Yanhuang Battlefield

Within the Vermilion Bird Kingdom, Yanhuang Academy was the most sacred and exalted academy for beastmasters. It was said that its history was even longer than that of the Vermilion Bird Kingdom itself.

Moreover, Yanhuang Academy was more than merely an academy in many respects; it was more like a symbol. At the very least, Li Tianming knew that not only powers on the level of Thunder Lord Manor and the Starfall Chamber of Commerce, but even the Vermilion Bird royal clan that controlled the nation's lifeblood, treated Yanhuang Academy with sufficient respect. Throughout history, countless princes and Princesses had cultivated at Yanhuang Academy.

Li Tianming had even heard that Yanhuang Academy had stood tall and unshaken for a thousand years because there was a background power behind it that surpassed anything the people of the Vermilion Bird Kingdom could imagine.

For instance, the academy's "Heavenly Court" was a mysterious place to Li Tianming. It was said to be the academy's true core.

As the sacred land of beastmasters in the Vermilion Bird Kingdom, Yanhuang Academy had nurtured countless generations of beastmasters and possessed an exalted status. The academy itself was incomparably vast, occupying nearly half the northern district of the Flame Capital. The entirety of Yanhuang Academy was even larger than the Imperial City of the Vermilion Bird royal clan.

Today was the day of the academy's once-every-four-years hall examination. Li Tianming had arrived early in the morning. Needless to say, the place was a sea of people today.

"Today is only the qualification battle, not the ranking battle, yet there are this many people? There are even more than four years ago."

Of course, not everyone who came was a young man or woman who had obtained a Yanhuang Order. Many were parents or servants. Looking around, there were countless top experts. The prosperity and grandeur of the Flame Capital were displayed here in full splendor.

Yanhuang Academy's gates were not magnificent or lavish. They were built from simple massive stones, filled with the traces of age and antiquity. Yet this simple, weighty arrangement instead truly revealed the academy's thousand-year foundation. Beastmasters across the land dreamed of coming here.

Four years ago, Li Tianming had passed the hall examination and become an academy disciple with excitement in his heart. Yet when he arrived at the academy gates four years later, his mood seemed entirely different.

Because he knew that the two people who had destroyed everything he had three years ago were now deep within Yanhuang Academy, enjoying the treatment reserved for the most exceptional geniuses. They would never have imagined that Li Tianming had returned.

The qualification battle was a very simple step for Li Tianming, not particularly difficult. He followed the crowd inside, holding his Yanhuang Order. Once he completed registration, he could enter Yanhuang Academy again and take part in the qualification hall examination.

There were five registration sites at the academy gates, and long lines had formed at all five. Those queueing with him were all fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boys and girls, youthful and radiant, their eyes filled with hope.

They were nervous and excited, just like Li Tianming had been four years ago.

Once someone passed the age of twenty, they no longer qualified to compete for a Yanhuang Order. Li Tianming's luck was decent; in just over a month, he would be overage.

Of the five registration sites, Li Tianming chose the registration desk for Phoenix Hall.

Other than the core Heavenly Court, Yanhuang Academy was divided into five halls: Hall of Myriad Beasts, Phoenix Hall, Azure Hall, Primordial Spirit Hall, and Heavenly One Hall.

These five Main Halls respectively recruited beastmasters with mammal-type, avian-type, fish-type, insect-type, and special-type lifebound beasts.

Among birds, the phoenix was revered above all in legend, hence the name Phoenix Hall. Phoenix Hall possessed an ancient inheritance and stood alongside the Hall of Myriad Beasts as Yanhuang Academy's largest hall. It had countless disciples and produced talent after talent.

Just as it was nearly his turn, Li Tianming suddenly saw that the people in charge of registration at Phoenix Hall's desk today were actually his "old classmates" from four years ago.

After losing his lifebound beast three years ago, he had no longer been able to cultivate. Thus, he had withdrawn from school of his own accord and left Phoenix Hall. The disciples who had entered Yanhuang Academy alongside him back then had presumably already advanced to the "intermediate class."

Yanhuang Academy's five Main Halls were divided into terms of four years each, with one grade per term. There were three grades in total: the elementary class, intermediate class, and advanced class.

Every four years, an elementary class was recruited. Those elementary class disciples whose cultivation met the requirements and reached the standard advanced to the intermediate class. As for the highest advanced class, its disciples had already cultivated at Yanhuang Academy for ten to twelve years and were permitted to graduate.

Of course, if one's cultivation attainments were high and one had abundant experience, the academy could also invite them to become an academy teacher. Yanhuang Academy teachers held extremely lofty status and were absolutely among the elite. Therefore, advanced class graduates basically worked exceptionally hard in order to compete to become teachers.

Three years ago, Li Tianming had left Phoenix Hall's elementary class before completing his studies. After three years of bitter cultivation, his classmates from the same term had all made great progress. At the very least, they had become beastmasters of the Spirit Source Realm.

Advancing to the intermediate class meant that their cultivation had passed assessment and reached the intermediate class standard. If they failed to reach it, they would be ordered to repeat a year and remain in the elementary class for another four years.

At Yanhuang Academy, repeating a year was an incredibly humiliating matter. Not only would one waste four years of youth, but one would also become an object of ridicule. Worse still, everyone had only one chance to repeat a year. If they still failed to meet the standard the second time, they would be stripped of their status as Yanhuang Academy disciples and expelled from the academy outright.

The two before him had once studied with Li Tianming for a year. They had surely advanced to the intermediate class and become senior brother and senior sister. Otherwise, they would not have been qualified to shoulder such an important task, registering the thousands upon thousands of youths who had obtained Yanhuang Orders.

Among the five Main Halls, Phoenix Hall recruited five hundred disciples each year, but more than fifteen hundred youths who had obtained Yanhuang Orders wanted to enter Phoenix Hall, by Li Tianming's estimate. The hall examination's pass rate was one in three.

These two old classmates were a man and a woman. The man was named Fang Zhao, while the woman was named Lin Qingyu. Li Tianming still recognized them; he simply did not know whether they still recognized him.

After queueing for roughly two hours, it was finally Li Tianming's turn. He took out his Yanhuang Order, then wrote his origins and name on the list.

Fang Zhao and Lin Qingyu both kept their heads lowered as they collected the items. One was responsible for checking them, while the other took away the Yanhuang Orders.

"Lihuo City, Li Tianming." The black-robed Fang Zhao picked up the list. When he saw the name written on it, he froze for a moment, then raised his head. When he saw Li Tianming, his expression became particularly vivid.

"Li Tianming, why is it you?" Lin Qingyu wore a long orange dress. Under the blazing sun, fragrant sweat faintly beaded on her skin.

"Fang Zhao, Lin Qingyu, it has been a while. I obtained another Yanhuang Order and am preparing to make a comeback." Reuniting with old classmates, Li Tianming recalled when they had first entered Phoenix Hall four years ago. They had all been newcomers from remote regions, helping one another and growing together. Those days had been green and tender, yet moving. He remembered that Fang Zhao had been timid then, and his cultivation had been somewhat weaker. When Fang Zhao was beaten up, Li Tianming had even stood up for him.

But now, their expressions were both rather off. When they saw Li Tianming, there was no joy at reunion, only alarm.

Lin Qingyu had likely recalled Li Tianming's scandal from three years ago, so she probed, "Tianming, are you serious?"

"Of course. I happen not to have exceeded the age limit yet, and through my own efforts, I obtained Lihuo City's Yanhuang Order again. After all, the academy never stipulated that I could not take the hall examination a second time." Li Tianming smiled.

"But your lifebound beast is already dead!" Fang Zhao raised his head, his expression somewhat unsightly. Then he said, "Tianming, it has been over three years. Because of your affair three years ago, the disciples of our entire class were mocked for a long time. You should stop making trouble here. If you truly mean to cause a disturbance, I'll have to throw you out."

"There's no need for that. I meet every requirement. You only need to register me." Li Tianming spoke blandly. He was not surprised that Fang Zhao would target him. By now, he no longer lamented how things had changed and people had changed; he had seen such things often enough.

"You have no lifebound beast. If I let you in, wouldn't that make me lose even more face? Li Tianming, this isn't three years ago. We've already advanced to the intermediate class. If you truly intend to make trouble, don't blame your old classmate for disregarding our past friendship." Fang Zhao curled his lip, malice showing on his face.

"Oh, so you're already an intermediate class senior brother. Impressive." Li Tianming gave him a thumbs-up.

"I'll ask you one more time. Are you going to get lost or not?" Fang Zhao asked darkly.

"Qingyu, are you as puffed up with petty success as he is?" Li Tianming turned and looked at the girl beside him.

Lin Qingyu gritted her teeth and shook her head. "Forget it. I don't want to concern myself with you either. Let's handle this officially. You meet the conditions and have obtained a Yanhuang Order. I can also look up the information confirming that you obtained one. You may go in."

"Qingyu, don't let him go in and disgrace himself..." Fang Zhao said anxiously.

"What are you so anxious about? If I disgrace myself, I disgrace myself. What the hell does it have to do with you?" Li Tianming said.

"Li Tianming, you dare speak to me like that? Don't forget the difference in status between you and me now!" Fang Zhao abruptly stood up.

After three years of bitter cultivation and advancing to the intermediate class, his strength had already improved enormously compared to back then.

"Awesome. Incredible. If there's a chance in the future, let me see what you've got." Li Tianming could not be bothered to entangle himself with him. After receiving permission, he turned and stepped into Yanhuang Academy.

"I have an important duty today. Another day, I'll show you properly how, after three years of cultivation, I can crush a filthy piece of trash like you!" Fang Zhao had no way to chase after him, because there was still a queue of over a thousand people before his desk.

Li Tianming did not turn back because of his clamor. He feared no one like Fang Zhao, who was fierce in appearance but weak at heart, no matter how high his realm or how strong his combat power was.

He merely sighed inwardly. Back when everyone had been young and ignorant, they had not been like this.

Back then, they had come from all corners of the land and entered the same elementary class. Everything had been fresh to them then. The scenes of sitting on the ground at night and chatting through the entire night could only be sealed away in memory now.

He simply did not know whether the other classmates from back then would all have the same character as Fang Zhao.

Perhaps he would find out soon enough.

He followed the crowd into Yanhuang Academy. After passing through the gates, the legendary place of the academy appeared before him—the Yanhuang Battlefield!

This was where academy disciples sparred and trained, as well as where major competitions were held. Yanhuang Academy's famous ranking battles were conducted here.

Across the vast open ground before him stood several hundred enormous arenas. Every arena was made of ancient massive stones, their surfaces marked with countless traces of battle.

The entire broad plain was surrounded by a circular structure. This circular building contained more than ten thousand seats, all prepared for spectators. Yanhuang Academy's trials were open to the public. Many people of status and standing from the Flame Capital could come in to watch, while ordinary people could also pay to enter and admire the bearing of academy disciples.

Beyond these more than ten thousand open-air seats, there were several hundred private rooms. The people within those private rooms were the true top figures of the Vermilion Bird Kingdom. The rooms offered better views, allowing their occupants to see every arena.

These arenas, together with the lofty spectator seats, formed the academy's renowned Yanhuang Battlefield. Over a thousand years, countless young geniuses had made their names here, proved themselves here. This was the place that made academy disciples' blood boil.

Today's qualification battle, as well as the more important ranking battles to follow, would all take place here.

When Li Tianming entered, quite a few people were already seated in the spectator stands. Many were elders, able to clearly observe the performances of their children and descendants. Within those several hundred private rooms, there should also have been some figures of noble status present at this time.

For true geniuses, the qualification battle was not particularly difficult, so today certainly would not be as lively as the day of the ranking battles.

However, Li Tianming could never have imagined that among the spectators were two people he knew extremely well.

The two were a man and a woman. Though the man was already middle-aged, he still looked rather young. A wisp of long beard drifted from his chin, and he carried great authority. Simply sitting there, he exuded an imposing air without needing to show anger.

The woman beside him was much younger, roughly in her twenties. Her features were seductive, her figure outstanding, her curves exquisite. Every smile and frown drew the attention of many people nearby. She was truly a rare beauty.

They were Li Yanfeng and Liu Qing.