Lu Yin's heart skipped a beat. "Mr. Zheng, I heard that the relationship between the academy and the Four Cardinal Scales has improved?"
Mr. Zheng frowned. "Mr. Haoyu, I'll take you to see the eighteen horizontal arrays. That's a specialty of Yi Xian Academy. Anyone who comes to the academy, regardless of whether they're a student or a mentor, will challenge them. The eighteen horizontal arrays are famous throughout the Astral Tree Realm, and once you pass through them, your name will resound greatly. Many students will also want to attend your classes in the future."
Lu Yin watched the man leave. Was he unwilling to speak further?
It seemed that things had changed.
The Four Cardinal Scales must be putting a lot of pressure on Yi Xian Academy.
"Mr. Haoyu, what are you good at?"
Mr. Zheng asked as they made their way to the eighteen horizontal arrays.
Lu Yin was stunned. "Good at?"
Mr. Zheng replied, "Of course. As a mentor, I naturally have to teach my students what I'm good at. For example, Mr. Tang is good at domains, and he's even cultivated to the Void God realm. Mr. Wen is good at Literary Prison, and many students come to my academy to learn ancient characters and cultivate Literary Prison. It's a very good offensive and defensive technique. Mr. Wei is also good at history, so he can teach you.
Lu Yin thought about it. "Mr. Zheng, what are you good at?"
"I'm good at physical battle force."
Lu Yin's brows rose. "Warring States?"
"That's right, Warring States."
Lu Yin was shocked. This tiny Yi Xian Academy was filled with hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Mr. Tang's domain was at the Void God realm, and Mr. Zheng's Warring States was at the pinnacle of these two powers. They were only two mentors, and there was still a Half-Ancestor above them. The academy itself also had secret techniques, sourcebox arrays, lockbreaking, and so on. Yi Xian Academy was indeed the largest academy in the Astral Tree Realm. It was no wonder that even the Four Cardinal Scales wanted to send their disciples here.
Lu Yin thought about it. "I'm good at giving pointers. I can see the flaws in other people's battle techniques more clearly."
Mr. Zheng was astonished. Good at giving pointers?
This was not a casual remark. Could he see through other people's battle techniques?
This was Yi Xian Academy. Many of the students who came here to study were disciples of great clans and sects. Now, there were even geniuses from the Four Cardinal Scales here. They were all learning the combat skills and cultivation methods of their own clans, which were among the best in the Starry Sky of Trees.
Even the dean did not dare to boast.
However, Mr. Zheng did not say much. His responsibility was to tell this person about the situation at Yi Xian Academy. As for how this person would behave in the future, that was his own business. It was not as if Yi Xian Academy had never fired a teacher.
As they spoke, the two of them used their Star Emissary cultivation to tear through the void and move. After half a day, they arrived at a place surrounded by several mountain peaks. The peaks were tall, but the center was empty. At the bottom was a lake, which was quite a distance away from the peak.
And in front of him, there was a golden line lying in the void.
Mr. Zheng brought Lu Yin to one of the mountain peaks. "Look, this is the Eighteen Horizontal Array. It's one of the ways that Yi Xian Academy evaluates whether or not one can graduate. Anyone who can pass through five horizontal arrays can graduate. Generally speaking, only peak Explorers or even Cruisers can pass through five horizontal arrays."
Lu Yin nodded. "As expected of Yi Xian Academy. Only peak Explorers can graduate. Other academies can't compare to this." He still remembered that the Astral Combat Academy required Explorers to graduate. There was a huge difference between an Explorer and a peak Explorer, and the difference between the two was like five times that of a normal cultivator.
Mr. Zheng proudly replied, "Those who come to Yi Xian Academy to study are all elites, and there's almost no problem for them to graduate. What matters is how they graduate. Some people could have graduated long ago, but they choose to stay behind to receive more guidance. They want to graduate through more horizontal arrays and become famous in the Astral Tree Domain."
"I heard that a few decades ago, there was someone called Wen Shizi. How many horizontal arrays did he break through?"
Lu Yin suddenly asked.
Mr. Zheng was stunned and looked at Lu Yin. "You know about Wen Shizi?"
Lu Yin nodded. "I've heard of him. Back then, I wanted to go to Wangyu as well, but I was limited by my age and didn't have the qualifications to enter. However, I saw Wen Shizi at Zhongping Sea, and his style was astonishing." He had to say that he was limited by his age, or else he would have been part of the younger generation at the time, which meant that he was in the same generation as the Four Young Ancestors. Long Tian and Xia Shenfei of the Four Young Ancestors were both in this region of space, and if they hadn't reached three Origin Tribulations yet, then it would be too strange.
As for whether or not Yu Hao's identity would be exposed because of this, it didn't matter. He had no intention of hiding his alias, Hao Yu. Even if his identity was exposed, others would think that he was spouting nonsense and wouldn't suspect that Yu Hao's identity was fake. After all, not even a Half-Ancestor could see through his disguise.
Mr. Zheng looked at the eighteen horizontal arrays with a complicated expression. "Wen Shizi is the most talented student that Yi Xian Academy has produced in the past few thousand years. Back then, he broke through the seventeen horizontal arrays."
Lu Yin's brows rose. "That's pretty amazing."
It seemed that the eighteen horizontal arrays had been specially set up for those below the level of an Emissary. Wen Shizi had been an Enlighter back then, but his true power level had not been comparable to the Fourth Young Ancestor's. However, the Fourth Young Ancestor had been able to rival an Emissary, which meant that the Fourth Young Ancestor had the cultivation to break through the eighteen horizontal arrays.
Lu Yin looked at the golden lines, which meant that once an Enlighter broke through the eighteen horizontal arrays, they would possess the power level of a peak Enlighter, which would allow them to rival the Fourth Young Ancestor.
"How about it, Mr. Hao Yu? Why don't you give it a try?"
Mr. Zheng asked with great interest. He knew that Lu Yin's cultivation was very high, and that he was at least an Emissary because he couldn't see through the array. However, even if Lu Yin's cultivation was very high, he would still be able to see through the eighteen horizontal arrays.
Lu Yin waved a hand. "If this array was set up for Enlighters, then I can break through it. After all, I'm an Emissary."
Mr. Zheng asked, "Mr. Hao Yu, don't you want to try?"
Lu Yin shook his head. At this moment, quite a few students caught up to them. Most of them were girls, and they had followed Lu Yin here. Mr. Zheng frowned when he saw them. "Go back and cultivate. What are you doing?"
One of the girls boldly asked, "Mr. Zheng, is the person beside you a new student?
Introduce him. "
"That's right, Mr. Zheng. We want to get to know a new student."
"Mr. Zheng, please introduce him."
Mr. Zheng glared at them. "Don't be impudent. This is the new mentor, Mr. Hao Yu."
"Mentor?"
The students were shocked. "He's so young?"
"So handsome?"
"So good-looking?"
A few of the male students felt uncomfortable. "Mr. Hao Yu, there are eighteen horizontal arrays in front of us. Give it a try and see what you can teach us."
"That's right, Mr. Hao Yu, give it a try!" Someone shouted, which attracted even more students.
At this moment, there were still quite a few students in Yi Xian Academy. The main reason was that the Cosmic Tree Realm was too large, and there were many large sects and clans in each district. These large sects and clans put in all of their efforts to nurture one or two outstanding disciples, so it wasn't difficult for them to get into Yi Xian Academy. In the Middle Realm alone, there were more than a hundred people who could get in, and there were more than a thousand people in all nine districts. Including the Top Realm, Bifrost Bridge, and the other cities, adventurers from the Mortal Realm, as well as those from the Outer Realm and the Outer Realm, there were almost two thousand students in total.
However, Yi Xian Academy had not been able to recruit so many students in the past, and there had only been a few mentors. Back then, it had not been easy for the disciples of the Four Cardinal Scales to get in, as passing the exam was not enough. Wen Shizi had even used joining Yi Xian Academy as a condition to obtain Xia Taili's power vessel.
However, the current Yi Xian Academy had truly changed, and the number of students and mentors was constantly increasing.
Mr. Zheng scolded, "Stop messing around. Mr. Hao Yu is free to do whatever he wants, and it has nothing to do with you. If you want to try, try it yourself."
These words calmed some people down, but there were still some students who continued to jeer. These students had powerful backgrounds, so they were naturally bold.
Most people would not be able to hold themselves back from being jeered at like this, especially when there were so many female students watching with gleaming eyes.
However, Lu Yin had long since passed the age of hot-bloodedness, so he just treated the jeering as a show. It was actually quite interesting, and those who jeered even seemed to be jealous of each other.
Gradually, the jeering quieted down, as Lu Yin was not provoked at all.
Mr. Zheng glanced at him. As a mentor, if he could not establish his authority in front of his students, then it would be difficult for anyone to attend his classes.
"It seems like Mr. Hao Yu doesn't plan on showing off his skills. Fine, let me, Bai Nan, demonstrate for you so that you can be mentally prepared." The youth who had been the best at jeering stepped forward and walked towards the eighteen horizontal arrays with his head held high.
Bai Nan?
Lu Yin's eyes flashed, as he should be a disciple of the Frigid Immortal Sect's Bai family. However, he was not a direct descendant and was only from a side branch. Even so, his status was still extremely high, and his cultivation was not bad. He was a peak Hunter, and he could be considered a tyrant in Yi Xian Academy.
At his age, even the Fifth Mainland's Ten Arbiters were only Hunters, and they might not have reached the Enlighter realm.
Bai Nan took a step out of the mountain and headed towards the golden line. When he got close to it, one end of the golden line twisted, as if an invisible force was pulling it. Then, it suddenly opened up, and the other end smashed towards Bai Nan.
Wind and clouds surged around Bai Nan, and he suddenly waved his hand to unleash Windgod's Slash. The golden line was torn apart, and Bai Nan quickly crossed it and headed into the distance.
Soon after, another golden line appeared, and the first one quickly recovered. The two golden lines seemed to have a mind of their own as they attacked Bai Nan.
Lu Yin watched this scene and was rather surprised. The golden lines seemed to have battle force, just like a person's.
"The eighteen horizontal lines come from Yi Xian Academy's sourcebox array. Rumor has it that it was created by Progenitor Wen. Each golden line is a stroke of an ancient character, and they can use all sorts of strange methods to simulate a person's battle," Mr. Zheng explained.
Lu Yin was astonished. "It comes from a sourcebox array?
Doesn't that mean that the sourcebox array that protects the academy has been activated, and that countless golden lines will appear? "
Mr. Zheng looked at Lu Yin in astonishment. "Mister Haoyu knows about sourcebox arrays as well?"
Lu Yin humbly replied, "I know a thing or two."
Mr. Zheng did not elaborate.
Above the valley, the number of golden lines had increased to five. At this point, Bai Nan was starting to feel strained. Once he broke through all five lines, he would graduate.
"Brother Bai, take it easy. Give Mister Haoyu a chance to perform," someone shouted, reminding Bai Nan not to be in the limelight and to directly graduate.
Bai Nan snapped out of his daze and hurriedly retreated. He landed firmly on the mountain peak and exhaled, his forehead beaded with sweat.
"Bai Nan, why aren't you continuing?"
Mr. Zheng looked at him sternly.
Bai Nan's lips twitched. "This student knows that he's no match for you, so he wants to learn more." He then looked at Lu Yin with a provocative gaze.
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I've updated for the fourth day in a row!
Thank you!
Moss Honey Leech
Brother, thank you for your support!