Chapter 413 – All from Tianyuan

Rolling Clouds still found it hard to believe.

The credibility of Soul Loss as a second-class instructor far surpassed his own.

Such a powerful individual was actually the most ordinary member within the team?

Was that reasonable?

It must be a joke.

Rolling Clouds remained skeptical, trusting his own eyes and judgment more.

Just like initially, he had immediately sensed Soul Loss’s extraordinary nature, convinced he was undoubtedly a powerful expert.

Upon closer observation now, he noticed that Soul Loss’s comrade named Zhou Yi also appeared quite remarkable.

However, no matter how carefully he scrutinized the woman called Ailin, he could only conclude that she seemed entirely ordinary. She lacked the aura of a true powerhouse.

The person named Red Robe in the distance appeared even more disheveled and dejected.

Could these possibly be strong experts?

He didn’t believe it, but kept his doubts to himself.

There was no need to voice them – whether they were strong or weak would soon be revealed.

…

Ailin took deep breaths, stepping forward one pace at a time, faint streams of data flickering through her pupils.

This was her first public combat engagement.

In Tianyuan City, she held a civil service position responsible for managing the Academy’s book collections and some basic teaching duties, such as literacy classes in night schools.

Ailin also oversaw Tianyuan City’s orphanage – young children without guardians were placed under her care there. The first orphanage in Tianyuan Territory had been established and managed by Ailin.

Though Ailin didn’t display notable combat prowess and wasn’t part of Tianyuan City’s battle roster despite some local reputation, she had evolved to Epic grade. However, her Awakened Epic talent was a supportive ability that didn’t directly enhance fighting capability.

This didn’t mean Ailin couldn’t fight though.

In certain aspects, she was quite proficient.

At the very least, her combat ability far surpassed Daisy’s.

Since the recruitment assessment began, data-like streams had periodically flashed in Ailin’s eyes as she continuously observed the various experts taking their turns on the field.

「Memory Pupil」

「Description: Ailin possesses enhanced memory and observational capabilities. When actively activated, this talent significantly boosts her memory, observation, and analytical abilities, allowing her to record all witnessed events and Moves in minute detail through memory palace technique.」

Ailin could completely memorize any Move after seeing it just once.

However, this remained theoretical recording only.

While she understood the techniques and key points of every Move she observed, this didn’t mean she could execute them.

This was the classic case of “the mind understands, but the body can’t follow through.”

Ailin’s physical aptitude wasn’t particularly poor – she could master some Moves after practicing them three or four times.

Her combat skills had already reached Peak level.

After observing numerous Tianyuan Experts’ daily training and sparring sessions, her Concept Rank had advanced to half-step Imagery Realm.

But this was her limit.

Despite being able to fully record and comprehend numerous Advanced skills and even special techniques, she remained unable to execute most of them.

She lacked the necessary conditions for their usage.

What she possessed was merely theoretical knowledge.

Ailin clearly understood her own strengths and limitations.

While she had mastered over a hundred skills, she possessed almost no truly powerful techniques.

In the blink of an eye, Ailin stepped into the formation.

The Water Dragon’s Song Formation activated once more as numerous water dragons roared into existence.There were no terrifying ghost claws over ten meters long;

No powerful malevolent nether forces;

No ability to summon violent gusts of yin wind and black mist with a wave of the hand;

Compared to the imposing Soul Loss from earlier, Ailin appeared gentle and delicate, as if she might be torn apart by the water dragons at any moment.

Ten seconds, twenty seconds, thirty seconds…

Ailin continuously dodged, like a small boat in raging waves;

Forty seconds.

She kept evading, seemingly by the narrowest margins, yet not a single drop of water touched her.

Sixty seconds.

Ailin thrust her sword, the tip radiating sharp energy that shredded the water dragon attacking from the side.

Her presence remained unimpressive.

But it was at this moment that the spectators outside the arena suddenly realized: Unknowingly, this girl had already reached the passing standard and qualified for third-tier instructor benefits!

“What’s going on!”

“She looks so… weak… so unimpressive!”

“Really, watching her, I started thinking I could do it too.”

If they hadn’t already experienced the Water Dragon’s Song Formation themselves and understood its terror, they might have genuinely believed they could match her performance.

How could such an illusion occur? Terrifying!

On the field, Ailin continued to hold on, appearing extremely strained yet never faltering.

Ailin certainly wasn’t having an easy time. Her power was limited, barely stronger than an ordinary Fourth Order Peak practitioner. She had zero margin for error – every Fourth Order water dragon posed a lethal threat to her.

She was walking a tightrope.

Dangerously close to disaster, yet never making a misstep.

She persisted and persisted, soon reaching the 153-second mark, matching and surpassing Soul Loss’s record.

This was the best performance in today’s assessment!

In the background, several academy administrators were observing.

They were deans of various departments from Tianze Academy.

Either Legendary Lords themselves or powerful figures from top-tier territories. Among them was a trusted aide of the Tianze City Lord.

These powerful individuals didn’t usually remain in Tianze City permanently.

However, with the recent conclusion of military campaigns and coinciding with Tianze Academy and Taihu Academy’s comprehensive recruitment drives, these Legendary Realm existences had gradually returned, with some taking on examiner roles.

During this period, Tianze City housed far more Legendary Realm experts than usual.

While outsiders found it unbelievable, the Legendary Realm experts here quickly grasped the situation after some observation.

“This person is quite remarkable.”

“Indeed, her raw power isn’t impressive, but her technique has reached perfection, and her observational skills are extraordinary. If the Water Dragon’s Song Formation had any patterns, I’d think she had already deciphered them all.”

“With such observation and analytical abilities, she’s precisely the teaching talent we need! Top-tier material.”

“Perhaps we could make an exception and grant her first-tier instructor treatment.”

“First-tier instructor… Isn’t that inappropriate? After all, the girl’s personal combat capability is still somewhat lacking. Granting first-tier rank without proper justification would inevitably draw criticism. Most importantly, our academy only has three first-tier slots remaining.”

“Let’s discuss this in the upcoming meeting. I think she’s worth it – being able to fight and knowing how to fight are two different things. We need the latter more.”

“Speaking of which, which faction’s officer is she? She seems completely unknown – could she be a newly emerged expert from some top-tier territory?”

If she were from an ordinary lord’s forces, it would be hard for her to remain unknown.After all, the development and expansion of the territory were carved out blade by blade and sword by sword by these key commanders.

Only top-tier Lords possess the capability to “conceal talents.”

The deans were unaware of this, as they typically paid no attention to such matters. However, after one dean issued instructions, staff quickly brought over the relevant documents.

A certain Legendary Realm expert took the documents and immediately let out a surprised “Huh?”

“What’s going on? Old Chen, explain in detail.”

The middle-aged Legendary surnamed Chen smiled and said, “This young lady is named Ailin, and she comes from the same territory as the previous applicant, Soul Loss.”

“Oh?” The Lord surnamed Wang showed slight surprise.

Old Chen continued, “But that’s not the only thing that surprised me.”

He left it at that without further explanation.

Dean Old Wang immediately grew irritated, snatched the documents to look, and also exclaimed “Huh?” “It’s actually this territory. No wonder Soul Loss and Ailin had no prior reputation – this makes perfect sense now.”

“How exactly does it make sense, you two old foxes!”

Another dean couldn’t hold back either, grabbing the documents to glance at them, and similarly uttered a surprised “Huh.”

“Unlike you two, I’ll be straightforward – both of them come from Tianyuan Territory, they’re commanders under the Tianyuan family!”

He announced this to the remaining two.

The two immediately understood, yet not completely.

They weren’t surprised that Tianyuan Territory possessed such experts. They had naturally heard of Tianyuan’s reputation. Tianze Academy had previously extended invitations to Tianyuan Territory, asking Tianyuan Experts to come serve as instructors or cultivate here.

But why was it reasonable that these two came from Tianyuan Territory yet remained unknown?

A Legendary Realm expert was puzzled.

However, someone well-informed explained, “Several months ago, when our Blue Star integrated into the Eternal World, Tianyuan Territory encountered some accidents and was relocated to a remote area… reportedly to some Island Domain. There were even rumors before that Tianyuan had fallen.”

“Tianyuan Territory is now located in an Island Domain, and their connection with the outside world was interrupted for some time. No matter how powerful Tianyuan Experts are, or how much territory they’ve expanded for their domain, few people would know about it, hence their lack of fame.”

Unlike their Tianze City area, where even the smallest matters could spread across dozens of cities overnight.

The Legendary Realm expert holding the documents again exclaimed “Huh,” “The experts from Tianyuan City applying to our Tianze Academy aren’t just Soul Loss and Ailin… there are two others.”

“Look, the third person is about to take the stage. Surely this one can’t be equally outstanding.”

…

Ailin gasped for breath as she was ejected from the formation, her condition rapidly recovering.

Her challenge time was fixed at 203 seconds, clearly surpassing Soul Loss by a considerable margin.

As soon as her assessment ended, surprised exclamations and sharp intakes of breath came from all around.

She even heard evaluations like “terrifyingly powerful.”

Ailin didn’t feel proud.

She had long realized that the Water Dragon’s Song Formation assessment didn’t solely test combat ability.

Soul Loss’s killing techniques couldn’t display much effectiveness in such an assessment.

Her own abilities happened to be particularly suited for dealing with this type of assessment.

But in real combat, one-on-one duels, she definitely wouldn’t be Soul Loss’s match. Ailin had clear self-awareness – her strength was weak, her energy reserves poor, and her endurance and damage resistance were both lacking.If she were to fight Soul Loss, with their fates linked, Soul Loss could casually inflict two self-inflicted wounds and she would undoubtedly fall.

She had no means to counter the shared fate ability.

However, Ailin was very clear about her mission. The Lord didn’t need her to be strong in combat—what he wanted was for her to take advantage of Tianze Academy’s public materials during her time as an instructor, recording all the tutorials, knowledge, teaching processes, and so on.

This was the true purpose of her study abroad.

Ailin stepped down.

Zhou Yi, who had long adjusted his essence, energy, and spirit to their peak, strode forward confidently.

Faint starlight shimmered around him.

His eyes were sharp, he held a Treasure Bow in his hand, and every aspect of him seemed extraordinary, making him appear as a true powerhouse at first glance.

His presence alone was several times more imposing than Ailin’s.

“This one seems to be a heavyweight powerhouse too.”

“What’s going on today? Why are all the heavyweight powerhouses appearing last? I thought the order was based on registration time.”

“An imposing presence doesn’t necessarily mean true strength. Didn’t the young lady earlier prove that? There were also many powerful-looking individuals before her who collapsed after not holding out for long.”

“I feel like you’re insulting me, but I have no evidence.”

“Nothing of the sort.”

Zhou Yi soon entered the formation and proved to everyone that his strength was fully on par with his imposing presence—in fact, it was even greater.

As an archer-class profession, he was naturally at a disadvantage against the Water Dragon’s Song Formation.

No matter how accurate his arrows were, could they really shatter the massive and numerous water dragons?

Zhou Yi demonstrated that they could.

Ripples formed in the space around him as arrows gleaming with starlight emerged from the ripples, gradually manifesting on the bowstring he drew.

He fired one arrow, and it shot forth like a cannon.

Boom—

Nine arrows merged into one, a brilliant pillar of starlight piercing through heaven and earth, forcibly shattering countless water dragons.

Zhou Yi’s fingers moved like blurs as he fired arrows one after another.

It was as if he didn’t care about energy consumption at all!

And indeed, he didn’t care much.

His energy reserves far surpassed Ailin’s—part of the consumption during his output was borne by the Myriad Arrows Artifact, while another part was shouldered by the starlight descending from the heavens.

This made Zhou Yi akin to an infinite artillery platform.

Water dragons emerging from all directions were often blasted apart by Star Arrows the moment they appeared.

However, Zhou Yi’s violent dismantling of the formation provoked the Water Dragon’s Song Formation to unleash its full power. Water dragons several times more numerous than before surged forth, putting immense pressure on Zhou Yi.

In the end, Zhou Yi still failed.

After all, his development time had been too short—the reserves of the Myriad Arrows Artifact were insufficient, and his mastery of the Starchasing Power was not deep enough.

He had no choice but to change tactics and hold out until the 300-second mark, the maximum duration of the entire assessment.

The grand formation closed.

As Zhou Yi stepped out, he couldn’t help but glance back and sigh helplessly.

“My cultivation is still far from sufficient.”

The onlookers in the distance: “…”

Bro, big bro.

You’re the expert who held out until the time limit without being defeated!

If your performance isn’t good enough, then what does that make ours?

Is this what a true powerhouse is like?

It really feels like the gap between Fourth Order Peak and Fourth Order Peak is even greater than the gap between humans and dogs.

The youth Rolling Clouds widened his eyes, “Is he also from your territory, your brother? His combat power is just too outrageous! He definitely has what it takes to rank at the top of the Dragon Gate List!”

Soul Loss said proudly, “Of course.”He paused and continued, “But Zhou Yi’s combat prowess isn’t that outrageous. I could go fifty-fifty with him in a spar… alright, forty-sixty… thirty-seventy… thirty-seventy is absolutely achievable!”

Besides, Zhou Yi couldn’t defeat Rakshasa, Red Robe, Sario, Bone Two Three Four, and others anyway.

Where exactly is that combat prowess outrageous?

If you find it outrageous, you should seriously examine whether you’ve been cultivating diligently.

…

“It’s the epic troop type, Polar Star Arrow.”

Backstage, a dean remarked, “This Tianyuan truly possesses great fortune and capability. I heard that several months ago, he already had multiple epic-tier powerers under his command. In just a few months, he accomplished what many lords couldn’t achieve in over a decade.”

Another Legendary Realm expert added, “Not just the Polar Star Arrow, but it seems stronger than ordinary Polar Star Arrows. Some time ago, I participated in a combat drill with an Everstar Lord, and his Fourth Order Peak Polar Star Arrow was clearly inferior to this Zhou Yi.”

This is the difference between individuals.

And the gap is quite significant.

After all, the Eternal Star Empire possesses a complete cultivation system for Polar Star Arrows, enabling them to fully unlock the potential of Polar Star Arrows.

Others cannot achieve this.

That Zhou Yi still surpasses the Eternal Star’s Polar Star Arrows under these circumstances demonstrates his extraordinary nature.

“It’s just that Zhou Yi is alone. If we had a few more experts like him, I’d dare to go to the Eternal Star Empire and taunt them, saying the true lineage of Polar Star lies with our Taixuan.”

“But then again, it’s fortunate this Zhou Yi failed to break the formation… Thinking this way is somewhat unethical, but according to regulations, those who break the formation qualify for special-grade instructor treatment, and we no longer have any special-grade instructor slots available.”

“As an archer, Zhou Yi is at a disadvantage to some extent. Otherwise, he might have truly been able to cut through the Water Dragon’s Song Formation.”

Several Legendary Realm experts commented.

At this moment, Red Robe, who had just woken up from a nap, yawned and drifted toward the grand formation.

(End of Chapter)