Chapter 146: Prelude to the Three-Academy Joint Exam

Chapter 146 -77: Prelude to the Three-Academy Joint Exam

“?!”

The moment Jiang Xuan spoke, all the complex emotions in Dong Hao’s heart vanished. Now, the only feelings left on his face were surprise and shock.

Five thousand Spirit Stones. The number was far beyond his expectations, leaving him utterly stunned.

What made his pupils shrink was the realization, drawn from Jiang Xuan’s words and Su Linyin’s compliant posture, that Jiang Xuan was the undisputed leader of this partnership.

‘And he said he would *carry* Su Linyin through, not *help* her!’

Claiming to carry someone through the assessment was not a statement to be made lightly. It meant Jiang Xuan’s strength far exceeded the standards of the joint examination of the Three Great Daoist Schools. Only then could he pass while carrying a ‘burden’.

But after piecing it all together, Dong Hao was completely bewildered, unable to comprehend the situation before him.

He had always held Jiang Xuan in high regard, having previously invested considerable effort and help in him.

But in his mind, he had always categorized Jiang Xuan as a talented Noble from the Lower Classes—he’d always believed Jiang Xuan was a notch below him. ℯℯ𝑙.

But now, this sudden reversal made him realize with a jolt that he had never truly seen Jiang Xuan for who he was.

What silenced him further was that in the face of Jiang Xuan’s claim, Su Linyin… offered no rebuttal.

“…”

After a long silence, Dong Hao said with a touch of bitterness, “Brother Jiang, you really had me fooled.”

Jiang Xuan shrugged at his words. “I never intentionally hid anything. You just never asked. Besides…” Here, Jiang Xuan broke into a dashing smile. “My being strong is a good thing for both of us, isn’t it?”

Dong Hao instantly understood the deeper meaning behind his words—even with his massive increase in strength, Jiang Xuan had no intention of abandoning him.

Once he realized this, the bitterness on Dong Hao’s face vanished instantly, replaced by a hearty laugh. “Haha, Brother Jiang, you’re right! Your strength is indeed a tremendous blessing for me!”

And just like that, Dong Hao accepted Su Linyin joining their team. He had indeed spent several hundred Spirit Stones on Jiang Xuan when he was weaker. If Su Linyin had poached Jiang Xuan for a similar amount, it would have been a betrayal.

Double, or even triple the amount, could still be called being greedy and ungrateful.

But when the offer was five thousand, he had nothing left to say.

Moreover, Jiang Xuan hadn’t abandoned him, which left him with no complaints whatsoever.

At the same time, the outrageous number of Spirit Stones unquestionably placed the leadership of the team in Jiang Xuan’s hands.

However, even as he accepted all this, a sliver of worry couldn’t help but surface in Dong Hao’s mind.

‘Jiang Xuan… is he really that strong?’

If even Dong Hao, who had always acknowledged Jiang Xuan’s strength, harbored doubts, the others looked at Jiang Xuan’s team with even more bewilderment.

Over the course of the morning, the outstanding students of the Chen Daoist School had all formed their teams.

Among them, Qin Feng’s team was the largest, followed by Fang Xiao’s. Xie Hanyan, due to her aloof nature, had very few people by her side.

And among all these groups, the three-person team of Jiang Xuan, Su Linyin, and Dong Hao was not large, but its members were far from weak.

Both Dong Hao and Su Linyin had an eighty percent certainty of competing for a top-ten spot in the Chen Daoist School. If not for the sudden joint examination of the Three Great Daoist Schools, neither of them would have been in such a rush.

But while everyone acknowledged the strength of Dong Hao and Su Linyin, they simply couldn’t understand why this team was led by Jiang Xuan, a man from the Lower Classes.

Because of this strange situation, Jiang Xuan’s team was quite conspicuous, drawing frequent glances in their direction.

Jiang Xuan ignored it all, his mind and body completely immersed in activating his acupoints.

Relying on the power of his Nether Abyss Dharma Eye, Jiang Xuan pulled out the acupoints hidden within the mist, one by one.

For now, he was only pulling the acupoints out, not rushing their Refinement.

‘I can’t be distracted while pulling out the acupoints, but the subsequent Refinement won’t require as much concentration.’

BUZZ—!

Time slowly trickled by as Jiang Xuan cultivated. Soon, the time it took for an incense stick to burn had passed, and it was now around ten in the morning.

SWOOSH!

Once the hour arrived, the figure of Instructor Song Zhou appeared out of thin air on the high platform in the center of the training grounds.

Shrouded in Spiritual Qi, he had a commanding presence.

Without a single wasted word, he waved his hand the moment he appeared. A magnificent, pearly-white Flying Ship descended from the sky. He then announced to the crowd, “Cultivators who have opened thirty-six acupoints and condensed a Spirit Core, board the Flying Ship with me. The rest will remain here and continue your Cultivation!”

After giving the command, Song Zhou was the first to leap onto the Flying Ship.

Seeing this, the eligible students rose and walked toward the Flying Ship in an orderly fashion.

A few moments later, the spacious Flying Ship was crowded with students.

Once aboard the Flying Ship, Jiang Xuan continued to seize every moment to cultivate.

Dong Hao and Su Linyin flanked him on his left and right, guarding him in the center.

However, due to the limited space on the Flying Ship, everyone was inevitably closer together. Under these circumstances, it was unavoidable that some would curiously question Su Linyin and Dong Hao.

“Sister Linyin, why are you two listening to Jiang Xuan? Isn’t he from the Lower Classes with only a Middle Grade Spirit Root? I remember during the first round of the assessment, he barely managed to advance to the A-class Evaluation at the very last second, right?”

The student asking was not just curious, but also probing for information.

Su Linyin’s reply to this was very cautious.

“Neither Talent nor one’s Spirit Root determines everything.”

Besides those fishing for information, many others approached Su Linyin and Dong Hao during this time, offering them benefits to try and recruit them to their own teams.

Su Linyin, in particular, received many such offers.

As expected, Su Linyin rejected all of these invitations.

Although she also had some doubts about Jiang Xuan’s strength, she trusted that her mother would never do anything to harm her.

‘Knowing my mother’s personality, the fact that she was willing to spend five thousand Spirit Stones on Jiang Xuan means that I stand to gain even more from him.’

And so, amidst Su Linyin’s thoughts and the surrounding commotion, the Flying Ship flew at high speed, arriving at the assessment destination a quarter of an hour later.

As he stepped off the Flying Ship, Jiang Xuan’s expression faltered for a moment. He noticed something—among the students from the Three Great Daoist Schools, there were also quite a few unfamiliar faces at the assessment site.

After a closer look, he realized they were the parents of some students. They had somehow learned of the assessment location and had come specifically to observe.

As for how Jiang Xuan was so sure of their identities, it was because he spotted Su Wanyi—Su Linyin’s mother—on a viewing platform not far away, dressed in courtly attire and radiating a noble grace.

‘Cultivation Clans… they really are resourceful.’ With an inward sigh, Jiang Xuan immediately withdrew his gaze and stopped letting himself be distracted.

Soon enough, he had no mind to pay attention to such things.

The Flying Ship from the Chen Daoist School had just landed when two other Flying Ships sped over from the distance. Then, the students of the Yin Daoist School and the Rooster Daoist School disembarked from their respective vessels.

The students of the Three Great Daoist Schools looked at one another, and the atmosphere between them grew quietly tense.