Ethan Brooks was puzzled, wondering how he had been arrogant.

……

……

The ranking list was posted.

Ethan Brooks's name was not on it.

Ethan Brooks stood beneath the list, silent for a long time.

The crowd looked at him with unfriendly eyes, full of mockery and disdain. If it weren't for Samuel Turner standing by his side, there probably would have been many unpleasant words by now.

"I don't understand," Ethan Brooks said.

Samuel Turner didn't understand either. He believed that this sincere and honest young man wouldn't lie. Since he said he had answered most of the questions, then he must have. Based on his score, even if he wasn't at the top, he should have easily made the list.

Ethan Brooks found the teacher who had been in charge of the sensing stone assessment at the start and said, "I want to check my exam paper."

The teacher was busy with miscellaneous tasks and did not meet his calm yet persistent gaze. He said, "Since you used the rules to gain the right to take the exam, you should know... our Tiandao Academy never allows rechecking of exam papers. This is a sign of respect for the Academy. If you didn't pass, then you didn't pass."

Ethan Brooks looked at him in silence for a long time, then turned and left.

……

……

"Although he didn't say anything, I know what he wanted to say... For such a kid, who gets angry but doesn't speak ill, that's really impressive." Samuel Turner watched the boy's figure disappear across the lake, then turned and said mockingly to someone, "For Tiandao Academy to dare reject a talent like this, that's truly something."

"You're only two years older than him, yet you call him a kid. That's really amusing."

The vice principal of Tiandao Academy said, "What's even more amusing is, how do you know what he wanted to say?"

"He wanted to say, 'You will definitely regret this'... I know because if I were treated like him, I would have said those words out loud."

"Will Tiandao Academy regret rejecting an ordinary student?"

"He's not an ordinary student. He's a genius, just like me."

The vice principal of Tiandao Academy was silent for a moment, then said, "I have seen that boy's exam paper. Without having undergone marrow cleansing, to have such broad knowledge and strong memory, he truly is a genius. Compared to William Parker back in the day, he's not much worse. If it were any other time, I would definitely have admitted him and taught him personally. Unfortunately, this time it's not possible."

Samuel Turner looked at him and asked, "Why not?"

"Because someone put in a word," the vice principal said.

"Who?"

"The Divine General's Mansion."

"On this continent, there is one tyrant, five sages, storms from all directions, countless monsters on the Carefree Ranking, not to mention those demons hiding in the wilderness. The thirty-eight Divine Generals are indeed powerful... but what is Tiandao Academy? How could it possibly take orders from the Divine General's Mansion?"

"Your father entrusted you to my care, so I won't hide this from you, but you must not tell anyone else... The Divine General's Mansion alone naturally cannot influence Tiandao Academy, but this particular Divine General's Mansion is different, because it is the Eastern Divine General's Mansion, and its master is named Chris Sullivan."

"Chris Sullivan... Even if he is favored by the Empress and is powerful, he is still just a Divine General."

"But his family has a phoenix..."

The cold pride between Samuel Turner's brows instantly melted away at the mention of "phoenix." He fell silent for a long time, then muttered, "...That guy Ethan Brooks, he actually provoked that phoenix? Who exactly is he?"

The vice principal said calmly, "No need to worry about who he is. After all, he is already fourteen. Even if he becomes enlightened now, it's too late. There are too many geniuses in this world. No matter how much potential he has, so what? Earlier, I compared him to William Parker. If he truly had William Parker's perseverance and luck, what difference would it make whether he is in Tiandao Academy or not?"

……

……

Ethan Brooks had no idea that his failure to make the list was related to the Xu family. He thought he had probably taken the spot of some noble child in the capital, so someone had played tricks on him. Although he was new to the world, he had already seen too much scheming and filth in Daoist plays and stories, so he could only remain silent. At this point, what else could he do but stay silent?

He left Tiandao Academy and walked toward the second academy on the list, still not noticing that the carriage with the blood phoenix dark emblem was following him from afar.

Chapter 8: Plucking the Stars

In today's world, cultivation is centered on the Orthodox Daoist tradition of the State Church, and the main source of true essence is the countless stars in the sky—the very "light" that the Church of Light values is the starlight that illuminates the night sky. One sits in meditation, lets the light shine into the depths, then gathers the stars, relying on the energy scattered to the mortal world by the myriad stars to transform the body and soul. This is the ultimate goal of cultivation. From this, one can imagine the status of "stars" in the cultivation world. Every country and sect has its own star observatory, and there are countless star-gazing towers in famous scenic spots and great rivers, but it is rare to see names like "grasping" or "seizing" the stars, because that would seem disrespectful to the stars.

But the second academy on Ethan Brooks's list was boldly named Star Plucking Academy.

Star Plucking—this academy chose such an imposing name, and the State Church had no objections. That fact alone was impressive.

In the whole world, only this academy dared to use, and was qualified to use, this name.