Ms. Diviner: The Prodigal Daughter's Return Chapter 1763: Ling Baobao Starts Provoking

The entire grand hall shook violently, and Wen Gaoren slammed heavily into the wall. The solid stone wall, which had endured nearly a million years of weathering without crumbling, was unexpectedly dented by his impact. Wedged into the wall with his body curled like a shrimp, Wen Gaoren looked utterly ridiculous, as comical as one could be.

Of course, nobody present could find it in them to laugh.

The follower priests of Wen Gaoren were dumbfounded, staring at him in disbelief. They had witnessed Wen Gaoren repair similar arrays multiple times with ease and grace — completing the task as if in jest. Yet this time, he failed repeatedly, and even after giving it his all in the final attempt, he still ended in failure.

The Huayu Temple truly lives up to its name as one of the oldest temples on the Divine Continent. The Star Thunder God Array was far from being as simple as they had imagined.

Amazed and disheartened, they even forgot to pull Wen Gaoren out of the wall.

The array of priests from Huayu Temple also found no humor in the situation. They had never realized before how profound and mysterious their temple’s barrier formation was. They knew that Wen Gaoren was the foremost array master of Lingyu Divine Hall, renowned not only across the Life God Temple and its Twelve Divine Temples but also throughout the entire Divine Continent. If even he couldn’t repair this barrier formation, who could? Even if someone could, they wouldn’t be easily enlisted.

Although Wen Gaoren’s embarrassing state delighted everyone inwardly, the thought of Huayu Temple’s further decline left no room for laughter.

"Master, please help the master." Wen Gaoren’s followers finally came to their senses and rushed towards him.

But someone already took the lead.

"Master Wen, see, see, I told you earlier — without the proper tools, avoid delicate tasks. You didn’t listen, and now look, struck by thunder again," Ling Baobao said, sympathetically dragging Wen Gaoren out.

Wen Gaoren stared blankly at the array with vacant eyes. He had failed, unexpectedly failed again. As the first array master of Lingyu Divine Hall, he was by no means unworthy of his name, but it was his first time experiencing such defeat and such disgrace, leaving his mind muddled and lost.

"Master Wen, why are you silent? Is your brain fried by the lightning?" Ling Baobao asked with concern.

"Get lost!" Wen Gaoren’s already blackened face darkened further. If it weren’t for being numbed by the immense thunderball earlier, he’d have half a mind to strangle Ling Baobao right then.

"So your brain isn’t fried; that’s great! Have a rest, and watch carefully how our master priest repairs the array, so you won’t get struck by lightning next time," Ling Baobao said joyfully.

"Get lost!" Wen Gaoren spat through gritted teeth, then paused, "What did you just say?"

"I said look closely at how our master priest repairs the array, so you can learn something, and avoid another lightning strike," Ling Baobao repeated.

By this time, Wen Gaoren’s follower priests gathered around, some massaging his legs, others his shoulders, all pausing in surprise at Ling Baobao’s words.

Not only them, but even the priests of Huayu Temple were taken aback.

"Hahahaha, are you mocking me?" Wen Gaoren was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, glancing at Mu Hanyan with disdain.

If she had the ability to repair the array, why would An Xiaxin seek him out? Why would she relinquish the position of main priest? This sharp-tongued little priest was clearly mocking his repeated failures deliberately.

Anyway, there was no way he’d believe Ling Baobao’s words.

It’s not just him; even An Xiaxin and the other priests of Huayu Temple didn’t believe it. Wen Gaoren might not know Mu Hanyan’s background, but they were well aware. From the time she came to Huayu Temple and passed the assessment, until now, it had only been just over a month. Her power had progressed leaps and bounds, and she even obtained strength on par with An Xiaxin and others right after the Divine Baptism. This could be explained as being a naturally talented divine priest, and indeed, such prodigies are not unheard of.

But when it comes to the array formation technique, talent alone isn’t enough. Without sufficient experience and insight, without thorough tempering, no genius can break through.

"You don’t believe it? Could your brain really be fried?" Ling Baobao shook his head, looking at Wen Gaoren as if he were an idiot.

"Your brain’s the one that’s fried!" Already embarrassed by repeated failures, Wen Gaoren was further enraged by Ling Baobao’s ribbing, leaving his head spinning with anger.

"Calm down, master, calm down. Why bother with such an inexperienced youngster?" A few follower priests worried that Wen Gaoren might harm himself and hastily advised.

"And you say I’m inexperienced; it’s you all who are frogs in a well. The strength of our master priest is beyond your imagination," Ling Baobao sneered.

"Fine, fine, I’d like to see what she’s capable of. I’ve studied the array formation technique for over eighty years; how many days has she studied? For an array I can’t handle, what could she do?" Faced with Ling Baobao’s contemptuous gaze, Wen Gaoren was too furious to think straight, laughing ironically.

"How about we place a bet?" Ling Baobao suggested.

"Bet on what?" Wen Gaoren asked, his neck stiff with anger.

He was truly provoked, already feeling humiliated enough, yet Ling Baobao kept rubbing salt into the wound, fueling his rage. In his anger, he missed the fleeting excitement in Ling Baobao’s eyes.

"Here’s the deal, if our master priest repairs this Star Thunder God Array, you’ll provide all the materials required for repairing other arrays. How’s that?" Ling Baobao proposed.

"Deal." Wen Gaoren agreed without hesitation. He didn’t believe at all that Mu Hanyan had the ability to repair the Star Thunder God Array; as for other arrays, he didn’t even bother considering them, caring little about the material costs.

"Master..." A follower felt it was imprudent. Though Huayu City wasn’t large, repairing all barrier formations would require a considerable amount of materials, making the wager rather excessive.

"What, do you think she possesses such skill?" Wen Gaoren sneered coldly.

The follower fell silent immediately, acknowledging the point. Their master had dedicated his life to studying the array formation path and was powerless with the Star Thunder God Array. Despite the young lady’s early elevation to master priest status, which was due to Huayu Temple’s prolonged decline, no matter how gifted a genius she might be, she couldn’t possibly rival their master in array formations.