The spiritual energy cultivated by the residents of Nine Province Continent was identical as other cultivation worlds- they just had a different naming system.
The lowest level was Spiritualist, followed by Spirit King, Spirit Monarch, Spirit Sage, Spirit Saint, and finally, Spirit Emperor.
Additionally, there were 7 smaller stages to each level.
To have reached the third level of Spirit King at her young age, Shen Yaoguang was extremely talented.. After all, most people could only cultivate until the Spirit King stage, destined to spend their entire lives struggling to achieve greater results.
Shen Yaoguang was only 14, so her prospects were boundless.
Of course, that was only under the condition that the female lead didn’t show up.
Once the female lead appeared, the only option left for Shen Yaoguang was to function as a punching bag. No matter how talented she may be, there was no way that she could surpass the female lead in that department.
Shi Sheng lifted the curtain and stepped out of the carriage, causing the bystanders to quietly gasp.
Shi Sheng couldn’t comprehend their thinking.
‘This body is only 14! It hasn’t even developed properly yet! In what way is it pretty enough to elicit gasps? Damn you aggro-pulling background characters! Giving you guys bad reviews!’
“Miss,” a young, somewhat pretty adolescent approached her and spoke with practised familiarity, “There are too many people. Should we clear the road?”
Shi Sheng glanced at him. It was Shen Jin, a fairly talented member of the branch clan. He was one of Shen Yaoguang’s followers, so he was quite used to throwing his weight around.
‘Pushing others out of the way upon arrival… isn’t that just begging to be scorned?’
Shi Sheng hadn’t replied when Shen Jin simply took her silence as a ‘yes’. He waved to the other Shen Clan members at the side, who immediately began clearing the way.
And as expected, a commotion broke out when they arrived at the front of the queue.
Shi Sheng proceeded down the cleared out road, upholding her lofty image as she gradually made her way over.
“Apologise to her.”
“Apologise? Are you joking? Do you know who we are? Can that bumpkin even take our apologies?!”
“Yeah! Where’d these bumpkins come from? So poorly dressed and deaf to boot! We’ve been yelling for ages already!”
“Hey, this is the Nine Provinces Academy! Is it somewhere you bumpkins can just wander in?”
A young lady with somewhat immature facial features glared coldly at the arrogant Shen Clan members.
‘I guess that’s our FL Qin Langyue.’
The timid-looking girl behind her was pulling at Qin Langyue, shaking her head.
“I wouldn’t change my attitude even if you were the Jade Emperor! I’ll say this one more time: Apologise to her.” Qin Langyue’s attitude was very stubborn. Her gaze was sharp, and she was starting to release killing intent.
‘As expected of a former assassin.’
The people around her felt a bit threatened upon sensing her killing intent, and some even thought of retreating.
Shen Jin only recovered after a while, and he became enraged. “You’re taking a mile when I give an inch! Toss her aside! Miss is still waiting!”
His words snapped the others out of their stupor, and they immediately charged forth in an attempt to shoo Qin Langyue away.
But the person at the foremost suddenly yelped and fell to his knees, followed by the rest of his comrades. This change was something no one had expected.
“Apologise.” Qin Langyue spoke forcefully, her back ramrod straight.
A hint of fear rose in Shen Jin’s heart as he retreated a bit. ‘How can her aura be so frightening?’
Shi Sheng stood at the back, without the slightest intention of interfering. ‘None of these people stood by Shen Yaoguang’s side when she was in trouble. On the contrary, they kept as much distance as possible in fear she would implicate them.’
“Do you know who I am?” Because Shen Jin was quite close to Shen Yaoguang, people would normally act very respectful towards him, so it was natural that Shen Jin would employ this tactic.
…Not that the female lead would buy into it.
“Like I care! You have to apologise when you bump into people!”
“In your dreams!” Shen Jin clenched his teeth and a dark red spirit energy shot forth towards Qin Langyue.
‘Seventh-level Spiritualist!’
Qin Langyue’s expression darkened as she grabbed the girl behind her and dodged. Shen Jin’s beam of spirit energy shot into the crowd, causing a disturbance.
Qin Langyue released the girl and drew a dagger before her figure shot towards Shen Jin at lightning speed.
Shen Jin couldn’t even make out her movements before he was captured by Qin Langyue.
Shi Sheng’s lip couldn’t help but twitch. ‘Retard… Going to provoke the FL despite not having the skills.’
One of Shen Yaoguang’s wishes had been to destroy the Shen Clan, so Shi Sheng naturally would not act to rescue the hostage Shen Jin.
Thus, Shen Jin was forced to apologise to the girl behind Qin Langyue.
By then, Shi Sheng had already returned to the carriage.
Shen Jin returned sullenly and stood outside the carriage, baffled as to why his Miss hadn’t sought justice for him today.
‘In the past, if anyone had dared to oppose us, Miss would’ve long defended us… If she came out personally, would that woman still have been so cocky?’
“What’s with the Miss today?” Shen Jin glanced at the carriage as he inquired the person next to him in a low voice.
“I don’t know… She just watched for a while before heading back into the carriage…”
“Did Miss look unhappy?” Shen Jin wasn’t willing to give up.
The other person shook their head. “Not really. I even saw her smile.”
Shen Jin stared in confusion after the carriage, before casting a glance in Qin Langyue’s direction and harrumphing.
……
Nine Provinces Academy.
It was the only academy on the Nine Provinces Continent. As such, the number of people enrolling was quite considerable. Only those who had money, talent, or power were accepted.
As a result, the enrollment period was around five to six days.
Qin Langyue was ahead of them in the queue, but without his Miss as his backer, Shen Jin didn’t dare to provoke her, so they could only queue up behind.
Shi Sheng didn’t have to enroll since Shen Yaoguang had already been admitted when she was 12. She got used to the new cultivation system while keeping some attention on the activities outside.
When it was Qin Langyue’s turn to be tested, Shi Sheng lifted the curtains and rested her weight on the windowsill as she observed Qin Langyue.
Qin Langyue should have reached the second level of Spirit King stage around this time, but she deliberately suppressed her cultivation to Spiritualist.
Since she hadn’t gone and defeated Shen Yaoguang, it could be inferred that she was hiding her strength.
Under the condition that everyone knew Shen Yaoguang was in the third level of Spirit King, her suppression to Spiritualist raised everyone’s impression.
But since Shi Sheng didn’t make a move on her, even if she did suppress her strength to Spiritualist, it was unlikely to raise any brows.
However, reality proved that as the female lead, Qin Langyue had brains. Since there was no one to act as a contrast, she didn’t suppress her strength as much.
“First level of Spirit King! Heavens, she’s in the first level of the Spirit King stage! No wonder she was able to beat Shen Jin with such ease…”
Shen Jin’s face was already dark before that person had finished speaking.
“Miss, should we investigate which clan she’s from?” Shen Jin inquired Shi Sheng flatteringly. He didn’t hold the authority to mobilize the clan to investigate someone, but his Miss did.
“Just ask her if you want to know.” Shi Sheng shot him a glance. “Don’t do things under my name from now on. If it happens again, don’t blame me for being cruel.”
Shen Jin stared at Shi Sheng in stupefaction.
Shi Sheng dropped the curtain forcefully and ordered her people to proceed forward. The carriage slowly rumbled out of the crowd.
Shen Jin didn’t recover for quite a bit. ‘What’s with the Miss?’