At the age of 9, Wu Shan was introduced, proper, by his family, to the major factions of Glory City. It wasn't as if they weren't aware of him, rather, his disposition of being the future Patriarch and the first-born of the Divine Guardian's Wu family were the things being emphasized. Although most of the common citizenry would never hear about him until at least one year prior to his admittance into the Holy Orchid Institute, some would eventually learn from rumors by the guards of the major factions that were present during his introduction to them.
When he became 13 years old, he was admitted into the Institute. Having learned much of the knowledge from his Library of Existence for the past eight years, cultivating carefully as he balanced the growth of his cultivation and his physical capability, he decided to become adequate enough, in terms of strength and smarts that he could get excused from class, without anyone questioning him.
His Soul Force was already measured during the entrance into the Institute. He was standing at 51. While it was somewhat average, with his Cyan Soul Realm, he could cultivate faster when compared to other students, though as previously stated, him being attribute-less somewhat lowered said speed. Being the result of his balanced cultivation and physical prowess, the numbers were still within reason.
Since his Soul Force was still below 100, in other words, yet to reach Bronze Rank, he was inducted into the Apprentice Fighter Class. He looked around and only saw a few people that he immediately recognized: Chen Linjian and Huyan Lanruo.
"Hmm... I don't see Ye Han... Wait-" he said as he looked around, before stopping and closed his eyes, activating his Library of Existence ability.
He then cross-referenced with his memories from Earth and the chapters of both Manhua and Webnovel on the matters of Ye Han. He found out that Ye Han was at least four years older than Chen Linjian and three years older than Huyan Lanruo. Given the age gap, and the other thing that he remembered about him being in the same year (or at least, the same class) as Shen Xiu, it was no wonder that he couldn't find him in his class.
"At least I won't have to deal with him for at least one year..." he muttered.
It would at least be sometime before the next yearly examination test is conducted by the Institute. By then, he should already reach 1-Star Bronze Rank and he'd probably be in track to immediately get to 2-Star Bronze Rank by the start of the 2nd Year, should everything goes according to plan.
The class' homeroom teacher came into the class just before the start of the session. He never really paid much attention at the teacher, though he at least remembered the teacher's name, face, gender, and capability.
"My name is Feng Linshi. I'll be your homeroom teacher from now on." the teacher said as he introduced himself.
The students in the class started to murmur among themselves, mostly commenting on how the teacher looks like a female. Wu Shan, who wasn't paying attention at the person, though he could hear the students going on and on about their new teacher. Evidently, they were about to ask something to the teacher before the person in question "answered".
"In case if you're asking, yes, I'm a male. And I'm also a 4-Star Silver Rank Demon Spiritualist." he then further explained a little about himself.
The students exploded into chatter, some of them being unable to believe the teacher's words. Granted, the man had more feminine features on his face, though his neck and somewhat chiseled, well-trained body posture were a dead giveaway that the teacher's a he. His mannerism is also much more... Polite and proper, a tad more than the typical male in Glory City, as far as Wu Shan's concerned. But in the end, he didn't really put much thought into it, since he was somewhat familiar with the kind of his teacher, aptly known as "Traps" back on Earth.
"Settle down, students. Now, I'll explain about our academy and how everything works here." Teacher Feng said, before he started to go on into the whole thing.
"As we all know, Glory City is the only known city to survive the Dark Ages, hence we're humanity's hope. There are two powerful existences in this city of ours: Fighters and Demon Spiritualist. Among the thousands of Fighters, there'll only be one that's a Demon Spiritualist. Those who were born as a Demon Spiritualist are extremely rare, hence those, like me, are tasked with the protection of our City." He said as he wrote on the blackboard and went on about the introduction on the separation of powers that existed in the City.
"Both do have one thing in common: They're separated into ranks, from the lowest being Bronze, then Silver, Gold, Black Gold, and lastly Legend. The higher they are, the more powerful they are. However, the similarity ends there."
"Should a Gold-rank Demon Spiritualist appear in a family, only then said family would be qualified to become an aristocratic family. If it's a Black Gold rank, then they can become a noble family. But if it's a Legend rank, well, they could be a Major family, though three Black Golds could fulfill the same conditions."
"Do note that I don't really care about your status, be it a Commoner or a Noble. What matters to me is the amount of effort that you put into your work and studies." He said, before continuing with his explanation.
"That should already give you a clear idea of how influential a Demon Spiritualist is. But in terms of battle prowess, they're not something you could scoff at. A Legend rank Fighter would still lose to a Demon Spiritualist of the same rank, since they're fused with their Demon Spirits, which improves their prowess by leaps and bounds." He then finally finished his explanation, before moving on.
"Our academy is separated into four categories of classes. The Apprentice Class, which you're all a part of right now, is the starting point for those who has lesser than one hundred Soul Force, or in other words, yet to become a 1-Star Bronze Rank. Depending on where your future will be, you may move between other classes in the Apprentice class, should you excel in said matter. However, if you've reached 100 Soul Force, or become a 1-Star Bronze Rank, you can join the official classes later on. The next above the Apprentice Class is the Intermediate Class. And above that is the Senior Class."
"I said that there are four categories of classes, right? The last one is a bit of a special one. The one above even the Senior Class is the Genius Class. This is because only 50 people could attend it, and it's usually reserved for the best and brightest of the bunch." He then explained about the academy and its divisions.
"Every year we'll have an examination to determine your physical and Soul Force prowess. Especially for those in the Apprentice Class, you'll be in this class for two years. Should one ever find themselves at the bottom three, they'll be expelled from the Institute." He then finished the explanation of the works in the academy.
Feng Linshi then took a slight break, calming himself down before taking out a scroll.
"I'll now list the top students of our class! These are the candidates that will enter the official classes or even the Genius class faster than you, so work hard to keep up!" He said as he opened the scroll.
"First off-
Chen Linjian, Cyan Soul Realm, 63 Soul Force!
Next one is...
Huyan Lanruo, Green Soul Realm, 75 Soul Force!
And last, but not least is...
Wu Kaoshan, Cyan Soul Realm, 51 Soul Force!" Feng Linshin announced.
The class went into an uproar for several minutes before calming down. They never thought that they'll be grouped with several people that were quite talented.
"As expected of a child from the Chen family! They're geniuses!"
"Huyan Lanruo's even more amazing! Not only she's a looker, she's also top notch in talent as well!"
"But who's that Wu Kaoshan? Never heard of him, though his talent is really something!"
"Remember, they're talented, yes, but you can also try to catch up to them with hard work! I'm looking forward to see you grow for the next two years!" Feng Linshi said as he clapped his hands, calming them down, as he began the lessons for the day.
And thus, began Wu Shan's academy life in the Holy Orchid Institute.