’The Boost from Blazing Sun Holy Physique is really something.’ Aegon smiled at the results and backed away, ignoring the reactions of others. He really had gotten used to all of this, though he mostly did this to not get swayed by them. Humans were greedy for other’s love and appreciation and Aegon was no different, but he knew it could be harmful so he made sure his target of appreciation only mattered from his family. If one began to enjoy that love and appreciation from others, they would get addicted to it and do things they normally wouldn’t just to please others and hope to get their love and appreciation in return. It was a toxic cycle that Aegon didn’t want to enter, so he tried his best always to ignore others who only appreciated his superficial aspects. But then he remembered the faces of Old Bai and Grandma Bai and felt it wasn’t too bad to have once in a while. It felt great. Aegon turned his head away from the audience, only to end up seeing the other section where the students were filling the seats. There he spotted two familiar figures waving and cheering for him without a care about the world. Their smiles brought a warm smile on his face too as all the shocked voices of others disappeared. ’Yup, they are there for me. They love me and appreciate my efforts.’ Soon, the examination resumed and other participants continued with the testing, but many of them failed too. The requirement was to be atleast Rank 1 which sadly many didn’t achieve. And if you couldn’t reach Rank 1 in two years, then the Supreme Apostle Academy wasn’t for you. Before long, the first part of the exams ended up brought the number of participants to almost half of original number. "The second part is strength and endurance." Rank 1 of Body Pathway, also known as the Skin Tempering Rank, included using various methods to temper one’s skin and then use the Essence to heal it to even stronger version. So, Aegon expected the following test to be . The Head Examiner snapped his fingers as the obsidian blocks disappeared underground, only to be replaced by similar looking obsidian blocks. "You have to punch this block with your full strength. You will given three chances and the highest score shall be counted. The requirement to pass is 3 Seltro. Now, come forward when your name is called out." A yawn escaped Aegon’s mouth as he thought, ’I guess this is why they say entrance exams are boring. I have to wait so much.’ He turned towards the obsidian block and wondered, ’How much can I reach?’ Seltro was used to measure the force one could produce or rather the attack power in blunt terms. A mundane human wouldn’t even each 1 Seltro so the requirements were quite high. One by one, participants began to move towards the obsidian block and test their strength. Not surprisingly, many of them failed to cross the mark of 3 Seltro. Majority of them were between 2 to 3 Seltro. "An average Rank 1 has 2 Seltro so to be qualified one needs to be 150% of their normal peers," Aegon muttered to himself. "Good criteria." Soon, he noticed a familiar face pulling back his fists and finally paid attention to it. "Herculas, how much will you get?" A solid punch landed on the block, lighting up four of the embedded sphere. The surrounding participants were a little surprised and began to see him as a compitition too. "Good good! 4 Seltro at Rank 1 is quite an achievement." The examiner also praised Herculas, but the burly young man just nodded and moved back. ’Did my presence really cause such a change in him? That’s surprising,’ Aegon thought. After a few minutes of boredom where even the audience wasn’t paying much attention, someone else stepped on the platform which finally managed to get some attention from everyone. "Caster Standford, Age 17 years old, Rank 2." And this was the reason for it. While most of the people here were Rank 1, he had already achieved Rank 2 so now everyone was curious about his strength. Caster was a young man with a muscular figure and long face which was full of seriousness. He stepped towards the Obsidian block and punched it with all his strength. Under everyone’s attentive eyes, the sphere began to lit up and only stopped when six of them had lit up. "That’s quite a feat to achieve at such an young age." "Yes, he’s the son of Elder Standford of Merchent Association, right?" "He poured his everything in his son, huh." "Again!" Caster declared, as if unsatisfied with the results. Everyone was given three chances so Caster once again punched but the results were the same. It didn’t affect him much as he pulled his hand back again and punched with his all might. As the Obsidian block absorbed all the impact and sound from his punches, seven spheres lit up. "7 Seltro. Now that’s really impressive." Latest content publıshed on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⁂𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖⁂𝕟𝕖𝕥 "Indeed. His future is bright if he chooses the right House." "There is already a House sponsered by the Merchent Association so he will just lead them." "Ah! It slipped my mind. Indeed, he already has a backing." Caster seemed to ignore the comments as well. He just turned towards Aegon and flashed a victorious smile and then left the platform. ’The hell you’re looking at?’ Aegon was speechless. ’And what’s with that smile? That’s annoying.’ And just like that, the exam continued with three more Rank 2 showing their prowess. Even with the noble kids already admitted, there were quite a few people who were exceptional. All of the Rank 2 Participants achieved around 6-7 Seltro which was already quite impressive, but everyone was waiting to see Aegon’s turn, even those Rank 2 Participants. "Aegon Valeria Augustus. Age 15 years old. Rank 1." Finally, it was his turn. The stadium turned silent as they all turned to face the Obsidian block where Aegon got ready to test his strength. It was his first time too since he never bothered to check it. ’Lets see how much I have improved.’ Aegon thought as he took a stance and pulled his hand back. Then, he put all his physical strength in his fist and punched out. His fist connected with the hard surface of the Obsidian, but his skin was already tempered so his hand remained completely fine. The spheres began to light up one by one, exceeding everyone’s expections as it finally stopped after lighting up the sixth sphere. "Ridiculous! This is pure ridiculous!" "6 Seltro at Rank 1! What the hell!?" "Unbelievable! The previous record holder was Almond Augustus, wasn’t he?" "Yes, he had 6 Seltro at Rank 1 too." "What are these monsters?" Even Amon was slightly taken back as he smiled even further, ’Very intresting. Chen Xiu, just what the hell did you raise up?’ He had a feeling that Aegon didn’t go all out yet and he also had the other two pathways. He really hasn’t seen such ridiculous talent in all of his life. His eyes shifted to the scar in the sky and thought, ’No wonder, she took such a burden. But this is also good. The more talented the students, the better it is for my plan.’ On the platform, Aegon could feel heated gaze of many, including the Rank 2 Participants. He glanced sideways and found Caster looking at him with a deadly glare. ’What is up with him?’ Aegon wondered. ’Well, if you really wanna get angry then I’ll give you more reasons.’ He turned towards the Head Examiner and smiled, "Again!" "You want to try again?" The examiner asked in faint surprise. "I didn’t go all out," Aegon declaration left the Stadium once again in murmurs. "Let me try again." "Alright." The examiner moved aside. Aegon closed his eyes for a second, letting the illumination of Twilight sky wash over him. For some reason, he always felt that the boost he received from Sun during the Dusk and Dawn was the highest, even though sun wasn’t present in either cases. It also meant that he would get a permanent high boost in Dusk and Dawn city. He clenched his fists, feeling a newfound strength coursing through his veins as his eyes snapped open, twin suns burning brightly in them. In the next second, he took the stance and pulled back his fist. Without a second of delay, he threw the punch, his fist cutting through the air as it landed squarely on the Obsidian block. The spheres onces again began to lit up as everyone held their breath and began to count the lit up shered. Caster’s eyes almost popped out of his eye sockets seeing the miracle and others were no better. But they noticed something. The spheres were still lighting up.