Tainted will

Time flies, autumn leaves and winter comes

On the arena in the academy, fifty-six students stood straight on the arena. Each of their noses were bright red from the weather, and every breath they took had steam coming out of their noses.

The academy elder spoke loudly, "In a flash your time in the academy has already come to it's end. During this period of time you were trained in the academy and have started to grasp the qualities of a cultivator. Tomorrow, you will have the year end examination to test the fruits of your hard work! Not only will the clan leader and clan elders come personally to watch, your family elders and seniors will also come to observe your performance."

"Your performances tomorrow, to a large extent will affect your future, if your performance is good you might be able to join the team of your liking, but of course you can also form a team among yourselves, but i wouldn't recommend that. Now, let's start the final cultivation check in your academic life!"

Saying so, the academy elder began calling out the names from the name list, "Bei Ju"

"Here" as he spoke he released his aura.

"Bei ju, 9th layer bone forging realm, next yue peng." the academy elder declared.

One after another, youngsters showcased their cultivation level.

Their expressions varied, some were happy while others were upset.The worst result was naturally 5th layer of bone forging realm, all being the low grade talents. A large number of the students were 6-7 layer bone forging realm, they were mostly mid grade, few low grade talents with good spirit stone supply. There was a very small number of mid grade talents with help of some treasures, who have reached the 8th layer. As for high grade talents they had all reached the 9th layer of bone forging realm.

"Bai Ming" the elder called out.

"Here" as he spoke, he displayed his aura.

"Bai Ming, 9th layer bone forging realm, next Su Ming." The academy elder announced.

Hearing this the youngsters showed no reaction, They had already gotten used to this, in their hearts Bai Ming was just a mid grade talent in name, he wasn't any less than a high grade talent. And after his battle with the demonic cultivator he was very famous in the clan, from that day he was very well received by the members of the clan.

"Sir elder, here" Su Ming released his aura, his eyes shining with a kind of brilliance. The students nearby immediately felt immense pressure.

"Su Ming, 1st tier elemental realm." The elder declared while stroking his white beard.

The youngsters had all kind of reaction as they looked at Su Ming. They already knew that he was going to win this competition there was no doubt about that.

"Su Ming...sigh, this is going to be difficult." Bai Ming was calm on the outside, but he could only sigh on the inside.

"Unfortunately, the competition is tomorrow if it was only a day later, I would have already broken through to the elemental realm. By then my chances of winning would definitely be almost certain." Bai Ming thought secretly.

"Now that he is a elemental realm expert, not only does he have higher storage of spiritual energy, the spiritual energy itself has gone through a qualitative change. And not to mention martial techniques, even though teaching others martial techniques is strictly forbidden and even the clan head is bound by this rule somewhat, but that does not apply to martial techniques which do not belong to the clan, now that Su Ming is being supported by the clan head. He might have already passed him a technique secretly."

...

Early in the morning, the Ye clan appeared especially lively. This was due to the year end exam that was occurring today and many were heading towards the academy training field. Throughout the journey, everyone in the Ye clan was whispering non-stop.

As time passed, more and more cultivators entered the academy doors, and stood in the arena.These were male and female cultivators. There were young faces, middle-aged, and old people as well.

students after graduating would come out and form small teams to complete the clan missions. Most of the cultivators that came to the arena were all the representatives of their groups, to assess the performances of the students and absorb them into their own teams.

To the newly joined members, under the guidance and teaching of the older members, they can swiftly adapt to the new environment and more effectively complete the clan missions and result in lesser deaths. So most of the students would join these already established groups, instead of forming their own.

The sun gradually rose, as the students entered the fray.

"So many people today." The youngsters proclaimed.

"Quickly see, that is shun long. He is our Ye clan's number one expert among the elemental realm cultivators, and he may not look the part but his strength surely doesn't lie." A person pointed at the purple haired male individual with a slim physique and spoke.

"Senior wushang is here too, it's just like the rumours say he looks so cold." A young girl spoke with shining eyes.

"That is miss Chen sisi, from the chen family"

Shun long, Ji wushang, Chen sisi were the rising stars, known by all students.

"Sigh, their teams are too hard to get in. I am only a low grade talent, I am meant to be a support staff or to be logistics person." A youngster sighed.

"Even a mid grade talent doesn't have much chance to join their groups. Only those talented high grades or someone like Bai Ming have the ability to join their teams." Another spoke.

After a period of time all the students had entered the arena.

The academy elder, clan leader and a few other clan elders were sitting beside the stage, there was huge platform specialy constructed for them.

After a speach from the clan head, the competition officially began.

All of the students with 5th layer cultivation arrived on the stage, the first round of this competition was a battle royal, the person to win this round would qualify to join the 6th layer cultivators battle Royal, the same would apply till the 9th layer. The person who can qualify from the 9th layer gets to directly challenge Su Ming for the number 1 ranking. This was the advantage of having higher cultivation.

As for how they would decide the ranking, whenever a student would surrender via verbal declaration or would be kicked off the platform, their name would be recorded down. The earliest your name is written down, the lower the ranking you receive, and the later your name is written, the greater is your ranking.

There was an important rule these children had to remember, killing was strictly forbidden. If they either intentionally or unintentionally killed their opponent they would be disqualified from the competition on the spot.

The clan was protective of their seedlings, especially this year. They had already lost a large number of youngsters during the mid term exam.

"Begin!" The announcer shouted with much enthusiasm.

The world went from tense to chaotic as shouting noises, sounds of weapons clashing as well as the discussions of the people below the stages fused into a loud banter.

"This year's students have high physical fighting skills." Chen sisi commented, she had short black hair and clear light blue eyes along with jade like countenance was magnificent, While she wasn't a top-tier beauty. She was a good-looking woman in her own right.

"It isn't strange, after all these students had gone through a dangerous situation, it must have motivated them to train harder." Ye shun long spoke plainly.

Ji wushang however was only watching and not speaking, his expression cold.

The exam continued. By noon, the 4th round of the competition had come to an end. The small groups quickly recruited newbies, and the students also chose the groups they wanted to join. Of course many of the students didn't get to join their desired groups, they could only settle for the less popular ones.

"Finally it is time for the 5th round of the competition" Chen sisi spoke, shrugging off her sleepiness.

"All 9th layer students quickly enter the arena" At this moment the announcer shouted loudly.