"So, as everyone has already been tested, let us begin the aperture awakening procedure."
"Everyone needs to absorb the spiritual qi in the air. After you do this, a black vortex will appear in your abdomen. With this, a small black opening will also open in your abdomen."
"From there, you will need to throw the Essence stone in the vortex. After you do that, the vortex will start to absorb the spiritual energy from the Essence stone. The vortex will only absorb the spiritual qi according to your aptitude. If you don't have a talent for cultivation, then the vortex will throw the essence stone out right when you throw it in, and it will close automatically."
"But because you're not cultivators, it will take some time for the black vortex to absorb the spiritual qi from the essence stone. It mostly takes three days, but you will be granted a week. If you still have not awakened your aperture even then, you will not be allowed in the academy and will train for becoming a guard."
"As you are still kids and have yet to absorb the spiritual qi, we will take you to a place rich with spiritual qi. There you can easily absorb the spiritual qi. Come with me."
After the second elder explained all of this to the kids, he brought them along with him and went behind the Academy. He kept on walking and reached a place. This place was a garden. And the gate of the garden had a spirit written on the top of it. The gate was opened and everyone followed the six elders in the garden.
"Sit in the middle of the garden," The second elder brought them to the middle of the garden. Right in the middle was a beautiful wooden Gazebo with vines and flowers surrounding its pillar.
Everyone sat around the Gazebo, one meter away from each other. When everyone sat down, seven to eight men started to distribute the essence stones to the kids. Everyone was distributed with two essence stones.
"Elder, why are we being distributed two essence stones?" A girl asked.
"Even though one essence stone is enough, we distribute two to everyone to be safe. For example, a physique needs two essence stones to be awakened properly. If one essence stone is used, the black opening will appear again in the abdomen."
"And you guys don't need to worry about removing your clothes, as the black vortex can bypass even the flesh, let alone simple clothes. After the black vortex gets the essence stones, it will close again, so as to not let the spiritual qi be leaked. And your clothes will be intact, just like your flesh. So start absorbing the spiritual qi." The second elder explained everything.
After he said this, everyone began to absorb the spiritual qi that was rich in the air. They had only thought about it and breathed when the spiritual qi entered their bodies and began to gather towards their abdomen. A black vortex began to appear in their abdomen. It expanded slowly and finally stabilized. When the vortex was almost as wide as a hand, a fist-sized black opening appeared on their abdomen.
Everyone began to throw their essence stones in the vortexes. When they did that, the pressure was exited from the vortex, and it closed suddenly. Four of the kids were not so lucky, and their essence stones were thrown out of the vortexes. After that, they fainted, and their vortex closed.
"Four failures. Bring them out of the garden and inform their parents." The second elder said.
"Yes, elder."
Yang Zhai was also doing the same. If he wanted to, he could absorb the spirit stone till his aperture was created, but he avoided that to not arouse suspicion. But that was the case only in this garden. He knew that he could not waste this opportunity to get a step ahead of everyone. But he had to be patient to deal with everything and plan ahead.
This was a life in his control. He could use it to reach the peak and could not use it for temporary pleasure. He was a let-loose bird, would he be shot down because of wrong timing, or he could fly across the clouds as he wished. That was his choice to be made.
Yang Zhai looked at the kid from before. That kid was standing at the side as he had already awakened his aperture. He didn't leave because the elder had not asked him to. So, he was standing at the side so as to not offend the elder.
He noticed Yang Zhai looking at him and smiled at Yang Zhai. He was grateful to Yang Zhai. He was a kid, after all, he had thought that Yang Zhai was his savior. After all, Yang Zhai had saved him from a ten-year imprisonment.
Yang Zhai also smiled back at him and turned his head to focus back on the aperture awakening.
…..
After an hour,
"As everyone has already stabilized their vortex, you can leave and come to the Academy after a week. But remember that, only the ones who have awakened their aperture are allowed to enter the academy. Anyone who's delayed by a day will not be given permission to enter the Academy. You all can leave now." One of the six elders spoke.
As the vortexes had already been stabilized in this rich environment filled with spiritual qi, they could leave now. Their vortexes would keep on absorbing the spiritual qi from the essence stone by themselves.
All of the kids began to leave the garden with happy expressions. They were excited that they could become cultivators now.
"Hey, did you see that? The second elder of the academy is so strict. He didn't even allow the four kids to stay in the garden for even a second after they failed to absorb the essence stones and their vortexes closed."
"I was so nervous to see that. What if I had also failed?"
"Forget about them. You should think about yourselves. Now, we are going to become cultivators. We need to think of our future."
"I was really scared when a boy with an awakened aperture was caught by the elders. I thought that he was done for."
"Yeah, me too. But who was the one who saved him? He could speak in front of the second elder fearlessly and confidently. I was impressed by him."
"Yeah, me too. He even dared to speak in front of the second elder."
"Do you think we should make him our friend so that he could help us when the elders are offended by us?"
"I don't know."
Everyone started talking to each other when they came out of the spirit garden. They were even talking about Yang Zhai. Everyone was curious about him.
On the other hand, Yang Zhai entered the inn with the same boy he had protected today. They chose a table at the corner of the inn. Both of them sat opposite each other.
"Thank you for helping me today. You are my savior. If you hadn't helped me today, my life would have been ruined. Thank you again. Anyway, my name is Chin Mae. If you'd like, you can also call me Mae." This boy's name was Chin Mae. He was the one who had been saved by Yang Zhai earlier this morning.
"Don't worry about this, it was what needed to be done. Anyway, didn't you know that the aperture awakening was forbidden, except for in front of the elders of the academy?"
"No, I did know about this. Even my parents knew about this. But I didn't know about The Absorber. However, to be safe, I had also emptied my aperture before going to the academy. And as I wanted to study in the academy, I could not help myself from going there. But, I was caught in the end." Chin Mae explained.
"So, tell me, how did you awaken your aperture?" Yang Zhai got to the point right away. He was calm when he said this.
"Well… I got help from my father. He helped me." Chin Mae lowered his head a little and his eyes were slightly moving here and there. His expression was also a little nervous.
"Don't lie to me. I heard the second elder say that your family is poor and there is no cultivator in your family except for yourself. So, how could he help you? Tell me the truth." When Yang Zhai saw Chin Mae's expression, he understood that Chin Mae was lying to him. So, he said in a calm and low voice.
"Uh…" Chin Mae didn't know what to say and still kept his head lowered.
When Yang Zhai saw this, he smiled a little and said,
"So, you are not going to tell me. I am supposed to be your savior, but you still don't want to tell me. Do you know how it feels to be imprisoned for ten years?" Yang Zhai took a sip of tea from his bowl and said unhurriedly. There was also a dish of cooked fish placed in front of him with the meat of roasted antelope. These two dishes were cooked with different spices from the cultivation world. This antelope was roasted for several hours until fork tender. It was roasted on medium-high heat. It was savory and tender.
"What do you mean by this brother?" Whilst Yang Zhai was enjoying the meat, Chin Mae was not in the mood to enjoy these dishes. He asked what Yang Zhai meant by his earlier sentence. He was a kid, so he couldn't understand what Yang Zhai meant.
"What I mean is that I can also take back the surety I gave to the elders for you. Then you will be imprisoned for ten years. So, I will give you another chance, tell me everything truthfully." Yang Zhai was eating the fish and said leisurely. He was also smiling at Chin Mae.
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