Facing Lin Yi's salute, the Great Elder did not respond. He still held his fishing rod, leisurely fishing atop the churning Cloud Sea as though everything around him had nothing to do with him.
Lin Yi knew that the Great Elder was testing his patience.
He was not impatient either. He simply stood quietly behind the Great Elder, his gaze fixed on where the Cloud Sea met the fishing line, his expression calm and unruffled.
After an unknown amount of time, the Cloud Sea beneath the mountaintop suddenly churned violently. A silver-blue streak burst from its surface—it was a strange flying fish with wings, firmly hooked on the line.
A hint of a smile finally appeared on the Great Elder's face. He raised his hand and reeled in the flying fish. "It finally took the bait. Looks like my fishing skills haven't dulled after all."
He casually removed the hook from the fish's mouth and gently tossed the flying fish back into the Cloud Sea.
Only after finishing all this did he slowly turn around, his gaze falling upon Lin Yi as he asked bluntly, "Do you know why I called you here alone today?"
"This junior does not," Lin Yi answered truthfully, respectful but neither servile nor humble.
The Great Elder slowly spoke, his tone carrying a trace of praise. "Your talent is indeed exceptional. At such a young age, you have already entered the Emperor Realm with an Indestructible Body. If you were to participate in the third round of the trial alongside the other Academy new students, it would be rather like using an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken, and unfair to the others."
Lin Yi was slightly shaken.
He had not expected the Great Elder to have long known about his breakthrough into the Emperor Realm.