The Eve of Leaving the Academy
After a long while, the testing instructor's face was deathly pale. He could hardly believe it, but he had no choice. He raised his head to look at Luo Feng, and only after another long pause did he finally say bitterly, "I admit defeat!" Below the stage... everything was silent, deathly still and chillingly frightening.
Even the air seemed to have frozen.
In the viewing stands, the instructors, the academy, and even the vice dean all had vacant looks in their eyes. None of them could believe what they had seen. Their mouths hung open, making them look as undignified as a bunch of toads.
But who was paying attention to that now?
Everyone stared blankly at the stage without blinking. In an instant, it was as though the tens of thousands of people below the arena had all been immobilized, turned into tens of thousands of statues that neither spoke nor moved.
None of them could believe what they had seen. Only one thought kept flashing through their minds: How... how is this possible...?
"He's o-only nineteen! A nineteen-year-old Eighth-level Warrior who defeated a testing instructor who's been an Eighth-level Warrior for years with a wave of his hand? That's just... just..."
"Nineteen years old, an Eighth-level Warrior, and he defeated an Eighth-level Warrior with a wave of his hand. This... this... a genius, an absolute genius! If anyone says he won't become a Saint Domain expert someday, I'd think there was something wrong with their head." The vice dean stood to one side, staring blankly at Luo Feng and muttering incessantly. This guy was a little too terrifying.
This is impossible! That was what everyone below the stage and in the viewing stands was thinking. Among them, the blond punks Luo Feng had taught a lesson the day before blinked, wondering whether they were seeing things or were simply dreaming and hadn't woken up.
"Vice dean, may I ask if I've graduated? If I have, can I leave now?" Luo Feng looked at the dumbfounded spectators around him and spoke to the vice dean with a hint of impatience, though he had no choice but to be patient.
"Ah, oh, oh, yes, student Luo Feng. In my capacity as vice dean of Philipzi Warrior Academy, I hereby announce that you have successfully passed the academy's assessment," said the vice dean, finally coming to his senses after Luo Feng called out to him.
"Thank you, Vice Dean." Hearing the vice dean's reply, Luo Feng could finally leave. Naturally, he prepared to hurry away.
"Please wait, student Luo Feng. You are the most successful student in our academy's history. Please make sure you stay at the academy for the next two days. I'll invite the finest painter and the finest stone sculptor to leave your portrait and statue at our academy." Seeing that Luo Feng was about to leave, the vice dean spoke at once. Without realizing it, he had used the word "please"; without noticing, he had already placed Luo Feng on the same level as himself.
The vice dean naturally had his own plans. Judging by Luo Feng's performance, his becoming a Saint Domain expert was a certainty. Since that was the case, why not make preparations now? Once Luo Feng achieved fame and success, how great an honor would it be for people to know he had come from Phillips?
"A portrait?" Luo Feng was startled.
He remembered that he would have to hold a pose for a long time in front of a painter or stone sculptor. Thinking of that, Luo Feng couldn't help feeling that coming to take the graduation test might not have been such a wonderful idea.
The greatest genius in Philipzi Warrior Academy's history was a top genius even across the entire Yulan Continent. At just nineteen, he had already reached the peak of the Eighth-level Warrior. The shocking news spread throughout Philipzi Warrior Academy at astonishing speed.
"The peak of the Eighth-level Warrior? Our senior Luo Feng? He's only nineteen? How is that possible?"
"Of course it's true! So many powerful warrior instructors were there, and the vice dean has already invited a painter to prepare a portrait of Luo Feng. They're going to preserve his likeness at our academy forever to inspire us."
"Heavens, the peak of the Eighth-level Warrior at nineteen. At that rate, it's not impossible for him to become a Warrior of the Ninth Rank in another year or two. I bet he could even reach the Saint Domain before he's fifty."
"What do you know? In yesterday's graduation test, senior Luo Feng defeated the testing instructor in just a few moves. I'd say even a Warrior of the Ninth Rank would only be that strong. To have the strength of a Warrior of the Ninth Rank while at the eighth level, Luo Feng is incredible."
Conversations like these filled Philipzi Warrior Academy. If one student's results were only slightly better than everyone else's, others might be jealous. But when a student's results reached a level they could only look up to, all they felt was respect and admiration.
In their hearts, Luo Feng's future achievements were naturally limitless, far beyond anything they could match. They could imagine themselves many years later, once Luo Feng had achieved fame and success, facing their grandchildren and saying, "Look, your grandpa was his junior back then." That would be a kind of honor too.
"Brother, you're amazing! You even beat our academy's testing instructor in one move. Can you teach me that move?"
Luo Feng was startled.
A warrior's cultivation wasn't a matter of a day or two. It required years of painstaking training, good talent, and a good teacher. Only with all three could an expert be made.
Luo Feng was a good older brother, but not a good teacher. Expecting him to teach Luo Fu would probably be a little difficult. Moreover, Luo Feng's move looked simple, but Wielding Something Light as Though It Were Heavy was something he had finally grasped through years of arduous training and insight of the heart. Let alone an Eighth-level Warrior, even an ordinary Warrior of the Ninth Rank would probably have difficulty understanding what Wielding Something Light as Though It Were Heavy meant.
Magicians were naturally better able to sense nature than warriors.
For a warrior to grasp force was far more difficult than it was for Luo Feng, who practiced both magic and the warrior's path.
He knew that his present achievements were inseparable from his exceptional magical talent. As for little Luo Fu, he really didn't know whether he had any magical talent. He would have to take him to be tested someday.
"Is... is it very difficult? I'm not afraid," little Luo Fu hurriedly said.
Luo Feng couldn't help finding the slightly timid little Luo Fu amusing. "I don't know yet. In a couple of days, I'll first see whether you can cultivate. You're my younger brother. I'll teach you everything I know."
"Brother, with the result you got in today's test, you'll become a noble when you graduate, won't you?" Luo Fu looked at his brother and spoke proudly.
Luo Feng looked at his younger brother and felt a pang of reluctance. He had meant to tell Luo Fu, but when the words reached his lips, he couldn't bring himself to say them.