A crowd of natives and players, standing with mixed themselves at the front gate, watched the new arrivals with interest.
"Ah, so it turns out to be the branch from the alliance." Min Song greeted an equally old, but taller man. He hated visits like these where he had to physically look up. Feeling humiliated every time, but showed a smile out of curtesy.
"Yes, chief Song. We actually wanted to come earlier, wanting to inspect the phenomenon. But the higher ups decided otherwise. A diplomatic decision. I heard you were badly hurt from the… you know." The old man tilted his head forward while shaking the other hand.
"Ah, yes, yes, I'm recovering. And I see that you are accompanied by 2 young and strong men." Min Song tried to distance himself from speaking directly with the other.
"Indeed, this is Zhen Xinyue and the younger one is Dai Jun. He is a stage above Xinyue, who is in the middle of the martial artist realm. He is also a year younger, being only 15 years old." Jun Dai smirked at his senior brother, for being pointed out by his elder. The other could only look away in shame as he tightened his fist.
"Unbelievable, being only 15 years and already at the end of the martial artist realm. He is a true genius." The villagers were astonished and even the players could hardly believe it. But then again, it was only a 'game'. So, everything was possible.
'Wait! If he is in the 6th stage, that means he is in the inner circle!' Though he did not show it, the chief was just as surprised as the rest, knowing more about the branch sects.
"Tell me, how long are you going to stay? You must be very busy and surely want to return quickly." He did not want to give that girl any chance, now that her protector has left.
"Elder Hu, we will be doing our best to finish up things as fast as possible." Jun Din spoke up from behind. He wanted to present himself in the best limelight.
Min Song had a bright smile seeing someone supporting his means.
"Slow down the horses and take it easy. I've decided to stay for some days. My neck is a bit sore, so you can take your time testing for good seeds. Besides, I also need to take my time gathering information on the resentful souls." Elder Hu massaged his neck.
The chiefs' happiness was destroyed, hearing the branch sect Elder delaying the departure because of neck pain. 'Have you been looking down on me so much that your neck already hurts?'
"Servant!" He turned around to his secretary and told her to prepare the martial camp.
It did not take long for all to gather at the martial field. The field was tense and the children nervous. This moment was equally on standing with the tournament, if not more important to them. The tournament could grant them a little trophy, but this Elder could open a new door towards cultivation.
"Alright. Xinyue, you can start with the assessment." Elder Hu sat down while some appointed physicians started massaging him.
"En. Those who want to be beaten up, step forward." Zhen Xinyue snorted. Previously, he had been humiliated by Jun Din and needed to let of some steam.
Zhihao stepped forward, provoked by the examiner. "Hmph. Don't you look down on our people to much? I will show you that we are more than just weaklings."
Zhen Xinyue didn't mind whom he was up against. "Eh, aren't you a bit too old to participate in this kind of event? Fine. I will assess you."
"Arrogant!" Zhihao dashed towards the decade younger opponent.
Peng*
The outcome however, was striking. Zhihao laid flat on the ground; unconscious. Everybody from the village sucked in a cold breath. This outcome was totally out of their expectation. This did not look like an assessment at all and more kind to a bully venting his prowess.
"What! How can this be? Isn't Zhihao the strongest hunter and one stage above his opponent?" Min Zhihao was known for being the best hunter the young generation of the Min village had to offer. Yet compared to the evaluator, who was certainly younger than him by half a decade, he stood no chance.
"Yes. But he could not even withstand one hit from that guy. That's what you call a genius." The tested were in turmoil.
Some of the players, who paid special attention to the monolog, were further shocked at how Elder Hu had introduced his accompany. "My god, I just realized that he should be the weaker one of the 2 examiners. Then what about the Elder."
Jun Din smirked. "Our master you cannot imagine. He is already above the Martial Realm. The Super Realm."
The players sucked in a cold breath hearing that.
Above the Martial realm. The Super Realm.
It sounded so awesome.
Does that mean he is as strong as superman?
Those kinds of questions popped up inside the players' minds. Different from the village kids, who had pale faces, they only felt more excited.
The immense strength demonstrated by the Martial Artists had already conquered their hearts, yet inaugurated to information of this magnitude left them speechless.
The old man spoke up. "Jun Din, stop spouting nonsense. I've only touched into the higher realm. My potential, I am afraid, is dried out."
"No, Only those as talented as master will definetly ascend and live long." Jun Din cupped his fists in a half bow.
One of the players cringed up. "It's just a level up. No need to make things so melodratic."
"Hmph, you punny apes think to highly of yourselves. With your aptitude I do not believe even a handful of you can reach that stage in a hundred years." The air became awkwardly tense. The player, unwilling to get further involved, retreated.
The praise was winked of. "Xinyue, hold back a bit. We are here to pick new disciplines and not to cause a scene."
The assessment continued after a night's rest passed.
Min Jidan went up as the last participant. Being reminded by his father to make use of any nick of time he came up with a crafty plan to let the others wear out the examiner. He actually wanted to be the last one on the previous evening, but gave up his spot. Being eyed as a prodigy and gentleman he let Min Pi She take his place. "The best is reserved for last."
Even though it was true that Xinyuan's attack became a little inconsistent, the act of kindness didn't change much though, as both received a beating equal to the other kids.
"Is it our turn now, can we go up too?" The players went more excited with every battle watched. The examiners were interested in them as well. At this point, the players were still an anomaly to them, without knowing anything about their martial expertise. Zhen Xinyue looked at Elder Hu, nonverbally asking for his permission.
Hu Qing was no different from them, being curious himself. In addition, they were the main purpose he was tasked to accompany this time's assessment. With an ok sign from his side, the players went wild.
Having gone through all villagers, willing to participate in the assessment, it was finally the players turn.
"Hold up." Xinyue was about to go on with his rhythm, when he was grabbed and pushed back by Jun Din. He stepped up, taking his partners place. "I am really interested in these people. Between the two of us, you should know, it is for the better if I exclusively evaluate them."
Confidently, John was about to step up as well, but the sudden change in examiner gave him second thoughts. Curbed back, he would let someone else test out the waters first and act later in accordance.
Many players shared this mindset, causing an awkward moment of silence. Yet, there were always people with different thoughts in mind. One of the older players jumped forward. His attire and southern resemblance made him stand out slightly from the rest.
Owen Kushan, dressed in his 'representative' clothes, gifted from the village chief, walked forward with pride and confidence. "This time it's definitely the early bird gets the worm."
Guided by the thought that the element of surprise was on his side he took on the fight.
"Take this, flying squirrel first chop." Kushan ran up. Thanks to his wind vein, he arrived quickly in front of Jun Din. Unhindered he executed his attack, while his opponent jumped back.
"You have a wind vein!?" Jun Din commented in surprise. He had a wind vein as well, which is why he was taken aback when Kushan ran up to him, minimally in touch with the wind element.
"Hehe, as I thought." Kushan attacked anew. But this time, he was pummeled aside like Kuilei had been. The players who had yet to experience demonstrations of the stage above martial learner widened their eyes.
"Tse, don't get cocky. Let's see how you deal with this." The southern oriented player had just withstood the mighty hand slap and was now met with an invisible pressure.
"Wtf! This is like the old man speech at that time." Kushan barely stood on his feet as he tried to go against the extra gravity. His breathing became heavier. Thanks to Jun Din's vein the air around his foe was sucked out as well. Beginning to bleed from his nose Kushan crumbled a breath later.
The pressure vanished after the player collapsed. Kushan quickly regained his consciousness with the returning air. "How did you do that? What is this technique? Can I learn it? What level do I have to be to do this?"
Contrary to the anicipated downcast, Kushan had not lost a shred of positivity. The opposite's vigor and stupidity astonished Dun. Intoxicated by the others praise he blurted out, "don't you know soul-pressure?"
"Soul-pressure? What is that? Is that a skill? Do you have a skill book for it? Where and how do I get it? How much does it cost?" Kushan asked in waves, but Jun Din kept his mouth shut. Why should he tell this barbarian?
Kushan left the stage reluctantly after some time for the next to take his place. He had not been told if he had passed or not. Jun Din had been tasked to fight more of them, in order to pick out the best.
"These relentless souls are very interesting. Their fighting style might be plain and awkward, but they look very promising considering the fact that they were born a few weeks ago."
Elder Hu observed the bullying with half closed eyes.
"I can only agree on that. From my discoveries, although they learn and grow fast, they do not even possess an understanding towards the concept of body and soul. They are more inclined to perceive everything as a 'game'." Min Song shared his findings, which made Elder Su open his eyes some more.
It astounded him quite a bit how some of them had reached the end of martial learner, outside of knowing anything at all in this miniscule amount of time. If their talent and perspective alone could make them grow so fast, what if they were taught of these concepts.
Min Song had thought of this point as well. But as the village chief he refrained from letting them do more than fighting and chores.
Amazed by their potential the Elder went forward to put theory into reality.
After John Cage's flames died under the same pressure he was called by Elder Hu.
"Young boy, what do you know about the soul?"