The golden crow rose on the breath of dawn; morning light rippled over jade railings.
A few days passed in a flash, and the day of the Academy Trial arrived.
The Northern Spiritual Academy was divided into the East Courtyard and the Western Academy, and competition between them was fierce.
Their main means of competing was the Academy Trial, held once every few months.
In the western district of the Northern Spiritual Academy, fighting platforms stood across a spacious field, surrounding one large arena. Rows of stone steps around it served as seats.
The stone steps, usually sparsely occupied, were now bustling with people, a clear sign of how much importance everyone placed on the Academy Trial.
Even amid the bustle, the crowd was divided as sharply as two distinct streams into the students of the eastern and western districts.
In the seating assigned to the East Courtyard, Su Qing arrived behind Mu Chen with Tang Qian'er.
One had a well-proportioned frame, a fair, square face, and long hair neatly bound into a Daoist topknot.
The other smiled like spring peach blossoms, her cloudlike hair piled into an elegant bun. She wore a black-and-white fighting outfit with several cloud patterns embroidered around the cuffs.
Who knew how many hearts the two had set aflutter?
"What brings you two here?"
Mu Chen asked in surprise. This should have been cultivation time for their tier's students.
Su Qing tipped his chin toward a section of seats opposite them. "I'm here to back you up. Go ahead and beat the bastard."
Several Western Academy students sat there, the most conspicuous among them a young man and a young woman.
The one dressed in red, with peach-blossom eyes, was Hong Ling of the Western Academy.
The other, dressed in white with a cold expression, was Liu Mubai, who shared the top rank in their tier with Su Qing. He was also the elder brother of Liu Yang, who was scheduled to fight Mu Chen today.
As Liu Mubai's gaze swept indifferently over the East Courtyard's seats, the clamor there quieted considerably.
His imposing presence pressed down on them, leaving the whole atmosphere somewhat dispirited.
Clearly, one reason Liu Mubai had come was to lend his presence to the Western Academy.
Su Qing gave a derisive chuckle at the sight. Taking Tang Qian'er by the wrist, he walked forward, planted both hands boldly on the railing, and fixed his dark eyes on the opposite side.
With Su Qing standing firm against Liu Mubai's presence, the East Courtyard students shook off the oppressive atmosphere and grew lively again.
The Western Academy, meanwhile, experienced what the East Courtyard had just felt.
Liu Mubai gave a cold snort and stepped forward to meet Su Qing's eyes.
The oppressive tension of their confrontation spread across the entire field, until the toll of a bell broke it.
The Academy Trial began.
Three figures sat in the seats directly to the north.
On the left was Master Mo, the East Courtyard teacher who instructed Mu Chen, Su Qing, and the others.
On the right sat a thin, wiry man with slightly sunken eyes and a stern, cold face.
Between them sat an elderly man with graying hair.
He watched the lively scene among the students below with a contented smile.
"Seeing the students of our Northern Spiritual Academy so full of youthful vigor makes even an old man like me feel a few years younger."
The old man sighed with feeling.
Yet scarcely had his words fallen than Su Qing and Liu Mubai began their confrontation, instantly dampening the atmosphere.
The old man could not help laughing despite himself.
"Those two are rather amusing. I'd only just begun to feel nostalgic, and they went and interrupted me."
Master Mo picked up the conversation.
"Speaking of which, it's quite interesting. The most anticipated and unpredictable match today is between those two's younger brothers."
"What's unpredictable about it? Liu Yang is already at the early stage of the Spirit Movement Realm, and he possesses a human-grade spiritual meridian. Never mind the Earth Tier students-even among the higher-tier students, he'd rank fairly high."
"Mu Chen's elder brother, Su Qing, can hold his own against Liu Mubai, but although Mu Chen himself is reasonably capable, there's still a gap between him and Liu Yang."
The wiry middle-aged man to the old man's right curled his lip as he spoke.
As the Western Academy's highest-ranking instructor, he naturally hoped one of its students would claim first place.
"Instructor Xi, it's rather unwise to underestimate anyone who earned a place on the Spirit Road," Master Mo said evenly.
"Unfortunately, that applies to those who successfully completed the Spirit Road's trials. In all fairness, I believe both his elder brother Su Qing and Liu Mubai were more deserving of a place than he was."
The stern middle-aged man shook his head.
The white-haired old man merely smiled as he listened to their argument, evidently long accustomed to it. His somewhat cloudy eyes turned toward the East Courtyard seats and settled on the slender young man.
"It is a pity. Our Northern Spiritual Realm hadn't produced anyone qualified for the Spirit Road in over a decade. Mu Chen earned a place this time, only to be expelled midway through. Without undergoing the Spirit Road's final trial, that year of tempering was wasted. Instead, he lost an entire year of cultivation for nothing."
Master Mo nodded regretfully as well. There was no way to cultivate spiritual energy on the Spirit Road, but successfully completing its final trial would grant one a Spiritual Energy Infusion.
For someone with extraordinary talent, reaching the Spirit Wheel Realm or even the Divine Soul Realm overnight was not impossible. Had Mu Chen completed the trials, he would probably already have been the foremost member of the Northern Spiritual Realm's younger generation.
"Dean Xiao, just what did Mu Chen do on the Spirit Road? Why was he expelled? I know the boy's talent, and his temperament is excellent too. He couldn't possibly have been expelled for poor results."
Master Mo frowned, unable to resist asking. He only knew that Mu Chen seemed to have caused quite a stir on the Spirit Road; he knew little of the details.
At his question, even the stern-faced middle-aged man turned toward the dean of the Northern Spiritual Academy, evidently curious as well.
Dean Xiao stroked his beard and shook his head with a rueful smile.
"I'm not too sure myself, but I did hear something about him causing quite a commotion on the Spirit Road. Later on, it even drew the attention of the higher-ups of the Five Great Academies."
Both men were taken aback. Clearly, they had not expected Mu Chen to have done something so earthshaking on the Spirit Road that it could bring about such consequences.
"Never mind that for now. The bell has rung. Announce the start of the Academy Trial." Dean Xiao clearly had no wish to elaborate and waved a hand in instruction.
Master Mo nodded, rose to his feet, and cleared his throat, his gaze sweeping across the field.
Then his deep, powerful voice rumbled in every student's ears.
"The appointed time has come. The Academy Trial begins. You are fellow students competing to learn from one another. No killing blows. Remember that!"
"You have already been informed of the rules. Anyone who enters the arena has one, and only one, chance to challenge an opponent. Know your limits."
"Yes!"
"Good. The Academy Trial officially begins!"
Figures sprang onto the platforms throughout the noisy grounds. From amid the crowd, an icy gaze turned toward Mu Chen.
It was Liu Yang.
Mu Chen met Liu Yang's eyes, curled his lips in a smile, and beckoned him with one hand before heading toward the arena.
Along the way, another East Courtyard youth, Tan Qingshan, raised a hand and was about to say something, but Mu Chen pushed his hand aside and stepped onto the platform with Liu Yang.
As the two took the stage, the atmosphere reached its peak.
The strongest Earth Tier students from the Northern Spiritual Academy's East Courtyard and Western Academy would determine today which of them was truly the strongest.
Su Qing leaned against the railing, watching Mu Chen and Liu Yang fight.
Kick him in the crotch! He's still thinking too conservatively.
Su Qing gave a slight shake of his head.
Liu Yang's still too young. He's chasing speed and power too hard, wasting far too many attacks. He's attacking just for the sake of attacking.
In a life-or-death fight, there's no need to defend against those useless attacks. Just go straight for his vitals.
His thinking's a mess. He's done.
After watching for a while, Su Qing lost interest and turned toward Tang Qian'er, thoroughly bored.
Before long, Tang Qian'er's pretty face reddened, and she turned toward him with a coy protest.
"Why are you looking at me instead of watching them?"
"Because you're pretty."
"You're awful!"
"All right, enough teasing. Liu Yang's lost. Boring."
"Hm?"
"Liu Yang wastes too many attacks. Everything's straightforward, without a thought behind it."
"And with the training I've given Mu Chen, I can't think of a reason he'd lose."
"Watch."
As the two spoke, the situation in the arena changed.
Mu Chen and Liu Yang both stirred all the spiritual energy in their bodies, seemingly preparing to stake everything on one final blow.
"That idea's so naive it's downright adorable."
Su Qing shook his head as he spoke.
"Why should I meet your attack just because you throw it?"
In the arena, Liu Yang smiled chillingly and charged at Mu Chen, fiery-red spiritual energy gathering in his palm as he struck.
But as Liu Yang rushed toward him, Mu Chen abruptly reined in his spiritual energy. Using the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Step, he stepped diagonally forward to the left, neatly slipping past Liu Yang.
Then he gathered his spiritual energy and hammered a simple punch into Liu Yang's back.
Liu Yang spat out a mouthful of blood, lost his balance, and crashed to the ground like a wild goose dropping onto flat sand.
Liu Yang had lost.