The cliff face was so slick it was almost impossible to find footing—running up was nearly out of the question!
Not every candidate had mastered flight techniques, and leaping up was extremely difficult. Besides, most were only at the Spirit Embryo or Five Luminaries realm—without the right cultivation, divine abilities were out of reach.
Just this cliff alone could eliminate half the candidates.
Some who had learned flight soared up the cliff with ease, but they were the minority. Many tried to sprint up, only to crash headlong into the rock, leaving blood on the slick face.
Those who hadn’t learned flight frowned deeply; some tried to leap up, but the cliff was thirty or forty yards high—who had the strength to jump that far?
Most could only make it halfway before falling, and those who fell were immediately struck from the rolls by the middle-aged Daoist below and sent away.
Getting up the cliff isn’t that hard!
Wes Young stepped forward, grinning, "You’re all thinking about running, jumping, or flying up—why not just haul yourself up?"
Though chubby and big-eared, Wes moved with surprising agility. He tied threads of yuanqi to his sword and sent it flying to the top. Controlling ten threads at once, he anchored them to the cliff, then winched himself up bit by bit. His plump hand gripped the edge, and he flipped onto the summit, waving down: "Quinn, want to haul yourself up too?"
No need.
Quinn crouched low, then exploded upward—his legs and yuanqi surging—leaping forty yards to land beside Wes with a thunderous crash.
Wes jumped in surprise, peering down. "Brother, you’re a battle-skill type, aren’t you? Oh, right, you use a saber—those skills are seriously impressive!"
The hundreds of candidates below stared, wide-eyed.
The middle-aged Daoist nodded, marking Quinn’s name with a 'Battle' note, and Wes’s with 'Cleverness.'
Wes’s clever method inspired the others below; soon candidates were using swords or other tricks to anchor yuanqi threads and climb up the cliff.
More and more people reached the summit. Quinn and Wes walked ahead—the peak was jade, yet springs, waterfalls, flowers, and trees made it tranquil. Even the birds and beasts were unusually large, often feathered and scaled, likely mutated from absorbing the nine dragon veins’ qi.
Candidates, halt!
They reached the first grand hall of the Imperial Academy—a vast building, a hundred yards wide, with a platform out front big enough for thousands. Quinn glanced around; the divine-ability candidates who’d climbed ahead weren’t present, so their test must be different.
Ninety-nine Daoists stood before the hall, each with a god phantom behind—formed of yuanqi, only upper bodies, floating powerfully in the air.
Impressive!
Quinn’s heart pounded—these ninety-nine Daoists were extraordinary. To shape yuanqi into forms like this, they must be near the Heaven-Man realm; each one was no weaker than a Cult of the Heavenly Demon Hall Master!
The Imperial Academy truly deserved its reputation as the world’s supreme sacred institution!
Still, these Daoists weren’t quite on the level of Felix Fu, the Lord of Dragoncrest City. The eight-armed, eight-headed god phantom behind Felix was fully manifested, almost tangible, and terrifying—clearly, these Daoists were a notch or two below.
But why, Quinn wondered, did all ninety-nine Daoists’ yuanqi god phantoms look exactly the same?
Quinn frowned. If an opponent figured out their tricks, wouldn’t they be easy to kill?
With Daoists like these, Granny Sue could kill ten with one hand! the boy thought.
The Imperial Preceptor’s push for academies had its downsides—the martial and divine arts taught were too standardized. Quinn began to see the value of sects, since each one’s strengths and specialties were unique and unpredictable.
Of course, the academy system was still powerful, letting more candidates show their talents. Sects used to take only a handful of disciples, but now, with schools everywhere, talent was flourishing.
The ninety-nine Daoists stood motionless, then suddenly each god phantom floated out and landed on a circular platform before the hall.
The lead Daoist announced in a deep voice, "Candidates from every region, form groups of ten and step forward. Unleash your strongest techniques and attack the god phantom before you! Any method is allowed—divine, demonic, Buddha-path, whatever you’ve got. The phantoms will attack you too: ten enter, one remains. Whoever’s left passes."
The candidates erupted in shock—withstanding the god phantom’s attack, with only one out of ten surviving, was even more brutal than the last round. The cliff test had already cut half, but this would eliminate ninety percent!
Everyone scrambled to form teams and step onto their platforms. Wes quickly distanced himself from Quinn and climbed onto a different one.
Quinn stood on his platform; soon, ten candidates were gathered on each of the ninety-nine platforms.
Begin!" a Daoist shouted.
As soon as he finished, all ninety-nine god phantoms attacked their platforms, launching at the candidates, who scrambled to defend themselves.
Just then, Quinn moved like a ghost, dodging the god phantom’s attack and sprinting across the platform. With nine sharp bursts—bang, bang, bang—he knocked nine figures flying off the edge.
None of the candidates on Quinn’s platform were knocked off by the god phantom—they were all sent flying by him instead!
[Irrelevant system message—skip translation.]
On the platform, the god phantom attacking Quinn suddenly froze, motionless.
You’ve passed," the lead Daoist said, surprised, as all ninety-nine Daoists watched from the hall.
Quinn bowed respectfully and stepped down from the platform. The Daoist’s face darkened as he whispered to his neighbor, "This boy’s mind is not upright—there’s something sinister about him. While everyone else joined forces against the god phantom, he targeted his peers instead."
Even as he spoke, shouts erupted from the other platforms—candidates were copying Quinn’s tactic, attacking each other under the pressure of the god phantoms. In moments, hundreds more were knocked off.
Soon, the round ended. Only about a hundred remained, all at the Five Luminaries realm—no Spirit Embryo candidate had survived. Quinn glanced over and saw Wes had passed too; the chubby, big-eared boy really was deeply skilled, worthy of the Wei Clan.
The Daoists were stunned—none had expected the test to turn into a mini battle royale.
After a moment, one Daoist called out, "Those who passed, enter the hall. The rest, descend the mountain."
Quinn and the other survivors headed for the grand hall, feeling eyes on his back. He glanced over his shoulder—sure enough, all ninety-nine Daoists were staring at him.
Quinn straightened his clothes, saw nothing out of place, flashed the Daoists a bright smile, and walked into the hall.
"Sinister, sinister!" the ninety-nine Daoists muttered in unison behind him.
The lead Daoist wrote a sharp note beside Quinn’s name on the roster, then tossed it into the air. A crane swooped down, grabbed the roster, and flew off toward the mountains.
"A boy this sinister—better to fail him halfway, before he brings disaster to our academy and ruins its reputation! I hope the next examiner can weed him out!"
Quinn and the other candidates entered the grand hall, still not seeing the earlier group of Six Directions realm candidates—the divine-ability types must be facing a different test.
Quinn looked around; the hall’s pillars were covered in bizarre murals. He wondered, "What’s this round about?"
Wes grinned, "The Imperial Academy changes its exams every year—no one ever knows what’s coming. If you did, getting in wouldn’t be so hard."
Quinn nodded, then suddenly realized—the murals on the pillars were actually yuanqi circulation diagrams for various techniques!
Each diagram showed a different technique’s circulation route.
He studied them one by one, shocked that the academy would carve these diagrams here so openly. Weren’t they afraid of someone stealing them?
"All the diagrams in this hall are incomplete," said a candidate nearby.
Another explained, "Every technique here is missing pieces. They say the Grand Rector gathered fragments from all over and had them carved here."
Suddenly, Quinn spotted a diagram that made his heart race—it was the Overlord Three-Core Art’s circulation chart!
He frowned—the chart was for the Six Directions stage of the Overlord Three-Core Art, not the Five Luminaries stage he needed most.
Could it be that the Patriarch found the Overlord Three-Core Art’s chart somewhere and had it carved here? Did he know about the other charts? No matter what, I must become an Academician and meet the Patriarch!