At the end of the Yin-Yang Torture Illusion array formation trial, Mei Hua had lasted eight hours and fifty-five minutes, falling short of Cao Yun by only five minutes. They had both exceeded the previous record though.
When Elder Tang started to announce their rankings, the candidates were used to it by now. Each elder gave some rankings and Elder Tang concluded with the top ten.
"Li Gui - 140 points
Ren Chao - 145 points
Zhi Wang - 154 points
Xin Xiong - 154 points
Xin Chen - 162 points
Tian Lan - 179 points
Zhao Qing - 185 points
Mei Hua - 208 points
Sun Liao - 229 points
Chen Guo - 283 points"
Ren Chao was gloomy as he realized that he was falling more and more behind. If it kept on going, he would not even be in the top ten by the end of the exam and there was still one test left.
Mei Hua who should have been elated to be in the top three with points above 200 almost did not react. Sun Liao had no reaction either when he heard the gap between him and Cao Yun becoming larger yet again. And Cao Yun was still recovering and examining his sea of consciousness to fully grasp what was going on. He knew he had passed the trial and that he was first, but everything else did not matter that much.
To say the least, the atmosphere was pretty strange with four of the top ten acting very weird as the other candidates seemed more happy for them than if it was actually them in their stead. Even the chief elders were a little perplexed. Luckily, the candidates were so excited that they failed to notice that the people they cheered did not seem as happy as they should have. And Elder Tang quickly took over.
"The first two tests are done. You all passed the Assessment Stone and the Three Trials. Soon, the last test will begin. But before that, you'll be able to rest some more. Sect disciples will show you to your rooms. I advise you to use this rest to its fullest, for tomorrow's trial."
All the candidates finished their conversations, very excited by what would happened the following day. While their chatter died down, they followed the sect disciples to their respective room. The rooms were what they had seen when first entering, small chambers with metallic doors. They only had a thin mattress on the ground. Obviously, these were meditation chambers meant to isolate oneself from the rest of the world.
And they worked perfectly, no sound could enter or escape these chambers.
-
Cao Yun sat cross-legged on the thin mattress and went into his sea of consciousness. The Zhi character was now fully formed, but it seemed pretty weak with small cracks everywhere, ready to crumble at a moment's notice. Moreover, the Drop of Wrath had stabilized once more, right in the middle of the two characters. Of course, the sea was back to being blue and calm and the sky white and peaceful. The Yi character was pure gold and seemed even sturdier than before, and maybe a little bit bigger as well.
Seeing that everything seemed fine, Cao Yun heaved a sigh of relief. The danger was real, but he had received great benefits. When he tried to draw the Zhi character, he was able to do it seventy-two times. Its True Success stage had been reached and exceeded in a matter of days.
Carried away by his excitement, Cao Yun decided to take some time to examine the star that was shining above his sea of consciousness. Using his stronger intent, he discovered that this was not one star. There were actually two stars orbiting each other. The first one was bright and blue and the second one was half its size, explaining why it was difficult to see at first. They turned rapidly around each other.
Cao Yun was transfixed by their dance. Gradually he began to recognize the movements of 'Azure Dragon's Seven Piercing Stars' through this stellar choreography. Unless someone was able to forge and admire the first star, they could never see this. The star chart in the manual did not even show that they were in fact two different stars so close to one another. He really wanted to keep watching this celestial performance, but he had to admit that he was exhausted. Trying to derive truths with this level of fatigue could easily lead to many mistakes.
After some hesitation, he decided to only cultivate briefly so as to avoid any Qi deviation. He used Zhi and Yi jointly and circulated his Qi according to the 'Cultivation of Wrath'. He could feel his meridians loosening as his energy flew through them.
-
The next day, Cao Yun woke up more energized than he had ever felt in his entire life. His willpower had clearly skyrocketed. He would probably be able to use his intent at its fullest for half a day without any problem. When he finally reached Perfection with Zhi, he would be able to use his intent all day long. At that point, it would always be active in his mind.
The sect disciples gathered the candidates outside of this prison-like underground compound. Elder Tang was waiting for them. Once the sect disciples had lined up the candidates, he started to speak.
"Congratulations! You are now all official outer disciples of our Wubei Sect."
All the candidates were visibly confused as they thought that today would be the final test.
"I see that you're a little lost. Let me then explain to you the three tests once again."
"The first test only consists of the Assessment Stone to see if your cultivation is high and stable enough for the second test. You can see it as another kind of screening. It's just a little more precise that the screening you already passed. The second test is composed of three trials meant to assess you according to your fighting ability, your comprehension and your will. Each trial removes candidates who are too lacking in any of these aspects. But they also determine the amount of points you'll receive."
"You should be wondering what is the use of these points... You'll find out after the third test but to sum it up briefly, they're a kind of currency within the sect, allowing you to get better resources."
The candidates all recalled how many points they had and felt either dejected or pretty good. They knew that having more points was probably a good thing, but they mainly thought it would decide on their passing the exam or not.
"Then the third so-called test. This test is not meant to determine whether or not you're worthy of joining the sect, but rather to better test your aptitude and rank you within the sect. It's also a kind of rite of passage. You will be faced against the current outer disciples of the sect who passed the exam last year. They've cultivated and trained within the sect the whole year. As you see, this 'test' is a tradition of our Wubei Sect and will not change our decision. It's still technically part of the examination, so you won't be able to wear our sect uniform yet. But for all intent and purposes, you are outer disciples of our Wubei Sect."
The candidates started to whisper among themselves.
"Follow me, then, toward your sect!"
When they heard the Wubei Sect being referred as 'your', the candidates finally realized that they had succeeded. Elder Tang let them some time for the news to sink in.
The remaining commoners jumped in the air to express their joy and excitement. Ren Chao took Cao Yun in his arms.
"Brother Chen, I'm in, I'm in!" Cao Yun wanted to tell him that so was he, but he abstained from it.
After several minutes of raw celebration, Elder Tang finally cleared his throat and asked the newly appointed outer disciples to follow him.
They reached a gigantic door, almost as big as the Shell Gate but red. Before crossing the gate, Elder Tang stopped and explained.
"This is the Heart Gate, only special guests and disciples may walk through it. Even the servants must take the long way around. When you cross this gate, remember, you are disciples of the Wubei Sect! Be proud of what you achieved but stay humble and uphold the dignity of our sect, your sect!"
With a solemn attitude, all the candidates walked beneath the huge Heart Gate. Pride and joy overtook them and they felt a little bigger when they came out the other side.
Cao Yun also felt something. He was a little bit closer to his ambition. Avenging his family would require information and strength. The sect would give him both, through connections in the Hongchen Kingdom and through training and resources.
-
Once on the other side of the Heart Gate, they saw the scenery change. Between the Shell Gate and the Heart Gate were all the facilities, the training grounds, the large buildings of the sect. After the Heart Gate, was a more residential area. The buildings were pretty basic but they seemed very old. The Wubei Sect had existed for more than ten thousand years and these buildings were at least that old and still standing.
Few people were walking the streets. And the only ones who did were servants. In a sect, servants were people who got in before they could pass the requirements. They would be employed to serve the disciples and help the sect in various activities such as cooking, cleaning and this sort of things. In exchange, they would get some resources and training to help them become true disciples later on. Most of the time, these servants were pretty young, between twelve and fifteen.
Elder Tang lead the new disciples straight to a square from where huge clamors could be heard.
As they approached, they saw around two hundred people wearing the Wubei Sect uniform. They were standing around a wooden platform clearly designed for duels.
These people wore a small emblem on their chest. It had two characteristics. The first one was a number that probably indicated their year, and behind it was a symbol different for every disciple. For some it was a red cliff, for others a purple cloud, and a few had a flying swallow. These symbols were meant to represent something but right now Cao Yun did not know what it was. With his intent, he quickly realized that there were only eight different symbols.
The other thing he realized was that most of the emblems had the numbers one or two. There were some numbers four and five, very few of them, but no number three.
Elder Tang entered the square first. All the disciples bowed respectfully to him. Some servants came to show the new recruits to their area. Among the disciples gathered in the square, the new recruits recognized some of the faces from the sect disciples who had accompanied them during the trials.
Most likely, the gossip had spread throughout all the disciples. Indeed, many of them were staring at Cao Yun. He got a little uncomfortable and it served to make Sun Liao even more jealous.
The new recruits lined up on the wooden platform. It was big enough to support at least a hundred people. With them being only fifty-seven, it seemed a little empty. Most years, the sect accepted around eighty recruits. This batch was indeed a little small.
From the sky, the chief elders descended. As they stayed above all else, floating in the sky, all the disciples cupped their fists and bowed to them.
"This junior pays respect to the chief elders." The new recruits imitated their seniors.
"Our new disciples have been chosen! Welcome them in our Wubei Sect!"
All the disciples cupped their fists. "Welcome, Junior Brothers!"
And the new guys followed suit. "Thank you, Senior Brothers!"
The man in the sky kept talking, he was Chief Elder Luoming. "From today onwards, and as long as you uphold the name of our Wubei Sect, you are all brothers and sisters. Conflict may arise between you, but remember! We all strive for the betterment and protection of mankind!"
All turned toward the chief elder. "This junior understands, Chief Elder!"
"Now, as per the tradition, juniors and seniors will fight on the examination platform. For this day, forget about seniority. But do not forget, these are not life-or-death battles. Show your strength but also show restraint."
He then landed on a higher platform with the other chief elders. Cao Yun also recognized Xiao Xuefeng. They probably all observed them during the tests. He vaguely remembered her naked in his illusion and quickly erased this picture by circulating both Zhi and Yi. She was a Spirit Warrior, if he had indecent thoughts about her, she may be see through him, and his fate would be terrible. He also thought that this was disrespectful.
Elder Tang took over after Chief Elder Luoming.
"Each one of the new disciple will fight one of the first-years. This test serves to show your strength as new disciples and for the first-years to showcase their progress during the year they trained with us. The fights have already been decided. To be clear, there is no ranking in these fights; just show us your ability."
When he heard it, Sun Liao got thinking. He looked at Cao Yun. He had already lost his bet, but technically the examination was not over. He had to think of a way to bridge the gap between us, but it seemed like no point would be awarded in this test. Most of all, he wanted to fight Cao Yun. Yes, he had been astounded by him, but he still had a chance. They had the same cultivation, so the result of the fight was not certain.
"Given that you still don't have real weapons yet, you will all fight with the training weapons. But this time, you can choose any weapon, even several of them. You can also use all your martial arts and techniques, but no artifact. The rules are simple, if you get knocked out, if you give up or if you fall from the platform, you lose. Killing and irreversibly wounding your opponent is strictly forbidden. You are all disciples, brothers and sisters. Some accidents can always happen but in this case, I will personally stop the fight. And if you try to seriously hurt your opponent on purpose, do not blame me for being cruel. Are the rules clear?"
"Yes, Elder Tang!"
"Fine, let the final test begin!"