Chapter 265 Tens of Thousands Block the Gate! Do Gold-Rank Individuals Even Deserve to Live in the Holy Son's Academy?

The speed at which the news spread...

Was more than ten times faster than Jiang Yun had imagined.

Descending from the isolated peak where the Heavenly Saint Secret Realm was located,

less than half an hour had passed.

Every Sky Dome Academy student he encountered along the way

was already talking about the name Jiang Yun.

“Have you heard?! An SSS-Rank Talent appeared among the freshmen! He literally blew up three Testing Stones during the test!”

“That's not all! It was just announced—the mysterious Dean personally conferred upon him the title of Heavenly Saint Student! His treatment is on par with the Inner Court Dean! Unlimited resource supply! Cultivation in an exclusive Secret Realm!”

“Holy crap! What kind of Heaven-Defying luck is this? I've been working my ass off for three years and I'm still worrying about a few hundred contribution points, yet he takes off the moment he arrives?”

“Envious? My damn eyes are red with jealousy! Based on what?!”

Discussions surged from all directions like a tide.

Jiang Yun suppressed his aura,

restraining his aura fluctuations to the extreme,

and walked silently through the crowd,

like a drop of water merging into the ocean.

However,

not all voices were filled with shock and envy.

“Hmph, SSS-Rank Talent? So what! Isn't he still just a Gold Rank trash!”

A harsh voice rang out not far away.

Jiang Yun's footsteps paused slightly.

He saw several richly dressed youths, all with auras at the High-tier Gold Rank, gathered together.

The leader had a pale, beardless face,

and an arrogant look in his eyes.

An ivory plaque engraved with 'eighty-seventh on the earth ranking' hung from his waist.

He was currently spouting saliva as he spoke.

“I hate these types who rely on talent to grab attention the most! Someone from a backwater place like C City—what does he know about real combat? What does he know about foundation? Good talent? I'm ranked eighty-seventh on the Tianqiong Earth Ranking; beating Geniuses is exactly what I do!”

A companion with a sharp chin and monkey-like features immediately chimed in.

“Brother Chu is right! What Heavenly Saint Student? It sounds like a gimmick cooked up by the Academy! A Gold Rank being given so many resources—is he worthy? If those resources were given to Brother Chu, he would have broken into the top fifty of the Earth Ranking long ago!”

Another broad-shouldered youth grinned and sneered even more.

“Exactly! I heard this kid even took a mission from the Dean to break into the top ten of the Heaven Ranking within a month? Hahaha! That's hilarious! What kind of monsters are in the top ten of the Heaven Ranking? The weakest, Luo Li, is also at the sixth stage of Amethyst Rank, with a terrifyingly powerful ice-attribute soul beast! He's a Gold Rank; is he going to fight with his head?”

The youth called Brother Chu,

Chu Yunfei, sneered even harder upon hearing this.

He intentionally raised his voice,

drawing the side-glances of many people around them.

“It's better if I don't run into him on the battle stage! Otherwise, I'll definitely teach this Heavenly Saint Student what it means to keep a low profile and that strength reigns supreme in Sky Dome Academy!”

As his words fell,

his gaze happened to sweep over Jiang Yun, who was walking past them.

Their eyes met instantly.

Unfortunately, he had never seen Jiang Yun before,

and didn't know that the person in front of him was the very Heavenly Saint Student he was talking about.

Jiang Yun's expression was calm,

and there was even a trace of subtle awkwardness in the depths of his eyes that he hadn't had time to hide.

After all, listening to someone insult him so bluntly to his face was truly a novel experience.

He subconsciously rubbed his nose.

This subtle movement was precisely captured by Chu Yunfei.

“What are you looking at?”

Chu Yunfei's brow furrowed.

Seeing this strange youth dressed in Common clothes,

who even dared to look at him with such a strange gaze,

his anger flared up instantly.

“A freshman—don't you know the rules? Don't you know to salute when you see a senior?”

Jiang Yun: "..."

He really didn't know what to say.

Salute?

According to the Academy's regulations,

the status of a Heavenly Saint Student was equivalent to the Inner Court Dean.

Even the Academy Elders had to treat him with respect.

Strictly speaking,

it should be the other party saluting him.

Seeing Jiang Yun's silence,

Chu Yunfei assumed he was intimidated by him.

The smugness in his heart grew even stronger.

“Scram! Keep your eyes open in the future and don't just join in on any excitement. Idiots like Jiang Yun who don't know the heights of the heavens will eventually fall and be smashed to pieces. You freshmen had better take warning!”

“Yes, yes, Brother Chu is right to lecture us.”

The several people beside him quickly smiled apologetically,

their gazes toward Jiang Yun full of contempt.

Jiang Yun took a deep look at Chu Yunfei,

committing that face and the plaque of eighty-seventh on the earth ranking to memory.

Then, without saying anything,

he looked away

and quickened his pace to merge into the denser crowd ahead.

“Tsk, at least he's sensible.”

Chu Yunfei spat toward the direction Jiang Yun had left,

then turned to his companions and said,

“See? This is the consequence of having no strength! In the Academy, talent is useless; big fists are the only hard truth! If that Jiang Yun is sensible, he'd better go tell the Dean himself that he's giving up his status as a Heavenly Saint Student, otherwise... hmph hmph. I will definitely pay him a visit.”

Jiang Yun walked far away and sighed inwardly.

“A man fears fame like a pig fears getting fat; the ancients truly did not deceive me. It's only just begun, and the hostility from many people is already this great...”

It wasn't that he was afraid of this Chu Yunfei.

High-tier Gold Rank—

with the current strength of Little Fire and Little Skylark,

it wasn't impossible to put up a fight.

He just felt it was a hassle.

Countless eyes staring at him

meant that every step he took next would be magnified and scrutinized; any slight slip could lead to a bottomless abyss.

Moreover,

people like Chu Yunfei

were likely just the tip of the iceberg.

With tens of thousands of students in the Academy, it was full of hidden talents; those who envied him or were unconvinced by him were beyond counting.

While he was pondering,

the clamor of the crowd ahead suddenly shifted,

becoming even more excited and noisy.

“Latest news! That Jiang Yun was taken to Heaven Pillar Peak by Dean Ming Jing!”

“What?! Heaven Pillar Peak? I heard that cultivating inside for three or four days is equivalent to a month in the outside world!”

“Damn, comparison is the thief of joy! I even have to queue up to grab a spot in the Inner Court's Spirit Gathering Tower!”

“Wait! That's not the point! Someone saw Dean Ming Jing leave quickly after taking that kid in! That Jiang Yun might still be inside, or... he might have already come out!”

As soon as these words were spoken,

the crowd immediately became restless.

“He's out? Then where is he now?”

“Stupid! Since he's a Heavenly Saint Student, his residence must be the Holy Son Courtyard on Heaven Pillar Peak! That's a place where only the Inner Court Dean can stay—an independent mountain peak with a Spiritual Qi concentration ten times that of the Outer Court!”

“Let's go! Block him at the foot of Heaven Pillar Peak! I want to see for myself if this SSS-Rank Genius, who caused such a sensation and turned the Academy upside down in just half an hour, really has three heads and six arms or what!”

“Right! Let's go together! See if he's actually worthy of living in the Holy Son Courtyard!”

“Count me in! I'm ranked ninety-fifth on the Earth Ranking; I want to personally measure the weight of this so-called Heavenly Saint Student!”

Whoosh!!!

The crowd was instantly ignited.

A large number of students, especially those who considered themselves strong, those ranked on the Top 100 Earth Ranking, and those who simply wanted to watch the excitement, all turned around and surged toward Heaven Pillar Peak deep within the Academy, which symbolized the status of top students.

The flow of people was like a flood,

actually forming a reverse tide on the Academy's main road.

Jiang Yun hid at the edge of the crowd.

Watching this crazy scene, he couldn't help but shake his head.

“Fortunately, I came down the mountain early...”

He felt incredibly lucky in his heart.

If he had been one step slower,

he would have been blocked on Heaven Pillar Peak.

He didn't stay any longer.

While the crowd's attention was all drawn to Heaven Pillar Peak, he quickened his pace and headed toward the main gate of the enrollment registration area.

He needed to meet up with Fox Immortal first,

and then come back to deal with the situation here.

Sky Dome Academy covered a vast area,

comparable to a small city.

Even with Jiang Yun's fastest walking speed,

it took a full half-hour

to reach the relatively open plaza area near the main entrance gate.

Before he had even truly approached,

that cold female voice, which carried a trace of an undetectable fluctuation, rang out clearly in his mind.

“Don't move. Wait for me where you are.”

It was Fox Immortal.

Jiang Yun's footsteps paused.

He wasn't surprised.

There was a Fox Heart Moon Vow contract connecting the two of them.

Within a certain distance, they could vaguely sense each other's position and state.

With Fox Immortal's current unfathomable strength,

it was normal for her to sense his approach first.

He did as told and stopped in the shadow of an ancient tree at the edge of the plaza.

Not long after,

a slender figure drifted over like light smoke and landed silently by his side.

It was indeed Fox Immortal.

Her face was peerlessly beautiful, and her temperament was cold and ethereal.

Except that those amber eyes, when looking at Jiang Yun,

seemed to have a few degrees less aloofness than usual,

and an extra trace of extremely hard-to-detect... complexity.

The two of them couldn't help but lock eyes for a moment.

The air seemed to freeze for an instant.

Jiang Yun saw a flash of surprise and some kind of touch in her eyes; he also felt a bit uncomfortable and was the first to look away.

Fox Immortal also slightly turned her head at almost the same time,

looking at the distant Academy buildings.

The atmosphere was slightly awkward.

Fox Immortal was indeed somewhat surprised in her heart.

She thought that after Jiang Yun obtained the status of Heavenly Saint Student, he would be heavily protected or arranged by the Academy's top brass, which would delay him for at least a long while; she didn't expect him to get away so quickly to find her.

Was he worried that she would expose her identity while alone outside and implicate him?

Or was it because... when the latter thought arose,

Fox Immortal herself was slightly stunned.

After hundreds of years of lonely cultivation,

she had long been accustomed to being alone,

viewing all emotional fluctuations as obstacles to her cultivation.

But at this moment,

that trace of unusual, unfamiliar emotional fluctuation in the depths of her heart was so clear.

“No unexpected situations occurred, right? Your identity wasn't exposed?”

Jiang Yun's voice broke the silence.

He asked directly, his gaze alertly scanning the surroundings.

Fox Immortal restrained her thoughts,

returning to her usual indifference and coldness.

“Naturally. With this Empress's current strength and secretive methods, unless a Sun-Level powerhouse deliberately investigates with Divine Sense Divine Abilities, there is absolutely no possibility of exposure.”

Her voice carried a touch of the faint pride belonging to a Yao Race sovereign, but to Jiang Yun's ears, it had much less of a sharp edge than when they first met.

Jiang Yun nodded, his mind at ease.

He had witnessed Fox Immortal's strength and methods; her combat power was terrifyingly abnormal, and her aura concealment was seamless.

“Next, do you want to also join an Inner Court to Cultivate? With your talent and... identity, you should also be able to get decent treatment.”

Jiang Yun asked tentatively.

Fox Immortal, however, shook her head without hesitation,

her tone firm and decisive.

“No need. This Empress has her own path and does not need the guidance of your human soul beast system.”

Her own path?

Jiang Yun's brow furrowed slightly in thought.

He remembered Fox Immortal's information data entries.

This Mother Fox possessed the five-element attributes and had now fused with the five-colored origin divine seed; she had probably already touched upon the Great Dao of the Five Elements Laws' Origin.

Her path ahead might indeed have been clear for a long time, something a human academy could not provide guidance for.

What she needed

might be higher-level five-element treasures, Secret Realms, or... Awakening deeper Bloodline legacies.

“Very well.”

Jiang Yun didn't ask further.

“The residence has already been arranged; it's the Holy Son Courtyard on Heaven Pillar Peak. Come with me; let's get settled first.”

Fox Immortal gave a soft hum of agreement and said no more.

The two of them stopped talking and walked side by side toward the Core Area of the Academy, in the direction of the highest and most prominent Heaven Pillar Peak among the towering mountains.

As they approached,

the number of students coming and going around them clearly increased,

and almost everyone was heading in the same direction as them.

Heaven Pillar Peak.

The sounds of discussion also became clearer and more intense.

“Hurry up! If you're late, you won't get a good spot!”

“I heard that several experts on the Earth Ranking have already declared they're going to test the mettle of that Heavenly Saint Student!”

“That's not all! Even those few Prodigies on the Heaven Ranking seem to be paying attention! After all, that kid claimed he would break into their circle in a month!”

“There's going to be a good show! A Gold Rank living in the Holy Son Courtyard? You've got to be kidding! Many high-tier Amethyst Rank Geniuses aren't even qualified to go near that place!”

“I'm afraid this Jiang Yun is going to be given a show of strength by all sorts of Prodigies the very day he enters Sky Dome Academy!”