Chapter 28 Holy City_1

The sky was as clear as a mirror, with a faint azure cloud drifting one kilometer above the earth that would go unnoticed unless looked at from below.

At that moment, five individuals were sitting on top of this cloud. They were no other than Zi Tianwu, the Wind Listener, Reckless Knight Hai Jifeng, Cowardly Knight Na Ye, and the brothers Long Dangdang and Long Kongkong.

Long Dangdang was accustomed to his teacher's flight, while Long Kongkong was shouting in astonishment. He quieted down only after Na Ye calmed him down, but he would occasionally look around with an expression of fear. They were one kilometer in the sky! Falling from here would surely result in death!

The fastest way to travel from Soaring Dragon City to the Holy City in the middle of the continent was flying, specifically with Zi Tianwu, the 9th Rank magic demigod. His mighty strength and ability to command the wind element for high-speed flight meant the journey would take a day and a half at most. By horse carriage, it would take at least half a month.

In contrast to Long Kongkong's astonishment, Long Dangdang was much calmer. He sat cross-legged, meditating. His teacher's wind rug was filled with a strong presence of the wind element, making it an excellent opportunity to cultivate. He was not far from reaching the 5th Rank, and his exceptional talent was such that he needn't worry about hitting a bottleneck in his progress. As long as he continued to accumulate knowledge, everything would fall into place.

"Teacher, when we reach the Spirit Furnace Academy, what will we need to do?" Long Kongkong curiously asked Na Ye.

Na Ye glanced at him and said, "All of your admissions were recommended by us. Every five years, each 9th Rank professionist from the 6 Great Sacred Temples has the right to nominate one person to enter the Spirit Furnace Academy. So you don't need to do anything, you can get admitted directly. But the internal selection and assessment of the Spirit Furnace Academy are extremely strict. If you fail three consecutive assessments, even our recommendation won't save you from being expelled from the academy. Furthermore, for ten years we will lose our eligibility to nominate new people."

Long Kongkong said, "So, if I fail the assessment twice and then pass the third time, that means I can stay."

"Bang!" Na Ye hit him on the head, angrily saying, "Is that what I told you to interpret?"

"Ouch, that hurts. I was just interpreting it theoretically, I didn't say I was actually going to do that," Long Kongkong cried out in pain.

Na Ye said impatiently, "Compared to your peers, you are already falling behind. You must make more efforts."

Long Kongkong chuckled, "But you're here, aren't you? Under your guidance, how could I ever fail the assessment?"

Na Ye shook his head and said solemnly, "After you enter the Spirit Furnace Academy, I can't continue teaching you. The Spirit Furnace Academy is directly supervised by the higher-ups of the 6 Great Sacred Temples, you could even say that it is directly governed by the Sacred Legate. Even we can't interfere with the academy's teaching. Anyone who enters the school can be considered a future candidate for the Sacred Legate. Even if there is only a one percent chance, it already puts you at the starting line at the forefront. There are strict rules on how to teach at the academy, we can't interfere at will. We can only guide you a little on the rest day of the week, and we can't skip ordinary teaching. Life there differs greatly from Soaring Dragon Academy."

Over the past few years, Long Dangdang and Long Kongkong mostly studied with the three 9th Rank powerful experts, occasionally showing up at the academy for some basic theory classes. Apparently, the Spirit Furnace Academy wouldn't work that way.

"It's that serious? But all of you are 9th Rank powerful experts! Isn't 9th rank the strongest?" Long Kongkong blinked his eyes.

Zi Tianwu laughed, "There's a big difference between 9th Ranks. A magnitude 100 thousand spiritual power qualifies as 9th Rank, but so does a magnitude 990 thousand spiritual power. How much difference would you say there is?"

Long Kongkong quickly asked, "How about one million?"

Na Ye said, "No one can reach one million. If they did, they would merge with heaven and earth and naturally dissipate. A spiritual power above one million is called 'Connecting with God', and once one achieves godhood, they will merge with heaven and earth."

Long Kongkong exclaimed in surprise, "Really? What if I can't control it and break through to above one million?"

Hai Jifeng interjected, "You're thinking too much. Wait until you reach the 9th Rank before worrying about this problem."

Long Kongkong argued somewhat unconvinced, "You should be thinking about it now! After all, you are already 9th Rank."

Na Ye irritably retorted, "We may be 9th Rank, but we're at the lower end of 9th Rank, with spiritual power in the tens of thousands. What's there to consider?"

Long Kongkong was taken aback, "So you're pretty much useless among the 9th Ranks, right?"

"Boy, do you want to experience the taste of free falling?" Zi Tianwu asked with a smile.

"No, no. I was wrong." Long Kongkong quickly waved his hands, "Great Wind Listener, what is the highest level of 9th Rank spiritual power currently?"

Zi Tianwu frowned slightly, "I don't know."

Long Kongkong pouted, "None of you know?"

Unable to resist, Na Ye hit him again, "Do you think everyone just goes around revealing their strength? Once they reach a certain level, they don't even have the chance to demonstrate their power. The circumstances in the Great Sacred Temples are different."

Long Kongkong said, "Well, when my brother reaches 9th Rank, he'll know some things. I'll ask him then."

None of the three 9th Rank experts present contradicted him. Long Dangdang's current innate magic spiritual force was as high as 90. With this level of talent, as long as he progresses in an orderly manner, there should be no problems for him to become a 9th Rank expert.