Reassessing Talent

"What a mess!"

Huang Yifan was dumbfounded.

If Fang Che really had been a spy from the Demon Sect, and his mental pressure had knocked him unconscious, Huang Yifan would not have felt the slightest guilt. He would have felt great instead. It was just a pity he had not been able to kill him on the spot.

But now that he looked at the situation... this was a good kid! Hadn't he made the poor boy suffer for nothing?

So he hurriedly began rummaging through his pockets.

For a moment, his heart was filled with resentment.

A promising youngster who was righteous, honest, broad-minded, kind, and upright had been knocked unconscious by him...

As for why he knew the kid was good, did he even need to ask? Under the mental pressure of a Cloud Top Monarch, let alone a Martial Master—even a Royal-level expert would have been crushed into submission!

How could there have been any mistake?

Huang Yifan was even confident that he could draw a picture based on what Fang Che had been thinking under that pressure! A child like this was rarer than a lantern in broad daylight! Yet because of a colossal misunderstanding, he had damaged the boy's spirit.

Huang Yifan cursed his former subordinate Chen Ruhai from head to toe in his heart! But there was no helping it. He had made this mess, so he had to clean it up himself. He took out every pill on his person, but even the lowest-grade Soul Forging Pill capable of repairing the spirit was King-level.

It was clearly unsuitable for a mere Martial Master.

If he opened the door now and asked Lu Jiaoshan to obtain some pills, wouldn't the fact that he had made such a blunder be exposed? If word got out, he would never be able to show his face again.

With no other choice, he directly burned the True Essence in the King-level Soul Forging Pill, burning away most of its medicinal power. Once what remained felt about right, he used his transcendent spiritual power to guide it into Fang Che's consciousness and carefully repair it.

After working until he was drenched in sweat, he finally finished.

There seemed to be slightly too much energy, causing the boy's consciousness to expand a little as a blessing in disguise.

But Huang Yifan did not mind. As long as he was healed, that was enough.

Next were the meridians. He personally acted, using Spirit Essence to help smooth them out.

But then he sensed that the boy's meridians seemed somewhat strange. Why had they retained some of his True Essence after it passed through them?

He was wondering about it when—

Pfft! A faint sound rang out, and an aura of breakthrough burst forth!

"Holy crap!"

Huang Yifan instantly lost his composure.

I actually made an unconscious person break through? I possess this kind of ability...?

Huang Yifan's doubts about life deepened in an instant.

One could say that the Soul Forging Pill was too powerful, and that his personal efforts to smooth out the meridians had expanded the sea of consciousness. Although that was unexpected, it was still barely reasonable.

But all I did was smooth out your meridians and soothe your injuries. How did you break through? This makes no sense!

Wouldn't that mean that, as a Vice President, he had personally cheated for a student before a student martial competition?

Fang Che woke up feeling indescribably comfortable, as if he had been soaking in a hot Hot Spring on a freezing day. Every inch of his muscles seemed to be crying out in contentment.

It was an indescribable pleasure.

And his sea of consciousness had actually doubled in size! Even his cultivation had risen directly from the peak of Martial Master Rank Three to the middle stage of Martial Master Rank Four!

He had leaped an entire rank! What was going on? How had he improved too?

Fang Che was speechless inside.

This has completely thrown off my rhythm.

He had deliberately suppressed his cultivation, remaining at Martial Master Rank Three without breaking through.

After all, breaking through was only a matter of time.

This was not to hide his strength, much less to play the pig to eat the tiger.

He had planned to break through suddenly on the arena when he encountered a powerful opponent during the new students' competition.

That way, the attention and sensation he attracted could even create a legend—some prodigy, apparently outmatched, broke through in the middle of a fight, turned defeat into victory, and shook White Cloud.

What kind of concept was that? He believed many people would remember such a thing for the rest of their lives.

That would make it easier for him to obtain better cultivation resources.

Once that momentum rose, it might even spread beyond the academy.

By then, even if White Cloud Martial Academy's higher-ups had clearly received the Guardian Hall's message from Azure Wave City and knew that he was a disciple of the One Heart Sect, they would have no choice but to provide him with resources.

How could you refuse the best resources to such a genius disciple? Could White Cloud Martial Academy be blind?

Where was the fairness?

Where was the justice?

Moreover, there was still room to exploit his identity. White Cloud Martial Academy could not simply tell the outside world, "This fellow belongs to the Sole True Sect."

That way, no matter what happened, he would still get the benefits.

Fang Che's calculations were also born of helplessness: I know I'm not a bad person, but you don't know that I'm not a bad person. On the contrary, all of you know that I'm a bad person!

So they would certainly cut back on his resources.

That could very well result in resources that should have belonged to him never reaching him. If that happened, what if it delayed his cultivation? It was a problem he had no choice but to consider.

But now, his original plan had been unexpectedly ruined.

He had directly reached the middle stage of Rank Four.

Fang Che felt somewhat miserable.

It was not that he was worried about being unable to break through in battle. After all, once everyone had gathered and the grand competition began, there were still at least seven or eight days left. That was enough time for Fang Che to pile his cultivation back up to the peak of Rank Four.

The biggest problem was that, in that case, he did not believe there could still be anyone among this batch of examinees stronger than him.

If an opponent clearly failed to pressure him, and he still forcibly staged a breakthrough in battle, it would simply become an attempt to show off.

And it would be an unsuccessful kind of showing off, with an awkward, deliberate air to it.

Instead, he would become a laughingstock.

Damn it.

Fang Che stared resentfully at the Vice President, Huang Yifan, in front of him.

Then he discovered that Huang Yifan was looking at him with an equally resentful gaze.

Seeing that Fang Che had woken up, Huang Yifan spoke in a sullen tone first. "You're awake?"

Fang Che blinked in confusion. His eyes were already open, so why was Huang Yifan asking whether he was awake... or not?

"I'm awake."

"You passed the assessment," Huang Yifan said.

"Thank you, Vice President."

"Mm, no need to thank me." Huang Yifan's mind wandered. What am I supposed to do next?

"How much do you remember about the assessment?"

"It seems a little hazy. I don't remember."

Fang Che put on a lingering look of fear. "What did I say? I didn't say anything inappropriate, did I?"

Huang Yifan's heart relaxed. This is more like it.

He said with a beaming smile, "You didn't say anything inappropriate. If you had, you wouldn't have passed."

"White Cloud Martial Academy truly is one of the continent's top academies. Its assessment methods are profound beyond measure." Fang Che wore an expression of heartfelt admiration. His consciousness had genuinely been muddled, and he did not remember much of what he had said. But it seemed he had passed.

"Of course."

Huang Yifan coughed and thought, How could it not be profound? You're the only one who can be tested this way. Why would anyone else need a Vice President to personally conduct their assessment?

Huang Yifan suddenly remembered something. "There's one more thing. We need to test your talent."

He unconsciously coughed again. "As it happens, this old man is right here, so there's no need to trouble two people for the same task."

As he spoke, he opened a Soundproof Barrier.

Then he shouted, "Dean of Studies, Donkey Howl Heaven, come here. It's time to test his talent."

The Dean of Studies entered with a dark expression and said angrily, "I'm Lu Jiaoshan! Not Donkey Howl Heaven! Vice President Huang, could you stop mangling my nickname in front of students? I'm the Dean of Studies, after all! Where am I supposed to put my dignity?"

"All right, Howl Heaven. Let's begin."

Huang Yifan spoke.

Lu Jiaoshan's face turned black as a pot.

Yet he dared to be angry but not speak.

This old bastard had been parachuted in and was one of the Guardians.

He usually did not participate in the Martial Academy's administration, but his martial strength was extraordinary. He was specifically responsible for regulating martial affairs.

He was unquestionably the academy's strongest expert, the treasure who guarded the academy.

He had never been interested in the intrigues of proper administration. But his martial strength was terrifying.

As long as no one schemed against him, everything was fine. Even if someone schemed against him... it was still fine as long as he did not notice. But if he found out, it would not be a matter of merely beating someone half to death.

The last time, Lu Jiaoshan had not provoked him, yet he had still been beaten after drinking. He could only be furious in silence.

With a flick of his hand, Lu Jiaoshan produced a small Purple Jade Pagoda. It looked far more advanced than the one Sun Yuan had brought out before. "Have you been tested before?"

"Yes. My master said I was Grade A Top, more or less," Fang Che replied.

"Mm. The Fish Dragon Pagodas outside are mostly counterfeit trash. A twelve-story Fish Dragon Pagoda like ours is more precise and intuitive."

Lu Jiaoshan did not care. Grade A Top was nothing unusual at White Cloud Martial Academy. He said, "Input Spiritual Power."

Then he added, "Just pour in as much as you can."

"Understood."

Fang Che circulated his Spiritual Power and poured it into the Purple Jade Fish Dragon Pagoda. He could feel that the Spiritual Power flowed far more smoothly than it had with Sun Yuan's.

It had just begun.

The bottom seven levels of the Fish Dragon Pagoda lit up instantly.

Purple light shimmered, illuminating the entire room in a dreamlike glow.

"Grade A Bottom right away?"

Lu Jiaoshan's eyes brightened.

The purple light rapidly spread upward. In an instant, the eighth and ninth levels lit up almost simultaneously.

"Grade A Top, and that's still not the limit."

Huang Yifan leaned closer.

He looked quite interested.

The tenth level suddenly blazed with purple light.

"Heaven Grade Talent."

Then the purple light subsided for a moment, as if it could go no farther.

But Lu Jiaoshan and Huang Yifan were not disappointed. Heaven Grade Talent was already the legendary aptitude spoken of by others.

Although White Cloud Martial Academy also had disciples with Heaven Grade Talent, there were not many.

They already counted as super-geniuses.

The two men both breathed a sigh of relief.

But just as they relaxed, the eleventh level suddenly lit up! The twelfth level followed instantly!

After that, a wisp of dense purple qi emerged from the very top of the pagoda and shot straight into Huang Yifan's face as he leaned over, staring fixedly! It cast his face in a glowing purple light, making him look like a vicious ghost.

But Huang Yifan's mouth was now so wide open that one could practically see his intestines through it, while his eyeballs nearly bulged from their sockets. His appearance was already little different from a ghost's.

Lu Jiaoshan across from him was barely any better.

His mouth hung open, his eyes were round, and the veins at his temples bulged.

His face was dreamlike, as if he were sleepwalking.

His eyes were filled with doubts about life.

The purple light continued to spread.

The two men looked at each other, their mouths dry. Huang Yifan stammered, "Is the Fish Dragon Pagoda broken?"

Lu Jiaoshan snatched the Fish Dragon Pagoda from Fang Che's hand and was about to input his Spiritual Power to test it himself.

But then he stopped and handed it to Huang Yifan. "It shouldn't be broken, right? You try?"

Huang Yifan took it in a daze and was about to input his Spiritual Power. Then he suddenly came to his senses, turned around, and slapped Lu Jiaoshan five steps away, cursing furiously, "You people who spend all year in schools have such filthy minds! Damn it, you tried to trick me!"

Lu Jiaoshan smiled sheepishly. "I was only trying it. It won't matter."

"Then why don't you try it?" Huang Yifan was nearly maddened with rage.

Lu Jiaoshan rolled his eyes.

Try it? How? Purple qi has blasted through the Fish Dragon Pagoda! How many such people have appeared in tens of thousands of years? What kind of talent do we have? Can it compare with this monster?

You want me to try it? Wouldn't that just be making a fool of myself? And in front of a Martial Student who has just entered the academy—this Martial Student is only a Martial Master! I'm a Cloud Top expert, yet you want me to prove that I'm that much worse than this little shrimp?

Do I still want this old face of mine?

"Go get someone! You black-hearted bastard!" Huang Yifan roared.

Lu Jiaoshan fled like lightning.

Then Huang Yifan ran too.

Fang Che was left alone in the room. The two old men had run to other rooms to test the others.

A moment later.

The two men walked in together.

They looked at Fang Che as if they had seen a ghost.

"Your master said you were Grade A Top?" Huang Yifan asked in an extraordinarily strange tone.

This chapter was reviewed, and I just can't figure it out. Also, everyone, please show the characters some love!