First Signs of Brilliance

Chief Instructor Jie Kaer quietly watched the running trainees, silently keeping track of the time.

After about an hour had passed, the pace of most of the trainees who had been running nonstop gradually slowed. It was obvious that they were running out of stamina.

"Already done after such a short while? Tsk, tsk. Time to pick up your pace." Jie Kaer chuckled and gestured to the instructors supervising them, seemingly signaling something.

Upon seeing Jie Kaer's gesture, the instructors immediately put away their whips and headed off in different directions.

Amid the trainees' puzzled and confused gazes, the four instructors returned, each leading a large wolf with glowing green eyes and long limbs.

"Netherworld Wolves... Four Netherworld Wolves around seventy years old," someone who recognized the wolves blurted out.

"Listen carefully. If you don't want to be bitten by the Netherworld Wolves, hurry up and catch the people in front of you. Also, none of you are allowed to harm the Netherworld Wolves. You won't want to know the consequences of breaking the rules." With that, Jie Kaer waved his hand, and the four instructors holding the Netherworld Wolves immediately released them.

Once the four Netherworld Wolves were freed, they charged toward the trainees without the slightest hesitation.

Seeing this, the trainees unleashed unprecedented speed and ran forward, regardless of how much strength they had left. The four Netherworld Wolves were remarkably intelligent, as though they had received special training. They only used their claws to attack the trainees at the very back, leaving superficial wounds on their bodies.

Though they were only superficial wounds, the pain was utterly real.

Jun Xuehan glanced behind him, slightly increased his speed, and continued maintaining an even pace in the middle of the group, with no intention of rushing to the front.

It was not until nearly half an hour had passed that Jun Xuehan suddenly accelerated and sprinted forward at full speed. About ten others from the middle of the group sprinted alongside him, but compared to Jun Xuehan, they were ultimately much slower.

"Has anyone seen that kid at the front before? How is his stamina even better than ours?" A burly man asked as he watched Jun Xuehan charge to the very front of the group.

"Yan Xing, I haven't seen him before. He might be a newcomer. But being fast and having good stamina doesn't mean he's strong. We only need to keep a slight eye on him." A chuckle sounded beside him, the voice utterly unconcerned.

"Long Qiang, if we want to know how strong he is, why not just find someone to test him? I heard His Holiness the Pope might take one of the top three as a disciple this time. As long as he doesn't affect our rankings, there's no need to care about him." A somewhat cold voice sounded to Yan Xing's left.

"Fine. Then we'll find someone to test his strength. As for that madman Zong Ming, we'll just make sure he's eliminated before the competition." Yan Xing spoke calmly. The three exchanged glances, as though they had all made up their minds.

Watching the few trainees sprint at full speed, Chief Instructor Jie Kaer could not help but chuckle. "Though geniuses and prodigies differ by only one word, they are fundamentally different."

Hearing this, the other instructors also looked toward those sprinting at full speed, but they did not seem to notice any difference.

"Chief Instructor, what do you mean? I haven't noticed anything different about them," Aila asked in confusion.

Jie Kaer chuckled. "There's a great difference. First is their physiques. Although the gap between Soul Masters and Soul Grand Masters isn't large, it still exists. Besides, everyone in the Training Camp is a genius, so that gap is basically impossible to make up for."

"Second is age. Look at the one charging at the very front. He's only six years old, while the geniuses behind him are basically all over ten. Even with four more years of cultivation, they still can't compare to him. What if they were the same age?"

"Can you see now what makes a prodigy and what makes a genius? Innate Soul Power at level seven is enough to be called genius-level, while what our Training Camp does is select prodigies from among geniuses."

Jie Kaer watched Jun Xuehan ahead with great interest, lightly tapping the armrest of his chair with his fingers as a faintly thoughtful look appeared in his eyes.

After hearing him, the other instructors also focused their gazes on Jun Xuehan and compared them according to what Jie Kaer had just said. The result was indeed as he had stated: the difference was easy to see.

Although Jun Xuehan was sprinting at full speed, his breathing remained steady without the slightest disorder. His pace stayed constant, and what had begun as a gradual lead had turned into a distant one. Even the four strongest trainees in the Training Camp remained roughly half a lap behind him.

The four strongest trainees were all Soul Grand Masters, while Jun Xuehan was only a Soul Master. Though none of them had used Soul Power, a Soul Grandmaster's physique was inherently stronger than a Soul Master's. Coupled with their advantage in age, the comparison was easy to make.

At eight in the morning, Morning Training at the Training Camp ended. The instructors gave medicine to those whose injuries were not serious to help them recover, so that it would not affect their following training. Those more seriously injured were treated by the Training Camp's Support Soul Master instructors.

Once everything was finished, Jie Kaer stood up and clapped his hands. "It's now eight thirty. You have half an hour to eat breakfast at the cafeteria ahead. Half an hour from now, whether you're full or not, you must gather at the square for the next training session."

As soon as he finished speaking, instructors led them toward the cafeteria.

The cafeteria was very clean and orderly. Several large basins had been placed at the front, each filled to the brim with dishes.

There was both meat and vegetables, and the food was quite good.

"Take only as much as you can eat. No wasting food," the instructors reminded them before signaling for them to serve themselves.

Jun Xuehan took two small basins. After filling one of them with food, he set the two small basins down, picked up a large basin, and walked toward an empty seat in the cafeteria.

An instructor immediately asked, "Didn't you hear what we said? Take only as much as you can eat. You're not allowed to waste food."

Jun Xuehan blinked and said, "I'm not wasting anything. This might not even be enough."

With that, Jun Xuehan sat down and lowered his head to eat, leaving the others staring in astonishment. Jun Xuehan did not care about their looks at all and simply continued eating.

They only had half an hour to eat. Filling himself up within that time was the important thing.