A violet striped anaconda glared at James, it's tongue flickered as it looked towards its opponent.

James stood there unflinching, smilingly looking at the snake, the knife in his hand ready to struck down the target.

"Start! " an automated voice was heard inside the room. As soon as it ended the snake charged at James it's mouth wide open bearing it's fangs at James.

James stood there and waited. He swinged the knife in his hand just as the snake appeared and did a flip the same way he did back in the forest.

A small flip in the air barely dodging the strike, landing quickly on the snakes head. With a lightning quick speed before the snake could change its trajectory he dig the knife inside the snakes head right between its two eyes. A 1 hit quick and clean kill.

"Test Completed! "

" Aborting virtual space. You will be returned back to reality in 3....2....1.."

James opened his eyes. He was back in the exam room. He took off his headset and got up. In front of him he saw rows of students sitting, many of them had their eyes closed.

But apart from him there were a good amount of students who had also awoken. Some had happy expressions on their face while some were perplexed. The examiner gestured to sit down and not move.

After about another 10 minutes the exam ended. Everybody looked at the examiner in anticipation. Most had already completed it well before time and have been waiting for the results.

"The examination has ended. Now I would like all the participants who failed to complete the test to step out and leave the room. You know who you are, staying here won't get you anything as you will be caught in the second round of elimination. "

There was a good number of children who stood up and left. James was surprised to see this as he thought that the test wasn't very difficult. He estimated that over 70 were disqualified.

" Now the remaining of you. Congratulations for completing the test! However, your selection will depend on the ranking achieved by you. As mentioned earlier, only the top 100 will be accepted while the rest will be rejected. "

Everybody had a solemn and serious expression. Some were even praying.

" Well it's time for the results" said the examiner.

Suddenly a huge screen appeared behind where the examiner stood. On it the results appeared. Only 100 names were there placed in a 10 by 10 matrix where the ranks were noted in ascending order in columns.

James looked at the list his heart beating fast. He did not have to search much as he found his name on the first column itself right below it read

'10. James Walter'

He was surprised that he was ranked so high. He had thought that he would ranked somewhere in between. He smiled looking at his name thinking how happy his parents would be when they get to know about his rank.

" All participants whose names are not on the list are requested to leave immediately. " came the stern voice of the examiner.

Some students weren't happy with their ranks while some whose name didn't appear complained. There was even a rowdy kid who started shouting upon the system for ranking demanding explanation. Contrary to expectations the examiner stayed quiet without replying and instead a huge pressure fell on the room.

An aura the color of an emerald enveloped the examiner. James was stumped as he realized the examiner in front of him was an Emerald stage cultivator! His aura seemed more darker than his father's which made him believe that the examiner was a mid or a peak Emerald stage fighter!

All the noise died down in an instant.

"Leave" said the examiner.

In a moment the room was filled with only a hundred participants who had qualified. The situation of those who were not selected was understandable. Everybody wants the best for themselves and they were just children.

However all was not lost for them as only the selection for Sky Blaze happened on 25th November while the 2nd ranked and the 3rd ranked martial schools selection took place on 28th and 30th in their respective cities. Lastly the general selection by the martial schools of the kingdom happened on 1st December. Some also visit other kingdoms to take part in their top martial school selections. So they still had many options left.

The aura around the examiner faded away and he spoke in a calm voice,

"First of all I would like to congratulate all of you for passing the exam! From this point onwards you all are the students of Sky Blaze Martial Academy! "

Bright smiles could be seen on the children's faces. After all they were just 12 and some were still 11 and being a student of the number 1 martial academy in the kingdom was not a small achievement.

" Now there is something that all of you must understand. Being admitted here guarantees you nothing unless you put in hard work. You can't relax as you will fall behind your peers easily."

"In the Sky Blaze Martial Academy those who stay in the top rankings are the ones who dominate the resources given out by the academy! If you do not work hard in time you will fall far behind in your own age group and maybe your junior's age groups as well! "

" As an example to this rule you all know that the academy gives scholarships to exceptional performers! Amongst the 100 of you 3 students will be offered 100% scholarships while 2 students will be offered 70% scholarships! This includes every expense from tuition to lodging. "

" These 5 students have been able to differentiate themselves from the rest proving themselves worthy to be given extra privileges by the academy. "

" The three students are the ones who attained first position in the corridor trial, first position in the spirit beast trial and first position in the overall score attained by everybody. While the other 2 are ones who have shown exceptional skills in their corridor and spirit beast trials"

Anticipation could be seen on the faces of the children. They all wished to be recognised and rewarded. After a short pause the examiner spoke again,

" Here are the results. First position in the corridor trials - Markus Jerad. Congratulations! He passed the corridor in 10.8 seconds! Boy get up and show yourself to everyone."

A lanky looking kid with auburn hair stood up. He smiled as he looked around and said hello.

James was astonished hearing the result as 10 seconds meant he practically ran through that corridor! He couldn't understand how someone could avoid all the traps while running .

" First position in the spirit beast trial- Jane Dorsa. Congratulations! She killed the Violet striped Anaconda in a mere 1.4 seconds! "

A girl with a tomboyish hair cut stood up. She had short black hair and her eyes seemed sharp and focused.

Another gasp was heard in the crowd. 1.4 seconds meant she killed the anaconda with probably a single strike at an amazing speed.

" First position overall goes to Kayla Mendes! She scored a 98 out of 100 overall. Looks like this year's girls are very tough! "

A beautiful blonde girl with an icy expression around herself stood up.

" Congratulations to all three of you! The academy recognises youth of extreme talent and rewards them in accordance! "

" Now coming to the 2 who showed exceptional performance in handling the trials"

"The first is Gus Light! For his performance in the corridor trial. What was exceptional about him was he actually found and triggered all the traps in the corridor, not only that, he escaped each one of them as well! "

A thin boy who looked pretty laid back stood up. He looked very normal aside from his laid back attitude.

" And finally James Walter! For his performance in the spirit beast trial! He was actually smiling while facing the anaconda and killed the beast with a small jump and clean hit on its weak spot with a knife with minimum effort. Congratulations boy! "

James was shocked upon hearing his name. He was unable to think of anything but he quickly got up showing himself to the other participants. The other 4 also gave him a look.

" Both of you may not have achieved the top spot but your performances have impressed the academy and so we reward you as well! " said the examiner smilingly.

" The 100 of you are the best of the best of this year's martial talent around the kingdom! Some are of different kingdoms but the academy only recognises talent and does not discriminate on the place of origin"

"Your journey has just started but you cannot slack off. Take the examples of these 5 youths and try to show your worth in future competitions! It's a cutthroat world we live in where the strong rules over the weak! "

Fierce determination could be seen in the eyes of the students. Each one of them determined to succeed

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Notes- here's the third chapter for today. I hope you all like it. The next release will be tomorrow as I have to sleep now. Please comment if you find any mistakes or have some suggestions. It's a xianxia story and the early chapters might be a bit slow as I have to build the world along with the story as well. So keeping that in mind I hope if anybody who wishes to review, to review after a few more chapters at least and update it as the story progresses as reviews will affect how this work is perceived by others a lot. Enjoy!