Chapter 252 Holy crap! The testing stone exploded?!

At the Su Family's seating area.

The high-level members of the Su Family were in a state of erupting volcanic ecstasy!

Second Master Su Qingshan slammed his thigh hard.

Shaking the seat so much it wobbled three times.

His tiger-like eyes were wide open.

His hair and beard were bristling.

His voice was like a great bell.

"Hahahaha! I knew it! I knew this kid was unusual the moment I saw him! sixteen years old and Gold Rank! SSS-Rank Talent! This is the most accurate my judgment has been in my life!"

His face was flushed with excitement.

He waved his fist vigorously.

As if that soaring red light was the supreme glory won by his own Family's disciples on the battlefield.

Although First Master Su Qinghai was not so outward with his emotions,

his tightly clenched fists and slightly trembling shoulders

similarly betrayed the stormy waves in his heart.

He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

A sharp light flickered in his eyes.

"This child... is truly the Su Family's blessing. After today, the status of our Su Family in the Provincial City will be completely different."

Several core Elders were laughing so hard their teeth were showing but their eyes were squinted shut.

They high-five each other in celebration.

"Hahaha! Smoke is rising from our Su Family's ancestral graves! No! It's spewing fire!"

"Taking off! This time, our Su Family is truly going to soar to the heavens!"

"With this child here, why worry about the Su Family not prospering! For the next hundred years—no, a thousand years—our foundation is secure!"

Their pride and excitement

infected everyone around them.

Countless gazes focused on the Su Family members once again, but this time, there was no longer any hint of contempt or scrutiny; only endless shock, envy, and... deep wariness remained.

Everyone understood.

The youth in the arena, shrouded in red light,

his future achievements

would definitely not be limited to the stage of the Provincial City.

"SSS-Rank Talent!"

This was enough to shake the Central State!

A peerless Aptitude that would attract the attention of those true behemoths!

Sky Dome Academy would surely pour all its resources into cultivating him.

As for the Su Family, his original Family,

even just basking in a bit of his glory would be enough for everyone to benefit, leaping from a second-rate Family to a power in the Provincial City that no one dares to ignore!

The Su Family's future

had been completely illuminated by that red light, destined for brilliance!

"Congratulations, Patriarch Su! Felicitations, Patriarch Su!"

"The Su Family gaining such a fine son-in-Law is truly a blessing from the heavens! He will surely become a pillar of the Provincial City in the future!"

"Patriarch Su, if there were any slight misunderstandings before, it was all due to my, Zhao's, ignorance. This Diamond Jade Marrow shall serve as an apology; I hope the Su Family can be magnanimous!"

"My Sun Family has also prepared a modest gift..."

In the viewing area, the wind shifted instantly.

Many families that had just been cold bystanders or even secretly mocking the Su Family now put on their warmest and most sincere smiles, scrambling to swarm the Su Family's seating area.

The sounds of congratulations, flattery, and apologies were incessant, and various rare gifts were presented, all just to establish a connection with the rising Su Family at this historic moment.

There were even several heads of small families who had old grudges with the Su Family who bowed directly in apology, expressing their willingness to offer part of their Family businesses to seek reconciliation.

The fickleness of the world and the coldness and warmth of human relationships

were displayed to the fullest at this moment.

In this ocean of noise and flattery, the Lin Family's seating area was like a forgotten island, shrouded in dead silence and gloom.

Lin Hong stood there,

like a stone statue rapidly weathering away.

The color had long since drained from his face,

leaving only a despondent grayness.

Every congratulation to the Su Family that reached his ears

was like a resounding slap,

viciously striking his face.

Every fawning face he saw sucking up to the Su Family seemed to be silently mocking his previous stupidity and arrogance.

He stared fixedly at the still-dazzling red pillar of light on the square, his eyes bloodshot; the red light now seemed so piercing and ironic to him.

The humiliation he had carefully planned,

and his self-satisfied provocations had become a complete joke in the face of absolute talent suppression.

"Patriarch..."

A Lin Family Elder beside him stepped forward cautiously,

wanting to offer some comfort.

"Shut up!"

Lin Hong squeezed out two words from between his teeth,

his voice as hoarse as a broken gong.

He felt a stifling, sharp pain in his chest,

and the metallic taste of blood in his throat grew stronger.

He knew that if he stayed any longer,

he might suffer a surge of blood to the heart... at that time, he would only become an even bigger laughingstock.

He would only be sliced apart by more gloating gazes.

He abruptly flicked his sleeves,

turning to leave this place where he had lost all his dignity.

His movements were somewhat stumbling due to extreme humiliation and anger.

"Oh! Patriarch Lin, where are you going?"

That Zhao Family Elder was sharp-eyed

and intentionally raised his voice.

"Aren't you going to wait and see your son's test? Maybe he can also test for an S-Rank, or no, an A-Rank Talent? After all, a tiger father doesn't beget a dog son!"

This remark drew a chorus of suppressed chuckles.

Lin Hong's figure stiffened.

The muscles on his face, which was turned away from everyone, twitched violently.

In the end, he didn't even look back.

Almost as if fleeing, he led several Lin Family Elders, whose faces were also ashen, hurriedly through the crowd and disappeared at the exit of the viewing area.

That back view

no longer held any of the majesty of a Family head,

leaving only endless wretchedness and dejection.

Seeing his panicked escape,

many who had grudges with the Lin Family or simply disliked their way of doing things felt a surge of satisfaction.

This face-slapping

was truly resounding!

So gratifying!

Just as everyone had not yet recovered from the interlude of Lin Hong's wretched exit,

an even greater shock arrived!

Hum! Hum! Hum! Hum!

The space above the square

began to undergo intense distortion and fluctuation!

One after another, peerlessly powerful auras, like slumbering ancient behemoths waking up, soared into the sky from various directions deep within the academy, instantly locking onto the square!

"Hahahaha! Red! It's actually the Legendary red radiance! An SSS-Rank Talent has appeared; the heavens bless my Sky Dome Academy! Such a Prodigy must enter my Pill Institute!"

An old but vigorous long laugh was the first to ring out.

From the eastern horizon,

purple Qi came from the east for three thousand miles.

An old man with white hair and a youthful face, wearing a purple cloud-patterned pill robe, arrived through the air, stepping on a huge illusory beast!

The beast spun,

emitting a refreshing and heart-cleansing exotic fragrance.

Hearing it made one's spirit feel refreshed.

The old man's aura was as deep as the sea,

he was surprisingly a Falling Star Rank eight-rank powerhouse!

The Pill Institute Dean!

Medicine Dust Son!

"Nonsense! Old Yao, what kind of Genius can your Pill Institute produce? This uncut jade should enter my Artifact Institute. With heaven and earth as the furnace and creation as the tool, we shall forge an ultimate treasure tool. By combining treasure tools with the Dao of Beast Taming, only then can a peerless Prodigy be born!"

From the west,

the sound of clashing metal was deafening.

A red-faced hunk with knotted muscles, wearing only a leather short vest and with hair and beard like fire, arrived atop rolling heat waves, carrying a dark-gold giant hammer the size of a door!

With every step he took,

scorching ripples appeared in the space beneath his feet.

The Artifact Institute Dean!

Tie Kuang!

Falling Star Rank seven-rank Peak!

"Crude! How can the art of forging display even a fraction of such talent? The path of formations reaches the heavens and evolves all things! This child should belong to my Formation Institute! We shall nurture formation beasts! His combat power will surely be extraordinary, and he will achieve invincibility!"

From the south,

countless mysterious formation runes appeared out of thin air,

interweaving into a massive formation diagram.

A middle-aged Taoist nun with a stern and old-fashioned face, wearing a black Taoist robe, stood in the center of the formation diagram, her body flowing with Dao rhythm as if she were one with the Laws of heaven and earth.

The Formation Institute Dean!

Dean of Array Department Xuan Jizi!

Falling Star Rank five-rank!

"Runes connect heaven and earth, writing the true words of the Great Dao! This child's Mental Energy must be vast, perfectly suited for the path of my Rune Institute!"

From the north,

countless spots of light gathered, condensing into strange runes flowing with golden brilliance. An elegant scholar in white, holding a jade brush, arrived gracefully amidst the surrounding runes.

The Rune Institute Dean!

Wen Yuan!

Falling Star Rank seven-rank!

Boom! Boom!

The two most blazing and violent auras descended almost simultaneously!

"All of you, get lost! The foundation of a Beast Tamer is the beast! An SSS-Rank Talent is rare throughout the ages; he must join my Beast Taming Institute! He will be the one to carry the mantle of our Sky Dome Academy! No one else even think about snatching him!"

From the direction of the Beast Taming Institute,

a crimson pillar of fire tore through the sky as Vice Dean Yan Lie returned, and in front of him stood a bearded man with an even more terrifying aura, like a human-shaped Vicious Beast!

The man was clad in crimson beast-patterned heavy armor, and lightning seemed to flicker as his eyes opened and closed. Just by standing there, he gave off a sense of pressure like facing an ancient wild beast!

The Beast Taming Institute Dean!

Zhan Qiong!

Falling Star Rank nine-rank Peak!

Half-step eclipsing moon!

"Zhan Qiong, your tone is a bit too arrogant. How can such a Prodigy be enjoyed by you alone?"

On the other side,

water-blue brilliance poured down like a heavenly river.

Vice-Dean Vice Dean Yan Song also returned.

Beside him was Qian Rongrong, who was staring intently at the red light.

The deans of the six inner courts: Pill, Artifact, Formation, Rune, Beast Taming, and Appraisal...

All gathered together!

These great figures, who were usually like divine dragons whose heads are seen but not their tails and whose every step could shake the Provincial City, had all appeared today because of a single student's talent test!

They stood in the air, their auras interweaving,

making the air in the entire square almost solidify.

The testing teachers below had long since stopped all work, looking up at the figures in the sky like deities, trembling with excitement while also feeling an incredibly suffocating pressure.

The young students on the square were even more dumbfounded,

their minds completely blank.

"My god... what am I seeing..."

"Deans... they are all Deans and Vice-Deans..."

"Is this the prestige of an SSS-Rank Talent..."

"Too... too terrifying..."

"This is much bigger than the commotion caused by Qian Rongrong of the Qian Family just now!"

Everyone was beyond horrified.

In the arena,

Jiang Yun, who was at the center of the storm,

was also feeling as if he were on a roller coaster.

"It's been measured! It's really been measured! And it's the highest SSS-Rank!"

His initial anxiety was replaced by wild joy.

He felt the surging power from the Testing Stone beneath his palm, which seemed connected to his own Bloodline, and heard the thunderous exclamations around him, a surge of heroic pride rising in his heart.

SSS-Rank Talent!

Now!

The name Jiang Yun!

It would be hard for it not to resound throughout the Provincial City!

However,

the wild joy only lasted for a moment.

Just as the Deans in the sky were arguing incessantly over which institute he would join,

and everyone in the arena was buzzing with shock,

Jiang Yun's expression changed slightly!

He keenly sensed

an abnormal vibration coming from the Testing Stone beneath his palm.

He looked down,

and his pupils suddenly contracted!

Inside the originally crystal-clear Testing Stone,

at some unknown point,

several fine, hair-like cracks had quietly appeared!

The cracks were spreading at a speed visible to the naked eye,

from the position where his palm touched it,

crazily throughout the entire interior of the crystal!

"No! What's going on?! Could it be that the limit of this Testing Stone is only SSS-Rank, and it can't handle my Divine-Grade talent..."

"It's not going to explode, is it?!"

Alarm bells rang loudly in Jiang Yun's heart.

Crack... crackle... the fine but tooth-aching sound of shattering

became more and more dense, more and more clear!

In the sky,

Zhan Qiong roared like thunder, "This child is definitely joining my Beast Taming Institute!"

Vice Dean Yan Song responded calmly but firmly,

"Dean Zhan, everything has its order of arrival."

The other Vice-Deans were also not backing down,

arguing until their faces were red.

Below,

the red pillar of light connecting heaven and earth

suddenly flickered violently, becoming extremely unstable!

BOOM!!!!!!!!!

A dull, shocking roar, far greater than any previous noise, erupted!

Under the gaze of countless horrified eyes,

amidst the abruptly silenced arguments of the inner court big shots,

the academy's Testing Stone, which carried the light of an SSS-Rank Talent, was forged from precious Amethyst Rank Materials, and had been used for centuries without issue... exploded right before everyone's eyes!

The blinding red light was instantly extinguished.

Countless crystalline fragments, carrying violent energy,

shot out in all directions!

The entire field... was as silent as death... everyone.

Including the Inner Court Deans in the sky who were accustomed to great storms, all froze in place, staring slack-jawed at the small energy dust cloud rising from the testing platform and the somewhat bewildered young figure within the dust.

What's the situation?!!

The... the Testing Stone... exploded????