Chapter 292: Le Yi
When standing in front of this monolith and seeing the name "Lion Monarch Ba Xian", Chi Xiaodie couldn’t help but become emotional and proud. This was her grandfather’s ancestor! Not only did he study at the academy, but he also swept through the Eight Desolaces. Even though he was born during Immortal Emperor Tun Ri’s era, he was still an amazing figure for an entire generation!
This was the Lion Monarch’s personal autograph — a memento of their family. Staring at this magnificent keepsake, Chi Xiaodie’s heart surged with pride; she couldn’t help but to clench her fists tightly. Her ancestor was the Hundred Battles Godking, someone who was accepted by the True Gods. Her other ancestor was the Lion Monarch; a paragon of a generation. As their descendant, maybe one day, she will be able to reignite her ancestors’ glory and divine aura again!
Li Qiye stared at the monolith without saying anything. One familiar name, one famous person, one invincible character, one smiling proud genius... Alas, in the end, it didn’t matter whether one was invincible or an Immortal Emperor, everything would disappear along the river of time.
Any of the names on this monolith represented a peak at one point or another, symbolizing a golden era. He knew some of them and had heard of others, and there were even those who fought alongside his chariot and contributed greatly... Alas, all of them disappeared because walking on the grand dao path was a lonely road; it was a cruel and pitiless fate.
"Let us go." Li Qiye gently sighed and spoke to Chi Xiaodie, who was in a daze in front of the monolith.
Chi Xiaodie managed to calm her surging emotions and followed Li Qiye. When the two of them stepped inside the academy, a young man stepped down from the stairs to greet them.
“This must be Brother Li, right?” He clasped his hands towards Li Qiye and Chi Xiaodie, then he smilingly asked.
This young man had a tall and stout body like an unshakable mountain. He didn’t exude a pressing aura, but his eyes were like black stones — sparkling, firm, and heroic.
“My name is Le Yi. My apologies for the late reception despite your long trip.” The young man was courteous and judicious and he also had an extraordinary bearing.
Li Qiye didn’t say anything, but Chi Xiaodie was startled after learning that it was Le Yi. She didn’t expect the academy’s First Disciple to personally greet them.
Le Yi was a renowned person in the Eastern Hundred Cities even though his fame was not like Zu Huangwu of the Brilliance Ancient Kingdom, someone whose background and talents were absolutely brilliant along with an unstoppable rising cultivation.
Le Yi was also not like First Prince Ba Xia of the Furious Immortal Saint Country, someone who had a suppressive and frightening aura who challenged everyone and became famous from his battles.
Le Yi joined the Heavenly Dao Academy and became its First Disciple; while withstanding arduous training, his cultivation was kept very low-profile. He rarely challenged outsiders to battle, but Le Yi sat strong on his throne at the academy and never feared any challenges. He remained an unshakable mountain no matter which genius tested his might.
Even when Ba Xia, with his strong natural fighting aptitude, challenged him, Le Yi still calmly agreed. No one knew the result of this fight, but Ba Xia went into secluded meditation after he went back to his country. The Saint Country then announced that the battle between Ba Xia and Le Yi was a draw. Some people speculated that Ba Xia was not able to defeat Le Yi and that the friendly Le Yi stopped at the appropriate time.
Curious people ranked the younger generation inside the Eastern Hundred Cities. One leaderboard placed Mei Suyao at first place and Le Yi and Zu Huangwu at second place.
This ranking was not without reasons, but of course, there were those who rejected it and thought that Le Yi’s strength was not comparable to Zu Huangwu.
In short, Le Yi was one of the strongest geniuses in the Eastern Hundred Cities, but he had always kept a low profile in the academy and simply trained, thus his fame was not as thunderous as the fame of Zu Huangwu or Ba Xia.
Li Qiye smiled and leisurely said: “Excuse us, us two are going to the Grand Era Hall to sign up.” Li Qiye was very carefree as if he was a tourist looking at the scenery.
Chi Xiaodie quietly stood next to Li Qiye and simply followed his lead.
“Then I will lead the way for Brother Li and Miss Chi.” Le Yi did not delay with small talk. He summoned a sailboat then boarded it before speaking: “There is still a long way to the Grand Era Hall, allow me to take you two there.”
The two stepped onto the boat, then Le Yi controlled it to fly up to the sky. The speed of the sailboat was extremely astonishing and it traveled ten thousand miles in the blink of an eye.
“Wang Yuan’s transportation vehicle is indeed interesting; this boat had once sunk into the ocean but it still managed to come out eventually.” Li Qiye stood on the sailboat and became a bit moved after seeing this familiar old object.
Chi Xiaodie was startled; she didn’t expect this tiny sailboat to be the Second Sage’s treasure. How great was the Second Sage’s status in the history of the academy? This was indicative of Le Yi’s position in the academy.
“Brother Li is very knowledgeable, I am ashamed at my inferiority.” Le Yi was also surprised. [1. This is just a courteous/formal praise.]
Le Yi had always used this sailboat, but very few people recognized its origin at a first glance. Li Qiye recognizing this treasure caught him off guard, but he now vaguely understood why the academy’s upper echelons suddenly recruited a student with an unknown background like this.
The sailboat rode the air straight into the Heavenly Dao Academy. Once inside, one would finally understand how wide this piece of heaven and earth was. At this place, the large rivers flowed for one hundred thousand miles; at this place, the mountains spanned million of miles like giant dragons; at this place, there were cities with millions of inhabitants; at this place, the divine bridges shortened the gaps between the eight directions, connecting the divine mountains that pierced all the way up to the heavens...
Chi Xiaodie was astonished as she was visiting this heaven and earth for the first time. It was a complete mistake to think that the Heavenly Dao Academy was just a simple academy like its name indicated.
It was more like a giant country — a behemoth-like existence. Its territory was extremely vast; only the Eternal River School was comparable to the monstrous academy in the Eastern Hundred Cities.
Eventually, they arrived at the Grand Era Hall. It was more apt to call it a grand sect rather than a grand hall. The entire hall had dozens of valleys and mountains, creating a region that stretched for thousands of miles. Ancestral grounds of ordinary heritages would not necessarily have the same rich density of worldly energy as this place.
One could only imagine how frightening the academy’s heaven and earth vein was. There was a rumor that said that the academy possessed the best vein in the entire Eastern Hundred Cities, maybe even the entire Mortal Emperor World. [2. Just to clarify — heaven and earth vein is what produces the worldly energy for cultivators to train.]
Because of this, for millions of years, countless great characters coveted the academy’s sacred territory, but unfortunately, none of them were able to shake its foundation.
Li Qiye and Chi Xiaodie went to the top of a mountain. Le Yi got the order from the upper echelons to give the two of them a mountain. This treatment was very generous inside the Grand Era Hall.
After arranging everything for the two of them, Le Yi said: “There are tens of thousands of disciples at the Grand Era Hall. If Brother Li and Miss Chi want to meet others, then I can introduce them to you two.”
Chi Xiaodie would completely listen to Li Qiye’s command so she didn’t make any comments. Meanwhile, Li Qiye shook his head and smilingly replied: “No need, I will rest for now.”
Le Yi then explained the situation at the hall to Li Qiye: "Very well, there will be a lecture once every four hours by a senior of the academy. The two of you can pick any course that you like.”
Finally, he finished with a polite remark: “If Brother Li and Miss Chi have anything in mind, feel free to come find me at any time.”
In fact, Le Yi was quite perplexed and didn’t know why the higher-ups told him to greet two students. These two students didn’t go through any examinations, nor did they pay any tuition fees.
There were countless geniuses in the contemporary time, but the academy did not allow for anyone to go through the back door. Even geniuses like Ba Xia and Zu Huangwu had to pay a sky-high tuition fee or pass a series of assessments to join the academy. Even the extremely expensive tuition had a basic test; if one couldn’t meet this basic requirement, then they wouldn’t be able to join no matter how rich they were. Only geniuses were allowed into the academy.
However, the absolutely brilliant ones would have their tuition waived if they managed to pass all the examinations. These peak prodigies were happy to undergo these examinations because it was a sort of glory.
Even though the Grand Era Hall had the lowest requirements, it had always enforced its strict standards. Any students that joined this hall had to either pay the tuition or pass the test. If they passed the test with flying colors, then their tuition would be reduced.
Le Yi found it strange that Li Qiye and Chi Xiaodie didn’t take any examinations nor pay any tuition. Chi Xiaodie was one thing; being the princess of the Lion’s Roar Country — there were too many characters like her. The problem was the mysterious origin of Li Qiye.
What really perplexed Le Yi was that if Li Qiye had a heaven-frightening origin, he would not join the Grand Era Hall but rather the Sacred Era Hall. Not to mention that even if Li Qiye was an extraordinary genius, the academy would not open the back door just for him. Zu Huangwu and Deity Jikong Wudi were both powerful and invincible enough ah! However, even they had to pass examinations in order to enter the stronger halls!