Entrance Exam
Bruce finally arrived at the Imperial Academy. This institution has existed for hundreds of thousands of years. It has created many geniuses within the Alliance Kingdom. Some of the geniuses even joined the Dark Forces regrettably.
One can imagine how influential the Imperial Academy is within the continent. If one needs a place to gain resources for cultivation and a safe environment to grow, Imperial Academy is the number one choice.
However, the Imperial Academy has yearly exams that are extremely dangerous. Hundreds of students die per year in the exams due to the strict conditions and harsh environments. Nothing is free in this world. The academy cannot support everyone on the road of cultivation. You either step on people or get stepped on once you enter the academy.
Before reaching the Imperial Academy, Bruce used up 100,000 low stage energy crystals from Rok to reach peak stage of Elemental Profound. The previous battle against Rok really pushed his body to the limits.
He was able to gain comprehension from the battle and reach the final stage of Elemental Profound. He is currently the strongest in the young generation. But he cannot reveal his full strength as that would attract attentions and invite disasters.
Bruce plans to attend the academy and sneakily obtain the resources without causing too much attention. The first task for Bruce is to pass the Imperial Academy entrance exam.
Every year, the academy receives millions of applicants from everywhere in the continent. As long as one does not belong to the Dark Forces, one can register to take the academy entrance exam. The Alliance Kingdom has a list of young geniuses and families from the Dark Forces. It actively monitors the entrance exam every year to ensure the Dark Forces cannot infiltrate the academy.
"The Imperial Academy entrance exam officially starts today. Please stand in the line if you meet the requirement" The announcer pointed everyone to the requirement of the entrance exam.
"To be eligible to enroll in the Imperial Academy, you must be younger than 13 and have at least late stage Body Refinement cultivation"
The requirement of the academy is frankly quite generous. If one comes from a good background, it's very easy to obtain late stay body refinement with no talent. The requirement to the entrance exam is easy but passing it is difficult. Every year, the academy only opens up 5000 spots for new students. Bruce will have to rank at least in the top 5000 to enroll in the Academy.
'Seems like this is quite a commotion. Many kids at my age are standing in line. Alright Bruce, you need to stay low key and make it to the top 5000'
"Failed. Please get out of the line" The inspector pointed the candidate to the exit as the candidate tried to cheat the system. He was a 15-year-old boy with late stage body refinement. He initially thought that he could attempt the entrance exam by having a baby face. Turned out, the Imperial Academy has a device that tests the age of your bone.
When it was Bruce's turn, the inspector beckoned him to come to the front of the line.
"Stand here for the age inspection"
Bzzzzzz
"The candidate is 10 years old"
"Very good young man, you're only 10 years old and at peak body refinement stage. I hope you perform well in the entrance exam" The inspector looked at Bruce very favorably since he didn't recognize Bruce from the list of geniuses that supposed to be enrolled this year.
Being at peak body refinement stage at 10 without significant backgrounds is nearly impossible. The entire academy would flip upside down if it knew that Bruce is already at peak Elemental Profound stage.
"Thank you very much" Bruce bowed to the inspector and sat down at the resting area. He scanned all the candidates that were waiting in the area and realized that none of them is a genius. All candidates were at peak stage Body Refinement and met the age requirement.
Bruce initially thought that geniuses from the other kingdoms would be at least Elemental Profound stage by now. His question was solved briefly after hearing the conversations between the other candidates.
"Did you hear about the geniuses of our generation this year? Many people are saying that we have the golden generation of the century in this new batch of students"
"It's sure is unlucky for us when we have to compete against the princess of Water Kingdom, the prodigy of Glacier Kingdom, the prince of Earth Kingdom, the priestess of the Church of Light, …."
"I overheard you guys talking and what's so special about those people? Don't kingdoms have their princess and princes attend the Imperial Academy all the time? A random third person joined the conversation. It was quite boring for everyone to stay still and wait for the inspector to conclude the process, so everyone spoke among themselves about the geniuses of this generation.
"You're absolutely correct but in the past generations, all the geniuses were at early stage Elemental Profound. This year, most of the geniuses are at mid stage Elemental Profound with profound combat experience"
Unlike Bruce, many geniuses take quite a bit of time to get to the next stages in Elemental Profound. It could take approximately one to two years for a genius to reach the next stage in Elemental Profound.
"I heard a rumor that something big will happen within 10 years so all the influences are investing into their young generations."
"Bro, that's just hearsay. Something big always happens every year, we live in a dog eats dog world." One person snubbed out the rumor before it began to circulate.
Thanks to the candidates in the waiting area, Bruce obtained important information about his generation. He was about to nap when he heard someone spreading an outrageous rumor.
"You guys are all idiots, the reason why this year's generation is called the golden generation is due to one man, the heir to the Phantom Kingdom, Prince Edward!" The person continued as she was the prince's biggest fangirl.
"Prince Edward is currently at mid stage Elemental Profound with 3 elemental affinities! It is rumored that he defeated a peak stage Elemental Profound expert in battle couple months ago while only at the age of 10!"
"I did hear about Prince Edward, but I didn't know he was that talented"
"Yes! He's extremely talented and handsome. The Dark Forces tried to kill him in the past but failed because the Phantom Kingdom and the Alliance Kingdom sent out experts to protect him at all times. He'll be the one to topple the dark forces in the future!" The girl continued to praise Prince Edward and attracted a lot of people's attention.
Many people felt jealous toward Prince Edward as he was the prime candidate to win everything and obtain the best resources from the academy. While others didn't care because there was bound to be someone much more talented than them in this world. Meanwhile, Bruce felt the opposite.
'Oh thank you Prince Edward. Please keep attracting attentions to the dark forces while I relax in the academy. I'll be your biggest cheerleader from now on'
Bruce concluded that if the Dark Forces spent all their resources to kill Prince Edward, he would be left alone chilling in the academy.
"Alright everyone, the preliminary assessment has been concluded. We have 150,000 eligible candidates for this year's first class. The Imperial Academy only has 5000 open spots. This means that about 3% of you guys will make it in. I wish you all the best of luck!"
The inspector concluded the final speech before everyone was led into this year's entrance exam battlefield, The Forest of Solitude.