Yun Lintian slowly nodded his head. "Earlier, you said about Hall Masters. Who are they?"

"I think you should have heard about ten fractions within the academy, right? Each one of them has one Hall Master overseer. For example, my master, Hong Wuya, is the Hall Master of Starry Hall." Cai Xuwen explained.

"I see… How many students here in total?" Yun Lintian asked curiously.

"Currently, there are around fifty thousand students in the academy. This number is already including outer court, inner court, as well as a hall student." Cai Xuwen answered patiently.

"Fifty thousand? That's quite a huge number." However, when Yun Lintian thought the academy recruited a new student every three years, this number did not seem to be large anymore.

"Please forgive me for asking so many questions, Sister Cai. Is there any criteria to join the halls?" Yun Lintian asked. 

Cai Xuwen smiled and waved her hand gently. "It's okay. I was the same as you when I first came here… Actually, there are no specific criteria for joining the halls. It mostly depends on each hall master. However, if you manage to enter the top one hundred ranking during the assessment, you're likely to be selected by them. As for inner court students who want to join the halls, they need to complete a specific task that their target's halls give them. They will have only three chances. If they failed, they would stay as inner students for the rest of their lives."

"When you choose the halls, you have to think carefully. Although every hall seems harmonious on the surface, they are competing behind the scene. And it's not a normal competition. I think you should understand what I mean." Bai Yun added with a serious expression.

"Senior, can you tell us about the relationship between these halls?" Yang Chen, who was silent for all this time, asked.

Bai Yun and Cai Xuwen looked at each other briefly. After seeing Bai Yun nod his head, Cai Xuwen turned to Yang Chen and Yun Lintian as she explained. "The ten halls, namely, Sky Hall, Starry Hall, Supreme Hall, Emperor Hall, Moonlight Hall, Starlight Hall, Profound Hall, Arcane Hall, Mystery Hall, and Flame Hall. Among them, Supreme Hall is currently ranking first, followed by Emperor Hall, Sky Hall, and my Starry Hall, while Moonlight Hall ranks last."

"The relationships between them are quite messy. We might not be able to finish in a day if I was telling you in detail. You only need to remember that the Supreme Hall has Vice-Principal Peng as a backer, and Emperor Hall has Vice-Principal Lin. While Principal Tian is standing behind Sky Hall. However, he rarely cares about it. That's why Sky Hall ranks third."

"These three halls have been competing for several years, and no other halls could get into the top three. My Starry Hall comes close, but we can never fight with those three halls. If you have a chance to choose, you should think carefully before making a decision. When you enter any hall, it means other halls are your enemy."

Listening to Cai Xuwen's explanation, Yun Lintian and Yang Chen fell into deep thought. This power struggling among fractions was nothing new to both of them. However, they needed to be careful when choosing one. After all, they didn't want to have a troublesome enemy. They might as well choose the last place hall, Moonlight Hall, as long as it gave them peace. Nobody cares much about the bottom-ranked one, right?

"You can choose Starry Hall. Although Master is a bit strict, he's a good master. And the atmosphere in the hall is one of the best among others. We are quite united." Bai Yun added. In his heart, he also hoped Yun Lintian would choose Starry Hall so that his master would have another good helper.

Yun Lintian gave a light smile. "I don't even know whether I can pass the assessment. So, let's talk about this later."

Bai Yun nodded and said nothing further.

The carriage passed through the woods and arrived at a spacious area with a tall monument stone at the center. At this moment, many students were gathering around the monument, looking and discussing among themselves. 

Without waiting for Yun Lintian to ask, Cai Xuwen took the initiative to introduce. "This is the ranking stele. The top one hundred students' names of each realm would appear here. It starts from Origin Profound Realm to Saint Profound Realm." She turned to Bai Yun and smiled. "Back then, Senior Brother Bai ranked third on the Saint ranking."

Bai Yun chuckled and shook his head. "It was the past now… Talking about this, it's a pity. I never reached the first rank before I left."

Yun Lintian was surprised. According to his observation, Bai Yun's strength was even slightly stronger than Peng Zheng's. Despite that, he was only ranked third. How powerful was the first rank?

Cai Xuwen sighed softly. "Who could beat that woman?"

A beautiful figure flashed across Bai Yun's mind. This woman once became his goal to surpass. Sadly, she was too strong, and Bai Yun couldn't even come close to her, not even when he left the academy.

Yun Lintian and Yang Chen looked at Bai Yun and Cai Xuwen curiously, but they didn't ask. After all, the ranking had nothing to do with them.

Cai Xuwen turned to Yun Lintian and explained. "To get into the ranking, you need to clear the trial grounds."

"Trial grounds?" Yun Lintian repeated interestingly. He glanced at Yang Chen, and the latter seemed to understand.

Cai Xuwen nodded. "Mhm. There are several trial grounds in this academy. You will understand later when you become a student here."

"Senior, is there any trial ground related to fire? My main attribute is fire. I just want to know whether there's one here." Yang Chen asked.

"Naturally." Cai Xuwen answered reflexively. "The most difficult one is called Flame Bridge. Until now, no one has ever cleared it."

Yang Chen's expression changed slightly and asked curiously. "No one?"

Cai Xuwen nodded firmly. "Yes. Nobody has reached the other side of the bridge until now. It said this Flame Bridge has been here before the academy was founded."