Chapter 269: None of You Are Qualified!
“Boom!”
A thunderclap instantly rose in Li Canghai’s heart.
When he raised his head, his gaze was shaken by four pitch-black Puppet Armors standing a hundred meters tall.
Especially one of them.
Six wings grew from its back, like a demon god from the dark abyss.
Dense puppet armor spiritual energy and demon blood mist swirled around its body, and a suffocating aura swept over like a tide.
The surrounding trees and flowers trembled beneath this oppressive might.
In an instant, they turned to flying ash, as if shivering before this transcendent existence.
“This, this is… Third Order Puppet Armor!”
Li Canghai was dumbfounded, his heart filled with dread and unease.
He understood that the puppet armor before him was exclusively for the Academy’s use, beyond the control of the likes of him.
On ordinary days, the highest he had ever seen was Second Order Puppet Armor.
Today’s events were undoubtedly an unprecedented upheaval.
“This… this humble one is, I am the Academy Master of the Academy, Li Canghai. Might I ask who Your Excellency is?”
He strove to keep himself calm.
Yet his tone could hardly conceal its trembling.
A trace of unease could not help but rise in his heart — such an existence.
Was absolutely not someone he could provoke.
“I am an Instructor of Chaotian’s Eighty-Seventh Puppet Armor Academy. Today I have come to spot-check whether the lower-tier Academies have any specially recruited talents.”
The Instructor’s voice was like thunder, striking awe into the heart.
“Special recruitment?”
Li Canghai’s heart shook violently, and the name of special recruitment echoed in his ears like thunder.
Every year, the Academy would spot-check the lower-tier Academies, seeking genius talents.
If one could be selected, it would be an honor and opportunity without equal.
It meant a road to rapid advancement, and directly gaining an audience with Lord Sage.
His heart pounded violently. The puppet armor and the Instructor before him constituted a future he had never dared imagine.
However, born intertwined with the excitement and anticipation was an invisible pressure and fear.
He knew well that all this beauty was built upon the competition of countless students.
If in the future his students could receive an audience with Lord Sage.
Then perhaps he might even have the fortune to mention his own Ancestor’s matter before Lord Sage.
“Welcome, Instructor. These are the ones from my Hall of Learning participating in this academic examination! Please, Instructor, inspect them.”
Li Canghai’s voice seemed especially small beneath the shocking aura.
His heart tightened, and his body involuntarily bent slightly.
His respectful posture further revealed his awe toward the puppet armor before him.
The leading Six-Winged Puppet Armor, like a demon god stepping out of ancient myth, suddenly trembled.
The six puppet armor mechanical spring wings on its back flapped in unison.
Emitting a low hum of “Weng~”, causing one’s heart to quake.
Immediately after, the air seemed to be completely torn apart by its oppressive might.
The air within several zhang around it instantly became scorching hot.
Like the surface of boiling water, violently surging, blowing Li Canghai’s robes to flap noisily.
The surrounding trees and flowers trembled slightly beneath this power.
As if also shivering before this transcendent existence.
The faces of many youths turned pale.
Under the fearful and envious gazes of the crowd, that Six-Winged Puppet Armor was slowly retracted, disappearing into mid-air.
In its place was a middle-aged man of about forty years old.
Behind him, the other puppet armors were also retracted one after another, disappearing without a trace.
Revealing the figures of several middle-aged men and women.
“Enough, time is pressing, no need to delay. Come forward first and test your talents.”
The Instructor’s voice was like thunder, loud and clear, breaking the tension in Li Canghai’s heart.
Immediately after, he took out a black jade token from his bosom.
With a gentle pull, the jade token shimmered with a mysterious and enchanting luster in the sunlight.
Li Canghai’s gaze could not help but be drawn to it.
He inwardly thought, So this is the Dharma Artifact the Academy uses to detect talent. Truly extraordinary.
He noticed that this jade token felt cool and warm in the hand.
When touched, it seemed one could sense a trace of spiritual essence.
As if anticipating the secret about to be revealed.
This was the crystallization of five hundred years of history in the development of the Puppet Armor Dao to this day.
It could give a precise evaluation based on a mortal’s physique and mental condition.
Li Canghai drew a deep breath, understanding in his heart.
This test not only concerned the students’ futures.
It was even more the key to whether they could walk further on the Puppet Armor Dao.
At this moment, his heart was filled with anticipation and tension.
Waiting for the fate about to be revealed.
And as the children came forward one after another to test.
Something happened that left Li Canghai dumbfounded.
The greater part of the students he brought actually had aptitudes at C-Lower!
Only a scattered few students barely reached B-Lower.
And such aptitude was already unremarkable on the Puppet Armor Dao.
“These little brats, too lacking.”
Li Canghai was burning with rage in his heart.
His expression grew uglier, like dark clouds gathering.
He glanced at the students gathered around him, and could not help but feel a wave of disappointment.
The excitement and anticipation on those children’s faces now appeared ever more pale and powerless in his eyes.
“Li Canghai, your students’ aptitudes are mediocre. Never mind the Academy — they don’t even qualify to advance to the Hall of Learning.”
The leading middle-aged Instructor, his face stern.
His frowning expression revealed thick dissatisfaction.
His voice was like thunder, deafening.
Instantly overpowering the surrounding clamor, causing Li Canghai’s heart to sink.
That feeling of being ruthlessly scrutinized was like piercing ice.
Forcing him to lower his head, his heart full of helplessness.
The standard for advancing from the Puppet Armor Academy to the Hall of Learning was B-Middle aptitude.
Li Canghai had long since recited this silently in his heart.
This meant that only mortals possessing B-Middle aptitude had the opportunity to continue further on the Puppet Armor Dao.
If one could not even cross the threshold of the Hall of Learning, then this life would have no further connection to the Puppet Armor Dao.
This was like an invisible shackle, locking away his hopes and aspirations for the future.
“In… Instructor, my Yun City Academy is, after all, the most remote among the Third Order Academies.”
Li Canghai’s voice trembled slightly.
Mixed with bitterness and loss that were hard to suppress.
He paused, striving to calm his emotions.
“To produce B-Lower is already not easy, and moreover…”
His words echoed in the air, as if fighting for a sliver of hope for his students.
The surrounding air seemed to freeze for a moment.
Time too became long and heavy because of this “and moreover.”
However, before he could finish, the Instructor’s gaze was like a blade’s edge, mercilessly stabbing toward Li Canghai.
“And moreover what?”
He asked coldly, his tone carrying unquestionable authority.
At that moment, Li Canghai felt his heart tighten, as if placed beneath invisible pressure, even breathing became difficult.
“And moreover… I believe that every child has potential. As long as they are given time and opportunity, they will certainly bloom with radiance.”
“What’s more, the Academy has regulations that requirements can be relaxed for Third Order Academies.”
Li Canghai finally mustered his courage and raised his head.
His gaze was firm, like seeking a thread of light in the darkness.
A trace of hope flickered in his heart.
If he could fight for more opportunities for these children.
Perhaps in the future, he could truly nurture a genius, and with that, fulfill his father’s dying wish.
The surrounding air rippled slightly.
Seeming to still for his words.
A complex expression flashed through the Instructor’s eyes, as if pondering, and as if judging.
Li Canghai’s heart was like a surging tide.
Both expectant and anxious, waiting for the decision that would follow…