Genius Ranking Tournament

The airship did not return directly to Yujing. Instead, it detoured to other provinces and commanderies to pick up the children of other feudal lords, along with some offspring from powerful clans in those regions.

Among them, the airship passed through Qingzhou and picked up five disciples of the Su Clan of Qingzhou.

As the airship took aboard more and more people, it became increasingly lively.

However, none of this had anything to do with Jiang Ping'an. He mostly stayed in his room, absorbing Heavenly Essence to cultivate.

He had been born with every channel throughout his body open, and on top of that, he possessed the Ancient Sacred Body. He could cultivate without interruption for all twelve two-hour periods of the day, while others could cultivate for at most one period a day.

A month later, the airship finally arrived in Yujing and landed in the plaza within Taiwu Academy.

In order to establish Taiwu Academy, Emperor Qian had invested enormously. In Yujing, where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold, he had set aside the area of three wards—Yujing, aside from the Central Imperial City, was divided into a total of one hundred and eight wards—and built it magnificently.

Thus, Taiwu Academy's plaza was large enough to accommodate the colossal Expedition Airship.

After disembarking, the students, servants, and guards stood in orderly groups.

A middle-aged man in a high crown and broad robes, his aura like a dragon's, came to greet the newly disembarked students with two Instructors whose auras were likewise like dragons and more than a dozen Divine Treasury Realm Instructors.

The students delivered by this airship were the final batch, and Taiwu Academy's reception process was already as familiar as a well-worn path.

"My name is Cao Yunsheng. I am Taiwu Academy's Supervisor, in charge of enforcing its discipline." The middle-aged man in the high crown and broad robes spoke slowly. His voice was not loud, yet every person heard it clearly. "On behalf of Taiwu Academy, Cao welcomes you all."

After a pause, Cao Yunsheng continued, "Without rules, there can be no square or circle. Taiwu Academy has gathered the finest talents of the feudal lords throughout our Great Qian Kingdom, the outstanding heirs of clans from every province, and many gifted youths from among the common folk. You are all geniuses, all young and hot-blooded. To ensure that you achieve something in your studies, Taiwu Academy has established a set of regulations."

"There are many provisions in the regulations. Cao will first inform you of several important ones."

"First, respect your teachers and honor the Way. Students are strictly forbidden from provoking, insulting, or threatening teachers and Instructors;

Second, killing, crippling, and beating fellow students are strictly forbidden;

Third, all cultivation methods, spells, martial skills, secret arts, and so on within the academy must not be disclosed without authorization;

No matter who violates the above rules, regardless of their background, they will be severely punished without mercy or exception!"

Toward the end, Cao Yunsheng employed a Divine Soul secret art. Though his voice was not loud, it carried the might of Heaven, shaking the hearts of every student present and filling them with fear and obedience.

After pausing for several breaths to let the students recover, Cao Yunsheng continued, "Now, divide yourselves by cultivation level: those in the Channel Opening Realm, stand to the left; those in the Primordial Sea Realm, stand in the middle; those in the Divine Treasury Realm, stand to the right."

Some among the students began walking to the left. No one went to the right, while the majority remained where they were.

This time, Taiwu Academy's compulsory recruitment had passed over the Divine Treasury Realm children of the feudal lords and clans, even if they were under twenty-four years old.

After dividing them according to cultivation level, Cao Yunsheng had the Instructors behind him lead the students to their residences.

Taiwu Academy's intentions in arranging the students' residences were obvious. It had scattered the children from the same feudal lord or clan as much as possible, distributing them across different residence areas.

After everyone else had been assigned a residence, only Jiang Ping'an remained.

"What is your name?" an Instructor responsible for arranging residences asked Jiang Ping'an. "Which feudal lord or clan are you from?"

Jiang Ping'an replied, "My name is Jiang Ping'an. My original name was Zhao Ping'an. I am from the Zhennan Marquis Estate."

When the Instructor heard that he had changed not only his name but his surname, he immediately guessed there was some grudge within a marquis household. However, he did not care.

Wait. A child from the Zhennan Marquis Estate who had changed his surname—there was a need to give him special consideration.

He took out a register and looked through it, then sized up Jiang Ping'an. "Your cultivation should be at the Channel Opening Realm, correct?"

Jiang Ping'an cultivated Mortal Transformation. Unless a Saint came in person, no one could see through the depths of his cultivation.

"I am at the Primordial Sea Realm," Jiang Ping'an said, releasing the aura of the Primordial Sea Realm at the same time.

Seeing that Jiang Ping'an truly was at the Primordial Sea Realm, the Instructor considered briefly before smiling warmly. "Jiang Ping'an, come with me. I will arrange a good residence for you."

"Thank you, Instructor Li." Jiang Ping'an bowed respectfully on the surface, but a trace of worry rose in his heart.

After walking for nearly half an hour, Instructor Li finally stopped and pointed to an empty little courtyard. "Jiang Ping'an, this will be your residence."

Jiang Ping'an surveyed the newly built, elegant little courtyard and its beautiful surroundings, his heart full of suspicion.

The situation seemed completely contrary to his earlier worries. Instructor Li had actually been telling the truth.

"Thank you, Instructor Li." He bowed in thanks.

Instructor Li smiled. "A mountain need not be high; with an immortal, it becomes renowned. Water need not be deep; with a dragon, it gains spirit. A good residence, indeed—hahaha..."

As he spoke, he had already gone far away, leaving behind a string of laughter.

As Jiang Ping'an walked toward the Courtyard Gate of his residence, he pondered the meaning behind Instructor Li's words.

So my neighbor has quite the background, he thought.

However, he was in no hurry to visit and make acquaintances. His neighbor was right there and could not move away; there was no shortage of time in the next few days.

The Courtyard Gate was closed, but a key had been inserted into the lock, waiting for its first owner.

Jiang Ping'an opened the gate and walked inside.

First came a small front yard. About six zhang farther in stood the main house, a two-story building with four rooms, flanked by a small side room on each side.

In addition, the courtyard came with a small rear yard.

Upon entering the main house, he first found a small main hall one zhang wide and one zhang two deep. It contained wooden furnishings such as tables and chairs.

On one of the square tables lay a document.

Jiang Ping'an walked over, picked it up, and saw the four words "Admission Guide" written on it.

However, what drew his attention most were a Taiwu Academy Map and a copy of the "Taiwu Academy Regulations" pressed beneath the document.

Opening the map, he saw that Taiwu Academy's layout was nearly that of a Bagua formation. At the center of the map lay Taiwu Academy's core, including the Academy Lord Hall, Cultivation Method Pavilion, Spell Pavilion, Martial Arts Pavilion, Secret Arts Pavilion, Alchemy Pavilion, Talisman Pavilion, and so on. It formed a huge central circle, around which sixteen regions of similar size and shape had been divided. These sixteen regions were named after the Bagua directions: Upper Qian Courtyard, Lower Qian Courtyard, Upper Xun Courtyard, Lower Xun Courtyard, and so forth.

What Jiang Ping'an found somewhat strange, however, was that these divided regions were completely isolated from one another and did not connect directly, forming relatively enclosed areas that could only be accessed through the central region. Nearly every region had its own independent Martial Arts Field, Lecture Room, and so on.

Setting down the Taiwu Academy Map, Jiang Ping'an picked up the "Taiwu Academy Regulations" and carefully read and memorized them.

Regulations were rules. Even if he did not intend to exploit loopholes in them, at the very least, he would not be plotted against through those rules.

He then quickly finished reading the Admission Guide.

The Admission Guide stated that the Academy Opening Ceremony would be held tomorrow, and Emperor Qian, as the first Academy Lord, would attend the ceremony.

On the third day after the Academy Opening Ceremony, Taiwu Academy would hold the Genius Ranking Tournament. All students were required to participate. Their rankings would determine the allocation of resources for the next three months, until the Genius Ranking Tournament was held again three months later.

Furthermore, those who achieved rankings in the tournament would receive additional generous rewards.

First place: one Supreme Martial Skill or spell, two high-grade essence stones, twenty bottles of Pinnacle Grade Essence Pills, and one thousand Merit Points;

Second place: one Supreme Martial Skill or spell, twenty bottles of Pinnacle Grade Essence Pills, and five hundred Merit Points;

Seeing such generous tournament rewards, Jiang Ping'an was greatly tempted. He happened to be short of Cultivation Resources.

He had now entered the middle stage of the Primordial Sea Realm and had begun expanding his Essence Sea, which required an ocean of True Essence. Under normal circumstances, the final size of an Essence Sea was roughly Ten Times that of its initial opening. Whenever he thought of how his own Essence Sea was nearly boundless and still had to expand Ten Times further, he could not help worrying that he might never enter the Divine Treasury Realm in his lifetime.

He muttered helplessly, "I had not wanted to draw too much attention, but rankings affect resource allocation, and the reward for first place is generous. I suppose I have no choice but to take first place."

After reading about the Genius Ranking Tournament, he continued on and saw that the Admission Guide required him to go to the Academy Lord Hall in the central region today to collect his Identity Jade Token.

Jiang Ping'an did not continue inspecting the house. He turned and left the courtyard, heading for the Academy Lord Hall in the central region to collect his Identity Jade Token.

More than half an hour later, in a side hall of the Academy Lord Hall, after his identity had been verified and he was about to receive his Identity Jade Token, Jiang Ping'an asked tentatively, "I have changed my surname. Can the name on my Identity Jade Token be written as Jiang Ping'an?"

"You changed your surname?" The Instructor was somewhat surprised. Just as he was about to refuse, a deep middle-aged voice sounded. "Of course it can."

The Instructor hurriedly turned his head and saw the Steward approaching. He quickly stood up and stepped aside to make room.

The middle-aged Steward said to Jiang Ping'an with amiable warmth, "Taiwu Academy appreciates people with ideas. We look forward to seeing you shine brilliantly at Taiwu Academy."

"Thank you," Jiang Ping'an said, sensing that the middle-aged Steward seemed to have another purpose.

The middle-aged Steward nodded slightly and turned away.

Before long, Jiang Ping'an got his wish: an Identity Jade Token bearing the name Jiang Ping'an. From now on, at least within Taiwu Academy, he was Jiang Ping'an rather than Zhao Ping'an.

After successfully receiving his Identity Jade Token, Jiang Ping'an immediately went to see Jiang Shuyue, Jiang Yiyi, and Chen Donglai.

Taiwu Academy was enormous. Even moving as swiftly as if flying, Jiang Ping'an still needed half an hour to reach the place where the students' servants and guards had gathered.

"Mother, Cousin, are you all right?" Jiang Ping'an asked with concern.

Although they had been aboard the same airship, they had been unable to meet for an entire month.

"We are well." Jiang Shuyue nodded slightly and asked with concern, "What about you?"

Jiang Ping'an smiled. "Everything has gone smoothly for me."

After chatting for the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Jiang Ping'an took the initiative to explain the academy arrangements in detail, including his residence.

"It is getting late." Jiang Shuyue looked up at the sky and said to Jiang Ping'an, "I am leaving Taiwu Academy to find an inn for the night. Once I have found a place to stay, I will send someone to deliver you a letter."

After escorting Jiang Ping'an to Yujing, Jiang Shuyue did not intend to return immediately. She worried that Jiang Ping'an might encounter trouble in Yujing, and she also hoped that mother and son could spend more time together. Therefore, she would remain in Yujing for around a year.

In addition, she had brought a family assignment with her: to establish a soap shop in Yujing and sell soap there.

"Mother..." Jiang Ping'an could not help calling out. His heart was reluctant to part, yet for a moment, he did not know what to say.

Jiang Shuyue smiled gently and extended her jade-like hand, intending to stroke Jiang Ping'an's head. But when she realized he was much taller than she was, she instead lightly patted his upper arm before turning and leaving.

After watching Mother depart, Jiang Ping'an took Jiang Yiyi and Chen Donglai to register them as his servants.

After Jiang Yiyi and Chen Donglai received their servants' Identity Jade Tokens, they could finally truly enter Taiwu Academy.

At last, Jiang Ping'an took Jiang Yiyi and Chen Donglai back to his residence—Jia Chen Dorm in Upper Kun Courtyard.

Along the way, Jiang Yiyi was excited about the entirely new life about to begin. Full of curiosity, she looked at the buildings and scenery they passed.

Although Taiwu Academy had only recently been built, enormous investment had gone into it, and skilled craftsmen of every kind had made it splendid and imposing. Though White Emperor City was a mighty city, it was ultimately a rear military stronghold resisting demons and fiends, far less prosperous and extravagant than Yujing, the foremost city beneath Heaven. Any building or scenery within Taiwu Academy was enough to leave Jiang Yiyi gasping in amazement.

Jiang Ping'an was in no hurry and accompanied Jiang Yiyi as she looked around.

His own state of mind also relaxed and stretched open considerably. A captivating smile remained on his handsome face.

For Jiang Yiyi, this was a brand-new life. For him, even more so.

He had been confined for twelve years, able to move only within one tiny courtyard for all those years. Now, at last, he was about to soar high.