Domineering and sharp temper, with full-on mockery.
Zhao Long's throat got stuck, as if a volcano about to erupt was forcibly blocked.
He soon laughed out of anger.
"Haha... good, very good!"
"Ye Youlong, you have talent, you're awesome, you're powerful! Your decision is unchangeable by anyone!"
"But what I want to tell you is, you will soon regret this! White Emperor Spirit Academy is not a place for you to be so self-righteous and arrogantly dismissive! Contracting with such a failure, you are doomed to ruin your life!"
Listening to his words, Xiao Zhan couldn't hold back anymore. Such arrogant humiliation, as if he didn't exist, huh?
If you're going to act like a loyal dog, at least acknowledge it. Getting angry when you can't get what you want, what kind of thing is that?
Xiao Zhan stepped directly in front of Ye Youlong, "You must be living in the middle of the sea, minding business that's so wide? Whether it's ruined or not, that's between her and me, what's it got to do with you? Do you need to bark here so frantically?"
Seeing Xiao Zhan dare to stand up, Zhao Long felt provoked.
His cold eyes stared straight at Xiao Zhan.
"What are you, you dare to dictate to me, a trash?"
To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that he had no contract yet, he would love to teach Xiao Zhan a lesson right now and, by the way, teach Ye Youlong a lesson too, letting her know how wrong it is to contract with a failure!
Xiao Zhan sneered back, "Whether or not someone is a failure isn't something you decide with just your mouth, but with fists. Right now, it seems that the real failure is you!"
"You...!"
Zhao Long was rendered speechless by that comeback.
Right now, he didn't have a Contracted Artifact Spirit, indeed no match for Xiao Zhan.
But that didn't mean Xiao Zhan would always be his opponent.
He sneered disdainfully, "Hmph, it's just a matter of contract precedence, what's there to boast about!"
Having said that, he looked towards Ye Youlong with a cold sneer, "Ye Youlong, you will regret it, and this regret will come very quickly. In the freshman competition a month later, you will pay the price for this terrible decision!"
"Don't worry about it," said Ye Youlong.
"I hope you're still as tough-talking in a month!" Zhao Long snorted coldly and left the classroom.
He will prove Ye Youlong wrong with his strength!
Xiao Zhan and Ye Youlong didn't pay much attention to his threats.
Because whether he spoke out or not, it didn't affect them.
After Zhao Long left, the classroom slowly emptied.
Today's class had ended, and the remaining time was for individual cultivation.
"What's the freshman competition?" Xiao Zhan asked on the way back, as he was still not very familiar with White Emperor Spirit Academy.
Ye Youlong explained, "The freshman competition is a contest among this year's new students. The winners can enter the White Emperor Secret Realm for cultivation."
Hearing this, Xiao Zhan furrowed his brow in thought, "Starting the competition just one month after admission, isn't that unfair to many? Those with great talent have already become Spirit Masters, while those without can't even claim the title, how can they compete?"
Ye Youlong laughed lightly, "Fair? The academy has never said that this is a fair competition."
"What do you mean?" Xiao Zhan stopped.
Ye Youlong explained, "White Emperor Spirit Academy respects strength. Here, talent is just a stepping-stone. After entering the academy, neither talent nor connections matter, only strength. As long as you have strength, resources will be devoted to you! Do you know why the Four Great Spirit Academies only recruit students above B-level?"
"Because teaching resources are limited, it's better to allocate these resources to students with more potential, following elite education," Xiao Zhan answered.
Ye Youlong nodded, then shook his head, "You are right, but not entirely correct. It's true that they take the elite route, but you should know, every academy takes this route."
"For the Four Great Academies, instead of using the term 'elite route,' a better term would be 'ace route!'"
"Ace route?" Xiao Zhan's expression shifted slightly; it was the first time he had heard such a term.
Ye Youlong continued, "An 'elite' is most often described in terms of a group. But 'ace' is usually described with singular terms, such as one or a, signifying uniqueness."
"Every year, the Four Great Academies recruit so many excellent students, but their real purpose is not to cultivate what is called elites, but to forge an ace from this group of elites! Or to put it differently, the core goal is to create an ace, with elites just coming along incidentally."
"To cultivate an ace, it's imperative to spend a great deal of resources right from the start. Only an ace built up with countless precious resources can be called a true ace!"
After listening to Ye Youlong's explanation, Xiao Zhan was greatly shocked.
An academy, recruiting nearly a quarter of the Federation's excellent students, all just to create one ace!
The rest are just setting the scene!
What an immense plan this is, and what kind of courage it takes to implement it!
"Are aces really that powerful? Worth an academy taking such bold action?"
He had just asked this question when Xiao Zhan felt like an idiot.
If aces weren't powerful, would the academies do this?
However, he still didn't grasp how strong the concept of an ace really was.
Ninth Grade Spirit Master?
Ye Youlong answered his question very seriously, "Very powerful. Those who can become aces, are without exception able to protect a region of the country! They are also figures who will go down in human history!"
"Think about it. The Federation Government spends vast resources and effort just to cultivate an ace! If it weren't powerful, would there be any need to do so?"
That much was indeed true.
But hearing this, Xiao Zhan felt even more astounded!
Immortalized in history!
That must be almost everyone's dream, right?
You cannot bring anything into life or take anything with you in death, but only your name, passed down through the ages, can prove that you were once in this world.
But then he felt it was a pity, "If the academy focuses resources on the ace, what about the other excellent students? Perhaps a large number of them would achieve greater success if they received a portion of resources."
Ye Youlong, however, shook his head, his eyes heavy with indifference, "You still don't understand the strength of an ace. An ace is called an ace because it is a hand that can crush all other cards!"
"In the world of Spirit Masters, an ace can match ten thousand elites!"
"Do you know about 'Catastrophe'-grade Demon Beasts? A thousand elites could go fight it, and all thousand would die! But an ace, just one person is enough to handle it! One person can protect the peace of a region!"
"Only such a person can be called an ace! This is the ace that the Four Great Spirit Academies are willing to invest all their resources to cultivate!"
After hearing this, Xiao Zhan's heart pounded wildly!
He now had a clear understanding of the term 'ace.'
To carve out a home!
One person defending a city!
Where gods dare not tread in the land ahead!
Such is the power of an ace!
No matter how many elites, none compares to a single ace! No wonder the Four Great Spirit Academies would spend such a tremendous cost.
"How do you know all this?" Xiao Zhan curiously turned to look at Ye Youlong.