“Uhm… Senior Brother Mu Ran, can I enter the Academy?”
Sol tried to get Mu Ran’s attention but he was simply staring at him with wide eyes and mouth agape.
Sol hesitated for a moment before he eventually turned and walked towards the entrance of the Academy, leaving Mu Ran still in a shocked state.
It was only after some time that Mu Ran’s body trembled and he hurriedly took out a special purple jade slip and crushed it.
Not even a split second after he crushed the purple jade slip, three shadows suddenly loomed over him.
Mu Ran raised his head and he released a yelp of surprise before he scrambled out of his chair and cupped his fist.
“T-This disciple greets the three Pavilion Headmasters!”
Mu Ran’s heart was beating loudly as these three people looked at him.
One was a burly man that resembled a towering giant. Just standing there caused a suffocating pressure of a wild beast to unintentionally spread into the surroundings.
The second person was an elegant-looking man that gave off a serene feeling, making one think they were looking at a calm ocean. However, at the same time, it felt like this serene feeling could turn into chaos at any moment; like an ocean during a storm.
The third person was an old man who seemed more than a little disheveled. He also looked a little crazy and his twitching left eye didn’t help either.
This old man was the only one out of the three that wasn’t giving off any grand or profound presence, just one that made him seem unstable.
It was the crazy-looking old man that spoke first and he grabbed Mu Ran by the collar as his spittle flew.
“Damn brat! Why did you break the jade slip?! Are you one of those fools that did it in the past!!”
“A-Ah, no Pavilion Headmaster Mo!”
Mu Ran frantically waved his hand and tried not to gag on the old man’s horrible breath, but that proved to be a bit difficult.
“Crazy Mo, let the kid go so he can speak properly.”
The burly man said as he pulled the old man back.
Mu Ran breathed in and out trying to get fresh air while also trying to calm down a bit.
After, he then explained.
“Headmasters, I swear I didn’t break the jade slip on accident. Someone had actually climbed the staircase!”
When the three Headmasters heard that their eyes began to shine.
“HAHAHA!!”
The burly suddenly released a booming laugh that cause Mu Ran to think he was going to go deaf.
“To think an outstanding disciple fit for my Divine Beast Pavilion would appear in this generation!”
The crazy-looking old man immediately snorted and then spat out.
“Bastard Hong! You must be crazier than me to claim this disciple to be a part of your Divine Beasts Pavilion!!” 𝑖𝘦.𝑐ℴ𝘮
The burly man immediately snorted.
“What? Do you think this person will want to be a part of your Irregular Dharma Pavilion? Don’t make me laugh!”
“Ehem…”
The serene-looking man cleared his throat and then said.
“You two, remember that it isn’t up to you whether this disciple joins your Pavilion. It all depends on their awakened Innate Dharma. Plus, we don’t even know his origins, he might just be a Barbarian, he’ll likely enter the Runes and Formations Pavilion then.”
After the serene-looking man said that, all three of them turned to look at the nervous Mu Ran at the same time.
“Child, tell us, where is this disciple?”
“H-He already entered the Academy.”
“Bah! You fool, why didn’t you keep him here?!!”
The crazy-looking old man immediately yelled at Mu Ran, causing his scalp to go numb. He was already intimidated by these three identities as he had never seen them before, only heard shocking stories about them.
But at this point, Mu Ran was on the verge of having a mental breakdown.
Pulling back the crazy old man before he could jump Mu Ran again, the burly man asked.
“Child, describe the appearance of this disciple.”
Mu Ran tried to get his breathing uncontrolled as he said.
“H-He looks about thirteen or fourteen, and he has tall black hair that resembles a lion’s mane with pale skin. He is also wearing plain robes.”
Upon hearing Mu Rn’s words, the three Headmasters frowned. Those were unique characteristics, but it wasn’t enough to find this person in the sea of other disciples in the Academy.
“Damn brat, can’t you give more specific details. Does he have any marks on his face or features that stand out?”
Mu Ran sucked in a breath of air, he really couldn’t handle any more of this.
‘Wh-Why are they so persistent in finding this person? Could the rumors be true that the Staircase tests a person’s talents?’
Mu Ran knew how hard it was to climb the steps since only three people had managed to in the past, but he just couldn’t get over how these distinguishable Headmasters were behaving.
Rather than respectable people with high statuses in the Academy, they were acting like children searching for a piece of candy!
Mu Ran was forced to wrack his brain to appease these figures, and it was only after a while did he remember something.
“Ah! He also wore black bracelets on his wrists and ankles!”
The three Headmasters turned to look at each other before their figures suddenly vanished.
After they left, Mu Ran shakily took up his chair and sat down.
He was still in shock having met three of the most powerful people in the Academy.
He couldn’t wait to tell everyone he knew about this!
However, Mu Ran suddenly froze, and he felt like someone had dumped a freezing cold bucket of water over his head
He had completely forgotten to tell the three Headmasters an important detail.
That disciple they were looking for wasn’t among the batch of disciples climbing the staircase for the second test. From the jade slip Mu Ran saw, he was someone who had been recruited as a Special Disciple through the Alchemy Pavilion Headmaster.
Recalling that the other Headmaster’s collective disliked the Alchemy Pavilion Headmaster, Mu Ran grabbed his hair violently and started to shiver in fear.
He was praying internally that those Headmasters don’t come back to find him when they found out this piece of information. Especially the Headmaster of the Irregular Dharma Pavilion.
And like this, unbeknownst to Sol, his arrival in the Academy had caused a miniature earthquake.
Whether this miniature earthquake was a mere prelude to a massive earthquake that could up-heave the entire Martial Alliance Academy was yet to be seen.
Meanwhile, said person had walked into the Martial Alliance Academy and was staring in awe.
Sol had found himself in front of a spectacular scene.
Hundreds of disciples could be seen scurrying about towards their own destination.
Sol noticed that despite the similar dragon design on their back, some disciples were wearing different color robes. Some were black, others yellow, along with a few more colors.
Sol figured it meant something, but didn’t know what yet.
For now, Sol was just marveling at the sight in front of him.
These disciples despite being in the hundreds and were clustered together, were all walking towards their own destination without bumping into each other.
Sol thought that was amazing.
After hesitating to enter, Sol’s excitement to be a part of that moving crowd got the best of him and he suddenly took a step forward and entered.
However, he realized he had taken on more than he could handle.
“Hey, get out of the way!”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Wah! Look where you’re stepping brat!”
“S-Sorry.”
“Hey, you’re in my way.”
“Ah, yes, I’ll move, sorry.”
“Hey, move…”
“Sorry…”
“What’s why with you?”
“I apologize…”
“Wah! Are you blind?!”
“N-No, I’m sorry…”
Sol tumbled about in the crowd of disciples stepping on people’s toes and bumping into others. He was completely out of his depth and he could only apologize as he tried to find a way out.
Only after a few hundred apologies and angry glares was Sol able to find a less crowded area.
After squeezing out of the crowd of disciples Sol fell onto his butt.
But he quickly got up and brushed off the dirt on his robes with a sigh.
Afterward, Sol looked at the crowd of disciples and gritted his teeth.
He oddly felt the need to jump back in and get it right.
He too was now a disciple of the Martial Alliance Academy!
However, there was no opening in the crowd for Sol to jump in so he was stuck on the periphery.
After a while, Sol saw a gap and was about to excitedly jump in, but just as he was about to step forward, something off to the side caught his attention.
He was currently in front of a really large building.
Inside this building was a massive hall that had disciples disappearing and appearing on several platforms.
‘Teleportation circles?’
Inside this hall, a bloody disciple appeared inside one of the teleportation circles and frantically rushed out.
Soon after Sol saw several more disciples appear at another teleportation circle and rush after that bloody disciple.
That disciple’s leg was injured causing him to fall over. This gave the disciples chasing him a chance to catch up, and they didn’t hesitate to pounce and started stomping on him rather brutally.
“Wah-What’s going on?”
Sol was extremely shocked when he saw such a horrible scene happening in broad daylight. It was completely different from what he had expected to see in the Martial Alliance Academy.
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