The white-beard dean was so convinced the Shenyan would awaken at least three elements due to his high aptitude— which was unprecedented, but to his dismay that is not what he saw. He was left speechless for a while before uttering.
"H-How is that possible?" He mumbled to himself. Clearly in disbelief of the outcome of the test.
After a while, as the result became apparent, the white-beard dean waited for a while and confirmed whether there would be changes to the orb or not. After seeing no changes for a while, there was a clear disappointed look on his face as the white-beard dean reluctantly announced the result for everyone to hear, leaving everyone very confused about this situation.
"Shenyan, Elemental Affinity: None; Weapon talent: Extreme."
…
"W-What?! Weapon talent? What the fuck is that?" Someone who could not hold himself back anymore screamed the moment he heard this result.
The other participants also could not hold back anymore and started clamoring the moment they heard the result from the dean's mouth.
"Why weapon talent?! Isn't it elemental awakening, why did he awaken a weapon talent instead plus what is a weapon talent?! Why haven't I heard about it before?!" Someone exclaimed as he asked.
The wise participant from before opened his mouth clearly about to speak and everyone around him immediately turned to his direction and was anticipating his explanation.
"W-Why are you all looking at me like that? What do you want?" The wise participant had an awkward and uncomfortable expression on his face as he received the deep stares from the other participants.
"Just say it already!" Someone shouted. Clearly impatient to hear his explanation.
"O-Okay, I will say, I will say… ahem, the weapon talent is a talent that enables one to wield weapons and having it improves your comprehension toward weapon mastery— it enables you to have a deep insight or enlightenment towards weapons depending on your talent."
Everyone attentively listened as the wise participant continued, "There are four stages to weapon talent namely— the Basic, Intermediate, Advanced and Extreme. This Shenyan seemed to have an Extreme talent for weapons but that in itself is strange as he had that 'Extreme'-ly high aptitude for elements— those that have weapon talent usually don't have any elemental affinity and even if they do, it will only be the first or second grade talent. So, this situation is quite strange."
The other participants were clearly confused on his last words as one of them asked, "So is he talented or untalented when it come to elemental cultivation?"
This question piqued everyone's interest as they could not believe someone like Shenyan to have a high aptitude for elemental cultivation, which had not been seen before and at the same time have an extreme talent for weapon cultivation— that is too good to be true.
The wise participant saw their expressions and he hesitantly replied, "W-Well, I don't know myself but if I have to guess, either there were some problems with his first test and this test is his accurate result or something thing else is in play, I couldn't tell at all. Maybe the principal would know something about this."
The wise student replied with uncertainty in his voice and wore a confused expression on his face at the same time. But the participant only listened to the first half of his answer, and they were somehow relieved for some reason.
…
Meanwhile, the principal of the academy had a puzzled look on his face at this moment. He could not understand why such an extremely talented student with high aptitude for elemental cultivation would awaken a weapon talent instead of elemental affinity.
This situation is so strange that it could only be explained as there was something wrong with the testing result for this participant's first test. Otherwise, it does not make sense why this participant did not awaken any element affinity at all.
The principal pondered for a while and eventually, he concluded that Shenyan's result was probably a mistake and maybe the testing orb needed to be changed for an accurate result, but he did not bother to tell the white-beard dean of this matter as it was apparent that Shenyan was immensely talented for weapon cultivation and even if he retook the test, it would not matter much as his affinity might just drop instead.
After thinking for a while, using his Spirit Sense, he told the dean to change the testing orb for the elemental aptitude testing and carry on with the exam.
The white-beard dean paused for a moment after listening to the principal's words before solemnly nodding his head as he understood the principal's thoughts after musing over it.
He understood that maybe it was indeed because of the testing orb for the first test malfunctioning, which caused that unprecedented occurrence to happen a while ago.
He immediately disappeared from the scene and came back shortly after to replace the testing orb for the elemental aptitude testing.
…
At this point, Shenyan was already making his way down the stairs— he could not wait to leave and get something to eat.
Although, he was disappointed that he did not have an elemental affinity, he did not mind it too much as at least, he had a weapon talent and from how it sounded, it means he can use weapons better than most people.
He even recently acquired a sword and maybe with this weapon talent, he would be able to learn sword techniques faster than others who did not have this talent— he felt like he was indeed lucky. Thinking about this, Shenyan was happy as he walked towards the direction of Wang Lei's location.
As he walked by every other participant immediately turned heads, as their eyes deeply stared at Shenyan— as if they want to pierce through his body with their eyes. Some were curious, some were threatened, and others had looks of envy in their eyes— especially those that did not awaken any elemental affinities and even had worse elemental aptitudes.
Shenyan was not bothered by these looks at all— in fact, his mind was elsewhere as he approached Wang Lei; He wanted to tell Wang Lei that they should leave now that they had finished their examination. It was at this moment, the white-beard dean's voice resounded in everyone's ears immediately drawing everyone attention.
"Student Shenyan, it appears that there was a mistake with your first test, Elemental Aptitude Test. The testing orb was malfunctioning, so the result displayed for the first test was inaccurate, but as you have already awakened your Weapon Talent, there is no need to take the first test any longer as it would not matter much in your cultivation." The white-beard dean said in a loud voice enough for everyone on the big platform to hear.
There was silence on the big platform. A few moments later, everyone immediately engage in discussion about what was said just now.
"Phew, so that's why, I thought this kid actually had twelfth-grade talent in aptitude, turns out it was a mistake."
"I know your feelings. I was so shocked senseless when I first heard the result earlier."
"Still, this participant actually had a weapon talent so he wouldn't necessarily get kicked out of the academy in one year as it seems that those with weapon talent are good at weapon cultivation than those without."
"That's right, that's right, at least he won't be miserable like the other participants who didn't even awaken any elemental affinity or weapon talent despite having poor elemental aptitudes."
Various conversations were had on the big platform. Some were relieved that this participant was not a monster who had an extremely terrifying talents and knowing that alone they were relief for some reason. Others were confused about this whole situation as they initially thought Shenyan's result were accurate as the dean did not say anything about it before.
Contrary to what everyone were thinking at this moment, Shenyan did not care much about the results this time, he was only surprised when he heard that the first test was inaccurate but soon, he retained his calm and nonchalant expression as he made his way towards Wang Lei. As he was really hungry to talk or think about anything else right now.
Immediately after he reached Wang Lei's side, he hurriedly spoke before Wang Lei could even say anything.
"Wang Lei, I am really hungry right now, do you think we could maybe leave and get something to eat first and come back later?" Shenyan said with an innocent and unperturbed expression on his face despite his examination results, immediately causing Wang Lei to be dumbfounded.