"What do you think, can we find a good junior brother this year?" A man in the group of spectating cultivators inquired to the person next to him.
"No, Most likely not" A younger guy answered him.
"Why do you say that?" a small frown appeared on the man.
"Every year has been worse then the last for decades now" an assured tone of voice came from the young man.
"...Should you really be one to talk? You joined just 8 years ago, Aren't you part of that same generation still?" thinking this would make the younger man regret his words or at least tone them down he responded to defend the kids in question.
"That is why I say it, If only I had been born a century earlier I could have done more" the young man did not care for the rebuttal.
"...mm" the man knew his younger junior had a rather low view of himself, he wanted to give a few comforting words but felt that he specifically should not be the one to do it.
In every generation certain groups of people tend to bring themselves down by comparisons to the past, even if few true comparisons can be made, even the smallest of weakness was exploited to bring themselves down.
It didn't make sense to the man that his junior would do such a thing considering his status but everyone has demons they need to overcome.
"I for one don't mind if they lack a little talent, hard work plays a role as well" A woman nearby joined their conversation.
"We can't expect the best every year after all, plus I need some extra hands to help me tend to the gardens"
"You just want cheap labor" the man scolded.
She laughed at this "Yeah I guess I do, either way they will be better off with me then in the share-houses"
The children watched as several older people conversed with each other, some seemed to know of this event beforehand.
'Oh there is granny nsola, she said she would take me in if I did well today"
'It's that kind old man who said he would take me in regardless of how I do today'
'I must do well today, my parents expect me too'
Several kids had been approached much like Kiara and Man-Shik had been, a simple gift to start off the relations followed by a little questioning to get a grasp of the child's demeanor.
This did not guarantee that they would be taken in as disciples or adopted but it gave them higher chances.
The same could be said for the one's trying to recruit disciples, they might have been the ones to first approach the child but it did not mean they would be the ones to acquire them.
As for the ones trying to adopt a child rather then take in a disciple they would have the easiest time comparatively, the only way they could lose out was if the child did not want to be adopted.
While a good chunk of the children had no parents to care about, the rest already had parents.
Would they be able to see them again anytime in the foreseeable future? probably not but this wouldn't stop them from being unwilling to accept now parental figures.
Aakriti clapped her hands to bring everyone's attention to her.
"Let's not waste time, I had already set up the discharge & renewal formation formation the day before"
Under the kids feet lines of sand glimmered covering the area in a soft yellow light.
This light pulsated covering the children from head to toe without blinding them.
Checking themselves to make sure no wrong had been done to them, the kids relaxed as the sand seemed to revolve around them.
"Don't panic nothing will happen to you, well something will happen but it will not harm you I promise"
Aakriti reassured them a little just so that the more sensitive of the bunch don't start crying.
"Now this formation that I triggered has two simple affects, first it draws out all the energy you have collected thus far in the week and assigns a number to it based on how much it was able to draw from each of you"
She looked at the kids to make sure the kids at least somewhat understood her words.
"Second it will return that energy to you and based on how fast you are able to refill the energy you have lost you will be given a second number representing the time it took to refill your energy bowl, you all get that"
Kao was not impressed 'Why not just do this the second day we were here? I understand we needed to rest our meridians after the first activation of Qi in our body but why wouldn't they just record the time it took to absorb that low quality spirit stone then?'
He had not seen such a method before, why split the acceptance day and disciple acceptance ceremony?
Other kids had different questions.
"How do we know if our bowl is full of energy?"
"I hardly felt anything"
"I did not even practice"
"Will the higher number be better?"
"What is a formation?"
"Do we just sit here and meditate?"
Aakriti responded to some questions "You will learn how to feel the fullness of your bowl naturally, it is like an instinct. You might not have felt the energy enter your body but as long as your Qi meridians had already been activated you will naturally acquire spiritual Qi from your surroundings just a lot slower"
"If you didn't practice that is your own fault, lucky for you we kindly have been feeding you with a type of soul soup, so either way you have some energy inside you" she scolded the one who asked while also giving him a way out.
"As for if the higher number is better, that will depend on how small or large your bowl is in relation to your ability to regain that energy. This is the main goal of this test, to predict your future potential!"
Kao thought about it 'Its... No this might not be so bad, if I still had my past body with my families bloodline I would not need to care about such things. Cultivation would be as natural as breathing air to me, but now things are different. If this sect knows that not everyone can grow at the same pace, they can better assign resources as to reduce wastage thereby having more resources to give to those that really need them'
"Now I don't want anyone to feel worried about what this could mean for your future, I know many of you come from cultivation parents while the rest are new to this. The sect will not abandon you just because you have less then stellar results, today is simply one of the many steps you will have to take to achieve whatever your future goal may be"
Bran Ai heard this and felt it was very timely.
He needed a place to start from, if this truly was as Aakriti said and this was just one step of many then his worries may be lessened.
'Of course those that do well today will have an advantage for the foreseeable future' Aakriti thought.
"Also, we have prepared small gifts for all 213 of you! These gifts will be given after the test is concluded" She lifted a small pouch the size of her fist.
"Now while the formation is running on its own, you will not have to do anything. Simply sit there and wait until the number stops counting"
"What is a formation?"
"Shhh no more questions" Aakriti did not want to answer that question, it involved to many aspects of cultivation that the kids simply weren't ready for.
The kid that asked felt bitter only his question had been left out.
Kiara looked above her seeing the numbers slowly rise.
'The sand isn't touching me yet I can feel small grains leaving my body little by little'
Man-shik looked up with expectations he wanted a high number.
Bran Ai hoped for a 'good' number, he didn't know what would be considered a good number but had hopes for one.
Kao looked unworried.
'This formation doesn't simply take our energy it also lowers our defenses, just how much will it show? I can't stop it from taking my energy, If I standout will this be better or worse? If I don't stand out will they simply ignore me? Which is better for me?"