When Cao Yun finally came back to his chamber, everything had changed. Kang Cai sure had been hard at work. It almost looked exactly like his old room in the first-years residence. But somehow, it felt warmer. And when he inspected the room, he heard the slow breathing of the young girl. Apparently, she was sleeping in the middle of the day. Clearly, she had worked extremely hard. Cao Yun remembered Huang Cixi and her attitude. Considering that she was of noble birth, her demeanor probably was an act all along.
However, Cao Yun felt that she had still been honest with him about what really mattered. He didn't feel betrayed. From reading the letter, he had understood that she was afraid to look like someone who had used him to obtain benefits, among which was the Life Boiling Cradle pill. Anyway, all these thoughts were not necessary. When he would meet her again, he would have all the time to talk about their time together and meet the real Huang Cixi behind the mask. Of course, he still didn't know her actual name and he kept referring to her as Mei Yuzhi.
Then he recalled Xiao Xuefeng's words about Meng Jia. Looking through the room, he quickly understood her. His old furnace and cauldron were stored in a corner of the room. And where they should have been set up, there were brand-new tools. The new furnace looked like a very small flattened desk. No trace or mark was visible on it and there were many engravings of trees and fiery birds. On the top of the furnace, there were spots to put the cauldron, but also specific spots to store various powders and a place where you could prepare the ingredients. And of course, there was a cauldron.
With three decorated legs and two handles, the cauldron was standing tall over the furnace. Just like this first tool, the cauldron was expertly engraved and decorated. The lid itself was a beautiful sculpture of a sort of lion with fire as a mane. When put together, the two artifacts were perfect.
Cao Yun found a note on the furnace. "Life Burning Tree and Roaring Scorched Land - 1-star Heaven."
Such a gift was extravagant! Cao Yun was barely able to make Perfect 5-star Earth pills. Obviously, he had done so in order to reach his current rank. But he had only managed to do it with the simplest of pills. Having such tools for his alchemy seemed really overkill. That was when he remembered one of the criticisms he had received from Xiao Xuefeng back then. He used to always reject gift before accepting them. This time, he would gladly accept it and thank his instructor after his successful breakthrough. Cao Yun refused to believe that Meng Jia could fail.
For the rest of the day, Cao Yun worked on this set of Life Burning Tree and Roaring Scorched Land. He tried many refinements and was overjoyed with the quality of the tools. The flame was way more stable and was easier to adjust. Its heat was conducted with more precision and even without spiritual senses, he was able to control which spot it was heating more. In addition, the cauldron gathered the medicinal essence with more ease while purifying the toxins. Working with these tools was really twice the result for half the effort.
-
At last, the final day of the entrance examination was approaching. Just like last year, the new recruits would fight against the current first-years in exhibition duels. Cao Yun was talking with Mei Hua, Sun Liao and Ren Chao. The current second-years were busy training and preparing themselves before their departure to the Ancient Ruins. Some of them were ready to go watch the show in order to have some relaxing time. But Zhi Yin had insisted on keeping training until the very last moment. After two years of hardships with her faction, she was determined to get as much as she could from this third year.
Hence, Cao Yun and his friends already felt like they were second-years and leading this faction. Amidst some taunts between Sun Liao and Ren Chao, they all agreed on how to approach the potential recruits to their faction. During the first week, they had no right to approach them directly. However, it was obvious that some of them would then get in touch with them thanks to Cao Yun's reputation. Of course, adding Mei Hua's and Sun Liao's names to his would increase the curiosity of the recruits.
Their faction was not specialized in anything and they had less to offer than others. Thanks to the pills from Cao Yun and especially Mei Hua, they had quite enough for a few disciples. But they couldn't sustain a very large faction. As such, they agreed, as they had previously discussed with Zhi Yin, they would be strict with the members they would accept. But their conditions would be very light. Zhi Yin's goal was not to have the greatest faction of them all. What she wanted was a faction to allow some freedom to the disciples, away from the big ones.
"By the way, Brother Ren, how is Mei Wang? You won't see each other next year, and the following year neither. Why don't you spend more time with her while you can?"
Mei Hua's question darkened Ren Chao's face.
"Well, the Coiling Silk Faction will be lead by someone else while she's gone. So she needed time to organize everything. And just like Faction Leader Zhi, she needed to get ready and I didn't want to disturb her. But it will indeed be hard...
"My third year should be busy enough with the Ancient Ruins that I won't be able to think about her. However, I don't know what this second year will be like." Then, a huge smile replaced his darkened look.
"Thankfully, I'll be adventuring with Brother Chen. That should be enough to keep me happy. Of course, I'm not forgetting about Sister Mei. I hope we can have lots of fun all together."
"Aren't you forgetting someone, hammerhead?!"
"Oh? Brother Sun wants to have fun with me as well? I thought this would be beneath you. But of course, with Long Huafang gone as well, you'll feel lonely I guess."
With a reddened face, Sun Liao stood up. "What has she to do with anything?! And who wants to have fun with you?! The only way you know how to have fun is eating until you burst and striking hot metal with your hammer!"
"It's better than staying shut inside your study all day long. If you don't know how to have fun, I can teach you!"
Once they were at it, it was impossible to stop them. Thus, neither Cao Yun nor Mei Hua tried. Moreover, it was obvious in their eyes that they quite liked to be in each other's company.
-
The time had finally come. Several elders gathered the first-years and brought them toward the plaza where dueling platforms were. Just like the previous year, there were around two hundred disciples around the wooden platform. Most of them were first-years and second-years but some fourth-years and a few fifth-years were also there.
After this event, they would all receive their new emblems and go up one year. But for now, they had their old emblems.
Very soon after their arrival, Elder Tang brought the new recruits and lead them toward the wooden platform. This year, they were more than a hundred. Contrary to the previous year, much more people had been able to pass the entrance examination. However, there was no extraordinary prodigy. Last year, three of them had exceeded two hundred points. This year, only one recruit had done so, and he only had 201 points.
His name was Liu Ang and he held his head high. Compared with the second ranked recruit, his results had been great. As such, he thought he was incredible. To be fair, he actually was very good, but not if he were to be compared with the elite of the Wubei Sect. This year's recruits were more average. But this wasn't too bad for the sect. As long as they had potential, there could always been hidden gems within the average recruits. After all, Ren Chao turned out to be very interesting for Chief Elder Tingyu even though he had discarded him as pretty much useless at first.
And having enough recruits was also a good thing. Last year, they had only gotten fifty-seven first-years, that was rather alarming. Apparently they were making up for these numbers right now. Maybe, some candidates had waited one more year before trying the examination.
Anyway, the final test began. Chief Elder Baishen was the one who stated the rules and presided over the final test this time.
Cao Yun had been asked to only fight Liu Ang. However, almost all the other first-years had to fight twice. As such, their fights had been spaced out so that they could fight to their utmost. Despite this disadvantage, not a single first-year lost a fight. Even Mei Hua who was not a great fighter was able to beat up the new recruits.
Of course, no one went overboard. Even Ren Chao tried to control his physical strength. With a single blow from his hammer, without using any martial art, the mere wind he had pushed sent one disciple hurtling toward the ground. Ren Chao seemed a little embarrassed. Just after him, Sun Liao went on the platform with his bow.
Shaking his head after the poor sportsmanship of his friend, he walked on the platform and was faced with a burly fellow.
"You're going to fight me with a bow?! On such a small platform, how can you hope to win? Don't you have a real weapon?"
From the ground, Ren Chao used this chance.
"Yeah. If you're a man fight with a hammer!"
Once again, some wondered whether Ren Chao was fighting with a mace or with a blacksmith's hammer. But hearing his friend, Sun Liao's face darkened.
"Do not worry, Junior. I won't hurt you despite your nasty mouth."
As soon as the fight began, Sun Liao drew an arrow and shot immediately without letting his opponent show any move. "The winged Longma pulls". A large arrow flew through the air and collided with the man's weapon when he tried to block. However, the shock was way more intense than what he had expected and he was sent flying from the platform.
When he stepped down, Sun Liao was confronted by Ren Chao.
"Brother Sun, don't you think you went too far? We're supposed to be welcoming them here. This poor dude couldn't even show one move..."
"Don't you dare...."
"What?! During my fight, this was an accident. But you clearly tried to take him down because of his comment. You're so petty."
Unlike Cao Yun, Mei Hua had to stay down here and bear with their comedy routine. In the meantime, Cao Yun was walking on the platform. In front of him was Liu Ang. The boy was probably fifteen or maybe a bit over fourteen. However, he was an early 5th-grade Mortal. His cultivation had just stabilized a few days ago during the entrance examination. In fact, he had broken through just a week before the actual examination. Just like Sun Liao, he was coming from a noble family but he wasn't as arrogant. The moment he saw Cao Yun, he felt as though he was faced with an unbeatable foe.
Nonetheless, he decided to fight with everything he had.
Liu Ang and Cao Yun both bowed politely and grabbed their weapons. Cao Yun had left his 'Nine Chi Black Dragon Spear' in his chamber and was fighting with a training weapon. Faced with his spear, Liu Ang had chosen a pair of hook swords. The martial art he had trained with was 'Dance of the Jingwei Talons'. Just like 'Azure Dragon's Seven Piercing Stars', this martial art was based around wind which derived from the Wood element.
As the fight started, Liu Ang did not hesitate one instant, 'Sweep the Ocean Away'. Both his hook swords got hooked into one another and he used them as a whip to reach his opponent despite having less range with his weapons. As they flew through the air, the blades caused a wave of wind to go toward Cao Yun.
Cao Yun decided not to use any martial art for now. It wasn't arrogance. He just wanted to train his basics. As he was figuring out how to control his latest technique, Cao Yun had understood that the basics were even more important than he had thought.
By stepping backward, he gave himself a bit more time to strike with his spear. Targeting the exact point where the two swords met one other, he completely canceled the attack. The wind crumbled just before reaching him. Right there, Cao Yun could have won by pressing his attack. However, this wasn't the point of this fight, and he was curious to see what the boy could do.
'Talons Assaulting the River'. Sensing that Cao Yun was letting him exhibit his techniques without ulterior motive, Liu Ang became more trusting. His swords danced in the air and slashed toward Cao Yun. Each time an attack came toward him, Cao Yun evaded at the last moment with as few movements as necessary.
They kept on dancing for several minutes. In fact, there was no ferocity in this fight. However, it was clear to everyone that those attacks were indeed fierce. If Cao Yun were to take one of the attacks without any martial art to defend himself, he would be deeply cut despite the disparity in cultivations. Of course, if Cao Yun had been an 8th-grade Mortal, then this would be different. The density of Wei Qi for someone who had started to open his acupoints was at another level.
Finally, Cao Yun got heated up and decided to counter when he saw that Liu Ang had reached the pinnacle of his technique. All of Liu Ang's momentum was out. Cao Yun stabbed with a direct spear but it was as fast as lightning. Even some weaker first-years failed to see the spear move.
It didn't prevent Liu Ang from feeling it. Even though he had not seen it with his eyes, he had very good instincts. 'Wings to Seize the Twig'. Both hook swords closed around the spear. But the moment, Liu Ang tried to disarm Cao Yun, the spear vibrated. This vibration traveled through his swords and into his hands.
This was a watered-down version of 'Slaughtering the Enemy'. Liu Ang tried to resist but he was unable to hold for long. Very soon, he had to drop both of his swords. Despite his loss, he stayed graceful and bowed while congratulating his opponent.
Cao Yun and Chief Elder Baishen had a great opinion of this boy. He wasn't the strongest but he had very good intuition and his character seemed modest and ready to learn.