There were eight other people besides Huang Ying who were also challenged by disciples of the academy. The battles of the other examinees mostly took a backseat to these eight battles, most of the crowd focusing all their attention on them. There should originally be nine such battles, but Huang Ying managed to end his shortly after it started so there didn't end up being anything to watch. As Huang Ying sat down again to observe the other battles, Li Jun's light snicker rang out in his head.

"That's a pretty pink scarf, makes you look nice and refined, really brings out your eyes."

Li Jun was evidently not very fond of the new scarf Huang Ying received from Ling Uyong, but whether or not it was the color or the clothing itself he didn't like, Huang Ying had no idea. Huang Ying couldn't be bothered with Li Jun's distaste for his clothing, rolling his eyes while muttering under his breath.

"Fuck off, it's a trophy from my victory so I'll wear it with pride."

Huang Ying proceeded to ignore Li Jun after responding, his gaze drifting across the various battles taking place. Huang Ying also placed most of his attention on the eight battles that were incited by the academy disciples, observing them with shimmering eyes and doing his best to learn whatever he could. But of these eight fights, at least 90% of his concentration was split between just two of them, the ones that the two people he noticed earlier were taking part in.

The yellow-haired and green-eyed youth twirled a long halberd as he fought, the sharp tip of the weapon somewhat bent to resemble a claw. The yellow-haired youth was only at the 5th Mortal Step while the student he fought against was at the same cultivation as Ling Uyong, the 8th Mortal Step. But even so, the Fierce Flame academy student was completely suppressed by the halberd, which swung out as fast as lightning.

Even stranger was that it didn't matter how strongly the Fierce Flame academy student defended, he would spurt out a bit of blood even when he perfectly blocked the attack. Before long, his entire chin was stained with blood and he was forced to surrender, not even coating his entire body in a thick layer of stone was enough to defend against the yellow-haired youth's attacks.

The second battle he paid attention to was the one that the young girl took part in. Huang Ying had to admit that there was only one word he could think of to describe the young girl, who looked no older than 12, terrifying. Her violet left eye and her scarlet right eye didn't seem to miss even the slightest move of her opponent, each of her attacks piercing into any opening they showed, even if that opening was as small as the eye of a needle.

Her weapon was also rather strange, arousing Huang Ying's interest and curiosity. She had brought out a scarlet-gold bow where the two ends of the bow were strangely sharp, the black string of the bow seemingly made from a strand of hair. But the moment the enemy got close to her, she tore the bow in half, the string splitting in half and retreating into the two pieces. With a single move, the bow had turned into two sharp daggers, one golden and one scarlet, allowing the young girl to easily fight in close quarters. And once she put some distance between her and the enemy, she placed the base of the two daggers together and reformed the bow.

"Grampa Jun, that weapon?"

Huang Ying could just barely feel faint traces of energy coursing around within the weapon, the energy becoming somewhat more noticeable whenever she took the bow apart or reformed it. Li Jun's voice quickly rang out in his mind, confirming his suspicions.

"Aye, it's a pretty good piece. It should have already reached the very peak of the Mortal grade, it's not something a girl like her should have. Gehehe, seems like her background should be rather fierce. That other kiddo is also strange, even I can't quite tell what sort of power he's using. Gehehe, what strange times these are, and strange times are always a sign of something big approaching, it seems like your travels won't be boring."

Huang Ying didn't know just what sort of cultivation stage the Nine Realms of Godhood that Li Jun had reached when he was alive was, but just looking at the fact that he had apparently met some of those people considered to be gods it was clearly not a shallow realm. So hearing that not even he knew what power the yellow-haired youth was using, Huang Ying couldn't help but be somewhat shocked.

While Huang Ying was conversing with Li Jun, the young girl finished her battle, her opponent forced to surrender. She was at the 6th Mortal Step while her opponent was at the very peak of the 8th Mortal Step, yet her opponent didn't have the slightest chance in the battle.

The rest of the battles quickly ended, only Huang Ying and the two strange people managing to win their fights. But while Huang Ying used a somewhat underhanded trick to win, the two others won through pure and simple strength, utterly suppressing their opponents.

With all the Fierce Flame academy disciples returning to their original spot, Huang Ying moved his gaze to the battles between the other examinees. But just as his eyes moved, he noticed a small figure skipping over to him, the young girl with different colored eyes sitting down next to him.

"That's a pretty scarf, Junior Brother, but you did something really careless to get your hands on it."

Huang Ying couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in surprise at the girl, who was already fiddling with one of the ends of the pink scarf draped around his neck. He could ignore the fact that she came over to talk to him despite him not having any outstanding performance, she had already talked to quite a few people like this since the start of the entrance test. No, what surprised him was the fact that she had apparently seen how he won his battle.

Was her battle really so leisurely that she could afford to divert her attention? Huang Ying temporarily put the matter aside, it only showed that the girl was stronger than he first thought and that he would probably be able to learn quite a bit from her. He didn't stop her from fiddling with the ends of his scarf, shrugging his shoulders.

"It wasn't really careless. Careless implies that I didn't care about what would happen, my actions were more fitting to be called bold or brash. Also, if I recall correctly, once we enter the academy and become first years, we'll be split into classes based on our cultivation. You're at the same stage as me, so calling me Junior Brother isn't quite correct, it'd be more apt to call me Brother Ying. Also, if you're the one to start up a conversation, it's polite to introduce yourself first."

According to what Huang Ying had heard, the academies were actually set up in a rather peculiar manner. You wouldn't be able to skip years no matter how strong you got, you could only advance to the next year after actually spending a year in the academy. Due to this, it wasn't uncommon for there to be some monstrously talented first years that could beat second or even third-year students.

Fourth year students were a bit more special, as the fourth year was the last year you could spend in the academy. Most of these students madly cultivated in the academy while they still could, devouring as many resources and books as they could before they had to leave.

The little girl laughed lightly upon hearing Huang Ying's words, continuing to play with the ends of the scarf for a few moments before standing up. A faint light seemed to swim around in her scarlet right eye as it roamed over Huang Ying's body, an excited smile on her lips as she gave him a polite bow and introduced herself.

"Hehe, you're not wrong, on all accounts there even. Song Yi greets Junior Brother Ying, I look forward to seeing all the fun things you'll inevitably create in the academy."

Song Yi's scarlet eye swept over Huang Ying's body one last time before she let out a light giggle and skipped away, hopping over to some other person to bother them. Huang Ying's expression remained nonchalant as he watched the girl skip away, but he cut off Li Jun before he even got to finish his sentence.

"That girl, she's pro..."
"Probably seen through my actual cultivation, yeah. Should be that right eye of hers, it gives me shivers just looking at it."

Huang Ying actually felt somewhat silly, learning a special technique to hide his cultivation only to be found out before he even entered the academy. It luckily didn't seem like Song Yi was interested in sharing the news with others, seemingly more interested in how much commotion Huang Ying would inevitably cause when he grew stronger.

The tests continued without pause once the battles between the examinees ended, only those that were wounded more gravely receiving some aid. The next test was used to determine the bodily strength of the examinees while the test after that was used to test the purity of their Qi and their elements. The next test after that was the one that tested their talents, the black-bearded man bringing out a three-meter tall bronze mirror that stood on a base engraved with three crouching panthers.

There were six jewels embedded into the top of the mirror, each one representing one of the talent rankings, The remaining examinees lined up in front of the mirror and one by one they all stepped up and placed one of their hands on it. Huang Ying could see a murky stream of energy flow into their bodies when they touched the mirror, the jewels atop the mirror lighting up after half a minute.

But even after all the remaining disciples, a total of 1739, were tested by the mirror, no one had gotten a talent ranking higher than a grade 9 Mortal. The best-recorded talent was only at the very peak of the lowest realm, it wasn't exactly a glorious thing for the academy. While observing the scene, and the bitter smiles of the people being judged, Huang Ying couldn't help but ask Li Jun.

"Grampa Jun, if I or the two other people were to take this test, what sort of ranking do you think we would get?"

No matter how mature Huang Ying was for his age, there was still a part of him that was just a child, a somewhat vain part that desired to prove superiority. There was a short silence from Li Jun, his judgment coming after about two minutes.

"Just from what I've seen, that Song Yi should reach grade 9 Immortal or grade 1 Earth, but I still can't see through everything she's hiding. Same thing with that yellow-haired kiddo, he might actually rank a bit higher than Song Yi. As for you, you'd probably be about grade 3 or grade 4 Mortal."

Huang Ying's eyebrow rose in surprise from Li Jun's frank judgment, he didn't expect that his talent would rank so low. Li Jun seemed to have already anticipated his response, immediately continuing to talk.

"Talent boils down to many factors, but most of these, in the end, determine the very basis of what is talent, how quickly you can increase your strength through normal cultivation. In that regard, you are indeed pretty low on the talent ranking. But tell me, are you someone meant to cultivate normally? No, you are meant to feast, you exist to devour everything that opposes you and use that to grow, normal cultivation for you is the same as adding wings to a tiger, wonderful but not necessary."

Li Jun knew better than most how terrifying the inheritors of the Nine Ancestral Gods were, they could not be judged by normal standards, they were in a league of their own. And Huang Ying was just one such person, and he wasn't just the inheritor of any Ancestral God, he was the inheritor of Baku, the Great Devourer that could swallow even the other Ancestral Gods.

Huang Ying nodded his head, accepting Li Jun's answer. It was indeed true that this body that was remade by the devouring element was far more suited for devouring than it was anything else. After accepting Li Jun's answer, Huang Ying returned to observing the entrance tests, three days passing in a flash.

The academy prepared food for the examinees that had to remain for the tests, ensuring that none of them ended up so hungry that it affected their performance. The little Song Yi occasionally bugged Huang Ying over the three days, gleefully calling him Junior Brother while hinting at the fact that she knew his actual cultivation. Huang Ying did his best to act normally, not denying or confirming her words.

Once dusk arrived again, only 1393 examinees remained in front of the gates of the Fierce Flame academy. It was at this time that the black-bearded and brown-haired man who seemed to be the one in charge here drew everyone's attention, pushing open the gates to the academy and taking 100 steps down the straight path surrounded by a small forest. He stopped after taking the 100th step, turning around and sweeping the remaining examinees with his blue eyes, the corners of his lips lifting slightly.

"I am Gang Yongye and I am the headteacher of the first years, I'll be in charge of all of you who can pass this final test. The last test is very simple, you will line up 10 feet away from the gate and then walk through it, all those who can pass through the gate will pass and become official students of our grand academy."

Gang Yongye's words instantly caused the entire area to turn silent, people not even daring to breathe too loudly. The headteacher of the first years was a mighty figure who held a lofty status in the city, even with the decline of the academy. The tension of the examinees had also reached its peak, the final test had finally arrived, this was the crossroads of their destiny. To soar as a dragon or to sink as a carp, it would all be decided here and now