Apollo opened his eyes, the Qi around him 'disappearing' while the surroundings returned to normal. He looked at the sky and concluded that he had cultivated for around 40 to 50 minutes.
He stood up and walked towards the crowd. It seems it's still not starting. What are they waiting for? Apollo sighed. As he stood in a corner, he couldn't help but notice that someone was looking in his direction. This made him shiver, and his body tensed visibly.
He looked around to see if that 'monster' had appeared, but he only saw a woman staring at him like it was the first time she saw a human.
Bel? Apollo immediately recognized the woman. Why is she looking at me like that? Did she find out? No, it can't be. Did she reach Qi Condensation?
Apollo spread his senses towards her to feel the state of her cultivation. Oh? She's still at the 4th-Step, but it won't be long before she reaches Half-Step Qi Condensation. Still, this makes it hard for her to identify me.
So I got scared for nothing, Apollo thought before staring ahead.
"Look!" someone exclaimed while pointing at the top of the mountain.
Apollo also looked up, and his eyes widened at the scene. "He's flying," the beggar muttered in amazement. The others shared the same expression as him. Even though they had seen someone fly a couple of times in their lives, they still kept getting amazed, especially when it happened right in front of them.
Bel, who was shocked that the small man she was staring at could also spread his senses and check her cultivation, didn't have a choice but to turn to the sound.
Someone was flying down from the top of the mountain. His white hair and dark red clothes made a flapping sound from the wind. It didn't take him long to reach the foot of the mountain, where he hovered above the martial students.
He sported white eyebrows that perked up at their ends with eyes deep red in color, like an intense fire creating a deep contrast on his pale and wrinkly face. His red dress, a long robe Shenyi Hanfu with a continuous cut from top to bottom, hid his not-too-thin body.
"Uncle Popo?" Bel muttered.
"That's the headmaster of the Fire Shrine Cultivation School. Is he going to be our examiner?" Filly asked from the side.
A 4th-Step Qi Condensation... Gail clenched her fist, determination brewing within her eyes. At 4th-Step Qi Condensation, a cultivator can fly using the condensed Qi inside them. But they need to have great control over their Qi, and only talented ones can do so, as flying at this stage is a sign that they have a chance to advance to another stage.
Of course, there are techniques that can allow one to fly even without reaching 4th-Step Qi Condensation, but they are very rare and hard to learn.
Gail also wished to fly someday.
"Everyone quiet down," the old man said. He didn't shout, but his voice still echoed within the field. "I apologize for the wait. Before we begin, I would like to introduce myself. I'm the headmaster of the Fire Shrine Cultivation School, Master Popo, and I'm also the one who will be the examiner for your first test."
The martial students closed their mouths while they looked at the headmaster floating above them. Some of the guardians and their parents even kneeled to the ground, showing their great respect. They were not cultivators and didn't have a high status, so they had learned to bow their heads in situations .
The nobles looked at this scene while puffing up their chests. That's what commoners should do, to kneel and bow to us, the mighty ones. This was their thought as smiles formed on their lips.
Apollo, who happened to glance in their direction, immediately knew what the nobles were thinking. These people really like the feeling of being superior. And why do the commoners even need to kneel down? The class differentiation in this world is really too much! Although he was thinking about this, it didn't mean he would take action.
He would rather focus on what the old man was going to say than think about them. However, it was a different matter if these nobles tried to offend him.
Staring back at the old man floating in the air, Apollo perked up his ears.
"As you may have realized, the venue for this Advancement is different from the last time. It's because we decided to raise the difficulty," Master Popo said. "Those who have only made small improvements will have very little chance of passing the exam.
This is very different from past examinations, where we only valued how much your Qi had increased and your potential to go to the next stage of your cultivation. However, the Advancement this time is harder. There's no luck involved, only hard work!"
When the martial students heard that the exam had become more difficult, the scene became quite noisy. Some wanted to express their disagreement but only dared to whisper it among themselves.
"Quiet," Master Popo said, and the noise died down in an instant. "The first part of the exam will now begin!"
The moment his words fell, a strong wind blew in their direction, causing the old man's robe to flap chaotically.
However, something unexpected happened. Because he was flying above the first few rows, they had to look up almost vertically, and that's when they saw it.
Even some martial students from a distance managed to catch a glimpse of it.
Apollo's mouth opened slightly, an incredulous expression appearing on his face. This old man! Why is he not wearing an inner layer of clothes?! His birdie! Old man, this is not Japan!
The beggar immediately brought up the System Store to look for a technique that could blur an object of his choice. With the help of the System, the store sorted itself out until only one item remained.
Japanization Blur Beam: Blur anyone or anything of your choice. This technique doesn't have limitations. It can be used anywhere and anytime, be it in the vacuum of space or in another dimension.
Price: 100,000,000 Alm Points.
This… it's fcking expensive!*