Time passed quickly, and before long, it was time for Qinglin Academy's assessment to begin.
At this moment, the square in front of Qinglin Academy's gate was already teeming with a thousand young people gathered to participate in the assessment, hailing from various parts of East Field County.
The enrollment requirements of Qinglin Academy stated that anyone under the age of eighteen with a cultivation talent of Demon Level could qualify for basic selection.
Spirit Cultivator and Body Cultivation were the same; they both divided their talent levels into seven levels: Mortal Level, Ghost Level, Demon Level, King-level, Emperor Level, Holy Level, and Divine-level.
Generally, Mortal Level was the lowest and meant one was unable to cultivate. Achieving Ghost Level gave one the qualifications to cultivate, but their future achievements would not be high, hence Qinglin Academy's minimum standard for recruitment was a Demon Level Talent.
Though the requirement for Demon Level Talent seemed not high, it was enough to weed out half of the applicants, as not many on Tianhen Continent possessed the talent to cultivate.
Qinglin Academy was divided into two institutions, one being the Spirit Academy and the other the Body Institute.
The Spirit Academy focused on cultivating spiritual power while the Body Institute emphasized physical strength.
Over the centuries, the two academies were equally strong, competing fiercely with each other and refusing to coexist in harmony.
Therefore, during recruitment, both academies conducted their enrollment separately and students had to choose whether to join the Spirit Academy or the Body Institute before the selection process.
Xu Nian naturally chose to enter the Spirit Academy. Even if the Body Institute offered abundant resources, it could not compare to his Divine Demon Refining Body technique. Moreover, if he were to participate in the Body Institute's selection, his Divine-level Divine Demon Bloodline Talent would be exposed, which would create an upheaval throughout East Field County, and perhaps even throughout Tianhen Empire.
Outstanding trees in the forest are the first to be felled. His current strength was limited, and revealing his talent could likely bring disaster upon himself. Therefore, until he became powerful, he must not let anyone know he was a Divine Demon Refining Body practitioner, not to mention avoiding exposure of his body refinement skills.
"My Divine Demon Refining Body is of Divine-level talent. I just don't know which level my spiritual cultivation talent falls under, but it's definitely at least Demon Level," Xu Nian mused internally as he stood in the long queue for the Spirit Academy's basic selection, watching the ongoing talent tests of the young people ahead.
Although Xu Nian had started his cultivation at ten years old, it was always done in secret, so he had never undergone a talent test.
However, the fact that he could cultivate to the pinnacle of a Four-star Warrior without any assistance from pills was enough to show his Spirit Cultivation Talent was not weak.
Just as Xu Nian was guessing what his talent might be, a powerful fluctuation suddenly emanated from ahead, and a dazzling green light burst forth from the Talent Detection Stone.
"Uh, King-level Talent?" Xu Nian said in surprise as he watched the green light on the Talent Detection Stone.
The Talent Detection Stone could test one's talent. As soon as someone placed their hand on it, the stone would emit a glow.
The seven types of talents corresponded to seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple.
At this moment, the dazzling green light bursting forth from the Talent Detection Stone signified that this person's talent had reached the King-level threshold.
After such a long time of testing, this was the first person whose talent had reached the King-level, and the intense green light indicated a strong King-level talent.
The people around were also amazed, looking enviously at the young man standing before the Talent Detection Stone.
He was a lavishly dressed youth, appearing to be about the same age as Xu Nian, but his cultivation was much higher than Xu Nian's, having reached the Nine-star Warrior Level.
The young man's gaze was haughty, his face arrogant. He sneered at the admiration of the people around him, showing utter disdain.
"Such an arrogant person, even a King-level talent is so conceited?" Xu Nian sighed in self-talk.
Xu Nian found the young man's disdainful attitude somewhat hard to tolerate.
It was just a King-level talent, after all; he, a Divine-level talent, had never flaunted himself like that, with his nose in the air.
"Others have the capital to be proud, reaching the Nine-star Warrior Level at the age of sixteen, King-level Bloodline Talent—if it were me, I would be even more arrogant, not to mention he has an even more formidable older brother. Being arrogant is expected," said the chubby man standing in front of Xu Nian, unable to help turning his head and laughing in response to Xu Nian's comment.
Only then did Xu Nian pay attention to the person before him, a short and plump figure, roughly the same age as Xu Nian, but significantly heavier—Xu Nian estimated definitely over 200 pounds.
However, the plump man's cultivation was not weak, having reached the Seven-star Warrior Level, and at the moment, he was looking at Xu Nian with a friendly face.
"Do you know who he is?" Xu Nian curiously asked.
"Of course I know, isn't that the second genius of the Ouyang Family from Yu State, Ouyang Tianlan?" the chubby man replied.
"That's Ouyang Tianlan?" Xu Nian was also surprised and took another look at the proud young man.
The Ouyang Family of Yu State had produced two geniuses, one named Ouyang Chengfeng, famed in the Qinglin Academy, possessing the legendary Emperor-level talent, and the other was Ouyang Tianlan, only slightly behind his brother, with King-level Bloodline Talent.
The brothers possessed extraordinary talents, and their reputation had shaken the whole of Yu State, especially his brother Ouyang Chengfeng, who had quite a reputation throughout East Field County.
Emperor-level talent had appeared in the history of Qinglin Academy only a handful of times.
"Now you know why he's so proud, right? Not only does he have amazing talent, but he also has his older brother to cover for him. He was already designated by the Spirit Academy; now, it's just a formality. How about it, jealous, aren't you?" the chubby man slapped Xu Nian's shoulder and said with a smile.
Xu Nian also smiled; he found the chubby man in front of him quite amusing.
When others looked at Ouyang Tianlan, they felt either envy or jealousy, but only this chubby man had a trace of disdain on his lips.
"My name is Xu Nian, may I know how to address this little brother?" Xu Nian said, introducing himself with a smile.
Unexpectedly, the chubby man laughed out loud, excitedly saying, "I know you, the castaway of the Qin Family, aren't you? I saw it when you fought Qin Tiann just now, wasn't that slap awesome?"
As he spoke, he even mimicked the action of slapping, which was extremely comical.
Xu Nian could only smile helplessly; this chubby man was truly a character, but he gave a sense of familiarity.
"Oh, by the way, my name is Chen Wudi, how about that, isn't the name imposing enough!" the chubby man raised his eyebrows at Xu Nian.
"Chen Wudi?" Xu Nian was speechless.
That name really was damn imposing; he was curious which parents would be so bold as to give such a name to their son.
"I named myself that, because I'm also an orphan. You and I can be considered as sharing the same plight. If someone dares to bully you in the future, Brother Wudi will teach them a lesson for you," the chubby man puffed out his chest and said proudly to Xu Nian.
Xu Nian was taken aback, not having expected Chen Wudi to also have such a background, but Chen Wudi's words moved him.
"Next up, Chen Wudi!"
Just as Xu Nian and Chen Wudi were chatting merrily, the elder responsible for testing had called out Chen Wudi's name.