40 The Pride

"I greet you."

Students in the vicinity were awe at the sight, when was there ever a special gathering of the elders? Though their powers have shortened drastically with old age, all of them had accomplished some achievements with their life.

True Ice Monk had chosen to retire as a Peak tier and, as his name suggested, controlled the arts of ice, even having the disciple of the Permafrost Emperor.

Thousand Hand was a prodigy and true master of martial arts without usage of the Body of Arts provided to the populace, a true loyalist to body enhancement with standard rigorous training. In a battle when a world was being engulfed by the Soul Realm, he led a group of warriors to fend off against the hordes of beasts. Each attacks that they fended off against the creatures, which heavily outnumbered them, was blocked by one hand with each encounter.

Several seniors among the pride had also appeared, dominating their expertise, pioneering new and exotic development never seen before. The achievements of the older generations surmounted much for each generation.

But as if the merits weren't enough, the only one that bypassed all of them was Wu Kao, the Universal Teacher.

He reached the fourth gate, a gate where without the comprehension and power of the third gate, one would gain a chance to try their luck in ascending. This was the true skill barrier that separated the truly gifted from the upper echelons.

They all bowed in unison as Wu Kao stood solemnly among the crowd, a simple wooden furbish design, however thousands of years of insight was instilled into that staff.

This was a honor!

The staff was used in the enlightenment of Wu Kao in the Death Chilling Trials that tested even the sturdiness of minds and making choices. Each second glanced at the staff created serene thoughts and kindled soul energy from within the youths, all sat down in the meditative position as they watched what the commotion was about.

Bai Li was also included, startled by the whole event for such a simple transfer, kept as much as a straight face possible.

His soul energy was also included as well as his qi.

'So Wu Kao's power even helps me course qi throughout my body?'

He trembled in excitement to see his cultivation go by leaps and bounds.

Sitting in a meditative position like the rest, all was quiet. Though the event was not to make cheers for new students, but as a way to further the development of the students.

Ten seconds had passed with nothing but a silent mantra by the students.

Wu Kao stomped the ground with the staff, the sound woke everyone from their cultivation. Ten seconds was really no amount of time to do anything but all were content with the meeting.

This created a sense of gratitude to the new student by the rest of his colleagues as they all bid farewell, even the elders were leaving.

The entire event was surreal, would the time he spent in this new school be like this for the rest?

How would he know, he was left stumped but did not fret over the small details, the little time he saw Wu Kao bridged all worries of what he had in mind if he intended.

Without a proper transfer or reason, wouldn't the student who with grueling trials and practice had reached the edge of Greyman Institute, but this kid whose age was three years reached here without anything?

What in the right mind would do such a thing if not favoritism.

The teachers must've thought of this and decided to do such a thing to keep the school from being hellbent on the new arrival. If they hadn't, maybe he would have already died from the jealousy.

Bai Li was thankful for the kind gesture as he packed up his belongings.

Cheng He soon followed suit, not appearing for the meditation, "You already up? Let's go, I'll show you around," a great smiled plastered on his face.

Similar of that with any school of the olden times, large open areas were shown everywhere and were deemed lecture halls. Practice rooms were sprawled endlessly with most in use, all students were normally diligent in training and different glades and willows sprawled throughout.

In other words, it was basically a paradise, a self sustaining environment where farming is done to get food and other type of resources.

"This will be your dorm as of now, you are free to customize the interior as you wish for it to be. If you need me, my dorm is down the street, come by if you need any help."

As they exchanged farewells, Bai Li got accustomed moving in the student uniforms which came in simple white robes, light fabric proven with versatility and probably has defensive properties.

He decided to cut it with a knife to find out only to see that the knife was damaged instead, definitely a treasure, he gripped on it tighter and wore them.

His simplistic value in clothing showed particular favor with the simple robes as he moved throughout.

A simple wooden platform and top was a large white concrete housing, the towering walls of the outside made one which master architect designed such things and mass produced them in different varieties.

'Amazing..'

All he could say was that one word to describe anything. He saw the training area as advertised by the pamphlet of modern living in the school and decided to do a punching routine to see how much is qi had been stimulated to infuse to his fists.

With the brief moment he was able to fulfill such requirements and became a Level 2 Low tier Warrior, already double the increase of his previous one! Such fast growth, if any were to witness Wu Kao's staff, would they also be blessed like this?

Once he was done, he wanted to see the way to get cultivation material for his average training.

"They automatically deliver it to you? Sweet!"

Bai Li was extremely proud to be in such a school all due to such reasons of his lucky findings, one step closer to finding the mysteries of his life, even he knew in the circumstances that his time here was strange.

Two bottles of foreign liquids produced by expert pharmacists were available for consumption to open all the pores in the body while the other was to expel all the waste in the body. It was a simple way to increase strength at the cost of pure power, but with the second solution, the effects wouldn't hinder them at all.

Though training his qi was the intended primary goal for himself, his understanding of the cultivation was limited so he had to grow his strength by the common method of soul energy, but making sure his soul energy wasn't influenced by any way or form.

He drunk the first and began taking in the energy of the universe into his body.

Practicing his self made Body of Arts, noticeable improvements in terms of sensitivity and endurance was found in his Chilled Resolve and Poison King Body.

He couldn't kept his excitement and jumped in the air, if any were to see him right now they would think he was crazy.

Handling such anxiety from the first encounter created butterflies in his stomach and wanted to get rid of stress.

'Well, let's get back to the Soul Realm.'

Bai Li only found joy in reading books and fighting, he never intended it to be that way but when he first began training and barely reaching the strength of one man, reading was an alternative to become an officer.

Until his first punching routine and his last, he found the joys of feeling the improvement in his body where his mind couldn't grow any further.

The gate to the Soul Realm was close by with multiple terminals to enter from throughout the campus unlike the one at Golden Star Planet, only one entrance was allowed per major city, the difference was astounding.

Bai Li prepared his body in his standard combat uniform, ready to feel the transition of the soul into the Soul Realm.