Detection

The long line in front of Qin Shaofeng and Du Meng held at least three to five hundred people.

Fortunately, the inspections were moving quite quickly.

After only half an hour, Qin Shaofeng could see the equipment used for the inspections.

At the end of the line stood a massive gate. Unlike an ordinary gate, it was a freestanding structure, with a row of rings on either side.

Whenever an examinee passed through it, the rings on both sides would light up.

Qin Shaofeng knew a little about the gate. There were ten rings on each side, and they lit up during the inspection.

The rings on the left represented age. If they shone white, the examinee was under ten. Each lit ring represented one year. Once someone was over ten, the white light turned silver.

However, since first seeing the gate, Qin Shaofeng hadn't seen a single white ring light up on the left. They were almost all silver, which meant that most of the examinees were over ten.

No examinees under ten had appeared yet.

The rings on the right represented the examinee's cultivation level. They could shine with three different colors: pale gold, gold, and Purple Gold.

Pale gold was the lowest. A single pale-gold ring represented the first layer of the Houtian Realm.

As for those whose cultivation hadn't reached the Houtian Realm, there was no need to inspect them. Unless they were exceptionally talented young children, Lianyang Academy wouldn't accept them.

Pale gold represented the Houtian Realm, gold represented the Xiantian Realm, and Purple Gold represented the Spirit Vein Realm.

It wasn't just Purple Gold that was rare. Even gold, which represented the Xiantian Realm, seldom appeared in Lianyang Academy's admissions examinations in past years.

That wasn't to say no such prodigies joined Lianyang Academy. It was just that geniuses of that caliber didn't need to take the admissions examination. They'd already entered Lianyang Academy, or even become disciples of powerful instructors.

So, from the start of the inspections until now, there hadn't been a single examinee at the Xiantian Martial Master level.

Every now and then, a prodigy with all ten pale-gold rings lit up would attract plenty of discussion.

Suddenly, at one point, the crowd burst into an uproar.

"My god! What am I looking at?"

"No way. Is that golden light?"

"That's right! It's the golden light that represents the Xiantian Martial Master level!"

Golden light?

Hearing the crowd's chatter, Qin Shaofeng's heart stirred. Had an examinee at the Xiantian Martial Master level finally appeared?

Following the crowd's gaze, Qin Shaofeng looked ahead.

At that moment, only the first ring on the right side of the gate had lit up, but it was gold.

Gold!

That was right. It meant the Xiantian Realm!

Qin Shaofeng nodded to himself. But the next moment, when he saw the figure inside the gate, his pupils contracted, and a tempest erupted in his heart.

A short figure stood inside the gate, no taller than 1.2 meters.

The instant he saw that small figure, Qin Shaofeng's heart jolted. He immediately looked at the rings on the left side of the gate.

White!

Nine rings!

A Xiantian Martial Master under ten!

Qin Shaofeng was stunned, then let out a bitter laugh.

A nine-year-old Xiantian Martial Master. This kind of prodigy really was...

Too damn incredible!

In Lanjiang City, it would have been unimaginable.

Before long, several figures radiating powerful auras appeared at the gate. After a brief exchange, the nine-year-old boy was quickly escorted away.

A nine-year-old Xiantian Martial Master didn't need to take the admissions examination.

The sight drew envious looks from countless people.

Perhaps he'd set the trend, because before long, other Xiantian Martial Masters began to appear.

However, most of the Xiantian Martial Masters who showed up afterward were over eighteen, and almost all of them were right around twenty.

Examinees at that level didn't draw the attention of the academy's powerful instructors.

Some Xiantian Martial Artists were even over twenty!

Lianyang Academy didn't bother deliberating over people like that. It simply sent someone to escort them out.

Even so, quite a few promising talents still appeared.

"Age: sixteen. Cultivation: early-stage Xiantian First Layer!"

Hearing the examiner recording the results beside the gate announce his age and cultivation, Chen Yuanxin breathed a sigh of relief.

Great!

Setting aside that monster, he was apparently the most outstanding examinee so far.

Excitement surged through him, and a trace of it showed on his face.

The first two tests, for age and cultivation, didn't earn any points. Still, standing out a little could catch the eye of some powerful people from the academy.

That meant his father's enormous investment in helping him break through to the Xiantian Realm hadn't been in vain.

But unfortunately, none of the academy's powerful figures had taken him on as a disciple!

As he walked away from the gate, a hint of disappointment flashed through Chen Yuanxin's eyes.

But there was nothing he could do about it. He'd reached the Xiantian Realm by taking pills, and he was already over fifteen. That wasn't enough to earn the attention of some powerful figures.

Still, Chen Yuanxin wasn't discouraged. He was confident that if he stood out in the third test, some powerful figure might take a liking to him and accept him as a disciple.

As for whether he could get a good result in the third test, Chen Yuanxin wasn't worried. His father had once been a student at Lianyang Academy and knew its admissions examinations inside and out.

To help him get a good result, his father had gone through endless hardships to find a treasure.

With that treasure, Chen Yuanxin was certain he could place in the top three. Even taking first place wouldn't be a problem.

Just as he was picturing himself taking first place, Chen Yuanxin suddenly heard a commotion behind him.

He turned around and smiled.

He'd spotted an exceptionally burly figure.

He was already that big, yet he'd come to take Lianyang Academy's admissions examination?

Another dreamer hoping to spend three months at Lianyang Academy and stumble upon some lucky opportunity?

He shook his head lightly. But the next moment, his eyes sprang wide.

What had he just seen?

Four rings!

Silver light???

That hulking fellow looked at least nineteen or twenty to him, yet he was only fourteen?

How was that possible?

And he was at the Houtian Tenth Layer!

This...

Chen Yuanxin's expression soon darkened.

With a build like that, the boy was clearly cultivating some kind of body-tempering technique. And he was already at the Houtian Tenth Layer.

Unlike everyone else, Chen Yuanxin knew all too well what the third test involved.

But it was precisely because he knew so much that seeing a fourteen-year-old with such an outrageous build suddenly made him feel threatened.

Threatened in his bid for first place!

In a place ordinary people couldn't see, a group of powerful figures were discussing Du Meng.

A fourteen-year-old boy with an absurd build, a physique stronger than that of most grown men, and a cultivation level at the Houtian Tenth Layer—who else could it be but Du Meng?

A prodigy that unusual naturally drew the attention of these powerful figures.

"None of you try to snatch him from me. I've got my eye on this boy. His physique is perfect for the technique I cultivate!"

A towering, iron-tower of a man suddenly stepped out from the crowd. Glaring with eyes as huge as cow's, he spoke to the others in a deep, booming voice.

The moment he spoke, someone immediately objected.

"What do you mean, perfect for your technique? You lump of iron, forget it. This boy belongs with me!"

"Bull! The kid is clearly best suited to me. If he were mine, I'd be confident I could make him an Elite Student at Lianyang Academy within five years!"

"Five years? Old Xiao, I only need three. So this little one should be mine!"

"He's mine!"

"No, he's mine!"

"..."

In an instant, the place that had been quiet became noisy and chaotic.

If Lianyang Academy's students had seen this, their eyeballs would have dropped to the floor in shock.

Since when had these lofty instructors become so worked up and lost all their composure?

It was no wonder. Anyone who saw Du Meng's build would know he had some kind of special physique.

If not, how could a fourteen-year-old kid grow like that?

Suddenly, amid the commotion, a voice cried out in surprise.

"Wait, why does this boy look so much like that kid Lian Chenghao brought here three days ago?"

The moment those words rang out, the place fell silent.

The two people Lian Chenghao had brought three days ago had attracted quite a bit of attention.

The arrival of the White-clothed girl in particular had alarmed the entire upper echelon of Lianyang Academy.

The Meng Family's Little Princess, the niece of Lianyang Academy's vice dean's wife.

Either identity was enough to cause a stir.

And the White-clothed girl's talent was nothing short of transcendent. She'd reached that level at only fifteen.

As expected of a direct descendant of the Meng Family!

Du Meng's presence had been somewhat overshadowed. But now that they thought about who he was, these powerful figures grew uneasy too.

After all, Du Meng was the disciple that someone had already reserved.

Remembering that person's temper, the powerful figures immediately backed down.

Compete with him for a disciple?

Did they have a death wish?

"Ah, I can't believe I forgot about that!"

"Ah, what a pity!"

"Yeah, what a pity!"

With a chorus of sighs, the powerful figures looked at Du Meng with deep regret.

He was a prodigy with excellent talent, but he'd already been claimed!

Ordinary people knew nothing about what had happened here, and Du Meng, who was taking the examination, naturally had no idea either.

"Age: fourteen. Cultivation: Houtian Tenth Layer!"

As the examiner recording the results announced them in a strange tone, his gaze full of uncertainty, Du Meng stepped through the gate and grinned at Qin Shaofeng.

But he didn't know that not far away, a hostile gaze had already swept over him several times.

Qin Shaofeng had expected Du Meng to cause a stir.

After all, Du Meng's rate of growth was so outrageous that it was hard to believe.

Without wasting time, Qin Shaofeng lined up behind Du Meng. As soon as Du Meng finished his inspection, Qin Shaofeng quickly walked toward the gate.

Buzz!

The moment Qin Shaofeng stepped inside, the gate trembled slightly, and the rings on the left lit up.

Silver light!

Five rings!

Fifteen years old!

Everything was as it should be!

Qin Shaofeng glanced at them casually, then shifted his gaze to the right.

Whoosh!

Just then, the rings on the right side of the gate suddenly lit up.

Pale-gold light blossomed from the bottom upward.

One, two, three...

In the end, eight rings on the right side of the gate lit up.

No one in the crowd cried out in surprise.

Compared with the other prodigies, a fifteen-year-old Houtian Eighth Layer martial artist like Qin Shaofeng seemed rather ordinary.

But in truth, only Du Meng knew that his Brother Feng was no ordinary person.

Houtian Eighth Layer?

Du Meng scoffed to himself.

He wasn't even Brother Feng's match. So what did Houtian Eighth Layer matter?

Just wait. You'll all be in for a shock!