"Such a pity, Chen Nan. You failed to meet the standard in both assessments, so you can't enter the Preparatory Academy." Li Yu smiled with great friendliness. "Why not come back and try again next year? After all, this test is available until you turn fifteen."
The moment he said this, Zhang Hua's face immediately darkened with anger. He pulled out a wet wipe and vigorously scrubbed his hands. "What rotten luck. I actually touched such a lowborn!"
Li Yu said with a smile, "Ah, he's still somewhat famous. There is a difference between him and a lowborn."
The children around them knew that their fates would be the same as Chen Nan's, and that every "lowborn" Li Yu spat out referred to people like them.
Yet they still found it entertaining.
Chen Nan's fame had drawn their attention. Seeing a celebrity treated this way with their own eyes was naturally an immensely delightful thing.
Chen Nan remained unmoved. He looked at Li Yu, but had no idea what to do. Even if he exhausted every trick in his arsenal now, it would still be impossible.
Li Yu would never allow him to pass, and any attempt would be useless. Unless he could kill him—but that was even more impossible.
Just then, a man in white suddenly walked over.
He was bright and spirited, so handsome that looking at him was exceedingly pleasant. A man's handsomeness, unlike a woman's beauty, was not always so fitting.
Some men were handsome like women; others carried arrogance in their good looks. Such men either made people want to vomit at the sight of them or punch them.
But this man's handsomeness possessed masculine vigor without being overbearing. People could only admire his looks, without feeling stifled.
He came over and asked with a smile, "Senior Brother Li, what happened here?"
The moment Li Yu saw him, he immediately nodded. His waist seemed to bend a little lower as well, and he said with a broad smile, "Oh, so it's Junior Brother Lu Fangliang. It's nothing, just a normal assessment. A normal assessment."
The man named Lu Fangliang looked at Chen Nan and said with a smile, "I find this child rather interesting. He didn't pass?"
Li Yu, a Transcendent, was instead inferior to the lowborn he spoke of. His skin was not trained to be incomparably thick, so an immortal flush spread across his face—pronounced the same as "bright red," making for a wonderfully twofold effect.
He coughed to ease his embarrassment and said stiffly, "Mm, well, yes, yes. It seems he didn't pass. How about—Junior Brother, you give it a try? Perhaps this senior brother made a mistake; one can never be sure."
Lu Fangliang's smile carried a chill. "Senior Brother Li should not be mistaken, but there is always the fear of an exception. For these children, this is a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity. Once missed, it would be far too regrettable.
So I'll take a look."
As he spoke, he performed Qi Gazing on Chen Nan.
In truth, the moment he came close to Chen Nan, he had already known that Chen Nan definitely possessed the aptitude of a Transcendent. It would have been strange if he did not.
Yet when he formally performed Qi Gazing now, his brows furrowed.
Li Yu watched Lu Fangliang's expression from the corner of his eye, unable to understand. It was obvious at a glance that Chen Nan possessed Transcendent aptitude, so why was he frowning?
That was because Lu Fangliang had sensed the strange and complex fluctuations of Chen Nan's Transcendent ability.
As Chen Nan watched Lu Fangliang, he had already felt the interference that the electromagnetic waves radiating from him caused to his body. Of course, that sensation came from the AI System's detection capabilities, which also analyzed characteristics such as the waves' intensity.
As expected! Chen Nan thought in astonishment. A Transcendent's abilities are related to these electromagnetic waves!
"Interesting." Lu Fangliang smiled. "He truly is somewhat unusual."
It sounded as though he were speaking to himself, but Chen Nan knew he was evaluating him.
Lu Fangliang turned to Li Yu. "No wonder Senior Brother Li made a misjudgment. This child's 'qi signs' are rather different. If not for our Nature Master branch being relatively skilled in this area, we might not have been able to see it either."
Li Yu only assumed Lu Fangliang was giving him a way out. He did not know that half of it was true. He merely showed a guilty expression and said, "It is all thanks to Junior Brother. Otherwise, I nearly ruined a great talent. That would have been an enormous loss for this child, and an immense karmic sin for me as well.
Junior Brother Lu, with this one move, you saved two people. Your merit is boundless, truly boundless!"
Lu Fangliang waved a hand and smiled. "Senior Brother Li, you flatter me. This child—"
"Pass, pass, pass!" Li Yu immediately said. "Of course he passes!"
Lu Fangliang smiled, then left calmly. He did not even wait for Chen Nan to verbally express his thanks.
Li Yu glanced at Chen Nan, then at Lu Fangliang. Fierce thoughts from his mind reflected in his gaze. Unfortunately, Chen Nan could not peer through the window of the soul, but he knew Li Yu was thinking nothing good.
Having passed the assessment, he naturally entered the Preparatory Academy's inner courtyard through a special passage.
Several children who had passed were already waiting there. When they saw Chen Nan arrive, some smiled kindly, while others wore arrogant expressions. Each was different.
Children really were too quick to reveal what was in their hearts. Chen Nan could guarantee that if a group of adults had been here, they would certainly have showered him with congratulations when they saw him arrive.
Scattered about, several more children came to wait afterward, Zhang Hua naturally among them.
His family was a Transcendent Lineage, so naturally he would not fail the assessment.
They gathered together, fewer than twenty people in total. This was Wu City Preparatory Academy's intake quota for the year. Thus, although the Preparatory Academy was a special school with quite a large area, it did not have many students.
Before long, staff members began leading the children through the enrollment procedures. The children's parents were also permitted to enter and arrange everything needed for their children to live at the school.
The first matter in enrollment was paying the tuition fee. Neither more nor less, fifty thousand yuan, including room, board, and ordinary educational resources.
At the Preparatory Academy, educational resources were extremely important. They could determine how quickly a student graduated. Although the academy stipulated that students only needed to graduate upon reaching adulthood at sixteen, those who met the graduation standard early could graduate early.
And early graduation involved another issue: where one went after graduating.
Ordinary graduation meant obtaining a diploma from the Preparatory Academy, then entering the world of ordinary people.
The other path was to take an entrance examination and then enter one of Qingyang Kingdom's five Transcendent Academies.
Being able to meet the graduation standard early, then pass the assessment to enter a Transcendent Academy, was extremely important for a student.
The younger one was upon entering a Transcendent Academy, the faster one's future growth would be and the longer-lasting one's development. In today's world, the leading figures among Transcendents had basically entered Transcendent Academies for further study at the age of twelve or thirteen, with outstanding results.
Only with such talent could they eventually become powerful enough that the world would tremble at their every move.
For those who wished to become Transcendents, entering the Preparatory Academy was merely an initiation rite. Their long road of cultivation stretched so far that its end was almost beyond sight.
Within the Preparatory Academy, aside from innate talent and diligence, another key to entering a Transcendent Academy as early as possible was the educational resources provided by the Preparatory Academy.
These resources included ordinary resources and special resources. Special resources were further divided in detail, from Special Grade One to Special Grade Five.
These resources included theoretical knowledge, such as cultivation methods, martial techniques, spells, and the like.
Beyond that were cultivation aids: equipment, medicine, accessories, training grounds, and all sorts of miscellaneous things.
Of the items above, the fifty-thousand-yuan tuition only allowed one to use ordinary-quality resources; special-grade resources were unavailable. So what should one do to use special-grade resources?
Spend money?
That was indeed an almost universal route, and naturally it applied here as well. But the expense was enormous.
Put it this way: if a student planned to use Special Grade One resources, their annual spending would have to increase by another one hundred to two hundred thousand yuan. Special Grade Two would cost four to five hundred thousand. There was no need to go into the rest. Such astronomical sums were enough to make many people stop in their tracks.
Besides spending money, the other path was having the capital to freeload.
We roughly understand this. For example, if a man looked like a girl, he had the capital to freeload off girls.
Also, if a man was scummy enough—meaning his emotional intelligence was high according to the usual mistaken understanding—he understood humor, knew how to chat, knew every sort of sense of ceremony, knew all kinds of ways to stir people's hearts, and possessed brilliant swindling skills, then he could freeload too.
Men without those qualities could only rely on money.
As for obtaining special educational resources, the capital to freeload was similar to the above. It was an inherent attribute of a person: he had to possess exceptionally powerful talent.
But much of the time, such exceptionally powerful talent was like a man's beauty. It did not always work.
Therefore, it also required a certain foundation of "emotional intelligence."
The resources were there for anyone who met the requirements to claim them, but those "requirements" were set by people—and "people" were the key.
If they said you could, then you could;
if they said you could not, then you could not.
There was no such thing as fairness.
Countless poor yet steadfast geniuses of extraordinary talent ultimately sank to the bottom of the Transcendent world.
It was helplessly tragic.
Amid the clamor and bustle, most of the dozen-odd newly enrolled children were exceedingly excited. Even Zhang Hua was no exception.
They were all filled with beautiful hopes for their future, unaware that once they left the sheltering wings of their parents, beauty had already become yesterday's flower.
Those lofty ideals and self-righteous ambitions would be battered to pieces by cold society, until no hot blood remained in their chests and they could only struggle on beneath society's rules.
Even Transcendents were no exception. Unless...
Before you continue