Chapter 49: Chapter 46: Entering Grade A
“Let’s go try as well.”
In front of the Wind-Slashing Fist stele, Li Yun suddenly stood up and spoke to his younger sister beside him.
Li Zhining’s gaze flickered slightly, she stopped the slight rotation of her small hands, and nodded.
She had actually already touched upon some of the essence of the technique, feeling that she had entered the threshold, but she didn’t immediately go to test herself, instead waiting.
Waiting for her brother beside her to master it as well.
Since she could understand things, she had noticed her brother becoming increasingly impatient with his cultivation.
After spending time together day after day, she could faintly sense her brother’s thoughts deep in her heart.
Among the three siblings in the family, she and her eldest sister had higher talents than her brother; it goes without saying for her eldest sister, who had been taken in by a famous teacher since she was little, but she and her brother had stayed at home, and it was inevitable that they would always be compared and praised by people around them.
As the brother, Li Yun was the one with the least talent for cultivation among the siblings, which resulted in him practicing with exceptional diligence every time her progress in the training ground surpassed his, sometimes training frantically through the night…
“Let’s go.”
Li Yun patted his bottom and stood up, his gaze swept over and he saw a familiar figure at another part of the stele, it was Li Yuanzhao.
But at this moment, the latter was fully engrossed in comprehension and didn’t notice him, just as he also didn’t know when his counterpart had arrived.
Without thinking, he glanced beside Li Yuanzhao, but he couldn’t see Li Hao’s figure, and he couldn’t help but frown.
However, he didn’t pay much attention to it and snorted softly to himself, then led his sister towards the center of the plaza.
“If the performance is not up to standard, we’ll go back and practice more,” Li Yun said to his sister.
Li Zhining nodded slightly.
In front of a middle-aged man, there were currently five people practicing, with a few onlookers standing outside, attempting to find inspiration and reference from others’ moves.
Suddenly, the siblings saw a familiar figure among them as well; it was Li Hao.
“Him?”
Li Zhining was puzzled.
“He must have run over to sneak a learn by observation.”
Li Yun’s eyebrows rose, a trace of cold laughter appeared in his eyes. Although he didn’t know when Li Hao had come over, he certainly arrived later than they did. He himself wasn’t confident that he had mastered it, let alone the latter.
Outside the field, Li Hao quietly waited, his extraordinary perception alerting him to the approach of others from behind, but he didn’t turn around or pay them any attention.
Having greeted them many times in the past, only to be met with evasion and distance, he knew then that the exuberant siblings who used to run daily into the courtyard to listen to stories were no longer there.
Soon, the practice in the field was over.
Out of the five people, only three qualified, while the remaining two lacked proficiency for entry, with inaccurate posture.
“Let’s go.”
Li Yun took his sister forward, facing the middle-aged man who was a head taller than himself with still a lofty expression: “The technique we contemplated is the Wind-Slashing Fist.”
Identifying their status from their attire, the middle-aged man nodded slightly, showing a smile: “Please demonstrate.”
The siblings immediately took their stances and began their routine, completing a set of punches quickly.
As Li Yun turned around, his waist did not move, the strength of his body hadn’t reached his fist, resulting in a slightly weaker force.
The middle-aged man was inwardly astonished and asked, “How long have you been contemplating this technique?”
“Half a day,” Li Yun replied calmly, but a tinge of pride could be seen in his eyes. He faintly felt that he might have made a slight mistake, and the result might not be very good.
But after all, he had only been contemplating it for half a day.
The standard for entry into Alpha Academy was three days of contemplation, so his progress must have been quite remarkable.
“Impressive!”
Indeed, as Li Yun thought, the middle-aged man before him let out a mildly astonished exclamation, causing the corners of the young man’s mouth to unconsciously curl up slightly…
“Young lady, you have passed the entry threshold.”
The middle-aged man took out a waist pendant from his belt and handed it to Li Zhining beside him.
Li Yun was momentarily stunned.
“Your punching technique still lacks a bit of refinement. Practice some more, and you should be able to master it quickly,” the middle-aged man said to Li Yun.
Li Yun’s face showed a bit of embarrassment, and he turned to look at his sister: “When did you have the realization?”
Li Zhining put away her waist pendant and hastily said, “Just now.”
In truth, she wasn’t lying; she really had just comprehended it, at most half an hour ago.
“To enter a superior cultivation technique within half a day, prodigies like you are uncommon, even in Alpha Academy,” the middle-aged man said with a smile.
“That means, there are others who can do it too?” Li Yun’s expression changed slightly.
“A few yesterday,” the middle-aged man said with a smile; the quality of the disciples recruited this time was excellent, a bit stronger than the previous years.
Li Yun felt a burning sensation on his cheeks, his fists clenched involuntarily.
At that moment, the middle-aged man’s attention was drawn to an approaching figure, and he looked up to see it was someone from Divine General Mansion, and he immediately smiled: “You also came to practice?”
“Mhm.”
Li Hao nodded.
Hearing this, the siblings couldn’t help but glance at Li Hao; Li Yun suddenly felt a bit better, thinking at least there’s someone below him.
“Please,” the middle-aged man gestured.
Li Hao was very straightforward, raising his hand to swing two punches with the momentum of a knife, producing a faint sound of an iron blade cleaving the air.
The middle-aged man’s expression changed dramatically, and he looked at Li Hao in shock.
Li Hao had already retracted his fists, saying, “Is that satisfactory?”
The middle-aged man regained his composure and couldn’t help saying, “Did you come yesterday?”
“Today.”
The middle-aged man was slightly stunned, and a different possibility emerged in his mind, causing him to feel a chill deep inside without daring to think deeper. He immediately took out a waist pendant and handed it to Li Hao: “This is the Alpha Academy waist pendant.”
The waist pendant was white, one side with the letter Grade A in black.
Li Hao took it, glanced at it, casually put it away, thanked him, then turned and left, leaving behind two pairs of eyes filled with slight astonishment.
“He, he passed too?”
Only after Li Hao had walked a distance did Li Yun manage to ask in disbelief.
The middle-aged man withdrew his gaze, glanced at him, and nodded, “His Wind-Slashing Fist has reached at least the level of agility, perhaps even… perfection.”
Li Hao’s demonstration was too brief for him to ascertain the exact level.
But there was no doubt, he had certainly grasped the basics.
“Agility? How is that possible!” Li Yun exclaimed, his eyes wide.
He knew that the other had left the mansion to join them today, arriving at the mountain even later than himself; how could it be that in such a short period, he had understood the concept of agility?!
Even his own sister had barely grasped the basics!
With this thought, he couldn’t help but turn his head and look at that figure in disbelief.
Li Zhining watched the retreating figure in a daze, suddenly recalling some adults in the mansion praising Li Hao:
“That child is really smart.”
“Indeed, very precocious, I’ve never seen such a smart child, he gets it at one point.”
“It’s a pity he can only engage in Body Refinement; otherwise, with such a wise head, he would definitely become a top genius in the future.”
Yes… the adults only mentioned his limited potential in cultivation, but never once said he wasn’t smart enough.
The young girl lightly bit her lip, tightly grasping the waist token in her hand.
“I’m back.”
Li Hao jogged back quickly to the two elders.
Seeing the Grade A waist token in his hand, both understood and Shen Yunqing laughed, “Congratulations.”
“You flatter me, senior,” Li Hao said with a slight smile, then added, “Shall we… have another game?”
These youngsters… The two elders exchanged looks, both speechless in their minds; why did it seem this boy was more addicted to chess than they were?
“Alright, another game it is,” Zhao Zongyuan, having analyzed the previous game and known where he went wrong, now had the courage to battle again.
Li Hao felt a rush of joy and immediately sat down, “Please, senior.”
The two began to duel on the chessboard once more.
To prevent his opponent from giving up, Li Hao didn’t play too aggressively, just slowly pulling ahead until he won by a narrow margin.
Thus, an interesting scene unfolded in the square: while other disciples were in front of the steles, pondering and practicing their martial moves, one corner featured a young man exchanging moves with two elders on a chessboard. The occasional frustrated outburst from Zhao Zongyuan and the hearty laughter from Shen Yunqing drew glances from other newly admitted disciples.
When they noticed the unusual scene, many of them had a hint of curiosity in their eyes.
“You little rascal, you must have been playing chess since you were in your mother’s womb!”
Goaded by defeat, Zhao Zongyuan was so irritated he felt like tossing the game pieces.
Li Hao just laughed.
Shen Yunqing inquired curiously, “You’ve put some effort into your chess skills. How do you usually cultivate?”
That’s how I cultivate… Li Hao thought to himself, but on the surface, he only chuckled foolishly.
While playing chess, the two elders shared some information about Tan Palace Academy with Li Hao.
“Do you know, youngster, a prince joined the academy yesterday, also admitted to Alpha Academy, and it’s said he understood the Cultivation Technique within just an hour.”
“That lady from the Nangong Family came too; her talent is also quite terrifying. It’s said she’s not even the strongest of her generation in the family.”
“These are your future rivals within Alpha Academy, youngster, you should keep an eye out,” the elders advised.
Faced with the elders’ concern, Li Hao found it overwhelming and said to them, “Can’t we just concentrate on playing chess?”
The elders stared.
Their fond feelings for the boy had prompted them to share this information, yet he didn’t seem interested at all?
So you joined Tan Palace Academy just to play chess, huh!
Out of irritation, Zhao Zongyuan once again concentrated fully on the game. Yet, after a while, he was left looking ashen-faced, defeated by a slim margin…
As the sun dipped low, Li Hao was deeply engaged in the game when he suddenly heard a voice beside him:
“Hao?”
Li Hao turned to look and saw Li Yuanzhao, who was watching him tentatively.
“Hmm?”
“I got the waist token,” Li Yuanzhao said. They had arrived late, and he had spent half a day in contemplation.
“Oh,” Li Hao nodded, unsurprised. This kid had the same innate ability as Li Zhining. Despite his sturdy appearance, there was a sly spark in his small eyes—he was incredibly sharp.
“They… they’re waiting at the foot of the mountain for us to return to the mansion together, Hao, what do you think…?”
“Let them go back first, we’ll return later,” Li Hao said.
Across from him, the elders’ expressions darkened. Was this kid hooked on winning?
“No more, no more,” Zhao Zongyuan waved his hand, “It’s getting late, you should go back.”
“It’s okay, I can see,” Li Hao retorted.
“You little…” The two elders were left both laughing and crying by Li Hao’s antics. Shen Yunqing said, “Let’s call it a day. If you want to play chess, we can have a match after school starts.”
Li Hao wanted to continue, but seeing the elders apparently had lost all enthusiasm, he relented, “Fine then, thank you both for your hospitality today.”
With that, he made a move, cementing his victory in the game.
Seeing the experience he gained, Li Hao then stood up with a smile, bowed respectfully to the two elders, and, together with Li Yuanzhao, slowly started heading down the mountain.
“To think such a kid exists in the Divine General Mansion, really curious,” the two elders said, watching the figures of the two youngsters—one ahead and one following—leave. Their expressions were filled with amusement as they looked at each other and shook their heads, chuckling.