There are four immortal families, one celestial family and two Primordial sects. The four immortal families are decendents of the beasts of providence. A dragon, tiger, turtle and vermilion bird. There used to be multiple celestial families but they almost all died in the war millions of years ago. The only celestial family left was the Nine Tailed Fox clan. The two Primordial sects were the Five Elements Sect, and the Primal Creation Sect.
The Primal Creation Sect had fewer members but made up for it in combat power. They focused on abstract concepts like Yin and Yang, Space and Time, and Fate and Luck. Although these were all rare concepts, every single member of the sect had an inborn affinity with one of these things.
The Five Elements Sect was the largest and most well known Sect. As long as one had an outstanding affinity with one of the five elements they would be accepted. There were tens of thousands of disciples there that made up for the lower individual combat power.
The two Primordial Sects were complete opposites and often fought with members of the opposite Sect.
The four families were not like this however and lived peacefully without causing trouble for the other. The Nine Tailed Fox clan was usually ostracized because they were only a single clan.
The only time these clans and sects would put up with eachother was when the banquet happened every five years. And although it was called this, the main point of it was to find potential marriage partners and disciples and increase their own power.
Today was one such day. The Primordial Creation Sect was the host for the gathering this time. It would switch every five years.
"Welcome to our humble sect. We hope that you don't find our lacking preparation offending." The deputy Sect master said.
Although he had said this he was just being polite. The entire Sect was decorated lavishly, gold and ornate furniture and decorations were visible everywhere you went. It would be impossible to take five steps without bumping into something that costs more than a third class sect.
Zhenzhen and I were standing next to father waiting for him to tell us what to do.
"You both can go to the inner court and socialize with the other kids your age. Don't cause any trouble." With that he left to talk to the other heads of the families and sects.
"Come on." I reached out and grabbed Zhenzhen's hand and followed the other kids that were about my age.
We arrived at the inner sect and saw exotic foods and a bunch of weird items I had never seen before. There was a tall crystal obelisk and a small stone tablet that seemed out of place.
There were a lot of discussions going on around us as we had approached the two objects.
***
"... happens to be something found in a special secret realm. It's capable of determining the element you have an affinity with while the stone checks the grade of your spirit roots. The brighter it glows the higher the grade." Explanation character one had said.
"Hahaha, finally a way to prove that I'm the best one here." Young master one said.
"Yeah right. Best at bragging. Everyone here knows I'm heaps better than you." Young master three rebutted.
"Let the results speak for themselves." Young master two added.
***
While that was going on, we had been approached by a few boys and girls our age.
"Nice to meet you."
"Pleased to make your acquaintance."
"Would you like me to show you around?"
They all started talking at once with their fist cupped.
Everyone was looking at me and ignoring Zhenzhen, it made me glad she wasn't going to be stolen away by some random scoundrel but also mad because they dared ignore her best friend.
"Hmph" I stormed off towards the food while dragging Zhenzhen along with me.
Everyone was dumbfounded, each of them had an outstanding background and high talent. Had anyone ever openly showed contempt or ignored them?
Perhaps, but they were all probably dead by now.
They didn't know what to do. Were they just going to let this slide? Absolutely not!
When they saw Baek Hong grab Zhenzhen some of them had realized their mistake. They had decided to get close to the little fox first. They just didn't realize that this was an even bigger mistake.
An unnamed Young master had grabbed Zhenzhen's other wrist to stop them from moving. He probably wouldn't be able to swing a sword with that hand for the rest of his life.
When Baek Hong had realized that someone else had grabbed Zhenzhen she felt as if something had snapped. She had lost almost all rationality.
The hand that had grabbed Zhenzhen was promptly grabbed and pulled away by Baek Hong.
With his hand in hers she had squeezed as hard as she could. This young master had his bones ground to dust and his hand squeezed into a paste.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH....."
He went quiet after he felt Baek Hongs bloodlust. He couldn't handle the pressure and immediately released his bladder and colon infront of everyone present. He passed out without a seconds delay.
Zhenzhen had grabbed Baek Hong and pulled her away from the croud. Nearly everyone was stupefied.
What had they seen? Was this a normal reaction? Was it justified? Would that happen to them?
They had all mentally agreed to never approach either one of the two ever again.
***
They were a large distance apart from the people competing with each other over their talent.
"You want to do this?" I asked Zhenzhen to take her mind off of what happened.
"I don't know... I'm scared."
"Its fine, I'll go up there with you and do it too."
"Alright."
We stood in line behind all of the people trying to gain superiority over the others.
There were many people that were taking the test. Some people had trash spirit roots and good affinities, while others had the opposite problem.
There was one person who had a slight affinity for space related techniques. There was an elder nearby who saw this and immediately invited him to the sect. Almost all of the adults had shown up at this point watching their children and other children test their talent. They had remembered when they were kids doing the same thing.
***
"Who did this to you?!"
A child with one hand had pointed to a little girl in line waiting to test her affinity and talent.
"Very well, we'll see who dares mess with an elder of the azure dragon clans grandson!"
***
"You're next Zhenzhen, I believe in you!" I said.
Zhenzhen had walked up to the crystal obelisk and placed her hand on it. After only a few seconds a resplendent blue and green light filled the clear obelisk. She actually had a dual element spirit root, with Elements that complimented eachother no less.
Everyone was stunned. A dual attribute was rare enough to cause a stir but it was even more unlikely that the two elements complimented eachother. Some unlucky people would get a dual water and fire attributes which would only hamper their progress in the future.
The elders of the Five Elements Sect were pleasantly surprised and planned on accepting her as a disciple if it was at least a medium grade spiritual root.
She walked up to the stone tablet and once again placed her hand on it.
A light brighter than any other shone from the top of the tablet.
She actually had a top grade spiritual root! The elders immediately swarmed her and offered to let her choose any of the elders as her master. She was definitely not used to the attention but was still happy. She had finally found a way to repay all of the kindness that her only friend had given her. She didn't choose yet though and told them she needed to ask for advice first.
Baek Hong was up next and people were paying close attention to her too.
She walked up to the obelisk and placed her hand on it. Unlike before, the crystal clear obelisk was filled with darkness this time, some people unconsciously shuddered at the sight. The color was so dark that it looked like a piece of reality was missing.
"SHE ACTUALLY HAS A VOID AFFINITY!" The deputy Sect master had recognized this immediately. Everyone else was startled because of the rarity of such a thing. Everyone was paying attention to the spirit root grade tester that she was about to place her hand on.
Completely opposite to what happened earlier a light more blinding than the sun came from the top of the stone tablet.
"A UNIQUE GRADE SPIRIT ROOT AS WELL!"
Some people immediately fell to thir knees. Why were the heavens so unfair?
I few moments later the sky turned purple as the Primal Creation Sects leader had descended from his cave abode. Rumor had it he had been in seclusion for the last ten years. He actually came out to see who caused such a phenomenon.
"Would you like to take me as your master?"