That morning, the door to Donghua Tao Academy, 5,000 feet above ground level, was already packed with people.

Zhou Bai was wedged in the crowd. Looking at all the clamor around him, he thought uncomfortably, “This many people came to take the exam? How long is it going to take?”

He eventually managed to get in line, check in, and follow the other applicants into the school.

The first round was a physical exam, which included height, weight, bone age, health condition, and whether or not they had been infected by Spark.

After this basic exam came the main course—testing of the Primordial Spirit Value.

Zhou Bai was in the middle of the line, watching other lines proceed around him as the applicants walked to the primordial spirit detector to get their Primordial Spirit Value tested.

While some applicants were pale and nervous, others were calm and collected, some even appearing very confident.

Suddenly, Zhou Bai heard a cry: A girl had grabbed onto the teacher and wouldn’t leave the detector. “Please! Please let me get tested again!” the girl cried. “I didn’t sleep well last night. I was just too nervous. Give me one more chance. I’ll definitely do better.”

Out of fairness, everyone’s test results were projected onto a large screen above the detector, including this girl’s results. She had 29 points, 1 point short of the 30-point Primordial Spirit Value minimum.

The proctor shook his head. “You’ve already been tested three times. Come again next year.”

“No, I’m already 20 this year—I don’t have a chance next year. Please, please, let me try a—”

An explosive bang rang out. The proctor had decisively knocked out the girl. Too many people cried their hearts out like this every year because they had failed the exam.

Their distress was understandable, as the four big Tao academies—and the only four Tao academies—represented the most elite power of humankind.

From a material perspective, this place had the best resources for practice. In a spiritual sense, this was the most promising route to realizing one’s dreams of resisting the Mara, protecting the nation, and revitalizing humankind. In this doomsday-like era, it was the place for young people to achieve countless dreams.

Zhou Bai shook his head. “If this girl doesn’t pass this time, then she’ll either join the military, join some small sect, or be assigned a job by Paradise. No matter what route she takes, it’ll be far inferior to becoming a Tao academy student.”

A few minutes later, the applicates began exclaiming. Zhou Bai looked over at the detection equipment and saw a young man standing with the test results shown above him on the screen as 99.

Zhou Bai grinned slightly. “Wow, a genius? It’ll be my turn to shine in a bit.”

As they waited, every now and then, exclamations would rise from the crowd as the genius students whose Primordial Spirit Value had reached 99 points would appear on the screen.

Right before it was Zhou Bai’s turn, he heard a commotion louder than all the others. All the applicants looked at the screen, and all appeared astonished.

A giant “105” appeared with the test results. Everyone lowered their voices and whispered among each other.

“Is this for real? Someone’s Primordial Spirit Value is 105?” someone loudly asked.

Another applicant postured, “Is this some kind of joke? Didn’t they say the highest possible was 99?”

“Who is that guy? Did he practice Tao before he even entered school? Is he a genius whose Degree of Taoification broke through 0%?”

The tall, pale man with a ponytail on the platform glanced coldly at the detection results and then casually walked off the platform.

Zhou Bai watched the man with the 105-point Primordial Spirit Value with displeasure. “I thought my 99-point Primordial Spirit Value was already at the top of the students this year and would increase my chances of passing, but here’s someone with 105?!”

“Zhou Bai!”

Hearing his name called out, Zhou Bai walked up to the equipment area and, with a direction of his will, injected his primordial spirit power into the spherical detector floating in the air before him.

Instantly, “99” appeared on the large screen, but this time no one exclaimed or otherwise seemed to notice; they were still recovering from the shock of a 105-point Primordial Spirit Value.

“Tch!” Zhou Bai’s lips twitched before he followed the ranks to the next examination site.

…

At the same time, inside an office, several Tao academy teachers were watching the entrance exam through the monitors.

“A total of 12,000 students passed the first round of exams,” a white-haired elder exclaimed. “There are fewer and fewer children who are gifted at practicing Tao. Heaven is not blessing humankind.”

“Principal, although there are fewer people, there are more elites,” said a young woman with sharp eyes and a ponytail. “The Primordial Spirit Value of 25 students reached 99 points. One of them has even entered the Tao already, and his Primordial Spirit Value is at 105.”

The female teacher continued thoughtfully. “The distortion of the Heavenly Tao is worsening. For normal people, practicing Tao is becoming increasingly more difficult, but for geniuses it’s become even faster to obtain power.”

The elder, Zhao Shouyi, who was referred to as “principal” but was actually the vice-principal nodded. “His Primordial Spirit Value is 105? Could it be Zuo Dao from the Zuo family?”

“It’s him. That kid is incredibly gifted. His future is infinitely promising,” the female teacher praised. “He might be the top candidate in this year’s exam.”

…

As the first round of testing ended, the number of qualifying applicants fell to 12,000 people, who were then randomly assigned to different locations to proceed to the second round of testing.

Zhou Bai stood with the other students at a square. Although countless buildings still floated overhead, the entire square was bright as day under the radiance of the artificial sunlight.

Zhou Bai stood in place, listening to Christina say, “Zhou Bai, I’ve definitely been here before. It feels so familiar to me.”

Zhou Bai looked at the spacious, clean Tao academy that formed a stark comparison against the lower ground-level district and exclaimed, “This place is like a rich neighborhood compared to the slums of the residential district.”

At that moment, Zhou Bai heard someone say, “The environment is better up here, but it’s also more dangerous in battle.”

“Donghua City is structured so that the higher you get, the larger the area of the district and the stronger the individuals are. They protect the lower levels like shields.

“This is so that when defending against Mara attacks the strong people above protect the weaker ones below. The ground-level district where the normal population lives is actually the safest place.”

Zhou Bai turned around and saw a girl with short hair and wearing a tracksuit standing before him. She said with a smile, “My name is Jing Xiu. Are you Zhou Bai?”

Zhou Bai asked, “Do we know each other?”

“I was in your line when we tested for Primordial Spirit Value. We both have 99 points.” Jing Xiu continued to explain, “Although the second and third rounds of exams still remain, people with a 99-point Primordial Spirit Value are generally never eliminated during those rounds. You should know what kind of willpower and comprehension one needs to reach this level before they turn 20.”

Zhou Bai agreed, “Indeed.”

“So…” Jing Xiu reached out a hand and said with a smile, “Hello, classmate.”

“Hello.” Zhou Bai shook her hand.