The dueling pavilion was only a short distance away from the courtyard. Although it was only a third of the size of the former, it was still easily capable of taking in at least a hundred people.
As Yin Hui and the other cultivators followed Mo Gang to the dueling pavilion they were completely silent. If mortals were to pass by, they would appear to be a group of determined individuals calming their minds before a storm. However, this could not be further from the truth. While the atmosphere seemed to be calm and peaceful around the applicants, they were actually sizing each other up behind the scenes.
This was especially true for the ten cultivators who had already passed the aptitude test. Each of them knew that the ten of them were going to be peers. Therefore it was important to make note on who was competition and who was not.
Given that Yu Zhuwa was relatively young and had the lowest talent among the ten, the other nine didn't pay much attention to him. Most of the attention was on Zhang Shi, who possessed the greatest talent out of them all.
"Zhang Shi correct? My name is Wu Fangli. It is a pleasure to meet you."
Zhang Shi furrowed his brows when he received the voice transmission. He turned his head around and traced the message's qi-signature back to a lean young man of around eighteen years of age.
The young man who called himself Wu Fangli was of average height and had a face that was only slightly handsome. He had a pale complexion that bordered sickly and was noticeably thin even with his robes on.
"The pleasure is mine fellow Brother Wu. Perhaps we can have a proper introduction later over a jug of wine?"
"Heh heh heh. It's not everyday where you meet a genius who can produce a sliver of purple on the aptitude test. As for the rest of these so called geniuses, they are merely trash. You and I are different. Not just because the two of us are the only ones with Spirit Manifestation cultivation, but in terms of talent as well."
"If I recall, you had the second highest talent out of the rest of the other applicants who passed didn't you?"
"Heh heh heh. I'll let you in on a little discovery I made while sizing up these inferiors earlier. From what I have seen, every single one of these 'geniuses' used a perfect crystal ball for their evaluation. This includes you, am I correct?"
"What of it?"
"The rest of these fools simply got lucky and managed to find a perfect ball. All this shows is that they have a good pair of eyes. You on the other hand, started with a deficient one and made it perfect yourself. This itself shows that you are different from the rest of them. However, what if I told you that I used a ball with only seventy percent efficiency?"
Zhang Shi's pupils shrank when he heard this, but he kept a calm demeanor as if he was unfazed.
"Heh heh heh. Now I am not saying that I am necessarily better than you brother Zhang Shi. Not at all. In fact if nothing else I see you as an equal. I just wanted to introduce myself to you so that we can have friendly relations in the future. I look forward to accepting your offer on sharing a jug of wine once this lot has finished their pitiful attempts in the alternate exam."
A drop of sweat ran down Zhang Shi's forehead. Although Wu Fangli seemed to acknowledge him as a rival, it felt more like he had been marked for something far more sinister.
There was nothing to really see on the way to the pavilion. No other disciples roamed about and the surrounding buildings looked abandoned. In fact, it felt like they weren't in the sect at all.
[Are we actually in the sect? If we are, it seems like they're intentionally limiting our interactions with it as much as possible until we become full members. For a sect as large as Striking Thunder, I guess it doesn't seem excessive at all to designate an entire towns-worth of land just for potential applicants.] Yin Hui thought to himself.
Limiting one's view of the bigger picture was something Yin Hui experienced back in the Tang Clan as well. During his days as a slave, he had lived his entire life in a desolate village of what he grew up believing was the capital. However, when he met Tang Li he learned that the village he lived in was a settlement exclusively set aside for slaves, barely making up five percent of the capital's territory.
"We are here." Mo Gang said.
The dueling pavilion had a very simple layout. It was a large open arena with a second floor set up for spectators. Spanning around a hundred meters in length and width, it seemed large enough to host many fights at once.
"Those who have passed go up to the viewing platform while those who are attempting the test stay here."
As soon as Mo Gang gave the word, Wu Fangli flew up to the second floor. He took a seat near the center of the platform and closed his eyes. The other applicants who had passed followed shortly after, filling up the seats around him.
Before going up to the second floor, Yu Zhuwa cast a concerned look towards Yin Hui. Yin Hui acknowledged him with a simple nod. Afterwards, he turned towards Zhang Shi. who eyed him with a serious expression on his face. They locked eyes for a short moment before Zhang Shi averted his gaze and went up to the upper level.
After the passing cultivators settled, Mo Gang looked up into the sky.
"Chen Hong! We have a new batch of hopefuls! Exchange a few pointers with them to see if they are worthy of joining the sect!" Mo Gang's voice was magnified many times louder than normal. If a mortal was in the vicinity, the strength of the voice would have deafened them permanently.
"Yes Elder!" A confident voice called out.
A young man who seemed to be in his early twenties descended from the sky. His body bordered a fine line between fat and burly and he possessed a chubby face. As soon as he landed onto the arena, an oppressive might was released that put pressure on Yin Hui and the other applicants.
Wu Fangli smiled, but didn't open his eyes.
"Heh heh heh, Spirit Manifestation? This will be faster than I thought. After all, the strongest ones there are merely at peak Spirit Waking."
"They get to choose from a list do they not? Where are the other disciples?" Another spectating cultivator wondered.
The cultivators who were attempting to gain entry through beating a listed disciple also wondered the same thing.
It was at this moment that Mo Gang let out a cold laugh.
"There are no other disciples! The list changes all the time, sometimes there are more sometimes there are less. This year, the only one on the list is Chen Hong!"
He pulled a scroll out of his robes and opened it in front of the candidates. Other than Chen Hong, there were no other names on the list.
"Now then, who would like to face Chen Hong first?" He asked mockingly.
The thirty or so cultivators who initially showed silent confidence in passing the combat trial were frozen. Even the ones at peak Spirit Waking didn't step up. The disparity in strength between a Spirit Manifestation cultivator and a peak Spirit Waking cultivator was not small. Considering how Chen Hong was also a member of the Striking Thunder Sect, they doubted they could defeat him even if they could close the cultivation gap with treasures.
A large portion of the applicants grit their teeth and began to walk out of the pavilion. They were smart enough to know that Mo Gang held all the power. If anyone were to make a scene, they would be made an example of the same way as the young man back at the courtyard.
Mo Gang turned towards Yin Hui with a condescending look on his face.
"I hope you don't forfeit without so much as an attempt. If you pass, not only can you keep that treasure of yours, but you will also become a member of the sect. However, if you're really not feeling up for it I can just take it now haha!"
"Elder. I can use anything in my bag of holding with the exception of the treasure we are betting over am I correct?" Yin Hui asked.
Mo Gang lifted an eyebrow. He recalled the treasures that Yin Hui removed from his bag of holding earlier, which included some that were of the Spirit Manifestation level.
"Mm? Yes that should be fine. Because I didn't want to make the test too difficult, Chen Hong has not brought any treasures along with him. He will be relying purely on his cultivation base and techniques."
[Even if he has Spirit Manifestation level armaments, his cultivation is only that of peak Spirit Waking. Chen Hong is an early stage Spirit Manifestation cultivator with a manifested ethereal spirit. There is no way this brat can win.]
"In that case, I hope brother Chen could teach this country bumpkin a thing or two." Yin Hui stepped into the arena and clasped his hands towards Chen Hong.
Chen Hong let out a short chuckle.
"I'd say you are fifty percent brave and fifty percent foolish for choosing to face me with such meager cultivation. Don't take this the wrong way, but by the end of this duel that fifty percent of foolishness will turn into a hundred."
The dejected applicants who were originally about to leave stopped when they saw Yin Hui step up to the arena. In the end, they all decided to stay for varying reasons. Some simply wanted to see Yin Hui fail, while others wanted to observe the techniques of a member of the sect.
Wu Fangli sunk further back into his chair.
"Heh heh heh. Merely a frog at the bottom of the well overestimating his capabilities. Judging by the oppressive might he let out earlier, I believe that this Chen Hong is at the early stage of Spirit Manifestation. This ant facing him on the other hand seems to only be at peak Spirit Waking. Isn't that the guy who's talent was so trash that the elder needed to be bribed just to let him compete?This will be over quickly."
"You may be right Brother Wu, but I have a feeling there is more to him that meets the eye." Zhang Shi retorted from a couple seats away.
"Oh? I assume this means you think that he might actually win. Then how about a small competition to see who has the better foresight Brother Zhang?"
"Very well. Whoever loses has to buy the wine once we are in the sect."
"Heh heh heh. Deal!"
A small distance away from the rest of the spectators, Yu Zhuwa sat by himself, staring down at the arena with greater attention than the others. He did not say anything, but there was a determined glint in his eye.
[Early Spirit Manifestation? If that's the case, its not my brother who's overestimating his capabilities, but this Chen Hong!]