"Breathe." Lind felt like his head was no longer attached to his body, or maybe that was his stomach. A voice pierced his confusion with one word and he obeyed it. Air filled his lungs which resonated with his wind Qi. Lind's innate cultivator talent kicked in and circulated his Qi.
It had been some years since he let loose but for some reason his cultivation did not increase. Instead, it was as if he was realigning his body through the circulation of Qi. The thought sparked a deeper understanding of his original foundation when he first broke through into the Soul Realm.
The elements are not just the dantian and the Qi in the world, but part of his body as intricately woven as blood. It is not about tempering what is in his dantian alone, but his entire being. Lind felt the elements clear his mind and the tempering of his dantian broke through to high tier 5!
Fetid air escaped Lind's body as the world came back into focus.
The first thing Lind saw was vibrant green mixed with violet eyes. The unique color was likely due to cultivation elements changing them, but the effect was quite entrancing. Lind slowly realized it was a slim face the color of cream that had pale lochs of lilac. The dark violet robe with a massive lotus on it shocked him back into the present.
"Junior greets her Highness." He did not know specifics, but after talking with Princess Jia, he knew well what this robe represented. It was a member of the imperial family! Lind noticed he was not alone with her, but the various decorations on their clothes from robes to armor showed they had also been teleported here.
"There is no need for that. You have passed the entrance test to get here, we are all equal at this moment." A bright smile and calm demeanor made a stark contrast to Lind's experience but he remembered Princess Jia was a bit different from typical royal members. Still, he chose to stick to strict manners. He found this was wise as several members of the room sneered at him from his clothes.
"You should not waste your time Princess Astrella. Commoners are lucky to have obtained a token through whatever nefarious means they used." A young man with platinum blonde hair and dark gray eyes stood nearby. If haughty could be given a face, this man would be it. The world was beneath his disdain unless otherwise acknowledged.
The tan robe was not familiar to Lind but considering how he spoke to the princess, he was likely from a power on par with the Lotus Empire or higher. Lind noticed his attitude was not welcomed by most in the room.
Lind finally took a moment to observe his surroundings and noticed the array he was sitting in was now bereft of Qi. Apparently Lind was the last to arrive at this waiting room. He slowly stood up and moved through his training moves to make sure his body was ok. Princess Astrella continued to observe him for some reason but Lind focused on bringing his body under clear control.
Lind could do the moves half asleep, thus his Soul Eyes took in the room. There were several formations but they seemed incomplete. It was not like the gate and his token. There were several areas that were missing key parts but his lack of knowledge in formations made it hard to know what was missing or why. Lind brought his moves to an end and formally bowed to all.
"This junior is Lind Frey of the Frey Clan of the Lotus Empire. May I ask what is the goal of this room?" Surprised looks flashed through the room and Princess Astrella smiled wide at him. She was about to speak when the haughty blonde man jumped ahead.
"Pathetic! You are trying to sound impressive when it is clear we would not be standing around unless we were stuck. Clearly, we have to eliminate our numbers until the door will open. You are likely to be first!" Lind wondered if people like this man stood upright due to the stick stuck up their hind end since birth. Lind gave no opening and simply began to observe the room. Aside from the formations, he zeroed in on something else.
In his studies over the years, the relationship between the elements had been important to him since he had all 6. No one stopped him, but Lind saw that he had overlooked something. The formations were not only missing pieces, but they seemed to flow into each other. He sent out a few basic flows of elemental Qi to see what would react.
Many scoffed at his actions but the Princess continued to observe Lind. Time was possibly a factor now, but Lind did not rush. He could not avoid that this was very much like a puzzle. He just could not figure out where to start.
After a few sticks of incense of time later, Lind glanced across the room. All of the members were in the Soul Realm and Lind would roughly guess the lowest after him was at tier 6. Some were close to the twins' ages, but Lind noticed there was one other person close to his age, the Princess Astrella herself.
The combination of elements in their dantians covered the gamut, but Lind then noticed something. There were 10 people in the room, but aside from himself, each person did not repeat any combination of elements. The 4 women had 2 dual elements and 2 tri-elements. The 5 men had 3 dual elements and 2 tri-elementals. These kinds of cultivators could make the most progress on average.
There were swords, axes, and staves, but also pure conjurers from what Lind could see. Princess Astrella had nothing evident but Lind assumed she had a storage treasure. The haughty blonde man was the same.
As Lind looked at them, the missing pieces and how the formations reacted began to make a glimmer of sense.
"Did you figure something out, Lind?" He nearly jumped out of his skin as the Princess asked him the question. It was the first sign of her relation to Princess Jia with her direct way of speaking. Still, he only nodded but then shook his head.
"I have something, but I want to make sure. Please give me a moment, your highness." Lind assumed a lotus position and began to meditate on the scenarios. He loved puzzles and this room was right up his alley. The missing pieces were not formations, but elemental Qi. The question Lind had to answer was how.
It was not as simple as filling in the gap, but following the sequence and understanding it. This was a waiting room and a test. Lind noticed he had the one combination critical to this group, light and darkness. A few had one or the other, but not both. Lind reviewed his cultivation thus far and what Sheyra allowed him to grasp.
He began to see a glimmer of what he needed, but there was something more. These were not simple elements but the combination of them. There were 10 nodes that needed to be filled and yet that thought felt wrong. These were people trying to enter an academy of cultivation.
Lind remembered the tournament suddenly. He remembered Sheyra fighting him with opposing elements to teach him how to include his harmony in his dantian. He remembered Solon and Shot using their power efficiently and without waste.
Lind opened his eyes and suddenly began to channel the elements at certain points and saw what he missed. It was not as simply as the combinations of elements in their dantians, but how they used it!
There were 2 swordsmen, 2 axe wielders, 2 stave users, 2 conjurers and then himself and the Princess. The haughty man clearly was a conjurer by his belt with many pouches. Conjurers needed materials on a moment's notice.
"Swords to strike, axes to split, staves to defend, and conjurers to dominate, but what are we supposed to be?" Lind spoke quietly but then the Princess scared him by clapping. He had not thought he was that loud.
"Genius! You noticed!" She rushed up to him and shook Lind's hands. This shocked the room as they had been stuck here for a few days now. Princess Astrella had been aloof that whole time, yet now she reached out to a low tier commoner! "I am curious if you have figured out the sequence?"
Lind looked at the room from the back to the massive double door and still felt it was too simple. He needed the members of the room, but there had to be a trick. This was a puzzle. He had only discovered how to move the parts, but not the pattern.
"If I may align the members of this room, I have some tests to run." Lind bowed to them all and they all looked to the Princess and the haughty man. Astrella immediately nodded but the latter was full of disdain. Even so, he shrugged. It would pass the time if nothing else.
Lind began to move certain people. One of the swordsmen was in full armor but the other was only in leathers. The axe wielders and staves were all leather, but the conjurers were cotton and silk. The Princess obviously hid high quality silks or wool, but Lind noticed it was wrong after his first iteration.
One of the sword wielders was a woman and the node was correct for the element but her gender was an issue. Men were yang aligned while women were yin. Lind noticed this mattered and saw the nodes' dissonance thanks to his eyes. A few adjustments and now the right people were in the gaps of the formations.
"Amazing, you must have powerful Soul eyes." A female stave wielder looked in appreciation at Lind. She had Qi in her eyes as Lind assumed his must look like when he channels his gift. Lind only smiled but did not confirm.
"All right. I need you all to channel the technique you are comfortable with. Please do not fully execute it, just the elements involved." Lind had a reason for this. It was too perfect for elemental alignment. Normally, a cultivator would use a technique that used all their elements to produce the greatest result. Lind had severe limitations but channeled light and darkness in each hand.
His eyes showed the formations light up like a Christmas tree in winter, yet it did not connect together to the door. Lind looked over each person and noted 3 nodes where the issue lay.
"Senior swordsman, please decrease your fire element a bit. Perfect." Lind then looked at the result and moved on to the next person. "Senior axe wielder on the left, please increase earth by twice."
The formations were coming together slowly but the last troublesome node was the haughty man. Lind wondered if the universe hated him. The haughty man was a dual elemental of water and light. If the current technique was his strongest, Lind thought he was quite weak. More likely, Lind believed he was causing trouble.
"Your Highness, could you please have the prestigious conjurer to increase both his elements by triple?" Lind bowed to Astrella and saw comprehension in her eyes. Even before she spoke, the haughty man did as asked.
The formations began to resonate as the power of sword, pushed the cutting of axe as the pressure of staves rose the power of conjuring. It was how a party could be formed effectively for a Ruin but that left the final role, leadership.
"Your Highness, please observe." Lind began to use light and darkness to grasp his half of the room. Astrella had fire, water, and earth. They were considered the most powerful combination of primary elements. Astrella nodded and her tri-elemental might at tier 7 took her half of the room.
The formations blazed with light at last and the door was engulfed in Qi before it swung open silently. Lind saw the trick at last. It had been too easy.
"HALT! Staves first, then swords, axes, and finally conjurers." Lind saw confusion at his words but Astrella nodded at all and the pair closest to the stave wielders moved first. The formation held! The next pairs moved as ordered until blinding light filled the room. Lind blinked and finally understood.
"If one was to organize a basic group for Ruin delving, the staff wielders can attack or defend while other weapon masters can support or take over. The conjurers need protection and the leaders need to sacrifice being first to lead." Lind felt a hand on his shoulder as he mumbled his words. Princess Astrella smiled at him.
"Elder Sister was right about you, Lind Frey. Good luck!" She moved ahead as Lind wiped sweat from his brow before following them out. As Lind joined them, a blind light flashed over them all.
"Congratulations! You are the first to pass the test of teamwork!" A booming voice greeted them as once again the feeling of the world twisting enveloped Lind.