Su Yu was diligently cultivating, working towards his three goals.

At the same time, at the Great Xia Civilization Academy.

This was a massive academy, with pavilions and towers sprawling everywhere, divided into commercial areas, residential areas, teaching areas, secret realm areas, exchange areas…

The areas were distinctly divided, resembling a small city.

At the Admissions Office.

Bai Feng had just finished his closed-door cultivation. After more than a month, he stepped out of his house again, breathing in the fresh air.

At the entrance of the Admissions Office, Bai Feng leisurely strolled inside.

It wasn’t the admissions season yet, but the place was already busy. Soon, it would be the time for admissions exams in various regions.

“Old Zhou, please be flexible. That’s my nephew! I’ll take him in and mentor him myself! His mastery of the Languages of the Myriad Races isn’t low, he has divine writing talent, and his willpower is also strong. Just take care of him a little…”

“That won’t do!”

In the crowd, a middle-aged man shouted, “Even if you mentor him yourself, it’s not possible! If he can’t pass the basic level, no one’s nephew gets a pass!”

“Old Zhou, are you deliberately trying to block me?”

“Don’t pull that on me! Tianfeng City has preparatory data. Your nephew spent five years in a secondary academy and only mastered the three basic Languages of the Myriad Races? Are you telling me that’s good? Who are you fooling? If he doesn’t have talent, he’s just wasting resources. If you can’t bear to part with him, take him home and teach him yourself!”

“You!”

“What ‘you’? What, are you trying to hit me?”

“I…”

“What ‘I’? You’re just a junior researcher, trying to challenge a mid-level researcher like me?”

“…”

The noise was deafening. Bai Feng shook his head. This place was probably the noisiest in the entire Civilization Academy.

There were people trying to pull strings, and people trying to recruit geniuses from various cities in advance.

This place was hard for ordinary people to manage.

Bai Feng didn’t join the crowd. He found a window with fewer people and waited for a while until it was his turn.

“Help me check if there’s any recent update on Su Yu from Nanyuan Secondary Academy.”

The little girl at the window saw Bai Feng and her face turned a little red. She hurriedly said, “Assistant Bai, I’ll check for you right away.”

Bai Feng smiled, but in his heart, he thought, “This girl won’t do. I won’t come to her to handle things next time!”

Calling him Assistant Bai!

Why couldn’t she call him “Researcher Bai”?

“Su Yu, a student in the pre-examination class at Nanyuan Secondary Academy. Has passed the verification for 18 Languages of the Myriad Races, Open Origin Stage 5, has accumulated 21 merit points, recommended by Nanyuan’s Liu Wenyan, overall score of 300, below average.”

“Below average?”

Bai Feng nodded slightly. This was the internal scoring system of the Great Xia Civilization Academy, based on the recommendations from various cities. Below average wasn’t good, but it wasn’t too bad either.

“This year’s exam, 200 points should be enough, right?”

The girl hurriedly said, “It’s not certain yet, but according to past records, 200 points should be enough.”

Mastering one Language of the Myriad Races and passing the verification was 10 points.

The first three levels of the Open Origin Stage were 10 points per level.

The middle three levels of the Open Origin Stage were 30 points per level.

Merit points, excluding the merit points awarded for the Languages of the Myriad Races, were worth 10 points each.

Su Yu’s overall score of 300 meant that entering the academy shouldn’t be difficult.

Of course, the examinees wouldn’t be told the score during the exam. If an examinee encountered an accident, they would be given a second chance. This was the advantage of having talents recommended by various cities; they weren’t afraid of making a mistake.

Under normal circumstances, being at Open Origin Stage 3 and mastering 17 Languages of the Myriad Races was enough to pass the exam.

Some people who obtained unexpected merit points had even lower requirements, and could pass the exam with mastering around 15 Languages of the Myriad Races.

Or being at Open Origin Stage 4 and mastering 14 Languages of the Myriad Races could be enough.

So back then, Su Yu’s mastery of 18 Languages of the Myriad Races and being at Open Origin Stage 3 almost guaranteed his passing. It was unlikely that any accidents would happen.

In Nanyuan, Su Yu at the time was almost guaranteed to pass the Civilization Academy’s exam and could be considered a genius. However, his rating in the Civilization Academy was low, which meant that after entering the academy, almost no researchers would take him as a student.

Now that he was below average, it was considered acceptable.

With luck, he might be taken in by an assistant researcher to do some work.

Bai Feng pondered for a moment and said, “Put Su Yu under my name. Don’t I still have two student slots? Give him one.”

“Ah?”

The girl exclaimed, suspecting that she had misheard. She hurriedly said, “Assistant Bai, his overall score is below average.”

“Is there a problem?”

Bai Feng smiled. “Below average is not bad. He was recommended by Nanyuan, and Teacher Liu Wenyan is my senior martial brother. It’s okay for me to take a student, right?”

“It’s not…”

The girl was a little anxious. Although a below-average student was good for ordinary people, it would be a waste of a student slot for Bai Feng.

“Assistant Bai, before you become a full researcher, you only have a maximum of two student slots. Su Yu hasn’t even entered the academy yet, and his score is below average. He won’t be of much help to you in your daily research…”

“Thank you, I know. Give the slot to him.”

Bai Feng still smiled. The girl in front of him was kind, but he didn’t need the reminder.

“Then…”

The girl was a little disappointed, but it was Bai Feng who was taking a student, so she had nothing to say.

Just as she was about to help with the registration, someone next to her said with a chuckle, “Bai Feng, if you want to take a student, why don’t you choose one in the academy? Why choose a newcomer? And to make matters worse, he’s below average. What are you thinking?”

“This year, there are quite a few who reported that their scores are above average, and several who are above above average.”

“When the exam comes, even more might emerge.”

Bai Feng turned his head and frowned slightly.

He was planning to keep a low profile, finish his work, and leave, but this guy came to cause trouble again!

“Liu Hong, is it any of your business who I take as a student?”

Five or six meters away, a young man looked at him with his arms crossed and a smile on his face. Hearing this, he laughed and said, “It’s none of my business, but… I like to watch a good show!”

“If it’s none of your business, shut up!”

Bai Feng was too lazy to pay attention to him. He turned to the girl and asked, “Is the registration done?”

“Yes, Assistant Bai.”

“Bai She!”

Seeing that Bai Feng was ignoring him, Liu Hong spoke again, “Are you really going to take a new student?”

“It’s none of your business!”

Bai Feng was about to leave when Liu Hong frowned and said, “It’s nothing to do with me, but Bai Feng, have you thought about it? How many people will be dissatisfied that you took in this new student this year?”

Bai Feng frowned and looked at him.

“Last year, my younger brother wanted to be your disciple, but you refused. Okay, you never accept anyone, or you only accept a few top-tier geniuses. I have no problem with that. It’s just that my younger brother is useless.”

“But this year you accept a student with a lower-middle rating, Bai Feng, tell me yourself, how will my younger brother react when he finds out? How will my family react when they find out?”

Bai Feng sneered, disdainfully, “None of my business!”

“Bai Feng, you’re right, it’s none of your business.” Liu Hong said seriously, “I don’t care, and as for my family, whether they care or not, it doesn’t really matter. But it wasn’t just my younger brother who wanted to join your discipleship before, there were many people.”

“There were even top-tier genius students, but you didn’t want to take them in.”

“This year, you suddenly accept a lower-middle student, what do you want them to think?”

“It’s none of your business, but have you considered that you’re making this new student a target? Others will think, why don’t you, Bai Feng, accept them, but instead accept a mediocre person as a student? Are they inferior to him? Or what?”

Bai Feng said coldly, “So what?”

“It’s not about ‘so what,’ it’s fine for you to take him in. You still have one spot left, and one person will attract too much attention. Why don’t you take in another one?”

“Your younger brother?”

“Not really, he’s already entered Researcher Hu’s discipleship. It’s Wu Qi’s younger sister, with an upper-middle rating, which is pretty good. Before, you weren’t in the mood to take in students, so Wu Qi and I didn’t mention it to you. Since you’re in the mood this year, bringing one is bringing one, bringing two is bringing two, what do you think?”

“I think… get lost!”

Bai Feng looked impatient, “So what if it’s upper-middle! So what about Wu Qi? Is her younger sister special? I’ll take whoever I want!”

“As for trouble… go find it yourself!”

“As long as they’re not killed or crippled, you can suppress them however you want!”

Bai Feng didn’t care and scorned in his heart, suppress them?

If you have the ability, go ahead and suppress them!

“I’ll take whoever I want as a student, none of your business! Get out of here, Liu Hong, stop trying to get close to me, don’t try that with me! This is not just for you, but also for Wu Qi, and others, take whoever you want yourself, if you keep coveting my side, I won’t be polite!”

Bai Feng’s voice wasn’t soft. He originally wanted to keep a low profile, but Liu Hong messed things up, and many people noticed him.

Bai Feng wasn’t ambiguous and said loudly, “It’s my freedom to take whoever I want as a student! Even if I take in a cripple as a student, if he can get in, I dare to take him! What, do you want to control me, Bai Feng?”

“Don’t play those useless tricks with me!”

After Bai Feng finished speaking, he left. The hall was quiet for a moment, and then people started discussing in low voices.

“Bai Feng is going to take in students?”

“What’s this guy thinking? A lot of people looked for him in the past two years, and he rejected them all. Why did he suddenly have this idea this year?”

“I heard it was recommended by Liu Wenyan…”

“Liu Wenyan has recommended people a lot before, but he’s never seen him want to take anyone in.”

“Then I don’t know, but… if Bai Feng’s affairs today spread, he’ll inevitably have some trouble waiting for him. Over at Old Hong’s place, a lot of people are watching him.”

“It’s not just Old Hong’s side, those few young fellows are also watching Bai Feng. The competition for quotas in three years… Bai Feng will definitely compete. There’s also the matter of researchers becoming full-time, and the number of spots is also limited, he will also compete.”

An old man laughed, “This kid has been messing around with something lately, and a lot of people are interested. You say, can people not pay attention to him suddenly taking in students? Plus, Old Hong’s side has a lot of hidden treasures, who doesn’t envy them?”

“That’s true.”

Someone said with a low laugh, “But it’s also good, let’s watch the fun. The academy is too quiet, it’s not good. Every ten years is a cycle. The quota competition seven years ago caused a lot of trouble. I was thinking that it would be at least one or two years before we could watch the fun again, but now it seems that the fun can be watched ahead of schedule.”

“There are only 20 spots in Daxia Prefecture, and our academy can’t get many, about five or six. Bai Feng has a lot of competitiveness, it depends on whether he can hold on.”

“He’s in the seventh level of the Soaring realm, it’s not a big problem.”

“It’s hard to say, who can be sure about this. What’s more, those young fellows now are not easy to mess with, I think this year’s will probably be more intense.”

“…”

Everyone discussed it. Bai Feng had already left the hall.

In the hall, Liu Hong watched him leave and didn’t say anything. After pondering for a moment, he went to the window to get Su Yu’s information.

…

A moment later, Liu Hong entered a small villa in the residential area.

“Wu Qi, Bai Feng has recruited students this year.”

In the living room, a young woman was sketching divine runes with a pen, and without raising her head, she said, “So he recruited, what does it have to do with me?”

“It’s a student with a lower-middle rating. I recommended your younger sister, and Bai Feng told me to… get lost.”

Liu Hong said softly, “This guy is in the seventh level of the Soaring realm, and he’s much more arrogant than before.”

“When is he not arrogant?”

Wu Qi was still calm, “He’s only not arrogant when he was beaten and coughed up blood by someone from the War Academy a few years ago. Otherwise, he’s always arrogant.”

Wu Qi said this, and said with a light smile, “I’m still waiting to watch the show. In a few years, when he’s in the ninth level of the Soaring realm, he’ll inevitably go to find the guy for revenge. It’s best if that guy doesn’t break through to the Rising Cloud realm so quickly, otherwise there won’t be a good show to watch.”

Liu Hong hurriedly said, “Now is not the time to watch the show, he’s taking in students, this is an opportunity! Old Hong’s side is like a divine dragon, only seeing the head and not the tail. The research lab is still under Bai Feng’s control. If you enter Bai Feng’s discipleship, not to mention anything else, a research lab is enough for us to be full.”

“Hmm?”

Wu Qi raised her head, her face like frost, and said coldly, “Get out!”

“Wu Qi, you…”

“Get out!”

With a light snort, her eyes with a hint of contempt, “I, Wu Qi, don’t need these tricks, he, Bai Feng, is not my opponent, whether it’s this year’s researcher transition assessment or the quota competition in three years, I… will definitely be there!”
“Liu Hong, don’t even think about playing any tricks, or you’ll bite off more than you can chew!”

Liu Hong clenched his fist and said in a deep voice, “If I really wanted to be underhanded, I wouldn’t have come to you! I don’t care what others think or know about me fighting for opportunities and chances. None of that matters!”

“With opportunity right in front of me, it’s my right to fight for it!”

“Bai Feng controls Elder Hong’s research institute. I want to compete for this opportunity. Even if Elder Hong knew, he wouldn’t object; he would just tacitly agree. If Bai Feng loses, it just means I’m stronger than him, and there’s no arguing with that. Wu Qi, do you think that’s despicable?”

Wu Qi looked up again, “You’re right, it’s your right, but… what does it have to do with me?”

“Don’t you want your sister to have better resources and a better future?”

“That’s something I’ll discuss with Bai Feng. It’s not your place to interfere.”

“Talking to him won’t work. He’s stubborn. You’ll have to force him to accept it against his will, and you can’t do that alone.”

Wu Qi scanned him and said after a moment, “If you want me to lend you my strength, fine. Let me study your ‘Strength’ Divine Rune for three months!”

“…”

Liu Hong almost gritted his teeth to dust, “That’s too much!”

“Not at all. Otherwise… go play by yourself. I’m not interested in playing such a low-level game with you. You’re not even at the Seventh Level of Soaring, so you’re not qualified to participate in this.”

Liu Hong took a deep breath and quickly made up his mind, “Fine!”

Wu Qi smiled faintly, “Tell me, what do you want to do?”

“Simple, reduce Bai Feng’s authority!”

“Hmm?”

“If his students fail the monthly exams three times, his overall score is at the bottom of the academy in the quarterly exams, and he consistently falls behind in the annual exams, then Bai Feng will lose 300 merit points and his authority will be lowered by one level! After three years, Bai Feng won’t be qualified to apply!”

“No need for three years. After one year, I can apply to work at Elder Hong’s research institute because Bai Feng’s authority won’t be as high as mine. Even if he is Elder Hong’s student, Elder Hong’s research institute was built with academy funding. If Bai Feng loses the institute himself, no one can say anything about it.”

“At that time, he’ll have to recruit new students to raise his authority rating, and they’ll have to be outstanding! As long as we prepare in advance, he’ll have to let us put people in. If the mediocre ones don’t work, he’ll have to choose the outstanding ones, and there’s only one… or a few… outstanding students. What do you think he’ll do?”

Liu Hong quickly said, “This is a calculated move. Bai Feng brought it on himself, and he even boasted that we could do whatever we wanted. Since that’s the case, I’m not going to be polite!”

Wu Qi glanced at him and continued to sketch a Divine Rune. After a while, he said, “It’s pretty basic, but it should be effective. You want me to participate so I can block Bai Feng’s revenge for you?”

“Yes, that guy is crazy. If he really suffers a loss, he won’t stay still. I’m worried… he’ll attack me directly, seriously injure me, and force me to withdraw.”

“That’s something he would do.”

Wu Qi laughed, “You’re pretty self-aware, knowing you’re not as good as him. If you ask me, you should just give up, but if you want to compete, this is an opportunity. If he attacks, he’ll challenge you properly… How about this? He challenges you, and I challenge him. I’ll hurt him first, how does that sound?”

“Great!”

Liu Hong was overjoyed. This was his purpose in finding Wu Qi.

As for the stronger ones, they look down on him; the weaker ones aren’t qualified.

And there are some in the Sky Soaring and Mountain Sea Realm, but they are all high-level figures and won’t manage their affairs. Otherwise, Elder Hong wouldn’t just stand by.

“By the way, if Bai Feng’s student consistently fails the exams, he will definitely recruit new students to balance the rating. If my sister joins his sect, she will do her best to earn back the rating points for him. I won’t let my sister cheat on purpose. That would ruin her life!”

“Of course!”

Liu Hong smiled, “The more outstanding your sister is, the better. The more outstanding she is, the more resources under Bai Feng’s name will be allocated to her. That’s the rule. The other student will only get worse and worse, further lowering Bai Feng’s rating. Even if your sister can earn back some points, Bai Feng won’t be able to prevent the penalty of having his authority downgraded.”

Wu Qi nodded slightly, agreeing with his statement.

…

While the two were discussing, Bai Feng was walking in the academy and suddenly laughed, “A couple of fools! They want to lower my authority level?”

He didn’t hear them, but he guessed what Liu Hong wanted to do.

“There will be a good show to watch then.”

Bai Feng muttered to himself, then shook his head. Su Yu’s admission will probably cause some trouble, but… that’s a good thing.

How can he become talented without experiencing hardship!

If that kid isn’t suppressed, how will he understand that the Civilization Academy is full of talents and that he’s nothing special here.

“Sketching Divine Runes for a day… I hope Liu Hong can help me suppress him properly, or it will be difficult to handle this matter. Liu Hong, you fool, won’t you be sending me free kills?”

Bai Feng smiled and shook his head. That’s not his problem.

“Wu Qi, Xia Yuwen…”

After muttering a few names, Bai Feng’s thoughts were no longer on Liu Hong. He didn’t bother with that guy who wasn’t even at the Seventh Level of Soaring. Those guys were his real rivals.

Even if he was at the Sixth Level of Soaring before, let alone now at the Seventh Level, he didn’t care about Liu Hong. It was obvious that that guy was no match for him.

“Su Yu!”

Finally, Bai Feng mentioned Su Yu’s name and murmured, “Kid, you have to be reliable! It’s best to suppress those guys’ students, so I have a chance to become a full member ahead of schedule and lead a team as a researcher…”

As an assistant researcher, there are too many limitations, and he doesn’t have enough authority in many areas, so he can’t go at all.