Chapter 1 The Interlude

After the little interlude just now, everything returned to normal. Chen Xiao waited in his place, slowly advancing. After about half an hour, it was finally his turn.

It was still the same receptionist disciple, with an arrogant air about him, almost looking down at Chen Xiao with his nostrils. He spoke up and asked, "Name and age."

"Chen Xiao, seventeen." Chen Xiao didn't have a good impression of him and replied indifferently.

"Test your spirit seed then." The receptionist disciple said, looking at Chen Xiao.

"How do I test it?" Chen Xiao asked.

"The spirit stone is right in front of you, can't you see it?" The receptionist disciple's tone was impatient.

Only then did Chen Xiao notice a stone slightly larger than his palm on the table in front of him.

"Put your palm on it, release your yuan qi, and then take it away." Someone reminded him from the side.

Chen Xiao looked in the direction of the voice. It was the sturdy young man from before, sitting on the ground in a shady spot not far away with his dark-faced old father, eating the dry food they had brought.

"Thank you for the reminder." Chen Xiao cupped his fist in thanks, and the young man returned the gesture with a smile, considering it a response.

Chen Xiao's super-grade spirit seed could be said to be shocking, but he didn't want to expose it in public now, because he didn't have the strength to match it. After being in the limelight, he was likely to be envied by others, inviting trouble upon himself.

However, the situation was pressing. Expose it then. Being afraid of wolves in front and tigers behind was not Chen Xiao's style.

Chen Xiao steadily placed his hand on the spirit testing stone. After releasing his yuan qi, the surface of the spirit testing stone immediately became colorful, with floating light moving and enveloping the entire stone.

When the floating light faded, the words "First Grade" suddenly appeared directly above Chen Xiao's finger. This "First Grade" represented the first grade spirit seed. In an instant, the words on the stone surface jumped from "First Grade" to "Second Grade," and soon after, they jumped from "Second Grade" to "Third Grade." This time, the time it took to go from "First Grade" to "Second Grade" was slightly longer.

When the words on the stone surface jumped from "Third Grade" to "Fourth Grade," many people's eyes began to brighten. A fourth grade spirit seed was already considered a genius.

However, this was only a genius in their eyes. For Tian Feng Martial Academy, a fourth grade spirit seed was only a passing grade. The receptionist disciple didn't even blink when he saw the words "Fourth Grade."

But when "Fourth Grade" jumped to "Fifth Grade," the disciple could no longer remain calm. A fifth grade spirit seed was definitely a top existence even in the talent-filled Tian Feng Martial Academy. In the eyes of this receptionist disciple, Chen Xiao suddenly became someone he needed to befriend.

Just as everyone was immersed in shock, the words on the stone surface changed again, from "Fifth Grade" to "Sixth Grade!"

"This!" The receptionist disciple opened his mouth wide and couldn't recover for a long time. A sixth grade spirit seed! It was already the most top-level spirit seed within the martial academy. As far as he knew, there were only three disciples in the entire Tian Feng Martial Academy who possessed a sixth grade spirit seed.

An obvious sign of flattery had appeared in the receptionist disciple's eyes.

However, just when everyone thought there would be no more changes, the words on the spirit testing stone jumped continuously, actually going directly from "Sixth Grade" to "Ninth Grade!"

The receptionist disciple couldn't believe his eyes. His gaze changed from flattery to fanatical worship, wishing he could kneel down and lick Chen Xiao's shoes. Not only him, everyone present was immersed in incomparable shock.

Before, when the words on the spirit testing stone reached the sixth grade, everyone's eyes had already been focused on it. But when the words "Ninth Grade" appeared, the huge square became silent. The occasional mountain breeze made a faint sound, which sounded like a hurricane to everyone.

This was a ninth grade spirit seed, absolutely unprecedented! Everyone felt that they hadn't come in vain today. This was simply a moment to witness a miracle! Was this kid even human?

Among the people present, besides Chen Xiao, the calmest was Xiao Liu Zi, because he was already slightly immune to Chen Xiao's shocking behavior. But this was only relative to others. Xiao Liu Zi's shock was no less than the shock that the enchanted array symbols had brought him yesterday.

Chen Xiao had long expected this reaction from everyone. He was still muttering in his heart, "A ninth grade spirit seed is like this. I wonder what these people will do if it turns into a super-grade spirit seed later?"

Sure enough, as Chen Xiao expected, the words "Ninth Grade" changed again, but Chen Xiao only guessed the beginning and not the ending.

The words on the stone surface didn't rise but fell, from "Ninth Grade" to "Eighth Grade," and it wasn't over yet. After "Eighth Grade," it fell all the way down, finally becoming "First Grade."

Just when everyone, including Chen Xiao, hadn't reacted, the words "First Grade" disappeared, and the entire spirit testing stone returned to silence, becoming the way it was before Chen Xiao put his hand on it.

Everyone was surprised and puzzled. What exactly was going on? Could it be that everything just now wasn't real?

Chen Xiao understood what had happened immediately. Although a ninth grade spirit seed was rare, it must have appeared before. A super-grade spirit seed only existed in legends. This spirit testing stone couldn't recognize it at all, and finally simply stopped recognizing the yuan qi.

Chen Xiao felt a trace of joy in his heart. This was good too. The previous worries wouldn't happen. Let me be a low-key person!

Chen Xiao understood, but others didn't. Immediately, discussions started.

"What's going on? Could it be that the spirit testing stone is broken?"

"It must be. Otherwise, how could someone with a ninth grade spirit seed appear?"

"That's right, that's right. Look at that kid's cultivation. He's only at the second level of Body Tempering. How could he be worthy of having a ninth grade spirit seed?"

The receptionist disciple was also very puzzled. This had never happened before. Could it be that the spirit testing stone was really broken? He looked at it carefully, and finally put his hand on the spirit testing stone. Soon, the words "Fourth Grade" appeared on the spirit testing stone.

The disciple's confusion deepened. "It's not broken. What exactly is going on?"

"Stop thinking about it. The spirit testing stone is fine. The problem lies with this Chen Xiao." Just then, a voice came from behind the receptionist disciple. Turning his head, it was Wang Hao, who had returned.

Wang Hao had noticed Chen Xiao in the crowd earlier, but he had been away from home for many days and didn't know about Chen Xiao's humiliation of Zhu Qian in Clear Spring City. In addition, he had something to do, so he didn't bother Chen Xiao.

But after leaving just now, he had been feeling uneasy. After finishing his work, he immediately came out to teach Chen Xiao a lesson, but he didn't expect to encounter this bizarre scene.

However, he never thought that Chen Xiao might have a ninth grade spirit seed. He knew Chen Xiao's background too well, so he couldn't possibly miss this opportunity to humiliate Chen Xiao.

Wang Hao said word by word, "This Chen Xiao is just a waste with a first grade spirit seed!"