-Age: 13 years, 6 months, 8 hours, 23 minutes-

-Cultivation: Meridian Opening Realm, 50 meridians opened-

When Yang Su’s results were shown, everyone suddenly felt like they were struck by a bolt of lightning.

There were faces that were frozen with either incredulity or shock. They just couldn't understand the results that were being shown to them. Yang Su looked like someone that had just entered the academy but he has the same number of meridians open as the seniors who entered the Academy three years prior.

'What kind of Innate Talent does this kid have?'

“That thing’s definitely broken, there’s no way that result is accurate. It’s just too unrealistic for him to have that cultivation base after only four months of cultivation!”

“Hey hush! Are you really saying that the Spirit Artifact the Academy Leader himself created is malfunctioning, really?!”

Most of the people in the crowd below the stage heard that disciple and similar thoughts were going through their minds as well.

Even the elder on the stage was looking at the disk with suspicion, wondering if it was really working properly.

Ghuanyu who was within the Pavilion, upon seeing Yang Su’s results, was about to take another sip of his tea but his hand suddenly pause midway to his lips.

Eyes gleaming with a cold light, he thought to himself, ‘How is it possible for this no-name youth to possess so much talent, it’s even similar to the crown prince’s own. I dodge a major setback in my plans when that second prince turned out to be trash, but this problem suddenly popped up immediately after. How can that be a coincidence? Could it be that Li Shu’s plans?’

Looking at Yang Su with a penetrating gaze for a moment, he snorted before saying, “No matter, as long as he’s not a member of the Li Clan and that accursed bloodline isn’t running through his veins then everything is still in line with my previous plans. But still, there’s no telling how this extra variable could turn out in the future, best to get rid of it just in case.”

Ghuanyu went back to sipping his tea after casually revealing his intention to kill Yang Su.

Xi Shen, who was calmly staring at Yang Su as he walked off the stage had thoughts of his own.

‘Father had wanted me to show outstanding talent to deter the Seven Clans from thinking of rebelling, but I rather not be used as a tool in the hidden war over this Continent. Hmm, but since Yang Su isn’t a part of our Clan and is therefore exempt from being qualified to hold the throne, showcasing his talents could only do so much. And that Ghuanyu, who would have thought he was up to something like this.’

Xi Shen then glanced at the Pavilion Ghuanyu was in but saw that his figure had disappeared from his seat.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

‘He’s taunting father by revealing this fact. Now every Clan and Academy on the Maple Continent would become curious about this new way of cultivating through the Four Physical Realms. If it turns out that it has more benefits than the original way of cultivating, then even powers on the other Continents would be tempted to get on the Ming Clan’s good side. He’s trying to shift the attention of the Continent onto his Ming Clan, and after doing that he’ll probably have something plan to consolidate his power into a tangible form.’

As Xi Shen was speculating about Ghuanyu's intentions, the elder recovered from his previous shock and announced the start of the Outer Disciple’s Knockout Round.

Coming out of his thoughts, Xi Shen stared down at the Outer Disciples gathering onto the main stage getting ready to compete in this brutal round.

“BEGIN!!”

With the elder’s words to start, fists and legs immediately started to fly as one disciple after another got knocked off the stage. Each and every disciple display a level of ferocity that would have left a wild beast shaking like leaf in the wind.

With the chance of getting one of the top three prizes, one could see why they were so desperate in this battle. If they could secure one of those positions they could get access to enough resources that could improve their cultivation speed and possibly become a Sea Expansion Realm cultivator before they turn sixteen.

Meanwhile, the Freshmen Disciple Competition was going on, a shocking piece of news swiped across all of the upper echelons on the Maple Continent.

Ghuanyu had figured out a way to open meridians while still being in the early stages of the Four Physical Realms. Since that was the case he must have discovered a safer way to cultivate through the Four Physical Realms, and would even take less time as well.

One should know that the fear of opening one's meridians was felt by all cultivators alike. Whether they had heaven-defying talents or average talents. If they so much as make a single mistake when opening a meridian then it would cause a backlash that would send their untamed Spiritual Qi rushing to their important organs and destroying them, which would kill them within an instant.

Even if some almighty expert was there to somehow stop the backlash of Spiritual Qi from destroying that person’s internal organs, the person's medians would still burst apart leading to them becoming a cripple for the rest of their life.

That’s why it was so unbelievable that Sun Donghai had even managed to open 32 in such a short time after entering the Academy. But upon seeing Yang Su’s own, they were even more stupefied and were even questioning whether the legendary Academy Leader who was well known for creating a pseudo-level Celestial treasure, had created a defective testing tool.

With all of that said, no one would give up the possibility to cultivate without fearing for their life at each breakthrough.

That was what the upper echelons of the Maple Continent wanted for their younger generation. There was no shortage of geniuses that died because they made a mistake while opening their meridians.

And even after stressing the dangers of opening one’s meridians to their younger generation, several of their clan members, as well as disciples, would still lose their lives.

But with the news of the Ming Clan’s method, they now had hope that they could eliminate one of the major obstacles that hinder them from producing more Sea Expansion cultivators, and subsequently increasing the power of their Clan and Academy.

Though, they were not without reservations, as they had no idea what Ming Ghuanyu was up to. And thinking of the history between the Ming Clan and the Royal Family, they were holding back to see what the incoming days would be like and what the Emperor’s response to this would be.

The ones that had returned to their clans were discussing their next course of action, and as for the Academies who heard of this news secondhand, they were starting to fear that this might lead to a shift in the power balance between the various Academies.

If some decide to throw in their lot with the Ming Clan and start producing Sea Expansion Realm cultivators at a faster rate, then the ones who didn’t would be left behind.

Ghuanyu’s reveal of his hand had thrown the entire Maple Continent in disarray. It was as if he was saying, “This is the benefit that could befall you if you show your support of my Ming Clan, and who knows, maybe there’s more to have that I haven’t yet shown.”

Even though the Li Clan had been the number one power on the Maple Continent for a long time, and had pretty much made sure no other power become too strong to oppose them, there was still the threat of numbers.

This could not be avoided when ruling a continent.

If the Maple Continent didn’t have the Seven Major Clans or the various powerful Academies like the Celestial Academy and the Divine Star Academy, then they would be vulnerable to attacks from outside forces.

The Li Royal Family was caught up in a really precarious situation at the moment.