“I… It’s my loss.”

Bai Ling still looked pale. After uttering those words, she lowered her head in silence as if she was sinking into a deep pool of water. The old and new students at the academy looked at each other, shocked at her loss. It turned out that the newcomer had been hiding his strength all along. His cultivation was on par with Nirvana Realm.

Under the Long-Gate Pass, Ji Shangfei and another Nirvana Realm disciple were similarly astounded. If even Bai Ling lost to the newcomer, that meant they were all the more so no match for him. And he was still laughing at him earlier…

“Thank you for letting me win, Senior Sister.”

Xiao Chen put away his Unsullied Sword. He had planned this all along. Even though Bai Ling’s cultivation was in the second level of the Nirvana Realm, her power was purer than his. To make things worse, he hadn’t recovered from his injuries from battling the snow beast. Had he displayed the entirety of his strength right off the bat, victory would have been impossible.

So, he put on a show from the start. He had behaved pathetically, rolling and crawling on the ground, so his opponent would underestimate him. Then, he demonstrated a portion of his power to exhaust Bai Ling’s True Energy and force her to whip out her ultimate skill.

Finally, he faked injuries so that Bai Ling would take him lightly, thus allowing him to hit her while she was unguarded. Truth to be told, using such a tactic against a lady was pretty despicable. If Jiang Qianqian was in her shoes, she would have just stabbed him with her sword at the very end, giving him no chance whatsoever. Bai Ling was careless this time.

However, the battle taught Xiao Chen one thing. Considering how strenuous it was for him to win against a mere second-level Nirvana Realm cultivator, his cultivation was truly not substantial enough. This was a fatal flaw that he must swiftly amend or he would surely lose to the purple badge-bearing older disciples of the Cloud Mist Academy.

Bai Ling raised her head to glance at him. She had been worried about hurting him, so she preserved 30 percent of her power. It turned out that he had been scheming against her since the very start. The thought made her smile weakly. She turned around and walked to the other side of the square with the Cyan Spirit Sword in hand. Her figure seemed lonely, almost desolate.

Xiao Chen frowned. He might have won, but victory brought him no joy. In fact, he found himself to be pretty despicable. The look she gave him made him uncomfortable, no matter how fleeting the feeling was.

“It’s indeed quite lively here,” said a distant voice, carrying with a hint of mirth. What appeared next was a figure flying in their direction.

Bai Ling trembled. She immediately lowered her head and cupped her hands in greeting. Her voice was shaking as well. “Se-Senior Brother Baili.”

The one who showed up was Baili Xiaohualuo. The smile on his face was as bright as the sun. His gaze lingered on Xiao Chen’s face as he said with a smile, “You’re here, Junior Brother Xiao.”

Xiao Chen narrowed his eyes. The purple badge fastened to the man’s chest indicated that he was a student a rank higher than Bai Ling and the rest. His aura also appeared much stronger. Xiao Chen couldn’t read this person’s cultivation.

He returned the smile. “Senior Brother… Baili.”

Right now, everyone on the square had their heads lowered, including the two Nirvana Realm disciples standing under the obelisk of the Long-Gate Pass. Baili Xiaohualuo smiled wanly as he looked around. “Don’t stand on ceremony, my juniors.”

His smile never left his face as he talked. The tense mood finally ceased, even if just a little, following his words.

Then, he walked toward the Long-Gate Pass. The two Nirvana Realm disciples standing under the obelisk lowered their heads and stepped aside at once. Baili Xiaohualuo stepped forward with a smile. “Welcome to the Cloud Mist Academy. I’m your Senior Brother, Baili Xiaohualuo.”

Several hundreds of the newcomers looked up at this senior brother. Even though his cultivation was far above theirs, the gentle smile on his face made him look like a dependable big brother. They relaxed. On the contrary, the four disciples responsible for welcoming the newcomers didn’t even dare to lift their heads.

In the end, Baili Xiaohualuo turned his attention to Jiang Qianqian. “Junior Sister Jiang…” Jiang Qianqian frowned and turned her head away.

Next, the newcomers were to visit a place called the Mystic Sky Pavilion and have their cultivation grade tested. That would decide who their master would be.

Meanwhile, three white-bearded old men were hovering above a certain misty peak more than ten miles away from the square, their robes fluttering in the wind.

The three of them were watching the situation in the square. Even at such a distance, even through the clouds and mist, they did not need to rely on Transmitting Formation to witness the battle in the square. Even the three Perfected Immortals, whose cultivation had reached the Grand Completion Realm, had no such supernatural power.

The men were giving off a faint Immortal Qi—and actual Immortal Qi, at that, not the aura that cultivators gave off.

They stared in the direction of the square. The one in the middle said, “That child is not ordinary. Can you tell?”

“He’s very similar to that person…”

Momentary silence later, the old man on the left finally responded. When he spoke, his eyes were filled with indescribable emotion. The other two sighed at the mention of “that person” and said nothing more. Their eyes, too, were filled with unknown feelings.

A long while later, the old man in the middle diverged from a topic that neither of them was willing to talk about. “It’s now the end of the first stage of the Annihilation Times. Do you still remember that legend?”

This time, the two men with him looked grim. They turned to look south in unison. That direction led to the Violet Manor.

“For resources, for survival, there would surely be a great war between the Wastelands and the Violet Manor when the third stage of the Annihilation Times arrives,” the old man in the middle said slowly.

“Even though the Cloud Mist Academy has nurtured so many talents, the experts of the Violet Manor would also show up one after another when the war begins. This time, I fear that the Wastelands will be no match for the Violet Manor.”

The three old men sighed. The one on the right said, “The Northern Realm of Violet Manor has the Kunlun Sword Sect as their guardians. The Southern Realm has Mount Shu Sword Sect. These two forces are beyond our perception.”

“The battle between the Wastelands and the Violet Manor is inevitable. But this time… Do you still remember the Devil clansmen who were forced to return to the Hopeless Realm thousands of years ago?”

“The Devil Clan has coveted the Human Realm for thousands of years. In recent times, the seal on the crack between the Six Domains has been getting weaker. Unnatural phenomena have been appearing in the Valley of God and Devil time and again. If the two realms wage war against each other, that would mean a genuine Annihilation Times. After being at peace for 7,000 years, the Six Domains are finally going to go through turmoil. Will this era also come to an end…?”

“Why do you think the seal on the fissures between the Six Domains is weakening? What say you, Senior Brother?”

“The half ancient scroll stated that during the previous Annihilation Times, that person sacrificed all the magic power he accumulated in his lifetime to lay down the greatest formation of Archean Eon and seal the cracks that had appeared between the Six Domains. Those cracks were the fissures of the Six Domains. 7,000 years have passed, but the fissures remain and are in fact getting worse. I fear it’s because…”

…

Xiao Chen and the rest were halfway up the mountain after nearly 30 minutes of climbing but still, there was no sign of the Mystic Sky Pavilion that Baili Xiaohualuo spoke of. Xiao Chen looked at the greenery and delightful scenery around him and asked, “What’s the name of the Sect Leader?”

His question caught Baili Xiaohualuo off guard but he was soon smiling. “You must still be confused, Junior Brother Xiao. The Cloud Mist Academy isn’t a sect, so there’s no such thing as a Sect Leader. When you leave the academy in the future, you’re free to join any sect or even build your force. The academy wouldn’t interfere with your choice.”

This was true. Many students had built a name for themselves after leaving the Cloud Mist Academy, but they would never make an enemy of the academy. Even if their politics were no longer aligned with the academy, they were still emotionally attached to the place. Of course, as the saying went, there were always exceptions.

A youngster beside them was full of excitement. “If there’s no Sect Leader, who oversees the Cloud Mist Academy then?”

Baili Xiaohualuo laughed. “There are four grandmasters overseeing the daily affairs of the academy. Sometimes, the three Perfected Immortals would show themselves and handle matters personally. Above them are Sword Saint, Chess Saint, and Zither Saint. However, the three Saints rarely make an appearance. I have yet to meet them even after staying here for so long.”

“Oh. The three Saints must all be very powerful…” The youngster nodded, and then asked curiously, “Then do the three Saints accept disciples?”

The moment the youngster voiced his questions, several older disciples nearby stopped in their tracks. That included Bai Ling. Their expressions were a little odd. Baili Xiaohualuo was briefly taken aback before laughing. “The Mystic Sky Pavilion is right ahead. Let’s go.”

The group continued walking for a while before they finally reached another square surrounded by lush greenery and blooming flowers all around. In the middle of the square was a massive formation emitting a golden glow.

“That’s the teleportation formation that will take us to the Mystic Sky Pavilion. There are many such formations in the Cloud Mist Academy,” Baili Xiaohualuo explained, smiling. He pointed to a distant island floating in the sky. “That’s the Mystic Sky Pavilion. Come, let’s use the Teleportation Formation to get there.”

Everyone followed Baili Xiaohualuo into the formation and reappeared on the floating island in the blink of an eye. When they looked down, they could see the square they previously were in. It was quite a magical experience.

There was a large stone chamber on the island, with a green-colored restoration formation on its right. The most eye-catching things, however, were the objects on the left—three differently tall steles that gave off an inexplicable sense of dignity.

Noticing everyone’s attention on the steles, Baili Xiaohualuo smiled and explained, “That’s the Mystic Sky Rankings of the Cloud Mist Academy.”

“Mystic Sky Rankings…”

Xiao Chen’s gaze lingered on the three steles. The one on the far left was the tallest and widest, with more complicated carving too. The entire stele, with its purple glow that soared into the sky, looked imposing. The middle one was a little shorter, with simpler carvings, and emitted a cyan glow. The one on the right was the shortest of them all. It looked like an ordinary stele that gave off a white light.

“These are the Heaven Ranking, Earth Ranking, and Human Ranking.”

Following Baili Xiaohualuo’s explanation, the group slowly approached the steles and stared at the glowing characters on them. Those characters were the names of the students of the Cloud Mist Academy. There were 36 names on the Heaven Ranking, 70 on the Earth Ranking, and 200 on the Human Ranking. Anyone who could enter the rankings could be considered extraordinary.

With a glance, Xiao Chen found Baili Xiaohualuo’s name on the Heaven Ranking—placed merely 36th. That meant that his cultivation put him at the very rear of the Heaven Ranking.

Xiao Chen couldn’t help feeling surprised. Baili Xiaohualuo’s cultivation was clearly above his own. Was he also just about qualified for the bottom place of the Heaven Ranking? He was ranked 8th on the Heaven List of the Violet Manor; where would he place here?

The List of Experts in Heaven and Earth of the Violet Manor was decided through battles, but the Mystic Sky Rankings were different. How would they decide the rankings here?