Chapter 108 - The Test
The Vice-Princ.i.p.al smiled seeing Hao Xuan"s att.i.tude. He was neither too arrogant nor overly submissive.
"What brings the honorable captain to my little academy, If you don"t mind me asking?" he asked while walking towards the main hall.
Hao Xuan smiled and followed after, "Not much. I heard there were quite a few geniuses in this year"s batch so wanted to check them out, see how they were doing and if any of them was worth nurturing. As you know, the Legion is always looking for good talent. I hope Vice-princ.i.p.al won"t mind giving me some face in this matter."
While they were talking, Zhurong who was sitting on Hao Xuan"s shoulder suddenly perked up his ears and jumped down, running into the crowd. Hao Xuan was surprised by his sudden action but he didn"t stop him. The vice-princ.i.p.al also ignored the little cub because in his eyes, it looked completely normal and was probably just playing around.
Hao Xuan waved his hand and his entourage stopped near the stage outside. The twelve senior professors walked forward to keep them company while Hao Xuan and the VP disappeared into the main hall.
A middle-aged senior professor went up to Kuo and greeted him with a bear hug, "It"s been too long," he smiled but when he saw Kuo"s expression, he frowned.
"What"s wrong?"
Kuo shook his head in response, "Nothing. It"s just that I think I"m getting too old for this job," he sighed.
A few of the other professors and students came up to meet them as well.
Green and Red were the centers of attention but no one dared approach them. The menacing aura they were giving off was enough to send shivers down their backs.
All the students saw Zhurong jump off Hao Xuan"s shoulder and run towards them. Many of them jumped with delight thinking if they could befriend the pet, then maybe the owner would interact with them as well.
A few of the stronger students walked forward with huge smiles, some even had pieces of meats in their hands but they had greatly underestimated Zhurong"s charm.
As soon as he reached them, a group of young girls almost trampled over the stronger students and surrounded Zhurong, petting him lovingly and some even went as far as to compliment him, calling him a heavenly beast. It didn"t even matter if he could understand them or not, they just did it for the h.e.l.l of it.
Zhurong, of course, loved the attention. Escorted by his fans, he wobbled through the crowd and went all the way to the back.
"Hm? What"s going on?" Kay who was standing at the back along with Sam, Emi, and Olivia, frowned looking at all the commotion and the group of people coming straight towards them.
The group reached them and stopped.
"W-What? What do you want?" she stood in front of Emi and Olivia protectingly while staring at them, but no one said anything.
*Meow*
She felt something brush past her leg and turned around to see an adorable little white kitten standing in front of Emi, meowing.
"Kitty?" Emi who was quite scared herself was holding onto Kay"s uniform when she saw Zhurong come up to her.
Still hugging her teddy bear even in the Academy, she looked very cute in the uniform.
All her fear dissolved in an instant when she saw Zhurong. She even forgot about the crowd.
*Meow*
Zhurong went up to her and jumped a couple of times.
"You want upsies?" Emi asked with a bright smile on her face.
Zhurong nodded his head enthusiastically, making several of the girls that followed him over jealous.
"Hmph! What"s so good about a poor little girl?"
"Young master, come here and we will cook for you the most delicious spirit beast meat you will ever have!"
Many of them tried to tempt him but when he heard them talk bad about Emi, the atmosphere suddenly turned cold. He silently turned around and looked at them once before ignoring them completely.
Emi bent down and he jumped up into her arms.
"Meow meow", Zhurong started licking her face like a long lost friend. A few of the girls wanted to speak up but seeing the perfect image of Emi and Zhurong, each cuter than the other, they couldn"t bring themselves to disturb them.
****
Hao Xuan who was sitting in the main hall chatting with the vice-princ.i.p.al suddenly had his expression turned extremely soft and a smile appeared on his face which lit up the entire hall.
He regained his composure after a few seconds and looked up at the vice-princ.i.p.al.
"Senior doesn"t have to worry about anything. I really have no ulterior motive other than just checking up on the young ones."
"If you can arrange that then I"ll be on my way and won"t trouble you any longer."
The old man looked at him for 20 seconds or so and before sighing. "As you wish captain. But please don"t take away all our youngsters now. As you know, you are an idol to most of the students here, and with a single word from you they will follow you anywhere."
"Haha, senior doesn"t have to worry about that. I have very high standards and if I can find even a couple of good seedlings then I will not mistreat you," Hao Xuan smiled back.
They drank a cup of tea and chatted about some random stuff for a few minutes before walking back out. The Mad Saints quickly got back into their usual formation and stood to the side, waiting for his orders.
Green and Red bowed seeing him walk out and stood behind him without a word, surprising everyone present. No one knew what their background was but one thing was for sure, they were both extremely strong.
The students and professors also got back to their original positions and a silence fell over the crowd.
The old man walked up to the front of the stage and looked at the students for a couple of seconds before speaking up, "Captain Deimos has visited us today to see if any of the students from the newest cla.s.s are worthy of the military"s grooming. Cla.s.s 1-A through D, please come forward."
Many of them were disappointed hearing the announcement, especially the older ones. Still, they stood aside and made way for the 400-500 students of Cla.s.s 1 to come to the front.
All the students of Cla.s.s 1 were between the ages of 8 and 11. With the gold and white uniforms, they looked like children cosplaying as adults but still gave off a dignified aura. The old man nodded his head when he saw them.
Emi and Olivia were of course in the group as well, but they were at the back. And with their small statures, they weren"t even visible.
Hao Xuan nodded and moved a few steps forward. He smiled looking at them.
"Try to endure as long as possible. The longer you stand, the better your chances," he said loudly and before any of them could speak up, a pressure descended.
A few students that weren"t prepared instantly fell down to their knees.
Hao Xuan had just unleashed a mixture of Emperor and Force Qi on all of them and the pressure was increasing by the second.
Time seemed to have slowed down again. All the teachers and students watched with bated breaths as one by one the students from Cla.s.s 1 fell down to their knees.
After only a minute or so, there were less than 20 students still on their feet. Most of them were already well-known in the academy as they were at the upper age limit of the cla.s.s and had been cultivating for a while.
What caught most people"s eye were the two identical little girls at the back. Other than them, only those from the very first line were left standing.
The kids at the first line were the most promising ones. They were all gritting their teeth while droplets of sweat were dripping down from the sides of their faces. On the other hand, the twins at the back seemed like they were out for a walk and were just standing casually. One of them even had a little white cub in her hand she was playing with and laughing.
A few of the senior professors exchanged looks when they saw that. None of them was stupid enough to think that these two fragile little girls were stronger than the ones at the front. Obviously, Hao Xuan had chosen not to put them under pressure.
30 more seconds pa.s.sed and other than the twins, only two boys were left standing. One of them had short golden hair and was wearing a spirit band made out of pure gold, while the other one seemed like the complete opposite.
He had an old uniform on that seemed to be one size too short for him. His spirit band looked like it was fished out of a trash can. He had bruises all over his arms and legs and his looks simply shouted "poverty".
Hao Xuan had an extremely surprised expression on his face that even the mask couldn"t hide.
The golden-haired boy was, of course, Mu Taio. Kuo had shown him his picture on the way over so he knew who to look for. From the beginning, he was the main target so he intentionally didn"t put much pressure on him.
But the other boy was enduring the full brunt of the pressure. Not a single one of his cla.s.smates was up at this point, yet he stood up straight like a sword, not bending an inch. As compared to Mu Taio, the pressure on the boy was about 15 times more, but he still didn"t fall.
"Ho? To think I would find a diamond in this s.h.i.thole," Hao Xuan mumbled under his breath. For him, it wasn"t the fact that the boy was enduring all the pressure, but it was his eyes. Hao Xuan saw a determination in them that he only wished he had.
Unfortunately, in the end, the boy still had to lose. Hao Xuan doubled the pressure on the boy and finally, his legs bent a little. Now he was under 30 times as much pressure than Mu Taio but he was still standing.
"Jeez, why is this kid taking it so seriously? Just give up. Stop making me feel bad about this," Hao Xuan cursed inwardly and once again increased the pressure.
*Bam*
Finally, he fell down to his knees, leaving only the twins and Mu Taio standing.
"Hahaha, not bad, not bad at all. To think there would be someone so great here," he laughed as the pressure vanished. All the students got up and let out a breath of relief.
"You two, what are your names?" Hao Xuan asked looking at Mu Taio and the other boy.
"Answering the great captain, my name is Mu Taio," he shouted his name loudly with a puffed chest. He was the very embodiment of arrogance.
Hao Xuan then looked at the other boy who had a bitter smile on his face.
"Yun Wentian," he replied somberly, making some of the professor"s frown. The boy didn"t even try to fake a smile.
But Hao Xuan wasn"t one to take such things to heart and instead he smiled even brightly.. "Good, very good."