"Senior Su, what's so different between the outer shell and the outer courtyard?" Lu Feng'er asked as her eyes panned around the dark stone bricks that gave an old rundown vibe.
Qian Su smiled at her question and spoke, "Everything is different! You see, the outer shell is just what we let you see. It appears to be a simple academy with the only benefit being the teachers and the resources, but that simply isn't true. Since your father is the grand tutor, you should know about the formation sub class right?"
Lu Feng'er nodded her head. Of course she knew about the path of formations, her father would beat her up with formations!
"You see, formations can be used in many ways, but a very powerful one can trick your senses. The academy is a lot more grander than you think."
As Qian Su words stopped, the two of them reached the exit of the hallway as the shining bright light illuminated their path forwards.
Lu Feng'er blocked the light with her hands as she kept walking forwards, but once she reached the end of the hallway and into the outside light, a shocked expression appeared on her little arrogant face.
"Beautful, isn't it?" Qian Su's eyes curled and gave a cute little giggle as she covered her mouth.
Lu Feng'er was truly amazed at the sight she was viewing. Before them stretched a crystalline pathway that shimmered underfoot, bordered by gently flowing rivers.
In the skies above, six floating islands, each one crowned with pavilions and flowering trees. Waterfalls spilled from their edges, vanishing into golden clouds below. The air itself felt lighter here as if life was slowly entering her body.
"This is the true Heavenly Dipped Academy. Each island serves as a massive formation for the academy, this is why you can't see the floating islands from the outside. This also allows us to strategically break one of the islands off and use it as a means of transportation in the sea, though this is far away for you now." Qian Su generously explained, not hiding any secrets.
"Does someone own one of the islands?" Lu Feng'er asked as her eyes lit up.
"Huh-" Qian Su was speechless for a moment, not expecting that her first question would be about ownership of the six islands.
"Well yes and no. The grand tutor controls all six islands, but someone does own them and takes care of them. You can kind of think of it like this. The grand tutor owns the rights to move the property around, but cannot change the development of the island."
"Hmm, then my first goal coming here shall be to claim one of the islands myself!" Lu Feng'er boldly said.
Qian Su coughed and covered her chest with both of her hands,
"Do you know what you're saying? The ones who own one of the islands are the six elders of the academy. Each one of them reached the seventh rank: Spirit Avatar Realm, and can merge their martial spirits into themselves and control the surrounding area! Even a sixth rank: Spirit Sovereign would have trouble dealing with one, and once they merge their spirit into their body, they can beat anyone below them!"
Lu Feng'er didn't seem to be deterred by her words, but got even more excited.
"So? I'll just surpass them! They can't blame a junior beating up the elderly, can they?"
Qian Su couldn't comprehend Lu Feng'er mind, and didn't bother to answer her questions anymore.
"Just follow me. I'll take you to the main courtyard of the outer court so you can begin your second exam." Qian Su said in defeat, and Lu Feng'er cheerfully followed her as she asked about the strength of the six elders. Of course, Qian Su didn't respond.
Just as they were having their bonding moments, Lu Fin and Lu Rensheng appeared not long after they left, and just like Lu Feng'er, they were astonished by the view.
"How about it, is it great?" Ling Shu said as he took in their expressions.
The two siblings nodded, but unlike Lu Feng'er, Lu Fin asked Ling Shu for actual reliable information.
"Senior Brother Shu, can you tell us what the second part of the exam is?"
Hearing Lu Fin's question, Lu Rensheng's ears perked up.
"Hmm, I can tell you something." Ling Shu responded and started heading towards their second exam.
"The test is about your spiritual sea, or to some up, your spiritual power."
"Spiritual power?" Lu Rensheng couldn't help but chime in.
She hasn't heard much about spiritual power as their father wouldn't explain much about it, but he has mentioned a few things.
"Yes, spiritual power. Typically a spirit master cannot grow his martial spirit until one reaches the fourth rank: True Spirit Realm, so many teachers don't explain it till you reach the third rank. As for what spiritual power is? It's the strength of your spirit sea which exists in your mind. The stronger one's spiritual power is, the easier it is to control your martial spirit and sense others around you. It becomes a very important path to cultivate for sub professions."
Lu Fin and Lu Rensheng listened intently and pieced the information given with their father's guidance and had a rough idea of spiritual power.
"So the second exam is measuring our spiritual power? But that doesn't make any sense. Why wouldn't you test our spiritual power during the first exam?" Lu Rensheng said in confusion, and Lu Fin nodded on the side.
Ling Shu shook his head, not giving them any more information about the second exam, but this was enough for both Lu Fin and Lu Rensheng to figure out that the second test wouldn't be so simple.
***
In the main hall of the outer courtyard, Lu Xiaofeng was standing in the shadows accompanied by many other teachers.
"Not bad, not bad! Over 1200 students passed the first exam so far." One of the teachers said, giving a light stroke on his youthful chin.
"Indeed. I wonder how many can pass the Wave of Bitterness." An old woman said, resting her back on the wall.
"Only 20% of the students pass the Wave of Resentment, so assuming we can have another 2000 students, we'd have roughly 640 enrolled students." A young girl said, her eyes blinding like a high beam.
"It's a lot less than last year." Lu Xiaofeng on the side chimed in and sighed.
This made the three fall silent until the young girl spoke, "After what happened twenty years ago, more and more people aren't enrolling in the academy. I've actually investigated why, and it seems that the nobles with high blood no longer wish to send their kids to 'go die.' There also has been an influx of new academies, but also an increase in dark tides that happened to destroy two newly founded academies."
It was now Lu Xiaofeng's time to be silent.
As for what happened twenty years ago, it was vivid in his mind. He was twelve that year, the same age as his current children. As for what happened back then…
"It doesn't matter what the number of enrolled students are!" A voice sounded, bringing Lu Xiaofeng back to reality.
The person who spoke just now was a man with a muscular build, almost making him look like a gorilla.
"We don't recruit students to send them off as some meat shields! We teach the best of the best, creating strong men around the seas! As for what happened twenty years ago, can we really be blamed? Instead of sulking, we should increase the academy strength and honor those who died that day."