"Is this your strength? Too weak."
At the entrance of the academy, Ye Chen shook his head, offering this evaluation of the Thirteenth Prince.
With those words, the entire scene was thrown into shock!
Arrogant! Utterly arrogant!
Who was the Thirteenth Prince? A super genius of the younger generation who had achieved the Xiantian realm at the age of twenty-six. The Xiantian realm alone was enough to represent his terrifying strength; few among the younger generation could compare.
And that was just his achievement at twenty-six. He was now thirty years old, meaning he had been in the Xiantian domain for a full four years.
Four years had passed. With the Thirteenth Prince's exceptional cultivation talent that surpassed ordinary people, coupled with the abundant cultivation resources bestowed by the royal family, no one knew what level his cultivation had reached by now.
Many speculated that even though the breakthrough speed after stepping into the Xiantian realm was far slower than in the Houtian realm, with the Thirteenth Prince's talent, reaching the third level of Xiantian in four years was probably not impossible.
Such a person would undoubtedly be a top-tier elite even in the highest-level Heaven-tier Academy of Xia Feng Academy.
Yet now, he was described as so "easily defeated" by a mysterious youth, causing everyone present to frown involuntarily, thinking this youth was arrogant.
Although they had seen Ye Chen easily shatter the Thirteenth Prince's attack earlier, it was just a casual strike from the prince, nothing more. It didn't prove much, at most indicating that Ye Chen was indeed strong and perhaps qualified to rival the Thirteenth Prince.
But if the Thirteenth Prince's full-power strike were easily shattered, that would be a different matter.
Ye Chen paid no mind to the crowd's thoughts, as if it were truly so. Only the Thirteenth Prince felt a deep sense of gravity.
Only by truly making a move could one feel how unfathomably deep Ye Chen's strength was.
At the very least, to shatter his own Xiantian strike as effortlessly as Ye Chen had, even he found it difficult to achieve. It made him feel that in a real fight, he didn't have enough confidence to steadily defeat Ye Chen.
This youth was unexpectedly powerful.
But just who was this? When did such a stunningly talented young genius appear in Xia Feng Kingdom? Why had no one known of him before?
Unable to help himself, the Thirteenth Prince stepped forward. His steps seemed slow but contained profound mysteries—slow in appearance yet fast in reality. In an instant, he arrived before Ye Chen and once again swung his palm. A shimmering treasure light flowed between his fingers and palm, True Yuan surging forth. It was just a simple palm strike, meant to test Ye Chen's strength.
Ye Chen himself stood unmoving like a mountain, similarly striking out with a palm. Golden Human Yuan Power circulated as he met the Thirteenth Prince head-on.
Boom—
The ground shook violently. With the two as the center, a terrifying gust of energy erupted. The hard bluestone slabs shattered inch by inch, spreading across a radius of five zhang, even collapsing in places.
Both stood in place, not retreating in the slightest. However, the Thirteenth Prince's hand trembled slightly, clearly indicating he was at a slight disadvantage in this collision.
Among the crowd were those with sharp eyes. Seeing this, their pupils contracted to pinpricks in shock. Could it be that the Thirteenth Prince was truly inferior to Ye Chen?
It seemed this mysterious youth might really be a super powerhouse of the younger generation stronger than the Thirteenth Prince.
Yet despite this, the Thirteenth Prince's expression, which should have turned gloomy, suddenly brightened. Like a brilliant, dazzling sun, he cupped his hands toward Ye Chen with a gentle smile: "Little brother, your strength is formidable. I acknowledge you. If I was at fault earlier, please forgive me and do not take offense."
The crowd gasped. What did the Thirteenth Prince mean by these words? Was he admitting he was inferior to Ye Chen?
Ye Chen glanced at him with slight surprise. He hadn't expected this Thirteenth Prince to let go of pride so readily, apologizing on the spot. Moreover, changing his self-address from "this prince" to "I" was enough proof that his attitude toward Ye Chen had changed.
Originally, Ye Chen had no favorable impression of this Thirteenth Prince. But seeing the other's humble attitude, willingness to apologize, and graceful demeanor, a bit of goodwill arose in his heart. His expression was no longer so indifferent as he nodded, accepting the apology.
The Thirteenth Prince didn't mind this, saying: "Little brother, one cannot enter Xia Feng Academy without a student token. That's the rule and cannot be broken. If you don't mind, why not follow me into the academy? As a student of the Heaven-tier Academy, I have the privilege to bring others in for the day."
Every student of the Heaven-tier Academy was an elite among elites, true geniuses who had reached the Xiantian realm before the age of twenty. Xia Feng Academy placed extreme importance on these talents, granting them considerable privileges.
Allowing them to bring outsiders in was one of those privileges.
To this, Ye Chen shook his head, causing the Thirteenth Prince to be slightly taken aback and sigh, thinking Ye Chen was simply rejecting his invitation. He felt he had lost an important opportunity to befriend a powerful expert. But the next moment, something Ye Chen pulled from his bosom left everyone present dumbfounded—
A student token!
No one had expected this powerful and mysterious youth to actually be a student of Xia Feng Academy. Earlier, Wu Changwei and the others had verbally and physically tried to stop him, even scornfully insulting him, doing everything to prevent his entry, unaware that he was a formal student possessing a student token.
But that wasn't the main point. The most crucial point was that the student token in this mysterious youth's hand was actually a black iron token!
Yes, a black iron token, representing the lowest-ranked Yellow-tier Academy among the four major academies: Heaven, Earth, Mystic, and Yellow.
When they saw this Yellow-tier Academy token, everyone was stunned.
This revelation overturned everyone's understanding. The entire area fell into a dead silence, disbelief hanging in the air.
To be honest, with the strength Ye Chen had currently displayed, he could easily enter even the highest-level Heaven-tier Academy of the entire institution. Because the Thirteenth Prince was a member of the Heaven-tier Academy, and being able to face him head-on without defeat—even in just a superficial clash—required combat power at the Xiantian realm or above.
Clearly, Ye Chen had already met this standard. Entering the Heaven-tier Academy would be effortless.
Yet he was actually just a student of the Yellow-tier Academy.
When did such a super powerhouse, whom even the Thirteenth Prince would lower his status to befriend, appear in the Yellow-tier Academy? Why had no one known before?
If this matter spread, it would surely cause an uproar throughout Xia Feng Academy.
"This... this..." Even the Thirteenth Prince was shocked.
In truth, this was the Xia Feng Academy token Ye Chen had obtained before his fall from the pedestal of genius. At that time, he was already a student of Xia Feng Academy, and moreover, a student of the Heaven-tier Academy, holding a gold token.
Later, after participating in the trial path, his cultivation plummeted. Xia Feng Academy revoked his status as a Heaven-tier Academy student but, not wanting Ye Chen to be too disheartened, downgraded him to the Yellow-tier Academy.
Thus, this Yellow-tier Academy token had been preserved until now.
As for the ranking of student tokens, Ye Chen didn't care. Because even facing students of the Heaven-tier Academy, he was unafraid, possessing sufficient strength.
The division into the four major tiers—Heaven, Earth, Mystic, and Yellow—was merely a classification based on student strength. But such classification was ineffective against him.
Moreover, although higher-tier academies had richer cultivation resources, compared to Xia Feng Academy, Tian Du Academy, as a cultivation holy land of the continent, possessed cultivation resources countless times more abundant. And he was about to go to Tian Du Academy for further study. As for Xia Feng Academy's cultivation resources—
To be honest, Ye Chen simply looked down on them.
If not for one place within Xia Feng Academy that had some slight effect on him, he wouldn't have come at all.
Ye Chen handed the black iron token to the guard, saying: "I should be able to enter, right?"
"Yes, yes, Lord, please enter the academy."
At this point, the four guards wouldn't dare to block him. They hurriedly bowed respectfully in response, not daring to show the slightest neglect.
Not to mention Ye Chen having the black iron token, just the powerful Xiantian realm strength he had displayed earlier was enough to make them not dare to obstruct him.
The Thirteenth Prince followed him in, smiling: "Little brother, how about I enter the academy with you? I wonder if you're willing."
"Fine." Ye Chen nodded. It wouldn't be good to refuse. Moreover, the other was a member of the royal family with such outstanding cultivation talent, so his status was certainly not low. If they befriended each other well, should any difficulties arise in Xia Feng Kingdom in the future, this connection could be used to smooth things over.
Thus, the two geniuses entered the academy side by side, leaving the crowd with their gradually receding figures.
The crowd could guess that tomorrow morning, Xia Feng Academy would surely be in an uproar...