After swallowing the gemstone, Solomon waited in silence for a few seconds. He stood perfectly still in the middle of his room, half-expecting a blinding flash of light or a sudden surge of divine energy. However, absolutely nothing happened.

Solomon muttered to himself, "As expected. I need to enter my inner world to actually absorb it."

He let out a tired sigh and jumped onto his mattress, fully hoping the divine gemstone possessed some kind of latent trigger effect that would force him to wake up inside his mental domain.

He stared up at the wooden ceiling and crossed his arms behind his head. "At least I currently have three academy stars secured. And now that I found out I can actively run multiple missions at once, I will just visit every single pavilion tomorrow, blitz through their basic evaluations, and demand their respective star missions."

He let out a quiet scoff, a smug grin stretching across his face. "I cannot believe I actually managed to fool everyone today. Nobody suspected a single thing when I stepped out as Feng Bo. My acting skills are truly flawless."

Completely satisfied with his own perceived brilliance, Solomon slowly drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile, high up on the mountain, Pavilion Leader Jin hiked along a secluded, winding path leading directly to Master Wu’s personal residence.

The path was not paved with polished cobblestones. It consisted entirely of natural, craggy peaks, ancient overarching trees, and moss-covered stones. Master Wu’s ’palace’ lacked a traditional bed or modern comforts.

It was simply a serene clearing immersed completely in nature.

The Grandmaster of the Sword Pavilion sat cross-legged on a flat boulder, meditating with his sovereign-class sword resting across his knees. He slowly opened his eyes just as Jin crested the final ridge.

"What brings you up here so late, Jin?" Master Wu asked, his voice calm and resonant.

Jin stopped a few paces away and offered a deep, respectful bow. "Master Wu. No matter how incredibly talented and gifted Solomon is, he should not be favored over the other disciples. The rules and disciplinary standards must remain equal for everyone."

Wu chuckled softly, a light laugh echoing through the clearing. "I honestly thought something urgent had come up. I assumed there was a sudden emergency within the sect walls, even though the Beast Pavilion Master, Zhan Bai, already completely destroyed the Nether Fiend Sect. And the Iron Mist Pavilion leader is working with the Azure Moon kingdom to deal with the Crimson Bone Sect."

Jin straightened his posture. "Solomon did not complete his assigned mission. I must request that you formally confiscate his academy star and rectify this situation."

Wu stroked his long white beard. "Why do you believe Solomon failed his mission?"

"I was highly suspicious of the masked student named Feng Bo the moment he stepped into the ring," Jin explained, his tone firm. "When I checked the registry scrolls after the assembly, there was no one named Feng Bo enrolled in the first-year novice class. I am confident that Feng Bo was none other than Solomon in disguise."