Chapter 0096 – The Fight For Ning Cheng
To Lan Yin Yue, for such a person who she considered an ant in her eyes to call her out in such a manner, it was too difficult for her to accept, if she was in any other place, she would have already slapped Ning Cheng dead with her own hands.
Unfortunately, she had to roll with the flow for now, she could not figure out how Ning Cheng who was clearly a Qi Gathering Cultivator in her eyes managed to arrive at the Hua Continent, moreover how could he have scored a mind blowing 100 points in the 5th written exam. Lan Yin Yue, who was very much looking forward to visiting the 5 Star Academies, immediately cooled down.
She knew that Ning Xiao Cheng’s Spiritual Roots were very bad, but the 5 Star Academies not only evaluated people just based on their combat abilities, but they equally focussed on other things. Which was one of the reasons why these kinds of written exams were conducted, now that Ning Cheng obtained a literally unbeatable and unheard of result, all the 5 Star Academies would definitely rush to recruit him, even if Ning Cheng had an absolutely trash Spiritual Root they would do everything in their power to recruit him.
Now that Lan Yin Yue had already walked away, that He Hong could only walk away in disgrace. Fortunately, Jia Han had taken into consideration of He Hong being a teacher from the Falling Star Academy, and thus did not take any action against him.
Ning Cheng also knew that he could not completely take on He Hong by himself, as he knew that He Hong was an Essence Building Cultivator from the Falling Star Academy. Unless his strength completely surpassed him, only then could he look for an opportunity to teach that He Hong a lesson.
Jia Han gave a faint smile towards Ning Cheng and said, “Young man you really are something, for you to obtain the first place in the written exam out of all these people here, your future sure would be promising. According to the Hua Continent’s unified recruitment of the 5 Star Academies, after the end of the preliminary round, the top ten would be able to join the 5 Star Academies, and then continue on to the next round. I wish you good luck.”
Jia Han had just finished speaking, when his body immediately disappeared.
After Zhu Mu Er saw that Jia Han had walked away, she immediately said with an excited voice, “Ning Xiao Cheng, even Deacon Jia Han came to congratulate you, Deacon Jia is a Profound Congealing Master, and would definitely look after you later on.”
Ning Cheng knew that what Zhu Mu Er said was just a dream, as although this Deacon Jia Han had wished him good luck, one can never say just what would happen in the future. Although he did obtain the first place in the preliminary round, this was not enough for Deacon Jia Han to befriend him.
As for what Jia Han said, for wishing him good luck, it was just said casually, if he were to take it seriously, then that would only be him being stupid.
Zhu Mu Er then suddenly said, “Ning Cheng, out of the top ten people in the first round, you are the only person not from a 5 Star Academy, while the rest of the 9 people are already disciples of the 5 Star Academy.”
It was only at that time did Ning Cheng notice such a thing, that of the top ten names on the 6th big screen in front of him, only he was the one from the Hua Yu Academy, while the remaining 9 people were indeed disciples from the 5 Star Academies.
At this time, all the Sound Jade Tablets in the Mo Ze Grand Plaza suddenly rang out simultaneously, “Now that the Preliminary Round of the Written Exams are finally finished, and the 1000 outstanding disciples from the 5 written exams have been finalized, the final Second Round will be held in 10 days. In accordance to the provisions made, before the next round can begin, the first ten participants can choose to join the 5 Star Academies in advance. Because the participants from the second to the tenth places in the preliminary round have already joined the 5 Star Academies, the only one remaining is the person at the First Position, Hua Yu’s Ning Xiao Cheng who has not yet selected a 5 Star Academy for himself. Now the Head of the Hua Yu Academy, Yin Bo has asked his disciple Ning Xiao Cheng to make his way towards the main altar at the centre of the plaza, for him to make a choice of which 5 Star Academy would he join.”
“The main altar is up ahead, Ning Xiao Cheng, you should hurry up and go.” For Ning Cheng to choose a 5 Star Academy, it seems that Zhu Mu Er was even more anxious than Ning Xiao Cheng.
Even after saying that, Zhu Mu Er seemed to be a lot worried, as she once again whispered in Ning Cheng’s ears, “Remember there are still many good points, since you have taken the first place in the preliminary exam, even if your Spiritual Roots are bad, all the 5 Star Academies would still rush to grab you. That is because, 2 years later, when the tournament between the 5 Star Academies takes place, it will also have a written test similar to this one. So the main reason all those 5 Star Academies want you, is for the tournament for the establishment of the 6 Star Academy two years later.”
After hearing Zhu Mu Er’s words some of the apprehensions in Ning Cheng’s heart suddenly cleared up. He was also worried about his own Spiritual Root problem, he was thinking that since his Spiritual Root was bad, so even if he grabbed the first place in the preliminary written exam, he would still not be valued much by others. He had never thought that in the tournament 2 years from now to determine which of five 5 Star Academy would advance to a 6 Star Academy, would also have this kind of a written test. Since this was the case, then why should he be worried about it?
Ning Cheng already saw that the main altar in the middle of the plaza was already packed with people, and on the main altar, there were five emblems displayed, these five emblems displayed were precisely the five emblems of the five 5 Star Academies.
Ning Cheng then went to the side of Ji Luo Fei, and grabbed Ji Luo Fei’s hands, Ji Luo Fei’s face immediately turned red, as she tried to urge Ning Cheng to hurry up. She heard Ning Cheng’s soft voice in her ear, “Will you help me keep this, when we meet again you can then give it to me.”
Saying that he stuffed Ji Luo Fei’s hands with a Storage Bag, as he quickly made his way towards the main altar at the centre of the plaza. This Storage Bag that Ning Cheng gave her contained his more valuable possessions, including the Imperial Jade Seal, the Five Elements Treasure Fall Coins, the Soul Wood Cores and others. He would have to face numerous experts with much higher strength and cultivation when he would go on the main altar, in the case he was inspected, keeping these things on him would be really very unsafe.
As for the Mysterious Yellow Bead, Ning Cheng did not have any way to take it out, moreover he knew that he could not take the Mysterious Yellow Bead out even if he wanted to. As the Mysterious Yellow Bead and he were already a single entity. Plus, now that he had obtained the first position, so he probably would not be examined, so the Mysterious Yellow Bead should be safe.
But Ning Cheng then saw that there were no teachers from the 5 Star Academies, only Yin Bo, who came up to him in excitement as he rubbed his hands and whispered to him from the side, “Brother Ning, I really did not expect that you would help my Hua Yu Academy to secure the first place, I really …….”
Ning Cheng understood the excitement of Yin Bo, as he patted Yin Bo’s hands and said, “I am still currently the disciple of the Hua Yu Academy, and you are still the Head of the Hua Yu Academy, try to maintain a little demeanour of an Academy Head. I took one of the places of your Hua Yu Academy, so it is only natural that the Hua Yu Academy should get an appropriate compensation.”
When some of the people with a higher cultivation level standing on the main altar heard the clear words of Ning Cheng, none of them had thought, that the person they were going to choose was such a person. If they had to pick from all the people who all wanted to join the five 5 Star Academies, and then let them take the written test, then the 5 Star Academies would not have to spend so much energy. What’s more, the rest of the other Academies also needed to recruit a few disciples. For Hua Yu Academy to pick up Ning Xiao Cheng, it showed the insight of the Hua Yu Academy, and should be rewarded appropriately for it.
Seeing Ning Cheng and the head of the Hua Yu Academy, Yin Bo starting to ascend to the main altar, the crowd of onlookers around the plaza immediately broke out in discussion.
“So he is Ning Xiao Cheng, ah, I remember, wasn’t he the one who came to our Jin Yu Academy’s stall to seek for a place, but we did not give it to him, I though it really would have been a bother, alas.”
“I also know how you feel; he had also visited our Yu Ding Academy’s stall ….”
“Our Liu Guang Academy was also visited by Ning Xiao Cheng, what a pity ….”
……
Unfortunately, such comments were quite abundant, as Ning Cheng in order to find a slot for the preliminary round, ended up visiting a lot of places. But he was, without a single exception, rejected by everyone, especially when the people heard that he had a multi-line Hybrid Support Spiritual Root, none of them even thought for a single moment before refusing him.
“How can Ning Cheng come here?” When Ji Yao He also saw Ning Cheng, she was immediately shocked, as she immediately understood that that Ning Cheng was really that Ning Xiao Cheng who had obtained the first place.
After finally understanding that Ning Cheng really was Ning Xiao Cheng, a storm was rising in her heart, she was not shocked because Ning Cheng had obtained first place in the written round, but she was actually shocked that Ning Cheng already had the cultivation of True Condensation 1st Level. Initially when she first saw Ning Cheng, Ning Cheng was just a garbage with the qualification of only a three-line Hybrid Support Spiritual Root. With that kind of qualifications, how could he rise to the True Condensation 1st Level this quickly? This definitely was a problem.
Ji Yao He and Lan Yin Yue were different, Lan Yin Yue only had the cultivation of True Condensation Realm, so even if Ning Cheng did not try to conceal his cultivation level, she could only vaguely feel Ning Cheng’s cultivation level. Because of her preconceptions about him, she absolutely would not think or even believe that Ning Cheng might have been a cultivator in the True Condensation Realm, and thus simply did not care about him.
But Ji Yao He was already a cultivator of the Essence Building Realm, and even if Ning Cheng used some kind of Concealment Technique to conceal his cultivation level, she could make out with a single glance that Ning Cheng had the cultivation level of True Condensation 1st Level.
After confirming once again that Ning Cheng indeed had the cultivation of True Condensation 1st Level, Ji Yao He’s heart suddenly started to race. Ning Cheng definitely had a huge fortune on him, otherwise in her view it was basically impossible for him to advance to the True Condensation Realm this quickly. At this moment almost all her attention was focussed on Ning Cheng’s body, as she started to ponder on how Ning Cheng could advance his cultivation level this quickly.
Ning Cheng stepped onto the spacious main altar, and cupped his fists as he turned to all sides and spoke, “Ning Xiao Cheng greets fellow seniors.”
Although he did not know who the people in front of him were, but he knew that these people in front of him were by no means simple, and were an absolutely powerful existence to him. At worst, he estimated, that these people were also cultivators in the Essence Building Realm.
Ning Cheng had just greeted those seniors in front of him, when he felt numerous Spiritual Consciousness’ sweeping over him. This made Ning Cheng to become secretly startled in his heart, fortunately he had already stowed away his Storage Bag, otherwise it was quite possible for the items in the Storage Bag to be exposed.
“Good, good, he is not a least bit off compared to those geniuses with Pure Spiritual Roots.” After an old man who was sitting on the side, with the Clear Sky Academy’s insignia on his robes appraised him, he once again spoke to Ning Cheng with an amiable manner, “You should take a seat first, I am a Tier 4 Talisman Master from Clear Sky Academy, Ming Hao Kuo. For you to come on to the stage with a cool head, plus with such a powerful memory, no matter what kind of Spiritual Root you have, the door to my Clear Sky Academy will always be open to you.”
“What is a Talisman even useful for? Ning Xiao Cheng’s memory for Spiritual Grasses is extremely good, so if he joined my Luo Hou Academy then the Dean would personally take the time and develop him. Ning Xiao Cheng, I am Luo Hou Academy’s Cheng Xuan, I can place you directly under any of the Pill Masters of your choice in my Luo Hou Academy.” Not waiting for Ming Hao Kuo from the Clear Sky Academy to finish what he was saying, another middle aged looking cultivator from the Luo Hou Academy spoke, interrupting Ming Hao Kuo’s words.
Then immediately representatives from the Falling Star Academy, God Wind Academy, and Thunder Academy also narrated the benefits of joining their Academies to Ning Cheng, and even made various commitments with Ning Cheng.
Ning Cheng was very clear in his heart that these old fogies would just burn the bridges that they built after they crossed them, as they would never speak such polite words with a cultivator in the True Condensation Realm who they always looked down on. This was absolutely not because of his qualifications, but because he knew that even if he possessed the qualifications of a Pure Spiritual Root, it would still be impossible for this many high ranking people to make a beeline to grab him.
As for the reason for this kind of behaviour from their side, it was to deal with the upcoming tournament to select a 6 Star Academy, as long as any one of the Academies successfully roped him in, it meant that at least in the written test they would be off to a great start. At this moment the only thing in the other people’s eyes, was his score.
What they were trying to grab was not Ning Cheng, but trying to snatch the score for the written exam in the 6 Star Academy’s Tournament. Once the 6 Star Academy was selected from among them, then even if Ning Cheng was to die, these old fogies would definitely not even bat an eye for him.
Understanding this Ning Cheng still gave a calm performance, as he once again cupped his fists and said in the most respectful voice that he could muster, “Thank you for the deep affections that the seniors had shown to this junior, this junior had originally planned to join the Clear Sky Academy …….”
“Yes, yes, coming to my Clear Sky Academy is definitely the right choice, you will definitely not regret it.” When Ming Hao Kuo heard Ning Cheng’s words, he immediately stood up smiling and spoke as if he had already planned on welcoming Ning Cheng to join the Clear Sky Academy for a long time.
Ning Cheng intentionally sighed and said, “Originally I did wanted to enter the Clear Sky Academy, and also painstakingly went out and found one of the Clear Sky Command Medallions and wanted to register with the Clear Sky Academy immediately, but this Clear Sky Command Medallion was confiscated by the Clear Sky Academy, moreover not only was the Clear Sky Command Medallion confiscated, the people there even tried to threaten me, fortunately I was very tactful, and got the message, and did not rush into the Clear Sky Academy, and thus managed to escape from disaster unharmed.”
“WHAT? Which bastard was it, who dared to not fulfil the request of the Clear Sky Command Medallion, and even refused to give you a place in the preliminary round? This father will shred all of his skin.” Ming Hao Kuo almost jumped three feet high, showing his anger.
Ning Cheng sneered in his heart, what you owe this father, this father will slowly reap it with interest, and this granddaddy will definitely make it up for snatching the Clear Sky Command Medallion from him.