"Is Zachary here?" the disciple asked. He called out again. He looked around but didn't see Zachary.
"I wouldn't be too surprised. He is likely too afraid to come here and take the selection...again." Benjamin hated Zachary with such passion.
"He failed the selection three years in a row. Knowing that he would fail again this time, he is likely ashamed to come here and embarrass himself further."
"It will be the same even if he takes the selection one hundred times."
"He must have realized that he shouldn't bring shame to himself anymore!"
Benjamin successfully caused a disturbance in the crowd.
At that time, the stewards of Welkin Sect heard the noise and looked at the direction of Lewis.
Even Elva, standing on one side of the platform, frowned.
"Has he decided to run away from all of this? Humph! Shame on him. Next!" Smith, who was in charge of the selection, looked displeased and signaled to the disciple assigned to the job of registration.
"Did you call my name? I am so sorry! I took a nap and didn't hear your voice." A lazy and sleepy voice came from the back of the crowd.
The crowd made way for the owner of the voice. He yawned, stretched himself as he walked through the crowd, smiled and looked at the disciples of Welkin Sect.
The man was none other than Zachary himself.
"Can you believe what he just said? Late for his registration because of what? Taking a nap?"
"Is he asking for trouble?"
"I guess he must have gone crazy!"
"I heard that he traded some precious herbs for pills not long ago. What a waste he must have made!"
"You're right! Those pills would do nothing good to him! He's so useless!"
The crowd became restless once again, whispering or even talking loudly. The people seemed to have decided to ignore how Zachary would feel if he heard their demeaning language.
Despite the disturbance in the crowd, Zachary stayed calm and walked slowly with his arms on his head. He stopped before Smith and smiled at him.
Smith saw the latecomer and felt irritated, as if he just discovered that his wife had been cheating on him.
"What is the point of trying another selection after you failed three times? Go away and don't embarrass yourself and your family further," Smith said with contempt. He thought Zachary was hopeless no matter how many times he tried.
"Such lovely and encouraging words you just said!" Zachary smiled as his lips curled. Suddenly, his body gave out a pale purple light, and he released an aura with such ease that indicated he was already at the ninth grade of Foundation Establishment.
"What the hell! Original martial speed... The...ninth grade... of Foundation Establishment... Purple aura? The physical cultivation?" Smith stammered, his eyes wide open in disbelief. He found it hard to accept what transpired in front of him.
The crowd immediately fell silent. Everyone stared at Zachary, confused and shocked. A loser who failed the selection for the past three years, displayed the original martial speed and successfully reached the ninth grade of Foundation Establishment in unbelievable speed. Moreover, his body radiated the rare purple aura which meant he cultivated using some physical cultivation method. No one believed what they saw or heard.
Even Lewis and other stewards found it hard to believe.
"The original martial speed... Not bad!" Quickly, Smith regained his composure. He coughed briefly to cover his embarrassment and then announced Zachary's test result.
But Zachary was not yet done. The purple light shone brighter, and the martial energy circulated in his body faster.
"D-double... double martial speed! It's just unbelievable!" Smith was baffled.
The crowd became even more restless than before. They felt frenzied and hysterical. They just saw something impossible turn into something possible right before their eyes. They couldn't be more shocked if they saw a ghost in broad daylight. A useless warrior somehow displayed the double martial speed.
Lewis and the other stewards felt uneasy.
"Was this guy hiding somewhere and cultivating in incredible ways?" Elva thought to herself, still calm and composed. Despite her outward calm, she couldn't help but feel confused.
Zachary looked around smiling and met the shocked eyes of the people who laughed at him a few heartbeats ago.
He laughed out loudly. His laugh sounded arrogant, and his purple aura shone even brighter.
"Double martial speed! Yes, it's happening right now!"
The training ground suddenly fell quiet and motionless as a graveyard. All eyes were transfixed on Zachary, including the eyes of Lewis, the stewards and all disciples.
Zachary, who had been a joke for the past three years, now made a brilliant display and shocked everybody.
"Am I witnessing double martial speed?" Lewis asked for he couldn't restrain himself any longer. He stood up and shouted at Smith excitedly to confirm his conclusion.
"Master Lewis, you're right. It's surely the double martial speed," Smith answered seriously and respectfully. He sounded to be announcing something instead of making a reply.
The training ground was in an uproar instantly.
All disciples turned to look at Zachary; most of them felt extremely envious of what he had just done and who he became seemingly in the blink of an eye.
The other four stewards rose to their feet spontaneously, stunned. They had known Zachary for some time now. As far as they knew, he was just another loser who couldn't even get the original martial speed. But he somehow changed into someone who possessed the double martial speed.
Despite people's reactions, Zachary remained calm and composed. He successfully drew the attention of everyone present. They all admired and envied him at the same time. The people who treated him as garbage would see him differently. He knew that he now needed to keep a very low profile. He only wanted to get his revenge.
In the meantime, Elva's calm face slowly changed. She seemed to have realized something extremely interesting. A light flashed in her cunning eyes.
"This piece of shit... No, no, no. I'm saying that Zachary has been hiding his strength all this time. How impressive!"
"No one would ever find another warrior as humble as Zachary who wouldn't display his true power until the very last moment!"
"It seems like we were totally wrong about this genius!"
It did not take long and the perspective of some disciples took a complete U-turn.
Many of the disciples still refused to believe what they just witnessed, especially Benjamin. He expected to see Zachary embarrass himself, but to his great disappointment and shock, he witnessed Zachary make his grand debut.
"What the hell! He suddenly displayed double martial speed! Something is wrong here. And that purple aura from his body... Am I dreaming?" From that day on, Lewis kept telling everybody that nothing was impossible as long as you kept your eyes wide open and worked really hard.
The sudden appearance of a disciple with double martial speed greatly benefited the Welkin Sect. It was something that inspired every disciple to work harder.