Hearing this, an amused smile lingered on Qing Zhao’s lips. He then nodded his head and said, “Knowing your own limits and not to over reach is a virtue in itself. The results will be announced in a week from now. I suggest you use this time to thoroughly comprehend your insights.”
Curo nodded his head and after a few more words with the man, he was escorted out by a student. When Curo reached the gates of the Academy, all eyes locked onto him. Ji Long took a long look at Curo before he stepped off his cloud and walked up to him, “How’d you do?”
Curo raised his shoulders and said, “I think I did good. I might be able to squeeze into the top 1000.” Hearing this vague answer, Ji Long only nodded his head and then turned to leave the plaza. Until the results themselves came out a week later, nothing was certain. When the two left the plaza under the watchful gazes of everyone present, the student that had escorted him here let out a baffled breath as he murmured, “Good? You managed to defeat 18 waves of the Purgatory Formation for crying out loud.”
Although not many people heard him, the people that did were thunder struck. As they stared at the disappearing silhouette of the youth, their mouths hung open from shock.
The rest of the week was uneventful as no more dazzling displays took place. Although, usually the displays of other Examinees would warrant countless rumours and exclamations of shock, they were all overshadowed by Curo’s achievements. No one doubted that Curo would take the top spot for this years Examination and take the title and rewards for it.
It wasn’t that there weren’t others that tried the Purgatory Formation, it was just that no one could pass the 9th wave, not to mention the 18th. However, Curo was oblivious to all of the rumours circulating about him as he was immersed in the insights he had gained from all of the fights. As he stood in the courtyard, completely still, the GuanDao Halberd gently floated in front of him.
There was a shadow of a black dragon coiled around the Halberd and now, that shadow was much more corporeal than before. The might it radiated was several times stronger and more oppressing than what it had exhibited in the Purgatory Formation.
This wasn’t his only benefit when it came to the insights he had gained. His Fleshly Body had also experienced a break through and his training in the [Dragon Human Unification Art] had broken through the bottle neck. In the Purgatory Formation, his body had been pushed to the limit time and time again. Thanks to that, he had touched upon a strange feeling of unification with the dragon’s shadow. After a session of closed door training, he had managed to break through the bottle neck and his Fleshly Body strength grew in a rapid pace.
Thanks to that, [Dragon Cross Seal] had also loosened and his cultivation rose from the 98 Qi Kindling Condensation Stage to 36 Excavated Qi Springs. Curo hadn’t noticed it before but when the 99th Qi Kindling had been unsealed, the 99 Qi Kindling’s arranged themselves in a strange pattern that raised the speed at which he gathered Qi several times. After pondering about it for a moment, he could only sigh in amazement.
In addition to increasing the speed at which he could absorb the Qi from the outside world, the speed at which he refined it to become his own had risen substantially as well. Although, he was training in a Top Grade Specialized Art, the amount of Qi and the purity of the Qi inside each Kindling was several times higher quality than a normal Top Grade Art. “So This is the difference of the 99 Qi Kindling’s.”
Although he hadn’t heard much about the several benefits of the 99th Qi Kindling, he knew some wondrous benefits it brought. Even if two people trained in the exact same Art, if one had 98 Qi Kindling’s and the other 99 Qi Kindling’s, there would be no competition amongst them in terms of Qi Purity and Quality. The one with 99 Qi Kindling’s would be able to triumph over a dozen people who had condensed 98 Qi Kindling’s in a straight up fight.
As Curo was familiarizing himself with his newfound strength, his Father’s voice echoed outside the courtyard, “Lil’Curo, it is time to hear the results.” Hearing this, Curo was brought out of his trance and let out a deep breath as he stood up and went to the door. After exiting the courtyard, his Father and Uncle Zheng were already waiting for him.
Ji Long gave Curo a look and feeling the ripples emanating from him, gave him a smile. Curo then followed Ji Long to the Academy Gates, where there was a giant Stone Stele erected. On the giant Stele, there were rows after rows of names and the moment Curo and Ji Long entered the plaza, the crowd was taken by deathly silence as a pathway was opened for them straight to the Stele. All of the people present looked at Curo with fearful eyes.
When in the beginning, Curo thought that it was weird, then when he reached the Stele, he could only let out a sheepish laugh. Glowing in a golden light, rank number 1: Ji Curo, Age 16, 98 Top Grade Qi Kindling’s, Battle Score 18 000. After seeing that, Curo looked at the number 2 spot and saw the results; Xi Hao, Age 17, 81 Top Grade Qi Kindling’s, Battle Score 8900. The rest were even lower as the list went on. When Curo looked at the last spot, he could do nothing but let out an embarrassed laugh. Rank 1000: Fang Xi, Age 20, 78 High Grade Qi Kindling’s, Battle Score 1121. Ji Long was astonished as well, he knew very well what the “Battle Score 18 000” meant.
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He sucked in a sharp breath as he looked at Curo with a slightly fearful expression again. When he thought back to how his Battle Score had been a measly 8000, he felt a tinge of shame. However, that soon passed as he felt proud of his son. Qing Zhao’s voice then echoed out, “All of the people that managed to rank in the top 1000 follow me inside.” Everyone’s gazes then turned to the Academy Gates, were unknowingly to all of them, Qing Zhao and over a hundred other people had appeared.
From their Robes, it was obvious that all of them were Instructors. Ji Long looked at his son and said, “From today onwards, you will be a Hidden Dragon Academy Student. I have no words of encouragement for you to say other than, no matter who picks a fight, it is never too late to take revenge later.”Curo nodded his head as he understood the meaning behind the words. Even if he wasn’t someone’s match at the moment, that didn’t mean he never would be. There was no shame in knowing when to retreat and give way.
After a few more words from his Father and also Uncle Zheng, Curo walked towards the people waiting at the Academy Gates. Seeing Curo, all of the Instructors showed a wry smile. It was obvious that they had discovered Curo’s cultivation level.
Qing Zhao however let out an amused laugh and walked up to Curo. “The top spot of the Examination usually receives as Top Grade Qi Gathering Pill and a Top Grade Qi Purifying Pill to help purify the Qi inside their already condensed Kindling’s and to give a pure Qi surplus to help condense new Kindling’s….” As Qing Zhao said that with a slightly helpless tone, Curo gave a helpless smile as well. These rewards had been set in place since the beginning of the Academy.
Qing Zhao then thought about it a bit and then said, “I will discuss this with the Headmistress and see if we can give you something that you truly need.” Curo nodded his head apologetically to that. This was going to be a head ache for the higher up’s because the value of the Pill’s they offer in exchange can’t surpass the value of those two.
However, the Quality of those pills can’t be too low either as it would seem unfit for the person that reached the Number One spot in the Examination.
After a few minutes went by, Qing Zhao nodded his head towards the other Instructors and led the new Students inside. They were all brought to the central square of the Academy where a giant Stele was standing with different Rankings. On the Stele, there were 3 different rankings; Human, Earth and Heaven. Typically, when new Student’s entered they weren’t eligible to enter these rankings for the first half a year. Some heaven defying people managed to enter regardless.
What made all of the freshmen’s faces turn awkward was that currently, there was a name etched onto the second spot of the Human Ranking that was very familiar to them. Seeing everyone’s gazes converge on Curo, Qing Zhao let out an amused chuckle while Curo looked at the ranking with wide eyes.
The Student’s of the Academy were divided into three groups; Juniors, people that had been in the Academy for less than ten years, Seniors, people that had been in the Academy for at least ten years but less than twenty years. The last category were the people that had been in the Academy for at least twenty years. The three rankings were divided as such. Human Ranking for the Juniors, Earth Ranking for Seniors and Heaven Ranking for the Elders. When Curo saw his name on the second spot of the Human Ranking, he could only stare at it with wide eyes.
Qing Zhao then explained, “Your score from the Examination also counts towards the Rankings inside the Academy. Everyone are ranked by their Battle Score and the higher ones ranking on the Stele, the more monthly rewards they get.” Qing Zhao then looked at Curo with a complicated gaze as he said, “I believe you will dominate the Human Ranking for the next ten years. The current number one on the Stele, Xing Feng, entered the Academy today ten years ago. From tomorrow onwards, you will be the Number One on the Human Ranking.” Hearing this, Curo didn’t know what to say.
He had tried to only make his Father proud by showing everyone that his Father didn’t possess a worthless son. He had given his all in all of the Examinations but he hadn’t expected to become the Number One Freshman. Much less did he expect that he would be able to become the new Number One of the Human Ranking.
The people surrounding him looked at him as though he was a monster. He had just entered the Academy and he was currently Number Two on the Juniors Ranking. And from the words of Qing Zhao they understood that he will be the Number One tomorrow when the people that had entered ten years ago would all be moved from the Human Ranking to the Earth Ranking.
As an awkward atmosphere enveloped the square, a gentle voice echoed, “Welcome to the Hidden Dragon Academy Freshmen.” Hearing this voice, everyone looked towards the origin of the voice. In front of the Ranking Stele, stood a young woman with emerald green eyes. Seeing this woman, Curo’s eyes turned wide as he recognized her.
Another sentence then sounded out, “I am the Headmistress of the Hidden Dragon Academy, Xi Qing.” A murmur enveloped the plaza as the young men all looked a little red when they saw the beautiful woman in front of them. As if she was used to it, Xi Qing didn’t even bat an eye as she said, “Now then, it is time to divide all of you Freshmen to your respective Instructors.” With those words, she produced a giant crystal that gently floated above the heads of the Freshmen.
As it started to spin, threads shot out from the Crystal and once they hit a freshman, the thread extended to an Instructor. Seeing the other end of his thread, Curo’s face turned respectful.