Chapter 28 The Last Quota

  The officer frowned slightly and blocked the galloping corner horse, saying indifferently: "Please show your ID."

  Three men quickly pulled the reins, barely controlling the galloping unicorn. The middle-aged man at the front casually tossed out a wooden sign: "I am Liu Weihua, instructor of Giant Elephant Academy."

  The man beside him also threw out a wooden sign: "I am Academy Instructor Dick."

  "The mentors from Giant Elephant Academy arrived yesterday at noon, how come you're just arriving now? Who is she?" The officer checked the wooden sign and threw it back, but his attitude didn't change much.

  "Yang's family is like smoke." The girl's expression was cold and detached, with a hint of arrogance.

  "We encountered some trouble on the way, so we're late. It shouldn't be over yet, hurry up and let us in."

  "There are only two more times left, but by the time you guys change your clothes and tidy up your belongings, I don't know if there will be any chance left."

  "Open the door!!" Liu Weihua and Dick furrowed their brows, only two times left? In the end, they still arrived a bit late. They had found Yang Ruyan five days ago, but Yang Ruyan's injuries were too severe, so they had to help her recover first, which delayed them for some time. Being able to arrive here on time was thanks to taming three unicorns halfway, otherwise they might have continued struggling on the road for two or three more days.

  "Liu Weihua, teacher, I am Tang Yan! Please take me in!" Tang Yan rushed to the front of the three people.

  "Tang Yan?" Yang Ruyan looked at Tang Yan with a mixture of surprise and uncertainty. It was really him! How was he still alive?!

  "This is... how... just you yourself?" Liu Weihua carefully sized up Tang Yan, who looked a bit disheveled and had lost a lot of weight, but it should be him without a doubt.

  "Go in and I'll explain, take me in!"

  "This is Tang Family's Second Young Master Tang Yan, please allow him to enter with us." Liu Weihua didn't have time to think of anything else, and anxiously urged the officer.

  The officer looked deeply at Tang Yan and raised his hand to signal: "Open the city gate!"

  "Mount up!" Liu Weihua didn't mind Tang Yan's filthy body, and pulled him onto the horse. He spurred the horse on, and they galloped into the city.

  "Is that beggar really the young master of the Tang family?" The mercenaries around them looked at each other in dismay, some of them incredulous. Some people turned their heads to look at Amura and others with gloomy faces, their mouths curled up with a hint of mockery.

  The town was bustling with excitement, but it didn't feel noisy, after all, they were all elites from various universities and noble families, and still had a certain level of quality. Most people were enthusiastically exchanging ideas, discussing the situation of this year's baptism, and some colleges and noble families were poaching each other, hoping to pull good seedlings into their own camp.

  The place with the most people is the altar area, and more than half of the sects and academies that have not left are staying there.

  BOOM!!! A deafening roar, like thunder, spread from the altar to the entire town of Shenzu, and the bustling town was suddenly plunged into a brief silence. People's eyes, more or less, gathered on the majestic and towering altar in the central area.

  The ringing of the brass bell signals the end of a baptism, and it is unknown whether this time will bring another surprising situation.

  "Dongchen Academy, Cadet Kadas, Baptism failed."

  "Dongchen Academy, student Leond, baptism successful, spiritual vein activation rate of 43%."

  "Tianyuan City, Young Master Qī, Qí Lǔ Chāng, Baptism successful, Spiritual Pulse activation rate forty-nine percent."

  "Jue Xiang Academy, student Sun Bin, baptism failed."

  ……………………

  A majestic voice came from the top of the altar, clearly passing into the ears of all the people around, and everyone listened attentively, quietly recording the scores of the crowd. However, as the results were announced, a sigh began to spread through the crowd.

  "Failure of Baptism" is a term that no one wants to hear, it is equivalent to announcing the fate of a young man. In a world where martial artists attach great importance to spiritual veins, those who fail to activate their spiritual veins are destined to have a difficult time advancing in the path of martial arts. The lucky ones may enter the ranks of the Martial Ancestors, while the unlucky will forever be stuck at the level of Martial Spirits.

  This phrase is enough to bring anyone down.

  For some young masters and misses of certain families, the activation rate of spiritual veins that does not reach fifty percent also foretells that the status they can have in the future and the treatment they receive will not be too good.

  And just now announced those results inside, unexpectedly no one's activation rate reached fifty percent.

  "Yesterday was a series of surprises, but today... sigh... I've already had five baptisms in a row, all with very high failure rates."

  "Could it be that yesterday's consumption of divine spring spirit power was too great?"

  "It seems that such a possibility really exists, tsk, it looks like today's baptismal person is destined to be at a disadvantage."

  "Hey, some people are going to have a sleepless night tonight."

  "Is there anyone else in the waiting area who wants to be baptized?"

  "There are still a few, but..."

  People were whispering to each other, some with unpleasant expressions and others gloating over the misfortune.

  Up to now, the distance from the altar's closure is only one last baptism away. The waiting area still has three people left. Originally a tense moment, but the three people's affiliated schools, Tianchen Academy and Shuangtucheng Xujia, both have difficult expressions on their faces. Today's altar is somewhat abnormal, with five consecutive baptisms all bringing 'bad luck'. Some students who originally had pretty good talent should have succeeded in their baptism, yet they keep appearing one after another with failures.

  For anyone, baptism is one of the most important events in life. If it is affected by some external factors, it's really not worth it. As parents and mentors, they need to take responsibility for these children.

  After the most difficult struggle, the representatives of Dongchen Academy shouted loudly towards the altar: "Tianchen Academy gives up this baptism."

  "Wait for two more years then, little one. If you want to resent someone, resent me." The Xu family's patriarch shook his head and sighed, also shouting: "The Xu family gives up on this baptism."

  "Final confirmation, will you choose to give up?" A stern voice came from the top of the altar.

  "We agree." The representatives of both sides looked a bit awkward.

  The altar showed no mercy or hesitation, bluntly announcing: "This baptism is ending ahead of schedule. God's Spring Town will be... tonight..."

  "Jiuxiang Academy is baptized! The baptizer is Yang Jia Yang Ruyan!" A loud and urgent cry came from the end of the street, followed by three unicorns galloping wildly.

  "Yang Ruyan? Have they found Yang Ruyan?" The several instructors of Giant Elephant City's expression changed, quickly parted the crowd and came forward, people who were about to disperse also stopped and curiously looked at the three unicorns rushing over.

  "Are you late?" Liu Weihua controlled the unicorn, turned over and dismounted quickly.

  "Almost there, what took you so long?" said Coach Rachel.

  "Talk later, like smoke, hurry up and get ready, along this road..." Liu Weihua took Yang Ruyan inside.

  Rachel hastily pulled him, lowering her voice: "Don't rush for now, things are a bit special. Today's five consecutive baptisms have a success rate of only 40%, and even if the baptism is successful, the activation rate of the spiritual pulse is less than 50%. The Yang family has great expectations for Yang Ruyan, if there are problems in this regard, we... can't afford to take responsibility."

  "Less than 40%? How can this be?" Liu Weihua's face changed slightly.

  Rachel shook her head and whispered: "Or consult with Yang Ruyan and wait for two more years?"

  "No way, I must get baptized this year." Yang Ruyan walked over, her expression extremely resolute.

  "Like smoke..."

  "They didn't succeed because they weren't talented enough, it doesn't mean I won't!"

  "Hmm? Why is this little girl speaking so unpleasantly?" A middle-aged woman in the crowd frowned in dissatisfaction.

  "Little girl, would you mind explaining what 'innate talent' means?" Some of the forces that were already simmering with anger turned cold eyes towards her.

  "Sorry, don't generalize with children." The mentors of Giant Elephant Academy apologized hastily.

  "I must go, I can't stay in the Martial Realm for two years!" Yang Ruyan didn't accept the instructors' persuasion, pushed through the crowd and walked towards the entrance, after showing off her third-stage martial artist strength, she followed a maid to the altar.

  "I'll join too." Tang Yan had taken a few steps forward earlier.

  "This is..." The crowd looked at Tang Yan in surprise, only noticing the little beggar now.

  "Is that Tang Yan?" Elinda was the first to recognize him.

  "Is this Tang Yan?!" Everyone's face changed at the same time.

  "Where did you find him? Thank goodness, this little ancestor has finally returned! Hurry up and inform Tang Qiang, he's been on the verge of going crazy these past few days." Rachel was somewhat astonished, but also secretly let out a sigh of relief. If Tang Yan really had died in the Mystic Forest, the Giant Elephant Academy and the Tang family would probably have made a big fuss for a while.

  Liu Weihua said with a strange expression: "To be exact, he came by himself, we just met him at the city gate."

  "What? Alone? You must be joking!" A young master, and not even a martial artist, but a 'half-baked' one at that, dares to venture into the Mystic Forest by himself? Is this an insult to their intelligence or to the demonic beasts within?

  "If you don't have anything else to do, I'm going in." Tang Yan didn't bother to pay attention to them, pushed open the two instructors with strange expressions, and walked quickly towards the entrance.

  "Tang Yan, wait! What are you doing? That's the baptismal altar, and the condition for baptism is..." Rachel was about to shout, but was stunned by what happened next, her voice stuck in her throat.

  Whoa!! Tang Yan's right hand grasped at the empty air, and a long knife suddenly took shape, condensed from pure cyan flames. Although it didn't emit any intense heat, it shone dazzlingly under the sunlight.

  "......Hsss......" All the instructors gasped in unison, even Eriol's eyes widened in shock.

  It is a special ability that can be possessed by those above the martial spirit level, and apart from this, during the transition of a martial artist to a martial spirit, a warrior can also possess such an ability.

  That is to say... the peak of the third stage!! The strength Tang Yan has shown indicates that his current strength is at the pinnacle of a martial artist.

  "This... I... what's this... wait a minute... did I just see things?" Rachel rubbed her eyes hard, staring fixedly at the raised blue flame sword, while the other instructors looked equally stunned and bewildered.

  It's no wonder that they're reacting so dramatically at this moment. After all, for over a decade, Tang Yan has given the residents of Giant Elephant City only one impression - a spoiled brat! Everyone knows he's a 'half-product' who can't condense spiritual energy, or directly put, a 'defective product'. No one ever thought that such a spoiled young master could actually become a martial artist! And even a third-stage martial artist!

  After a while, a young mentor muttered: "The women of Giant Elephant City are going to be in trouble!"

  "Who can tell me what just happened?" Until Tang Yan passed through the entrance, there were still several instructors who had not recovered from their shock.

  Everyone looked at each other in dismay, but didn't know what to say. At this time, a female instructor suddenly lowered her voice and said: "No wonder the Tang family insisted on letting Tang Yan participate in this baptism, and no wonder Tang Yan's disappearance would shock King Wu Tang Qiong. You guys think... will there be...?"

  "Huh? The giant elephant academy instructors present all slightly changed their eyes, looked at each other but no one said a word, Rachel whispered: "Hurry up and inform Tang Qiang and Wei Lao, just say that Tang Yan has entered the altar.""