311 Yun City

"How long will it take for the barrier to weaken?" Qi Huan asked casually. His voice pulled Chen Zi Quan back from his thoughts.

Cao Ren smiled. "You come at the right time. It should be a few more minutes."

"Is that so?"

Looking at the calm and composed Qi Huan, Cao Ren thought about something. "Right, while we're there, I think it'll be better if we all come into an agreement to not attack one another."

"Will it even be possible to attack other people?" Qi Huan smiled.

"Just in case we're tasked to defeat a certain number of people," Cao Ren chuckled. "All three of us represent the Four Kingdoms. It'll be bad news if one of us receives a bad evaluation because of one another, right?"

Qi Huan didn't reply immediately. If he had to say it honestly, he didn't mind sending Chen Zi Quan back to his rightful place because he didn't like that prince. It might be also because of the influence of Lu Wan and Ye Jiao, but he didn't really want to see Chen Zi Quan successful.

Unfortunately, his position as a prince wouldn't allow him to do anything to this prince even if he wanted to.

"As long as you two don't attack me, I won't target you," Qi Huan promised. He knew that Lu Wan might be the one to attack Chen Zi Quan, but he wouldn't stop the other party if Lu Wan decided so. Or even Ye Jiao, though he doubted it since Chen Zi Quan never truly crossed path with that little lass directly before.

Chen Zi Quan looked at the two of them and nodded indifferently. "You also have my word. I won't attack you two."

"That's good," Cao Ren clapped his hands with a smile on his face. "That means we have a deal."

The three of them didn't speak any other words as they looked at one another in tacit agreement. They didn't wait for a long time once they could sense the movements of Eon Energy from the barrier in front of them. In that moment, they knew.

It was already the time.

"The barrier is reacting!"

"It's time!"

"Hell yeah! I have been waiting for this for a long time!"

The people around them started to speak loudly. They were all excited upon seeing the barrier would open. That would be their ticket to become the great genius and possibly awed the entire world.

Everyone wanted to be the one to catch the attention of many people. They wished for the very best for them!

"Jiao'er, are you ready?" Lu Wan asked from the side.

Nodding her head, Ye Jiao flashed a bright smile. "I have always been ready, Senior Brother Yu. The question would be whether you're ready or not?"

"Heh, are you seriously asking?" Lu Wan grinned. "I'll be ready and surely achieve a great position there. Just you watch, I'll go with a bang and make them all acknowledge my presence!"

Ye Jiao chuckled at her senior brother's vigor. She looked at the three people standing at the front as her heart slowly made a resolution for herself. All this time, she has been staying in the dark. She had to be careful to not let anyone notice her presence and never even once allowed anyone to see the real her.

After this, everything would change.

'Someday, I'll be the one to stand at the limelight and be the forefront figure,' Ye Jiao made a promise to herself.

She didn't want to just stay at the back and become one among the many. It would be her dream to be the one at the top and stand as the leading figure.

The movements of the Eon Energy turned faster, that even the others could sense it. They could also sense that there was a gust of powerful Eon Energy coming from the barrier, telling them that there must be something powerful there.

"It has opened," Qi Huan looked at the others.

"Shall we?" Cao Ren stepped forward.

The other two nodded their heads and followed after Cao Ren. Behind them, numerous other youngsters began to walk into the barrier too. They walked slowly as they didn't want to overstep their bounds.

"Can't they walk faster?" Lu Wan murmured.

"Only those three are allowed to be at the front," Ye Jiao reminded. "That's the deal that all these youngsters agree upon."

"Hmph," Lu Wan snorted. If not because of that imperial family, he would be the one to stand at the front. After all, his talent and powers alone surpassed Chen Zi Quan. Of course, they still needed to battle again because in their last battle, the circumstances were a bit different.

"Next time, I'll be the one to stand there."

"Yeah," Ye Jiao said in a low tone.

As they passed the barrier, Ye Jiao experienced the familiar feeling of something pushing her back. It was not too strong, so she continued to walk.

One step. 

Two steps. 

After a few steps, she could feel a powerful wave of Eon Energy coming to her face. Instinctively, she used her own Eon Energy to cover her entire body, protecting it from the sudden wave. However, she soon realized that the Eon Energy didn't attack her. It was only the location has a much higher concentration of Eon Energy.

She was greeted with a completely different view. Her surroundings were filled with grasses and lustrous plants. They all looked so beautiful. The air was fresh and the sky couldn't be clearer.

"W-where's this?" Lu Wan was dumbfounded. This would be the first time he saw this kind of scene.

"I don't know," Ye Jiao replied slowly. She didn't know where it was, but she could sense that the Eon Energy concentration was far higher compared to the Four Kingdoms. If she could train here, she knew that she might have a breakthrough sooner.

The environment was really good.

"ATTENTION!"

Suddenly, they could hear a yell coming from the front. There was a faint mist covering the large wall before them. Even though Ye Jiao and Lu Wan were in the middle and slightly to the front, they were unable to see clearly.

"There's someone calling."

"I can faintly hear it," Ye Jiao said slowly. She felt that her inability to hear has been quite a burden now. As her eyes slowly adjusted themselves, she could see a row of stands at the front near the wall. There were more than 10 stands with two people standing behind each of them.

'Is that the registration place?'

"This is Yun City and also the place where you can sign up to participate in the Academies examination. I'm sure that all of you are already familiar with the examination, so I won't explain it further. The content will only be revealed on the day and if you want to sign up, you have to pay 100 gold coins. You may begin after I finish the explanation.

In this city, you're not allowed to fight against one another. There's still a week's time until the examination starts. During this time, you may spend them to practice or whatever you want inside the city. Mind you that there's an array here that will directly kick you out if you try to fight inside the city."

The youngsters were stunned when they heard that they couldn't fight. It seemed that the rule was exceptionally strict. As not a single one of them wished to get kicked out, they have to curb their intent to fight.

Of course, some of them might also scheme against others to make their enemies get kicked out.

"In order to be eligible for the examination, you have to be Eon Energy Master Rank 3 and below the age of 25. Do not lie about your age because we'll test it when you sign up at the counters. Line up according to your age."

The man at the top of the wall waved his hands. It was then that they could see there was something written on top of each counters.

15 or below, 16, 17, 18, 19. 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25.

Each of them were the number of ages. It showed that they have to be truthful about their age.

"Any question?"

A youngster raised his hand. "What if my birthday is today?"

"Then line up according to your current age," the man replied flatly. "Any other question?"

Another one raised his hand. "Will there be any difference in each counter?"

"None. This is just to let us differentiate you first. If there's any difference, I think you should know that the younger you are, the more likely for you to catch our attention."

The man was being frank. Even an idiot knew that the younger they were, the more potential they would have. It just meant that those who lined up at 15 and below would surely get their attention without fail.

However, their age would not determine everything. After all, they needed to have the qualification in the upcoming examination.

"None? Then you may begin."