Chapter 27 Nine-Star Platform

Zeke stood at the entrance of the Heavenly Martial Academy, holding Clay in his arms, watching as the Iron Fire Knights surrounded the Fantasy Academy. Zeke didn't know the full story between Mrs. Yates and Louis, but when Mrs. Yates pushed Clay into Zeke's arms and rushed out, he knew it must be one of those deeply moving stories that was referred to as a "till death do us part" kind of tale.

However, what happened next surprised Zeke. Louis came out of the Fantasy Academy with a calm expression, and Mrs. Yates followed closely behind him. The general dismounted from his warhorse and walked up to Louis, slightly bowing before smiling. "I thought you would continue to hide. I searched all the sixteen countries. Who would have thought you would willingly lower yourself to such a place?"

Louis replied, "Since I left Yanta, I no longer have any connection with it. Why are you looking for me?"

The general said, "You're still from the Evans clan, still a member of the royal family. Yanta Country needs you to return."

Louis pointed towards the academy, "I belong here."

The general responded, "What does this place compare to Yanta? If you want to establish an academy, you can do it in the capital of Yanta Country. You can establish ten if you wish. Before I came, Mrs. Colette Evans said that if you don't come back, it means you have lingering attachments in your heart. Let go of all those attachments, and then you will return. You also know that she is always decisive in her actions."

Louis pondered for a moment and then asked, "What if I refuse to leave?"

The general replied, "Nothing grows in this desolate land."

Louis continued, "I have never gotten along with Colette, and I am not her biological child. Why should I be sought out to return?"

The general said, "Because you are currently the only suitable person."

Louis thought for a moment and then answered, "Alright, I can go back. But I have one condition—all the students in this academy must have the qualification to attend the Autumn Ceremony of Yanta Country four years from now."

The general stated, "If you return, it's just a matter of your words."

Louis nodded and added, "After I leave, there are a few children in the martial academy who have made a bet with my academy. Every six months, we will select the best students from each side to compete. The winner will be the master, and the loser will be the servant. After I leave, this academy must not fall. We must uphold integrity. Since we have this wager, it cannot be invalidated. Regardless of who becomes the future headmaster of this academy, they must abide by this agreement."

The general proposed, "My deputy, Carl Reed, will stay behind and become the headmaster of the Fantasy Academy. Is that acceptable?"

Louis nodded, "Carl has a calm personality. He can stay."

"Let's go then."

The general pointed to a war carriage among the Iron Fire Knights, "Please get on the carriage."

Louis grabbed Mrs. Yates' hand, and they boarded the carriage together.

Back at the martial academy, Clay's eyes were filled with tears as he asked, "Zeke, does Mom not want me anymore?"

Zeke shook his head, "Clay, you must believe one thing and never doubt... Your mom loves you. Her current choice may seem cruel to you, but there must be some underlying reasons. She didn't take you with her for a certain purpose. And as you heard, four years from now, if we win against the students of the academy, we can go to the capital of Yanta Country, and that's when you will see your mom again."

Clay nodded vigorously, "I definitely can!"

As the Iron Fire Knights escorted the war carriage away, a vice general wearing iron armor remained with thirty Iron Fire Knights. The vice general, named Carl, carefully observed the Fantasy Academy before turning to look at the martial academy. Upon seeing the ruins of the martial academy and Zeke's small group of children standing alone, he couldn't help but smile. Then, he muttered, "Louis, known as the madman of Yanta, actually got into a dispute with a few kids... quite interesting."

Inside the moving procession, Louis tightly held Mrs. Yates' hand and transmitted his voice into her ear, "I know you're upset, but your choice is right. Once the people of Yanta find out that Clay is their blood, he will be in danger. Now, come back with me, and I will protect you. They won't be able to harm you. And since they don't know about Clay's existence, it's safest for him. Trust me, four years from now, I will find a way to bring Clay to Yanta."

Mrs. Yates also gripped Louis' hand, her eyes filled with sadness, "You and him, you both can never escape this destiny."

At the Heavenly Martial Academy, Zeke took a deep breath and waved his hand, "Let's clean up our courtyard first. We only have six months before we compete with the students from the academy who have been cultivating for a long time. Our time is limited. We can lose everything, but not our dignity. We must not only win but keep winning."

"Let's get to work!"

Everyone got busy, and soon they were working fervently. After a while, Keith arrived with a horse-drawn carriage, bringing all the belongings from the Nance Street Clinic. He intentionally ignored Jackson, keeping a cold expression on his face, but everyone knew that Keith couldn't truly let go.

Although Jackson appeared timid, it was clear he was delighted. He had been dependent on Keith, and now that Keith had moved in, how could he not be happy?

When the gatekeeper, Bridger Hudson, returned, he brought along several hired craftsmen who joined the effort to restore the academy. Bridger looked at the children and the craftsmen and couldn't help but wipe away a tear, saying, "It's been a long time since the academy was this lively."

The next morning, Zeke searched through the martial academy and found some introductory cultivation techniques. These items were not considered rare, so he was able to locate them in the library. Most of the books had already been moved to the Fantasy Academy across the street, leaving the four-story library almost empty. However, for newcomers like Brogan, Clay, and Jackson who were just starting their cultivation, they didn't need any complicated or hard-to-understand books.

Outside the library, Zeke saw a large black stone. The middle part was concave, forming a small pool-like structure. On one side of the concave area, there was a roughly twenty-centimeter diameter circle, bright red in color, creating a striking contrast with the black stone.

"I didn't expect that within this martial academy, there would be the Nine-Star Platform," Zeke exclaimed to himself, only to turn around and find Bridger, hunched over and staring at him.

"You actually recognize the Nine-Star Platform," Bridger expressed surprise. "The previous lord of the city was a warrior, so he built a martial academy. The current lord is a scholar, so he constructed a literary academy across the street. These exile people all have the heart to become academy masters. Are you saying that building a martial academy or a school and enrolling a group of children is merely to satisfy some vanity? But when this Nine-Star Platform was moved here, it became damaged. The warrior, Cyril, was rough and didn't understand the concept of handling things delicately. He simply threw it into this courtyard, causing it to crack and become unusable. Later, I don't know from where, but they managed to steal another one, leaving this one abandoned. So, after the literary academy was built, the good one was moved away, and no one paid attention to this one."

Zeke squinted his eyes and looked at Bridger. "Bridger, I believe you're not an ordinary person either."

Bridger smiled. "You have a keen eye, but you've truly misunderstood... I am just an ordinary person. However, I've been exposed to certain things related to cultivators. Back then, Cyril loved to drink, and I happened to be the only one who could match his drinking capacity. When he got drunk, he always babbled nonsense. He said that the most fair place in the world lies in the fact that people appear the same. Unless we take action, no one knows our abilities. That's why the martial academy cannot do without this Nine-Star Platform."

Bridger continued, "Cyril said that the Nine-Star Platform can measure a person's potential. As long as you place your hand on the red circle, those who have the ability to cultivate will illuminate the six star. The better the potential, the more stars will light up. But in this world, no one has ever lit up the nine stars. Eight stars are considered unparalleled geniuses. In the past ten years, the best disciple only lit up three stars."

Zeke nodded. "That's not wrong. Very few people can illuminate all nine stars."

He turned around and waved at Brogan and the others. "Come and give it a try."

After Zeke explained the Nine-Star Platform to Brogan and the others, they asked, "What if it's broken, how do we test it?"

Zeke responded, "It's not actually broken. The Nine-Star Platform is made of meteorite iron, and if it were that easy to break, it wouldn't be so valuable. Although it has cracks, the core of the stars is still intact. Cyril only knew the purpose of the Nine-Star Platform but not its usage... Brogan, take a low-grade spiritual stone and place it on the crack."

Brogan nodded and took a low-grade spiritual stone, placing it on the crack of the Nine-Star Platform. As soon as he placed the stone, a black light flashed on the platform, and within a moment, the spiritual energy contained in the stone was completely absorbed. Then, the cracks on the platform slowly closed and disappeared.

Brogan looked pained. "Several tens of thousands of gold coins gone just like that."

Zeke laughed. "Stingy! I'll compensate you later."

Brogan grumbled as he walked away. "I spent a lot of money to fix you, so you better not play tricks. No, no, the money is considered my loss. You need to get me a nine-star result."

Then he placed his palm on the red circle at the center of the Nine-Star Platform. As soon as his hand touched it, a surge of power was released from the platform. The dust on it was instantly swept away. Nine six-pointed stars appeared on the platform, arranged in a straight line. Brogan's hand rested on the center, and a red light moved upwards. After a moment, one star was illuminated. Then the red light paused for a while before continuing upward, halfway illuminating the second star. However, it didn't have the strength to continue.

"One and a half stars," Brogan said with regret. "It seems that I'm truly unsuitable for cultivation. This is probably the worst constitution."

Bridger chuckled beside them. "Not bad. The worst would be half a star."

"I'll give it a try," Jackson said, stepping forward. She was still dressed in boys' clothing, but in front of Zeke and the others, she appeared more natural. In reality, once a girl reaches the age of ten, it becomes hard to hide her true gender. Those legendary females who disguised themselves as men and traveled across the land, think carefully about why they succeeded. There are only two possible answers: either their chests were flat, or everyone else was pretending to be blind.

Jackson wasn't her real name. Her surname is Keith, and Keith said her real name is Kiara.

Jackson had beautiful hands, fair, slender, and graceful. She placed her hand on the center of the platform, and the red light was much stronger than Brogan's. After a moment, the red light burst through three stars and then gradually slowed down. It slowly illuminated the fourth star before moving up and down. Jackson seemed satisfied, her face blushing slightly. After all, Bridger mentioned that the most outstanding disciple in the martial academy had only three stars.

When it was Clay's turn, Zeke became somewhat nervous. But Clay was calm and walked over, wiggling his little bottom. He opened his arms, allowing Brogan to hold him and place his hand on the center of the platform. Suddenly, a dazzling red light appeared, causing everyone present to widen their eyes involuntarily.

One star, two stars, three stars, four stars, five stars, six stars, seven stars...

"What an extraordinary genius," Zeke exclaimed, walking over and lifting Clay up. "Seven stars, incredible!"

Because only Brogan and Zeke were nearby, the others didn't see that the red light hadn't stopped yet. Brogan paused for a moment, unsure why Zeke prevented Clay from continuing, but he knew Zeke must have his reasons, so he didn't make a fuss.

"Zeke, why don't you give it a try?" Jackson looked at Zeke with anticipation in her eyes.

"Me?" Zeke smiled. "I'll pass. I'm definitely a genius, at least not inferior to Clay."

After saying that, he carried Clay and walked away without looking back.

Late at night, when everyone was asleep, Zeke came alone to the Nine-Star Platform. In the end, he couldn't resist trying it himself... Half a star.