Vice Dean Pei's Thunderous Roar!

The Spark Program was, after all, a talent development program, and the candidates recommended to it were generally outstanding young talents from all over.

Even if they were ultimately eliminated, they would still become pillars of Great Xia in the future.

Even without considering the complicated backgrounds behind these young talents, the organizers would certainly do their best to avoid casualties during the assessment.

That was why the first two rounds had included quite a few people who were merely there to make up the numbers, probably just hoping to broaden their horizons.

In the eyes of others, three-year-old Lin Xuan was likely one of them.

"Everyone, come with me."

After Lin Xuan and the others had finished verifying their identities, a plain-looking middle-aged man in a white martial arts uniform appeared before them.

"A Martial Artist!"

The moment the man in white appeared, Lin Xuan sensed from him an aura extremely similar to that of his eldest sister, Lin Rou.

"It's Dean Pei!"

Xing Yan, standing beside Lin Xuan, revealed an excited expression.

"Dean Pei?" Lin Xuan tilted his head toward Xing Yan.

"Pei Ge, Dean Pei—the one of the three vice deans of Qinghong Academy's Martial Arts Academy, a top Martial Artist of the Martial Arts Sixth Realm!"

Xing Yan introduced him to Lin Xuan in a low voice, though he could not hide his excitement.

Born into the Skysea Xing Family, he could certainly be considered the child of a local powerful family. Yet a Martial Artist as famous throughout Great Xia as Pei Ge was still practically an idol to him!

Hearing this, Lin Xuan could not help but feel stirred.

There was no need to question Qinghong Academy's prestige. Two of the Great Xia Five Great Academies were located in the Imperial Capital. One was Jinglong Academy, which had held first place year after year, while the other was Qinghong Academy.

Although Jinglong Academy had long ranked first, Qinghong Academy, the perpetual runner-up, was actually only a tiny margin behind it.

In a small number of disciplines, it was even slightly superior to Jinglong Academy.

However, in this era where the Old Soil had descended, the main battleground between the academies had gradually shifted into the extraordinary fields.

The martial arts field was an especially crucial part of that, as could be seen from the nationwide attention given to the Martial Arts College Entrance Examination.

After all, compared with Mutants and Mech-Energy Users, the Martial Artist path seemed to have the lowest cost for trial and error. Even if one failed to make anything of oneself, there would be no aftereffects.

It was unlike Beastmorphs among Mutants, or Mechanical Modifiers among Mech-Energy Users. Once they stepped onto those paths, there was no turning back.

Yet if they were truly compared, the Martial Artist path was instead the hardest one to succeed in.

Calling it a single-plank bridge crossed by thousands upon thousands of troops would not be an exaggeration.

Across Great Xia, countless hundreds of millions had attempted to take this path, yet the Martial Arts First Realm alone stopped more than half of them.

Those who entered the Martial Arts Second Realm in high school were qualified to take the Martial Arts College Entrance Examination, while some of the more outstanding among them advanced into the Martial Arts Third Realm.

Beyond the Third Realm, every realm was a world apart.

Xing Yan's martial arts realm had likely already entered the Second Realm. Though his strength was still somewhat lacking due to his age,

with his awakened extraordinary ability, his combat strength was likely no weaker than that of some martial arts students who had entered the Second Realm—and perhaps even stronger.

That was the difference between geniuses and ordinary people.

Yet even with such a foundation, whether Xing Yan could reach the Fifth Realm in the future was still uncertain, much less the Martial Arts Sixth Realm.

But Big Sister can already perfectly conceal her aura. This Vice Dean Pei should be no weaker than her, yet for a moment just now, he made everyone tremble. Was that a show of strength...?

Lin Xuan watched the back of the middle-aged man in the white martial arts uniform ahead of them and silently guessed.

The facts proved that the earlier show of strength had been quite effective.

Before Vice Dean Pei appeared, the talented candidates had still been somewhat noisy. Now, however, they followed silently behind him.

"Xuan Xuan Younger Brother, be careful later. I heard from my father that all four rounds of the Spark assessment are different, and there's nothing to investigate in advance. Anyway, as long as you hold out until the end, you win..."

Xing Yan quietly reminded Lin Xuan.

Xiang Beifeng and Hua Yiren, who were walking with them, naturally heard him as well. The former looked thoughtful, while the latter was unsurprised.

Clearly, Hua Yiren had already known this before coming here.

"I understand. Thank you, Yan Older Brother," Lin Xuan said politely.

"You're welcome. I only know a little more than you do anyway. It probably won't be much use in the assessment..."

As Xing Yan spoke, the group had already entered a dimly lit corridor.

At that moment, Vice Dean Pei, who was walking ahead of them, suddenly stopped. He spun around, stomped his foot fiercely, and roared:

"You've got some nerve!"

As Vice Dean Pei stomped, everyone heard an enormous boom, and the ground beneath their feet seemed to have suddenly been struck by an earthquake!

Yet that was far from over.

At the instant Vice Dean Pei turned to face them, he seemed, in everyone's eyes, to transform into a gigantic ferocious tiger beast!

The group had already been cowed once by Dean Pei, and they had naturally felt some awe toward him. Now, their minds were shaken by his sudden roar, and he seemed to have employed some kind of martial arts technique involving spirit and bearing.

With all those factors combined, the current scene unfolded.

"Don't eat me!"

"Mom, save me!!"

"A tiger! Such a huge tiger! I want to go home!"

"Waaah!!"

There were screams, cries of alarm... all manner of reactions.

Some even fainted outright. For example, Xiang Beifeng, who had come with Lin Xuan and the others, had already lost consciousness at the first instant.

Seeing the unconscious Xiang Beifeng, Lin Xuan was somewhat speechless.

Among companions such as Xing Yan and the others, even without learning about their backgrounds in detail, he could tell that Xiang Beifeng was probably the only one like himself—not someone born into a great family.

As for why he had become a Mechanical Modifier at such a young age, there was surely a story behind it. Lin Xuan was not close enough to pry.

Still, Lin Xuan had never expected that Xiang Beifeng, the oldest of the four and seemingly the most likely to pass the assessment, would be the first to drop out.

He had not even had the chance to make a move before he was done for.

Good thing Big Sister made me get used to this feeling before... But back then, Big Sister just became bigger. It seems a little different?

Lin Xuan glanced at the enormous, faintly visible phantom of a fierce tiger in midair, recalling the special training his eldest sister Lin Rou had given him not long ago.

However, Lin Xuan soon noticed a gaze resting on him, and the owner of that gaze... was Vice Dean Pei!

Hm?

Lin Xuan's heart tightened. He did not understand why this Martial Arts Sixth Realm powerhouse, who had Xing Yan so excited, had suddenly taken an interest in him.

It was only after he looked around that he understood what was happening.

(1/2)