Chapter 46: Cultivators

Following the astonished cry from the Inscriptions teachers, all the surrounding Head Prefects gasped. Their minds were in turmoil, and they looked at Wang Baole fiercely.

“Upper Academy Island’s knowledge?”

“How can this be, unless someone taught him? But that isn’t right, unless… He deduced the high-level Upper Academy Island classes through the Lower Academy Island basic course!”

“Heavens, who… who is this guy!”

To become a faculty’s Head Prefect, these people could be said to be top students and were aliens in other students’ eyes. But today, in the eyes of this group of aliens, Wang Baole… was the true alien!

Lin Tianhao’s mind was also buzzing, and the most nervous person among the crowd at this moment was Cao Kun. His stress was huge, more than anyone else, including the Chancellor and Dean.

He was the Inscriptions Head Prefect, but with the questions that Wang Baole asked, his mastery of Inscriptions seemed to be even clearer than his own. This made his heart beat faster, and a strong feeling of unease made his vision go black.

No way, I can’t scare myself. This Wang Baole only just became Spirit Stones’ Head Prefect a few months ago. His knowledge of Inscriptions cannot be as profound as mine—he can’t touch my position, definitely can’t touch it! Cao Kun’s eyes were red. Even though he kept reassuring himself, his heart could not help but tremble.

At the same time, Wang Baole ignored the discussion around him. He placed all his attention on seeking knowledge. The question that he had raised just now was one of many questions that the mask had raised.

This question was Wang Baole’s Gordian Knot. He always needed a long time to figure out this question, and every time he finished, the answer was different. As such, whenever he saw a similar question, he would be struck by lightning.

Now, he really wanted to know the teachers’ answer. He wanted to use this answer to summarize his lessons and to ensure that he would no longer make errors on these types of questions.

However, this question involved a high-level Inscriptions knowledge. It was such that the teachers of the Lower Academy Island had difficulty giving a clear answer quickly. Now—including the Chancellor—they all continued to discuss, a group of old men in a heated debate.

The Chancellor was suffering, and Goatee was also at his wits’ end. While all these teachers seemed to be in discussion, they were actually laughing bitterly in their hearts. What was this? This feeling of not being able to back down made them go crazy. The worst thing was that they still could not leave.

The moment they left, it would signify that they could not answer a student’s question. That would be too shameful.

So, each of them squeezed their brain juices, and after a long time, they finally gave Wang Baole his answer. The moment Wang Baole heard the answer, he was so agitated that he wanted to hit his own chest. His face glowed red, and full of vigor, he started to ask again.

Just like that, time passed, and very soon, it was night.

The Chancellor, Dean, and teachers saw that the difficulty of Wang Baole’s questions were becoming more and more alarming—almost every question now involved high-level Inscriptions study. In the latter few questions, it had already surpassed high-level Inscriptions study and even involved Inscriptions disintegration. This belonged to the apex of Inscriptions theory in the Federation. This was unsustainable.

They all glared at the Chancellor resentful. Faced with everyone’s gaze, the Chancellor was also struggling. He did not expect that one simple lecture and one simple query of whether anyone had any questions… could create such a strange incident.

He thought of himself, the Chancellor, being baffled by a student. Gritting his teeth, the Chancellor took out his voice transmission ring and sent a voice transmission to his senior brother from the Upper Academy Island’s Dharmic Armament Pavilion.

Ethereal Dao College was split into the Lower Academy Island and Upper Academy Island. Getting into the Upper Academy Island meant a monumental rise. One was no longer a normal human but a cultivator.

The counterpart of Lower Academy Island’s Dharmic Armament faculty was Upper Academy Island’s Dharmic Armament Pavilion. In this Dharmic Armament Pavilion, the elder’s position surpassed everyone else, and only a Dharmic Armament master could take on the position.

When he received the voice transmission from his junior brother, the elder master—who had been sitting cross-legged in Upper Academy Island’s Dharmic Armament Pavilion—could not help but be intrigued. Looking at the question his junior brother sent to him through the voice transmission ring, this master’s gaze revealed his curiosity.

“Interesting.” He laughed and stood up to walk out. In that instant, there was a fog that turned into a flying sword under his feet, and he rose up directly from Upper Academy Island.

His speed was so swift that he turned into a rainbow. As though he had torn through space, he appeared atop Lower Academy Island’s Chancellor Peak!

The moment he approached, an astonishingly strong coercive aura emanated with a loud boom. This caused all the birds and beasts on Chancellor Peak to tremble, and even the students from all the other faculties were struck dumb with amazement in their hearts.

This kind of coercive aura was even clearer to the people on Chancellor Peak. Following the appearance of the elder, it caused all the Head Prefects in the lecture hall to cry out in alarm. Each of them jumped to their feet and looked; Wang Baole, too, quickly looked and saw the elder arriving through the sky.

This elder had an ethereal air, and he wore a long white robe. His face was a healthy pink, his gaze was blazing, as though it held lightning, and his feet stood on a flying sword.

This scene made Wang Baole suck in a sharp breath, and all the surrounding people started breathing faster.

“A cultivator!!” Zheng Liang and the others by his side murmured in amazement.

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Most of the Head Prefects became excited. Although it was currently the Spirit Inception Era and everyone cultivated, most were in the Ancient Martial realm. Only those who had exceeded the Ancient Martial realm, achieved true breath, and became part of the True Breath realm could be considered cultivators.

It was obvious that this elder’s cultivation level was even higher than True Breath. Just his arrival could release a coercive aura, causing everyone’s hearts and spirits to tremble. It was as though one look from him could make everyone lose their spirit and their mind.

Especially as… the radiant sword beneath the elder’s feet could distort the nothingness around him. One could imagine that once the flying sword was put to good use, it would cause shocks everywhere.

“That must be a numinous treasure, even possibly a Dharmic Armament!” Cao Kun’s breathing was frantic, and he was speechless from astonishment.

Among the stunned crowd, the Chancellor stood and—along with the Dean and teachers—walked out to welcome the elder.

“Greetings, Senior Brother!” The Chancellor politely cupped his fists in greeting.

The elder laughed loudly, and as he walked, the flying sword beneath his feet disappeared and spiraled around his head. From afar, it was breathtaking. The elder walked forwards a few steps and supported the Chancellor’s arm.

“You don’t have to do this, Junior Brother. Seriously, your personality is just too stubborn. Forget it, forget it.” Evidently, the elder and the Chancellor had some history. The elder shook his head and said only a few words; then he walked into the lecture hall with the Chancellor and sat at the front.

As for the Dean and the others, all of them were filled with respect. With admiration in their eyes, they waited on either side of the elder.

“This session has many good young saplings ¹ .” After taking a seat, the elder laughed, his gaze sweeping over all the Head Prefects. For each person whom his gaze landed on, they immediately perked up and raised their heads proudly.

Wang Baole also quickly puffed out his chest. His look toward the elder showed a fierce envy. He envied the elder’s Dharmic artifacts as well as his expert cultivation level and position. All of that was what he had been chasing and what all the Head Prefects aimed for.

“Not bad, all of you are very alert.” The elder laughed; the Chancellor was pleased with himself. After exchanging a few words, the Chancellor raised Wang Baole’s question.

The elder stroked his beard. His gaze could not help but land on Wang Baole, showing his appreciation.

“Indeed, it involves a high-level of Inscriptions study. This study is too complicated. When you reach Upper Academy Island, you will naturally learn, but I will tell you the main point. One word… Simplification!

“Eliminate those unnecessary Inscriptions. The Inscriptions left are the more basic and cannot be left out. Many processes in this cannot be taught but must be self-created. Currently, after simplifying the cold and hot Inscriptions, in total, 97 types of Inscriptions are required. Reducing the least number of Inscriptions is what numerous teachers of the Federation have spent most of their effort on these few years.

“I hope, one day, you can simplify this to 96, 95, or even less!” The elder’s voice was resonant. When he finished speaking, Wang Baole’s heart trembled. Although his own doubts had not been resolved, the word ‘simplification’ gave him a direction. Following this direction, Wang Baole knew that he could become even faster at systemic calculations. In his agitation, he inhaled and cupped his fist to show his respect.

“Thank you very much, Senior!”

All the other Head Prefects looked at Wang Baole enviously. In this instant, they all knew that the elder had arrived only because of Wang Baole’s question!

At this point, Cao Kun’s mind and heart trembled. He was no longer envious but jealous to the maximum degree and even terrified. Once again, he felt that his own position as the Inscriptions Head Prefect seemed to be… very precarious!

“Wang Baole, if you have other questions, you may ask.” The Chancellor finally released a true sigh of relief and spoke with a smile.

“Say it, if you have other questions.” The elder smiled, too, and looked at Wang Baole.

Wang Baole knew that the opportunity was hard to come by, and so, cupping his fist again, he quickly asked all the questions in his brain.

“The way of condensation, which involves fifty thousand Inscriptions, how do I recognize it?”

“Coagulation, such as coagulating spirits, you can recognize it by perceiving it!”

“I observed a million Inscriptions kept in countless blank Inscriptions. These Inscriptions seem all-powerful but do not fit with other Inscriptions… as though… they are very special!”

“Indeed, they are all-powerful. The disintegration of these countless blank Inscriptions—of which there are actually only thirteen—creates countless numbers. Indeed, they are special because these thirteen Dao inscriptions did not come from the cosmic large sword but from the thirteen peak masters in the Federation who each created one Dao!”

His questions had been difficult for Goatee and the others, but for this elder master, they were easy. He did not even have to think before answering.

Even his answers had a majestic air. Not only did all the listeners feel their hearts tremble, Wang Baole even saw the light. With these questions and answers, time passed, and everyone seemed to have turned to stone.

The awkward thing was that in this lecture hall, everyone else seemed to have turned into ornaments. Only Wang Baole and this elder’s question and answer session was the focus of attention.

Throughout the session, Wang Baole’s mental systemic calculations became faster and faster until it seemed like he could see the answer immediately once the question appearance.

This, to him, was created by chance!