In the vast lands of Southern Academy, there was no lack of beautiful sceneries. Birds were chirping everywhere, grasshoppers and dragonflies were dancing around, and there was a fresh smell of nature everywhere. At the moment, Students of the academy were practicing various techniques on the field. The 16 new students who just passed the selection exams were standing inside one of the academy buildings. Edward was also there.

Soon, an instructor came. He opened the door to the classroom and entered. Following him, the students also entered. Everyone sat on the chairs and prepared themselves, as this would be their first lecture in the academy.

"This building is the academy building for freshman students. From today, all of you will be attending your lectures in this room. There are also other rooms for indoor practice, duels, and mastering technics. Most of the rooms in the building contain books, pills, and weapons for you to use. From now on, you will find all you need in this building. You will also be living in this building in your appointed rooms from now on. Do you understand?", the instructor started talking.

"Yes sir.", everybody replied.

"Now, for today's lecture, I won't be talking about anything complex. I will explain to you things you need to know about the academy, then I'll talk about the history of cultivation.", said the instructor.

"First of all, let's talk about the systems of the academy. Right now, all sixteen of you are freshman students. At the end of this month, you will receive white robes with academy emblems and a unique design, which will signify your Identity as C rank students. I see that there are three people among you who have already broken through to the Body Metamorphosis realm already.", saying that, he looked at the front row where Edward, the boy named Robert Brown and the other one called John Aaron was sitting.

"It is very astonishing to find three new students at the Body Metamorphosis realm, specially someone at the third level.", said the instructor, looking at Edward.

"These three will receive gray robes and will become B rank students. Anyone who reaches the 7th to 9th level of Body Metamorphosis realm will receive Silver Robes and will become A rank students. Finally, if a student reaches the Shell Shattering realm, he or she will become an S rank student with Red Robes. This is the same system as to how the teachers have different robes along with different levels. Always remember, in this academy, the color of your robe will be representing your status, be it a teacher or a student. The aim of all the students of the academy is to reach S rank and gain the red robes. The time limit is 3 years. Students who can reach A rank within 3 years will be able to graduate, and if you fail to do so, you will have to leave the academy as a failure. When you reach A rank, you can either graduate or become an instructor at the academy, or choose to remain a student if you have more than half-year time left in the academy. If you can reach S rank within the remaining time, then you can either become an elder of the academy or choose to join the Royal Academy at the Central Royal Capital."

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Everyone was excited after hearing all the student rankings and imagining the possibilities they hold for the future.

The instructor was happy to see their excitement. After a while, he started speaking again.

"Although it might sound easy, remember, you have only three years of time. While there are a lot of C and B rank students in the academy, A-rank students number less than fifty."

Everyone was shocked to hear that. Well, it was true that reaching the 7th level of the Body Metamorphosis realm or higher wouldn't be easy to accomplish within three years.

"Then how many S rank students are there?", asked a student.

"Five", replied the instructor.

Everyone was shocked once again. At the same time, they were excited to meet those five people. They were the top five students in the entire academy after all.

"Well, these five have already graduated, and after this year ends, they will join the Royal Academy. They are only staying because the Royal Academy accepts students once in every four years. They are waiting for the four year time period to be over."

Now, everyone understood. This explained why those 5 were still in the academy even after reaching the Shell Shattering realm.

"Now, listen.", said the instructor.

Everyone once again directed their attention to him.

"You might know that the teachers are ranked in the same manner. We, the instructors, wear green robes and we are at the 7th to 9th level of the Body Metamorphosis realm. The Elders, on the other hand, wear blue robes and they are in the Shell Shattering realm. The five vice-headmasters wear black robes and they are at the peak of the Shell Shattering realm. The headmaster is a mighty cultivator beyond anyone in the academy, and anyone rarely gets to see him.", while talking about the headmaster, he had a look of respect in his eyes.

"Now keep these things in mind, as this is the ranking system of the academy which will be important throughout the entire time you will be a student of the academy."

"Well, now that I have explained to you how the academy works, I will start the main lecture. In today's lecture, I will be explaining to you the cultivation realms of modern-day cultivation and how it came to be. For that, I will also have to talk about the history of martial cultivation.", said the instructor with a serious look.

When martial cultivation was mentioned, everyone suddenly became more attentive.