“We’ve arrived, everyone.”
Fen Yan guided the immortal crane to a gentle landing before saying,
“I’ll leave these honored guests in the care of you two. I need to report a few matters to the Vice Dean.”
“Yes!”
The middle-aged man and the young man answered in unison.
Chu Feng looked up at the grand hall before him. Its interior was incredibly spacious, and the entrance alone was wide enough for several people to walk through side by side.
The middle-aged man introduced himself. “Greetings, Your Majesty the Demon Empress, Holy Maiden. I am Deacon Mo, the administrator in charge of admissions.”
“And this is one of the Academy’s outstanding student representatives, Cao Yunxiao.”
The young man bowed respectfully. “Greetings, esteemed seniors.”
After all, every one of them had a higher cultivation than he did… except for that young man.
Deacon Mo led Chu Feng’s group into the hall as he explained, “The Hundred Races Academy covers virtually every aspect of the cultivation world. Whether you seek the Dao through scholarship, wish to prove your Dao through martial arts, or cultivate by relying on your spiritual roots, you’ll find the appropriate teachers here.”
“Sword cultivators, saber masters, formation experts, alchemy, artifact forging, body cultivation, literary cultivationโฆ.we have it all. If you can think of it, we have it. The only limit is what you’re capable of.”
“Furthermore, our teaching methods are completely different from those of the major sects. We use a credit-based system.”
“Nani? A credit system?!”
Chu Feng’s eyes flew wide open. Where the hell had he been sent? Was this really still the cultivation world? They actually had a credit system!?
“Hehe, I suppose this is your first time hearing about it, little friend.” Deacon Mo smiled with obvious pride. “It was our Vice Dean who came up with the idea. It was first piloted in the School of Literature before being expanded to the entire Academy.”
“If you’re a literary cultivator, then the Classics are your required courses. Of course, based on your interests and talents, you can also enroll in electives such as rune studies and formations. But once you sign up for a course, you have to pass the assessment. Otherwise, you won’t earn any credits for that subject. If your total credits after four years aren’t enough, you’ll have to delay your graduation. And if you insist on leaving anyway, you won’t receive a graduation certificate from the Hundred Races Academy.”
A graduation certificate from the Hundred Races Academy was an incredibly valuable credential.
As long as you had one, any sect would be more than happy to accept you.
Hearing that, the corner of Chu Feng’s mouth twitched.
“Don’t tell me there’s also freshman orientation, student clubs, and volunteer activities?”
“Hmm? How did you know that, little friend?”
Deacon Mo was genuinely astonished. The Hundred Races Academy had never made its teaching system public, and students who graduated from the Academy rarely talked about life on campus.
How could I not know? This is practically a shameless copy of the university system from my previous life. The Vice Dean… could they have transmigrated here too? Otherwise, how could it be… this similar?!
“I just guessed.”
Chu Feng replied calmly. He hadn’t expected that even after transmigrating into the cultivation world, he still couldn’t escape the torment of university life from his previous life.
As they entered the corridor, an oddly familiar atmosphere greeted him. Portraits lined the walls, each with a short inscription beneath it.
“These are all outstanding graduates of the Hundred Races Academy,” Deacon Mo said proudly. “They are the pride of our Academy.”
As he spoke, his chest puffed out just a little higher.
Chu Feng only felt mentally exhausted. He couldn’t even be bothered to look at the portraits anymore and just wanted to get through the corridor as quickly as possible.
At last, they reached the end of the long hallway.
With a wave of Deacon Mo’s hand, a stone sword flew over.
“The Holy Master mentioned that you’re a sword cultivator, little friend. In that case, please infuse this sword with your sword intent. I’ll assess your talent so we can assign you to the appropriate class.”
Chu Feng sized up the stone sword. Compared to Little White and the Human Emperor Sword, this was more of a greatsword. The blade was nearly as wide as the palm of his hand.
“Uh… you want me to attack this stone sword with my sword intent? It won’t break, will it?”
He looked at the stone sword, which seemed rather fragile.
“Hehe, don’t worry, little friend. It won’t.” Deacon Mo turned to Cao Yunxiao. “Yunxiao, demonstrate it for our guest.”
“Yes!”
Cao Yunxiao strode excitedly toward the stone sword. This was the perfect opportunity to show off in front of the beauties, and he certainly wasn’t going to let it slip away.
Bzzz!
Sword intent spread through the air as strands of sword qi materialized around Cao Yunxiao. His cultivation at the middle Fourth Rank erupted without reservation.
Deacon Mo said proudly, “Yunxiao has yet to reach the age of thirty, yet he’s already entered the Fourth Rank. There’s even a chance he’ll reach the Sixth Rank before the age of fifty!”
After breaking through to the Fifth Rank, a cultivator’s advancement slowed dramatically. The earlier realms could all be crossed within a dozen years or so, but progressing from the Fifth Rank to the Sixth could easily take more than a decade. And even then, success was far from guaranteed.
As expected of one of this year’s outstanding student representatives of the Hundred Races Academy, Cao Yunxiao’s sword intent stood at the very peak among cultivators of the same realm. Even against an ordinary Fifth Rank cultivator, he might well have been able to put up a fight.
A faint smile curved Cao Yunxiao’s lips as he glanced out of the corner of his eye. He had assumed that, seeing someone of his age possess such formidable sword intent and cultivation, the three stunning beauties would be looking at him with admiration.
Instead…
Not a single one of them even spared him a glance.
All three were gathered around the young man, happily teasing him instead.
“Su Tiantian, you’ve been pinching his cheeks the whole way here. It’s my turn now.”
“What’s the rush? Once this Empress gets tired of playing with him, you can have your turn.”
“And when will that be?”
“Not in this lifetime. As for the next one… this Empress doesn’t think so either.”
“โฆ….”
Liu Xueyao didn’t waste any words. Taking advantage of an opening, she reached out and pinched Chu Feng’s other cheek.
“Mmph… w-wait, wait! They’re going to tear apart…!”
Chu Feng had now witnessed firsthand just how terrifying women could be.
As far as Su Tiantian, Bai Yuyan, and Liu Xueyao were concerned, they couldn’t have cared less about watching another man demonstrate his sword intent. Compared to that, deciding who had the right to play with Chu Feng was far more important.
As for Chu Feng, he couldn’t help thinking, You’re telling me this is the sword intent of one of the Hundred Races Academy’s outstanding student representatives?
If I went up against Lin Ruo with something like this, I’d have died who knows how many times by now.
Of course, his most pressing concern at the moment was escaping from Sister Tiantian’s and Sister Holy Maiden’s clutches.
“โฆ…”
Seeing the Academy’s prized student being completely ignored, Deacon Mo couldn’t help feeling a little annoyed. Looking at Chu Feng surrounded by a flock of beautiful women, he became even more convinced that this brat had only gotten in by clinging to Elder Liu of the Yaochi Holy Land.
Hmph! In the end, he’s just a pretty boy living off women.
Now, to be clear, Deacon Mo was absolutely not jealous, envious, or bitter about someone being able to live off women.
Definitely not.
“Begin, Yunxiao. We can’t let them look down on us.”
Deacon Mo spoke in a solemn voice.
“Yes! I’ll give it everything I’ve got!”
Cao Yunxiao answered firmly.
In the next instant, his sword intent erupted.
An endless stream of sword intent poured from his body until a phantom of his Sword Foundation condensed behind him.
One mark.
Two marks.
It finally stopped at seven marks.
A Seven-Mark Sword Foundation was enough to stand proudly above the younger generation.
With Nine-Mark Sword Foundations having long since disappeared and Eight-Mark Sword Foundations appearing only once in a thousand years, possessing seven marks was already considered extraordinary talent.
“Hah!”
Cao Yunxiao pressed his palm against the stone sword and let out a shout, pouring every ounce of his sword intent into it.
The stone sword immediately emitted a faint glow. A string of numbers appeared above it before finally settling on 85.
“Excellent, excellent.” Deacon Mo nodded with satisfaction. “The last time you took this test, you had only just reached 80. It’s only been two years, and you’ve already reached 85. In the future, you may very well break through to 90. Reaching the Eighth Rank shouldn’t be a problem for you.”
“It’s all thanks to the Academy’s guidance.”
Cao Yunxiao smiled modestly before stepping back and turning his gaze toward Chu Feng.
After much difficulty, Chu Feng finally escaped the encirclement of the three older beauties.
Using his sleeve, he wiped away the lipstick mark on his cheek that Sister Tiantian had secretly planted amid the chaos. A mark that had nearly caused Senior Sister Bai Yuyan to turn completely dark with jealousy on the spot.
He had watched everything Cao Yunxiao had done.
So all I have to do is pour all of my sword intent into it, right?
Chu Feng let out a slow breath, stepped forward, and gently placed his palm against the stone sword.
Leave a Reply