Alchemy Emperor of the Divine Dao - Chapter 890
Chapter 890: Gathering of Geniuses
Although there wasn’t any fanfare accompanying the Left Minister’s Fourth Young Miss when she went out, the moment when Ling Han and Li Weiwei stepped out the residence, four ordinary-looking men immediately followed behind them.
They were the bodyguards whom the Left Minister had arranged for Li Weiwei—each one was an elite cultivator who had attained the level of perfection in the Mountain River Tier!
Within the entire Chaotic Stars Majestic Empire, there was scarcely any person with the capability to make these elites their bodyguards.
Given the strength of Ling Han and Li Weiwei, it was naturally impossible for them to realize that these four elites were following behind them. They were heading eastwards to the Scarlet Heaven Academy, which was situated on the east side of the Imperial Capital, close to the city gates.
They took a ride on the Left Minister’s carriage. On the way, pedestrians stepped aside to let them pass, and even soldiers patrolling the streets stopped to salute, paying their respects.
It could be seen that the Left Minister had widespread, powerful influence.
In a small world, the Spirit Tool for flying had only one purpose—to save the energy of the cultivator. Its actual speed wasn’t faster than that of martial artists, or even fast at all. But in the Immortal Realm, most of the vehicles’ speed was faster than the cultivators themselves.
… Not to mention the God Tool for flying, only someone with the power or level of strength as high as the Left Minister’s could possess one.
Hence, despite the Imperial Capital being outrageously vast, they arrived at the north gate of the academy in about two hours[1].
Although there was only one Scarlet Heaven Academy, it was made up of four institutions, which had their own respective entrances. For example, the Northern Institution would use the North Gate. Generally, students from the respective institutions wouldn’t visit other institutions.
The competition amongst the four institutions was extremely fierce. If a student from the Northern Institution was to trespass into the territory of the Eastern Institution, he would definitely be given a good thrashing!
At this moment, there was a lot of people already waiting at the gate. Although the Scarlet Heaven Academy would recruit students every five years, this Majestic Empire was truly massive. Every time, only a handful out of thousands would get accepted as students; the elimination rate was astonishing.
Therefore, the first stage was naturally filtering the people; those who appeared to have too poor an aptitude would be eliminated immediately so as not to waste time.
The symbol of the Left Minister was really useful. Although the carriage itself could not go inside the Academy, they were able to cut the queue and cross through the masses of people as vast as the ocean. They didn’t have to waste the slightest bit of time in entering the Academy grounds.
“Why are they allowed to cut the queue?”
“That’s right, we have all waited for several hours!”
“Completely unfair!”
At this time, many young candidates raised their voices incessantly in anger, full of vigor.
A guard at the Academy sneered coldly, and said, “If your father is the Left Minister, then naturally you can also jump the queue!”
Once this sentence had been said, everyone became silent.
Left Minister… how powerful a figure was he?
The four bodyguards from the Left Minister’s residence did not enter the Academy, but dispersed, leaving only one person to keep watch near one entrance of the Academy lest the naughty Fourth Young Miss sneaked out.
She had a history of committing such acts.
After the two entered the academy’s grounds, Li Weiwei was still leading the way. It was obviously not her first time here, as she navigated her way with ease. After a while of walking, she brought Ling Han to a public square.
This was actually the center of the Scarlet Heaven Academy, wherein a white tower with nine floors stood.
A nine-storey tower again?
“Humph!” Small Tower grumbled in a dissatisfied tone. “How dares it imitate me. Destroy it!”
Ling Han couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat. He said, “Although it is also a nine-storey tower, but it’s white in color, which is very different from you.”
“In any case, I don’t like the sight of it. Destroy it!” Small Tower was obviously extremely tsundere.
“Don’t mess around, this is the place that the Scarlet Heaven Academy will use for the assessment. If you want me to go destroy it, putting aside the question of whether I have such ability or not, even if I can, how many pieces do you think I will be chopped into?” Ling Han said with a smile.
The assessment of the Scarlet Heaven Academy was actually quite simple. One would enter the tower, and those who could climb to the third floor would pass the assessment and be accepted as students of the academy. Naturally, the higher one could climb, the better the score would be. The top ten students would receive focused training by the academy—especially the top three, whose rewards would be a lot more.
“Can you guess who will get first place this time?”
“It goes without saying that it must be Luo Ba! Not only is he one of the three elites of the younger generation in the Imperial Capital, he also has the most outstanding talent. I’m optimistic that he can get the first place this time.”
“Hehe, you already said that there are three elites. Have you forgotten about Ji Yun’er and Lin You?”
“Yes, I am more optimistic about Ji Yun’er. Just her being one of the three great beauties in the Imperial Capital is enough for me to support her.”
“I am more optimistic about Lin You. Big Brother Lin is a loyal friend, even willing to sacrifice himself!”
There was a lot of ongoing discussions. Despite there being different views, everyone had no doubt that Luo Ba, Lin You, and Ji Yun’er would most likely advance and break through amidst the fierce competition. At the very least, the top three spots would definitely be occupied by them, the only suspense being who would get first place.
“You people are really too narrow-sighted. Are there no geniuses outside of the Imperial Capital?” Some people argued, unconvinced.
“Hahahaha!” This triggered hoots of laughter from the crowd.
“You are really naive. Do you know what kind of place the Imperial Capital is? The best of the empire are converging here! Forget the others, and just refer to elites of the Heavenly Body Tier. Where else can you find these elites other than in the Imperial Capital? They are all similarly nurturing their juniors, do you think that those of the Heavenly Body Tier would lose to others at the Sun Moon or Mountain River Tier?”
“In martial arts, a difference in level by a minor layer is the gap between heaven and earth. The amount of resources possessed by the clans in the Imperial Capital is beyond your imagination!”
“Although talent is important, there are many treasures in the world that can improve one’s physique and battle prowess!”
“No matter how you put it, one’s background is the most important!”
“Uh huh!” Everyone nodded and agreed on this point.
Talent could make up for background to a certain extent, but the problem was that those people with a background would also have talent. How could one compare? It would be futile to put in tremendous effort—wouldn’t other people also work hard?
Observing the scene from one corner of the square, an elderly man in gray robes, who had his arms crossed behind him, said softly, “Everyone thinks that the thrio of Luo, Lin, and Ji can get the first place in this assessment. Haofei, do you have the confidence to defeat these three people?”
“Please be assured, Great-grandfather. I have been working hard for more than ten years, bearing with loneliness and austerity. Wasn’t all of that for today, to shock the world with an amazing feat?” Beside the old man was a young man who appeared to be no more than twenty years old, with a cultivation of the ninth layer of the Shattering Void Tier.
“Haha, then great-grandfather shall be waiting to see you shine!” The gray-robed old man laughed heartily.
Logically, “parents” weren’t allowed to enter the academy’s grounds, but this didn’t prevent some with certain privileges. For example, if the Left Minister wished to enter the academy, who would dare to stop him? However, the higher their position, the more they would pay attention to this aspect, and not easily give their political opponents a point that could be used to attack themselves. Therefore, few of them actually appeared.
The young man clenched his fists, and said, “Just you wait, today will be my day! Everyone can only look up to me, Cheng Haofei, from beneath my feet!”
***
In another corner, a young man with bare arms was concentrating on wiping a long saber. His eyes were extremely focused. Occasionally, when he raised his head, his gaze sweeping across the square would make others nearby go soft in the knees.
One should know that all the others were similarly cultivators of the Shattering Void Tier. Having the ability to make others cower with just a glance, how strong was this person?
“The first place shall belong to me, Ma Xing!”
[1] Direct translation of ‘一柱香左右的时候’, the time taken for one joss stick to completely burn—it was a historical method of measuring time in China.
