After meeting the Dean, Liu Bai finally learned the reason he had been summoned.
It was almost exactly as Ding Qian had guessed. It really was because of the Spiritual Road and this time he was not being called simply to serve as a figurehead. Instead, the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy was the appointed host for one of the platforms in the final King Struggle Stage.
"I am going to host the final King Struggle Platform Battle" Liu Bai asked in shock.
Although this was not something that required the dean to personally handle, it usually fell under Elder Zhu Tian's responsibility. Why had they suddenly come to him instead?
The Dean smiled calmly as if he had expected Liu Bai's reaction.
At this moment Elder Zhu Tian who was standing beside him spoke. "This final King Struggle Platform Battle is jointly hosted by the five great academies. Each academy presides over one platform. After choosing the participants each platform will have one hundred people and they will engage in a massive free for all. Only the ten who endure until the end on their respective platforms will earn the qualification to be crowned Kings."
"So this time you will be responsible for the platform that belongs to our Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy."
Liu Bai nodded. So every Spiritual Road trial produced fifty King Candidates which matched the ten per spiritual academy.
Of course the final result was never that evenly distributed because in the original timeline when Mu Chen's generation joined Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy only eight of the King Candidates successfully entered.
Given that Northern Heaven was considered the weakest among the five academies at that time this outcome was not surprising.
After the King Crowning Battle concluded there would also be the Challenge Stage. The fifty newly crowned Kings would be allowed to pick whom they wanted to challenge in order to compete for the title of the Spiritual Crown Bearer.
Naturally anyone who did not wish to participate could refuse. This would not affect their King Title in any way. Therefore apart from the few who were determined to seize the Spiritual Crown very few were willing to participate in these seemingly meaningless duels.
"Originally this task was meant for me but I am currently responsible for the Northern Heaven Continent's recruitment. The remaining elders are all occupied so we have no choice but to leave it to you."
"Do not worry. This is considered an official assignment from the academy and once you complete it you will be rewarded with five million Spiritual Values."
For Liu Bai now earning five million Spiritual Values was not particularly difficult but this task seemed almost too simple. It did not feel like something worth so many points..
Judging from the expressions of the Dean and Elder Zhu Tian it was clear that the excuse Elder Zhu Tian had just given was far from the truth.
They clearly intended for Liu Bai to appear publicly. Perhaps when the elders from the other four academies saw that a young student dared stand alongside their own academy elders someone would inevitably step forward to mock him. Then they would let Liu Bai slap their faces with a perfect display of pretentious brilliance.
Tsk tsk.
Liu Bai was almost certain his guess was correct.
It seemed the Dean must have been mocked quite badly by certain other deans in the past and now he wanted to retaliate using Liu Bai the prodigy.
But this was not a bad thing. Tasks that required him to act domineeringly on command were exactly the sort of thing he enjoyed.
"Alright I will take this task. When do we depart"
The two crafty old foxes immediately revealed a not so innocent smile. The Dean said. "We leave tomorrow. We will use the teleportation array to enter the Spiritual Road space."
The location of the Spiritual Road was a special dimension opened by the five great academies using the Judgment Mirror. It had no fixed anchor points and its position was extremely well hidden. Only the deans of the five academies could mobilize the Judgment Mirror to enter it directly.
This was the only way to guarantee the absolute safety of the Spiritual Road.
What made Liu Bai happiest was that he no longer had to worry about traveling thousands of miles.
After leaving the central hall Jiu You looked extremely displeased.
"Why did you call me out this has nothing to do with me. You just wasted my cultivation time."
Liu Bai rolled his eyes.
"You were enjoying your cultivation while my Spiritual value token was screaming."
"That place is not somewhere you can stay inside permanently. It requires Spiritual value to enter."
An eight-rank Spirit Gathering Array was something even Jiu You during her time as the Nine Nether King in the Great Heavenlaw Domain could not enjoy. It was not because such high level cultivation spots did not exist in the Great Heavenlaw Domain but because they were not something a King stage cultivator could casually use.
Jiu You raised her elegant eyebrows. Having watched Liu Bai make that expression so often she had unconsciously adopted the habit as well.
Her red lips curved slightly and with her beautiful eyes half lidded she suddenly revealed an icy domineering expression. Her cool voice drifted out.
"Do not forget the agreement between you and me. There are less than three months left before the one year deadline."
With that her graceful figure turned. The tips of her long hair brushed across Liu Bai's cheek making his nose itch.
When he looked again that back which could kill with a single glance had already vanished.
Liu Bai looked down at his now empty hand. The Spiritual value token that had been there moments ago had once again disappeared. He let out a long silent sigh.
"Forget it. Let her do as she wishes. Raising her is the same as raising anything else."
It was like buying bird feed.
The last line he did not dare say aloud because she had not gone far. If she heard it that little black sparrow would explode again.
The night passed quietly. At dawn the next morning Liu Bai went to the central hall early and then traveled with the Dean through the teleportation array into the Spiritual Road space.
When the Dean raised a token that shot a beam of spiritual light into the sky Liu Bai saw a massive ancient bronze mirror faintly appear in the air.
Within the mirror silhouette countless starlight motes converged as though absorbing the spiritual energy of the heavens and earth across hundreds of miles before forming a massive vortex.
Deep within the vortex a gigantic cosmic gate slowly rose and released resplendent light.
The star light shone downward and enveloped both the dean and Liu Bai lifting them gently into the air.
"Relax your body. The Judgment Mirror is not an ordinary artifact. Its spirituality is nearly equal to that of a living being. Just leave everything to it."
The dean's calm voice came beside Liu Bai's ear.
Liu Bai was not nervous but he was extremely curious about this Judgment Mirror.
Although the original story always referred to it as an artifact he felt from its displays that it could not possibly be merely an artifact.
It could pierce through the void locate the Immortal Page for Mu Chen and even peer into the Ancient Heavenly Palace. Such feats were far beyond the capabilities of a typical divine artifact.
After all in the Great Thousand World divine artifacts were not the highest class of treasures. Above them were Saint Artifact and Peerless Saint Artifact.
Pulled by the star light Liu Bai and the dean entered the cosmic gate. The gate then shrank rapidly into a single beam of star light and vanished into the vortex.
A deafening explosion rang across the sky. The ancient mirror silhouette rushed into a rift in the void and the crystalline walls of the void rapidly repaired themselves returning the world to its previous calm.
After traveling through a deathly silent chaotic spatial passage a massive tremor resounded. The passage opened and blinding light poured in flooding every corner of vision.
When Liu Bai's sight returned he found himself standing above a vast primordial world.
Green rivers and blue mountains stretched endlessly and towering ancient trees formed a boundless sea of forests.
High above in the ancient sky unknown birds flapped their wings with explosive force stirring the air into visible ripples.
"Those chosen by the Spiritual Road should all be children. Many of them have not even cultivated spiritual energy. They are supposed to survive in a place like this"
Liu Bai raised an eyebrow. He had heard that spiritual energy could not be used within the Spiritual Road but these powerful Spiritual beasts could kill even Spiritual Wheel or Divine Soul Realm cultivators using their bodies alone let alone children with no spiritual energy.
No wonder only so few ever emerged from the Spiritual Road. Who knew how many so called geniuses had died on this road of death.
The Dean remained calm. "The Spiritual Road is dangerous but not a dead end. Those within are not truly unable to use strength."
"They can level up their spiritual bodies by hunting Spiritual beasts. Even a first level spiritual body possesses combat strength superior to a Spiritual Movement Realm cultivator. If they can reach the third level then with some intelligence surviving the Spiritual Road is not hard and they may even gain tremendous benefits."
Liu Bai nodded. In the Great Thousand World this was normal. Many sects had far more brutal selection methods.
In this world everyone believed in one truth. The weak had no right to live.
Such rules governed every realm that possessed powerful strength. Not to mention that the Great Thousand World constantly faced threats from the malicious races outside the domain.
At this moment Liu Bai and the dean were not inside the Spiritual Road but in the space above it. High above this space a majestic palace hung suspended in the sky.
"Let us go inside…"
Under the guidance of the Dean, Liu Bai followed him into the hall. They stopped beside the only row of five seats arranged at the top of the hall.
The Dean continued walking and quickly took the leftmost seat. Liu Bai stood slightly behind him.
In front of these seats was a rippling light curtain. Although there was no image displayed at the moment, Liu Bai could tell at a glance that this was the viewing screen the Five Great Academies used to observe the scenes within the Spiritual Road.
Although they were the first to arrive, the other four academy did not make them wait long. Very soon, figures entered the hall one after another, each walking toward their respective seats. Many of them nodded politely toward the Northern Heaven Dean.
However, when their eyes landed on Liu Bai's overly youthful face, several of them revealed a trace of surprise.
Soon, all Five Great Academies had arrived.
The hall gradually filled with people, and the previously silent atmosphere gained a touch of liveliness.
At this moment, the Dean Tai Cang wore a calm expression. His eyes were deep like a starry sky, and without any deliberate effort, an indescribable aura radiated from him, shaking both heaven and earth.
This was not because he was provoking others. Rather, all five deans of the Five Great Academies had chosen to release their aura simultaneously.
Liu Bai looked around at the other seats…
To the right of Tai Cang sat an elder in a cyan robe. His white brows and beard were long, yet his skin was smooth like that of an infant. In his palm grew a tiny pine tree, emerald green like jade. As it swayed gently, space around it faintly trembled.
This elder was the Azure Heavens Spiritual Academy's dean, Dean Tiansong.
Liu Bai narrowed his eyes. If he remembered correctly, the Azure Heavens Spiritual Academy had some connection with the Wind Spirit Race. In the original story, Dean Tiansong even invited a genius from the Wind Spirit Race to participate in the Spiritual Academy Grand Competition.
At the far right seat sat a thin and slightly short elder. His shriveled fingers played with his beard, and he appeared half asleep.
However, Liu Bai recognized him. This seemingly ordinary elder carried an incredibly domineering title.
The Martial Heavenly King, dean of the Martial Spiritual Academy.
Beside the Martial Heavenly King was a beautiful woman.
She wore a luxurious gown, radiant and dignified. Her hair was coiled into a phoenix like ornament, and her smooth jade like skin made her seem completely unlike the other four aged deans.
Only those aware of her true identity knew that in terms of seniority, among all the deans present, perhaps only the Saint Spiritual Academy's dean could compare to her.
This elegant woman was Dean Tang Qiu, dean of the Myriad Phoenix Spiritual Academy, which only admitted female students.
In Liu Bai's memory, the Myriad Phoenix Spiritual Academy was backed by the Northern Domain Wen Clan, the same clan behind Wen Qingxuan, who seized the title of Spiritual Crown Bearer. This clan was a true super power, renowned throughout the Great Thousand World. There were even Heavenly Sovereign level powerhouses within the clan.
Compared to them, the Northern Heavens Spiritual Institute, supported only by a newly advanced Earthly Sovereign, was worlds apart.
Finally, at the center seat sat a figure that stood out more than anyone else. It was a man whose true age could not be discerned.
He had long white hair and sharp, chiseled features. Simply by sitting there, he resembled a towering mountain pillar standing between heaven and earth, causing others to instinctively tremble.
This was the Saint Spiritual Academy's dean, Dean Tian Sheng.
Among the Five Great Academies, he was the most renowned, and his strength was unfathomable.
These five seats, these five towering figures, represented the greatest pinnacle of power among the countless spiritual academies of the Great Thousand World. In absolute strength, they might not be the strongest under heaven, but within the domain of spiritual academies, they were unrivaled titans.
.....
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