Chapter 14: Test Stele
His overtones made Su Yan stupefied. Was this guy also a pimp?
Xia Yang was so clear that those martialists who were ready to die at any time would totally indulge themselves if they came back alive.
Seeing that Su Yan was speechless, Xia Yang smiled awkwardly, “Boy, since you have been able to get beast lords’ materials at such a young age, your future is promising. Please tell me if you need any help in the Underground Chamber of Commerce (UCC) later.”
Just then, what Su Yan had purchased was brought to him. The Dragon Tattooed Rod was almost as tall as he was. It was very heavy and on its black body was carved a golden dragon.
“Bang!”
Su Yan brandished the rod. A ripple of powerful energy spurted out of the Dragon Tattooed Rod. There was no doubt that just one blow could collapse the wall. However, it was strenuous for him to brandish it now, because the Dragon Tattooed Rod was extremely heavy.
Xia Yang was shocked. This showed Su Yan had at least more than one hundred horsepower, so it made Xia Yang immediately think highly of him.
“Very good. It is much more powerful than my original weapon, mainly because it is hard enough. When I dealt with the Water & Fire Snake last time, the counterforce almost hurt my palms. This weapon is made of supreme alloy, which is much tougher than the high-grade alloy.”
Su Yan was very satisfied. With this weapon, he was sure of going to the Wilderness 024. Had he swallowed the Vermillion Fruits, he couldn’t imagine how powerful he would be!
"By the way, do you have any equipment for testing power?" Su Yan asked.
“We do!”
Xia Yang answered in a hurry. Then he left with Su Yan, and said on the road, “Almost every base of our UCC has such equipment and they are exactly the same as those of higher colleges.”
Su Yan nodded. When they came to a heavily guarded area, Xia Yang pushed a door open and went in.
“Bang!”
As soon as he arrived, Su Yan heard a tremendously deafening sound. He was appalled. Judging from the amplitude, he was far less powerful than the one who made the sound.
In front of him stood a hard-edged young man in a white uniform. Clearly, it was he who was testing his own power, since he was waving his fist to a black stele!
“This stele, an ancient relic, is for testing power and your power will be tested out by one punch against the stele!” Xia Yang explained.
Su Yan stared at the stele. When he saw the figure showing the power emerge from the stele, he was surprised. Two hundred and seventy horsepower!
“Pretty good. My power has improved again, and it is very close to three hundred horsepower!”
The young man in a white uniform, who was very smug, said proudly. Seeing this young man, Xia Yang whispered, “He is Qing Hong, the No.1 genius of Qingjun College. With his potential, it is easy for him to enter the Destiny Spring Realm. He sees a rosy future!”
“Qingjun College.” Su Yan raised his eyebrows. He had just killed a student of Qingjun College.
“Qing Hong, how do you think?”
There was a grey-haired old man with his hands behind his back. The ferocious momentum spreading indistinctly from his body made him like a dormant beast, which was very frightening.
“He is the chief steward of our Base No.9. UCC will rope in geniuses like Qing Hong!” Xia Yang said, “But it will cost a lot.”
With an arrogant look, Qing Hong said, “If you fulfill the conditions we just discussed right now, I might consider your invitation. By the time I have three hundred horsepower, the Entrance Examination would have begun.”
“Our UCC will never make an exception.” The old steward frowned.
Hearing this, Qing Hong replied, dissatisfied, “However, I have two hundred and seventy horsepower, and few people will be able to surpass me in the whole Base No.9. I will absolutely get the key cultivation of Huaxia College when I have three hundred horsepower to break through to the Destiny Spring Realm. By then, why should I be bound by UCC?”
“The man with three hundred horsepower is an extraordinary genius, whose physical quality is three times stronger than that of an ordinary Awoken.” Su Yan thought to himself, “How much power could I have within my limit?”
Xia Yang said beside him, “Our UCC will admit some talented seeds to train. In training of elites, it is sure that Huaxia College is the No. 1. But when it comes to resources, our UCC is more bountiful.”
“Oh, cultivation in UCC must be conditional, right?” Su Yan asked.
“Certainly. If you get to the Destiny Spring Realm, you need to serve the UCC within ten years, and after ten years, staying or leaving is up to you.” Xia Yang said hurriedly, “But we can offer resources to help you enter the Destiny Spring Realm!”
Xia Yang’s eyes were full of longing. A man in the Destiny Spring Realm could be called a great master. Once reaching this level, he would be the best of the elites in the human society and could enjoy lots of rights in the UCC as well.
“What resources do you have?” Su Yan continued to ask.
“It is a bit complicated to say. Elites in our UCC will conduct an assessment on you, and the chief steward has such a right. The larger your potential is, the more resources you will get. It is said that if you have three hundred horsepower, you can get a Vermillion Fruit!”
Xia Yang’s words shocked Su Yan a lot. It was so casual to get a Vermillion Fruit!
He couldn't help speculating that these great forces had dominated treasures of ancient remains? Did they have a lot of divine treasures?
However, Su Yan shook his head at the thought of restricting freedom for ten years. Ten years was too long. Although Vermillion Fruits were precious, a great master of the Destiny Spring Realm could also get a Vermillion Fruit for a few years. This was exactly so-called “all businessmen are profiteers”.
“I really wonder how Zu Yan, the God of War, did it. He has one thousand horsepower!” Xia Yang sighed and was wowed.
“What? One thousand horsepower?”
Su Yan turned pale. That Zu Yan should have one thousand horsepower in the Awakening Realm. My goodness. What a horror!
A man with several hundred horsepower had been called a genius. However, Zu Yan boasted a good thousand horsepower in the Awakening Realm!
Then how powerful was Su Yan’s ultimate strength?
“That’s it.”
Qing Hong turned around and went away. When he saw Su Yan, he snorted. In Base No.9, there were few Awoken students who were outstanding like him.
Su Yan frowned. This guy was so proud, though he did have some abilities to be proud of.
“Chief steward, is Qing Hong unwilling to accept our invitation?” Xia Yang ran to ask submissively.
Hearing this, the old steward shook his head, “With only two hundred and seventy horsepower, this young man is too arrogant. Even if he has three hundred horsepower, he will only be on the middle level in Huaxia College where wizards gather. Does the value of Vermillion Fruits need to be said? It will be wasteful for him to eat a Vermillion Fruit with his present strength, and it will give full play to the effect of the Vermillion Fruit when the strength comes to three hundred horsepower!”
Su Yan was in shock. A man with three hundred horsepower could only be on the middle level. Huaxia College was so remarkable. Was three hundred horsepower just the watershed?
“Chief steward, this boy comes here to check his strength as well.”
Su Yan walked directly over and hit the stele with his fist.
The stele was very solid and indestructible. At the same time, it was peculiar that Su Yan felt no pain. Su Yan was amazed at how it was refined.
On the ancient black stele, ancient characters quickly lightened up one by one. Though they were bronze inscriptions, Su Yan recognized them at a glance. One hundred and fifty-nine horsepower!
Xia Yang laughed, and the chief steward paid more attention to Su Yan. It was pretty good. After all, Qing Hong was older than Su Yan.
“How old are you?”
Just as the chief steward began to say something, a soft voice came and stunned the chief steward.
Hesitantly, Su Yan turned to look and was astonished at once. It was a slim woman with white skin, and a long black skirt wrapped her body. Her snow-white legs were straight and slender, and her dark hair fluttered slightly.
This woman exuded a noble temperament. Although she was only in her early twenties, her body revealed a suffocating energy.
“A master of the Destiny Spring Realm!”
Su Yan was surprised, He didn't expect such a beautiful woman to be a master of the Destiny Spring Realm. He didn't know specifically how powerful she was, but Su Yan felt she was much more powerful than Bai Mengying.
The woman dressed in a black skirt walked slowly and leisurely, and she and Su Yan looked at each other. After a short pause, Su Yan said, "Eighteen years old."
“Eighteen years old.” The woman in the black skirt slightly frowned and said softly, “According to the overall awakening progress of Huaxia Alliance, you are close to the awakening age limit, and generally speaking, your strength will not exceed three hundred horsepower. Even if you reach the Destiny Spring Realm, it is hard for Huaxia College to attach importance to you.
The older you got, the more difficult it would be to awaken, which needed not be disputed.
“What do you mean?” Su Yan felt puzzled.
“The assessment criteria of Huaxia College are very special. People in the Awakening Realm can also participate in the assessment as long as they have great potential. Three hundred horsepower is the standard. The state of Awakening matters to a person’s future development and his power at the Destiny Spring Realm.”
After hearing the woman’s explanation, Su Yan was still confused, “So, Awakening is very important, right?”
“No one could answer this question decades ago. But now I can clearly tell you that Awakening is very important. Human potential is limited potential and different people have different levels of potential. On the surface, even if you have five hundred horsepower, it is still difficult for you to defeat a master who has just reached the Destiny Spring Realm!”
Su Yan had to nod. These words were right. The Destiny Spring Realm opened up a source of energy in the human body, containing the power of the Heaven and the Earth, which could no longer simply described as “power”. Therefore, even for a man just entering the Destiny Spring Realm, he could also defeat any elite in the Awakening Realm. It was sure that Zu Yan was an exception. He had fully one thousand horsepower in the Awakening Realm!
No realm could be an obstacle to absolute power!
The woman in the black skirt was very excited to explain matters to Su Yan, "The so-called ‘awakening' is to awaken the body's potential. The larger the body potential a person awakens, the more powerful in the Destiny Spring Realm he will be. People without enough potential can hardly advance in the Destiny Spring Realm!"
Su Yan keenly realized that in the era of martial arts, man struggled upwards; in the future, those in Destiny Spring Realm would be the tower of strength, while the ordinary Awokens would be eliminated by the cruel social environment.
“Now Huaxia Alliance has attached more importance to awakening, and it has been included in the criteria of this Entrance Examination. It is very difficult for you to improve anymore on your potential. In fact, you might as well join the UCC.”
The woman in the black skirt said slowly, and Su Yan could not help but nod. Huaxia College would not devote too many resources and energies to training a student with limited potential!
Then he shook his head and said with a bitter smile, " I am so weak. I will not make any great achievement even if I join the UCC, will I? Anyway, I appreciate your kindness. Thank you for letting me know this.”
Xia Yang immediately became anxious. Since the excellency lady was here, he didn’t dare to speak. The woman in the black skirt was a figure with real power in a high and influential position in the UCC. If Su Yan followed her, maybe he would also have a lot of benefits.
“Alright.” The woman in the black skirt was very graceful and smiled slightly, "Wish you a good future."
“Thank you very much. Having something else to do, I must be off now.”
Su Yan nodded and left.
“Lady, why did you say so much to him?” The old steward, who was very surprised, asked. Even for Qing Hong, she would not have invited him in person.
“I seem to have seen this person somewhere before. So just...”
The woman in the black skirt shrugged her shoulders. She sensed something familiar from Su Yan, but she could not remember where she had seen him, so she said a few more words.
The old steward was startled. There were very few people who could be remembered by the Excellency Lady, but the young man did not seem to have much excellence.
“By the way, Lady, how is the newly discovered ancient relic now?” The old steward asked.
“The situation is not very optimistic. Although we are the first to discover it, this ancient relic is unusual. I’m afraid Huaxia College will have a hand in it!”
The woman in the black skirt frowned. Ancient remains were unearthed in Huaxia Alliance year in, year out. In the ancient remains, treasures related to the God & Devil Civilization could be excavated, and what was most important was that relevant knowledge could be learned.
“It is expected that the mountain treasure will disappear, but its value is too astonishing.”
The old steward sighed. He clearly knew that the mountain treasure came from this ancient relic.