Profound Heaven Soul Sovereign

Chapter 455: Chapter 455: Following Closely

With that, he pulled out several more books: *How to Get a High Score on the Entrance Exam*, *Key Mechanisms in the Examination Process*, *A Roster of Gale Light Academy’s Ten Great Beauties*, and *A Complete Dossier on Examination Tutors*.

"Hehe, these are actually more advanced materials. I’ll sell them to you cheap—ten Lower Grade Profound Stones. Trust me, in my years of experience, anyone who buys these advanced materials sees their chances of getting in shoot up by thirty percent. It’s a sure thing."

Ye Xuan felt a headache coming on.

This guy was the type who would never give up until he got what he wanted.

He glanced at the City Guard at the gate behind him. They had long been aware of the commotion but didn’t even spare it a glance, remaining completely indifferent.

Clearly, this man had some sort of connection with the Gale Light City Guard.

"Fine, I’ll take a set."

Ye Xuan begrudgingly took out ten Lower Grade Profound Stones.

"Hehe, thank you for your patronage, brother! Good luck tomorrow!"

Zhou Guang satisfactorily put away the Profound Stones, then shoved the books into Ye Xuan’s hands. He then rushed toward another young man behind Ye Xuan who had just received an Identity Jade Token, his sleazy sales pitch sending spittle flying.

Ye Xuan gave a faint smile. Ten Lower Grade Profound Stones were nothing to him. Besides, seeing this man reminded him of his brother Chen Xing from Blue Moon City. Their particular brand of sleaziness was practically identical, as if cast from the same mold.

A faint sense of nostalgia washed over him.

’I wonder if Teacher Yun Aoxue, Father, and Grandfather are doing well back in the Liuyun Kingdom.’

At this thought, Ye Xuan couldn’t help but clench his fists. To return to the Liuyun Kingdom, he first had to deal with the threat of the Profound Mystery Sect.

Putting the thought aside, Ye Xuan entered Gale Light City and began looking for a place to stay.

An inn appeared before him.

Ye Xuan had just stepped inside when, before he could even speak, the shopkeeper said flatly, "A lower-grade room is fifty thousand Profound Coins a night, a mid-grade is one hundred thousand, and a high-grade is two hundred thousand."

Ye Xuan was stunned. "So expensive?"

This was several times more expensive than a room at the Celestial Breath Tower in the Sky Empire’s Imperial Capital, yet the conditions of this inn were far worse in comparison.

"Take it or leave it."

The innkeeper shot him a sideways glance, his expression arrogant.

"Heh, I wouldn’t stay in a dump like this anyway."

Ye Xuan couldn’t be bothered to say more and turned to leave.

The innkeeper sneered. "These days, all the inns in Gale Light City are full. If you come back, the price won’t be the same."

Ye Xuan paid him no mind.

But to his surprise, after walking for an hour, he found that every inn in the vast Gale Light City was completely full. There wasn’t a single vacant room.

’Does Gale Light Academy really have this much pull?’

Ye Xuan pursed his lips, speechless. Every inn was full—the sheer popularity was staggering.

Fortunately, it wasn’t long before a building appeared before him. The symbol on it made his heart skip a beat.

"Heh heh, since Your Excellency is a valued guest of our Divine Walk Commerce Association, you can go to the Divine Travel Inn outside Gale Light Academy. That inn is our own property, and we usually reserve a few high-grade rooms. You just need to show your token when you get there."

Inside the building, an old man saw Ye Xuan’s token and, upon learning his request, immediately smiled and spoke.

With the help of the Divine Walk Commerce Association, Ye Xuan finally found a place to stay near Gale Light Academy.

At this time...

「Outside Gale Light City.」

A streak of light suddenly descended from the sky, landing at the city gate.

His face was cold. He took out a token, swiped it lightly on a Crystal Stone on the other side of the city gate, and walked right in.

The person in charge of Identity Tokens glanced at the recorded information, a flicker of surprise on their face. It read: Crazy Battle, Supreme Elder of the Profound Mystery Sect.

Having been in hot pursuit, Crazy Battle had followed Ye Xuan all the way to Gale Light City.

As soon as he entered the city, he went to the Profound Mystery Sect’s stronghold, summoned the intelligence agents there, and ordered, "Investigate immediately. See if there’s someone named Xuan Ye participating in the Gale Light Academy exam tomorrow."

With the order given, a murderous glint flashed in his eyes. He said in a chilling voice, "Xuan Ye, no matter where you go, I will hunt you down and tear you to pieces."

Meanwhile, Ye Xuan, naturally unaware of Crazy Battle’s arrival, was leisurely reading the books he had bought in his room.

The exam was tomorrow. Although Ye Xuan was confident, it was still a good idea to learn more about Gale Light Academy.

’Luo Cheng and the others must have reached Gale Light City by now,’ Ye Xuan thought. ’I wonder if he’ll be able to pass the exam tomorrow.’

Ye Xuan knew Luo Cheng had to be in Gale Light City, but he didn’t go out of his way to find him. After all, they were sure to run into each other at the entrance exam tomorrow.

Time passed, and the night went by without incident. Soon, it was the next day.

Early in the morning, as the first rays of sunlight touched the earth, the entire Gale Light City was already abuzz with activity.

The annual entrance exam for new students of Gale Light Academy would begin today.

Ye Xuan followed the stream of people and arrived early at the gates of Gale Light Academy.

In the distance stood a magnificent academy gate, upon which were inscribed the words "Gale Light Academy."

Ye Xuan looked up. The words seemed to come alive, exuding a terrifying aura.

Ye Xuan was shocked. "The true meaning of the Martial Dao... The expert who wrote these words must have been a Tier Eight Martial Emperor!"

But what shocked Ye Xuan most wasn’t the words on the gate, but the students who had come for the exam. A writhing mass of heads stretched as far as the eye could see. The phrase "a sea of people" couldn’t even begin to describe it.

Ye Xuan gave up on the idea of looking for Luo Cheng. There were so many people that even if he scanned the crowd with his Profound Sense and found him, it would be impossible to push his way over.

At that moment, in a corner of the crowd on the other side from Ye Xuan, two young women were nervously watching the masses of people before them.

The two women, wearing red and blue floral long dresses respectively, had fair skin and a fresh, free-spirited air about them, exuding a compelling aura.

"Xia Qixi, there are so many people here. Do you think we’ll be able to get into Gale Light Academy?"

The woman in the blue dress asked, her expression apprehensive.

"Yun Aoxue, I don’t know either, but I hope we can. If we can’t get in, we’ll have no choice but to go back to the Thirteen Nations Alliance," the woman in the red dress replied, her expression grim.

These two were none other than Yun Aoxue and Xia Qixi from the Thirteen Nations Alliance.

Back in the Celestial Dream Secret Realm, both of them had made enormous gains. Later, with the help of Ye Xuan’s Pills, they had both broken through to become Tier Five Martial Sects.

However, witnessing the power of the experts from the Profound Mystery Sect had dealt a heavy blow to the confidence of the geniuses from the Thirteen Nations Alliance.

Therefore, after breaking through to Tier Five Martial Sect, Xia Qixi had set out alone for Gale Light Academy in the Dream Realm Plain. What she hadn’t expected was that, in her own search for Ye Xuan, Yun Aoxue had also traveled alone to Gale Light Academy after her own breakthrough to Tier Five.

The two happened to meet on the road and decided to travel together.

Along the way, they had endured countless hardships. Their beauty was especially striking, so to avoid unnecessary trouble, they had even deliberately made themselves look ugly. Only after arriving in Gale Light City did they reveal their true appearances.

Over half a year of tempering had not only made them as close as sisters but had also caused their strength to advance by leaps and bounds. Both had broken through to the Tier Five Second Layer.

Originally, they had been full of confidence about joining Gale Light Academy, but after seeing this endless sea of people, their confidence took a hit.

As far as the eye could see, almost no one present was below the level of a Tier Four Celestial Martial Artist. Many were even younger than them, and a good number had already broken through to Tier Five.

’No, for Ye Xuan, for the Thirteen Nations Alliance, I must get into Gale Light Academy. I’ve heard it’s one of the most powerful forces in the Dream Realm Plain. Only by joining will the Profound Mystery Sect hesitate to attack the Thirteen Nations Alliance. And only then will Ye Xuan be able to find news of me.’

Yun Aoxue’s gaze was firm as she vowed to herself.

Meanwhile, Xia Qixi touched the token on her person and murmured to herself, ’Grandfather told me that the founder of Gale Light Academy once received a favor from the Xia family. This token is what he left us back then. I wonder if I can get into Gale Light Academy with this.’

’And according to Yun Aoxue, Ye Xuan also came to the Dream Realm Plain. I wonder if he’s at Gale Light Academy?’

On their way to Gale Light Academy, Yun Aoxue and Xia Qixi had been asking for news of Ye Xuan the entire time, but they hadn’t found any trace of him, which left them both slightly worried.

"Everyone..."

Just then, a booming voice echoed from the main gate of Gale Light Academy.

"Today is the day of Gale Light Academy’s annual recruitment. We welcome everyone from all over the continent who has come to participate in the entrance exam."

"Our Gale Light Academy has stood in the Dream Realm Plain for a thousand years. Our purpose is to cultivate outstanding talents for the continent and to seek the well-being of its people."

"Given the large number of applicants for each exam, Gale Light Academy will first conduct a preliminary selection. All students who pass this preliminary round may then come here to register for the official entrance exam."

"Now, I ask all young people under the age of twenty-five to come to the plaza in front of the academy. As for those over twenty-five, please clear the plaza area to avoid being accidentally injured."

As the booming voice faded, the entire crowd immediately began to stir. A large group surged toward the plaza at the academy gate, while an even larger number retreated backward.

Even so, the entire plaza was packed to the brim, with at least a hundred thousand people gathered there.

"Holy hell, this many people are signing up for the Gale Light Academy entrance exam?"

Seeing such a massive crowd, many people were left dumbfounded.