At this moment, in the distance, there were three people who were flying towards the grandstand, causing the pupils of the crowd to contract.

"Are those the representatives from the three academies?"

" Heavenly Star Academy! It is the strongest academy in the Evergreen Empire and even the Emperor has to pay respects to the Headmaster of the academy! They only accept people who have Grade three Aptitude and above." Many in the crowd revealed expressions of desire and longing on their faces, even those members belonging to the three major families were no exception.

"There's still the Evergreen Academy, this academy was created by the Imperial family, and enjoys the protection and blessing of the Emperor."

" There's also Heavenly Demon academy known for their unorthodox methods mainly preferred by people who have low talent in Energy Qi path and want to pursue the path of body refining but the death rate in the academy is very high." Fear was apparent on the faces of all the guests.

Silence descended, as the representatives of the three academies arrived at the Grand hall and were greeted by the City Lord.

The Evergreen Academy representative stood up and calmly addressed the crowd which became silent as soon as they landed.

" Everyone who has reached Novice Rank 4th stage and above below the age of 18, is eligible to participate in the enrollment and have a chance to enter into one of the three academies. Now, let those who fulfilled the requirements step up onto the stage."

Even before her voice faded away, the crowd of young men caused a commotion as those who met the requirements, struggled to push their way through the crowd.

"There is one other exception, If you are only a body refining cultivator and have reached Iron Rank 4th stage and above in their cultivation below the age of 18. They can also participate in the assessment." Another representative from the Heavenly Demon academy stated impassively with a cold expression.

"Alright, those who wish to participate in the selection, please make your way to the stage." Said Tang Mei; as her crimson hair danced in the wind. Her body emitted an aura of mature charm that was capable of stirring the heartstrings of everyone in the crowd.

" Unparalleled beauty."

The hearts of many in the crowd were thinking.

"It's said that Miss Tang Mei is the youngest professor of the Evergreen Academy and already reached Expert Rank 9th stage in Energy Qi cultivation. According to the rumors; she is the only daughter of the Former Tang Family Head which is one of the Four Guardian Clans of the Empire. If I could be lucky enough to even be selected as her slave, I could die with no regrets." murmured many among the crowd.

But they could only sigh ruefully, since it is practically impossible with their status and strength and only monstrous geniuses are qualified to compare themselves with Tang Mei, and are eligible to seek a marriage engagement with her.

Shen Ming's eyes flickered in surprise looking at her mature beauty which was different from Chen Xiuying and Shen Yao who only looked like young children to him.

Everyone lined up at the center of the hall, as they made their way up the stage. All of them exhibited an extraordinary aura attracting the attention of everyone who came to look at the young geniuses of the Sun City.

The flat stage prepared for the participation covered a large area. Its surface was littered with black Ironstone, especially for the purpose of the upcoming test.

More than two hundred participants, who split up ten each, lined up neatly on the stage, and out of them ‘15’ were from the commoner background, ‘35’ were from the other small clans, and the remaining ‘150’ were from the three major clans which were nothing unusual since the three major families control 70% of the resources of the Sun City.

Out of them, the Shen family alone controls 30% of the resources for the past hundred years due to the strength of the Oldman Shen.

Due to this; from the Shen family alone seventy individuals were participating. Not only were they large in numbers, but even their cultivation was excellent compared to the other two families.

Shen Ming noticed Wang Xuan, who waved his hand towards him and had already reached Novice Rank 7th stage; which is one stage above him and others are mostly in the 4th and 5th stages and very few in the 6th stage.

According to the rules, the first assessment was a preliminary round. It would eliminate those who used forbidden pills to temporarily increase their strength to meet the criteria of the academy.

When Tang Mei saw everyone standing on the stage, she coldly said to the crowd, "The preliminaries are about to begin. I will give you all a word of advice. Do not push it, and if you are using any drugs; you all should leave the stage right now before I cripple your cultivation."

About ten people got scared and moved away from the stage in fear listening to Tang Mei's words. After which no one moved and few people in the crowd were even showing bored expressions as if urging to start the test already.

Tang Mei gave a cold smile upon seeing those expressions and the representative of Heavenly Star Academy shook his head when he saw that expression.

Tang Mei unsheathed her long sword which she was carrying on her back. It was pitch black which began floating slowly upwards, defying the gravity itself.

Everyone was surprised when they saw the sword floating upwards and only one thought came to the minds of the Three family heads.

" Advanced Mastery "

The Sword mastery has four levels in their proficiency namely the Basic level, the Intermediate level, the Advanced level, and finally ' One with the Sword Level '.

Meanwhile, everyone standing on the stage felt a sense of unease sunk into their hearts... looking at the pitch-black sword hovering in the air.

Shen Ming was startled as he didn't expect to see the advanced Mastery of the sword which was not even achieved by his grandfather who has been practicing the sword for the past hundred years.

When Shen Ming looked around; he realized that the participants beside him had all begun to turn nervous.

Suddenly, Tang Mei's gaze swept everyone standing on the stage, speaking with a hushed voice, " The first test begins!"

The moment Shen Ming heard it, he saw a bright pillar of light shoot up into the sky stabbing the clouds!

"This is??" Shen Ming's expression changed and took a few steps back!

As for the other participants around him, their faces were ashen, full of cold sweat and their knees almost went soft, trying their best not to collapse on the ground.

Some of them were worse and had their faces turn pale. Fear could be seen in their eyes as if they saw something terrifying. They had trouble breathing as their teeth chattered.

All the individuals could only feel an immense invisible force encasing them, causing them to be frightened out of their wits.

Shen Ming was surprised looking at the light pillar which was gradually forming a Phantom image that was not only seen by Shen Ming but by all the participants.

Its body is like a living shadow given shape, black as the endless night yet seeming to contain swirling depths and unfathomable darkness within. Its eyes seemed to burn with an other-worldly light, narrowed into predatory slits.

Its massive head seems too large for its spectral form, with a broad muzzle and powerful jaws that could easily crush bone. Despite it being only a phantom form, an aura of Apex predator and primordial savagery seems to emanate from the beast.

Everyone present in the grand hall of the Chen family held their breath when they saw the appearance of the huge phantom.

The Black Tiger seemed unrestrained and stared at everyone with great killing intent! It was as if it were to charge forward at any time, beginning its wanton killings!

Some members who couldn't bear it had collapsed onto the ground and seemed to be lost in an illusion as they trembled to crawl out of the area.

As Tang Mei said, those who used forbidden pills to temporarily increase their strength were unable to face the pressure and they were soon thrown out of the Grand Hall by the guards of the Chen family.

Shen Ming was the only one who stood motionless on the stage without showing any discomfort.

Tang Mei took a glance at the young members of the Sun City standing on the stage and was pleased when most of them were able to control themselves from kneeling down.

" As expected of the Sun City, ranked 10th among the main cities of the Empire" muttered Tang Mei in satisfaction.

Most of the good ones were from the three major families who were able to withstand the pressure even though their knees were practically shaking in fear.

But...

'Oh'

She noticed a handsome young man in white robes wearing the symbol of the Shen family; looking very noticeable in the crowd due to his handsome features and the only person who was standing firmly. He almost had the bearing of the geniuses of the Imperial City.

"Interesting." thought Tang Mei licking her lips but that's it. Although Shen Ming had attracted her attention, it was just a cursory notice.

The same happened with the other two representatives, their eyes focused on Shen Ming in surprise but they also had seen their fair share of geniuses in the Imperial City and even monsters who were more terrifying than Shen Ming so they weren't much shocked.