Chapter Five: The Soaring Stone (Part One)

The constant shifts in gravity did not last long. Such adjustments were not only a trial for the new students standing atop the field, but also a severe test for the gravity generators buried deep beneath the ground. When gravity finally returned to normal, the elderly men who had stood motionless at the front rose to their feet at last.

They surveyed the handful of students still able to remain standing in the arena. One of the elders, smiling with narrowed eyes, projected his voice with internal force: “Not bad. You youngsters surpass last year’s class in quality. On behalf of the Imperial Academy, I welcome you to your studies here.”

At the edge of the field, many of last year's students could be seen. Upon hearing the elder’s words, they could not help but snort in discontent. Kuang Chi also noticed that some people began to look at him and his group with hostility.

The elder paused, then turned toward Kuang Chi with a sly smile and said, “Especially you, Kuang Chi. Excellent. The Kuang family claims you are a genius, the hope for their clan’s revival—clearly, they were not wrong. Among the younger generation, you are truly the number one expert.”

At these words, Kuang Chi finally understood: this old man seemed intent on making trouble for him. Feeling the unfriendly stares from all around, even a fool would realize that his days at the Imperial Academy would be far from easy. Being publicly named the best among the empire’s youth left Kuang Chi nearly speechless.

He recalled a fine tradition among the nobility of the Carro Empire, one that had endured for tens of thousands of years, stretching back to the founding of the empire itself: the noble dueling system. The thought of this made Kuang Chi’s head throb. Seeing the malicious glances from the edge of the arena and the jealous glares from within, he couldn’t help but meet the elder’s gaze with a defiant glare of his own.

The elder seemed unconcerned by Kuang Chi’s fierce look, even throwing him a mischievous grin.

Withdrawing his gaze from Kuang Chi, the elder swept his eyes over the students still lying across the field, then announced, “Students, the time has come to enter the Academy. Demonstrate the noble etiquette you have learned and proceed to the Flying Stone to register.”

Having said this, the elders leapt up onto the massive, greenish-black meteorite behind them.

Looking around at the boys and girls still groaning on the ground, Kuang Chi was momentarily unsure what to do.

Fortunately, Zixia called out loudly from the side, “Fatty, hurry to the Flying Stone!” She pointed to the meteorite the elders had just ascended, and it dawned on Kuang Chi that this was indeed the so-called Flying Stone.

Nodding, Kuang Chi carefully stepped around the unmoving bodies and made his way to the base of the enormous stone, several dozen meters high. There, he saw that the small group who had, like him, managed to remain standing until the end were also gathered. But none of them attempted to climb the stone; instead, they sat beneath it, circulating their energy to recover.

As Kuang Chi puzzled over this, a man half a head taller than him approached with a friendly smile and said, “Kuang Chi, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Bic Cabiro, from Cabiro Star.”

Hearing this, Kuang Chi immediately thought of the Cabiro family—one of the largest and oldest noble houses in the Carro Empire, wielding immense influence. Kuang Chi knew that the current imperial prime minister was none other than the head of the Cabiro family.

Looking up at the young man’s affable expression, Kuang Chi nevertheless felt uneasy. It seemed the other was deliberately standing close, using his towering frame to press against Kuang Chi’s shoulder, all the while casting affectionate smiles and glancing around.

Seeing the man’s demeanor, Kuang Chi realized that this was not a mere greeting—the other had come over solely to compare heights.

With this realization, Kuang Chi’s face turned cold. Looking up, he said icily, “Bic Cabiro, I’m glad to meet you too. But I’d be even happier if you could move that massive body of yours a bit farther away from me.”

With a snort, Kuang Chi gathered his energy and shot toward the top of the Flying Stone.

He had barely risen three meters when he sensed something amiss. At three meters up, he felt a soft, cottony resistance above him, and by the time he reached six meters, all the strength he’d used to leap up was completely neutralized by the force overhead.

Spent, Kuang Chi expected to fall down naturally. But at that very moment, a tremendous pressure suddenly struck from above, slamming him straight down from six meters.

The force was so overwhelming and sudden that Kuang Chi had no time to react before crashing heavily to the ground.

The impact created a deep pit, several dozen centimeters across, in the earth beneath him. His legs, from the knees down, were buried in the stone.

Surveying his predicament and listening to the laughter around him, Kuang Chi’s anger blazed uncontrollably.

He swept the crowd with a cold glare, composed himself, and nonchalantly pulled his legs free from the stone.

As he did so, the onlookers burst into even greater laughter, for Kuang Chi’s expensive shoes had been utterly destroyed, and his large feet were now poking through wide holes.

Furious, Kuang Chi tore off his ruined shoes and, without hesitation, hurled them forcefully toward the top of the Flying Stone.

With two sharp whistles, both battered shoes arced perfectly onto the meteorite.

The crowd erupted in laughter and shouts of surprise.

Ignoring them all, Kuang Chi braced himself, summoned his full Dragon Qi, and charged straight for the summit of the Flying Stone.

As he unleashed his power, his Battle Dragon appeared beside him with a mighty roar, surging upward with Kuang Chi’s body toward the force field overhead.