Capital City Storms — Displaying a Little Skill

"Students of the National Martial Academy, your year of study has come to an end. Following the rules of previous years, we will hold the annual assessment today. I hope you all perform well. All right, I hereby announce: the thirty-fifth annual assessment of the National Martial Academy now begins!" The prince who had appeared at the opening ceremony came out again. This fellow was truly hard to catch sight of—he only showed up at the beginning and end of the school year, while the rest of the time he was like a divine dragon whose head could be seen but whose tail could not.

The nearly thousand students below all looked eager to give it a try. After all, the National Martial Academy had been founded by the current Emperor. Every year, those who excelled in the assessment would be granted official posts. Even if one did not wish to become an official, one would still be given a noble title. Though there were only three such places, titles of nobility were exceedingly rare!

Just think how difficult it was to become a baronial family. Even within a baronial family, only the family head could hold the title of baron. One could imagine just how precious such a title was!

It was as though I were looking down on them from high above. These people were so wildly excited over the Emperor's tiny favors. Heh heh...

At this moment, someone else shared Zhang Xingfeng's mindset—Li Tianxiang. In his eyes, probably only the imperial throne in the Emperor's hands could still tempt him. As for everything else, heh heh...

After all, he would one day become the head of the Li Family. In terms of status, only the other three family heads could compare with him, while in the entire imperial court, only the Emperor himself could stand on equal footing with him. But when it came to wealth, who could compare to him? Was the title of foremost family merely for show? Their standing was not something the other great families could match!

We were divided among four arenas. The assessment method was simple and quick: three stones were placed before us, and one's strength would be judged solely by how deeply one could cut into them.

Naturally, we began with the hardest stone. Otherwise, who knew how many pieces of granite they would have to replace? If one failed to leave any mark on that stone, then one would try the middle one. If a mark was left, there would be no need to continue; the depth of the mark would reveal one's cultivation. If no mark was left, then one would test oneself on the poorest stone.

"Students, this is the hardest Heavenly Rock Stone. Only First Rank experts can possibly leave even the faintest mark upon it. To this day, no one has been able to split it apart. These stones are naturally fallen fragments from the Heavenly Rock Stone itself. You should begin with the second stone. The second stone is black iron; if you can leave a mark on it, you have reached the Innate Realm. The last stone is ordinary granite. All right, get ready. I will call your names one by one, and whoever is called will come up for the assessment. First: Li Feng." An academy teacher standing on the platform called a student up.

There were quite a few young men here, and even quite a few middle-aged people. It seemed that most of them were experts, and many had likely entered the Innate Realm.

One student after another came down from the platform. Some were delighted, some dejected, some expressionless, and some laughing and joking...

"Zhang Xingfeng." At last, that teacher called my name.

My turn. It was my turn at last. Finally, it was time for me to step onto the stage. Everything would receive its answer today. I had not used any means against them, yet those fellows thought I was easy to bully—especially those so-called Four Gentlemen. Hmph...

"Zhang Xingfeng? He's Zhang Xingfeng? I never thought this fellow would come today too. He was mocked by so many people that day and didn't react at all. Looks like he's just a weakling. Let's see how good his martial arts are. Maybe he won't even be able to leave a mark on the granite. Hahaha..."

"It's Zhang Xingfeng! Come and look! He's the Zhang Xingfeng who was mocked by so many people that day!"

More and more people gathered beside the assessment platform. They all had the same purpose: to see exactly how Zhang Xingfeng would make a fool of himself. Of these people, only those who had been present that day knew that Zhang Xingfeng's martial arts were formidable. Most of the others had merely heard that he had been insulted by many people that day without reacting at all. Curious what kind of weakling Zhang Xingfeng was, they had all come to watch him make a joke of himself.

I watched this group of people waiting to see me make a fool of myself. I silently said in my heart, I'm going to disappoint you all!

With a faint smile on my face, I walked onto the assessment platform, utterly calm.

Li Tianxiang below knew my martial arts. He cursed inwardly, This bastard is going to steal the limelight again!

Not far away, Yuwen Rou and ***Xianyan stared at me without blinking, their eyes filled with delight. This was the first time in over half a year that they had seen me.

I gave the teacher conducting the assessment a slight nod and smile.

The assessment teacher was also a martial arts expert. At that moment, he could sense the aura of an expert that I was deliberately releasing. Though he was greatly shocked that I had reached the Innate Realm at such a young age, he still carried out the duties expected of an assessment teacher.

"Zhang Xingfeng, you may begin. Do you need me to provide you with a weapon?" Seeing that I had brought no weapon, he found it strange. Surely I wasn't going to split stones with my bare hands? He could not believe that.

If so, the test result would not reflect my true ability, and my strength would be discounted by several degrees.

I smiled and shook my head at him. I still had quite a favorable impression of this teacher; his attitude toward me had been good.

I turned back and smiled at those fellows hoping to watch me embarrass myself.

Then I turned around and raised my right hand.

"Is he really going to split stone with his bare hand?" The assessment teacher was deeply shocked.

The people below were equally astonished. Was this fellow crazy? Not only was he weak, he was foolish too!

I could not be bothered to look at their faces, because I knew it was meaningless.

My right hand slowly sliced toward the black iron. The instant it neared the black iron, a Blade Aura burst from my hand, and the black iron split in two like tofu. I did not look at those people's expressions. I only knew that there was no sound left anywhere around me as I calmly walked down from the assessment platform.

"It's Blade Aura! It's Blade Aura! He's at least a Third Rank expert! How old is he? Heavens!"

The people below were nearly driven mad. Xiang Yu, the first person in all history to reach the Innate Realm, had only done so after the age of ten. Yet now, a boy not even ten years old had reached the Innate Realm—and he was even in the Third Rank Realm. This, this, this...

"Madness! Madness! The world has gone mad! What is this? Aahhh... Some peerless genius? I'm ten years old already, yet I'm still hovering around the Sixth Rank, while he's already at the Third Rank! And that's only a conservative estimate. Heavens! Ancestor—right, the Ancestor! Xiao Guizi, return to the manor!" Li Tianxiang's expression twisted hideously. He could no longer control himself.

Xiao Guizi understood his young master's thoughts perfectly. His young master was exceedingly proud, yet someone had now surpassed him—and by a tremendous margin. He knew that all he could do was take his young master back to the manor. His young master was currently in a state beyond control; if things went badly, he might go mad.

The people of the Li Family all slipped away in disgrace, leaving quickly. Few noticed that Young Master Li had left before even taking the assessment.

The entire assessment grounds descended into chaos. For the first time, the National Martial Academy failed to finish its assessment, because many students were nearly mad and could no longer continue. Moreover, even the teachers were shocked and flustered!

A child under eight years old had reached the Third Rank Realm. What did that signify? This was not something that could be explained merely by saying the child possessed exceptional talent. It meant that the child cultivated an unparalleled technique. A cultivation method that could bring an eight-year-old child to the Third Rank Realm—even the Emperor would likely be seized by greed!

"You so-called Four Gentlemen, remember what you said to me that day. Heh heh..." A voice rang out across the entire assessment grounds.

Tang Yan and the other Four Gentlemen trembled from head to toe. Heavens! We, we, we... we were only pawns! The true mastermind behind everything was Li Tianxiang!

But how could they possibly say that aloud? They could only swallow bitter medicine like mutes.

A greater storm had begun...