"Thank you Elder, for your explanation." Wang Lei bowed and politely thanked the white-beard Dean. The white beard Dean only nodded his head in satisfaction of this young man's temperament. He was not arrogant despite awakening such a powerful element and that is a rare trait— the more he thought about it the more he appreciates this Wang Lei more and more.
After thanking the white-beard Dean for explaining his elemental aptitude, Wang Lei then proceeded to head down the testing platform before making his way towards the direction where Shenyan was waiting for him. The moment he got close to Shenyan, he could not hide the wide grin on his face anymore and he excitedly spoke.
"Shenyan, did you see my element just now… I got a lightning, a lightning elemental affinity! I awoke the powerful lightning elemental affinity, Hahaha!!" Wang Lei said with a wide smile on his face as it felt like today was the day for him to shine.
Seeing Wang Lei like this, even Shenyan could not help but smile as he was also happy for Wang Lei. Wang Lei was like a brother to him, so his happiness was also his happiness.
"Congratulations, Wang Lei, for getting such a powerful elemental affinity." Shenyan said with a smile on his face.
"Thank you, thank you, I couldn't be any happier right no— wait, it's your turn right now, what are waiting for? Hurry up and go take your test before the Elder get angered!" Wang Lei was still gloating after hearing Shenyan's praise but then he suddenly recalled that Shenyan's turn was after him and he quickly reminded him.
"Alright, alright, I am going." Shenyan helplessly moved his feet as Wang Lei started pushing him from behind. It seemed that Wang Lei was even more excited about this than even he was.
"Shenyan, don't worry too much, I highly doubt that you will get a bad aptitude. Good luck!" Wang Lei excitedly said to Shenyan, trying to encourage him.
"Okay, I'll be going now." Shenyan replied briefly as he made his way toward the testing platform which was only a few meters away.
Contrary to what Wang Lei might be thinking, Shenyan did not care much about what aptitude he would get. As long as he can enter the academy and find a solution to his cultivation problem then this trip would be worth it.
After all, he only started this as a hobby and now here he is, already attending an academy for cultivation. Shenyan shook his head helplessly when he recalled how he began his path of cultivation through just wanting to learn how to use spirit pressure— he never thought he would come this far.
In fact, he would always question himself every time why he even persisted with cultivation when he could just stop and enjoy his everyday life while indulging himself with delicious delicacies; Now that he thought about it, he is really hungry right now. They had been standing here for more than half a day and all this all while they did not get a chance to eat anything.
Shenyan decided to put this thought to back of his head and concentrate on the exam in front as that seemed to be more important right now. Also, the quicker he finishes this, the earlier he would be able to eat as well. While thinking about this, Shenyan made his way towards the testing platform and soon he was standing in front of the staircase leading to the small platform at the center of the big platform.
…
Meanwhile at this moment, a young girl that appeared to be thirteen or fourteen was sitting on a luxurious chair as she watched the examination from the top floor of a building.
Besides her was an armored man who was standing next to her with a cold and stern look on his face as if he were here bodyguard or something.
If one look closely enough, they would realize that the armored man was that armored guard that came to Wang Zhong's restaurant two years ago and the young girl next to him appeared to be that young miss that he was guarding back then.
Although, the young girl appeared to have grown a little compared to the last time they visited the restaurant, and compared to before, her appearance was more stunning with her sparkling blue eyes and black hair.
Last time, she visited the Heavenly taste restaurant, she was covering her face with a hood, so no one really saw her face but this time, she wore a blue robe-like tight dress showcasing her elegant features.
Indeed, this was the young miss of the Leng family, she was also a student of this academy this year but since she was a member of the Leng family, she was not required to take the test like everyone else, instead she took it privately and only some people know her results— people like the Deans of the academy.
At this moment though, she saw a participant making his towards the testing platform, she easily recognized the participant despite it being two years since she last saw him.
She recognized him because he left an impression on her the last time they met— he was that youth who was unfazed by her spirit pressure at that time, and she even thought that he might have some special physique which enabled him to resist her spirit pressure.
And now that youth came to their academy; A bright smile appeared on her face as she was excited to find out his aptitude. Meanwhile, the armored guard noticed the change in his young miss's expression and carefully asked.
"What is it, young miss? Are you bored of this examination? Should we—" before he could finish speaking the young girl hurriedly interjected.
"N-No, that's not it. Do you remember that boy from two years ago at that restaurant? He is currently taking the test right now." She abruptly said in an excited voice almost as if she had been friends this 'youth.'
The armored guard frown when he noticed this change in his young miss, so he curiously looked at the stage and he found the participant who was currently making his way up the stairs of the testing platform.
He looked for a good while, before he instantly recognized that calm temperament of that youth from two years ago; He could never forget that expression on that boy's face at that time.
"It's that bumpkin from that time." He said shortly after.
"Hmph, what bumpkin? Aren't you a bumpkin too then since you came from a common family?" The young girl spoke as she looked at the armored guard in disdain. She always hated that term that all the rich family use to refer to commoners just because they came from a poor family.
"…" The armored guard was speechless, and he did not know what to say since what the young miss said was indeed true from a certain standpoint, but different from common families, his family had warriors dedicated to serving the Leng family, so they were still superior when compared to ordinary families.
"Enough, I just want to quietly watch the examination since I wasn't allowed to participate, so let's leave it at that." She said to the armored guard as she concentrated on the youth that was currently making his way towards the testing orb.
…
On the testing platform, Shenyan was already standing in front the testing orb on the right. He briefly looked at the crystal looking orb that gave off an immense energy before taking a deep breath and placing his hand on the testing orb.
1 second
2 seconds
30 seconds
…
60 seconds
After a full minute later, the testing orb began to react as a blinding blue light shone from the orb, the intensity kept increasing as time went by before stopping eventually.
The Dean noticed this and decided to announce the result.
"Shenyan, Aptitude 7… huh? No, wait."
At this moment, the intensity of the light picked up and it increased yet again. The white-beard Dean was confused about this situation, but he still waited for the light to settle down before announcing the results again.
The blue light kept shining brighter and brighter, passing the intensity for seventh-grade aptitude and soon making it to the eighth-grade aptitude talent.
"A-Aptitude 8…" The white-beard Dean mumbled in disbelief. What surprised him more was that the intensity kept increasing.
…
The light kept shining so brightly that everyone on the big platform covered their eyes subconsciously from this blinding light.
"W-What's going on… why is it so bright all of a sudden?!" Someone asked in puzzlement of this situation. The other participants were also feeling the same way as they covered their eyes from this strange blinding light.
…
"H-How is that possible?!" The white-beard Dean said to himself. Unable to believe what he was seeing in front of him at this moment.
"This… Aptitude 9?" He mumbled to himself.
Right when the intensity of the light reached the ninth-grade talent, the white-beard Dean's eyes widen with shock as he never would have thought that such a talented youth would appear during this examination.
He was flabbergasted by this situation that he could not speak for a good moment while looking at the result. Noticing the uproar in the surrounding from the increased in the intensity of the blue bright light, he soon came back to senses before clearing his throat and announcing the result loudly enough for everyone to hear.
"S-Shenyan, Aptitude 9." The white-beard Dean's voice trembled as he said this. He was still shocked by this situation that he could hardly control himself. Just as he was about to calm down from his mental disarray, he noticed that the light suddenly started increasing again. He was left speechless this time as this had never happened before.
"W-What's going on?"