crack crack!
With a crackling sound, Lu Shen was thrown out of his dream.
Lu Shen wake up, his heart pounding like drum in his chest and tears streaming down his cheeks.
The images from his dream made his heart throb in pain. Seeing the condition of Lu Lishen and his wife, and the lifeless eyes of baby Lu Shen, made his heart bleed in sorrow. He remembered how Lu Lishen was struggling, even though he did not know if this dream was true or not.
"Why did I cry?"
Lu Shen became more confused as time passed and tears rolled down his cheeks. He didn't even remember this dream as his memory. He recalled that he was raised by another family, who were alive until five years ago. They died in the wilderness while hunting some low level beasts. This was why he was more confused by this dream.
Who was that baby Lu Shen?
Why did we have the same name?
Why did I not remember anything?
Lu Shen racked his brain for more than two hours, but he couldn't find the answers he was seeking.
Looking at the time, he noticed that it was already morning.
he shaking his head, he headed to the washroom to clean himself of the blood and sweat from last night.
The strange energy that had flowed through his body caused blood to seep from his skin, and the cracks in his body had been healed by the spirit of the origin bracelet pure energy.
After some time...
Lu Shen washed his whole body and looked at his figure in the mirror.
"Wow, so handsome"
Lu Shen commented to himself. He even felt proud for a second, but he quickly shook his head. However, one thing is sure, he is indeed handsome than idols from the blue star.
"Hmm, they and I have the same face," Lu Shen guessed, thinking about Lu Lishen and Ye Liuhua faces. As he carefully examined himself, he could spot some similarities between them and himself.
"coincidence...?"
…
Meanwhile, at the Northern High Academy, the principal and vice principals were busy making preparations for the upcoming graduation exam.
In the meeting room,
All the teachers from every class were present. At the center, an old man, the principal of Northern High, he rested his hand on his chin as he listened to the reports from the teachers.
"Umm, that's enough" the principal said to the teacher presenting his report on the big screen.
"As you mentioned, this time the graduation test will first be held in the virtual world. After passing some level tests in the virtual world, they can be considered to have passed the exam, correct?" the principal asked the teacher.
"Yes, sir. The graduation test this time will be divided into many levels. The first tests will be held between low level strongholds. After that, it will progress to city level competitions, and those who pass can then participate in continent wide student battles for the top spot" the teacher of Class A explained.
"Umm, so our meeting ends here. Send all the details of this graduation rule and how the graduation test will be conducted to all students." the principal announced before walking out of the meeting room.
...
Principal Zhang walked out of Northern Academy and got into his car, than he instruct his driver to head towards his house.
"Sigh..."
"It seems the frontline is not as safe as it seems, and to protect it, we have to even use students" Principal Zhang sighed thinking about frontline condition.
The thought of using new students, who were barely eighteen, to go to the frontline and face demons where they could lose their lives at any moment weighed heavily on him.
Some might argue that going to the frontline and killing demon beasts was an opportunity for new students to gain resources and fame. However, Principal Zhang knew it wasn't that simple.
The ones who often died first on the frontline were the sons and daughters of poor families, while the wealthy and noble families had numerous treasures to protect their lives. Their warrior realm levels were also higher than those of ordinary students.
Thinking about this, Principal Zhang felt pity for Lu Shen. He had observed how talented Lu Shen was compared to so called clans and noble family's descendants. Despite being an orphan, Lu Shen had cultivated to the intermediate stage of the refinement realm in just one week after awakening his bloodline, without any support from cultivation resources or a clan to back him up.
Principal Zhang understood why this year's graduation exam had been changed. High level warriors wanted to nurture individuals who could relieve pressure on the frontline, fighting demon beasts and potentially becoming pillars of strength in the future.
This initiative wasn't limited to just the East Continent, all four continents were adopting similar measures. The Warrior Association, military forces, and four elite universities had collaborated to select the most talented individuals, nurturing them to become the best warriors of their generation.
It would have been beneficial if Lu Shen had been selected for this Elite Vanguard Selection program. However, Principal Zhang couldn't overlook the challenges he might have to face.
Only ten students would be chosen from the entire Nexus World, and Lu Shen just awakening a top grade bloodline and reaching the intermediate stage of the refinement realm in just weak, those were not enough to that Lu Shen can get stop in Elite Vanguard Selection competition.
In a world where there can be thousands peoples possessing top grade bloodlines.
could Lu Shen compete?
Could he survive in the Elite Vanguard Selection?
Absolutely not.
Principal Zhang felt pity for Lu Shen. If he had been born into a noble or powerful clan, he might have been able to fully display his talent.
But that wasn't his reality.
"But he can become a powerful warrior in the future, and that's good for him. At least he won't have to face danger"
.....
"Umm, I think I should at least book a room with a training ground and equipment" Lu Shen suddenly thought.
He had been living in the slum area for almost five years since his parents' death. Now, he had enough capital to buy a house in the core area of Azure Cloud Stronghold. However, after considering it carefully, Lu Shen decided against buying a house there.
He believed that with his strength, he could easily gain admission to any of four elite universities, and he might have to move from this area in the future. Buying a house in Azure Cloud Stronghold might be wasteful since he had no relatives there. Therefore, he chose to rent a house for the time being.
However, he didn't have enough money for even that, so he decided to go to the Warrior Association to sell all the corpses of demon beasts he had killed in the trial grounds.
Lu Shen used his Void Watch to locate the Warrior Association, and its location was displayed on the three dimensional map of Azure Cloud Stronghold.
After walking for some time...
Lu Shen looked ahead and he saw a huge building with ten floors. In front of him was a massive gate attached with two crossed blades at the top and the inscription "Warrior Association" at the bottom.
Lu Shen gazed at the two crossed blades forming a cross. His mind buzzed as he conjured images of fearless warriors facing demon beasts. He held the blades in his hands, standing firm and glaring at a massive demon beast even in the face of death, his blades radiating a dense killing intent.
Gulp!
Gulp!
"Oh my god, what fierce killing intent"
Lu Shen felt intimidated by the sight of the two crossed blades.
Taking a deep breath, Lu Shen shook himself to free from that intimidating image and he approach the entrance of the Warrior Association.
Lu Shen entered the gate of the Warrior Association, he saw warriors moving from one door to another, some deeply engrossed in watching screens that displayed various posts.
Lu Shen walked toward the registration counter. He approached a receptionist who seemed occupied with her Void Watch.
"Excuse me" Lu Shen politely interrupted her.
The receptionist glanced up at Lu Shen, she noticing his handsome appearance in his new clothes. He had chosen them during a shopping trip with Feng Yue.
"Oh, what do you need?" She asked, finding it difficult to shift her gaze away from Lu Shen, mesmerized by his handsome appearance.
"Cough, cough... I'm here to register" Lu Shen coughed awkwardly, feeling uncomfortable under her unblinking stare.
"Ah" the receptionist softly muttered, her cheeks blushing slightly.
She then took out a round, crystal like ball and a scanning device.
"Ahem, ahem... You need to scan in this scanner and place your hand on this crystal to check your realm and bloodline grade" She said, still blushing and remembering how he behaved earlier.
Lu Shen looked at the girl with black hair, he notice her beauty figure and how she was blushing in front of him. Unsure of what to do, he took a deep breath and placed his left wrist, where his Void Watch was worn, onto the scanner.
Di di di...
All of Lu Shen's information began to appear on the counter monitor. He then proceeded to place his hand on the round crystal ball.
As Lu Shen's hand made contact with the crystal ball, he could feel it scanning his entire body, including his warrior realm and his bloodline grade.
"Wait... early Integration Realm at the age of eighteen..." the receptionist exclaimed in surprise.
"What? Integration Realm warrior at eighteen?"
All around them, warriors halted in their tracks, turning to look at the source of the unexpected outburst. They saw Lu Shen lost in thought while the receptionist stared at him in shock, her hand covering her mouth.
"Is that true?"
a muscular warrior approached Lu Shen and the reception counter.
He too was taken aback when he saw the green light emanating from the round crystal ball.
"It's true..." he exclaimed in disbelief.
"What? It's true!"
The crowd surrounding the reception area astonishment voice echoed.
Lu Shen was startled by the sudden commotion and scanned the faces around him, seeing looks of disbelief and some warriors mouths were open wide enough to fit a whole egg inside.
Turning to the receptionist girl with confusion,
"What happened?"
"You are at the early Integration Realm at eighteen years old" she explained, pointing her deliciated finger at Lu Shen and continuing,
"You see the light green showing in the crystal ball? It indicates that you are at the early Integration Realm."
"What?" Lu Shen was shocked to learn that his warrior realm had been exposed.
"Shit, I forgot that I can hide my realm from warriors but not from technology"
he composed and calm himself down, Lu Shen managed a faint smile.
"Can I get my warrior realm ID?"
"Of course, of course!"
The receptionist girl replied eagerly, relieved to see Lu Shen's smile. She understood that he must have been concealing his warrior realm, which she had unexpectedly exposed. She felt grateful that even after accidentally revealing Lu Shen's warrior realm, he didn't get angry at her.
After some time, she processed something on the computer without delving deeply into Lu Shen's background or checking for any criminal charges in his past. Judging by Lu Shen's demeanor, she didn't think much and printed his ID, she assuming that he might be from a clan or noble family.
She immediately handed Lu Shen a green badge with crossed blades, similar to the gate of the Warrior Association, and one star on it.
"Here" she handed badge to Lu Shen.
Lu Shen took the badge and pinned it to his right chest. After that, he asked the receptionist girl about the different of the color shown in the crystal ball and where he could sell demon corpses.
Lu Shen learned that the warrior realm testing crystal ball glowed in different colors for each warrior realm, white for Refinement Realm warriors, green for Integration Realm, blue for Spirit Core Realm, and so on.
Each star on the badge indicated his stage of realm, with one star indicating he was in early Integration Realm.