Female Lead

A bluestone platform nearly a thousand zhang wide floated in midair, surrounded by swirling clouds and mist like an immortal realm.

At that moment, pillars of light appeared one after another atop the platform.

Each time a pillar of light emerged, a figure appeared on the platform.

This space was called the Northern Cang Realm, a place specially used by the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy to test its students.

The platform beneath their feet was known as the Reception Platform. There were more than a hundred of them throughout the Northern Cang Realm, and this was merely one of them.

Moreover, because so many people were taking part in the assessment, there were four spaces similar to the Northern Cang Realm.

The Northern Cang Realm was vast, filled with dangerous lands and powerful spiritual beasts.

The students needed to pass through those obstacles and reach Northern Heavens Palace at the center of the Northern Cang Realm.

Only there was there a teleportation spiritual array leading to the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy.

In less than half an hour, the previously empty Reception Platform had already become bustling with voices.

Nearly everyone on the platform had reached the Spirit Wheel Stage, and people gradually stepped forward to touch the stone stele.

When a palm pressed against the stele, beams of light shot from its surface and eventually landed on their foreheads.

Once the light faded, a shimmering Seal appeared between the students' brows.

Everyone's Seal was dark yellow, with the character "one" faintly visible within it.

Clearly, they had all been assessed as Level One.

Suddenly, the stone stele erupted with a deep crimson beam that condensed on the forehead of a young man before it.

A clear "three" appeared upon that dark red Seal.

This unusual crimson light drew countless astonished gazes from the surroundings, and many people let out envious cries.

By convention, students with ordinary quotas began at Level One, those with seed quotas at Level Three, and those with core quotas at Level Five.

Those who obtained seed quotas were enough to look down upon students with ordinary quotas. The two practically represented different classes.

However, the rules stated that anyone below Level Four would be eliminated and lose their qualification to enter the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy.

Fortunately, levels were not fixed, and the method of raising them was straightforward: kill spiritual beasts and obtain heavenly treasures.

The Seal on one's forehead would automatically absorb their spiritual energy, thereby allowing it to advance.

Of course, the fastest method was to seize the spiritual energy within another person's Seal, which could rapidly raise one's level.

These rules were designed to give everyone an opportunity to escape mediocrity.

Even those who had obtained core quotas would likewise lose their qualification to enter the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy if they failed to reach Level Four.

Still, those capable of obtaining core quotas were certainly no ordinary people.

Even if their Seals were stolen by accident, would reaching Level Four truly be difficult with their abilities?

One's final level would determine one's future status within the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy, as well as the degree of importance placed on their resource cultivation.

Therefore, whether to avoid elimination or secure a place in the spiritual academy and obtain more resources,

everyone had to do everything in their power to raise the level of their Seal.

Another pillar of light suddenly lit up on the Reception Platform.

At first, some people gave it a careless glance.

But very quickly, the lazy expressions on their faces quietly faded, replaced by a flash of awe.

Low murmurs spread swiftly, like ripples sweeping across a field in the wind.

More people were drawn by the commotion and turned their heads.

Then, a slender and beautiful figure standing alone entered their sight.

The pillar of light slowly dispersed, revealing a girl in a black dress beneath it.

The black dress outlined her graceful curves.

Her silver hair gleamed like a galaxy, drifting lightly in the breeze with an indescribable charm.

Her skin was white as snow, her brows curved like crescents, delicate and faint, yet quietly stirring the heart.

Beneath those moonlike brows were a pair of clear, glasslike eyes, so beautiful that one could not help becoming lost in them.

Faced with such a gaze, few young men of the same age could remain calm.

Her features were exquisite beyond compare.

The only flaw was that there was not the slightest smile on that little face, beautiful enough to bring calamity upon a nation.

It was not coldness, but a tranquility as deep as a still pool.

Her glasslike eyes blinked softly, as though nothing in this world could make her pause for a closer look.

The once-noisy Reception Platform fell silent in an instant at this breathtaking sight.

Countless gazes secretly observed her, yet few dared to meet those clear and beautiful glasslike eyes directly.

The youths whose foreheads glowed with red Seals, revealing their extraordinary backgrounds, had even more burning gazes.

They had never seen such beauty and bearing in all their lives.

The black-dressed girl calmly swept her beautiful eyes across the Reception Platform, then walked directly toward the stone stele at its center.

As she moved with graceful steps, everyone finally noticed that she seemed to carry a long, pitch-black sword on her back.

Every gaze in the area slowly followed her footsteps.

Standing before the stele, she extended a slender hand and gently placed it against the stone.

The moment her palm touched the stele, it suddenly trembled.

An entirely different golden light abruptly burst forth, eventually gathering between the girl's smooth brows.

The people around her, who had been burning with envy, were instantly dumbfounded.

The golden light formed a Seal between the girl's brows, and a "five" was clearly engraved within it.

Everyone sharply drew in a breath, while those who had obtained seed quotas secretly swallowed.

This girl had actually received a core quota from the very beginning?

One had to know that only those who had entered the Spirit Road and received a King-grade evaluation were qualified to possess a core quota!

Could this seemingly slender and delicate girl, whose beauty was enough to shake one's heart, truly possess such terrifying strength?

This girl was none other than Luo Li—the imperial princess of the Luo God Clan.

She was also the most gifted member of the Luo God Clan in ten thousand years, with a bloodline purity closest to that of her ancestor, the Luo God.

Although Mu Chen had been eliminated from the Spirit Road ahead of time by Futu Yun,

Futu Yun had taken his place and obtained the opportunities Mu Chen should have received in the original story on the Spirit Road.

They included not only that mysterious black sheet of paper he had acquired by chance, which recorded the cultivation method of the Great Solar Undying Body,

but also his encounter with Luo Li.

He had once saved Luo Li's life, and in the end, the two had agreed to enter the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy together.

However, unlike Luo Li, Futu Yun had not enrolled through the ordinary route.

The Five Great Academies would not directly send quotas to the Pagoda Ancient Clan.

Yet given his status and talent, the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy naturally welcomed him.

Still, Futu Yun's current status was more like that of someone investing capital for a stake?

After all, the Northern Sea Dragon Kun had handed the Thunder Realm to him, and the Thunder Realm was originally an extremely important cultivation ground of the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy.

For that reason, Futu Yun's position in the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy was closer to that of a mentor who had invested capital for a stake.

The Spiritual Value paid by students entering the Thunder Realm would all be transferred directly into his account.

Since he was not a student, Futu Yun had not participated in the training within the Northern Cang Realm.

At that moment, he was inside the Spiritual Arts Hall of the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy.

Compared to the Northern Spiritual Academy, the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy had stricter rules—there was no free Spiritual Art here for cultivation.

If one wished to obtain a high-grade Spiritual Art, the only way was to exchange enough Spiritual Value for it.

The Spiritual Arts Hall was a place yearned for by countless students, but not everyone could enter it freely.

Only outstanding students rewarded by the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy were qualified to step inside and obtain Spiritual Art by chance.

If someone was lucky enough to acquire a Divine Spiritual Art, it would surely make everyone green with envy.