"Since the three of you have decided, then everything has been settled when it comes to consent. The only thing that the three of you must need to know is that you will inevitably fight against the Core Disciples of the Academy..." Mathias cheekily smiled and stared at them with challenge sparkling within his eyes.
The three nodded their heads in a solemn manner, from the time that they accepted Mathias"s proposal. They knew that they had to fight their away against the Core Disciples and rise up amongst the ma.s.ses, so they were prepared.
"With your current state and cultivation, any random Core Disciple could defeat all three of you in less than five moves. Even if you three had certainly improved these past months, your improvements didn"t surpa.s.s the improvement that Juliet acquired..." Mathias lifted an ambiguous smile and swept his gaze across the three.
"The improvement that Juliet acquired? What do you mean, Headmaster? Juliet hasn"t broken through another realm or stage, what improvement do you mean, Headmaster?" Dan turned to look at Mathias and stared at him in a curious manner. His wives also did the same and awaited Mathias"s response.
Mathias stared at them in doubt for a moment before lightly laughing. With his heightened senses, it wasn"t a problem for him to know whether someone was lying or not. Suppressing his laughter, Mathias gazed at them and said in a serious tone that he could possibly muster in that situation.
"Your daughter, Juliet managed to comprehend a Heavenly Law called the Dagger Intent..." Mathias tried his best to keep a solemn voice but the fact that Juliet hid herself too deeply even to her parents made him feel that the situation was too amusing.
In contrast to Mathias who felt that the situation was amusing. Dan, Natalie and Grace who heard his words stiffened like statues as their figures trembled in shock. Their lips twitching and they couldn"t just believe that Juliet would comprehend something so complex like a Heavenly Law....
As cultivators of the Paradyne Academy and Honorary Disciples at that, all three of them had the right to learn more about the world and that also includes learning about Heavenly Laws. From one of the books that they read, the Dagger Intent was mentioned to be at the third strongest when it comes to offense.
It was an excessively difficult Heavenly Law to comprehend and it was unimaginable that someone like Juliet could understand such a complex Intent. Their shocks were justified for average cultivators require at least several decades in order to catch a glimpse of that certain Law, yet Juliet understood it by chance.
Staring at Mathias"s expression, he didn"t seem to be lying and there"s nothing in there for him if he did lie. Knitting their eyebrows, Dan replied to Mathias, "If what the Headmaster said is true, then just how did Juliet acquire comprehension in such a complex Heavenly Law, and not only that it"s the fabled Dagger Intent, which is the the third strongest under the heavens..."
Mathias shrugged and bitterly smiled, throughout his youth, Mathias had also tried his best in comprehending a Heavenly Law, but alas. He never succeeded and eventually gave up his pursuit. Staring at Dan, he opened his mouth and replied.
"Comprehension of a Heavenly Law requires knowledge, understanding and inspiration. If a single component among these three is missing, there"s no way that someone could understand a Heavenly Law... In conclusion, let"s just say that Juliet successfully had all three of those in the right place and at the right time..." His bitter smile astonished the three and Dan who noticed it, asked.
"From the looks of your face, headmaster. It seems like you have tried comprehending a Heavenly Law back then and failed..."
Dan"s words evoked a deep sigh from Mathias who nodded, "I indeed tried understanding a Heavenly Law but let"s just say that it"s not really for everyone, only those smiled by fortune could possibly stumble on such a lucky chance..."
"I understand, Headmaster... Please forgive me for that question..." Dan clasped his hands together and respectfully bowed. Natalie and Grace sighed in their hearts and felt sympathy for Mathias"s past.
"The three of you shouldn"t bother about the matters of the past, right now. I want you to think about how you three could possibly surpa.s.s even the weakest of the Core Disciples..." Mathias lightly smiled and turned to look at all three of them.
Dan, Natalie and Grace nodded their heads and Grace who kept her silence spoke up, "Before we do that, Headmaster, there"s a problem that has been bugging me ever since I arrived at the Academy..."
Mathias"s eyes lit up and he turned to look at Grace and said, "Hooo? Pray tell,"
Grace adjusted her posture and continued her exposition, "Ever since I came here, I noticed that the power levels of the disciples in different sections of the Academy is vastly different, may I know the reason behind that, Headmaster?"
Grace"s knitted eyebrows attracted the amus.e.m.e.nt of Mathias who lightly chuckled upon her inquiry, "Yeah, that"s indeed a good question to ask. Even though the three of you guys have arrived and settled here for several months already, there has been so many issues here and there that the three of you didn"t manage to explore the surroundings, right?"
The three nodded their heads in confirmation and Mathias crossed his arms together in a leisurely manner before continuing, "Outer, Inner and Core, all of these regions have distinct differences when it comes to facilities for training, take a look at the Outer Disciples Region for example, it"s mostly filled with commoners and disciples, but when you visit the Inner Disciples Region, commoners were scarce and at the Core Disciples Region, you would find no commoners..."
"That"s because the quality of the Spiritual Energy within those Regions starting at the Inner Disciple Region up to the Core Disciples Region are vastly stronger and concentrated than that of the Outer Disciples Region to the extent that those commoners would continuously suffer if they went inside those Regions..."
His words ignited sparkling lights within the eyes of the three. Grace nodded her head and mumbled, "So that"s the reason why cultivating within the Fragrant Peak Pavilion is easier than cultivating at other areas... And so that"s also the reason why I felt that the air within the Academy is different when compared to the air within the Empire..."
Mathias nodded, "That"s indeed the case, but that"s not the only reason why Core Disciples are several folds stronger than Inner Disciples... Apart from the difference between Spiritual Energy concentration, the Core Disciples also enjoyed topnotch monthly cultivation resources from the Academy and first-rate training grounds that increased their pace of cultivation by at least ten folds..."
"At least ten folds?!" Natalie exclaimed from shock, forgetting proper decorum. Dan and Grace also stared wide-eyed at Mathias who merely chuckled and continued,
"Yeah, there are arrays there that one can use to enter a virtual world where they can constantly baptise themselves with iron and blood. I haven"t told you guys about these back then since you three simply didn"t have the qualifications to use those facilities but now that you"re at the realm of the Divine Soul, it would be unfair if I didn"t tell you..."
He shrugged and Dan said, "That"s not a problem, Headmaster. We won"t carry a grudge just because of that matter of you hiding information from us. But I just wanna ask, just where can we try those formations out?"
Natalie and Grace turned to look at Mathias in curiosity and the latter nodded his head and replied, "Since all three of you are Honorary Disciples of the Academy, you can enjoy far more resources than those of the Core Disciples. But keep in mind that since all three of you are already at the Divine Soul Realm, Core Disciples could challenge you to a fight and if they win, your Honorary Disciple position would be forfeit..."
Natalie and Grace sucked mouthfuls of cold air and the latter asked, "Ermm, Headmaster. If they do challenge us, is it possible to refuse or we must fight against those challengers..."
Mathias"s lips lifted into a sly smile and he said, "Since the position of an Honorary Disciple is a highly-coveted yet limited edition position, to prevent monopoly by a single disciple, the holder of the position must accept the challenges of all challengers. Of course there are some rules, after all. It would be bad if they just kept challenging you even when you"re tired..."
Mathias sipped his tea but before he could reply, Grace intervened with a small smile on her face, "The amount of challenges that the Honorary Disciple must accept is limited. Am I right, Headmaster?"
"Absolutely right, Grace... That a.n.a.lysis of yours sure surprises me every time..." Mathias praised with a laugh and afterwards, all three of them enjoyed each other"s company as Mathias explained further advanced rules of the Academy before dispersing them towards the Core Disciples Region per Dan"s request.
Arriving in an instant, all three of them swept their eyes at the surroundings and felt incomparably awed. The scene that they were currently looking at was something that couldn"t easily be surpa.s.sed. Countless small-sized Pavilions were casually floating in the skies like small islands, painting a surreal scene. On the ground, were numerous disciples from the Inner and Core Disciples Region interacting at each other with smiles.
Squinting his eyes, Dan exclaimed in shock as he stared at the pavement that these disciples were walking on.
"d.a.m.n, to think that the Academy had such an extravagant side, even the pavement and the gra.s.ses on the ground are made with top-quality jaded asphalt and everlasting gra.s.s..."
Grace and her sister Natalie also couldn"t suppress their astonishment as they curiously looked around the area. Particularly, at those small islets floating in the skies and swimming amidst the clouds. Taking their deep breaths, all three of them exclaimed.
"Such density and concentration of the Spiritual Energy in the air... Cultivating a single day here is equal to cultivating ten days at the Fragrant Peak Pavilion!"
Natalie a.n.a.lyzed and the two of her companions wore smiles on their faces as they continued their journey towards the Pavilion where they could temper themselves for the upcoming Academy Selection for the Mystic Realm of the Undead.
Entering the Dreamy World Pavilion, dozens of Core Disciples strode around the area with their female companions or butlers standing at their sides, looking incomparably charming or unyielding. Noticing the arrival of the three, the Core Disciples turned to look curiously at them and noticed that they were newcomers.
An attendant approached them from the side and asked towards Dan.
"Excuse me sire, but judging from the look in your eyes, I presume that you"re a newly-ascended Core Disciple. am I right?" The attendant asked in a polite and respectful tone, someone with his stature couldn"t afford offending a Core Disciple so he tried his best at keeping propriety and decorum.
Dan realized that the attendant didn"t seem to recognize his standing as an Honorary Disciple. Smiling in amus.e.m.e.nt, he nodded his head and said, "That"s indeed the case, brother. May I ask about how we could enter the finest array that you have when it comes to tempering one"s body and everything?"
The attendant who heard Dan"s gentle words inwardly sighed in relief. His tense expression relaxed as he introduced towards the distant array where dozens of disciples neatly lined-up.
"That array is called the Thousand Worlds Changing Array. As for why it is called with such a name. It"s because due to the fact that the world inside the array could change according to the user"s specifications so that it would perfectly suit their desires... Entering the array requires a fee of five thousand Spirit Stones for an hour and a Core Disciple could only rent it for not more than three hours everyday..."
Dan who prepared himself for the heft price tag couldn"t help but stiffen up when he heard the price. Five thousand Spirit Stones, that was equal to several days of disposable income that he could acquire from his Pharmaceutical Company!
Natalie and Grace also didn"t manage to suppress their shocks as their faces behind their veils trembled with their lips repeatedly twitching with complex emotions.
"Brother, you know that five thousand Spirit Stones is quite expensive, is there anyway that we could get a discount?"
Dan felt his face turn hot from shame but he still asked without holding back, as long as they could acquire a discount, everything was worth it!
The attendant bitterly smiled towards Dan"s questions: "I"m afraid that there"s no way that I could do that, brother. I"m nothing but just an attendant tasked to look at the conditions of the array, there"s no way that I could manipulate the prices... Though if you have an Elder"s Pardon or the position of an Honorary Disciple, you could use the array whenever you want and even bypa.s.s the lines!"
The attendant gave them a beacon of light amidst the darkness, but judging from his bitter expression, one could see that he didn"t think much of his capabilities. The three who heard what he said lightly smiled. Particularly, Natalie and Grace who couldn"t help but suppress their chuckles.
Dan clasped his hands together in grat.i.tude and the attendant left them with a deep bow. Turning his head towards the direction of the Thousand Worlds Changing Array, Dan slowly walked towards it with his wives in tow.
"What the h.e.l.l is that brat doing, is he planning on skipping the lines?"
"Maybe he does have an Elder"s Pardon, after all, newly-ascended Core Disciples frequently have those things as rewards from their professors back when they were still Inner Disciples..."
"I don"t care if he has that Elder"s Pardon thing, as long as he tries to skip this line, I"d f.u.c.king cave his skull into his neck, I have been waiting here since yesterday and still haven"t got my turn..."
Voices of complaints echoed out, some disciples stared at Dan with sharp lights of battle intent s.h.i.+ning within their eyes. Dan merely shrugged their challenging eyes and arrived at the doors of the array where a Core Disciple stood with raised eyebrows.
"Newcomer, are you planning on using your Elder"s Pardon and bypa.s.s the line? I"m afraid that you cannot do that when I"m here standing in front of you..." The Core Disciple had a huge frame and he was at least a meter higher than Dan. His voice dark and incomparably deep as he warned.
"Elder"s Pardon? Something like that is something that you guys can easily disregard so I wouldn"t use that. In fact, I don"t even have that Elder"s Pardon thing..." Dan lightly smiled and fearlessly faced the Core Disciple.
"Then, what are you standing here for? Looking for a fight? If so, I"d gladly accompany you..." The latter cracked his knuckles and stretched his neck, preparing for an incoming battle.
Dan lightly shrugged, sighing. His hand stretched towards his robes and amidst the stunned gazes of the crowd, slowly lifted a small jade token that shone in an incomparably brilliant light that illuminated the entire Pavilion.
Clenched within Dan"s palms was the insignia of the most coveted position within the Academy.
The mark of an Honorary Disciple!