The more they oppose, the more it shows that I am doing the right thing

Magic Association.

The warm and gentle breeze of mid-summer afternoon rustled through the plane trees lining Saint Peter's Street, their dense leaves dicing the sunlight into a scatter of dappled light that spilled onto the Magic Association's ornate stained-glass windows.

The young mages who had come to the capital to report were registering at the front desk, each one beaming with pride and satisfaction, a confident, radiant smile on their faces.

For these youngsters, freshly arrived in Farol, the future appeared bright and promising. They were young and talented, and they believed nothing in the world could pose a challenge to them.

They carried a sense of arrogance in their eyes, utterly dismissive of the surrounding capital's saints.

To them, these capital saints were merely fortunate to be born into the right household, with strong family connections, able to stay in the Imperial Cathedral after graduation, engaging in nothing of real consequence, at most visiting the non-life-threatening Order Church's Nether.

Presumably, the recently renowned An Su Moningsta and his two henchmen were like this too, considering their families' substantial influence.

These fellows had never truly hunted witches themselves—after all, it would be hard to find Cultists in the nation's capital.

But these provincial saints were entirely different; anyone qualified to come to the capital for the exams had fought their way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, each boasting significant achievements.

They clustered in small groups, speaking loudly, deliberately letting the capital saints hear about the harvests they had reaped in the past month.

"Ah, not much, just last month, two Third Order ones."

"Haha, I was lucky, found two nests while patrolling, bagged four Chaos Followers."

"Which district were you in? Do your districts deploy kids for nest-finding? It's so easy for you?"

"Just luck on my part. Still, Xia Leng is the real deal. Xia Leng, I remember you recently took down a Fourth Order Cultist, right? Tell us all about it."

The Xia Leng they were referring to, full name Xia Leng Azak, was a golden-haired young man with a flawless smile. He had peak Fourth Order strength, and aside from the Imperial Princess, he was the highest-ranked man in these exams, standing out as the leader among these provincial saints.

"Oh, I was just lucky enough," Xia Leng said with a gracious smile, "but even that pales in comparison to the 'Child of the Curse' from the borderlands."

He purposely highlighted An Su's identity as the 'Child of the Curse', and the provincial saints all fell silent. After a pause, they chimed in with a chuckle,

"That 'Child of the Curse' surely can't compare to you..."

"If you ask me, his current fame might just be riding on his family's coattails..."

Right then, the doors of the Magic Association were slowly pushed open. The priests at the entrance were holding their noses away and were immediately confronted with a thick scent of blood mixed with a strong, forbidden aura. All the saints showed faces of fright.

The rank was at least Fourth Order.

"Good afternoon, everyone," An Su greeted as he walked through the entrance of the association dragging a trail of Cultists behind him. Despite the long streak of blood, he was spotlessly clean, his long, ash-gray hair neatly cascading down to his waist, his pale green eyes shining brightly, and he sported a nobleman's robe over a white shirt, portraying a polite and refined young nobleman.

If you disregarded the string of Cultists he was dragging behind him.

No matter how you looked at it, it was a bizarre and horrifying combination.

All the examinees turned away, ignoring An Su.

Dragging the Cultists, An Su passed through the saints, deliberately slowing his pace to let the examinees get a good look at the details, although they all tried hard not to gaze at An Su's haul.

But as An Su passed by, they couldn't help but sneak a glance, then emitted a hushed exhale of amazement.

The quality was simply too exceptional,

From Chaos Followers to Suffering Believers to Life Followers, they had every type, each one a higher rank than the last, fearsome adversaries they couldn't possibly confront. They could not fathom how An Su managed this feat.

"Seven," An Su nonchalantly stated, "no big deal, all Fourth Order, just so-so."

The examinees' faces darkened—who asked you?

Seeing An Su's apparent age of just fifteen or sixteen years old hunting seven Fourth Order saints was downright fantastical.

They turned their heads, forcibly shifting their envious gazes away.

"The one I caught yesterday was even bigger, a Sixth Order Demigod," lamented An Su, with a hint of regret, "but I let him get away. Compared to that, today's haul is just passable."

A Demigod?

Were these even the words of mere mortals?

The previously confident provincial saints had their confidence shattered.

They didn't believe An Su's tall tale, yet none had the strength to refute it, silently suffering internal injuries. Their own months of hunting seemed inconsequential!

This newcomer arrogantly dragged his trophies to the Magic Association's doorstep—such behavior was beyond human decorum!

The fellow dared to bully only the out-of-towners. Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire

The capital saints, who had been subjected to the boasting of the provincial saints all day, now had schadenfreude grins. Now it was your turn to be tormented by An Su's ostentatious arrival.

An Su's spectacle had likely caught the attention of the Order Church, and Priest Paxi, along with the Order Knights, rushed over following the trail of blood, wondering which audacious individual was behind this.