Chapter 479: The Ranking Stele

"The Trial Tower tests a Martial Artist’s combat talent, while the Illusion Realm tests a Martial Artist’s strength of will."

"Inside the Illusion Realm, a powerful force assaults a Martial Artist’s mind and consciousness, causing immense confusion. A Martial Artist with a strong will can resist this assault and advance through the layers of the Illusion Realm, getting closer to the Illusion Crystal at its core."

"The more levels you pass, the stronger your will is considered to be."

"Like the Trial Tower, the Illusion Realm has nine levels. In Gale Light Academy’s history, a talented student once managed to reach the seventh level, which was an absolutely incredible feat."

"However, the Illusion Realm has no age restrictions, so powerful experts can take the test as well. As a result, a few have managed to pass all nine levels."

"For example, the founder of our Gale Light Academy and the current director, Huangfu Xiuming, are both said to have passed the final level. Vice Director Ge, who made an appearance during the recent entrance exam, apparently reached the eighth level."

Ye Xuan nodded. ’So the Illusion Realm is for testing one’s will.’ He had seen plenty of similar tests in his past life.

Willpower might not sound as useful or be as immediately apparent as combat strength.

In truth, however, willpower has a massive, subtle influence on a Martial Artist.

This is especially true for Alchemists and Soul Refiners.

To put it simply, will is a form of Spiritual Power—an extension of one’s Profound Sense and Soul Sense. It can even be a measure of the soul’s strength.

A person with a strong will can face any situation without panicking, as they have a high mental threshold.

For instance, if a Soul Refiner’s will is weak, they can easily be influenced by a Profound Beast’s Soul Thought when hunting it or helping someone refine their martial soul. In a mild case, the refinement will fail. In a severe case, their own Soul Sense could be damaged, making recovery difficult.

The same applies to Alchemists. An Alchemist with a strong will has a much easier time refining Pills and controlling their cauldron fire.

In fact, the continent’s top powers have always had systematic methods for tempering one’s will. This Illusion Realm was likely one such method, more or less.

This showed that the expert who founded Gale Light Academy was by no means an ordinary person.

Of course, Ye Xuan was far more interested in the Trial Tower than the Illusion Realm.

Led by Zhang Lie, the trio soon arrived before a magnificent building.

The Trial Tower was located within this very building.

The moment Ye Xuan stepped inside, he felt a subtle Profound Sense sweep over him. It was extremely discreet.

’What a terrifying pulse of Profound Sense.’

Ye Xuan was inwardly startled. ’It seems Gale Light Academy is full of hidden masters.’

’Though subtle, the essence of that Profound Sense was terrifying—nearly on par with Vice Director Ge from the entrance exam. It must belong to the expert Gale Light Academy has stationed here to guard the Trial Tower.’

Luo Cheng and Zhang Lie, of course, couldn’t sense any of this. Luo Cheng in particular forged ahead, his face alight with excitement.

They entered a large, bustling hall crowded with people.

"Excuse me, are you three here for the Trial Tower assessment? If so, please present your student Tokens to register. You’ll then be placed in the queue to wait," an academy staff member said with a smile upon seeing Ye Xuan and his companions.

Luo Cheng was taken aback. "There’s a queue?"

The staff member smiled. "The entrance exams just ended yesterday, so a lot of new students are coming to take the Trial Tower assessment. Only one person can enter at a time, so you three will have to wait a bit."

The staff member had clearly identified Ye Xuan’s group as newcomers and explained the situation in detail. The three of them immediately understood.

"So, who among you three will be registering for the assessment? Please present your student Tokens."

Just as Ye Xuan was about to take out his Token, Luo Cheng eagerly pushed his way forward. "Young Master Ye, let me go first! I’ll scout things out for you."

With that, Luo Cheng was the first to register.

"Alright, in that case, I’ll test it out too. I can also help scout the way for you, Young Master Ye."

Zhang Lie hadn’t planned on taking the assessment, but after hearing Luo Cheng, he took out his student Token as well.

They felt their experience might offer some useful insight for Ye Xuan, since his test results were crucial for the upcoming inner disciple selection.

Ye Xuan didn’t think it was necessary, but he couldn’t bring himself to refuse their enthusiastic goodwill.

"Alright, you three are all registered. You’re twenty-seventh, twenty-eighth, and twenty-ninth in line."

The staff member returned the student Tokens to them.

’So many people?’

Ye Xuan had thought he’d arrived early, but he hadn’t expected so many people to be ahead of him.

After putting away their Tokens, the trio walked further into the hall. They then noticed a massive stone stele in front of the crowd, densely inscribed with names.

Zhang Lie explained to the other two, "This must be the Trial Tower Stele. I heard that whatever floor a student reaches is displayed here. The academy set it up specifically to motivate everyone."

Ye Xuan looked up. Ranked first was someone named Celestial Wheel. Second was Gu Qingxuan, and third was Hua Xiuhong. After each of their names was their Trial Tower floor: the sixth floor.

There were nine people who had reached the sixth floor. In eighth place, Ye Xuan saw a familiar name: Murong Yunyu.

"Look! Senior Brother Murong Yunyu was on the fifth floor last month, and now he’s already broken through to the sixth! That’s terrifying."

"There are nine people in our academy who have reached the sixth floor now, and thirty or forty on the fifth. I’m still stuck on the third... Damn, these people are absolute freaks!"

"They’re inner disciples. How can we possibly compare?"

"Yeah, the inner disciples are the real geniuses. Especially the ones at the top of the Trial Tower rankings. The benefits they get are just insane."

"Gale Light Academy is really something else. The difference in treatment is huge. Those sixth-floor inner disciples can basically test whenever they want, with no restrictions. But us outer disciples only get to enter the Trial Tower once a month. If I could go in and train every day like them, I’d probably be on the fourth or fifth floor by now too."

"Hmph. They climbed up one step at a time, too. They couldn’t test without limits from the start. You’re just being ignorant."

The hall was filled with the sound of students discussing amongst themselves.

"Holy crap, the sixth level? Are these guys even human?"

Luo Cheng couldn’t help but exclaim in shock.

"The first floor has one spiritual projection, the second has two, the third has four, the fourth has eight, the fifth has sixteen, and the sixth has thirty-two! That means the top nine people in the rankings can defeat sixteen projections as strong as themselves in the Trial Tower. Is that even human?"

Luo Cheng was completely stunned. He couldn’t imagine what kind of talent that would take.

"And eighth place is Young Master Murong Yunyu! Young Master Murong’s talent is as astonishing as ever," Luo Cheng muttered to himself.

The Luo family used to be subordinate to the Murong family, so Luo Cheng was naturally very familiar with Murong Yunyu.

In fact, the genius Luo Cheng had once admired most was Murong Yunyu. Even though the Luo family was no longer subordinate to the Murong family, the hero worship from his childhood was impossible to erase.

"Look, three more newbies making a big fuss over nothing."

"Damn it. It’s because of all these newbies that I have to wait so long for my assessment today. What a pain," some older students, who had been waiting in line for a long time, grumbled.

"Shh! That guy looks like Xuan Ye. Keep your voice down," one of the older students said, his expression suddenly alarmed after taking a closer look at Ye Xuan’s group.

"Xuan Ye? Who the hell is Xuan Ye?" the older student, hearing an unfamiliar name, said dismissively.

But he suddenly seemed to recall something. His voice cut off, and a look of shock spread across his face. "Wait, you don’t mean *that* Xuan Ye? The one who took first place in this year’s entrance exam, left his name at the eighty-eight-meter mark on the Memorial Stele, and is being hunted by the Profound Mystery Sect?"

"Who else would I be talking about? I was there during the new student assessment. It’s him—the young, black-haired one in the middle of that group of three," the other student pointed out covertly.

Cold sweat broke out on the man’s forehead. Seeing that Ye Xuan hadn’t noticed them, he quickly and sheepishly retreated to the side, terrified of attracting his attention.

Hearing this exchange, the people around Ye Xuan also scrambled to get away from him, as if he were a venomous snake.

"Young Master Ye, you’re really something else! So imposing that even the older students are afraid of us," Luo Cheng said in awe.

Zhang Lie wiped away a bead of cold sweat. "Luo Cheng, they’re not afraid of *us*. They’re afraid of getting caught up in trouble."

"Uh, is that right? Heh, same difference," Luo Cheng said, a little embarrassed.

Ye Xuan remained expressionless. He was actually quite happy to have some peace and quiet.

He just hadn’t expected that being hunted by Crazy Battle would make him this famous.

He looked up at the rankings again. At the very bottom, he saw the names of many new students from his year. Only a handful had made it to the second floor; the rest were all conspicuously listed on the first.

"Xuan Ye, you’re here too. Excellent. How about another competition, right here in the Trial Tower?"

A voice brimming with fighting spirit called out. Ye Xuan turned to see Hou Fei staring at him, his expression a mask of challenge.

Ye Xuan rubbed his nose. ’Why is this guy so competitive?’

"Not interested." Ye Xuan shook his head. "What’s the point of a competition like this?"

"It might be meaningless to you, but it means everything to me. My original goal in joining Gale Light Academy was to become the most outstanding genius here. But now, that goal has changed. Now, my goal is to defeat you," Hou Fei said, his gaze sharp and cold.