That's why, despite having lesser disciples than normal sects, the Celestial Academy was still the number one cultivation institute on the Maple Continent, as all of their disciples were heavenly phoenixes and dragons.
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“Bai Chen, Human-Grade innate talent!...”
“Ye Mei, Human-Grade innate talent!...”
“Bai Wen, Earth-Grade innate talent!...”
“Sheng Xuefan, Hu…”
The voice of the Celestial Academy’s elder, echoed out as multiple children ranging from ages of 12 to 13, march up towards the large podium and placed their hands on three stone pillars.
In front of the large podium stood several hundred boys and girls around the same age, who all had mild looks of nervousness on their faces as they heard the announcements.
The Celestial Academy’s Disciple Selection Ceremony had started over an hour ago, and during that time, not one person was found to have a Sky-Grade innate talent.
All of whom that went up with the hopes of entering the Celestial Academy, had their dreams shattered when they placed their hand on the first stone pillar, and the light that shone wasn’t green.
These three stone pillars were ancient tools used to measure someone’s innate talent.
Each measures the grade of a person’s foundation, soul, and comprehension using the same color scheme to identify the different grades of a person’s attribute.
The color orange signifies that one of the person’s attributes is at the Human-Grade, yellow signifies that it’s at the Earth-Grade, green is Sky-Grade, blue is Heaven-Grade, and Violet signifies the rarest and practically a myth level grade, the Supreme-Grade.
The Celestial Academy states that all three attributes of a person, their foundation, their soul, and their comprehension, should be in the Sky-Grade to be qualified to enroll in their school.
With that fact, the youths that went up and saw that the first stone pillar, that tests their soul grade, didn't glow green in color, had understandably become mortified. What further nailed it in the coffin for them, was the elder’s piercing shout that announced their innate talent.
With their heads hung low, they trotted off the podium feeling more bitter than they have ever been in their entire lives.
As time ticked by, with more and more people being rejected, the remaining youths below the podium started to feel a palpable sensation of dread wash over them.
Thoughts of ‘will I be able to enter?’ and ‘I have to enter’, echoed out in their minds as they waited for their turn to be tested.
Aside from the youths that were participating in the ceremony, several leaders of small and large clans that had members participating, were seated within luxurious pavilions watching the events unfold.
“Bai Luo, it looks like no one from your clan would be able to enter the Celestial Academy this year as well.”
On the top floor of a large pavilion, seven men who had looks ranging from someone in their early twenties to late sixties were dressed in luxurious attires, as they sat within chairs that overlook the ceremony down below.
The man that just made the rude comment took a swig from his wine cup, as he glanced at a burly middle-aged man five seats to his right.
The receiver of the rude comment, who was called Bai Luo, shot a furious glare towards the man who was casually sipping his wine.
With a cold tone, Bai Luo said, “Zhong Hua, who are you to make such a comment when your clan hasn’t produced a Sky-Grade genius since the year before as well?”
The man call Zhong Hua removed the cup from his lips before he sneered at Bai Lu Fong and said, “At least my Earth-Grade geniuses had surpassed yours in number, in fact, it was twice as many.”
Zhong Hua then made a ‘tsk tsk’ sound before he continue.
“Brother Bai Luo, if this continues, I’m afraid your clan will lose the right to call itself one of the Seven Major Clans on the Maple Continent. You might even be reduced to a third-rate clan in the near future.”
When Bai Luo heard those words, a huge vain bulge from his forehead while the wine cup in his hands shattered in his grip.
‘Tremble!!’
The sound of the pavilion shaking suddenly echoed out as a mighty force erupted from Bai Luo's burly body.
Creaking sounds came from the pavilion as if it was about collapse. The people who were on the lower floors couldn’t help but scream out in shock and alarm.
The five other men who were in the middle of this just look on with varying looks of amusement and disinterest.
While glaring at Zhong Hua, Bai Luo said, “Zhong Hua, do you think my Bai Clan is filled with a bunch of trash like your Zhong Clan?!”
In the face of Bai Lou's intense pressure and biting cold words, Zhong Hua only let out a loud laugh then said, “Bai Luo, you can’t handle the reality of your situation so you resort to insults? I expected nothing less from someone of the Bai Clan, your all just a bunch of brutes that have shit for brains!!”
“Bastard!! You dare insult, my clan?!!”
Bai Luo roared as a piercing red light shot from his eyes while his aura skyrocketed, causing the pavilion to sway violently.
Bai Luo was about to get up from his seat and savagely beat this bastard Zhong Hua, but one of the five men suddenly spoke.
“Enough the both of you.”
The person who spoke was an old man that had gray hair at his temples, though despite looking like he was in his late sixties, his eyes still held a shining glow of vitality that shattered his frail old man persona.
As he sat there, he turn to look between the two men before he continued and said,
“What kind of example are you two setting for the younger generation when your both bickering like little children? You both should start acting like someone of your statuses.”
Bai Lou's stopped releasing his pressure after hearing the old man’s words. He might be willing to argue with Zhong Hua, but this old man was the leader of the number one clan on the Maple Continent, old man Ghuanyu of the Ming Clan.
Bai Luo didn’t dare to come into conflict with him, else he bring trouble to his clan. However, he still gave Zhong Hua a fierce glare before he poured himself any other cup of wine.
As the commotion quieted down, the people who had felt the sudden pressure from the pavilion all look towards the pavilion’s top floor with a mix of emotions ranging from respect, trepidation, and utter fear.
The people who were invited to the Celestial Academy’s Disciple Selection Ceremony, all knew that the people staying up there were the Clan Leaders of the Seven Major Clans on the Maple Continent.
The strongest of the major clans was the Ming Clan, followed by the Sun Clan, the Lin Clan, the Sua Clan, the Fei Clan, and the weakest two being the Bai and Zhong Clan.
“Every time you two meet, it’s as if you both become two peacocks that want to flaunt their power and statuses.”
Ming Ghuanyu wasn’t finished as he continue to scold the two men.
“It’s like you both can’t go a second after seeing each other without turning complete idiots! If you two are going to continue to behave like children, then the both of you should just crawl back up your mother's robes and disappear from my sight, you fucking imbeciles!!”
The more he spoke, the more his words turn from reprimanding the two men, to insulting them. As Ghuanyu's face changed from calm to a contorted expression of disgust, he continued and said,
“You two dogs should go bark somewhere else the next time you decide to start prancing around in front of me!!”
As Ghuanyu’s voice echoed out, all the Clan Leaders sported strange expressions on their faces.
Bai Luo and Zhong Hua were both fuming on the inside, but they didn't dare show it.
Ming Ghuanyu was known to have a mouth so foul, that if anyone ever manages to catch his ire he would just start spouting profanities so obscene that even Buddha himself would go wide-eyed with shock.
As the Sect Leaders shift uncomfortably in their seats while Ghanyu drone on and on, a sharp whistling sound suddenly came from over the horizon.
Everyone in the Celestial Academy looked up in the sky to see a silver streak headed in their direction. After only a breath's worth of time, that silver streak appeared above Celestial Academy’s Outer Sect, where the Disciple Selection Ceremony was being held.
The silver streak turned out to be Fu Wei, who was still holding Xi Shen captive with his multicolored palm.
Without pausing, Fu Wei ignored the stares on him and headed for an inconspicuous Pavilion nearby.
Even though the Pavilion didn’t have luxurious designs and flamboyant craftsmanship, the other pavilions with the affluent families were significantly further away from it, and no one came into a thousand meters of it.
Not that they couldn’t, but they just wouldn’t dare to.
Everyone was unusually silent as they watched Fu Wei and the multicolored palm holding Xi Shen pass overhead. Everyone’s eyes followed them as they entered the top floor of the Pavilion.
Afterward, everyone collectively released the breath they were holding.
From that alone, one could tell the level of status Fu Wei and the Li Royal Family held.
Even the indifferent elder of the Celestial Academy and the seven Sect Leaders had solemn expressions as they stared at the Pavilion.
Ghuanyu’s voice suddenly sounded out, “So the rumors are true, the second prince is going to participate in this year’s Celestial Academy's disciple selection.”
As he spoke, he thought back on the image of the youth held within the multicolored palm.
A feeling of foreboding suddenly rose in his heart that threatened to drown him.
‘The royal family’s crown prince is already a monster, who had shocked the Maple Continent with his Heaven-Grade innate talent. If the second prince turns out to possess similar talents like him, then things will become troublesome.’
Ghuanyu’s expression remained the same, as he contemplated several things while looking at the plain pavilion with flashing eyes.
A small commotion was happening within the crowd, as the children participating in the ceremony chatted amongst each other. "That was the crown prince, right? I can't believe I managed to get a glimpse of such a legendary figure. Even if I don't get into the Celestial Academy, just this alone is enough for me to brag about when I return to my village." A youth who was wearing shabby clothes only fit for someone living on the streets said with excitement and contentment. Another youth who was clad in a luxurious fur coat, turn to look at him with a face that resembled someone who had just smelled dog crap. With a disgusted tone, the youth in fur coat said, "A country bumpkin like you should be grateful that you even get a chance to see someone as amazing as the crown prince before you die. Trash like you shouldn't even be here in the first place, the Celestial Academy should just start restric
As Xi Shen was walking absentmindedly for a while, he suddenly looked up and saw the large podium right in front of him. Slightly confused as to why he didn't see anyone, Xi Shen looked up at the Celestial Academy's elder, who was looking at him strangely, before he turn to look behind him. Xi Shen saw that the group of youths had cleared open a path for him leading up to the podium, and was standing there, waiting for him to get up onto the podium. Xi Shen was taken aback by this for a moment before a thought suddenly hit him. 'Oh right, I'm a prince in this life.' In his past life, Xi Shen wasn't in the best of situations, the principle that had been embedded into him in those times were first come first serve. As an orphan, he had never had people who went out of their way to do things for him or waited on him before. At first, he had found it
Without stopping, the stream of energy rushed towards Xi Shen's soul and began the testing process. Normally this amount of energy released by the stone pillar should be enough to engulf the soul of a person who hadn’t started cultivation, but with Xi Shen, the energy was having problems even covering a single finger from his soul. The size of a person’s Sea of Consciousness was determined by how powerful their soul was, so the fact that Xi Shen’s soul was this massive shouldn’t come as a surprise when looking at his Sea of Consciousness. This was great and all, but this was a problem for Xi Shen. ‘Hmm, I didn’t really think this through. Ever since I started comprehending the heavenly laws when I was born into this world, my soul has been growing nonstop. Is this what happens when those cultivators in my previous life began their cultivation? I don’t really know what to make of this. After barring me from comprehe
Ghuangyu was looking on with a sour expression that he was trying hard to conceal.‘Dammit!! This little brat could possibly ruin my plans, he can’t be left alive!!’As Ghuangyu said that, his eyes flashed with a dangerous light.On top of the plain pavilion, the crown prince was beaming with joy. From the big smile spreading across his face, one could tell that he was extremely happy to see that his little brother had a Supreme-grade attribute.However, that was all emotions displayed by him on the surface. What he truly felt within the depths of his heart, was absolute fury.‘Don’t test my patience little brother.’As Fu Wei thought that, he stared at Xi Shen with fake happiness on his face. His acting was so superb that it could fool anyone to think that he was extremely happy for his brother.Turnin
Xi Shen quickly made his way to the edge of the podium, glad he could get back to his drinking, however, before he could get far, the voice of the elder called out to him to his annoyance.“Wait, second prince you... uh”The elder didn’t know what to say, this situation was too unbelievable.Just a few seconds ago, Xi Shen was on his way to becoming the talk of the continent for his stunning talents, but now, it was revealed that he... was complete trash.It didn’t matter if his soul and comprehension were at the Supreme grade, without a foundation those were nothing more than useless ornaments.Xi Shen turned around to the elder and said, “What is it? I have already finished all the stupid tests, what more do you want?”When the elder heard that, he became speechless.To him, Xi Shen’s words soun
A loud laugh suddenly echoed from the crowd again, it was the fur-clad youth.He was laughing so hard this time that he looked as if he was about to fall over.“What the hell is this fool saying? Is he serious? Hey trash, do you think this is a place that would allow you to have a second chance? Hahaha, why don’t you just run back to your backwater village and stop holding up everyone’s time.”As the fur-clad youth said that, the other youths in the crowd from affluent families started laughing and mocking him. They were shouting at him to finish his testing or get off the podium.The ragged clothe youth stood there red-faced as he looked at the elder.Coming out of his dumbfoundment, the elder looked at the youth with a frown and said, “Little child what nonsense are you asking, what difference would it make if you went again. Just get on with the t
Sun Wu Fen, the Clan Leader of the second most powerful clan on the Maple Continent, the Sun Clan, said in a calm tone, “The second prince can actually match up to someone in the Meridian Opening realm, using only Basic-level techniques. That’s quite the accomplishment since there has never been someone capable of that, even the crown prince with a similar comprehension grade couldn’t.”Even though what Xi Shen did should be shocking to everyone, Sun Wu Fen and everyone else was rather calm, even a bit dismissive. After all, Xi Shen might be showing off his heaven-defying talent now, but without a foundation grade that display just made them petty him even more.Fu Wei who was alone on the plain pavilion was chuckling in his heart.‘So little brother you actually weren’t lying, when you said that who was holding back. Your Spectral Steps have reached the Completion, even stepping into
Every time the Celestial Academy held its Disciple Selection Ceremony, all the older outer sect disciples who weren’t able to meet the Celestial Academy’s requirement to become an Inner Disciple would watch on in amusement as the new disciples frantically fought over resources to increase their cultivation.Though, the outer sect disciples didn’t face this type of pressure alone. The people who had Sky-grade innate talent and were promoted straight to an Inner Sect disciple would face a demotion to an outer sect disciple if they weren’t able to reach the Sea Expansion realm before they turn sixteen.It’s been three months and the ‘Freshmen Disciple Competition’ was coming up.This competition was separated by outer and inner sect disciples. And as it draws near, it caused the tension between all the new disciples to become noticeable, the outer sect disciples even more so.