Chapter 6: The Blessing of the Thousand-Eyed Beast
After Si Er finished gnawing on two more cucumbers, Si Ran and Yu Feiqing at the front of the line entered the city together.
Not long after they disappeared inside, Si Xu appeared at the back of the queue.
Si Er couldn’t help smiling when he saw him.
[Hehe, Si Ran and Yu Feiqing would never guess that Si Xu also has a token to enter the city—given by Elder Mu Ke of Azure Dragon Academy.]
[As long as Si Xu registers successfully, he’ll immediately become Elder Mu Ke’s direct disciple.]
[Hehe, I can’t wait to see Si Ran’s reaction when he finds out.]
The onlookers who could hear his thoughts grew excited as well, their gazes toward Si Xu turning noticeably friendly.
The elders of the Four Great Academies were all Soul King–level experts. Whether core or honorary elders, becoming the disciple of any one of them meant skipping countless detours in cultivation.
In an instant, Si Xu became the most popular young man among the passersby. Even if they couldn’t cling to his coattails, they certainly shouldn’t offend him.
Sensing the shift in attitude around him, Si Xu felt both amused and helpless.
With Si Er—a walking intelligence network and enthusiastic gossip broadcaster—standing nearby, anyone hoping to “play the pig to eat the tiger” would likely fail miserably.
Once all your secrets were exposed, pretending to be a pig would just make you an actual pig.
Si Xu looked at Si Er with some hesitation. He wanted to stay near him, but Si Er intended to apply to Black Tortoise Academy, while he himself held Elder Mu Ke’s token from Azure Dragon Academy.
Elder Mu Ke was an honorary elder of Azure Dragon Academy. If he suddenly switched academies midway, wouldn’t that be akin to burning the bridge after crossing it?
While Si Xu wrestled with his thoughts, Si Er cheerfully completed his city registration.
Upon entering, the first sight that greeted everyone was four enormous, brilliantly colored flags bearing majestic totems.
From the symbols alone, one could tell which academy each represented.
Beneath every flag stood an elder, and before each elder stretched a long queue.
“Those who wish to apply, line up under your chosen academy’s banner for testing. Those who pass proceed to the next stage. Those who fail may remain in the city for at most three days.”
“If after three days you neither enter an academy nor find work in the city, you will be immediately expelled.”
“Don’t think you can slip by unnoticed. Our guardian divine beast will not tolerate anyone shamelessly lingering.”
[Guardian divine beast? Where? Where?]
Si Er looked around curiously.
[It’s said the guardian of Central City is a Thousand-Eyed Beast, covered from head to toe in eyes. Nothing that happens in the city escapes its sight.]
[Those who break city rules are expelled directly. Those who commit heinous crimes are erased outright. But small schemers like Si Ran—who stir trouble yet never kill personally within the city—are ignored.]
[Sigh… I’m curious what it looks like. But if I actually saw it, wouldn’t my trypophobia act up?]
Just as he thought this, time seemed to freeze.
The crowd vanished.
He stood alone beneath the vast city gate, and before him rose a massive beast like a small mountain.
Its outline was round and plump—had it not been covered entirely in eyes, it might have looked almost adorable.
But it was covered in eyes.
Each eye gazed in a different direction, as though perceiving every secret of the world.
Si Er stiffened completely. In that instant, not only did his trypophobia flare up—his very soul felt seized by those countless staring eyes.
Suddenly, the beast lowered its head and grinned at him.
Si Er shuddered violently.
When he recovered, the beast had vanished. The crowd returned, noisy and bustling, and the world felt human again.
He exhaled in relief, patting his chest.
[Heavens… what did I just see? Was that the Thousand-Eyed Beast?]
[Does Central City have mind-reading powers or something? I thought about it and it just appeared?]
[Totally unnecessary!]
The onlookers’ first reaction: Oh ho! Someone actually saw the Thousand-Eyed Beast—what fortune!
Legend had it that those who saw the beast were either erased immediately or granted its blessing, becoming untouchable within Central City.
Given how lively his inner voice still was, he must have received the blessing.
A chosen one indeed!
Their second reaction: As for mind-reading… could it possibly be your issue?
What Si Er and the crowd didn’t know was that the Thousand-Eyed Beast’s blessing was a reflective shield—one that rebounded all malicious harm directed at him.
Mixed within it was a trace of karmic law.
For example, a malicious ambusher wouldn’t be able to strike Si Er at all—the attack would rebound onto themselves.
If someone tried poisoning him, no matter how convoluted the scheme, the poison would find its way—by an even more twisted route—back into the poisoner’s own mouth.
Those who liked killing with borrowed knives might find the knife turning against its wielder on the spot, while the instigator was cut down by another borrowed blade.
In short, it was a superb shield. As long as the attacker’s strength was inferior to the Thousand-Eyed Beast’s, backlash would come swiftly.
Ordinary people couldn’t see this shield—unless they possessed special eyes or had reached the Soul Emperor realm in soul power.
Yu Beixuan had a pair of Night-Piercing Eyes capable of seeing through appearances to essence.
In his vision, Si Er was now a walking, gigantic orb of light.
The shield was blinding—nearly dazzling him blind.
Yu Beixuan hurriedly deactivated his Night-Piercing Eyes.
Thankfully, this ability could be turned off.
Unaware that someone had almost been blinded by his radiance, Si Er happily registered his name and age, then received his number token for the Black Tortoise Academy preliminary selection.
The preliminary test would assess each candidate’s bone age, soul power level, soul power aptitude, and the cultivation level of contracted soul pets.
Among these, soul power aptitude was paramount.
Aptitude was divided into eight major grades: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue, Purple, and Gold—Red being the weakest, Gold the strongest.
Purple was already rare; Gold might not appear once in a thousand years.
Any candidate with aptitude below Cyan would be eliminated outright.
Si Er was extremely curious about his own soul power. Judging by his three contracted soul pets, his aptitude should be quite good—but how would it compare to the two protagonists?
He remembered that Si Ran and the other male lead, Di Lintian, both possessed a Purple-Black aptitude. Si Xu had standard Purple. As for the Si family’s eldest brother, Si Yi, his aptitude was the exceedingly rare Purple-Gold.
[I wonder if I can at least get a Purple?]
If anyone else had thought that, they might have been mocked.
But when Si Er thought it, the gossiping crowd found it entirely reasonable.
After all, this was the man blessed by the Thousand-Eyed Beast!
In the ten thousand years since Central City was founded, only a handful had ever received its blessing—and each became the most dazzling prodigy of their era.
Surely Si Er would be no different.
Indeed, when it was his turn for testing, the moment his hand touched the testing stone, a blinding golden light shot skyward, nearly dazzling everyone present.
“G-Gold grade?”
The instructor conducting the test rubbed his eyes in disbelief. He never imagined he’d encounter such a genius.
This was unbelievable.
Not only had a Gold-grade aptitude not appeared in ages—even if one did, it shouldn’t have shown up in Black Tortoise Academy’s queue!
Had the Black Tortoise manifested a miracle?
The recruiters from the other three academies shoved through the crowd to witness the spectacle.
But just as they squeezed to the front, the testing stone in Si Er’s hand exploded.
“No wonder a Gold-grade genius appeared in your Black Tortoise line,” the Azure Dragon instructor said smugly, arms crossed. “Turns out your testing stone is faulty.”
The Vermilion Bird instructor was more cautious. “Perhaps this stone’s grade isn’t high enough. Should we switch to another one and test again?”
“Let’s change it.”
The Black Tortoise instructor was extremely nervous.
He knew the stone wasn’t faulty—it was just barely capable of measuring Gold grade.
But Si Er’s aptitude likely exceeded ordinary Gold. It had surpassed the stone’s limit, causing it to shatter.
Still, such talent was too astonishing.
It had to be tested again.
