Zhua Zhou Ceremony 2
In fact, most of their results in university was predicted ever since they were a child. In the land of Hua, along with the technological boom, came the Cultivation Proficiency Test, or more commonly known as CPT. The CPT was a test every twelve-year-old had to take. The CPT would be conducted in a city's Central Government Agency, using an orb-like machinery. The child would have to play both hands on a scanning platform. After 15 seconds, a result would normally appear on the screen that depicted the child's cultivation proficiency. The ranks went from F tier to SSS tier, where F was the lowest tier. The machine can detect the element affinities of a child. The machine was even able to scan a person's body type and if this body type had ever appeared before in history, they would have a very high likelihood of identifying it. The CPT results was the first step for every student in determining if they would be able to cultivate in the future or even, go far in cultivation.
If a child was F or E tier, it basically meant that he/she was just like a normal human being and would not be able to detect much Qi. If a child was a D or C tier, it meant that he or she can become a cultivator, but they would normally only reach up to Qi Refinement Realm before reaching a bottleneck. If a child was B or A tier, this meant that they had the chance of attending university and enter a Combat Oriented Department. The child would be able to reach the Core Formation Realm too. If a child was S or SS tier, this meant that they were geniuses amongst the whole land of Hua. These children would be able to reach the Nascent Soul Realm, which was the current peak in the whole country. Theoretically, the SS tier meant that the child could reach the Soul Ascendance Realm, which rivalled an Emperor. However, over the years, those SS tier geniuses lacked something crucial that forced them to stagnate in the Nascent Soul Realm. As for the legendary SSS tier rank, the founder of CPT described to have placed his tier in as a theoretical upper bound as devised in the scriptures of the previous Emperors. These emperors had spoken about reaching a realm beyond the Soul Ascendance Realm and only those with an SSS tier rating, may truly have the means of reaching this mysterious realm.
The CPT was devised by the world-renowned researcher, Mu Rong Kui. Mu Rong Kui was born into an ordinary family in a small city. Although he had been born with an E tier cultivation rank, during his high school days, his talent had been unearthed in one of Hua's most notoriously difficult examinations, the Gifted People Proficiency Test (GPPT). Millions of students would take this test every year as the GPPT was open for anyone in high school. Every year, only the top 10 students of the GPPT would be granted the title of a Hua Scholar. These Hua Scholars do not have to take any admission test and can instantly be granted admission to any university to study in whatever department they choose to do so.
Why did they do it like this? In any renowned University in Hua, although the strength of their study was important, the research carried out by the teachers were very important too. This research helped to build on the theoretical foundations of the past and can help improve the efficiency or effectiveness of whatever domain the researcher chose to pursue. As such, even if the Hua Scholar did not have a great cultivation level, they may be able to bring unfathomable improvements in their research field that they chose to go down.
Fifty years ago, Mu Rong Kui had gotten first amongst the ten scholars. He entered the number one Technology Department in Hua, the Technical Institute of Hua, where he jointly studied cultivation and did research in the technological landscape. After ten years of research, he managed to created the machines used for CPT, and from then on, the grading and university admission landscape had changed for good. Standardised results throughout the country made allocation of resources far easier, where the accuracy of their categorisation was 99.9% accurate.
As spoken before by the clan elders, the current genius from the Zhuge Clan, Zhuge Ke Ming, was a SS tier ranked cultivator. Both Li Ze Ming and Li Ming from the Li Clan were only S tier. This showed how rare the talent was in cultivators. Although the other clans did have youths ranked S tier, their body's affinity to their cultivation manual may become the deciding factor in who was stronger than who. Li Kui's eldest grandson, Li Ze Ming being the strongest martial cultivator in the young generation in the land of Hua, was not just a result of his cultivation proficiency. Li Ze Ming's body type, Molten Core Physique, was especially useful in cultivating the Li Clan's prized cultivation manual, the Eruption Elysium Manual. At the age of 22, he was already in the first stage of Core Formation Realm. Many of the top students in Central University of Hua only reached the 9th and 10th layer of Qi Refinement Realm and were not able to break into the Core Formation Realm until they turned 25. This meant that Li Ze Ming was a genius amongst geniuses. However, all of this could change in less than a decade when Zhuge Ke Ming enters University and was able to dominate everyone else. Such is life. The weak may not always be weak.
Li Kui's family sat together in one long table, while the further off relatives sat in the other tables. Li Tian watched Li Ze Ming sit a few seats opposite him. Li Tian never had any interactions with him before as he was usually in university. It was just that his birthday coincided with the holiday time in school. The one who of said to be the current genius in Hua had bright red hair and a chiselled face. He was clean shaven and had fiery eyes that could render people scared if they investigated it for too long.
When Li Ze Ming noticed that the birthday baby was looking at him intently, he turned to look at the baby boy with a softer look. The fieriness was toned down but a large amount for fear that he may terrify his little cousin. Li Tian could see that his older cousin bared no ill intent. He chose to smile warmly while giving him a nod. Li Ze Ming was shocked by his one-year-old cousin's disposition. He could tell that Li Tian was as described by his parents, a true genius. Li Tian was able to think independently at the age of one, which was significantly faster than all his counterparts. Li Ze Ming, himself, knew that when he was his age, he was still not able to talk or even able to remember things.
"Ding, ding, ding…" A clinging sound came from the head of the main table. At the front, sat Li Kui, the patriarch of the Li Clan. He stood up once the room went silent.
"Good evening, fellow Li Clan members. Today is a special day! Today we are celebrating my youngest grandson, Li Tian's first birthday! Tian Er, grandpa wishes you a grand future! I believe you will achieve great things in life! And I believe you will lead the Li Clan to greater heights! Hahahaha!" Everyone in the room could tell that the patriarch was different from how he usually acted. Never did he sing such high praises of any of his children or grandchildren. The one-year-old baby was the first and only person to receive such well wishes from him. With that, everyone clapped along as they cheered for Li Tian.
"Thank you, grandpa…" Li Tian felt rather embarrassed. With his cute voice, he sounded himself. Those around him that have not heard Li Tian speak before were amazed by the baby's talking.
"Anytime, my grandson. You make grandpa very proud!" Li Kui was talking about his gathering with his Clan elder friends. The old man would always try to gloat about his grandson. The three of them were getting sick of him. "Alright, let's not waste any more time! You may begin eating!"
With the atmosphere at its highest, everyone began eating. At this moment, all Li Tian could do was watch everyone enjoy the food, while he sucked on his bottle of milk. 'How unfair was this!'
When everyone was finished eating, the helpers cleared the table and the Li Clan people were let to the courtyard where a red floor mat was placed on the ground. Li Tian was carried over by Ming Guang Rong as he gently placed him on the ground. Li Tian watched as his mother take out the items in her straw basket and placed it directly opposite where he stood. It seemed that the Zhua Zhou ceremony was going to begin.