Within Xia Feng Academy, there existed an ancient stone monument known as the Power Monument. Its true origins had long since become a mystery, impossible to verify, having been present since the academy's very establishment.
The Power Monument was a stone tablet capable of measuring strength, and it had now become a tool for countless students of Xia Feng Academy to test their own power and calculate their numerical value.
Throughout the thousand years that Xia Feng Academy had existed in the world, generations of elite students had tested themselves on the Power Monument. Many had left glorious achievements upon it, forever inscribed on the tablet's surface for later generations to behold.
However, the name ranked first on the Power Monument did not belong to some ancient elite student, but to a member of the current younger generation. This person had broken the thousand-year record, ascending to the crown and claiming the top spot.
This person was named Xia Yang, whose true identity was the current Crown Prince of Xia Feng Kingdom.
His record: sixty-eight thousand and seventy-nine jin of force!
This record was enough to make all students of Xia Feng Academy over the past millennium look up to it in awe.
This was the record left by the Crown Prince himself two years ago when he personally came before the Power Monument. It was said that he merely threw a single punch, yet the Power Monument shook violently. Rumors even spoke of celestial light bursting forth and purple clouds reaching to the heavens, startling the entire Xia Feng Academy and creating a new record.
At the Houtian Ninth Layer, one's strength could reach four thousand jin. Once one achieved Xiantian, they could possess ten thousand jin of force. This was a tremendous transformation from Houtian to Xiantian.
Generally, the Xiantian realm was based on ten thousand jin of force as a foundation. However, achieving tens of thousands of jin of immense strength was difficult; only veteran Xiantian experts who had been in the realm for many years possessed such terrifying power.
Yet, two years ago, the Crown Prince was merely twenty years old—quite young. That he had mastered such fearsome power at that time gave one an idea of just how strong he must be. He was undoubtedly the number one among the younger generation of the entire Xia Feng Kingdom.
Moreover, he was hailed as one of the rare, peerless geniuses of Xia Feng Kingdom in the past millennium. As long as no accidents occurred, his future achievements would inevitably reach the Heavenly God realm, allowing him to reign over all directions and gaze down upon the vast earth. The world was vast, and he could go anywhere.
There were even rumors that, given the right opportunities, he might one day have the chance to surpass the Heavenly God realm, transcend it, and become a deity-level existence, reigning supreme over the world and dominating the vast continent.
Ye Chen gazed at the Crown Prince's name on the Power Monument, his eyes gleaming with sharp light as he stared for a while. It seemed this generation of Xia Feng Kingdom was quite impressive, having produced a true peerless genius.
At this moment, the area beneath the Power Monument was crowded with many students, packed in layers three deep, numbering in the hundreds. Students from all four academies—Heaven, Earth, Mystic, and Yellow—were present, creating a bustling, lively scene.
With a brief inquiry, Ye Chen learned that several elite students from the Heaven-tier Academy were about to undergo testing. They aimed to surpass the three hundred historical figures on the Power Monument, seize a higher position, ascend the monument, and leave their names for eternity.
The Heaven-tier Academy consisted of nothing but true elites. Each member was a genius who had reached the Xiantian realm by at least the age of eighteen, and each was under twenty-three years old. Once they passed this age, they would leave the academy.
Their testing naturally drew attention. The news had only just spread, yet it had already attracted numerous students to come and watch the spectacle, eager to witness it firsthand.
Ye Chen glanced over and saw that there was indeed an open space beneath the Power Monument, occupied by only a handful of people. These were the several elite students from the Heaven-tier Academy who had come to test—five men and two women. However, his gaze settled on one of the women.
This young woman appeared to be around eighteen or nineteen years old. She wore a mint-green robe, her face was stunningly beautiful, her posture graceful and elegant, her hair cascaded like a waterfall—a rare beauty indeed. There was a youthful innocence about her, yet she was poised and elegant, drawing all eyes.
She stood there, graceful and upright, like a begonia blooming in spring, captivating and radiant.
Not to mention others, even the five men from the Heaven-tier Academy looked at the young woman with intense gazes, admiration evident in their eyes.
But what drew Ye Chen's attention was not simply that this young woman was young and beautiful; it was because she was someone Ye Chen knew—it was Vivian.
Several days had passed since he last saw her. The worry that had once lingered between her brows had now dissipated. Her exquisite face was adorned with a genuine, heartfelt smile, her eyes sparkling with life, delicate and moving. Seeing her was like feeling a spring breeze—one couldn't look away.
Ye Chen knew that her grandfather's injuries must have healed, and her family had likely returned to its former prosperity. Thus, the young woman was free from the worries of the past, restored to the beautiful smile appropriate for her age.
The other young woman was also beautiful and captivating. She wore a long red dress, her figure curvaceous with ample hips and a full bust, giving her a fiery, eye-catching appearance that attracted numerous heated gazes roaming over her delightful curves.
Among the hundreds of spectators, the vast majority were looking at these two beauties, their expressions filled with awe and admiration.
Vivian seemed to be on quite good terms with this voluptuous beauty. They linked arms, their heads leaning close together as they whispered and laughed softly, occasionally letting out clear, bell-like laughter that drew sidelong glances and immense envy. Many wished they could rush forward and join them.
Looking at the five men, Ye Chen realized that three of them were also acquaintances. One was the young man Hua Shaoyang who had accompanied Vivian in the Alchemist Heart Palace that day. He, too, was one of the elite students of the Heaven-tier Academy.
The other two were Xia Mang and Li Hu.
The remaining two men, Ye Chen did not recognize, but they were also elite students of the Heaven-tier Academy, wearing golden badges. A hint of arrogance always lingered between their brows, as if they looked down from on high, subtly disdainful of students from the other three academies.
At this moment, Xia Mang smiled at the others, cupped his fists, and said, "Everyone, it's getting late. Let's not waste any more time. I'll go first for the test. If my result is poor, please don't laugh."
"Brother Xia, you jest. If yours is poor, where would that leave the rest of us?"
"Exactly. You've been in the Xiantian realm for two years now. How could your result be anything less than impressive?" Li Hu and another elite student responded with laughter. The others also smiled, encouraging Xia Mang.
"You all flatter me," Xia Mang said, though his expression still carried a trace of pride, for he had such confidence. "The names on the Power Monument represent the three hundred strongest individuals in the academy's history. Although I consider myself somewhat capable, becoming one of them is far too difficult."
Despite his modest words, Xia Mang stepped forward first to test, approaching the tall Power Monument.
Under countless watchful eyes, a fearsome aura erupted from his body. Streams of solid True Yuan circulated over his skin, shimmering with profound light.
In an instant, Xia Mang stepped forward, let out a light shout, raised his fist, and struck. His entire essence, energy, and spirit converged into this single punch, which slammed powerfully against the Power Monument.
Although the Power Monument was made of dark stone, at this moment, the tablet's surface began to glow with a crimson radiance. It quickly shifted to orange, then to yellow, then to green. The color deepened, finally becoming a deep green before finally stopping.
"It's green! I've heard that only by exceeding ten thousand jin of force can one make the Power Monument emit green light. And this is deep green, almost turning cyan. Once it becomes cyan, that's twenty thousand jin of force. Does this mean Brother Xia can reach twenty thousand jin?"
Watching the Power Monument shimmering with deep green radiance, a series of exclamations immediately rose from the crowd.
The Power Monument contained seven-colored light. Depending on the strength, different hues would appear, based on the standard of the seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple.
Three thousand jin: red light. Four thousand jin: orange light. Ten thousand jin: yellow light. Twenty thousand jin: green light. Thirty-five thousand jin: cyan light. Fifty thousand jin: blue light. Sixty-five thousand jin: purple light!
Once the standard was reached, the light on the monument would shift to the corresponding color.
Clearly, Xia Mang's power value had already surpassed twenty thousand jin and was rapidly approaching the thirty-five thousand jin corresponding to cyan light.
But the final result still depended on the numerical value displayed on the Power Monument, which could accurately measure the tested strength.
Everyone watched nervously.
The numbers on the Power Monument flashed repeatedly before finally settling on: thirty-three thousand, eight hundred, and twenty-three jin!