Chapter 367 - 363: Shocked Xue Zhou
"He Courtyard, have you seen the news?"
"Zhenhai is incredible. He’s finally achieved his dream and successfully broken through to become Xia Country’s new Ninth Realm Martial Artist."
"The North River Sword King... that title suits him perfectly. He’s spent his entire life fighting for North River."
"I remember back when we were students in the same year. I was an S-class genius, and he was an SSS-level genius."
"I even wanted to challenge him, but he defeated me with a single sword strike."
"The gap was just too big!"
"Now, 17 years have passed. He’s already broken through to the Ninth Realm, while I’m still stuck at the peak of the Seventh Realm, unable to advance," one of the leaders sighed.
The others nodded. They had all been geniuses once, but they were no match for a true prodigy.
"Although it’s said that some SS-level geniuses can break through to the Ninth Realm, the probability is just too low."
"Only SSS-level geniuses can reliably break through to the Ninth Realm."
A middle-aged man with a gentle demeanor spoke, his voice full of regret.
He was an Eighth Realm Martial Artist who could already feel his limits. A Martial Artist’s prime is before the age of 40. If one doesn’t break through to the Ninth Realm by then, they might never get the chance.
And he was already 42. He would likely remain at the Eighth Realm for the rest of his life.
Dean Liu listened to their idle chat from the side without saying a word. He was well aware of his own Martial Arts Talent.
The Seventh Realm was his limit. Without some incredible stroke of luck, it would be impossible for him to break through to the Eighth Realm.
As for the Ninth Realm, he didn’t even dare to dream of it.
His ambition now was to properly nurture Lin Qi, who might have a chance of breaking through to the Ninth Realm in the future.
’Then my life’s work would be complete!’
"They’re here!"
Vice Principal Xu Wenji looked up at the sky and spoke, stroking his beard.
The crowd fell silent, all eyes turning to the sky.
"BOOM!"
A red-and-white, saucer-shaped fighter jet cut through the air, leaving a white wake behind it.
Amid a thunderous roar, it grew larger and larger, appearing in the sky before the Red Cloud Building in just a moment.
"WHOOSH!!"
A fierce wind howled, whipping at the corners of everyone’s clothes.
The fighter jet slowly came to a stop in front of the crowd.
"VMMMM!!"
The cabin door opened, and in the space of a breath, a tall figure stepped out.
Behind him, more figures emerged one by one. They wore different attire, but all of them radiated a thick killing intent, as if they had just returned from a battlefield.
"Welcome back, Deans!"
Xu Wenji said with a smile.
The nearly ten people who stepped out of the jet were all deans or vice deans of the Nine Great Academies of Azure Sky Martial Arts University.
"We’re finally back. I can finally relax a little."
A burly, robust man burst out laughing. His aura was tyrannical; he was one of the two most powerful among the ten.
"Old Xue!"
"Old Liu!"
Dean Liu called out upon seeing Xue Zhou, the Dean of the Sixth Institute.
Xue Zhou, dressed in a blue robe, stood tall and straight, his aura still as dashing and untamed as ever. After waving a greeting to Dean Liu,
he turned to a tall, exceptionally charismatic young man beside him and said:
"Chu Yu, it’s summer break now. Cultivating in the Otherworld couldn’t have been easy."
"Go home and rest well for a month before coming back to the academy!"
The young man wasn’t old, looking to be under 20. He was handsome, with well-defined features, and stood tall at nearly two meters, radiating intense self-confidence.
Although his aura was the weakest among the ten, he was also the youngest, showing no fear in the face of so many powerful experts.
He was a dazzling presence in the crowd.
The burly man beside them also laughed and said:
"Chu Yu, you’re already plenty powerful!"
"Cultivation requires a balance of work and rest. Relax your body and mind properly; you might even find yourself breaking through faster."
The young man named Chu Yu nodded and smiled.
"I’ve been cultivating so hard in the Otherworld for so long and I’m just one step away from the Sixth Realm. It really is time for a break!"
"Maybe I’ll break through after a month of rest!"
Hearing this, Dean Liu and the others couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. ’As expected of an SSS-level genius.’
’His cultivation speed is just absurdly fast.’
Xu Wenji said with a cheerful laugh, "It’s good that everyone has returned safely!"
"All of you, go home and get some proper rest!"
Finally, the group dispersed. Xue Zhou waved goodbye to Chu Yu, and after watching them leave on the tram,
he and Dean Liu began to walk through the quiet campus, smiling and chatting.
Xue Zhou sighed.
"That kid, Chu Yu, is truly worthy of being an SSS-level genius. His cultivation speed is just too fast."
"By the time of the Global Martial Arts Tournament next year, he’ll sweep the competition. Who could possibly be his opponent?"
"He’s a future Ninth Realm Martial Artist in the making!"
Dean Liu nodded in agreement. "He is indeed an excellent genius."
"Old Xue, tell me the details about your trip to the Otherworld this time."
Xue Zhou took a deep breath of the fresh air, savoring the pleasant feeling, then slowly began to speak.
"This time, we went to the [Relic]. There were ten of us preparing to break through, all Martial Artists at the peak of the Eighth Realm."
"They were all top-tier experts who had made a name for themselves on the battlefield, with the best of the best in both Talent and combat prowess."
"Unfortunately, in the end, only two of them successfully broke through to the Ninth Realm."
"Everyone else failed!"
Dean Liu wasn’t surprised. "That’s the [Relic], after all. It’s not part of our Blue Star Civilization."
"If everyone could break through easily in there, we’d be flooded with Ninth Realm Martial Artists by now."
"This time was much better than the last!"
"Last time, ten people went, and not a single one broke through!"
"Wait, you said two people successfully broke through. Besides the North River Sword King, who was the other one?" Dean Liu suddenly asked, his curiosity piqued.
Xue Zhou suddenly stopped walking. He touched a nearby green tree and sighed.
"It was Lao Li!"
"There were dozens of us who went to the [Relic] this time."
"Lao Li and Old Yu successfully broke through to the Ninth Realm, and the rest of us also had great gains, myself included."
"But on the way back, we were ambushed by five Ninth-Level Calamity Beasts and dozens of Eighth-Level Calamity Beasts."
"Thankfully, the Principal and Senior Ten Thousand Blade Emperor were there. We easily slaughtered all the Calamity Beasts!"
"But then we were sneak-attacked by those bastards from the Insect Race."
"Lao Li was critically injured on the spot, and Yu Yi and the others were all killed!"
"The losses were too heavy!"
"There weren’t many of those Insect Race bastards, but every single one of them was a top-tier expert, and it was a sneak attack."
"Even though two people successfully broke through to the Ninth Realm, giving us a total of four Ninth Realm Title Level Martial Artists, we still lost three Eighth Realm and five Seventh Realm Martial Artists."
As Xue Zhou spoke of this, his expression turned grim.
Upon hearing this, Dean Liu’s face filled with killing intent. "They all deserve to die!"
Xue Zhou continued walking and said,
"However, the Insect Race didn’t expect two of us to break through to the Ninth Realm, so they suffered heavy losses as well."
"It’s a shame they hide so well. We couldn’t wipe them all out in one go!"
He looked at the dazzling sun and said,
"Old Liu, in less than two years, I’ll probably have to go to the [Relic] to prepare for my own breakthrough!"
A look of pleasant surprise appeared on Dean Liu’s face.
"Old Xue, you’re going to break through to the Ninth Realm?"
Xue Zhou smiled.
"Don’t be so surprised. I’m an SS-level genius who has mastered a Little Divine Power, after all."
"It’s only natural that I’m preparing to break through!"
"It’s just a pity that every time we go to the [Relic], the ones who manage to break through are always SSS-level geniuses."
"Far too few SS-level geniuses make the breakthrough. Far, far too few!"
Dean Liu nodded. Although it was said that SS-level geniuses had a fifty percent chance of breaking through to the Ninth Realm,
that was just a statistical figure. It wasn’t realistic. In practice, the number who actually broke through was small enough to count on one hand.
Only SSS-level geniuses could break through consistently.
For instance, the North River Sword King and the other person this time were both SSS-level geniuses.
...
A few moments later, the two of them returned to an office in the Cangjing Building.
Dean Liu sat on the sofa and expertly began to prepare tea.
Xue Zhou stared at the water in the tank and suddenly asked,
"How’s that kid Lin Qi doing?"
"That boy was the champion of the national freshman tournament!"
He had been in the Otherworld for several months and had almost forgotten about Lin Qi.
Dean Liu said with a smile,
"Old Xue, you’ve been gone for a few months. You’ve missed a lot."
"Lin Qi... he’s now the champion of the global freshman tournament."
Xue Zhou froze, a look of astonishment on his face.
"The global freshman tournament champion?"
"You mean to say that Lin Qi defeated S-class and even SS-level geniuses from all the major countries on Blue Star to win the championship?"
Dean Liu poured the hot tea and nodded.
"That’s right!"
Xue Zhou immediately sat down. "What happened?"
He was inwardly stunned. The difference between "national" and "global" might seem slight, but their value was on completely different levels.
The global tournament had many SS-level geniuses, all of them the best of the best.
’And they all lost to Lin Qi, an Unawakened genius.’
Dean Liu laughed. "Let me tell you everything."
He then gave Xue Zhou a rough summary of the events of the past few months.
A few minutes later, Xue Zhou drained his teacup in one gulp and stood up.
He burst out laughing, a mixture of shock and delight!
"Excellent, excellent!"
He repeated the word "excellent," becoming extremely excited.
"I underestimated Lin Qi. To think he possesses such Talent!"
"To sweep through all his opponents and forcefully claim the title of global freshman champion with an Unawakened body..."
"I, Old Xue, have really seen something new today!"
Dean Liu was secretly delighted. ’Finally, I’ve managed to shock my old friend.’
"I’ve already spoken with Old Xu and proposed to the principal that we upgrade Lin Qi to an SS-level genius."
"And that we do everything in our power to find an Awakening Fruit for him so he can Awaken!"
Xue Zhou nodded.
"You did the right thing. A special genius like Lin Qi deserves special treatment. There’s no problem with upgrading him to SS-level."
"Oh, right. About that Awakening Fruit... I might have some news."
Hearing this, Dean Liu’s eyes lit up.
"Really?"
Xue Zhou smiled.
"During our trip to the [Relic] this time, we also made a point of collecting Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures."
"The harvest was bountiful. We even found a treasure trove. It was a massive haul."
"I estimate that in the next few years, the strength of Xia Country’s geniuses, and even its High Realm Martial Artists, will rise to a whole new level."
"And among our findings, I believe there were three Awakening Fruits!"
Upon hearing this, Dean Liu shot to his feet, taking a deep breath to calm himself.
"I’m going to notify the principal right now. I’ll go negotiate with them."
"One of those Awakening Fruits must go to Lin Qi, no matter what."
Xue Zhou laughed. "Don’t worry. With Lin Qi’s Talent as it is now,"
"he’ll have the support of everyone at the academy, from top to bottom."
Dean Liu nodded. That might be true, but until he had it in his hands, nothing was 100% certain.
If someone else snatched it away midway, there would be no point in crying.
He knew just how tempting an Awakening Fruit was to an Unawakened S-class genius.
Many people would even do crazy things for one.
There were only two Awakening Fruits up for grabs. When their own children’s futures were at stake, even the name of Azure Sky Martial Arts University might not be enough to sway people.
Getting one as soon as possible was the best-case scenario.
Thinking of this, he immediately pulled out his phone and started contacting Xu Wenji.
...