The Mentor's Shock

As soon as he approached the large tent, an impatient voice rang out. Nalan Chenfeng looked up to see a young man in his twenties standing at the entrance, his face full of disdain and his eyes cold.

"Isn't this where students are tested?"

Nalan Chenfeng showed no fear as he asked in return.

The young man raised an eyebrow and looked Nalan Chenfeng over, his gaze scrutinizing but mostly dismissive.

"It is for testing students, but that's for people who qualify. What's a little brat like you squeezing in here for?"

"Get lost. Go farther away."

"You're noisy."

Nalan Chenfeng snorted, then clenched his five fingers, his knuckles cracking crisply.

The next instant, all the Dou Qi within Nalan Chenfeng surged, and his fair fist shot toward the young man's chest.

"You dare attack..."

The young man's contempt was still frozen at the corner of his mouth, but he was swiftly shocked by the Dou Qi strength Nalan Chenfeng revealed. In that brief moment of hesitation—

His whole body was sent reeling as though struck by a charging bull. He staggered back more than ten steps before his back slammed into a wooden tent post with a dull thud.

Every gaze inside and outside the tent swept toward them.

"You..."

The young man clutched his chest, his face turning pale and green by turns. He opened his mouth to speak, only for the metallic sweetness rising in his throat to force the words back down.

Nalan Chenfeng withdrew his fist without even sparing him a glance, lifted the tent flap, and walked straight inside.

"If Jia Nan Academy is full of blind fools like you, then it would have shut down long ago."

His voice was not loud, but every person inside and outside the tent heard it clearly.

For an instant, the air seemed to freeze.

The Jia Nan Academy students chatting in the shadows all rose to their feet. Their gazes, filled with surprise and curiosity, fell upon the boy in the moon-white robe at the entrance.

The boy looked to be only around ten years old. His build was not particularly outstanding among children his age, yet his black eyes were unnervingly calm, as though that blow just now had been nothing more than brushing dust from his clothes.

"Hu Tong got beaten up?"

A woman in purple sneered softly. "Serves him right. He always puts on airs whenever he sees a newcomer."

"This boy must have quite a background... Hu Tong is a Two-Star Dou Zhe!"

"Yeah, that punch was powerful. It didn't seem like something someone his age should be capable of."

"..."

The Jia Nan Academy students looked Nalan Chenfeng over repeatedly and began discussing him among themselves.

Deep inside the tent, a middle-aged man hurriedly rose from his chair.

The man wore a mentor's uniform embroidered with the words Jia Nan Academy. He had a square face, a short beard on his chin, and sharp eyes that concealed their brilliance. His expression was full of shock.

A ten-year-old child actually had the strength to injure Hu Tong, a Two-Star Dou Zhe, head-on. Although Hu Tong had not been on guard, it was still enough to show how extraordinary the boy was.

The middle-aged man stood there dazed without speaking, simply watching Nalan Chenfeng walk toward him.

"Mentor, my name is Nalan Chenfeng. I'm here to register for the test."

Nalan Chenfeng stopped before the man and cupped his fists in greeting.

Where there were people, there were conflicts. Jia Nan Academy might not be some life-or-death arena, but older students bullying newer ones was extremely common.

He had no intention of swallowing such humiliation. A Dou Zhe of the same level was not enough to make him back down.

"Nalan Chenfeng..."

The middle-aged man's gaze lingered on Nalan Chenfeng as he considered the name. For a moment, he could not see through Nalan Chenfeng's true strength at all.

Unless the gap in Dou Qi strength was especially large, or one possessed sufficiently strong soul perception, it was difficult to determine another person's exact strength.

That was precisely why tools for testing Dou Qi were found everywhere across the Dou Qi Continent. The Testing Magic Stone Tablet was one of the most common kinds.

"Are you the grandson of Nalan Jie, the Lionheart Marshal of the Jia Ma Empire?"

The middle-aged man suddenly seemed to remember something and cried out in surprise.

"Yes, Mentor."

Nalan Chenfeng nodded.

In the present-day Jia Ma Empire, his name represented a genius in people's eyes. It carried some weight. While he was not known by everyone, most mentors responsible for recruitment had likely heard of him.

"Hahaha, good! Excellent!"

The middle-aged man's face flushed with excitement.

He did not care why someone from the Nalan Clan was in Wu Tan City instead of the imperial capital. All he knew was that when he returned to the academy this time, he would definitely receive a generous reward.

Recruiting a student above S-rank was a tremendous achievement.

"My name is Ruohai. I'm the mentor in charge of recruitment within the Wu Tan City area. Welcome to Jia Nan Academy."

Without thinking further, the middle-aged man quickly introduced himself to Nalan Chenfeng.

His Three-Star Da Dou Shi strength was already formidable for children born among ordinary commoners.

But to a genius like the one before him, such strength probably amounted to nothing.

"Greetings, Mentor Ruohai."

Nalan Chenfeng cupped his fists in salute.

Mentors were different from those older Jia Nan Academy students. There was no conflict of interest between them. On the contrary, with Nalan Chenfeng's arrival, this mentor might soon receive a reward from the academy.

Nalan Chenfeng still knew a little about Jia Nan Academy's rules.

"At your age, you were able to injure Hu Tong head-on. So the rumors from the Jia Ma Empire were true after all."

Ruohai smiled as he could not help guessing at Nalan Chenfeng's strength.

"Could he be a Two-Star Dou Zhe like Hu Tong...?"

As soon as that thought surfaced, Ruohai could no longer concern himself with anything else and hurriedly prepared to test Nalan Chenfeng's strength.

"To enter Jia Nan Academy, there are talent requirements. You definitely meet them, but we still have to test you."

"I need to truthfully report your exact strength to the academy. Since a genius like you is willing to join Jia Nan Academy, even the vice deans will take notice."

Hearing that, Nalan Chenfeng nodded.

"Place your palm on it and circulate your Dou Qi with all your strength."

Ruohai gestured with his eyes toward the young students gathering behind him. One of them immediately took a palm-sized black stone tablet from the table, its surface smooth as a mirror.

Nalan Chenfeng took a breath and raised his hand as instructed, placing his right palm against the tablet.

Pale yellow Dou Qi flowed from his palm like a stream pouring into a lake. Several large words immediately lit up on the tablet's surface.

"Dou Zhe, Three Stars!"

Ruohai stared at those words, his eyes filled with wild joy.

A ten-year-old Three-Star Dou Zhe—his future achievements were almost easy to imagine. If the academy nurtured him properly, he would at the very least become a Dou Wang-level powerhouse.

The Jia Nan Academy students nearby also crowded closer. One by one, they held their breath and stared wide-eyed at Nalan Chenfeng in utter disbelief.

"Nalan Chenfeng, ten years old, Three-Star Dou Zhe. At ten years old, his potential is above S-rank."

Ruohai announced the result excitedly, his voice far louder than it had been when testing the other students.

Inside and outside the tent, there was deathly silence. Everyone looked at Nalan Chenfeng as though they were looking at a monster.

"Nalan Chenfeng, congratulations. From today onward, you are a member of Jia Nan Academy. You now have seven days to prepare."

"Seven days from now, Jia Nan Academy's flying convoy will arrive in Wu Tan City. Then we can fly directly to the academy."