Eternal Holy Emperor
Chapter 85 - 77: The Elite Test

Chapter 85: Chapter 77: The Elite Test

Within Xiafeng Academy stood an ancient stele known as the Stele of Strength. Its true origin had become an enigma, impossible to discern, having existed since the founding of Xiafeng Academy.

The Stele of Strength was capable of measuring strength and had become a numerical calculator for countless students of Xiafeng Academy to test their own power.

Over the millennium that Xiafeng Academy had stood, generations of elite students had tested their strength against the stele. Many had left glorious records etched onto its surface, to be admired by future generations.

However, the name that sat at the top of the stele belonged not to one of the ancient elite students but to a young man of the present generation who had broken the millennium-old records and ascended to the top, claiming first place.

This person was named Xia Yang, his true identity being the current Crown Prince of Xiafeng Country.

The record, sixty-eight thousand and seventy-nine jin of strength!

This record was so astounding that all students of Xiafeng Academy across the ages had to look up to it in admiration.

It was two years ago that the Crown Prince himself came before the Stele of Strength and left behind this record. At that time, it was rumored that with just a punch, the stele trembled violently. It was even said that Sky Light burst forth, Purple Mist reached to the heavens, startling the entire Xiafeng Academy and setting a new record.

The Acquired Ninth Layer Power could reach four thousand jin, but once one attained the Innate Realm, one could possess the strength of tens of thousands of jin, which marked a tremendous transformation from Acquired to Innate.

In the Innate Realm, under normal circumstances, the baseline was tens of thousands of jin in strength. However, attaining such immense strength, measured in the tens of thousands of jin, was difficult, held only by long-established Innate Strong People.

Yet, the Crown Prince was merely twenty years old two years ago, quite young, but already possessed such terrifying strength. It was imaginable how powerful he truly could be, undoubtedly the foremost among the young generation of Xiafeng Country.

Moreover, he was hailed as a once-in-a-millennium prodigy of Xiafeng Country. If nothing went amiss, he was destined to reach the Heavenly Divine Realm, ruling over the Six Harmonies and Eight Desolates, overlooking the vast earth, free to roam the extensive world.

There were even rumors that, given the right opportunity, he might surpass the Heavenly Divine Realm and ascend above it, becoming a Divine-level existence, ruling over the world, a sovereign over the vast continent.

Ye Chen gazed at the Crown Prince’s name on the Stele of Strength, his eyes sparkling with an intense light, pondering for a while. It seemed that Xiafeng Country’s current generation was quite exceptional, having produced a true prodigy.

At this moment, the area around the Stele of Strength was surrounded by numerous students, packed in a dense crowd of hundreds, with students from the Heaven, Earth, Xuan and Huang Four Great Colleges among them. It was bustling and lively.

After inquiring briefly, Ye Chen learned that several elite students from the Heavenly Level Academy were about to undergo testing, aiming to surpass the historical top three hundred on the stele, to ascend the ranks, and be remembered for a thousand generations.

The Heavenly Level Academy was without exception home to truly elite individuals. Each person had reached the Innate Realm by the age of eighteen and was a prodigy, all of them under the age of twenty-three. Once past this age, they would leave the Academy.

Their testing naturally attracted attention. As soon as the news spread, many students came to watch the excitement and catch a glimpse of the event.

Ye Chen glanced over and saw indeed an open space beneath the Stele of Strength, with only a few individuals present, the elite students from the Heavenly Level Academy who had come for testing. They were five young men and two young women, but his gaze settled on one of the women.

This young woman was only eighteen or nineteen years old, dressed in a light mint green robe, with an exceedingly beautiful and dignified face, elegant figure, long hair cascading down like a waterfall, indeed a rare beauty. With youthfulness mixed with innocence, she was indeed beautiful and elegant, capturing the attention of all who saw her.

There she stood, graceful and upright, like the vibrant charm of blooming begonias in March, dazzling to behold.

It wasn’t just the others, even the five young men from the Heavenly Level Academy regarded the girl with eyes full of ardent admiration.

However, Ye Chen’s interest wasn’t piqued by the woman’s youthful beauty because she was someone he knew, none other than Vivian.

After several days apart, it was evident that the worries once clouding the young girl’s brows had dissipated. Her stunning face now overflowed with heartfelt smiles, adding a radiant charm to her demeanor, captivating to all who saw her, making it difficult to look away.

Ye Chen knew that her grandfather’s injury must have healed and that her family had revived its former glory. Thus, the girl was freed from her past sorrows, regaining the beautiful smiles of her age.

Another woman was equally stunning, her body clad in a long red dress that hugged her curves perfectly, making her fiery figure even more eye-catching, drawing burning gazes that wandered over her wonderful curves nonstop.

Among the hundreds of onlookers, the vast majority looked toward the two beautiful women with amazement and admiration.

Vivian seemed to have a rather good relationship with this fiery beauty, their arms linked, foreheads almost touching, whispering and laughing softly. From time to time, their silver bell-like laughter would ring out, drawing envious side glances, with many wishing they could join in.

Among the five men, surprisingly, there were three whom Ye Chen recognized, with one being Hua Shaoyang, the young man from Danxin Palace who accompanied Vivian that day. He was also one of the elite students from the Heavenly Level Academy.

The other two were Xia Mang and Li Hu.

There were two other men whom Ye Chen didn’t recognize, but they were also elite students from the Heavenly Level Academy, sporting golden badges and a sense of arrogance in their brows, as if they stood above all others, looking down at the students from the other three colleges.

At that moment, Xia Mang smiled at the others and cupped his hands in greeting, "Everyone, it’s getting late, and I won’t delay any longer. I’ll be the first to test my strength. If my performance isn’t up to par, please don’t hold it against me."

"Mr. Xia jests—if you fall short, where does that leave us for face?" someone joked.

"That’s right, you’ve been in the Innate Realm for two years now, how could you fall short?" Li Hu and another elite student both laughed in response, with others laughing and encouraging Xia Mang as well.

"Everyone’s too kind," Xia Mang responded humbly, his face still holding a trace of arrogance, for he had confidence in himself. He was the first to step forward to the towering Monolith of Strength.

Under countless gazes, his body exuded a terrifying aura as solid streams of Innate True Essence circled around him, emanating a mystical light.

With a swift step forward and a light shout, Xia Mang punched out, his entire being—essence, Qi, and spirit—suddenly converging into his fist, which thundered against the Monolith of Strength.

The Monolith of Strength, although it was a pitch-black monument, now began to shimmer with red Light Radiance, which quickly turned to orange, then to yellow, and then to green, deepening in color, until it finally became dark green and came to a stop.

"It’s green! It’s said that only those with a strength over ten thousand jin can manifest green luminescence on the Monolith of Strength, and this is dark green, almost turning blue. Once it turns blue, that’s twenty thousand jin of strength. Could it be Mr. Xia is capable of twenty thousand jin?" someone exclaimed.

Watching the Monolith of Strength shimmering with dark green Light Radiance, a series of exclamations erupted from the crowd.

The Monolith of Strength contains seven colors of Light Radiance, revealing different lights according to the level of strength, with the standard being red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple.

Three thousand jin for red, four thousand jin for orange, ten thousand jin for yellow, twenty thousand jin for green, thirty-five thousand jin for cyan, fifty thousand jin for blue, sixty-five thousand jin for purple!

Once the standard is met, the luminescence on the monument will transform to the corresponding color.

Clearly, Xia Mang’s strength had already surpassed twenty thousand jin, and he was quickly approaching the thirty-five thousand jin associated with cyan Light Radiance.

But the final result was still dependent on the number displayed on the Monolith of Strength, which could precisely measure the tested strength.

Everyone looked on with bated breath.

The numerical value on the Monolith of Strength flickered before finally stopping at 33,823 jin!

Congratulations to [The Quiet String’s Heartbeat] for following [Believe in Yourself] in achieving the helm of an enterprise, haha!

Also, just a heads-up in advance; if things go as planned, tomorrow’s update will be delayed until evening. Just to give notice—it’s just a delay for today and tomorrow’s updates; everything else will proceed as usual.

Please don’t hold it against me, everything is for the struggle of life!