"Good, as long as you have that resolve." Seeing Mu Chen's expression, Master Mo smiled in satisfaction.
"Over the next month, I'll guide you personally. Of course, if you think some other method would help you improve more, I won't stop you."
"You must be joking, Master Mo," Mu Chen said with a faint smile.
"Next comes a little special treatment the Northern Spiritual Academy has decided to give you. After all, this is the first time in the academy's history that we've received a seed quota."
Master Mo said.
"Really? Thank you, Master Mo." Mu Chen smiled happily.
"Come with me. We'll visit the Spirit Art Chamber," Master Mo said with a smile. "Haven't you always been interested in the third floor?"
"The third floor?" A flicker of excitement appeared in Mu Chen's eyes. It housed the highest-grade spirit arts in the Northern Spiritual Academy. It seemed the academy was truly sparing no expense this time.
Afterward, Mu Chen followed Master Mo to the Spirit Art Chamber. After bidding them farewell, Su Qing went straight back to the training grounds, sat cross-legged, and began cultivating through breathing exercises.
The following day, Master Mo led everyone to begin training beneath the waterfall on the Back Mountain.
There was little new to recount about what followed.
Tang Qian'er and the others meditated beneath the waterfall, using the force of the cascading water to break through to the Spirit Wheel Realm.
Elsewhere, under Master Mo's special training, Mu Chen gradually mastered the two spirit arts he had obtained from the Spirit Art Chamber's third floor.
His perseverance during training also won everyone's admiration.
After that came combat training.
Su Qing and Master Mo both suppressed their spiritual energy fluctuations to the Spirit Wheel Realm and subjected everyone to one-sided beatings.
After suffering brutal beatings from each of them, everyone reflected on the pain and threw themselves into training with renewed determination.
As far as Mu Chen was concerned, Su Qing had no worries about his younger brother's willingness to take the initiative in cultivating. With Tang Qian'er, however, he could not say the same.
Su Qing therefore had to give Tang Qian'er several private lessons.
Tang Qian'er did not let his painstaking efforts go to waste and improved rapidly.
Before they knew it, a month had passed.
Today was the battle for places in the Five Great Academies.
To the students of the Northern Spiritual Academy, the Five Great Academies were much like Tsinghua, Peking, Fudan, and Shanghai Jiao Tong universities in Su Qing's previous life. These youngsters from humble families in a remote region could scarcely imagine the depth of their resources and heritage.
Thus, the competition for places in the Five Great Academies was even fiercer than "thousands of troops and horses crossing a single-log bridge."
The Northern Spirit Plaza, situated northwest of the Northern Spiritual Academy, was now packed with people.
The noisy crowd watched intently, much like parents gathered outside a national college entrance examination venue to see what was happening.
Several special seats stood at the front of the plaza, occupied by a number of figures. They were the Domain Lords of the Northern Spiritual Realm's Nine Domains-no, its eight domains.
None of them paid any attention to the gazes around them. They chatted as though no one else were present, clearly accustomed to being the focus of everyone's attention.
Before the Domain Lords had waited long, a deep bell rang leisurely in the distance, its sound echoing over the plaza.
Four figures stepped onto the plaza's main platform in succession. Three were Dean Xiao and Masters Xi and Mo, while the fourth was an unfamiliar elderly man.
Judging by his expression, the elderly man regarded everyone in the plaza equally. Only when he looked at the students about to compete for places did a hint of curiosity appear in his eyes.
"Thank you all for coming to watch today's battle for places in the Five Great Academies."
"We're all old acquaintances, so I won't waste words."
Dean Xiao cupped his hands in greeting toward the seated Domain Lords and spoke with a warm smile.
Mu Feng and the others likewise cupped their hands in return, exchanging polite greetings.
"First, allow me to introduce someone."
After the pleasantries, Dean Xiao cupped his hands toward the unfamiliar elderly man beside him and introduced him.
"This is Mr. Hao from the Five Great Academies. He will serve as the referee for this competition, and its rules have also been set by him."
Hearing this, the Domain Lords hurriedly stood and cupped their hands in greeting toward the elderly man.
After all, he was the chief examiner overseeing their descendants' competition. If their own discourtesy caused him to develop a prejudice against their children, the loss would far outweigh any gain.
"Begin."
Mr. Hao spoke indifferently.
Dean Xiao smiled at his words, then began speaking.
"Twelve students will participate in this competition: six from the East Courtyard and six from the Western Academy. There are five ordinary places and two seed quota places."
"The twelve participants will draw lots to form three groups. Each person must fight every other member of their group twice. The top two in each group will receive places."
"The remaining participants will enter the losers' group and fight in a six-person free-for-all. The winner will receive a place."
"These seven finalists will then draw lots to form four groups, with one person receiving a bye."
"Once each group has produced a winner, they will draw lots again and compete in the finals to determine who receives the seed quota places."
"During the competition for the seed quota places, any participant may forfeit outright, allowing their opponent to advance directly."
As Dean Xiao spoke, the rules gradually appeared in the air behind him.
Once he finished explaining, Dean Xiao looked at everyone and asked,
"Any questions?"
"No."
Everyone answered in unison.
"Good. Then let's begin the first round of drawing lots."
"Brother, go easy on me." Mu Chen ran up to Su Qing with a pitiful look.
He and Su Qing had both drawn the second group.
Tang Qian'er also came over to Su Qing, patting her chest in relief. "Thank goodness I'm in the third group. If I were in the second, I could just forfeit and wait for the losers' group match."
"The first group is competing now, so we still have some time before our turn. Qian'er, let me analyze the opponents in your group with you."
Su Qing glanced at the matches on the platform as he spoke.
"Huh? Yes, yes, please!" Tang Qian'er froze for a moment, then happily hugged Su Qing's arm and went with him to a corner of the plaza.
The battles between the students did not last long. Winners and losers could generally be decided fairly quickly.
Before long, all the first group's matches had ended. Chen Fan and Huo Yun were the two who secured places.
Under Su Qing and Master Mo's tempering, the two had improved rapidly. Combining their experience hunting spirit beasts in the Northern Spirit Plains with Su Qing and Master Mo's instruction, they swept aside the two Western Academy students like dry branches and rotten wood.
In their matches against each other, Chen Fan took the first win. In the second match, Huo Yun learned from his mistakes and evened the score.
Since both of the top two would receive places, no tiebreaker was held, leaving them tied at one win apiece.
When the first group's matches ended, Su Qing stopped analyzing the other members of Tang Qian'er's group with her and headed toward the arena to prepare for his matches.
The results were as expected: Su Qing won every match, while Mu Chen won all his matches except those against Su Qing.
One Western Academy student who did not know the height of heaven or the depth of earth thought he had drawn a favorable lot when he saw Mu Chen and could easily secure second place.
He therefore ran his mouth during his matches with Mu Chen, only to receive a savage beating from him twice.
Afterward, it was time for the third group's matches.
Thanks to Su Qing's occasional private lessons during training and his analysis of everyone's weaknesses before the matches, Tang Qian'er cut through one obstacle after another in the third group. She lost only her first match against Hong Ling, then won it back in the second round.
Mo Ling, who had also drawn this group, met his Waterloo. He lost to both Tang Qian'er and Hong Ling in succession and failed to turn things around in the second round.
Drawing on the teachings passed down by her mother, the Domain Lord of the Hong Domain, Hong Ling of the Western Academy defeated Mo Ling twice. Her final record matched Tang Qian'er's, likewise securing her a place.
The poor remaining Western Academy student did not win a single match.
In the final losers' group free-for-all, Mo Ling relied on his perseverance to remain standing until the end, successfully advancing from the losers' group and securing a place.
Next came the competition for the seed quota places.