Chapter 187: The True Peerless Genius!  

Boom!

In an instant, it was as if something had suddenly exploded, causing the gemstones representing the fire and water attributes on the left side of the attribute testing pillar to flare up abruptly.

Simultaneously, on the star-level testing pillar to the right, all twelve stars illuminated at once, emitting red and blue dual-colored rays of light that soared into the sky, reaching heights of hundreds of meters.

The radiant light shimmered so brightly that it was almost as if it could blot out the sun, enveloping the entire arena. This pillar of light, compared to the previous scene where Qin Wanwan's twelve stars lit up, seemed to shine hundreds of times brighter.

For a moment, all the mentors seated on the sidelines were left speechless, some even rising abruptly from their seats.

The entire testing ground fell silent, not a single sound to be heard.

The senior student in charge of tallying the scores stood frozen in place, forgetting even their own task.

Meanwhile, on the testing platform to the right, Qin Wanwan, proud as a swan, gazed at the twelve stars shining on her testing pillar. However, beneath the dazzling brilliance emanating from Ling Feng's column, hers appeared dim and lackluster.

Qin Wanwan was completely stunned, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief.

"How... how is this possible?"

The towering red and blue beams of light, soaring into the sky, displayed Ling Feng's dual attributes of water and fire qi, both surpassing the twelve-star threshold.

He could no longer be measured by ordinary standards.

However, no one noticed that, when Ling Feng first pressed his hand on the testing pillar all eight attribute gems lit up for a moment.

Because Ling Feng's water and fire true qi underwent spirit infusion from spiritual objects, they completely overshadowed his other attributes.

"Tru... truly deserving of the title of Big Brother!" Ouyang Jing struggled to swallow a mouthful of saliva. However, recalling Ling Feng's past feat at the Treasure Pavilion where he single-handedly defeated senior practitioners at the peak of the Pulse Formation Realm, it wasn't surprising that he possessed such talent.

Qin Wanwan's face flushed crimson. With a toss of her sleeve, she angrily leaped off the testing platform, retrieved her token, and left in a huff.

Overshadowed by Ling Feng's brilliance, she, the "Pride of the Heavens," seemed utterly insignificant.

Ling Feng rubbed his nose bridge and withdrew his right hand. Seeing the staff below hesitating to announce his score, he had no choice but to jump off the testing platform and clear his throat lightly, saying, "Senior, could you please announce my score?"

"Score... score..." The staff member, sweating profusely, squeezed his brush, unsure of how to record it.

Determining the water and fire attributes was straightforward, but how many stars did it amount to?

Just then!

Swoosh!

A gust of wind swept through, momentarily blinding everyone before they witnessed a supervising mentor rushing excitedly forward.

The elderly mentor, with his white hair, had eyes that, despite their cloudiness, sparkled strangely, akin to a starving wolf spotting its prey after days without food. He fixed his gaze on Ling Feng, blinking incessantly.

"Hahaha, excellent! Absolutely marvelous! He's truly a peerless genius!"

The stature of the white-haired mentor was evidently high, as the surrounding staff bowed respectfully, avoiding direct eye contact with the venerable elder.

"Your praise is too generous, senior," Ling Feng responded, pursing his lips. He knew full well that the Earth-Fire Flame Demon had painstakingly refined the Earth-Fire Crystal for thousands of years to cultivate the Earth-Fire true qi. Achieving such results wasn't particularly noteworthy.

"Oh, I wouldn't casually say such things," the white-haired mentor reassured, patting Ling Feng's shoulder with a warm smile. "Youngster, your true qi attributes may have already reached the sacred tier. With continued effort, you could at least reach the Spiritual Element Realm, or even higher!"

The Spiritual Element Realm was akin to the level of elders in the Cangqiong Sect!

The surrounding testers looked on with immense envy at Ling Feng. It seemed he was about to earn the admiration of the Tianwei academy mentors.

"Young fella, what's your name?"

"Ling Feng."

"Great name! Excellent potential! Would you be interested in becoming my student?" The white-haired mentor's satisfaction with Ling Feng seemed to grow with each passing moment, his eyes narrowing as if he had stumbled upon a precious gem.

A red-bearded elder, also clad in the mentor’s robe, reached out to push aside the white-haired mentor’s hand, scoffing, "Pei, you old geezer, have you no shame? How dare you try to recruit students so openly? Do you still want to show your face around here?"

With that, the red-bearded old man approached Ling Feng with a gentle smile and said, "Kid, don't pay attention to him. Your talent in fire attributes is exceptional. You should train in fire techniques and martial arts with me. I'm confident that under my guidance, you'll receive the finest training!"

"Are you joking? Isn't his talent in water attributes equally remarkable?" The white-haired elder shot a fierce glare at the red-bearded old man. "Zhu, you old geezer, don't even think about poaching students under my watch!" "Hmph!" Mentor Zhu Rong flicked his sleeve, paying no attention to Pei Miao, and maintained his smile as he addressed Ling Feng. "Kid, I am a sky-tier mentor at the Tianwei Academy. With just a nod from you, you won't have to undergo any further tests. You can simply become my sky-tier student!"

Gasp!

The surrounding young men and women couldn't help but gasp in shock upon hearing this.

Sky-tier student!

Even if ordinary students successfully joined the Tianwei Academy, who knew how long it would take for them to ascend from being a yellow-tier student to a sky-tier student.

Typically, less than ten percent of the students who entered the Tianwei Academy managed to gradually become a sky-tier student and graduate successfully.

Yet, Ling Feng, without participating in any assessments, was presented with the opportunity to become a sky-tier student directly. It was like a pie falling from the sky.

At this moment, only envy, jealousy, and resentment could describe the emotions of the young martial artists around.

"Zhu Rong, oh Zhu Rong, you can forget it. As a three-star sky-tier mentor, do you really think you're qualified to mentor Ling Feng? It's a waste of talent! He should be under my guidance instead!"

"Oh, come off it. What's so impressive about you? You're just a four-star sky-tier mentor. Well, this year, I'm also going for four stars!" Zhu Rong immediately retorted.

"Just one star above you? Isn’t that still far superior?" Pei Miao smirked. "Ling Feng, you see, I'm a four-star sky-tier mentor. I can fulfill the promises he made to you, and I can do much more!"

Pei Miao and Zhu Rong were always at odds, and now, seeing a student with exceptional talents in both water and fire, they naturally couldn't back down.

The young men and women around them stood still, their mouths twitching uncontrollably. The mentors of the Tianwei Academy were actually fighting over a student...

Ling Feng found himself speechless, uncertain of which option to choose.

"Hmph!"

At that moment, a tall elderly figure, unable to tolerate the situation any longer, rose from his seat and strode over. He swiftly restrained Zhu Rong and Pei Miao on both sides. With a calm demeanor, he scolded them by saying, "Both of you, please uphold the dignity expected of mentors."

"Yes, Academician!" Zhu Rong and Pei Miao promptly bowed their heads. In the presence of this figure, they dared not utter a word.

Within the Tianwei Academy, the hierarchy among mentors was clearly defined, comprising the director, vice-director, academician, associate academician, and mentors at the four levels of sky, earth, mystic, and yellow. Each level of mentor was further subdivided into one to nine stars.

Zhu Rong and Pei Miao were sky-tier mentors, which was considered a high status. However, in front of the academician, they were still far from adequate.