"With just these two things, Bai Yi is all but guaranteed a place at a first-rate academy."
"Old Li, that's not very sporting! Your class was hiding a genius like this!"
"Tell me, if we give this little guy named Bai Yi more time to develop, could Lanshan produce a promising student who passes the Four Academies and Ten Palaces Preliminary Exam this year?"
Amid the crowd, an older homeroom teacher thought for a moment, then said.
When he finished speaking, everyone fell silent for a moment. Although they were reluctant to admit it, even though a first-rate academy and the Four Academies and Ten Palaces seemed to be separated by just one rank, the gap between them was like a heavenly chasm.
Lanshan City was one of the thousands of third-tier cities in the Immortal Alliance. Each year, it could produce one or two geniuses who entered first-rate academies.
But the Four Academies and Ten Palaces...
Even just the preliminary exam had gone ten years without anyone from Lanshan City passing. And the promising student who had passed it ten years ago had merely transferred in from an Aristocratic Clan in another second-tier city shortly before the exam.
"Raise the rewards this time by two levels. I'll cover the excess myself."
The Old Principal glanced at the passing results on the four screens, turned to the others, and said.
[Assessment complete. Student ID 100869527, Bai Yi. Current overall ranking: 1] [May your path to immortality be smooth!]
Looking at the information projected before him, Bai Yi felt slightly surprised. He had thought it would be enough to secure a place in the top five with his Little Breeze Sword Art at Dao Resonance Perfection.
He hadn't expected that, without even noticing, he would leap from somewhere in the thirties in his year to first place.
"Looks like the goal I set at first was still a little too conservative."
Bai Yi shook his head. After all, in the previous few semester exams, the top three had always been far ahead of the rest.
So after his Little Breeze Sword Art reached Dao Resonance Perfection, he had thought he would merely reach the same level as the three of them. Now it seemed he had still underestimated how much Dao Resonance Perfection amplified the power of a technique.
And this year's cohort was already one of the strongest Lanshan City had seen in nearly a decade.
Temporarily setting his thoughts aside, Bai Yi hurried toward the teleportation platform leading out.
The dizziness faded. Before Bai Yi could open his eyes, waves of noisy shouts echoed in his ears.
"How could Hua Ming not be first?!"
"Bai Yi? Bai Yi from Class Two? I remember he was only somewhere in the thirties in the last assessment!"
"Holy crap!! He climbed more than thirty places in one go?! What kind of monster is this?!"
"I'm ranked in the three hundreds, and even moving up one place takes me a mountain of effort!"
The students who had come out early to the rear-mountain plaza stared at the assessment rankings that had popped up on their Personal Terminals. Their faces were full of shock and disbelief.
For more than two years and dozens of assessments, the first place had occasionally changed hands, but the top three had always been those same three people.
Four Spiritual Roots, direct descendants of Aristocratic Clans, decent comprehension...
In Lanshan City, a third-tier city, those three already counted as quite remarkable geniuses.
Bai Yi had been fairly outstanding before, too, but he had still been a step below those three.
Who could have guessed that in this assessment before the Four Academies and Ten Palaces Preliminary Exam, Bai Yi would surpass all three of them in one fell swoop?
"They're out. The last four have all come out."
After a few students in the crowd whispered among themselves, everyone's gaze turned toward the four floating magnetic platforms that had appeared last.
In the middle, a young man in a white, shimmering long robe, with sideburns styled in the old-fashioned manner, wore a gloomy expression. His gaze swept quickly from side to side before settling directly on Bai Yi, who carried a flying sword.
Beside him, a girl in a purple outfit with her hair in a bun and a dark-skinned, muscular young man also couldn't help looking at Bai Yi on the floating board at the far right.
Bai Yi...
The two silently repeated his name in their minds. Earlier, they had learned that Hua Ming's Flowing Flame Curse had already touched Dao Resonance Major Accomplishment, and that he had also received an implanted Overclocked Talisman Smartboard made using Goldfire Crystals.
They had long since given up on taking first place. They hadn't expected an unfamiliar name to surpass Hua Ming in the final assessment rankings.
Feeling the three gazes on him, Bai Yi let his eyes rest for a few seconds on Hua Ming's face, full of unwillingness, then paid him no further attention.
If those three had once been the targets he chased, now that he had ... more talents, his eyes had long since turned beyond No. 2 Middle School.
After everyone returned to the plaza, the Old Principal came out with the others and announced the names of the top twenty students entering the Elite Group.
"Liu Xin... Chen Shang..."
"Zhang Xingming, Guo Qingqing, Hua Ming..."
The Old Principal nodded approvingly at the three in the crowd, then looked toward Bai Yi, who had returned to Class Two.
"The first-place student in this assessment is Bai Yi from Class Two of the Cultivation Department!"
Although they had already seen the rankings projected on their own Terminals, when the Old Principal made the announcement,
all the students in Class Two, including Li Bantou, still needed a moment to take it in.
Liu Tian, who had often competed with Bai Yi for first and second place in the class, was especially stunned.
So all this time, Bai Yi had just been playing along with him during the assessments.
"The top twenty students in this assessment will each receive one Qi-Boosting Pill."
"The top five can choose one Higher Vehicle cultivation method for the Qi Refining Stage from the school's Scripture Repository."
"The first-place student will receive one First-Tier Superior-Grade magic artifact."
After the Old Principal finished announcing the rewards, the many students in the plaza all sucked in a breath, contributing their share to global warming.
"A Qi-Boosting Pill, a Higher Vehicle cultivation method, and a First-Tier Superior-Grade magic artifact!"
Hearing the Old Principal's words, Bai Yi's eyes were full of delight.
Although Qi-Boosting Pills differed from Qi-Nourishing Pills by only one character, they were no longer industrially manufactured. They were a grade of pill that only an officially registered, outstanding Alchemist had the qualifications to refine.
Their price had reached the staggering sum of fifty thousand Spirit Value Coins. Just one was worth nearly half a year of his father's wages.
And that was without even mentioning the Higher Vehicle cultivation method and the First-Tier Superior-Grade magic artifact.
Thinking of this, Bai Yi touched the flying sword on his back.
This Basic Flying Sword, the Guangmi Spiritual Artifact Manufacturing Group's Qingfeng Series S-9011, had been given to him by his father after he entered the Qi Refining, Third Layer. As his swordsmanship improved, it had begun to fall a little behind.
At the same time, after his Little Breeze Sword Art reached Dao Resonance Perfection, he needed a new sword technique as well.
After the Old Principal finished his announcement, all the students left the rear-mountain plaza under the guidance of their respective homeroom teachers.
The twenty who had passed the elite assessment remained where they were.
The Old Principal flipped his palm, and twenty bottles, gleaming and translucent, with monitoring values flickering across their surfaces, floated above it.
He turned his palm over, and the twenty bottles containing Qi-Boosting Pills flew precisely to each person.
"For the next two months, your daily time in the school's Cultivation Room will increase to four hours."
"If you have any questions about cultivation, you can come straight to me."
The series of pleasant surprises made Bai Yi clench his fist without thinking.
The Old Principal was a cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Realm. He was rarely seen on ordinary days, let alone available to offer guidance.
The benefits of having four hours in the Cultivation Room were even more obvious.
Along with the rewards from before, he had a little more confidence in the Four Academies and Ten Palaces Preliminary Exam.
After the Old Principal left, Bai Yi paid no attention to Hua Ming, who was hurrying toward him. His Azure Edge Sword sprang from its sheath, and he flew toward the school's Scripture Repository.
Before you continue