As Madlenkosi exited the forest after his 2-day trek he looked up to see a vast area with steps leading to a semi-circular platform.
As he climbed the stairs he saw an expanse of heads and hair of all colors bustling about and keeping noise.
"SILENCE!"
An order was barked out as it shook the area, frightening everyone silent.
"For those taking the preliminary exam, please come to the left, everyone else please leave the testing area."
As he looked up he noticed a man in long fanciful white garbs standing in mid-air, his white hair was tied up with a golden pin, his mustache, and beard flowing in the wind as he looked on. Like a deity, he stood in the air like he was on an invisible platform.
Madlenkosi made an audible gasp at the sight.
"Bumpkin" someone muttered under their breath as they started to snicker which drew the eyes of others, but as they laid eyes on him everyone was startled and the crowd became rowdy once again.
The man standing above them in the air frowned. As he swept his eyes to the center of the disturbance his eyebrows raise and his eyes widened in shock. He slowly came towards Madlenkosi as if he was walking down a flight of stairs. He was intrigued by what he saw.
He looked at Madlenkosi as he said "One of the Jīn Rén people".He had mistaken Madlenkosi because of his now golden brown color.
" Why are you here little junior Jīn?" the man said with a warm smile.
It took Madlenkosi by surprise as he handed over the recommendation letter.
The man opened the letter as he read it and smiled "As expected of the Jīn Rén people, innate heavenly strength of 2 elephants before even cultivating. Good, Good" as he repeated good twice.
The man thought to himself what a good seed had fallen into the Titan Gate's lap.
"Junior Jīn, though this test won't be much for you, it won't look well if I just waived it for you. Go forth and show the strength of your people" The man said with a smile.
Madlenkosi nodded to the man and approached the first testing area as directed. It was a testing gate for his bone age. As he walked up to it he could tell it was old from the aura it gave off. He calmly walked through the gate and as he stepped through an outer disciple at the side shouted. "11 years of age Bone Tempering Realm, Peak!"
It was the first time he heard of Peak, which was used to describe your place within the layer, which can be separated into low, mid, high, and peak stages.
He proceeded to the second testing area after noticing other examinees starting to pay attention to him.
"Hey, have you ever heard of the Jīn Rén tribe?" a young female examinee asked the other.
The other young girl puffed up her chest and said knowingly "Yes, they're an ancient tribe, similar to humans but far more gifted when it comes to Body Cultivation so they usually take that path."
Many examinees overheard and were wowed by this natural ability.
As Madlenkosi approached the second test it was a wall with a painting that seemed to be constantly changing, this exam was to test the perception and comprehension of examinees.
As he sat on a small woven straw mat, He started up at the painting on the wall.
He felt like everything around him was changing and turning dark. When he noticed, he was on a battlefield as he saw a man with a staff swing full-on in his direction. The staff seemed to have split the clouds as the rain that was once falling was immediately stopped. Sunlight shone down on the wet floor but nothing else aside from that one staff could enter his eyes. The man holding the staff, his body looked like it was cast from gold as he brought it down to slaughter all in his wake.
The staff got bigger and bigger in his eyes, but he couldn't move a single inch, his breath was held as his heart clenched up and sweat ran down his brow.
He had never felt more close to death than at this moment...
And right before the staff cracked his skull open, the staff shattered like glass and the man of gold smiled at him.
Madlenkosi awoke on the straw mat covered in a cold sweat, the staff technique still fresh in his mind, as he unknowingly names it, 'Strike the Heavens'.
....
"Junior Jīn? Junior Jīn?!"
He looked up to see the deity-like man standing over him.
"Yes Please?" Madlenkosi replied.
"The perception test is over, you can continue to the third testing area," The man said.
He proceeded to get up and dust himself while giving a quick nod before walking to the third test area.
As the man watched Madlenkosi's back he wondered to himself why could he now feel the ancestor's aura on him. "Is it because they're the same race or is it due to something else" He looked toward the perception test. "What did you see?"
When he finally reached the third test, he heard the outer disciple supervising it explain to the nearby examinees that they are allowed to use Martial Techniques of their choosing. After a few examinees, it was finally his turn. He sized up the testing totem, which was similar to the one in the village but made with better materials and more care.
He took a deep breath to calm himself as he got in position. He thought to himself, " which move should I use from the Moon Gazing Mountain Technique," after thinking for a moment he decided to go with the strongest move, Mountain Embraces the Moon.
As he drew back his fist, the qi within his flesh started to boil as he gathered all his energy into his fist.
Mountain Embraces The Moon!
The air trembled as his hand passed through it. A screeching sound was heard by all nearby. Once his fist connected to the totem a loud blast reverberated across the examination grounds. Examinees who were too close to the impact were blown flying by the wind pressure as it rippled outward in a circular manner.
The outer disciple looked quite disheveled as even he wasn't expecting such a performance but he still made sure to do his job. He shouted, "4 ELEPHANTS OF STRENGTH!!"
A collective audible gasp was made by many examinees who were still standing or without injury.
The deity-like man walked up to Madlenkosi as he handed him his new uniform and a small book, "I'm the outer Elder Yu Guangming, congrats on becoming a preliminary disciple." he said smilingly.