Everyone was very well behaved as they sat there quietly, waiting for three days to pa.s.s.
Empress Luan Xing and the others all ran over to Ling Han. They hadn’t seen each other for 10 years.
Ling Han embraced the Heavenly Phoenix Divine Maiden in his left arm and Empress Luan Xing in his right arm. He then briefly filled them in about his encounters. Of course, he naturally couldn’t go into much detail in such a public area. After all, the existence of the Celestial Realm was a very significant matter.
Three days pa.s.sed by in a flash, and many more people arrived before the ninth campus of the Star Sand Martial Arts Academy. In addition to the king tiers who had partic.i.p.ated in the compet.i.tion in the Sunken Abyss Valley, there were also many more cultivators at the Mountain River Tier and Sun Moon Tier.
Qualifying to enter the Star Sand Martial Arts Academy wasn’t based on cultivation level alone. Rather, the recruitment was based on one’s talent, comprehension ability, and physique. It didn’t matter if one’s cultivation level was low. After all, this was something that could eventually be raised. However, there were some natural characteristics that couldn’t be changed, regardless of how high one’s cultivation level was.
If one wanted to become a Saint, cultivation level definitely wasn’t the key.
Anyhow, the minimum requirement for entering the Star Sand Martial Arts Academy was reaching the pinnacle level in at least one major tier. Thus, there were only around 3000 or so prospective disciples at this campus. Among them, there were over 2900 rank one king tiers. There were far fewer rank two king tiers, only 300 or so. Meanwhile, there were only a measly 12 rank three king tiers.
Apart from Empress Luan Xing, Gu Daoyi, Long Xiangyue, and the four others, Ling Han was a newly advanced rank three king tier. Regarding the four others, these were king tiers who had arrived not long ago. Because of this matter or that matter, these rank three king tiers hadn’t managed to make it in time to partic.i.p.ate in the compet.i.tion in the Sunken Abyss Valley.
“The nine Saints are about to recruit disciples!” At this moment, an Eternal River Tier elite walked out from the Star Sand Martial Arts Academy and announced the beginning of the recruitment process. “Each person will be called up, and the nine Saints will decide whether or not they want to take you as a disciple. If only one Saint shows interest, then you’ll be taken as a disciple of that Saint. If two or more Saints show interest, then you can decide which Saint you want to become a disciple of.
“Gu Daoyi!”
The elite called out the first name.
The first person to be called up was naturally the prodigy the Star Sand Martial Arts Academy valued the most.
Gu Daoyi, the greatest prodigy of all eternity!
Everyone gazed at Gu Daoyi with envy. He was publicly acknowledged as the most powerful prodigy. His physique was extraordinary, and he was more so capable of suppressing all other beings. However, it was a shame that he had failed to gain an overwhelming advantage over Empress Luan Xing or Ling Han. This left a slight blemish on his name.
However, even so, the nine Saints still held him in higher regard, placing his name first.
He had received the appreciation of Saints; this was an incredible honor!
Commotion instantly swept through the crowd of prodigies. In fact, the eyes of many of them went red with jealousy.
In reality, Gu Daoyi didn’t need to view Saints with any respect. After all, he had once been a grand elder at the Severing Mundane Tier! However, after living 10 lives, his personality had also become that of a young person. This was more so the case seeing that he had failed to defeat Ling Han and Empress Luan Xing after battling against them so many times. This irritated him greatly.
Now that he was called up first, it was as if his name was being redeemed. This made him feel slightly smug and happy.
He was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with pride as he walked forward. There was a large expanse of empty land before them, and the nine Saints were each seated on a stone lotus around this empty land. These stone lotuses were only nine meters tall, yet wherever there was a Saint, the land around them would become a saintly land. The expanse of empty land was illuminated by a soft divine light, with an intoxicating fragrance wafting from its surface. Fresh and blooming flowers also fluttered down from the sky as if they were celebrating a grand event.
“I desire to take him as my disciple,” a Saint said.
“I desire to take him as my disciple,” another Saint said.
“I desire to take him as my disciple.”
“…”
“I desire to take him as my disciple.”
The nine Saints spoke one after another, all of them expressing their desire to take Gu Daoyi as their disciple.
The 3000 or so prodigies were all filled with jealousy when they saw this. These were nine Saints! Yet, they had all expressed their desire to take Gu Daoyi as their disciple. This was a profound honor!
There was pride and haughtiness in Gu Daoyi’s mind. In his eyes, even Saints didn’t have the right to take him as a disciple. However, he was only at the Heavenly Body Tier right now, so what could he do about this? He had already completed the majority of his preparations in the Medicine King’s Cave. If he wanted to return to the Genesis Tier as soon as possible, he would definitely have to rely on external help and power.
The Star Sand Martial Arts Academy was his best choice.
His aim was to win the appreciation of the Star Sand Saint so that he could be accepted as his 10th disciple. If that were to occur, he would obtain boundless resources from the Star Sand Saint, and would then have the confidence to become a Saint King in just 1000 years!
At that time, he could tear open a pa.s.sageway to the Celestial Realm and return to his homeland. He would then be able to attend to his unfinished business!
In this life, he, Gu Daoyi, was going to become a king tier of the Celestial Realm. He was going to battle for fortune with the True Sons and True Daughters of those powerful sects!
“Gu Daoyi, whom do you wish to take as master?” the Star Sand Saint’s sixth disciple, the Peaceful Radiance Saint, asked.
Gu Daoyi pondered this for a moment. Right now, he still didn’t have the right to directly become a disciple of the Star Sand Saint. It was evident that the Star Sand Saint still needed to observe their character and talent such that he could pick his favorite prodigy out of the 900 disciples. He would then take this prodigy as his direct disciple, and teach them with all of his heart and care.
It was a shame that Gu Daoyi couldn’t announce that he had once been a grand elder at the Severing Mundane Tier—wouldn’t it mean reaching the Genesis Tier be mere child’s play for him? However, if he truly announced this, how could he be sure that these Saints wouldn’t try to steal the fruits of his cultivation?
He was feeling slightly regretful now. He hadn’t killed Ling Han at that time, and he had allowed this hidden danger to grow more powerful. This was all because he had been worked up and convinced by Ling Han’s words at that time!
In fact, he couldn’t have killed Ling Han even if he had wanted to. After all, Ling Han still had the Black Tower.
Gu Daoyi pondered for a moment longer before answering, “I want to become a disciple of the Black River Saint.”
The Black River Saint was the first disciple of the Star Sand Saint. His power was profound, and it was rumored that he might have already become a Medium Saint. However, Gu Daoyi clearly hadn’t chosen him because of this reason. Rather, it was because he felt that the Black River Saint was just barely worthy of teaching and helping him, being the first disciple of the Star Sand Saint and all.
“Very well!” the Black River Saint said with a nod. He gestured with his hand, and Gu Daoyi instantly flew before the lotus platform that he was sitting on.
There were 900 spots, and one of them had already been taken.
“Ling Han!” the Eternal River Tier elite from before called. Only in the Star Sand Martial Arts Academy would an Eternal River Tier elite become a mere host of an event.
Ling Han… was the second prodigy to be called over!
The prodigies all wore strange expressions. The compet.i.tion in the Sunken Abyss Valley had been a battle between the most powerful king tiers, where only one person could ascend the peak. Ling Han had emerged victorious in that compet.i.tion, with Empress Luan Xing helping him hold Gu Daoyi back. However, in this “compet.i.tion”, he had been beaten by Gu Daoyi.
It was clear that the Saints held Gu Daoyi’s physique in higher regard.
“I desire to take him as my disciple.”
“I desire to take him as my disciple.”
“…”
“I desire to take him as my disciple.”
The nine Saints almost all spoke in unison. Although they held Ling Han in slightly lower regard, this was mainly because of his natural physique. However, he was still a piece of rare jade that was worth their effort in carving.
This was also the reason why Ling Han was the second king tier to be called over.
Of course, he was still inferior to Gu Daoyi. After all, that was a Divine Fetus! His future prospects were boundless. In fact, even their master, the Star Sand Saint, had wanted to directly take Gu Daoyi as his disciple. However, thinking about it carefully, he decided to also give the other prodigies a chance and some encouragement. With this in mind, he suppressed his urge to directly take Gu Daoyi as his disciple.
With the appearance of Gu Daoyi, the other prodigies were all destined to become dull and lackl.u.s.ter, regardless of how freakishly prodigious they were.
The gulf between them was far too large, so large that they didn’t even have the right to compete against him.
“Ling Han, what’s your decision?” the Black River Saint asked.
Ling Han’s expression was calm, yet he was actually feeling extremely p.i.s.sed off.
Why was he viewed as inferior to Gu Daoyi?