Door of Luck and Fortune

Ning Cheng followed the throng of students to the plaza of the Cang Qin Two-Star Academy. By the time he arrived, tens of thousands of people had already gathered, with more students continually streaming in.

In the center of the plaza stood a massive golden fighting stage, behind which lined row upon row of chairs. Ning Cheng estimated that there were at least a hundred people seated behind the stage. He figured it was probably the same as on Earth: those seated behind the stage were likely some sort of leaders. Perhaps even the King of Cang Qin Country was among them, though Ning Cheng could scarcely remember what the king looked like.

Standing in a corner, Ning Cheng recognized none of the individuals on the stage, nor was he aware of the specifics regarding the selection process. For now, he could only hide in the corner and listen to the discussions of others.

"See that person in the first row in the middle wearing a gray robe, and the two next to him? They are visitors from the Meteor Five-Star Academy, all said to be experts of the Building Foundation Realm."

"I've heard that the students from the Five-Star Academy are all incredibly talented. Now that the teachers from the academy are willing to come here to wait for students, it shows the higher the academy's rank, the more they crave talented students."

"What do you know? If it weren't for Senior Lian Haoyan from Ping Zhou, why would the distinguished figures from Meteor Academy come here for our students? For all we know, they might not even be aware of the existence of our Cang Qin Two-Star Academy."

"Stop talking; Dean Yan Yuankai is about to speak. I've heard that Dean Yan is at the pinnacle of the Ninth Layer of True Condensation, just one step away from advancing to the Building Foundation Realm."

...

Ning Cheng listened intently to the rumors, taking particular note of the three teachers from Meteor Five-Star Academy. The middle one was a slightly plump middle-aged man in a gray robe, who appeared somewhat stout and carried a smile. The man to his left had a stern face, showing no emotion.

The woman to his right had an elegant demeanor, dressed in a light pink skirt embroidered with gold patterns and her hair styled in an updo. While she appeared serene to the casual observer, Ning Cheng could sense the fierce aura she emitted.

What struck Ning Cheng as odd was that this woman bore a resemblance to Ji Luofei. The thought of Ji Luofei made him worry; he had come here partly to see if Ji Luofei would participate in the selection. Otherwise, searching for her in such an expansive academy was like finding a needle in a haystack.

When Dean Yan Yuankai stood up to speak, the plaza, packed with tens of thousands of people, fell silent in an instant. Ning Cheng remembered the name Yan Yuankai, though he had never seen the man before. Now, he had his first glimpse of the dean of Cang Qin Two-Star Academy: a man in a brown robe who, despite looking very energetic, was obviously not young as his hair had grayed.

"Ladies and gentlemen of Cang Qin Two-Star Academy, as you all know, I am here today to announce some good news. Indeed, Meteor Five-Star Academy from Huazhou has come to our academy to select ten students. Those chosen will continue their cultivation and learn advanced techniques and spells at Meteor Academy. Anyone who makes it into Meteor Five-Star Academy has a boundless future ahead of them. I am very grateful that the esteemed elders from Meteor arrived three days early, giving our eager students something to look forward to..."

Yan Yuankai's speech was drowned out by a wave of enthusiastic applause. Ning Cheng joined the crowd, clapping a few times, his mind now clear about the situation. One would expect that with the representatives from Meteor Five-Star Academy coming to recruit, the Cang Qin Two-Star Academy would have had their students and teachers prepared early, not dragging their feet up until now. It turned out that the visitors had arrived ahead of schedule without following normal protocol.

Cang Qin Academy couldn't afford to make the guests from Meteor Academy wait any longer and hastily arranged the selection event.

Once the applause had ceased, Yan Yuankai continued, "Now, let us invite Elder Wen Qilue from Meteor Five-Star Academy to share a few important points about the selection process."

The slightly plump man in the gray robe stood up and stepped into the center of the large stage. With a smile, he said, "All students of Meteor Academy, you should be the most talented cultivators in Cang Qin Country; otherwise, you wouldn't be here. But let me tell you, the requirements at my Huazhou's Meteor Five-Star Academy are a hundred times higher. On behalf of Meteor Five-Star Academy, my recruitment conditions are simple: First, the age must not be too high; we do not want those who are too old. Second, those without a primary spiritual root or those with a murky primary spiritual root, we won't consider. Third, if I find someone displeasing to the eye, they will not be considered."

After finishing his speech with a beaming smile, Wen Qilue didn't add anything more and retreated to his seat.

The students of the Cang Qin Two-Star Academy were abuzz with discussion, yet no one dared to speak out. In Cang Qin Two-Star Academy, even teachers wouldn't openly dismiss students they found disagreeable. And here, the representative had bluntly stated that anyone he found displeasing would be rejected, regardless of their extraordinary talents or potential for the Meteor Five-Star Academy.

Although Yan Yuankai was the dean of Cang Qin Two-Star Academy, he didn't dare refute Wen Qilue's words. Seeing that Wen Qilue had stepped down, he quickly stood up again and announced, "Now I will announce the selection rules: the academy has chosen ten core students. Each student can accept up to three challenges, and those who wish to challenge must meet the conditions of being under 20 years old, possessing a primary spiritual root, and being at or above the third level of Qi Gathering. Whoever wins will continue to stand here."

Many students murmured among themselves after hearing these conditions. Even with excellent spiritual roots, there were few who had cultivated to the third level of Qi Gathering and were still under 20; these conditions virtually excluded 99.99% of the students.

Ning Cheng was quick-witted and immediately understood what was going on. The representatives from Meteor Five-Star Academy clearly had no patience to wait here any longer; for them, picking students from Cang Qin Two-Star Academy was a necessary task, and who would want to wait here for individual matches to conclude? It could take more than ten days.

Yan Yuankai, as though he hadn't heard the chatter from below, continued his announcement, "The ten core students are Qiu Yingguang, Gu Yiming, Jian Su Jie, Zhuang Tianya, Yong Yingrui, Hou Chuan, Ye Shaoxi, Zhong Yi, Yong Ruili, and Dan Xiangling."

Ten people were named, and their selection came as no surprise to the others. These ten were always the most formidable at the Cang Qin two-star academy, with the only controversy surrounding Yong Ruili, who was at the third level of Gathering Qi. However, Yong Ruili was a princess of Cang Qin Country, so it was believed that no one would dare to challenge her for a spot on the platform. If someone won against her and was selected, well and good; but if they lost, the challenger would no longer be able to survive in Cang Qin Country.

If there was one person among these ten who was the son of a poor family, it was Hou Chuan. Hou Chuan came from a poverty-stricken background as well as being orphaned early, now alone at the Cang Qin Academy. But Hou Chuan had an astonishing talent, at just eighteen he had already reached the fifth level of Gathering Qi, unmatched by anyone except Qiu Yingguang from the Qiu family.

Because the selection was organized so hastily, the ten called upon quickly ascended the platform, and without much preparation, they stood behind the platform, ready to accept challenges.

Wen Qilue from the five-star Yunxing Academy nodded in approval, clearly satisfied with the efficiency of the Cang Qin Academy's headmaster.

"The challenge begins now," Yan Yuankai from Cang Qin Academy was well aware of Wen Qilue's desire to be rid of this place as soon as possible, and thus didn't dare to waste words.

"Lu Pengyun wants to challenge Zhong Yi." No sooner had Yan Yuankai stepped down from the platform than a tall male student jumped onto it. Ning Cheng recognized him as Lu Pengyun, the same person who had wanted to pick a fight with him earlier, and who was also at the fourth level of Gathering Qi. The person he wanted to challenge, Zhong Yi, was of the same cultivation level, but much younger in age.

Zhong Yi wasn't very tall and seemed to be only at the fourth level of Gathering Qi. To be selected as a core student, there must be more to him than met the eye.

"Wait." Just as Zhong Yi was about to step forward to accept the challenge, Wen Qilue from the Yunxing Academy interrupted once more.

After he finished speaking, he waved his hand, and a crystal pillar one zhang tall appeared at one corner of the platform, "First, test your spiritual root."

Lu Pengyun clearly hadn't expected to test his spiritual root, but fortunately, he was familiar with the process. At this moment, he had already placed his hand on the handprint at the base of the crystal column, channeling some true qi into it.

A thumb-thick beam of yellow light rose up along the crystal pillar, reaching up to three chi before it stopped. Beside this thumb-thick yellow light, there were two more muddy yellow beams, but less than two chi high.

Lu Pengyun pulled his hand back, his expression somewhat self-satisfied. He possessed a primary spiritual root, and it was not a muddy yellow but a pure yellow, which was already considered good.

However, before he could enjoy the moment, he felt a powerful force slap against his body. In the next instant, like a kite with its string cut, he was sent flying off the stage and heavily fell onto the hard ground below the platform.

"You think a mere three chi yellow spiritual root is enough to enter the Yunxing Academy? This is the first time, but if anyone dares to waste time with this level of spiritual root again, it won't just be a slap." Wen Qilue's cold voice came, devoid of the smile he had shown earlier.

The severity of Wen Qilue's words immobilized some people who wanted to go up but hadn't yet made their move. For a moment, nobody dared to step onto the stage.

Ning Cheng was also stunned, but unlike the others, it was because he saw Wen Qilue casually produce a testing instrument over one zhang high. He only saw Wen Qilue tap his waist, and it was truly astonishing. Could this be the legendary Sumeru space, capable of containing huge objects?

Not everyone was intimidated by Wen Qilue's sternness. After a brief silence, another boy jumped onto the platform and loudly declared, "Jiang Tu challenges Yong Ruili."

Everyone, including Ning Cheng, was drawn to this Jiang Tu. Not only did he dare to step up for a challenge after Wen Qilue's harsh words, but he also chose Yong Ruili to challenge.

Yong Ruili was a royal princess. Although she had the lowest cultivation level, who would dare challenge a princess of Cang Qin Country? Even if you won, it wasn't necessarily without consequence, but at least with a victory, one could preserve themselves. However, if you lost, that would mean complete ruin. It didn't just affect your own life; your entire family could be implicated.

"Don't look now; let's go quickly." A gentle hand grabbed Ning Cheng's, and a low voice followed.

"Luo Fei…" Ning Cheng was pondering why Jiang Tu would challenge Yong Ruili and hadn't expected Ji Luofei to have already found him. Yet Ji Luofei's hand trembled slightly, suggesting that something had happened.

(Chapter two has been sent off, the author seeks your recommendation votes and favorites to support Lao Wu.)...