Chapter 7 Old Habits From A Past Life The Second Prince Doesn't Have A Soul?

As Xi Shen was walking absentmindedly for a while, he suddenly looked up and saw the large podium right in front of him. Slightly confused as to why he didn't see anyone, Xi Shen looked up at the Celestial Academy's elder, who was looking at him strangely, before he turned to look behind him. Xi Shen saw that the group of youths had cleared open a path for him leading up to the podium, and was standing there, waiting for him to get up onto the podium. Xi Shen was taken aback by this for a moment, before a thought suddenly hit him. 'Oh right, I'm a prince in this life.' In his past life, Xi Shen wasn't in the best of situations, the principle that had been embedded into him in those times was first come first serve. As an orphan, he had never had people who went out of their way to do things for him or waited on him before. At first, he had found it weird and uncomfortable, but being the second prince of the Maple Continent, it happened so many times he had gotten used to it. Though, there was a saying that old habits die hard. Xi Shen was actually planning to line up in a queue for his turn, he hadn't even thought twice about his decision. But seeing everyone just waiting for him to take the test before themselves, it caused those strange feelings to rise within his heart again. However, they were soon squashed, as a big grin appeared on his face. 'No this is living life. Who wants to become emperor when I can just stay a prince and enjoy all the benefits without the responsibilities?' Everyone who was still waiting for Xi Shen to step onto the podium to take the test, had weird expressions when they saw him grinning for no reason. "This second prince has a rather... unique temperament," Ghuanyu said while chuckling, as he looked down from his Pavilion onto Xi Shen. The rest of the Clan Leaders were also looking on with amused expressions. Xi Shen, who was still grinning just ignored the strange looks towards him, before he turned around and hop onto the stage. Everyone watched with bated breaths, as Xi Shen walked up to the first stone pillar. On each stone pillars, there was a small protruding space where persons' should place their hands to be tested for the attributes. As Xi Shen stood before the first stone pillar that tests one's soul grade, a small commotion was happening within the crowd of youths below. "Hey, I wonder what the second prince's innate talent is, could it be higher than the Sky-grade?" One youth asked out of curiosity. Another youth who was next to him responded, "Most likely, haven't you heard of the rumors stating the ease at which the second prince was mastering Basic-level martial arts techniques? That level of talent was only seen among a few people across the entire continent, the crown prince was one of those people who had shown similar talents." "Yeah, that's right I heard those rumors, they say that any Basic-level martial arts technique the second prince takes up, he instantly comprehends. His talent has to be at the Sky-grade or above, if not, his comprehension grade should at the very least be at the Heaven-grade." Another youth said with complete confidence. The thing that those youths were basing Xi Shen talents on, Basic-level martial arts techniques, are techniques people usually called 'none-cultivation techniques'. These techniques are simply used by young youths before embarking on the path of cultivation. It could help them strengthen their body's sturdiness and resilience, before moving on to the Qi Condensation realm. This can be considered a crucial step, as this will help build a solid foundation for their future cultivation endeavors. While the commotion was going on among the youths, no one except the seven Sect leaders had noticed the two figures that had appeared on the plain Pavilion's top floor. One of the figures was Fu Wei and next to him dressed in ordinary robes was his father and current Emperor of the Maple Continent. "Father, do you think this is a good idea to have everyone see little Shen's innate talent? After all, you went through so much trouble back then to hide the true nature of his birth from the public." As Fu Wei asked that question, his father remained silent for a moment before he simply said, "I have my reasons." After that, he said nothing more. Fu Wei knew his father's temperament, when he gave short answers like these it meant the topic of discussion was over and shouldn't be brought up any further. Fu Wei let out a long sigh in his heart. 'What is father thinking... Why is he letting that freak enter the Celestial Academy? Is it because I was once a disciple there? Is father trying to be fair by letting him enter?' Slight anger rose within Fu Wei's heart as he looked at his brother on the podium. 'I don't know what you did to me back then if it was because of it that made my talent at the level at which it is now, but I still won't stand for your talent being higher than mine.' Fu Wei's eyes flashed with a cold light, but it was completely obscured by the look of worry on his face. On the podium, Xi Shen was standing in front of the stone pillar, and as he raised his hand towards it, everyone's breath halted as they anticipated the results. However, everyone almost choked on that held breath as they saw Xi Shen's raised hand start knocking on the stone pillar in several places before he began walking around the sides of the stone pillar as if he was inspecting something on it. While everyone staring on speechless at Xi Shen's actions, Xi Shen himself was inspecting the carvings on the stone pillar with curiosity. 'So this is what they use to measure someone's innate talent. The runes are rather complex for a semi-decent junk.' As Xi Shen thought that, he gave the stone pillar a few more knocks. If anyone had heard his thoughts on such a heaven-defying treasure they would cough up blood from the sheer nonsense. One should know that treasures that could accurately determine a person's innate talent were rarer than a phoenix's feather or Qilin horn. Even some sects had to borrow those treasures from another sect for an exorbitant price. As everyone was tired of Xi Shen's actions, the elder who looked to be in his early thirties nearby cleared his throat and said, "Um.. er.. second prince, would you mind hurrying up with your.. um.. inspection?" The elder in question was only an elder of the Celestial Academy's outer sect. His rank among the Elders within the Celestial Academy was at the bottom of the barrel. The fact that he said those words to Xi Shen made him start to sweat. But he had to, if this goes on then the one to blame for holding up the ceremony would probably be pinned on him. When Xi Shen heard the elder's words and saw his pleading expression, he nodded his head and went back to the front of the stone pillar. Seeing this the Elder let out a small sigh of relief. Now, let's do this again. As Xi Shen raised his hand and placed it on the protruding square-shaped rock, everyone held their breath. The entire venue was in complete silence that even a pin drop could be heard. After placing his hand on the stone pillar, Xi Shen felt a warm stream of energy entering his body. That current of energy went through hand to his forehead, where his Sea of Consciousness and soul reside. Xi Shen had his eyes closed and was watching as the stream of energy headed to the deaths of his consciousness. Even though the stream of energy was moving at lightning-like speeds, Xi Shen Sea of Consciousness was like a never-ending… well.. sea. Xi Shen's Sea of Consciousness was by no means normal, the sheer size of it was too ridiculous. For someone like him who hadn't started cultivating Spiritual Qi techniques, their Sea of Consciousness should be around ten meters. However, Xi Shen's own had surpassed that by thousands or even millions of times. If their Sea of Consciousness was a firefly, Xi Shen's own would be the moon. As the energy was moving through his Sea of Consciousness, everyone who was looking on wondered what was taking so long. The stone pillar was supposed to measure someone's soul grade, so it would inspect that person's soul that was located deep within a person's Sea of Consciousness. Everyone else's test was over rather quickly, but Xi Shen's own was taking longer than usual. "What is going on? Is the stone pillar broken or something?" asked a youth in the crowd. "How can that be, it was working fine before the second prince went up." Another youth commented. As the noise began to get louder, a youth suddenly said, "Is it perhaps because the second prince doesn't have a soul grade?" When those words echoed out, everyone became really silent. Did the second prince really lack a soul grade? A youth suddenly said, "No, that's not it. Even if the second prince's soul was at the lowest grade, the stone pillar should at least give a reaction when it finished testing. The only other possibility that could warrant the stone pillar not showing any reaction, is that it has nothing to test." When everyone heard that, strange looks covered their faces. This person was actually insinuating that Xi Shen had no soul for the stone pillar to test. Everyone all thought this was ridiculous because that would mean that Xi Shen was dead, but he was obviously standing there breathing alive and well. Fu Wei who saw this had a confused look on his face, while his father next to him was looking at his son on the podium with a calm expression. While the commotion was happening around him, Xi Shen wasn't aware of it as he was focused on the stream of energy. In what seemed like forever, the stream of energy finally made it to the deaths of his Sea of Consciousness. What the energy found there, was Xi Shen's one thousand meters large soul. It was sitting in a cross-legged position, with its hands resting on its knees.