Chapter 34 - Dim Red Soul Talent

Lu Yan turned around and watched Zhou Wei as he left. For a moment, if one was perceptive enough, you could see Lu Yan's smile drop. However, his smile quickly returned to his face.

Lu Yan gently approached the pillar and slowly extended his hand. The entire training ground was still. It was as if Lu Yan held their collective breaths in his slow reaching hands. The closer his hand went to the pillar, the tenser the atmosphere became.

Everything came to a crescendo as Lu Yan's hand finally palmed on the pillar, and it rewarded him with a dull, black light.

"Dim Black Soul Talent Level!" The entire crowd was in awe, instructors included. Even Instructor Qin had to admit that Lu Yan was worthy of being called a superb talent.

"That Lu Yan," Instructor Qin reclined in his seat and sipped some tea as he talked. "He is definitely going to make a strong case for the next heir of the Lu Family. If Qin Ying is not careful in the future, he is definitely going to suffer at the hands of Lu Yan at the noble families' gathering."

Instructor Qin chuckled then continued. "Heck, even Tang Shengtian would have to be mindful in 5 years' time."

Lu Yan graciously walked down amidst the clamor of the people as if it was just fleeting air to him. He only cared about the results of two particular people. He also knew more than likely that they would not be as impulsive to jump on the platform, so Lu Yan had to play the Devil's Advocate.

"I believe we are all tired of waiting and would want to see the main attractions." Lu Yan's words lit everyone up like a matchstick. Like a wildfire, many people began fervently discussing this.

In the interim, Tian Longmeng shrieked because of the unexpected uproar. Tian Longmeng already had a good understanding of his talent and would be surprised if it was anything other than white. However, thanks to his slip up, people had high expectations of him to even reach the Black Soul Talent Level.

"Aha! Found him!" Tian Longmeng scarcely heard a voice behind him, but just before he could react, he found himself being dragged by the hand onto the platform. Now that he was on the platform, he could not descend under the undiluted gaze of everyone.

Tian Longmeng sighed and spoke to himself. "At least, I am going first. I would have to go anyways." With that, Tian Longmeng placed his hand on the crystal pillar.

At first, the pillar gave no response, to the point where someone thought it broke. In fact, they would have thought it broke if someone did not stare into the pillar to see some flickering lights. "Hey, there is a light there!"

"Yeah, there seems to be a light, but why is it so faint?" Other people who stared as well began picking up the light. Instructor Cheng put down his paper and ink and walked over to the pillar to finalize the verdict.

While staring intently at the light, Instructor Cheng murmured, "It seems to be, Red."

"Red!!!" Another outcry, almost as loud as the time Tian Longmeng made near 2000 jins. Many people were in disbelief, even the instructors as well. However, they could not remain that way after the verdict was passed.

"Ha!" A laugh came from an unknown noble in the crowd. "This kid probably found some lucky medicine and got some strength, but no medicine can cover up for trash talent."

Some people felt that the noble was slightly jealous but they had to admit that there was some truth in what the noble said. If Tian Longmeng really found some miracle medicine then it could explain why he was so strong yet his talent is so low.

What makes it worse is that the medicinal effects would wear off in due time, so no matter if Tian Longmeng enters the martial academy, he is bound to drop out eventually. Because this was the most plausible case, everybody slowly began accepting this as true, even the instructors.

Zhou Wei had no expression towards the slander; neither did Qin Qingtian or Lu Yan. Lu Yan, however, had a hint of disappointment flash by his eyes. The instructors, on the other hand, were conversing whether to kick him from the test now to save them the wait. These instructors were quickly silenced by Instructor Qin. "Shut up and watch the thing through already."

Instructor Qin was irritated. He knew what he saw by the gate entrance, and what he saw was a monster in the living flesh of a child. There is no way that aura could be faked. The strength matched the look as well, so Instructor Qin was convinced at what he was looking at. However, this talent level threw everything into disarray. "Something does not add up. Something must be wrong." Instructor Qin murmured inaudibly to himself.

Meanwhile, Qin Qingtian went to the stage after Tian Longmeng bashfully leapt off. She did not care for Tian Longmeng's failure, she did not even care for Lu Yan or Zhou Wei who people considered to be her rivals. All she wanted to do was to beat that one person.

Even as she walked, she could hear the fleeting voices that sounded like adults, constantly whispering.

"What a genius, I wonder if she can be just as great as Ying Ying*."

"She seems good; too bad she was born after Ying'er."

"I wonder who is better between them, Ying'er is probably stronger though."

"You just cannot match talent like Ying'er."

With each sentence, Qin Qingtian's face gradually became darker as her fist clenched in her sleeve. She finally approached the Soul Wave Pillar and slammed it so hard that the pillar cracked slightly.

"Bam!"

Everyone who was ridiculing Tian Longmeng or expressing their disappointment was quickly silenced by the sudden impact. Instructor Cheng's mouth dropped as he stared blankly at the crack pillar.

It was the second pillar that broke while he was in charge. These pillars are not cheap! Soon after, the pillar began radiating a black light.

"Qin Qingtian is an Average Black Soul Talent! Amazing!" The crowd riled up and began their showering of praise once more. Some of the nobles took the opportunity to try and get on her good side while scorning others. "You see, this is true talent. True elegance and strength, not faking it like some brutes."

The other nobles patted each other and their own overinflated egos while some shameless commoners endorsed the criticism in order to hang on some coattails.

Qin Qingtian stared at the black light for a long while. As she continued to stare, she began shaking in fury and veins could be evident on her temples. "Not enough." A faint voice came through her grinding teeth as she spun around and dashed off the platform and away from the crowd.

No one knew why she did that, and Instructor Cheng did not want to anger a prodigy from the 4 great noble families so he decided to quickly proceed with the rest of the second test.

*Repeating the given ("first") name is an affectionate way of calling someone, especially a child.