Black Stone Academy held a major admissions assessment every spring and autumn. Aside from that, there were also recommendations from certain Demon Patrol Envoys.
Of course, applicants still had to undergo some tests.
As for gifted individuals, Chen Feng had also read about them in the information he had bought.
In the Great Gan World, martial artists reigned supreme.
Most martial artists were ordinary people. They might cultivate for an entire lifetime and still never even enter the gate.
Yet among those martial artists who successfully sensed their qi and blood and stepped into cultivation, there was a one-in-ten-thousand chance of awakening a certain cultivation talent.
Some were brimming with qi and blood; some were born with powerful bones. Their martial training advanced a thousand miles in a day.
Such people were called gifted individuals. Generally, they could at the very least break through into the Middle Three Ranks.
They might even have the chance to become Martial Arts Grandmasters.
They were the martial geniuses the Demon Patrol Division most liked to recruit.
Of the Martial Arts Nine Ranks, ranks one through three were known as the Lower Three Ranks. They focused mainly on body refinement: the Skin Refining Realm, Bone Forging Realm, and Organ Refining Realm.
Ranks four through six focused mainly on Qi Cultivation and were known as the Middle Three Ranks: the True Qi Realm, Divine Gang Realm, and True Intent Realm.
There was not much introduction regarding the Upper Three Ranks.
However, upon reaching the Seventh-grade realm, one was already called a grandmaster-level powerhouse in Great Qian.
The Great Gan Dynasty possessed the Thirty-six prefectures of the Nine Provinces. Any grandmaster-level powerhouse was a top-tier expert within a single province.
Eighth Rank Grandmaster, Ninth Rank Martial Saint.
Every Martial Saint was a nation-defending powerhouse of the Great Gan Dynasty.
They were also the greatest source of confidence in resisting and suppressing demons.
Within the nine ranks, each rank was further divided into early, middle, late, and perfected stages. This was related to the cultivation of Martial Arts.
The Iron Fist Technique Chen Feng was currently cultivating had reached the proficient stage, making him a rank one, middle-stage martial artist.
Martial Arts themselves also came in all kinds of grades.
What he had seen before—that breaking limits represented a grade increase—
was correct.
However, Martial Arts like the Iron Fist Technique, which could only break their limits once, were basically the lowest-grade Martial Arts.
According to the basic martial arts information, it only stated that the higher the grade of the techniques one could cultivate, the better.
As for exactly why, Chen Feng had not obtained any detailed information.
This made Chen Feng come to a decision. It looks like if I want to develop better, Black Mountain Academy is still the best choice.
"Otherwise, obtaining high-grade techniques and resources will be extremely difficult."
For the rest of the time, he continued looking through more information.
After resting at noon and having a meal, he learned more about the basic situation in Black Stone County City.
Then Chen Feng took Lin Xue and headed directly toward Black Stone Academy.
Black Stone Academy was, in all of Black Stone City, essentially the highest-level institution of learning.
Under it were elementary and intermediate institutions that trained martial artists from childhood onward.
By Chen Feng's understanding, Black Stone Academy was equivalent to a high school.
It held an extremely high status in Black Stone City, and its location was also in the city's core district.
Chen Feng had originally worried that there might be some trouble, but after arriving at Black Stone Academy, he discovered that parents often brought their children here, treating the place like a sightseeing checkpoint.
The huge bronze-red gates were shut. Only the small side gate occasionally saw young students entering and leaving.
"I wonder how this Recommendation Token is supposed to be used?" Chen Feng's eyes held some confusion.
That Red-robed Fairy had only given him a Recommendation Token, but she had not told him how to use it.
There was a small guard booth at the entrance to Black Stone Academy, with two guards stationed inside.
There were also faint fluctuations of aura emanating from them.
Though not particularly powerful, they were enough to stop ordinary martial artists.
While Chen Feng was still pondering, laughter suddenly rang out beside him. "Classmate, are you trying to get in?"
"Who?"
Chen Feng was startled.
He looked over and saw a young man in white standing beside him. He was slightly plump, and his round face was currently filled with a smile.
"You are?"
Chen Feng asked in confusion.
From the fat man's clothes, Chen Feng could tell that the other party was a student of Black Stone Academy.
He simply did not know what the other party wanted.
The fat man laughed. "Haha, don't worry."
"My name is Wan Baoyang. I like doing a little business. If you want to go in and have a look, experience the atmosphere of a Martial Arts Academy, then for three taels of silver, I can take you in for a stroll!"
Wan Baoyang said with a smile.
Chen Feng was somewhat surprised. "You can take outsiders in?"
Wan Baoyang chuckled. "That's right. As a student of Black Stone Academy, I naturally have the qualifications to bring fellow students inside. We're only taking a stroll around; it doesn't cost anyone anything."
"And it lets students like us earn a little side money. What's bad about that?"
Chen Feng was surprised. "Aren't you here to practice martial arts? You still lack money?"
Wan Baoyang glanced at Chen Feng and shook his head. "Of course. Literary study can be done on the cheap, but martial arts training costs money. If you don't have money, how can you enjoy those top-tier resources? There are weapons, pills, and all sorts of other things—they all cost money."
"Especially for Black Stone Academy students, there are even more places to spend money. All kinds of Cultivation treasure grounds and heavenly treasures require money."
"Without money, you can't take a single step!"
As Wan Baoyang spoke, he shook his head and sighed.
Chen Feng's eyes showed some surprise. "So that's how it is."
"Then I'll trouble you to take us inside for a look."
Lin Xue had remained by Chen Feng's side without saying anything.
At this, Wan Baoyang's face immediately lit up with delight. He laughed. "Haha, good. I guarantee you'll get more than your money's worth."
He then led Chen Feng directly into the academy through the side gate.
Following behind Wan Baoyang, Chen Feng watched as he slipped something to the guard. The guard did not even look at them before letting them directly into Black Stone Academy.
This made Chen Feng inwardly marvel at Wan Baoyang. He really knew how to do business!
After entering the academy and passing through a screen wall, they could see the buildings and scenery within Black Stone Academy.
The first thing they saw after entering was a plaza covering more than ten thousand square meters, its foundation paved with black bricks.
The plaza was filled with all kinds of training equipment.
Bronze dummies and wooden stakes, as well as things resembling rings, horizontal bars, stone locks, and more.
At present, nearly several dozen students dressed in white were training and cultivating in the plaza.
Most of them looked seventeen or eighteen years old.
They were basically all training in silence. Everyone appeared hurried and pressed for time, as though they had poured it all into cultivation.
Wan Baoyang smiled. "This is the academy's training plaza. All this training equipment is free to use."
Chen Feng was astonished. He even saw an area on the plaza specifically for practicing archery and shooting targets.
There were fixed targets, and even moving targets.
All of this made Chen Feng's eyes light up.
Such a spacious place—if it were used for martial training, it would be absolutely incredible.
Wan Baoyang said with a chuckle from the side, "There are also indoor training areas over there."
"As long as you have money, you can even hire instructors who teach martial arts classes for one-on-one private training."
Chen Feng was surprised. "The instructors teach one-on-one as well?"
Wan Baoyang laughed. "Of course they do. Instructors need to practice martial arts too."
"They naturally lack resources."
"Over there is where we attend classes, along with the Scripture Pavilion, registration area, and so on."
"But outsiders can only look from afar while accompanied by students like us. You can't get close. Otherwise, the academy students might mistake you for some lawless criminal and arrest you on the spot."
Before you continue