Chapter 197: Exceptions and Trials! (First)
Song Lin’s announcement had designated each and every student to their appropriate mountain point, but only Bai Yunfei’s name had been left off his list!
Bai Yunfei himself was surprised to say the least, and his mind was racing with confusion on the reason why.
Noticing Bai Yunfei’s expression, Song Lin smiled reassuringly, “Haha, junior Bai, there’s no need to panic. The reason why I’ve not yet mentioned your name is because there is still a special announcement to make.”
Turning back to the new students, Song Lin announced, “While junior Bai Yunfei did not make it past the five kilometer threshold, his talent as a soul cultivator is shocking to everyone. At the age of nineteen, he is already a late-stage Soul Sprite. Thus, the headmaster has ordained an exception and will take him in as a disciple!”
This announcement brought forth silence from the entire crowd for a few brief moments. Stunned, everyone looked at Bai Yunfei and began to whisper to one another as they tried to figure out the reason why. Even Fei Nian and the other disciples looked on in surprise at the announcement.
“An exception… to become a disciple?” Bai Yunfei’s mind went blank. Thinking that he was still in some sort of delusional fantasy where he had become a disciple, Bai Yunfei hastened to circulate his soulforce into his head to wake him up, but upon not feeling the ‘fantasy’ shatter away, Bai Yunfei realized—this was reality, he had heard correctly!
“Senior Song Lin, are you… are you saying I can become a disciple to the headmaster!?” Bai Yunfei asked to reconfirm. He could hardly believe his ears.
“Correct. This was what the master ordained, but…” Song Lin immediately changed the topic mid-speech, “The master himself wishes to give you a test!”
Sucking in a deep breath to calm down the rapidly beating heart in his chest, Bai Yunfei asked cautiously, “What test?”
Somewhat surprised by how fast Bai Yunfei had calmed himself down, Song Lin smiled in approval, “The master will give you three months time. During these three months, you will be treated as a disciple and will be taught the arts of crafting by the master. After three months, if you are able to create an earth-tier soul armament, you will become a genuine disciple. If not, you will be sent back to the inner school!”
Everyone was shocked again to hear such an announcement and turned to look at Bai Yunfei with jealousy in their eyes. Even if Bai Yunfei wasn’t able to continue being a disciple, being one for three months was still a wondrous fortune.
As for the group of disciples on the other side, everyone displayed the same exact face, “Impossible!”
While Bai Yunfei was managing to keep calm on his face, his heart was in a chaotic state of being. Confusion, elation, surprise… all sorts of emotions ran amuck in his head without a chance for him to calm down. Silently, he bowed to Kou Changkong and respectfully said, “This student thanks the headmaster for granting such an opportunity. I will work with all my might to not disappoint the headmaster!!”
Smiling and nodding, Kou Changkong replied, “I didn’t want to overlook such a capable soul cultivator. Whether or not you’ll be able to grab the chance to succeed, that’ll depend on your own efforts…Well, return with your seniors and listen to their instructions for now.”
……
Soon enough, all of the students were led away by Song Lin and the others, leaving behind only Kou Changkong and the three elders alone in the hall…
“Senior, is this Bai Yunfei really that worth it?” After a while, the second elder Huangfu Nan broke the silence to ask the question on his mind.
“Whether he’s worth it or not will be known in three months time.” Came the nonchalant answer.
“Is it because of his friendship with Hong Yin and the fact that there’s a relationship between he and Ge Yiyun of the Fate School?” Huangfu Nan asked. “The encounters he had in the Azure Cloud Province are startling enough, but his rise in power is even moreso. If he started to train his soul since he was a kid, he wouldn’t have been in such a state for all those years, but he hadn’t become a soul cultivator until recently, which made his abrupt strength all the more shocking… But, if Ge Yiyun was involved, I wouldn’t say it’s impossible either…”
“This Bai Yunfei isn’t a bad child in my opinion.” Cang Yu spoke from the side. “I’ve asked Rui’er what happened a few days ago and learned some things. That Bai Yunfei is an upright young man that knows when to be polite. I don’t believe there’s any need to be suspicious of him…”
Adamant in his suspicions, Huangfu Nan continued, “Due to time constraints, we weren’t able to investigate what happened to him after he left the Azure Cloud Province. Why don’t we…”
“I’ve already had them stop investigating Bai Yunfei.” The normally silent Xiao Binzi suddenly cut in. “Yesternight I received some information from the Azure Cloud Province. We’ve confirmed that there’s a definite relation between the two, so I’ve decided it wasn’t necessary to investigate anymore.”
“Eh? Why stop there?” Huangfu Nan asked, “It’s rumored that Ge Yiyun has been traveling the continent these days, in search of something. I’ve heard many different youngsters of promising potential were helped by Ge Yiyun. Perhaps this Bai Yunfei is…”
“It doesn’t matter what happenstances benefited Bai Yunfei. His talent as a soul cultivator can’t be overlooked. When Fei Nian fought with Bai Yunfei, he was unable to cause a considerable amount of damage even though he used his ‘Unlimited Blade Box’ and he doesn’t lack fighting experience. Fei Nian was injured almost effortlessly by Bai Yunfei as well. This all but points to saying Bai Yunfei is a very strong one… A person like this should be cultivated carefully. In the future, he will be a great deal of help to our school. Give him the chance to be a disciple. I very much wish to see just what determination and potential he will have.” Kou Changkong replied.
“Then how about…” The first elder hummed, “How about we have him and Ye Zhiqiu go over there tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow?” Huangfu Nan was taken back, “Isn’t that rushing things? Let them get acquainted with things first at least…”
“There’s no need. For the two of them, a situation like this will be the best way to bring out the best of their abilities and luck.” The elder shook his head, “That amount of soulforce he displayed during the examinations could’ve set a deviation in the scales. For a genius like him, even a deviation as small as a hair is wide in judgement, and would be an unwise thing to do…”
“That place is where the true examination will be!”
……
Bai Yunfei, Tian Yuhang, and the other forty students were led back to the Western Point by Song Lin while he and the other seniors continued to explain the inner details of the school.
As far as lodgings were concerned, the outer school presided halfway up the mountain and the inner school was closer to the top. Both disciples and students of the inner school shared the same residence. The general lessons on the art of crafting were given to the seniors Song Lin, Li Tiechui, Lian Lingmin, and the others to oversee while the headmaster or elders would come every so often to give a lesson when they wished. Every week there’d be a lesson only the inner school could attend, but every month there’d be a lesson for all the students.
The outer school would be given the chance to learn the fundamentals in the art of crafting, but they were also responsible for the day-to-day tasks for the entire school.
It had been mentioned before that should a student of the outer school be stronger than an inner school student or if an outer school student showed enough promise, they could join the inner school if they passed a trial. In the history of the Crafting School, there had been plenty of students from the outer school who had been promoted to the inner school rather than only a few.
Bai Yunfei had been lost in thought the entire time on the path so even though his seniors were explaining things in clear detail, he missed out a majority of the explanation. His mind was still in a fuzz, and the excitement of becoming a disciples was not yet lost on him. The only thing that concerned him now was the ‘test’…
As soon as they returned to the Western Point, Bai Yunfei and the other students returned to their rooms on the left side of a courtyard.
On the morning of the second day, Bai Yunfei was finally back to normal. Prepared for whatever situation the test might be, he was then suddenly greeted by Song Lin.
“Junior Bai, the master has called for you to come to the Northern Point right away…”