Standing still in the courtyard, Long Tianyu took a deep breath, the morning dew still fresh in the air. Holding a white inner robe and black outer robe on his shoulder. Putting on the clothing, he inspected himself from his head to his feet. The white inner robe was hidden under a black robe with a silver dragon coiling around his right sleeve.
The clean clothing made, Long Tianyu look like a noble kid from the city instead of a countryside bumpkin. “Tianyu, I want to see how far you have gotten in your cultivation’’ Uncle Lei’s gentle voice could be heard from next to him.
Long Tianyu, tying his hair up, turned his head to see Uncle Lei holding meat jerky and a few buns in his hand. “Uncle Lei, where did you get these clothes from? They seem like they would cost 100 teals of gold,” Long Tianyu said in astonishment.
“Tianyu, the sect will arrive soon, I want to see how much you have grown in the last three months” Freeing his hands, Uncle Lei put his right arm behind his back, waiting for Long Tianyu to make his move.
Long Tianyu readied his body and immediately sent out a punch to Uncle Lei''s chest. Only to see Uncle Lei move his chest slightly to the left and dodge the punch.
Uncle Lei responded by just pushing Long Tianyu to the right with his free hand still in the same position.
Long Tianyu sliding across the floor stopped himself by planting his feet down and pulling his chest forward to stabilize his center of gravity.
‘Uncle Lei only pushed me, and I almost crashed into the wall, if I hadn’t stabilized myself there it could have been bad for me’ Looking back at Uncle Lei, Long Tianyu covered the small distance and performed a set of kicks only for them to miss or be blocked.
Breathing in and out, Long Tianyu catches his breath for a moment and thought of a plan on how to land a punch at least, without stopping his fists came at Uncle Lei again.
Easily deflecting the attacks, Uncle Lei used an opening in Long Tianyu’s flurry of attacks to trip him up. Landing on his back, Long Tianyu slowly stood up, wiping off the dust on his back, he slowly walked closer to Uncle Lei.
When there were only 3 feet between them, Long Tianyu took a step and did a roundhouse kick with his right foot, and saw it miss Uncle Lei’s head, he immediately planted his right foot down and shifted his torso sideways along with his elbow out intending to hit Uncle Lei in the chest.
Uncle Lei caught the elbow within his right palm, but didn’t expect Long Tianyu to unexpectedly force his body forward, making him take a step back.
Long Tianyu twisted his body and along with it, his left fist hoping it would catch Uncle Lei by surprise and land. But alas, he felt his fist not hitting his uncle but a firm palm instead.
Laughing out loud, Uncle Lei smiled brightly, “So teaching you how to fight in the forest was not a waste after all, but now it’s my turn, get ready’’
Not underestimating a 9<sup>th</sup> rank, Long Tianyu immediately went into a defensive stance. Uncle Lei only shifted his body forward, but he felt an immovable force like a mountain crashing on him, allowing no escape. While stuck in the pressure, Long Tianyu didn’t notice the fist coming for the center of his chest. When the pressure faded, he felt a light tap on his chest.
“Tianyu, your father would be proud of you if he could see your progress, now let''s eat’’
While grabbing a bun and meat jerky, Xiong Han''s voice could be heard outside the courtyard. “Brother Tianyu, come quick, someone from the sect has arrived’’
Glancing back at Uncle Lei and seeing him nodding, Long Tianyu left the courtyard with a bun and jerky in each hand. Outside the courtyard, Xiong Han was shocked when he saw Long Tianyu in his new clothes.
“Bro Tianyu, are you sure you''re not some lost child from a cultivation family or something? You look like you don’t belong here and you’re too damn good looking maybe, I should beat your face a bit to make it fair’’
“Hehe I have always been good looking, you just haven’t noticed yet, let’s go before they leave’’
On the way, Long Tianyu shared half of his breakfast with Xiong Han, quelling their hunger. Arriving at the village center, a crowd of people surrounded a huge square, on it stood a person wearing grey robes intertwined with red flames directing some people to prepare the square for the examination.
“Brother Tianyu, that person must be from the sect, right? he doesn’t look that powerful’’
“We don’t know unless we fight him, who knows he might even be above the body tempering stage, now let''s just wait’’
While waiting for the sect examination, Long Tianyu heard the nobles murmuring to each other as someone arrived. Looking toward the direction where the murmurs began, the crowd split apart like the sea, allowing a youth wearing white robes and a light blue color in the shape of gentle waves across the robe to walk to the edge of the square, making the area around him devoid of people.
Walking a bit closer to the commotion, Long Tianyu approached a well-dressed youth. “Brother, may I know who that person is?’’ he said while pointing at the youth in white.
“And why should I tell you that, it doesn’t matter today is the day I change my fate, so I’ll be a magnanimous person and tell you. Everybody outside this village avoids him because they don’t want to get involved in the county clan war’’
Frowning, Long Tianyu looked back at the youth, “County clan war, what is that?’’
The noble just sighed “I forgot you’re a village bumpkin, listen well the county of Ju is ruled by 3 clans, the Xiang clan, the Wang clan, and the Zhou clan. Each clan has been fighting for control over Ju County with the Xiang clan being the strongest, but lately, misfortune after misfortune has been plaguing the Xiang clan, causing them to be the weakest of the 3. Lately, there has been a rumor that the Wang and Zhou clan is planning to get rid of the Xiang Clan. That kid is the adopted son of the Xiang clan patriarch, now don’t bother me anymore’’
“Brother Han, let’s meet the famous son of the Xiang clan’’
“What, wait haven’t you heard…’’ before Xiong Han could even complete his sentence, Long Tianyu already started making his way to the youth in white, he could only awkwardly follow behind his brother with all eyes on them.
The youth frowned at the two unsuspected visitors to his side, “don’t you know who I am’’
“Truth to be told, we only heard about you just now, young master of the Xiang Clan’’ Long Tianyu replied with a calm laugh.
‘Damn this kid is handsome maybe I should be like Brother Han and just beat him up to make it fair for us’ Long Tianyu thought while looking at the face of the youth.
“I must admit you’re brave by standing next to me, you could be mistaken for being my ally, aren’t you afraid of being killed by the two clans’’
“I may not know much but I''m sure the governor won’t allow the clans to kill innocent villagers indiscriminately’’
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
The youth in white laughed out loud at Long Tianyu’s bold statement, clasping his hands “I must respect you for your bravery, not many people willingly put themself in danger, the name is Xiang Yingjie’’
“My name is Long Tianyu and the big guy behind me is my brother, Xiong Han, I’ll call you brother Yingjie, you can also just call us by our surnames’’
“Brother Tianyu, I hope you won''t regret this decision of yours’’
They didn’t have to wait long before a shadow covered the village center, looking up. The pristine hull of a ship could be seen slowly descending until it was 10 feet off the ground. The boat of ancient design had runes darting across the hull as it floated above the square, an elder in a fiery red robe jumped off the ship, followed by a middle-aged man holding a book.
As the elder landed, the disciple bowed, “Disciple greets the elder”
The elder looked around the square filled with thousands of people, nodded and shouted,
“Bring the examination tools”
10 disciples wearing different colored robes descended off the ships carrying two magical tools. While the disciples were busy with the examination tools, the elder looked towards the crowd. “I am an outer sect elder, I will be explaining the rules of the examination. The first rule is you must be under the age of 16, the second rule is your cultivation rank must be at or higher than the 1<sup>st</sup> rank of body tempering stage, and that is it, now line up in front of the table”
The elder, done explaining the rules, walked to the center of the square and took a sword off his hip. Removing the scabbard, the elder gently let go of the sword, letting it float upright in the middle of the square. Nodding toward the middle-aged man, he stood to the side and closed his eyes with the disciples silently standing behind him.
The middle-aged man walked to the center and shouted, “The first test is to test your cultivation rank, the second test is to test the grade and element of your spirit root, the last test is to test your physique, but it is not required to join the sect’’
After explaining what the tests are, the middle-aged man sat at the table on the north of the square. When he sat down 2 disciples walked from behind the elder and stood by the first and second examination tool.
The crowd, once a sea of people, is now a line of youths with most of the nobles and the rich at the front while the poor can only bite their lips and stay in the back bitterly waiting for their turn.
Long Tianyu and his two brothers were somewhere in the middle of the line waiting for their turn with nothing else to do he patted Xiang Yingjie''s shoulder “Brother Xiang Yingjie, me and Brother Xiong Han don’t know much about cultivation, you came from a city do you know what kind of test it would be’’
“I''m not sure every sect has a different method of accepting disciples into their sect, but what is always tested is the spirit root of a person’’ looking at the blank faces of Long Tianyu and Xiong Han he forgot that this is a backward village far away from any city or town.
He sighed, “The first stage of cultivation is not even considered a rank, and a person in this stage is but merely a mortal with strength that is the body refinement stage. Above that is the qi condensation stage, where cultivation truly begins’’
Xiang Yingjie, closing his eyes and contemplating for a second, opened his eyes, “The spirit root is what allows us to absorb the qi around us and is also accompanied by an element that we were born with. The most common elements are fire, earth, water, wood, and metal, but there are also rare elements that only appear in 1 person out of 10000”
‘I didn’t know that there would be so much more to cultivation than I thought, but that only makes it more exciting’ Long Tianyu was about to thank Xiang Yingjie but was stopped by him.
“I’m not done yet. Besides spirit root, there is also the physique of a person aiding them in their cultivation, giving them a unique power of their own. Lastly, there is also the empty spirit root’’
Long Tianyu looked at Xiong Han with a confused look, the word ‘empty spirit root’ clearly meant something.
It took a while for Xiang Yingjie to find his words, “an empty spirit root is a spirit root without an element and can’t absorb the worldly qi. There is a 1 in 1 million chance for a person to be born with it, they will be stuck in the body tempering stage for their whole life, not even stepping half a foot into the qi condensation stage’’
Long Tianyu clasped his hands and bowed to Xiang Yingjie, “brother Yingjie, thank you for sharing your wisdom with us, we owe you one, and what is your cultivation at?”
“We’re brothers now so don’t worry too much about it and I''m half a step into the qi condensation stage”
Long Tianyu and Xiong Han looked visibly shocked at their newest brother''s cultivation. Patting Xiang Yingjie''s shoulder. “Brother Xiang Yingjie, Xiong Han and I might have to depend on you if we get into the sect”
Xiang Yingjie only smiled weakly, “My meager strength won’t protect us in the sect, there is always someone stronger than me, so all we can do is get stronger”
At the end of his words, anger could be seen on Xiang Yingjie''s face. Long Tianyu noticed the change and decided not to mention it. Sometimes it''s better not to probe into people’s secrets.
When the sun had risen to midday, it was finally their turn. Xiang Yingjie went up first, and walked up to the middle-aged man, busily writing in the book “name and age”
“Xiang Yingjie, 10 years old” receiving a nod from the middle-aged man, he walked up to the first examination tool, a slender pillar about 10 feet high stood before him with a hand cut out and 9 black gems embedded from bottom to top.
Placing his right hand on the groove, a bright light filled the pillar. As the pillar glowed brightly, the 9 gems were filled with light. Before the disciple standing next to the pillar could open his mouth, the elder standing by the side did not react, until now. Opening his eyes, the elder laughed out loud, “child you said you were 10 years old and already half a step in the qi condensation stage, do go on with the examination”
This time the elder didn’t close his eyes but kept a close eye on Xiang Yingjie.
Xiang Yingjie calmly walked to the next tool. A white sphere sitting on a silk cushion in a box the size of a human head had countless golden runes dart across its surface. Placing his hands on the sphere, it glowed a bright blue color.
The disciple standing next to the table loudly announced “middle-grade spirit root upper water element”
The elder nodded and mumbled “That old man of the sea stabilizing pavilion would be happy to have him as a disciple”
Xiang Yingjie calmly walked to the last test, a sword engraved with runes and texts gave off a warm glow. Holding the handle, Xiang Yingjie felt the world around him spin for a moment but quickly stabilized his body.
Swinging the sword in a downward motion, slight ripples spread out from it like waves. Breathing heavily, Xiang Yingjie quickly let go of the sword, letting it float back into its original position.
The elder smiled and waved for Xiang Yingjie to come closer, “Child, you have the endless sea physique, it’s a unique physique allowing you to have a stable dantian and a large reserve of qi. Are you willing to join the Five Mountain Peak sect?”
cupping his hands and bowing, Xiang Yingjie calmly opened his mouth, “Junior is willing to join the sect’’
The elder smiled and nodded for him to stand behind him with the rest of the accepted youths. Xiong Han climbed the steps onto the square. The middle-aged man looked at him with disinterest and said, “Name and age”
“Xiong Han, 11 years of age’’ receiving a nod, he walked up to the first test, following Xiang Yingjie''s steps, he placed his hands on the groove, lighting only two gems, showing his 2<sup>nd</sup> rank in the body refinement stage.
After testing his cultivation, he walked to the second test, placing his hands on the sphere, it glowed a brown and silver color. The disciple standing next to the sphere was visibly shocked even more than when Xiang Yingjie''s spirit root got tested, “Middle-grade spirit root, middle earth, and metal element’’
The elder once again laughed out loud, “Another talented child has been found by me, that Core foundation pill is as good in my hands’’
A grin appeared on Xiong Han’s face knowing he’d be accepted into the sect. He walked to the last test, gripping the sword with a slight discomfort on his face, but it quickly went away, he breathed in and out, then swung the sword downwards. Once the blade was swung, a heavy aura came out of the sword sweeping the dust off the square and cracking the floor where he stood.
A bright smile appeared on the elder''s face, “It is my lucky day, child, you have the earthen beast physique allowing you to have the strength to smash mountains and a body as strong as bronze. Are you willing to join the sect’’
Xiong Han quickly walked up to the elder and bowed, “Junior is willing’’
Receiving a nod from the elder, Xiong Han walked to Xaing Yingjie.
Seeing both of his brothers succeed, he felt calm. Walking up the stairs, he approached the middle-aged man ‘’Long Tianyu, age 13’’
Receiving a nod from the man, Long Tianyu walked in front of the pillar. placing his hand in the groove after a moment, 3.5 gems lit up as he expected. Standing in front of the orb, Long Tianyu took a deep breath before placing his hand on it, after 5 seconds, no color appeared on the orb.
The disciple next to the table sighed, “No spirit root in the body, I''m sorry, but you must walk off the platform’’
Long Tianyu stared blankly at the orb only after being reminded again by the disciple, did he moved. Looking at Xiong Han and Xiang Yingjie, he could see that they were about to ask the elder to give him another chance, but before they could, he shouted at his brothers, “Bro Han, Bro Yingjie don’t worry about me. Cultivate and get stronger, don’t forget about your brother here, and bring wine when you come down from the mountains’’
Walking off the platform, Long Tianyu neither felt sad nor angry, only a sort of unexplained calm.
‘So, what if I have no spirit root, I will still try to break that barrier and enter the qi condensation stage and build my path, even if it takes my whole life, I will still try. Even if I die, I would say I have not backed down and walked my path’