Alex turned towards the direction Jamil was pointing at and saw his nemesis standing at the stone, channeling her Qi into it. Obviously she passed the test, since the stone was already turning yellowish and the green color slowly disappeared. Half a minute later the stone shone in a nice golden color, but the girl quickly peaked at it, then made a dissatisfied grimace and squeezed her eyes shut, apparently focusing on the Qi flow.
Youths and adults stared at her in disbelief watching how during the next minute the stone slowly turned from golden to whitish. Finally the girl was satisfied with her performance and proudly left the stone, but the droplets on her forehead and the trembling hands indicated it had been anything but easy.
“It has to be broken!” Jamil exclaimed and a similar thought passed through minds of the most people present.
One of those was the next candidate. He didn’t wait for an invitation, came up to Wasir and slightly bowed.
Then said, “Badr Reza, from Tabulan!” and quickly rushed towards the stone.
But no matter how hard he tried, the stone barely changed into a slightly purple color, mostly remaining dark red.
Seeing it, the looks on the faces of the present youths changed once again and both Alex and Nabia immediately became the center of attention. Nabia got instantly surrounded by the ‘common’ youths who passed the tests, everyone complimenting her and trying to become acquainted. Alex, on the other hand, got another punch on the shoulder from Jamil.
“Alright! With such talent you will surely awaken trikuta! That means you’ll be able to join us! But now go and get to know her – she’ll probably become one of us as well. And from the looks of it, she’ll be pretty in the future. Go get her!” Jamil commanded.
Alex looked back at the boy not knowing what to say, but then only shook his head and sighed. Some people just couldn’t be helped.
Approximately an hour later the last candidate failed the second test and Wazir officially announced the results. The crowd loudly applauded the twelve saints, nineteen saint candidates and thirty four ‘regular’ geniuses who officially became the students of the Academy of saints.
Then another elderly saint in robes with academy’s symbol appeared, gave a short speech and directed the new students towards a long row of carriages. Under the cheers and shouts from the crowd the long procession departed towards the academy grounds, but first it had to take the mandatory route around the streets of Tabulan for citizens to see and admire the young geniuses.
Alex experienced something similar in Serenity, the capital of the Holy empire, when he was delivered to the coliseum together with the other failed chosen, except back then those were his last rites. But while at the time his hardest task was to sit still and pretend to be drugged, now he actually wished he was under the influence of hallucinogens.
While the saints and the saint candidates had their own designated carriages signifying their status, the regular students had to board a carriage in numbers of three or even four. While normally it would be fine, because of their outstanding performance Alex and Mathilda’s twin were assigned to the first carriage after the saint candidates. Now the whole procession behind sent stares full on killing intent towards Alex’s back and the young madam herself was radiating an intense hate as well.
Alex was not sure what he had done wrong and blamed it on idiocy of youth, but the whole situation made it impossible for him to enjoy the trip that went through actually remarkably picturesque places and when at dusk they arrived at the academy he was completely exhausted. It didn’t help he tried to focus on cultivation, because the whole time the fragrance of lilies kept on mentally torturing him. Luckily the girl didn’t say anything the whole way and Alex didn’t have to suffer extra because of that.
Academy was located to the west of Tabulan, at the foot of the mountain range. If one ignored the tall snowy peaks surrounding it, academy itself was built on five mountains and already from Jamil’s earlier explanation Alex guessed that the placement had a special meaning. Now it felt obvious that it was built in a particular Feng Shui formation, but he just couldn’t put his finger on which one – it has been too long since his first life when he studied this subject and even then it was only briefly.
“My young saints, you’ll follow me. For the next five years you’ll reside on the Western peak.” After everyone gathered at the entrance Wazir loudly said while children and youths curiously were looking around, “Saint candidates, your new home will the Northern peak, but the rest will live on the Southern peak. As you probably know, the students who were accepted five years ago are currently on different missions around the empire, but in case they had business in the academy, they are staying on the Eastern peak. That is also where the teachers reside. From now on you’ll mostly meet on the Central peak where the lessons will be held and where the training grounds are located.”
‘From the first glance it seems like a simple, pretty place, but actually it’s anything but that, despite the ‘peaks’ are being called that only in name and actually are only forty to fifty meters tall hills.’ Alex thought to himself after carefully observing the surroundings, ‘The entrance is guarded by the teachers on the East peak, who probably are mostly saints and the three other peaks watch over the important spots of the academy from north, west and south respectively. But actually it’s completely the other way around! The valley academy is built in is probably the only spot where one could arrive over that mountain range in the west – it’s a hidden defensive fortification guarding the weak spot on the west of the capital! In addition, the institution itself is also well protected by the peaks it’s located on and the river that splits in the west, encircles the academy and then merges back into one stream here, at the entrance!’
Stolen novel; please report.
While from a superficial look the academy was just a beautiful spot, the farsighted, or rather, the five-sighted emperor killed several birds with one stone creating an educational institution and a defensive bastion at the same time. Only he knew what other purposes academy served and what secrets were hidden here.
With this train of thought all the previous exhaustion disappeared and Alex impatiently looked forward to the next day when he could explore the academy grounds.
Unfortunately the evening was spoiled by the fact that he was assigned the residence right next to his nemesis. Neither of them enjoyed this fact, for different reasons, of course, and Alex swore to himself to do his best and avoid her as much as possible during the upcoming years.
The next morning brought another disappointment. Alex was not bothered with the obligation to wear the academy’s uniform and the fact that each student had their own small residence was even great. But after the students gathered on the Central peak, they were informed that apart from this place and their own respective peaks the rest of academy was a restricted area.
Of course, the central peak was actually huge. There were multiple pavilions where the lectures were held, training grounds in a size of five football fields combined that even had their own small coliseum-style arena, two eateries – one for the saints and one for the rest, several other buildings and a tall, over seven stories high white tower that was the local library. The whole place was structured so the students wouldn’t lack anything, but the first thing Alex immediately missed was his freedom.
‘Everything has its price.’ He inwardly sighed.
The first day was meant for everyone to become acquainted with the place and each other, but Alex didn’t see much use for it. He didn’t intend to slave for the empire or to befriend any of the other students. What he wanted was knowledge and he hoped to find it in the tall, white tower located in the very middle of the Central peak.
Ignoring the groups of the other students, Alex directly went to the library. After fooling around for enough lives, he finally intended to research the question that was actually important – the concept of reincarnation and, probably, the soul particles.
The tower had only one entrance and no windows, at least from the front side. From close by it looked like an oversized lighthouse, or something someone would construct for their daughter intending to lock her up so she would never loose her virginity.
Inside it was just what Alex expected – a large hall with stairs at the side leading to the second floor. The only surprise was – there was not a single book! And not even a single bookshelf! In the middle of the large hall there were a couple dozen tables with chairs and strange illuminating formations on walls and ceiling provided a comfortable lighting. As expected, there were no windows thus those were the only light source apart from the opened door Alex currently came in through.
“How can I help you, young man?” An old saint approached Alex with a wide smile.
He was short and thin, even shorter than Alex, but walked in a straight posture and energetically at that, almost as if he was a teen.
“Sir, please don’t be like that.” Alex smiled back and the saint immediately guessed his meaning.
“What the hell do you want here, prick?!” He angrily shouted, but then began to laugh, “Better?”
“Actually, yes!” Alex said, “How should I address you, your sainthood?”
“Please, don’t be like that!” The saint mimicked Alex, but then turned more serious “I understand you might have had a bad experience with saints before, but here, in the academy, we are not that special.”
“But the young saints still live on another peak.” Alex smiled back.
“You can call me Adil.” The saint ignored his remark, “I’m the librarian around here. You came just to look around or want to find something in particular?”
“Ye, I’d like to find a book.” Alex joked, but apparently it was not that original, because the saint’s expression didn’t change.
“As the first year you can read anything that is located on the second floor. Just pick a book, register it with me and read it here, downstairs.” He explained.
“Simple enough.” Alex nodded, “But why the limitations? What if what I’m looking for is on the fifth floor?”
“Then come three years later.” Adil plainly said.
‘Wtf is this gate keeping?’ Alex was upset, but didn’t show any of it on his face.
“Do you have a catalog of books I can choose from? Or should I go around the second floor and pick what I like?” He asked.
“Hmm … you’re the only weirdo from this bunch, therefore I can show you around. Follow me!” Adil said.
“Weirdo?” Alex asked in confusion.
“Obviously!” Adil nodded, “While normal people hang out enjoying a nice day before their studies actually begin, you ran all the way here to disturb an old man.”
“There it is!” Alex smiled triumphantly as if the saint was caught showing his true colors, “You are a real saint after all!”
“I thought this was what separated saints from the others.” Adil smiled back pointing at his forehead.
“Nah, it’s the attitude.” Alex said, “Saints still pee, poo and fart like all the others … oh … sorry, I …”
“I must admit – you are correct.” Adil interrupted him, “But don’t ever say it again, better not even think. It’s fine if I’m the only one who hears it, but if anyone else … well, your life might get cut short.”
While chatting they arrived on the second floor and Alex finally could feel like he was in an actual library, albeit a very poor one. There were bookshelves at the walls and in the middle, but those at the walls were only half full and mostly contained scrolls. There were no windows and the lighting, similar to the first floor, came from the strange lighting formations.
“This is where the newcomers can find the new techniques or an inspiration for their practice.” Adil explained, “In the middle are copies of books from the imperial library, but at the walls you can find the work of our previous students, first-years that is.”
Alex took few steps towards the bookshelves in the middle and picked up a random book. As expected, it was about basic principles of Qi and its general application. If the rest was at this level, it meant for the first year and maybe even second and third he was not getting his hands on anything interesting!