Chapter 27 - The Gate Opens

About an hour later, train of carriages carried by elegant horses stopped by the gate entrance behind everyone. Every simultaneously turned around and gawked in amazement at the expensive transport. Everyone could tell without a doubt that these were the children of officials and nobles.

The children emerged and were showered with praises from people trying to latch on to some coattails. They gave complimentary responses and walked on their way towards the gate, completely ignoring the posse of avid fans. This seemed like something that was very common within Tang Fei City.

As the children walked towards the front of the crowd, the crowd parted naturally to give them adequate walking space. Well, everyone except for Tian Longmeng who was preoccupied with absorbing the surrounding essence that came from Tang Fei Martial Academy.

One noble, named Zhou Wei, wanted to politely ask Tian Longmeng to move by forcing him to his knees and making him taste the dirt. Zhou Wei was about to be very surprised since as soon as his hand landed on Tian Longmeng's shoulder, he felt all of his essence being sucked away.

The most terrifying part was that his essence was being sucked into the body of the same no-name commoner that he was about to teach a "lesson".

Zhou Wei felt his skin crawl but he quickly realized that if he did not cover up his failure quickly before people noticed, his face would drastically plummet. In the end, he just patted Tian Longmeng's shoulder some more and turned to the other nobles with a smug face. "Just a fool trying to get some extra cultivation time so that he can barely pass. Just ignore him and move along, he is barely anyone of importance."

Just like that, Zhou Wei managed to save his face by not allowing the others to mess with Tian Longmeng either. Because if they did, their essence would be sapped and then people might realize that he also messed up. At the same time, Tian Longmeng unknowingly gained more scrutiny just by being the topic of a noble's scorn.

There was a long watchtower situated very close to the walls of Tang Fei Martial Academy gates for lookout purposes. The walls had no openings or windows except for the entrance door. Instead, people on the inside were able to see what was outside through real-time projection artifacts that could display what was occurring outside with a 360-degree range of vision.

Inside this tower, there were some instructors conversing with each other. Tang Fei Martial Academy instructors could be identified by their white apparel with blue hems combined with their black sashes. These instructors were mulling over the opening ceremony and the applicants that came to attend.

One instructor, named Zuan, looked amiably at the vibrant crowd of people. "This year seems to be a bit more than usual. It looks to be about 350 applicants to be precise."

A next instructor, named Mu, added. "Yes indeed. There also appears to be some really decent talent out there as well."

These two instructors laughed a bit as they talked. Another instructor, who was lying in a reclining chair made of soft fabrics, seemed disinterested with the proceedings of the examinations.

He casually lifted his voice to disagree. "So what, we all know that the real people who will actually amount to anything will be from the noble families. Why do we even bother to test all of these people?"

The other instructors in the room remained silent after he spoke, even Xuan and Mu. They were just getting excited for a fresh batch of unpolished jades to come under their tutelage, however, that instructor's words were undoubtedly true year after year.

"Ah, that may not be true for this batch, Instructor Qin." A raspy, yet soothing voice dispelled that thought.

"Ah, Third Elder. Sorry for the lack of welcome." The instructors quickly stood up and bowed to address the elder. Only the instructor who was in the chair did not immediately stand.

"Oh do not worry. I merely intruded for a bit, wanting to see the new faces as well." The Third Elder's smile emerged from underneath his thick white mustache.

"Old Man Third, do you really mean what you said there." The instructor who was in the chair, who seemed to be named Qin, arose and looked at the elder intently.

The elder picked up one of the empty teacups on a table in the middle of the room and poured out some tea for himself. He took a sip and savoured the lingering taste before looking coolly at Instructor Qin.

Instructor Qin walked over and picked up a cup of tea before showing the Third Elder a seat beside his own. This was a seat ideally placed so that one can view the gate entrance.

Instructor Qin, after sitting and taking a sip of tea, commented once more. "Old Man Third are you telling me that there is a commoner out there that can outshine the nobles? I know you are not senile enough to forget people like Zhou Wei, Lu Yan, and Qin Qingtian that are entering this year as well."

The Third Elder continues to sip his tea. "Yes. What you have said is indeed true. Those nobles, especially *Xiao Qing, have astounding talents. However, I believe that this year will belong to the commons who have pushed harder than anything the nobles had ever done."

All the instructors fell silent at Third Elder's words. Of course, there have been times in the past where a batch of exceptional commoners emerged and made a name for themselves. However, these cases where very spare and too few to matter.

"Haha! I see. Then let me witness that for myself." The one to break the silence was Instructor Qin who rose and promptly led Third Elder out of the tower, leaving the other instructors to gaze.

"Rumble."

Meanwhile, down at the gate entrance, the applicants felt the ground shake vehemently as large amounts of dust fell from the gate. This had everyone excited because the gate was finally opening.

*Xiao (小) means "little" and it is used by people, especially the older generation, when referring to close family members or friends.