Mortal Realm, Capital Planet of the Hoborg Empire, Main Continent, Cloudmount City, In the Immortal Pillar Academy.

The boy then bowed his head respectfully and replied. “Thank you miss.” After the warm scene, Nung asked the woman. “Now that the young master chose his courses, should we go for the tests?” The woman nodded and added. “I have saved his choices in his files. T-86 will bring you to the venue for the tests.” When she finished talking, the two 'men' heard the door opening itself, which prompted them to turn around. When they looked at the entrance, they saw a robot which looked exactly the same as the one which welcomed them earlier. “Two sirs, I am T-86. You may follow me to the test's venue.” The two said their farewell to S-32 and tagged along the sentient machine.

Unlike the other two, this sub-spirit was less talkative and after notifying them of a few details about the tests, it stayed silent along the way, the two looking out through the windows of the automated vehicle flying through the campus filled with similar models of shuttles going to and fro, full of students and teachers.

From the robot's words, they discovered that the tests were divided into two parts. The first was the theory part of the test and the other was the practical one. Depending on the class, it could encompass one of the two or both. There should have a been a crafting test too, but since the boy was basically a newbie in his optional classes, the sub-spirit decided to simply put the child in the beginner class after discussing it with Nung.

Once they arrived at the classroom for the theory test, the robot asked Guang Yang to sit down and connect his Holo-Bracelet to the school's spirit. Once it was done, he could check the content of the theoretical test. He was also able to pick any subject in any order. However, he did not feel confident in his overall proficiency, so he simply ended up choosing the first one. It was under the Adventuring Part and the name of the course it was related to was 'Basic Mundane Knowledge'. From what he remembered when he checked out all the courses' descriptions, it was about the basic knowledge that one needed when one traveled in the Mortal Realm, such as reading, mathematics, history, etc.

Although the reading and mathematics parts went well, he did not know anything about the rest, as he only stayed at the mansion and focused solely on cultivation. “I guess that's something I have to improve during my stay in school.” He thought while confirming his answers and changing to another subject. This time it was about the class 'Basic Item identifying'. It still did not go well, but he did his best to write down as much as he could. Not that it would change anything, he thought, but at least he could say that he tried his best. As he went from topic to topic, he truly realized his lack of knowledge. That put his arrogance down.

Indeed, as he was progressing very quickly in his cultivation, he had felt his pride swelling, until he thought that he was one of the most talented cultivator in the Realm. Which, objectively, was true. However, in many situation, power was not enough and you needed the knowledge to use it. For example, let's say you passed by a very precious treasure without knowing what it was. Even if you were the most powerful cultivator around, it would not change the fact that you missed it. And a weaker but more knowledgeable person may be able to pick it up.

That felt like a cold shower waking up Guang Yang from his self-induced delusion. It was further confirmed when he was incapable of answering almost any question about the Crafting subjects. “Thankfully, with the evolution of my body, my memory has become very good, so it shouldn't take me too much time to shore up my lacking knowledge. And I still have a lot of time in front of me anyway. From what teacher told me, I have around 600 of lifespan since I reached Level 3, double of a human cultivator of similar Level. Sigh, The human race is really not very fortunate, being average in everything.”

The child then said. “Alright, I'm done. I'm ready to go for the practical test now!” “Follow me then.” The robot then led them outside the building and made them take an other automated vehicle which landed close to them. It brought them to the training field, on the west side of the gigantic campus. When they arrived, they were directed to a special room divided into two parts. The two were divided by a huge window pane, with one side having many unknown devices, which, from the robots explanation was the testing room. All those devices were linked to the other 'control room'.

This time, the sub-spirit told the child to enter the testing room alone while it and Nung entered the other room. When the three reached their respective positions, T-86 started to guide the young fox through the different tests. They started with the Cultivation part of the basic courses. The child had to demonstrate and explain how he harnessed the ambient mana to cultivate. There was also a part on cultivation items such as pills and mana stones, however, since it was mostly focused on moving the energy, he did not have any trouble with it.

Once they were done, he asked the boy to show how he manipulated the Law he comprehended added to the how and why of Law comprehension. That part made Guang Yang pleased, due to the surprise in the spirit's voice when he showed him his Level in his two opposite Laws. Apparently, even at the Familiar Level it was something extremely rare, almost unheard of. Thankfully, his teacher's fearsome power and the academy's integrity made him free of any danger. After all, not every one would be glad of someone else's talent. Sometimes, it was more prudent to get rid of a potential future competitor or even potential enemy. Such is the 'Cultivation World'.

Almost an hour later and several other topics, they were done with that part. The spirit then decided to evaluate his fighting prowess. They started with hand to hand combat with a training robot. He was forbidden from using his Laws since that part only evaluated technique. Despite his lack of experience, the boy trashed the first robot which had similar power as an average Early Level 3 Cultivator. However, Guang Yang mostly used the advantage of his sturdy body, refined by his Laws and Bloodlines. He ended up with a body as strong as a Late or even Peak Level 3 Cultivator. Mind you, not in 'quality' but in 'quantity', since his cultivation scripture emphasized balance.

As the robots kept getting stronger, he was hit more and more, and unlike at the beginning, he kept getting hurt. It went until the robot reached the Late Level 3, where he could only be beaten up without being able to retaliate. The test then stopped, since there was no point continuing. As he knew that it would happen, the spirit had called a healer to help. An old man with a kind face and the insignia of the school on his clothes, entered the room where the young fox was seated down on the ground, trying to heal himself. The old man reached close to the boy before asking in a warm voice. “If I may, young man?” Guang Yang nodded and the man started to channel his Law of Light powered by his personal mana to heal the child's wound.

Of course, the boy could not resist observing the way the white-haired man used his Laws. It felt exquisite compared to his own crude manipulation. However, he could not be blamed, since he only started cultivating less than a year prior, while that man had probably hundreds if not thousands of years of practice. Experience is as much important as talent and he understood that he should not breakthrough to higher level too fast without first improving his foundation. After all, he did not forget that he would have to pass the Three-Fold Tribulation Lightning to reach Rank 2 and despite being the weakest of the tribulations one could get on the path of cultivation, it was still not a walk in the park to survive it. Many cultivators died from it, which resulted in many not being confident enough in going through with it, which stranded them forever at the Peak of Level 3.

As the healer was very competent and had a high cultivation base, Guang Yang was quickly healed. However, instead of standing up, he stayed on the ground for a few minutes, while he was reviewing his gains from his earlier observation. Once he was done, he opened his eyes and stood up instantly. “I'm ready for the next test.” He said. “As we're testing techniques, you will be able to use any weapon you wish to fight. Of course, you have to use the one we have so that we can make sure that everything is fair.”

Once the spirit finished talking, the boy entered the weapons he wanted in his Holo-Bracelet. A few seconds later, a flying machine reminiscent of a box arrived in front of him and opened itself. Inside were the shield and spear that he asked for. He took the former in his left hand and the latter in his right hand. As he checked them quickly, he noticed that the balance on the two was not as good as his own equipment. The weight and shape of the two were slightly off, which was a bit disturbing since he was used to his own weapons' characteristics. He also noticed that the material used was lower in quality and he could guess that in case of a clash between the two, those inferior pieces of equipment might not last long.

“The more I learn about the Cultivation World and the more I feel lucky about having someone like my teacher helping me. But that also means that I can't let her down.” He pondered. Once he was familiar with the shield and the spear, he signaled the robot to start the test. Right away, a robot similar to the first one he fought previously arrived in front of him. This time, he felt more confident in his combat mastery. He knew that his technique was still weak, but it was kilometers better than his hand-to-hand combat. As he fought the different robot, he started to notice a few flaws in his use of the two weapons. Despite that fact, he succeeded in beating the Late Level 3 robot while taking a few more serious injuries. However, he chose to stop there instead of continuing fighting, since he knew he would be thrashed by the Peak Level 3 robot.

When he sat down, the same old man appeared behind his back and started to heal him. Again, he chose to observe the way the healer manipulated his Law. As the damages were more important than previously, it took the man a bit more time heal the boy. That suited him just fine since that also meant that he had more time for his study. Less than five minutes later, he was free of any wounds. The man then disappeared again while the boy stood up.

The tests then resumed and only after a few hours was he done with everything. Despite the feeling of exhaustion and lack of cultivation breakthrough, he felt that his gains were tremendous. Indeed, not only did he progress in his manipulation of his Laws through the observation of that old man, but he also felt as if his mind expanded from his realization and following resolution. It was as if he had a sublimation of his consciousness. That led him anticipating his future experiences in school.

Once he was done with the practical tests, the spirit then said. “I just received mister Guang's results. As they were not balanced, you will be placed in different Levels according to your proficiency in each subject. I am sending you the detailed schedule and a map of the campus. I also updated your AI's authorization level. If you wish to study your class' topics in more depth, you should visit the Bibliotheca. It contains all the knowledge our organization gathered over the hundreds of thousands of years of our continued existence. Of course, only the information related to your courses are available for free. For the rest you will need to use contribution points. I also added the list of ways to gain those in the package I sent you to your Holo-Bracelet.”

“If you have any question, you can contact one of the sub-spirit in charge of helping students via the Holo-Net. It will answer it as soon as it can. Now, is there anything I can help you with while you're both on campus?” Nung looked at Guang Yang with a questioning expression. The boy then pondered a bit before saying. “I would like to be guided to the Bibliotheca. Since I'll probably visit it a lot, then I might as well see how it looks like. I'm very curious about it after your explanation.”

The robot nodded and called another sub-spirit to guide them, which did not faze the two. Indeed, they were starting to become used to changing sub-spirit everytime they wanted something different. At first, they were quite confused since one would think that a sub-spirit should be able to do multiple things, however, from their current guide's explanation, it was easier for the main spirit to have dedicated sub-spirits, since it made the allocation of its consciousness more efficient. A bit like a computer would have different components doing their own tasks instead of each doing everything.

As the new robot arrived, they started to follow it to the flying shuttle that landed at the entrance of the training field. When the three of them entered it and sat themselves on the comfortable seats, Guang Yang asked a question that kept gnawing in his mind. “Excuse me, mister spirit.” “Yes, mister Guang?” “I was wondering something. Our previous guide talked a bit about spirits, but I don't know much about them. My teacher hasn't covered them in her teachings yet. Could you explain a bit about how they come about?” As a proper Academy's sub-spirit, the robot would, of course, do its best to share its knowledge, especially with something so simple.

“Of course. I'll do my best to keep it simple, since it is something that you will learn during class. Spirits are soul-like beings that are linked to an object or a place. They can be born for many reasons, from the death of a cultivator, the evolution of a rock or a plant or even the sublimation of an AI. In a sense, your soul being linked to your body qualifies it as a type of spirit. Now, there are some differences between those beings, whether it is before or after they awakened. I won't go into too much details with those, but just know that a 'proper' spirit is one that has emotion and a consciousness. Lacking one of them disqualifies it. Another things that you should know is that depending on its origins AND its nurturing, spirits can have vastly different capabilities. For example, the main spirit of the school comes from an AI, so do most administrative spirits. But a weapon's spirit would be completely different, a tree spirit also, etc. It is a vast subject that needs time to delve into. However, if you're interested, you could look up digital books on that subject in the Bibliotheca. Be careful not to drown in all the information, though. The quantity of books in there is... Enormous.”

The young fox had stars of excitement in his eyes when listening to the robot's explanation. “So much interesting things to learn about! I can't wait!” He thought. By his side, Nung could read his emotions like an open book, as the man was aware of the boy's love for learning. Coupled with the craving for interaction with other children, Nung was one those in the family that pushed for the child to enroll in the school. Indeed, Lady Bai Yue, despite her love for Guang Yang, or maybe because of it, did not notice the growing detachment festering inside him. When the man shared his opinion with Hei Qiang, the father went to see his child right away to check if it was true. As the dark fox asked a few questions to Guang Yang, discreet enough for the latter to not notice his goals, he quickly confirmed that the boy's heart seemed to close more and more. Alarmed, he went to fetch Nung and they both went to Bai Yue after having called Guang Hua. After which the two shared their growing concern. Despite the two beautiful women reluctance, the two men insisted that it was the right thing to do, and a few weeks later, there they were.

Nung fell into a somber daze while reminiscing about what happened the last few weeks. However, when he saw the happiness and excitement on the boy's face, all the feelings of worry evaporated, as if they never existed. “We've all made the right decision by bringing him here.” He thought while his lips curved up slightly.

After a few minutes of travel, where one was lost in his own thoughts while another was curiously looking through the windows at the scenery flying past them, sometimes asking questions about anything that went through his mind, the shuttle arrived in front of a magnificent building with 'Bibliotheca' written on the front part of it.

“We've arrived.” Said the spirit.