It has been 10 years since Ye Feng took the saint force test. Ye Feng's reputation in the Ye clan had risen tremendously thanks to his cultivation talent that he showed to everyone in the clan when he took the saint force test.
All his siblings became so jealous of him, except for his first brother, Ye Long. Ye Feng didn't grow arrogant when his reputation rose in the clan after the saint force test, but instead he continued cultivating and practicing his swordsmanship under the guidance of De.
It only took Ye Feng two years to surpass De in swordsmanship. When Ye Gou heard the news, he was very surprised, and he decided to test Ye Feng's swordsmanship talent himself, so he sparred with Ye Feng in swordsmanship. After Ye Feng and Ye Gou sparred in swordsmanship, Ye Gou couldn't believe what he was witnessing. He was shocked by his son's talent because Ye Feng's learning curve was so high that he only needed to see his swordsmanship style once in order to learn it.
Ye Gou made up his mind to train Ye Feng in swordsmanship himself. He might not be a sword cultivator, but he used a sword in the past, despite his saint weapon being a heavy spear. On top of that, he fought against many incredible sword cultivators in the past when he used to travel around the Tian Tuan Continent and when he was part of the Celestial Mountain Sect.
Thanks to Ye Gou's connections in the Celestial Mountain Sect, he was able to get some books and scrolls in swordsmanship to be gifted to Ye Feng in order for him to improve his swordsmanship skills.
Ye Feng used the books and scrolls that Ye Gou gifted him to improve his swordsmanship, and Ye Gou was very impressed with his son's improvement speed.
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Ye Feng is 15 years old now. He stood outside the Ye mansion with Mu and a silver eagle monster beast. Mu was waiting patiently for Ye Feng to finish saying his goodbyes to his parents in order for them to start travelling to the Azure Dragon Academy.
The Azure Dragon Academy is the biggest cultivation academy in the Hidden Dragon Kingdom. The current academy head master is an early Heavenly Saint Master realm expert. Also, the academy head master is one of the top experts in the Hidden Dragon Kingdom.
Ye Gou looked at his son with pride and said, "Remember, Feng'er, don't slack off and focus on your cultivation." Ye Feng smiled at his father. "Don't worry, father; I promise I will not disappoint you." Ye Gou smiled at his son and nodded.
Ye Feng became quite a handsome young man; his long black hair danced in the wind, and his black eyes were full of life. He had a slim, muscular physique and a fair complexion.
His mother walked to him and said, "Remember to be respectable to your teachers, Feng'er." Ye Feng smiled and nodded, then he turned to Mu and said, "Uncle Mu, let's go." Mu smiled and nodded.
Both of them jumped on the back of the silver eagle monster beast, then Mu commanded the silver eagle monster beast to fly, and it flew in the sky towards the Azure Dragon Academy.
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Both Mu and Ye Feng were sitting on top of the silver eagle monster beast, and the beast was flying at top speed towards the academy.
Mu was quite impressed by Ye Feng, who was sitting and relaxing on the silver eagle monster beast. Not bothered by the flying speed that the silver eagle was currently using at all, Mu smiled at Ye Feng and said, "Young Master Feng, when you arrive at the academy, I recommend that the first thing you need to do is meet up with Young Master Long. He has been in the Azure Dragon Academy for quite some time now, and he must be very familiar with the academy."
Ye Feng thought about what Mu said and nodded to him. "You right, uncle Mu, when I reach the academy, I will look for him first after I settle down in the academy."
Mu smiled at Ye Feng, and they continued flying towards the Azure Dragon Academy.
After two hours, they arrived. When Ye Feng got off the silver eagle monster beast and was about to say his farewell to Mu, he heard someone yelling "fifth brother."
Ye Feng turned his head towards the voice and smiled when he saw the person who was waving his hand to him. It was his first brother, Ye Long. Mu smiled when he saw Ye Long and said to Ye Feng, "Take care, young master; I will return to the clan." After saying his peace, Mu commanded the silver eagle to fly back to the Ye clan mansion.
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Ye Long walked to Ye Feng after Mu flew away and smiled at Ye Feng, "Good to see you, fifth brother." Ye Feng smiled back at Ye Long and said, "Good to see you too, first brother."
After the two brothers entered the academy, Ye Feng decided to ask Ye Long, "First brother, what can you tell me about the academy? You have been in the academy for a while now."
Ye Long smiled at Ye Feng and thought about his question, then said, "Well, let me start explaining the basic information about the academy first." Ye Feng nodded. "The academy accepts anybody, no matter what background they come from, but there are two requirements you need to fulfil in order to be accepted. In the academy, the first requirement is that you need to be at least in the 8th layer of the Saint Force realm, and the second requirement is that you must not be older than 18 years old."
When Ye Feng heard this, he nodded. He already knew these two requirements, and Ye Long continued explaining, "When you reach the Great Saint Master realm, you will be forced to graduate from the academy. Even if you don't want to leave the academy, the graduated students usually have three options to choose from after they leave the academy, and these options are: to join the Hidden Dragon Army and become a soldier of our kingdom, or to become a mercenary, or to become an independent cultivator."
Ye Feng thought about it; he didn't want to join the army; he wanted to travel the Tian Yuan continent. The only options left for him were either to become a mercenary or an independent cultivator. Ye Long continued, "Most of the students here choose to join the army because of the financial and the cultivation resources which the king rewards his soldiers. I heard he is quite generous with his rewards".
Ye Feng nodded in understanding, and Ye Long continued, "A small number of the students here choose to join the mercenary union to become mercenaries, or they roam around the Tian Yuan continent as independent cultivators".
"There are no restrictions placed on the mercenaries by the mercenary union, except that you need to pay 10% of the mission reward money to the mercenary union if the mission you completed was given to you by the mercenary union."
Ye Feng nodded and kept listening. Ye Long continued, "The academy has a huge library with different books available for students. The library has five levels and contains books on many different subjects. Only the first two levels are available to the students, and the third level is only accessible to the students who won the freshmen competition."
Ye Feng was confused and asked, "What is the freshmen competition?" Ye Long smiled. "All the new students compete with each other. They enter the azure fang pagoda, which has 10 levels, and the students fight against puppets. Whoever reaches a higher level in the pagoda than all the other participants will be the winner of the competition. The winner of the competition will receive one rank 3 monster core; the runner-up will receive one rank 2 monster core; and the third-place winner will receive one rank 1 monster core."
Ye Feng's eyes shone in excitement, and he said, "I can't wait for the competition to start." Ye Long chuckles, but then he said in a serious tone, "However, fifth brother, you must know something important about the pagoda; only the first 5 levels are accessible." Ye Feng was surprised and asked, "How come?" Ye Long shocked his head and said, "No one knows the reason behind it; only the founder of this academy knows why it is not accessible. I heard the headmaster tried many times to open the sixth level of the pagoda but failed to open it. This pagoda is so mysterious."
Ye Feng was deep in thought after what he just heard about the Azure Fang Pagoda, but Ye Long snapped him from his thought when he said, "Fifth brother, snap out of it." Ye Feng chuckled at Ye Long and nodded. Ye Long then said, "Every morning, there are classes, but it is not compulsory for you to attend those classes. The teacher talks about many different subjects that are related to cultivation, and he also answers any questions students may have or clarifies any doubts they have about their own personal cultivation. So it is good to attend these classes because you get a chance to ask questions that you need answers for when you are stuck in your cultivation."
Ye Feng nodded, and then they arrived at the place where Ye Feng would be staying. It was a simple room with a bed, desk, and chair. Ye Long smiled. "We will part ways here, fifth brother. If you need anything, come and find me, and don't forget, tomorrow is the fresher competition. I look forward to see how you will do." Ye Feng smiled and nodded. They bid each other farewell, then Ye Feng entered his room and decided to rest for today and get ready for the competition tomorrow.