The Northern Spiritual Realm was nothing more than a remote backwater, and the Northern Spiritual Academy was likewise only a low-ranking Spirit Academy.
In the past, these seed quotas had all been divided among the other powerful Spirit Academies. The Northern Spiritual Academy had never had a chance to lay a finger on them.
"Word is that the decision to grant these two seed quotas came directly from the Five Great Academies," Dean Xiao said calmly.
Hearing this, Instructor Xi and Master Mo exchanged bewildered looks.
What merit did the insignificant Northern Spiritual Academy possess to warrant the lofty Five Great Academies personally "looking after" it?
"It has nothing to do with us," Dean Xiao said, quietly taking a sip of tea.
"Some of this year's students must have caught the Five Great Academies' attention."
"Mu Chen?"
Instructor Xi and Master Mo offered the name after a moment's thought.
Of the Northern Spiritual Academy's current students, only Mu Chen had ever had any connection with the Five Great Academies.
But they had been given two seed quotas in total. Who was the other one for?
Dean Xiao nodded and said,
"One of them should indeed be because of that fellow. The Five Great Academies expelled him from the Spirit Road, then gave us a seed quota."
"Heh, what does that mean? Compensation? Or could they not bear to let him go?"
Dean Xiao chuckled, an inscrutable expression appearing on his face.
Instructor Xi frowned without saying anything, while Master Mo continued, "What about the other quota?"
"Su Qing."
Dean Xiao softly uttered the name.
"True. Thinking it over, it could only be him. But why?"
Master Mo asked in confusion.
"Su Qing is a genius, but with the Five Great Academies' standards, surely he wouldn't warrant their special attention?"
"That is beyond what we know," Dean Xiao said with a sigh.
He had only learned that it had something to do with these two brothers. The three of them could just about guess the reason for Mu Chen, but they had no clues whatsoever when it came to Su Qing.
"Then will these two quotas be given directly to them?" Instructor Xi asked.
Dean Xiao shook his head.
"Fair competition. Strength reigns supreme."
"Besides, would it make any difference whether we handed them over directly? Mu Chen might still fail to get one, but Su Qing..."
"Heh..."
"The Divine Soul Realm at seventeen."
"All right." At this point, Dean Xiao waved a hand, his enthusiasm waning, and continued,
"Spread the news. For the first time since its founding, the Northern Spiritual Academy has received seed quotas-and two of them, at that."
"Let those fellows go wild."
The next day, Su Qing also returned to the Northern Spiritual Academy.
The Northern Spiritual Academy's East Courtyard was bustling at that moment. Nearly all the students of the East Courtyard's current class had gathered there.
That was because today was the day the Northern Spiritual Academy would announce its quotas for the Five Great Academies. It was much like when Su Qing had been at university, waiting for the university he hoped to attend to publish its graduate admissions prospectus.
Su Qing kept to himself in a corner of the courtyard, leaning against a tree and quietly watching the clamoring crowd, neither happy nor sad.
"Hey!"
Tang Qian'er crept up behind Su Qing, then suddenly slapped his shoulder and shouted.
"Ah!"
Su Qing gave an exaggerated cry.
"You scared me to death."
Tang Qian'er rolled her eyes. "Stop pretending. You definitely noticed me."
"I was just playing along."
As the two teased each other, more and more students entered the courtyard. Seeing Su Qing and Tang Qian'er chatting happily, Mu Chen and the others left them undisturbed.
Before long, a sudden stir ran through the crowd.
"It's actually those two."
"Are those Chen Fan and Huo Yun?"
"I heard they joined an adventuring team and often hunt spirit beasts. Their strength must have advanced by leaps and bounds."
These two ranked among the East Courtyard's top students beneath Su Qing, falling only a hair short of Liu Mubai.
However, they kept a relatively low profile and had been thrashed by Su Qing several times. They rarely appeared in public, so everyone was rather surprised to see them.
As for the feud between Su Qing and those two, that story had to be told from the beginning.
The two had been childhood companions, knowing each other since they were little and competing all the way into adulthood. After entering the Northern Spiritual Academy, they had both fallen for Tang Qian'er, becoming rivals once again over her.
Unfortunately, Tang Qian'er liked Su Qing.
The two fellows had then begun making trouble for Su Qing regularly. Unfortunately, every time, Su Qing had given them a miserable beating.
After that, the two had teamed up and headed to the Northern Spirit Plains, joining an adventuring team to temper themselves.
Before leaving, they had boasted that once they returned triumphant, they would teach Su Qing a lesson.
Now, it seemed they thought they had achieved their goal.
Sure enough, the moment they entered the courtyard, they made straight for Tang Qian'er.
Seeing them approach, Tang Qian'er helplessly pressed her lips together and hid behind Su Qing, resting her head on his shoulder.
At the sight, their expressions darkened, and they strode over, glaring fiercely at Su Qing.
Su Qing did not greet them pleasantly either. Anyone would grow impatient after being pestered for so long, and he had never had much of a temper for outsiders to begin with.
Out of consideration for Tang Qian'er, Su Qing said nothing too harsh. With a wave of his hand, two ribbons of spiritual energy sent
the two flying, landing beneath the courtyard wall on the opposite side.
As they were sent flying, traces of shock and disbelief showed on their faces.
Presumably, they had set off early to return to the Northern Spiritual Academy, and on the road had only heard that the Mu Domain had fought the Liu Domain and utterly defeated it. They had not learned of the role Su Qing had played in the matter.
Thus, they had no clear understanding of Su Qing's current strength.
Then again, these two really were ill-informed, stopping up their ears and shutting out the world...
Tang Qian'er slapped Su Qing hard on the shoulder and called softly, "Nicely done, Su Qing!"
"Don't worry. As an older brother, I have very high standards for my future brother-in-law," Su Qing said proudly.
Behind Su Qing, Tang Qian'er's lovely eyes dimmed at those words, but she soon resumed joking with him as though nothing had happened.
On the other side, Chen Fan and Huo Yun sat on the ground, looking as though they were questioning their entire lives.
Damn it all, why?
Some acquaintances nearby could not help approaching when they saw the pair questioning their lives, and told them about Su Qing's exploits while they had been shutting out the world on their journey back.
After hearing it all, the two withdrew into themselves.
Having brought Yu into the world, why bring Liang into it too? Having brought me into the world, why bring Su Qing into it too?
No!
About an hour later, nearly all the students of the current class had arrived, and the dense sea of people was exceptionally noisy.
Master Mo entered the courtyard.
As Master Mo advanced, the noise in the courtyard steadily faded until it vanished altogether. Everyone watched him quietly, their eyes burning with anticipation.
Master Mo wasted no words. As soon as he came to a stop, he said, "This time, our Northern Spiritual Academy has five quotas."
Murmurs rose from the crowd. Although there were more quotas this time than the previous three, there were still too many wolves and too little meat-not enough to go around.
Master Mo glanced at Mu Chen, who stood among the crowd, and Su Qing, who stood in the corner, then said,
"In addition, there are two 'seed quotas.'"
The murmurs in the crowd fell silent. Then the entire courtyard erupted.