“Of course I know him. More than just know him. Back in the day, your Grandpa Ma here…” Ma Bi was about to start boasting, but he realised he would soon be face to face with Lin Xiao and any exaggeration would be instantly exposed. He quickly changed his tune. “We were in the same year at the academy. Geniuses of roughly the same calibre.”
“Heh heh, exactly. Back then, Lin Xiao was the undisputed number one genius of Saint Origin Academy. The rest of us could only trail behind.”
Niu Bi gave a simple, honest laugh beside him.
Ma Bi’s face darkened. He had only just claimed they were geniuses of roughly the same calibre.
Now Niu Bi was saying they could only trail behind. Wasn’t this deliberately undermining him?
Did he have no face to save?
“Saint Origin Academy? You two are disciples of Saint Origin Academy?”
Huo Ru Yan asked in surprise, looking at them with some disbelief.
These monstrous talents had actually come from Saint Origin Academy in the southeast domain?
Though she had never visited Saint Origin Academy herself, being from the southeast domain and especially from a small place like Lan Lan Empire, she had naturally heard of it.
The pair nodded, puzzled as to why she seemed so shocked. Ma Bi could not help asking, “Has the vice gate master also heard of Saint Origin Academy?”
Huo Ru Yan nodded. “I come from Lan Lan Empire myself. We are, in a sense, from the same region.”
“What?
You are from the southeast domain too?”
Now it was their turn to be stunned. They stared at Huo Ru Yan in disbelief.
They had assumed a monstrous talent like her could only emerge from a place like Central Continent.
They had never imagined another from the southeast domain.
When had their southeast domain produced such a prodigy?
“There are two more from our southeast domain, and both are from your Saint Origin Academy. You will meet them shortly.”
Huo Ru Yan said.
The pair were shocked again. There were two more from their southeast domain this time?
So Lin Xiao had gathered all the southeast domain talents together?
“Could it be Gu Xuan Yuan?
Who is the other one? Could Hu Yue have come to Central Continent too?”
Ma Bi wondered silently.
Since she had not named them, he could only suppress his curiosity and wait to see for himself who the other two were.
Before long, three figures suddenly flew out of the forest.
A colossal tree stump appeared before them.
The stump was fully ten thousand zhang across. Scattered rooms had been built in places on its surface.
“Good heavens, how can a tree be this enormous?”
Niu Bi exclaimed in astonishment.
“This is an Enlightenment Tree. It enhances comprehension.”
With that, Huo Ru Yan led them onto the stump.
The moment they stepped onto it, both Niu Bi and Ma Bi felt their minds become extraordinarily clear, their thoughts flowing with unprecedented sharpness. In an instant, it seemed as though all the bottlenecks they had encountered in cultivation were about to unravel.
“This Enlightenment Tree truly is miraculous.”
Ma Bi marvelled inwardly.
“Lin Xiao is currently refining skeletons. Let us first see your fellow Saint Origin Academy members.”
Huo Ru Yan swept her divine sense briefly. Neither Long Tu Tian nor the dean were in deep seclusion, so she sent a divine sense transmission to Long Tu Tian first, then turned to the pair. “Follow me.”
As for the others, she did not disturb them. No one emerged from their rooms; all were cultivating.
Soon, Huo Ru Yan brought the two into Long Tu Tian’s room.
Seeing Long Tu Tian’s face, Ma Bi and Niu Bi, who had been full of eager anticipation, froze in shock.
One of the other two from Saint Origin Academy was actually a middle-aged man, not Gu Xuan Yuan or Hu Yue or anyone they expected?
Yet this man exuded the aura of a dragon lurking in the abyss, brimming with power, which left them deeply impressed.
“You two are disciples of Saint Origin Academy?”
Long Tu Tian spoke first.
Huo Ru Yan had already conveyed their situation to him via divine sense transmission, which was far quicker than speech. The information had been passed in an instant.
“Yes. Senior, you are…” Ma Bi asked, puzzled.
“I never expected that, apart from Lin Xiao, this generation of Saint Origin Academy would produce other geniuses.”
Long Tu Tian sighed, then said, “I am your senior brother, Long Tu Tian. I left Saint Origin Academy more than twenty years ago.”
“Long Tu Tian?”
Ma Bi and Niu Bi looked blank. Unlike Lin Xiao, they had no knowledge of this figure.
Long Tu Tian’s name was known only among the academy’s upper echelons and to Lin Xiao.
“So you are our senior brother. Our respects.”
Ma Bi offered polite pleasantries at once, and Niu Bi also bowed.
“May I ask what Senior Brother Long’s current cultivation is?”
Ma Bi asked curiously.
Twenty years apart, how great would the difference be between their generations?
Had he, like them, reached Martial Saint level?
“Second-level Martial Saint cultivation.”
Long Tu Tian replied calmly.
At this, Ma Bi was startled again. Second-level Martial Saint?
This senior brother of theirs was actually a Martial Saint, and had reached the second level?
Though, compared to Ma Bi’s own first-level Array Saint combat strength, the age difference suggested slightly inferior talent.
Still, reaching second-level Martial Saint in middle age was by no means ordinary.
Before this, they had never heard of anyone stepping into Martial Saint realm in middle age.
Moreover, while Ma Bi currently possessed first-level Array Saint power, who knew how long the next breakthrough would take.
Truly, everyone who came to the Monstrous Talents Gate was no ordinary figure. It seemed Martial Saint was the baseline.
“Second-level Martial Saint, with fourth-level Martial Saint combat strength.”
Huo Ru Yan added from the side.
“What? Fourth-level Martial Saint combat strength?”
These words made Ma Bi and Niu Bi nearly leap in shock.
Second-level Martial Saint was merely surprising. Second-level Martial Saint possessing fourth-level Martial Saint combat strength was utterly astonishing.
Fourth-level Martial Saint. They had never even seen such a formidable figure in the southwest domain.
It was said the patriarchs of the dominant forces were only third-level Martial Saints.
A fourth-level Martial Saint could sweep aside the patriarchs of every dominant force.
In Central Continent, such a person could practically walk sideways.
The pair were so shocked they could barely recover. This senior brother of theirs seemed far too overpowering.
“Wait. What position does Senior Brother hold in the Monstrous Talents Gate?”
Ma Bi could not help asking.
The vice gate master was a first-level Martial Saint. Then what role did this second-level Martial Saint with fourth-level combat strength hold?
“An… elder of the Monstrous Talents Gate.”
Long Tu Tian replied, somewhat at a loss for words.
“This Monstrous Talents Gate…” Ma Bi was speechless. The gate master was Lin Xiao, the vice gate master a first-level Martial Saint, and a second-level Martial Saint with fourth-level combat strength was merely an elder. The Monstrous Talents Gate Lin Xiao had built truly differed from other forces.
Still, considering even its elders were such formidable figures, joining Lin Xiao’s Monstrous Talents Gate would hardly be a loss.
Ma Bi was already secretly wondering whether he might secure an elder position himself. There might not be many people now, but in the future it would be extraordinary.
“The vice gate master’s combat strength is at third-level Martial Saint level, and a very strong one at that.”
Hearing Huo Ru Yan’s evident attempt to temper the pair’s arrogance, Long Tu Tian could not resist adding a cooperating remark.