The Heaven-tier Academy, located in the deepest part of Tian Du Academy, was a gathering place that assembled almost all of the most monstrous and top-tier geniuses from the entire Tian Du Continent.
Naturally, the most powerful few, such as the Ancient Talents and Ye Chen, were not among them.
This was a stretch of continuous mountain ranges, with majestic ancient halls situated among them. Exceptionally abundant Heaven and Earth spiritual energy condensed into spiritual mist that drifted through the air, far richer than anywhere else in the academy.
Even ordinary people could feel how abundant and dense the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy flowing in the air was.
In an ancient hall located halfway up the mountain, a huge lectern was set up inside. An elderly white-haired old man sat cross-legged upon it, wisps of Dao Power flowing from his body. Heaven and Earth power also gathered around him, colorful and brilliant, which the old man drew upon to explain.
Below the lectern were numerous meditation mats woven from green silk, made from Qingyun grass. Sitting cross-legged on them had a calming and nourishing effect on the mind and spirit.
More than fifty young people sat cross-legged on them, attentively listening to the elder's explanation of insights into the Dao.
These young people were all just over twenty years old, the oldest not exceeding twenty-five. Yet almost every one of them was extremely powerful, at least super-powerful members of the younger generation at the Xiantian seventh layer or above. There were even great experts at the peak of Xiantian present.
But there were no Martial Gods among them.
These people were the true young elites of the Heaven-tier Academy. Each possessed immense potential to achieve Heavenly God status. They were the top figures of the younger generation in this era of the Tian Du Continent. Stepping into the Martial God realm was inevitable for them, and in the future, even if they couldn't truly become Heavenly God experts, they would certainly become super Martial Gods or above.
Historically, Tian Du Academy's Heaven-tier Academy had been called the cradle of Heavenly Gods. This was not an empty boast, because these people all had sufficient potential to be tapped.
Xia Teng, Vivian, and Princess Hong Rong, the three young powerhouses from Xia Feng Kingdom, were all below the lectern listening to the explanation. Because they had each scored three hundred points on the Trial Path, they had been specially granted permission by the academy to join the Heaven-tier Academy, envied by many students.
It must be understood that they were not considered strong. Only the Thirteenth Prince, Xia Teng, could be considered a Xiantian sixth layer expert. Compared to those monstrous talents of the Heaven-tier Academy who were at least Xiantian seventh layer or above, they still fell far short. Princess Hong Rong and Vivian were even weaker. Many believed their ability to enter the Heaven-tier Academy was merely due to Ye Chen's influence.
In fact, they themselves understood this was indeed the case. Without Ye Chen's help, they would never have been able to enter the Heaven-tier Academy, let alone access the resources available to its monstrous talents. Even the explanations were basically given by Martial God realm elders specifically, and occasionally even Supreme Elders at the Heavenly God realm would appear.
Although the Thirteenth Prince and Princess Hong Rong were royal family members and occasionally received guidance from Martial God experts in Xia Feng Kingdom, it was basically impossible for them to receive guidance from Heavenly God experts. Now, being able to receive explanations every day was naturally doubly precious to them. This was a shortcut on the path to becoming a powerhouse.
However, one point worth mentioning was that within the Heaven-tier Academy, apart from Xia Yang, who had become a Martial God, they were basically not well-received by others.
The reason was simple: they were too weak and looked down upon by other students of the Heaven-tier Academy.
"Today's explanation regarding the fire element ends here. We will continue tomorrow," said the Martial God elder giving the explanation as the time arrived, then flew away, leaving the group of Heaven-tier Academy students to study on their own.
The other geniuses were lost in thought. Xia Teng was a bit better off, but Princess Hong Rong and Vivian exchanged bitter smiles. Their realms were ultimately still a bit too low. They couldn't fully comprehend the meaning of a Martial God elder's explanation, relying more on their own exploration.
Xia Teng stood up and said to the two of them, "Let's go to the Sacred Land to cultivate."
They had all pushed open the fourth Trial Gate and obtained three days of cultivation time in the Sacred Land. For them, this was a tremendous benefit, not to be underestimated.
But it also aroused the envy of others.
Before the three of them had completely stepped out of the hall, several figures blocked their path.
The expressions of Xia Teng and the others changed, because the yellow-clothed youth leading the group before them had joined the Heaven-tier Academy several years ago. He was a peak Xiantian expert, one of the few top experts in the Heaven-tier Academy.
"Yang Hua, what is the meaning of this?"
Xia Teng's expression was not good. This person's reputation in the academy was not very good; he was more like a bully. But because he was a disciple of the Heaven-tier Academy, no one dared to touch him, and the academy's high-level elders would not interfere in matters between students.
This man was Yang Hua. At this moment, he was firmly blocking their way, sneering coldly, "Xia Teng, I heard your Xia Feng Kingdom's Ye Chen is very impressive, the number one expert of the younger generation."
Xia Teng frowned. "I never said that."
"Is that so?" Yang Hua sneered. "But I heard your batch of trial-takers from Xia Feng Kingdom are all very capable. Apart from that Yang Yi, each of you pushed open the fourth Trial Gate and obtained the qualification for three days of Sacred Land cultivation. It makes us quite envious."
Xia Teng and the others frowned. Princess Hong Rong even said, "Yang Hua, what do you mean by this?"
"Nothing much," Yang Hua said with a smile. "It's just that we also really want to enter the Sacred Land to cultivate. Unfortunately, we don't have Sacred Land jade tokens and cannot enter. How about you all transfer yours to us? We are willing to buy them for three hundred thousand gold coins each. What do you think?" Yang Hua spoke with a smile, but his words made people's expressions change.
Three hundred thousand gold coins to buy three days of Sacred Land cultivation time?
Impossible. Sacred Land cultivation was incomparably precious and priceless. Forget three hundred thousand gold coins, even if it were doubled, none of them would be willing. Moreover, they were not short of this little money. From the first day they entered the Heaven-tier Academy, the Xia Feng Kingdom royal family had provided strong support. They were not lacking in money; what they lacked was cultivation resources like the Sacred Land.
Xia Teng snorted coldly. "Yang Hua, don't even dream about buying our Sacred Land cultivation qualifications with your mere three hundred thousand gold coins."
"So, you're refusing a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit," Yang Hua's voice turned completely cold. The other members of the Heaven-tier Academy around him quietly closed in, as if a fight was about to break out at the slightest disagreement.
Xia Teng and the others' expressions changed. They shouted, "Yang Hua, what is the meaning of this? Do you intend to attack us?"
"Attacking isn't necessary. As long as you can obediently hand over the Sacred Land jade tokens, wouldn't everything be fine?" Yang Hua said with a smile, though it looked more like a threat.
The Thirteenth Prince and the others' expressions instantly changed drastically. These words clearly meant to force them to hand over the Sacred Land jade tokens. This was a threat.
But someone beside Yang Hua was worried. "Isn't this going too far? That young great demon king is also in the academy. If they tell Ye Chen, wouldn't it be huge trouble?"
Regarding Ye Chen, these people deeply feared and even dreaded him. He was the veritable young great demon king, comparable to the Ancient Talents, not to be underestimated.
Yang Hua, however, shook his head. "Don't worry. They won't possibly tell Ye Chen. If they tell Ye Chen, it would only prove these people are incompetent."
Indeed, these words struck a chord with the three of them. As Ye Chen's friends, they also didn't want to be too useless, needing to bring out Ye Chen as a shield for everything.
But they were also truly unwilling to hand over the Sacred Land jade tokens. It was a very rare opportunity. Therefore, at this moment, the three of them looked at him with both anger and helplessness. They could only circulate their True Yuan throughout their bodies, wanting to resist.
The other elites of the Heaven-tier Academy were shaking their heads. These three newcomers were simply no match for Yang Hua and the others.
Yang Hua sneered, cracking his knuckles with a series of pops, sneering continuously. "At this point, you still want to resist? Or do you want this young master to beat you crippled first, then snatch them?"
Boom—
The entire hall shook. A divine light fell like lightning, directly blasting Yang Hua and the several Heaven-tier Academy elites beside him away. They coughed up large mouthfuls of blood, their faces filled with shock and terror. "Who is it?"
A tall and straight young figure descended, releasing a sky-high oppressive aura. He coldly glared at the few of them and shouted, "Are my friends, Ye Chen, people that a bunch of riff-raff like you can harm?"
Ye Chen, had appeared!