Selection in Progress

After circling half of the enormous plaza, Xiao Ming finally stopped in the middle of it.

He had originally wanted to look for a less crowded weak point, but aside from the rear of the plaza, where two or three layers of fully armed soldiers had cordoned it off and no one was present, every other spot was about the same—packed with people.

Xiao Ming had no way to ask those soldiers for special treatment, so he could only return to where he had started.

"Fine, I'd better just squeeze my way in."

Relying on his height advantage, Xiao Ming spent a long while squeezing through a crowd whose members were at least ten years older than him before finally emerging, drenched in sweat.

"Phew, finally made it out. Luckily, most of these spectators aren't stronger than me, or I'd have been suffocated in there." Xiao Ming sighed in relief as he looked at the green tents in the open space ahead.

There was a considerable distance between the crowd and the tents, with several passageways in between. Young men who looked like academy students stood in those passageways, holding fist-sized red crystals to test people.

Xiao Ming joined the line for one of the passageways, drawing the attention of a youth beside him.

Looking at the small Xiao Ming, the youth could not stop wondering to himself.

This kid looked no older than seven. Could he have come here because he thought this was some kind of fun game?

Out of kindness, he spoke up. "Little brother, you've got it wrong. This isn't some fun game; Jia Nan Academy is recruiting students. Hurry home, or you'll get scolded later."

His words also drew the attention of the others, who all turned to look.

"Whose child is this?"

"Wow, he's so cute!"

"Go on, go on. What's a child doing joining in the fun?"

"Little brother, be good and go home."

"Hahaha, look how unmoved he is. Don't tell me he really came here for the test? Dou Qi Power Stage Eight at such a young age? Who does he think he is, Xiao Ming of the Xiao Family, Wu Tan City's number one genius?"

"...Wait, that's the Xiao Family's clothing!"

"Could he really be Xiao Ming?"

"Who knows? We've never seen him before."

Xiao Ming did not care about the discussions around him. He had expected this sort of situation long ago.

It was not strange that people around him did not recognize him. Since revealing his strength, he rarely left the Xiao Family estate, and whenever he did, he made sure to conceal himself. As a result, his reputation was well known throughout Wu Tan City, yet few people knew what he looked like.

That was exactly what he wanted.

But since he was going to Jia Nan Academy anyway, it did not matter if he was exposed now.

So Xiao Ming waved to thank the youth who had kindly warned him earlier. "Thank you for the reminder. I'm Xiao Ming of the Xiao Family. I'm not here to play; I'm here to take the test."

"Oh! It really is him! I guessed right."

"I never expected Wu Tan City's number one genius to look like this. He's kind of cute."

"Dou Qi Power Stage Seven at five years old—he should be called the empire's number one genius!"

"I wonder how strong he is now."

"..."

Hearing the surrounding chatter, the youth realized he had made a fool of himself. His face reddened as he said, "Sorry. I didn't know you were Xiao Ming. I caused you trouble."

Those who had spoken rudely earlier also fell silent.

Xiao Ming waved his hand to show that he did not mind.

After that little episode, Xiao Ming felt more and more people watching him as he stood in line.

Though there was a sea of people outside, Jia Nan Academy had recruited students before, and its requirements had long since spread. There were not actually many youths of the right age who were confident enough to come for the test. Most of the crowd outside had simply come to watch.

"Failed. Next."

Before long, it was Xiao Ming's turn.

Thanks to the earlier commotion, the female student conducting the test did not look down on him. Instead, she smilingly handed him the red crystal.

"Little brother, this Testing Crystal is very simple. Pour Dou Qi into it. As long as you have reached Dou Qi Power Stage Eight, it will light up automatically. Then you'll have passed the preliminary test."

"Mm." Xiao Ming nodded in understanding. He stepped forward and placed his palm on the crystal sphere for a moment. Once it lit up, he withdrew his hand.

It had really lit up!

Although the female student had already suspected as much, she could not help feeling somewhat shocked.

After all, Xiao Ming was truly far too young.

"I passed, right?"

Xiao Ming's voice jolted her awake. "You passed. Go on in."

Xiao Ming slowly walked toward the tents.

As he approached the large green tent, he saw over a dozen men and women gathered in small groups beneath its cool shade, chatting casually with one another. Judging from how at ease they appeared, they were probably Jia Nan Academy students, just like those conducting the tests outside.

Outside the shade, more than a dozen young men and women sat cross-legged on the ground beneath the blazing sun. Though sweat streamed down their faces from the heat, they looked restrained and nervous. They seemed to be new students who had just passed the outer test.

Someone among the new students saw Xiao Ming and called out in delight, "Cousin Xiao Ming, come here!"

Looking over, Xiao Ming saw a sweat-soaked Xiao Family member waving at him.

His shout naturally attracted the attention of many others, especially the new students sitting with him.

Ignoring the curious looks directed at him, Xiao Ming walked over to the Xiao Family member.

"Was I the only one from the family who passed the test?"

It was not surprising that someone from the Xiao Family had passed. After all, it was one of Wu Tan City's Three Great Families. But having only one person pass was rather noteworthy, because the Xiao Family's Coming-of-Age Ceremony required sixteen-year-olds to reach Dou Qi Power Stage Seven, which was no easier than Jia Nan Academy's admission requirement of Dou Qi Power Stage Eight by the age of eighteen.

Yet so few people had met Jia Nan Academy's requirements. It could only mean that those people had been slacking off!

"Only I passed among those who came."

Seeing that Xiao Ming seemed somewhat disdainful, the Xiao Family member hurriedly defended the others.

"Actually, some people did meet the requirements, but they didn't want to go to Jia Nan Academy. For example, the eldest young master, Xiao Ding."

Xiao Ming nodded in realization. Although Xiao Ding's talent was inferior to Xiao Yan's, he was still outstanding among the Xiao Family's younger generation.

Passing Jia Nan Academy's test was indeed not difficult for him.

As for why he did not attend Jia Nan Academy, only he himself knew.

Perhaps Jia Nan Academy held great appeal for many people, but not quite enough appeal. It was contradictory, yet not hard to understand.

Under the blazing sun, Xiao Ming sat down cross-legged and continued chatting idly with his clansman.

After an unknown amount of time passed, more than a dozen people had gathered around them.

From their earlier conversation, Xiao Ming had learned that the clansman beside him was named Xiao Shan. Xiao Shan had thick brows, large eyes, dark skin, and a burly build, yet he was incredibly talkative.

The two had become much more familiar, and Xiao Shan complained, "This is ridiculous. We've been roasting here for half the day, while those old students are laughing and chatting in the shade. No one is doing anything about us."

Xiao Ming glanced at the indignant Xiao Shan.

Whenever Jia Nan Academy recruited students, it would dampen the new students' spirits. This was practically an unspoken rule of Jia Nan Academy, because those who met the admission threshold were generally considered talented.

Such people usually lived pampered lives in their own small corners of the world and rarely suffered ridicule or mockery. If they entered Jia Nan Academy, where outstanding people emerged one after another, with that sort of mindset, they could easily come to blows over a single disagreement and create unnecessary trouble.

Therefore, during recruitment, making new students clearly understand their standing and grinding away the sharpness of their youthful arrogance was a very practical and important matter.

Xiao Ming, Xiao Shan, and the people around them were undoubtedly going through that very process.

Xiao Ming personally did not feel much about it. Though this behavior was a little excessive, he was not Long Aotian. As long as no one openly targeted him, he could not be bothered to make a big fuss over something like this.

If someone suddenly jumped out and gave him a chance to slap their face, he could reluctantly show off a little.

But so far, he had not encountered that sort of villainous character.

The moment he entered, Xiao Shan had called him over, and they had been chatting for quite some time.