Chapter 75: Yuanling Academy

It took a full day for the Thick-backed Eagle to finally arrive at the borders of Peng City.

This was a massive, square-shaped city. The first thing that caught the eye was the tall, thick city wall, standing about 20 meters high. It was built entirely by stacking giant stones, then poured over with viscous glutinous rice mortar to form such a tall and sturdy wall.

"So big!"

Li Zhangsheng felt shocked in his heart. Peng City was truly worthy of being a provincial capital; it was the largest city he had ever seen. Compared to Peng City, all the cities he had seen in the past paled in comparison.

Peng City was vast. As the capital of Yuan Prefecture, its area surpassed all other cities in Yuan Prefecture, second only to the capital of Langya Kingdom, Yecheng!

The appeal of a provincial capital was naturally very strong, especially since Peng City was located at a major transportation hub and surrounded by abundant resources, attracting a large number of outsiders and merchants. Since Peng City became the provincial capital, it had been expanded twice in a hundred years.

However, the Thick-backed Eagle did not fly toward Peng City, but instead flew toward a complex of buildings in the outskirts of Peng City; that was their destination.

"Land!"

Soon, following the Clan Elder's order, the three Thick-backed Eagles began to circle and descend, landing on a relatively flat piece of ground.

The Yuanling Academy's territory spanned dozens of miles, almost equivalent to half of Luo City. With such a large area, Peng City naturally could not contain it, so it could only be built in the near suburbs of Peng City.

In the planning of Peng City, Yuanling Academy and the surrounding area were collectively known as the Academy District, where more than a dozen large and small Monster Tamer academies were concentrated.

However, rather than calling it an Academy District, it was more like a city. Except for the lack of city walls, its area was almost no less than an ordinary city.

In terms of scale, although these academies were "neighbors" to Yuanling Academy, whether in terms of faculty, history, or scale, these academies were far behind Yuanling Academy and could not threaten its dominant position at all.

As one of the top academies, Yuanling Academy was naturally extremely grand. Li Zhangsheng and the others were seeing Yuanling Academy for the first time, and before even entering it, their hearts were filled with shock.

Luo City naturally had an academy too, but its scale was very small—so small that even the Li Clan looked down upon it.

Compared to Yuanling Academy, the Luo City academy was several grades lower. Just looking at the facade, there was an essential gap between the two.

The entrance of Yuanling Academy alone was a hundred meters wide. It was arched and made entirely of white marble, resembling an incomparably huge gate. Carved upon it were the sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers, plants, and countless Spirit Beast images, the very definition of luxury.

In the center of the arch, four large characters were carved—Yuanling Academy!

Looking at this huge arch, Li Zhangsheng and the others felt as if they had arrived in a kingdom of giants, unconsciously feeling a sense of insignificance.

From the gate alone, one could see the foundation of Yuanling Academy!

As one of the Four Great Academies, Yuanling Academy possessed an extremely long history, equivalent to the time since the founding of the kingdom. Every year, Yuanling Academy absorbed a large number of talented students and instructors; with so many years of accumulation, its foundation could be imagined.

Just as Li Zhangsheng and the others were stunned, the leading Clan Elder suddenly said, "Feeling shocked, are you? When I first saw Yuanling Academy, I was just like you, no better than you at all! Alright, the four of you should go in. I hope that when we meet again, I will be able to hear your good news!"

A recommendation quota for Yuanling Academy did not mean one could instantly become a student of Yuanling Academy. To become a student of Yuanling Academy, one had to pass the assessment.

Generally speaking, Monster Tamers who could obtain a recommendation quota for Yuanling Academy mostly had decent strength, but even so, only a very small number usually passed the assessment.

After showing their recommendation quotas for Yuanling Academy, the four of them successfully entered the interior of the academy.

First, what caught their eyes were more than a dozen gilded statues. The smallest one was several zhang high, and the largest was even over ten zhang high, refracting dazzling light under the sun.

On the stone pedestals at the base of these gilded statues, lines of text were carved, all praising their great achievements.

Including the Principal, instructors, and even students, only those who had made huge contributions to the academy would have statues erected for them by the academy; this was also the supreme honor of Yuanling Academy.

Li Zhangsheng looked up at the largest gilded statue, which was located right in the center. This was the first Principal who founded Yuanling Academy and also one of the strongest Monster Tamers in Langya Kingdom at that time. It was under his leadership that Yuanling Academy became a top academy.

"In the future, perhaps I can also occupy a place here!" Li Zhangsheng thought to himself. In fact, it wasn't just him; many people had the same thought.

Being erected a statue by Yuanling Academy was absolutely the highest honor for the upper echelons, instructors, and students; many people even took this as their lifelong goal.

Li Zhangsheng and the four did not stay long. Crossing the gilded statues, there was a huge fountain pool. Countless sprays of water splashed, and not knowing the principle behind it, a rainbow formed above the fountain pool.

Whether it was the arch, the statues, or the fountain pool, all highlighted the word "big," which was also Li Zhangsheng's first impression of Yuanling Academy!

In such a Spirit Beast world filled with energy, even if the construction industry was not developed, many Spirit Beasts had "construction expertise." For example, Earth Element Spirit Beasts could tamp down foundations, condense earth and stone, and Turn Mud into Stone. As long as a large number of Earth Element Spirit Beasts were mobilized, buildings could be constructed very quickly.

Behind the fountain pool was an extremely wide avenue, wide enough for dozens of carriages to travel side by side, still embodying the word "big."

In addition, there were more than a dozen "small paths" extending in all directions. These "small paths" were also more than ten meters wide; the so-called "small" was only relative to the main avenue.

Under the planning of these roads, Yuanling Academy was roughly divided into eight areas.

The east was the Teaching District, the south was the Administrative District, the west was the Commercial District, the north was the Cemetery, the southeast was the Student Residential District, the northeast was the Instructor Residential District, the southwest was the Storage Area, and the northwest belonged to the Market District.

Of course, these were just general distributions; each major area was divided into some smaller areas. In short, this was a place that could make people dizzy.

Among them, the assessment was held in the Teaching District.

While they were heading to the Teaching District, they would occasionally see some students and instructors, but of course, there were more young Monster Tamers like them preparing to participate in the assessment.

It took a full half-hour for the Li Clan Four Heroes to finally arrive at the location of the assessment. This was a building built against a mountain, semi-circular in shape, giving people a feeling similar to an arena.

To a certain extent, this was indeed an arena.

Before participating in the assessment, one needed to register. The person in charge of registration was a female instructor with a baby face. A friendly smile hung on her face, and two dimples could be faintly seen, giving people a harmless feeling.

However, she was radiating a powerful Pressure, making Li Zhangsheng and the others not dare to underestimate her at all.

This Pressure was not inferior to that of the Li Clan Leader, Li Wenbo.

This instructor's strength was likely at the level of a Fourth-rank Demon Tamer. And such strength was merely an ordinary instructor responsible for registration at Yuanling Academy.

In other words, the dignified Li Clan Leader was at most at the level of an ordinary instructor at Yuanling Academy.

"Another recommendation quota!" When Li Zhangsheng and the four showed their tokens, the baby-faced instructor lightly smoothed her hair, her expression slightly helpless.

To put it simply, as long as one spent enough resources, one could obtain a recommendation quota for Yuanling Academy. This was also one of the ways Yuanling Academy and other academies obtained resources.

Of course, the recommendation quota also had its benefits, which was saving a lot of screening steps.

Every year, Yuanling Academy conducted a nationwide selection. As one of the Four Great Academies of Langya Kingdom, every enrollment could always attract countless talented Monster Tamers, but those talented Monster Tamers who could pass the selection and further obtain the right to go to Yuanling Academy to participate in the assessment were often only a very small number.

Among them, the recommendation quota skipped the selection step.

Originally, with Li Zhangsheng's potential, the probability of passing the selection was high, but unfortunately, before he became a Monster Tamer, the selection for Yuanling Academy had already ended, and he could only strive for the clan's recommendation quota.

As for the other three of the Li Clan Four Heroes, only Li Runfeng had participated in the selection, but unfortunately, he was eliminated and could only set his sights on the recommendation quota.

And as for Li Tianyu and Li Jingyi, at that time they were determined to get the recommendation quota from the Clan Competition, so naturally, they had no intention of wasting time participating in the selection.

"Follow me!" After registering, the baby-faced instructor led them into the arena.

In the arena, dozens of people had already gathered, most of whom were talented Monster Tamers who had passed the selection, with only a small portion like Li Zhangsheng who possessed a recommendation quota for Yuanling Academy.

"The first assessment will only begin after the number of people reaches one hundred!" After giving instructions, the baby-faced instructor chose to leave.

(End of chapter)