Crack~
A shattering sound rang out, and Li Chen's eyes snapped open. Nothing around him had changed. He had not returned to that room, and the students around him were all standing where they had been, unconscious.
Row after row stood with their heads hanging down, like a group of standing zombies.
"Just as I thought?" Li Chen looked around. They had not moved; they were all still at the academy's entrance.
A flash of sword light suddenly shot into the sky. Jianping, who had just regained consciousness, had accidentally unleashed it. His face was a little pale. After all, he had suffered the mental pressure of the illusion and the dream; it was impossible for there to be no aftereffects.
Su Zhe, meanwhile, had yet to wake up. He stood foolishly beside Li Chen with his eyes tightly shut, his body still moving constantly, as though he were chasing someone.
Li Chen turned his gaze toward the academy entrance. Quite a few people were already standing there—the senior students he had seen in the illusion earlier. They watched the newcomers with teasing expressions, seemingly enjoying the show.
Sure enough, they seemed to have known about this academy entrance ceremony all along.
Jianping had also walked over to Li Chen's side. His gaze was no longer as clear as when they had first met; instead, it radiated waves of killing intent.
Li Chen was not surprised. He shook his head and said, "Looks like we were just made fools of. The academy's entrance ceremony used illusions and dreams to test our abilities and our character. It must have been planned well in advance."
And these senior students had all gone through the same thing.
There was no need to get angry. They had only experienced what the seniors once had. Perhaps getting out at this point meant they were much stronger than the seniors had been back then...
Jianping snorted coldly and prepared to leave.
Li Chen sighed. After all, the academy had to accept all kinds of students, but assigning them was not easy. This so-called entrance ceremony was a way to sort the students, with both advantages and disadvantages.
Giving them a show of force before things had even begun would only stir up more resistance among the students and might even cause discontent.
While Li Chen was still pondering these matters, Su Zhe woke up too. He spotted the two of them at once and shouted, "Chen-ge!!"
Neither of them paid him any attention. Now that they were awake, shouldn't they be able to leave?
Surely this couldn't still be an illusion, could it?
An elderly voice drifted over.
"The younger generation is formidable, truly formidable..."
"I didn't expect you to break through both illusions in only half an hour. Could it be that this year's illusions were set up too simply?"
Hearing this, they all looked over. A white-haired old man was slowly making his way through the unconscious crowd toward them. Not a trace of aura could be detected from his body, and his aged face was full of smiles.
Jianping seemed to know the old man. He cupped his hands and said, "Greetings, Cang Lao."
Cang Lao smiled and teased him. "Hahahaha, Jianping, Jian Wuqing's prized disciple. I didn't expect it... I didn't expect old Sword Elder would actually be willing to let you come to Canglan Academy. I underestimated him!"
Jianping did not dare accept the praise. "Master only pointed out a path for me and told me to follow my heart."
"Good." Cang Lao nodded and chuckled twice. He clearly held Jianping in high regard. He then looked at Su Zhe beside him and said, "Su Fengzi actually sent his son here too."
"Did your families discuss this beforehand?"
At the mention of Su Fengzi, Su Zhe's expression changed at once. It was a name his father had once gone by. Whenever his father drank too much, he would mention it, so Su Zhe naturally remembered it. Yet now this strange old man knew it too.
Cang Lao smiled. "You don't need to look at me like that. Your father and I once shared a drink."
"I'll find some time to have a few drinks with your father and see whether he still has the vigor he had back then."
Su Zhe said nothing. He did not dare ask the old man before him any more questions. The man even knew his father, so he had to be an important figure.
Cang Lao's gaze finally turned to Li Chen, and his tone grew a little more subdued. "Not bad. You actually managed to break through my illusion using energy. Quite good indeed."
"Cultivate diligently and become a powerful Sequencer in the future."
Compared with the others, Cang Lao only had a few words of praise for Li Chen.
After all, they were neither relatives nor acquaintances. Where would all that goodwill come from?
Li Chen said nothing. He was certain that, in that instant just now, the old man had seemed to use some method to examine his entire body. Although the aura had been very faint, he had felt it.
Cang Lao looked at the three of them and smiled. "Go on. The academy gates are open. Go register. Your future has only just begun."
As his voice faded, he scattered like a bubble, turning into a phantom and vanishing.
"Whoa." Su Zhe, who had been silent all this time, stared wide-eyed as a man vanished in an instant right before him. "Chen-ge, that old man really is something. He even knew my dad's old title. You should know, I didn't even know about it before. I only found out because he was drinking."
All Li Chen knew about the old man was that he was very strong.
Stronger than them. If he had guessed correctly, the old man should have had a hand in the illusion just now as well.
Jianping, who had remained silent, spoke up. "Cang Lao is the vice dean of Canglan Academy."
"Huh? The vice dean? That old man?" Su Zhe opened his mouth, seemingly a little shocked.
Jianping nodded. He was not lying.
The three of them did not say much more about the old man's identity. What use was knowing so much?
Li Chen looked around at the crowd still trapped in unconsciousness. "We should go register. Only now are we officially entering the academy."
Academy life was about to begin.
There actually had not been much change within the academy.
There were simply very few people. It seemed the scenes in the illusion earlier had all been fabricated. Following the map, they soon found the registration office. There were no more twists and turns this time; they simply collected their student cards, and that completed their enrollment.
The student card was no ordinary thing. It was made from a mobile phone and contained all their information. Moreover, after entering Canglan Academy, their method of payment had changed. Only the designated Canglan Academy Points could be used to buy things within the academy. Their accommodations were also marked on it.
Li Chen glanced at the 1,000 Study Points the academy had given him and nodded. It did not seem like such a rip-off. At least, he had originally thought he would have to pay to enter the academy, but it seemed the academy had given him money instead.
Su Zhe, however, was a little upset. The money he had brought was completely useless now. Canglan Academy's use of Study Points in place of money naturally had its advantages too. For example, it greatly weakened rich kids like Su Zhe, at least within the academy.
"Chen-ge, what good are these 1,000 Study Points?"
"I'm afraid I'll lose several pounds in a month!!" Su Zhe looked at the Study Points on his Student Badge, wanting to cry but shedding no tears.
Li Chen and Jianping did not mind. They had just looked at the price of food, and it had not really changed much; it was even lower than outside the academy. But now that they were Sequencers, they still needed plenty of resources to cultivate. Since Study Points could be exchanged for the resources they needed, the more Study Points they had, the better.
Competition was the same at every academy. Without the pressure of competition, students like them would have no motivation.