Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Still Able to Absorb
“Another Unrecorded? Could it be… he still hasn’t gone on stage?”
Seeing these characters, Dean Lu Mingrong, Wu Yunzhou, and the others all went dark before their eyes, filled with incredulity.
This time, they had switched a total of two thousand five hundred people, plus those who had participated in the evaluation last time, it had already nearly reached six thousand. All of Baiyan City with any bit of cultivation talent were more or less covered, yet none were chosen… Were they too blind, or was the other party hiding too deeply?
What was key was… you’re a genius, not a wanted criminal, was it necessary to be so silent and cautious?
Speechless, Lu Mingrong looked down at the stage, at the many young faces, all with their eyes tightly shut, attempting to connect with the Heavenly Mandate Vitality that was leaking out…
After watching for a while, he shook his head, simply observing like this, it was impossible to determine who it was.
“Eight paths? Is this the genius you guys are looking for?”
Yu Longqing, who also saw the text above, couldn’t help but look over.
Absorbing Heavenly Mandate Vitality from eight paths for a sixth-grade Origin Pool, although somewhat talented, many such instances would still emerge every year; it wasn’t anything special. However… sitting outside the Nine Dragons Pillar, achieving this in such a short time was still hard to believe.
After all, the highly talented Mo Yanxue hadn’t succeeded in even one path till now…
“It should be…” Dean Lu Mingrong nodded.
Theoretically, the Source Pool evaluation was a process to consolidate the Source Pool; once it was completely set, even continuing to absorb wouldn’t cause the Nine Dragons Pillar to change. That was why Mo Yanxue and Yu Xiaoyu, who had absorbed Heavenly Mandate Vitality in the Book Collection Vault, also didn’t include it in their Source Pools.
Yesterday, when that genius was absorbing, his Destiny Plate had shattered; he thought that the other party hadn’t reached their limit, that’s why he deliberately postponed it to today, also wanting to test if it was possible to continue, but he hadn’t expected… to actually do it!
And it happened in the blink of an eye!
“Eight paths are probably not his limit, but… the rate at which the Nine Dragons Pillar is leaking them!” Ran Qingxu bitterly commented from not far away.
“This…” Everyone was stunned for a moment, simultaneously feeling that it made sense.
Since the Nine Dragons Pillar had the function to shield Origin qi, under normal circumstances, leaking out eight paths in such a short time indeed seemed like the limit. That is to say… one path leaks out, and this guy absorbs one path, leaving nothing for anyone else…
This is like licking the plate clean!
Thinking this, they couldn’t help but look at the others below the stage, only to see them all frantically searching, their faces turning red with effort, some even about to faint from their excessive efforts, yet not a single hair had been discovered…
“…”
Ran Qingxu and the others all had twitching eyelids.
Everything was gone, no matter how hard they searched, it was all in vain!
“Dean…” Ran Qingxu couldn’t help but look over.
Knowing that continuing this way, this genius would still not be found, Dean Lu Mingrong waved his hand grandly.
Whoosh!
Just like last time, the Nine Dragons Pillar shifted slightly, and streams of pure Heavenly Mandate Vitality immediately flowed out.
Buzz!
At the same time, Mo Yanxue’s name finally stopped flickering and was fully revealed.
Name: Mo Yanxue.
Forge: One Path.
Miss Mo’s Source Pool had finally completed its first absorption.
Not just her, another pillar’s light shimmered, and Yu Xiaoyu’s name also slowly appeared.
The talent of the two wasn’t much different; it seemed they were neck to neck.
After more than ten breaths, the names of Liu Mingyue and others also gradually appeared, while the previous “Unrecorded” remained still, as if eight paths were already the limit.
“Could it be… that’s it?”
Stunned for a while, Dean Lu Mingrong then slowly nodded, “That’s right, even if the talent is strong, there has to be a limit…”
Last time they almost absorbed tens of thousands of paths; they thought that even if it was fewer this time, it would still be in the hundreds or thousands, but it seems they had overestimated the other party.
Everyone has a limit, and geniuses are no exception.
However, if he didn’t absorb it, finding the opponent again would be difficult!
While he was fretting, Yu Longqing on the side said nothing and just glanced at Zhang Xuan, who appeared unremarkable among the crowd.
If his guess was right, by keeping a close watch on this guy, he would definitely find some clues.
At this moment, unlike others who were closing their eyes tightly to search for Heavenly Mandate Vitality, Zhang Xuan quietly opened one eye and carefully observed his surroundings to make sure no one was paying attention to him before he finally relaxed.
“It seems like last time, just casually absorbing should be fine…”
Among thousands of people, it was so easy to stay hidden, as long as he was not discovered, he could continue to keep a low profile.
Thinking of this, he closed his eyes, concentrated his soul energy, and started devouring the Heavenly Mandate Vitality in the air once again.
“Whoa, there’s so much? Absorbing vigorously should be undetectable now…”
Having absorbed just a little, Zhang Xuan immediately got excited.
Only seven or eight streams of Origin qi, devouring them cleanly could easily be noticed—generating such a large amount at once, he could truly be at ease.
Boom! Boom, boom!
As he increased his absorption rate, towering pillars densely packed at the edge of the space rose up, expanding the entire “Suspended Realm” by nearly tenfold within a few minutes.
Unlike the absorption at the Library the previous day, the speed was faster, and streams of Heavenly Mandate Vitality didn’t even need to be forged before merging directly.
It felt amazing!
“Right, there’s also the Library of Heaven’s Path…”
Knowing he couldn’t favor one over the other, books rapidly converged into physical form, floating in mid-air.
“This…”
As he accelerated his absorption, Yu Longqing, who had been staring intently, suddenly had his eyes shine brilliantly, and under his sleeves, his fists involuntarily clenched.
Although the other party was absorbing subtly, from the beginning, Yu Longqing had locked onto the target. Coupled with his strength reaching the grade-8 divine spirit realm and his powerful spirit, he still noticed something was off.
In his view, the Heavenly Mandate Vitality scattered in the air was like the floodgate that had been opened, crazily burrowing into Zhang Xuan’s body, seemingly an endless pit, with no sign of when it would be filled.
“How can this be?”
His face turned pale, and he couldn’t help but look towards the Nine Dragons Pillar.
Originally, he thought that even if the opponent was a genius, absorbing 32 or 64 strands would be the limit, but… with this rate of absorption, 128, even 256 strands seemed not to be a challenge at all!
No wonder the more than two thousand strands of Heavenly Mandate Vitality from yesterday disappeared in the blink of an eye… Not to mention Spiritual Origin Bamboo, even if ten more came, it probably wouldn’t block such a Taotie-like beast!
“No, such a genius can only be utilized by me; I can’t let Dean Lu Mingrong find out!”
Seeing that the Nine Dragons Pillar hadn’t yet displayed Zhang Xuan’s exact number, seemingly delayed, Yu Longqing’s heart raced excitedly.
If it were just a regular genius, it wouldn’t matter where they practiced. As long as they were in Baiyan City, he could achieve supreme glory, but… the current Coachman was simply too heaven-defying!
He might possibly be from a First-grade Source Pool, or even a Holy-grade Source Pool!
If he could bring him into the City Lord Residence, once he took off, even a meager reward would be enormously huge, a bounty beyond exhaustion.
As he pondered how to help the other party hide and remain unnoticed by the old folks at the School, he suddenly heard Elder Wu Liuyun’s excited voice.
“Look quick, that guy has started again…”
Yu Longqing quickly looked up and immediately saw the number on the Nine Dragons Pillar at the north stabilizing, then suddenly jumping from “eight paths” to “one five five,” and it was still rapidly climbing.
Two hundred!
Four hundred!
Six hundred…
While others absorbed stream by stream, this guy was like he was cheating—each jump represented two hundred paths…
“He can still absorb, indeed, where exactly is this genius…”
Seeing this scene, Dean Lu Mingrong excitedly got up from his seat and inadvertently looked towards the north of the platform before suddenly fixing his gaze on Zhang Xuan.