Chapter 164: The Dean Invites You

Unexpectedly, Ding Mengqiu showed not the slightest bit of displeasure; instead, she introduced him to her companions, "This is Chen Zhong's brother, Lin Xiaobao, Senior Lin. Come, let us pay our respects to Senior Lin together!"

The three young women accompanying Ding Mengqiu could easily tell that there was some lingering grievance between the two. Immediately, they sneered, "Senior? He's only at the eighth stage of the Spirit Realm, and his cultivation is even inferior to ours. How can he be called a senior?"

"Forget it, who told him to be Chen Zhong's brother anyway! Right, Senior Lin..."

Witnessing this scene, Lin Xiaobao could only shake his head helplessly. He truly had no way of dealing with these young maidens, let alone feeling angry.

Seeing this, Si Mengling pulled Ding Mengqiu aside to speak in hushed girlish whispers, which finally helped Lin Xiaobao out of his awkward predicament.

Observing the stream of people arriving one after another, Lin Xiaobao became convinced that this tavern was by no means targeting him for any malicious purpose. He even suspected that this place was simply a reception outpost for the Dragon Soar Academy. Without further ado, he found the innkeeper, requested a room, and settled in. After all, there were still two days left until the grand entrance examination of the Dragon Soar Academy.

One had to admit that looking at the various youths appearing in the main hall, Lin Xiaobao still felt a considerable amount of pressure. Until now, Lin Xiaobao had always believed that his cultivation level among his peers was something to be proud of. Yet, aside from his own group, almost everyone arriving today was at least at the ninth stage of the Spirit Realm, and quite a few had even reached the Dao Heart realm.

It was only at this moment that Lin Xiaobao realized the Dragon Soar Continent was vast, and what he had seen before was merely the tip of the iceberg.

On second thought, it made sense. With the immense pulling power of the Dragon Soar Academy, presumably all the talented youths across the entire Dragon Soar Continent had gathered here at this time.

Just how powerful the Dragon Soar Academy would be, piled high with such prodigious talents, Lin Xiaobao could not fathom, but he knew that acquiring the Chaos Mirror fragment on this trip would likely prove extraordinarily difficult.

Under the weight of this invisible pressure, Lin Xiaobao returned to his room and immediately began to cultivate. Although there were only two days remaining, the path of cultivation was inherently a process of accumulating minute gains into a grand total.

Two days passed swiftly. Just as Lin Xiaobao emerged from his meditative state, a great commotion was already sounding from outside. Pushing open the door, he saw youths acting as if they had been injected with chicken blood, their eyes filled with excitement as they set off in the direction of the Dragon Soar Academy.

Lin Xiaobao's party originally consisted of four members, but now, with the addition of Ding Mengqiu and the three other maidens, they formed a group of eight, marching forward comprehensively toward the Dragon Soar Academy.

Along the way, through Si Mengling's introductions, Lin Xiaobao gained a preliminary understanding of the other three young women.

Bailan Xue of the Heavenly Origin Hall, Ma Caixuan of the Profound Frost Alliance, and Jing Yunting of the Ethereal Tower—although their family backgrounds were slightly inferior to the four major sects, they were still top-tier sects within the Dragon Soar Continent.

Perhaps influenced by Ding Mengqiu, the three maidens seemed somewhat averse to Lin Xiaobao, hardly speaking a word to him along the journey, though they occasionally teased the honest and simple Wang Dasha.

Nie Feiyan also maintained quite harmonious relationships with the young women; in fact, they even felt somewhat worried for Nie Feiyan at the moment, given that her cultivation level was genuinely too low, making it almost impossible for her to enter the Dragon Soar Academy.

An hour later, the group finally arrived at the sacred cultivation ground of the Dragon Soar Continent—the Dragon Soar Academy. Standing tall before everyone was an endless perimeter wall, upon which the towering passage of time had written a heavy sense of vicissitudes.

At the center of the wall stood a grand gate, atop which four vigorous and forceful characters were horizontally inscribed: Dragon Soar Academy.

All the arriving people halted their movement as they reached the gate, entering the academy in a slow and orderly fashion. Lin Xiaobao and his companions were naturally no exception. Once inside, following the directional signs already prepared by the academy, the group walked into a vast training field.

By the time Lin Xiaobao arrived, several thousand people had already gathered in the training field. Although everyone tried to restrain themselves, the murmuring discussions still caused a low buzzing sound to reverberate through the surroundings.

Suddenly, a loud boom echoed from afar. Sweeping outward with his spiritual sense, Lin Xiaobao immediately sensed that the gates of the Dragon Soar Academy had closed, while a single figure had appeared upon the high platform at the center of the training field.

"Welcome everyone to the Dragon Soar Academy!" The man's voice overrode the clamor, reaching the ears of every single person present, and instantly the entire training field fell silent.

"I will spare you any further superfluous nonsense. Next is the entrance examination; those who pass shall remain, and those who fail shall return home!" The newcomer then explained, "Choose your test category according to your most outstanding talent. Each person has only one opportunity to make a choice, so please choose carefully!"

With a wave of his large sleeve, four portals materialized out of thin air around the perimeter of the plaza.

"Martial cultivation, formation cultivation, alchemy cultivation, miscellaneous paths..." The four gates were nearly transparent, clearly leading directly into alternate spatial realms. Even though the arriving youths each considered themselves proud sons and daughters of heaven, under such majestic pressure, they could not help but lose a bit of their composure. Coupled with a psychological hesitation and fear of loss, for a moment no one dared to be the first to eat the crab.

"Is Lin Xiaobao here?" After the gates appeared, the man asked in a deep voice.

"I am here!" Having been called out by name, Lin Xiaobao could naturally no longer remain silent.

"Come with me!" As soon as the words fell, the man's figure flashed and he soared into the air. Perhaps considering the need to accommodate Lin Xiaobao, his speed was not exceptionally fast.

Seeing this, Lin Xiaobao had no choice but to leap up and follow closely behind.

"Who is this fellow? Why is he being called away alone?"

"Could it be that he doesn't need to take the test?"

"With only the eighth stage of the Spirit Realm cultivation, how could that be possible..."

After the middle-aged man and Lin Xiaobao departed together, looking at their receding figures, the crowd in the plaza burst into whispers. Meanwhile, Qi Yuxuan, standing amidst the crowd, felt his eyes filled with envy...

Following the middle-aged man, Lin Xiaobao moved like a gentle breeze, bounding across the plaza and leaping over several pavilions and terraces.

"Ahead is the Dean's residence. Go on in by yourself!" Once the middle-aged man finished speaking, Lin Xiaobao felt a blur before his eyes, and the other person's figure was already completely out of sight.

What incredible speed! Lin Xiaobao praised inwardly. In fact, while running just now, Lin Xiaobao had already sensed that the other party's strength should be at the Dao Embryo realm.

Ahead lay a row of purple bamboo groves. Although they appeared neatly arranged, Lin Xiaobao figured the situation could not possibly be that simple.

Projecting his spiritual sense outward, the moment it made contact with the bamboo grove, his spiritual sense instantly sank into it without receiving the slightest feedback. A shock rippled through Lin Xiaobao's heart, and he once again carefully scrutinized the purple bamboo in the forest.

After careful study and analysis, Lin Xiaobao finally discovered the reason: the bamboo planted in this grove was actually Purple Heaven Spirit-Swallowing Bamboo. Because it had not yet fully matured, Lin Xiaobao had not paid much attention to it initially.

Purple Heaven Spirit-Swallowing Bamboo possessed the special ability to devour spiritual sense and was a supreme material for refining magical treasures, because treasures refined from Purple Heaven Spirit-Swallowing Bamboo could evade an opponent's spiritual sense lock, often producing unexpected and surprising effects in combat.

However, according to the records Lin Xiaobao had previously read in the introductory scrolls of Wind and Snow, wasn't the Purple Heaven Spirit-Swallowing Bamboo already extinct on the Dragon Soar Continent? Why would such a large patch of it be cultivated here? This was precisely why Lin Xiaobao had not initially thought in that direction.

It seemed that the transcendent position of the Dragon Soar Academy across the entire continent was certainly no accident. Since his spiritual sense could not probe it, he could only rely on visual observation. After a round of study, Lin Xiaobao finally confirmed that this bamboo grove contained a formation. As for what kind of formation it was, he would only know once he stepped inside.

In any case, Dean Kuang would certainly not harm him. Having confirmed this point, Lin Xiaobao cautiously stepped into the bamboo grove.