Chapter 132 – Life 66, Age 20, Martial Disciple Peak
Our class went to apply for Master-level courses together and were greeted by the same woman who initially tested me for entry into the Academy.
"As your entire class has reached Peak Master, the school will permit you to continue to take courses for elite students." I could hear a hint of sarcasm in her voice, but she tried not to let it show. "However, while it is permitted, to become elite Master-level students, you must also be selected by a Grandmaster and join their cohort. Your… choices of how to complete the final assessment may affect their decisions."
This was slightly worrying, but Zhuge Yan spoke up to calm everyone.
"We understand. If a Grandmaster is unhappy with the way we completed the assignment, it wouldn't have been a good fit for us anyway."
The woman nodded in appreciation of this attitude.
"Very well. There are options for how you may proceed from here. Master and Grandmaster courses are divided into two five-year terms. You may attempt to enroll either as a group or as individuals. If you choose to enroll individually, your instructors will be core disciples of the Nine Rivers Sect near the end of their first term or at the beginning of their second term as Grandmasters of the Academy. They are experienced teachers with a proven track record."
I looked at the others and spoke in the direction we were all thinking. "We would like to keep our class together."
"If you enroll as a group, you may still be placed with an experienced core disciple, assuming there is one that wants your entire class as his cohort for the year. However, it is more likely that you will be placed under an inner sect disciple who is close to advancing to core. If you have a preference in this matter, it can be taken into consideration, but the choice is ultimately up to the Grandmasters themselves."
We deferred to Zhuge Yan for this decision. "Other than the experience of the teacher, how do these two options differ?"
"With a core disciple, you will be one of their final Master cohorts, and after your first term, you will need to find a new Grandmaster to study under. They will be more experienced, but because of the change in teachers mid-way through your education, this is usually considered the inferior option."
She mimed balancing scales with her hands.
"With an inner disciple, while they are less experienced, the quality of the education you receive will have a direct bearing on their advancement to core, so they have extra incentive to teach you well. As long as they advance to core disciple, you will retain this instructor throughout your Master-level courses. However, there is a risk that their ability will be lacking. This is not too different from the decision you had to make when first enrolling in the elite courses, but this time, your instructor won't have someone above them monitoring your studies."
We looked to Zhuge Yan for his decision.
He smiled. "We'd like to enroll as a group under an inner sect Grandmaster."
He turned to us to explain. "We aren't just here to learn. We need to make connections. Being part of a Grandmaster's primary cohort will be far more significant and will give us a firmer foundation when we enter the sect ourselves."
After he was finished, the woman returned our attention to the enrollment process. "Once a Grandmaster selects your class as their new cohort, you will be informed. If none wish to do so, we will need to separate you and place you individually."
"That shouldn't be necessary." Zhuge Yan looked confident.
"The fee for the first term is 2.5 million gold, 500,000 per year. Your enrollment will be processed once payment is received."
The eyes of both JiaQi and LiTing shot open at this number. Chai JiaQi spoke hesitantly. "I… can't afford that. My father expected me to only take the normal courses. Maybe I should—"
I put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. It's not a problem."
I looked at the administrator. "Do you accept spirit stones as payment?"
"Of course. At 900,000 gold per stone."
I wrinkled my brow. "That's a bit low."
She shrugged. "You can try exchanging them in the city. Someone there will be willing to offer you the current exchange rate."
I just shook my head. It wasn't worth the trouble.
I reached into my storage space.
"12.5 million, so 14 stones with 100,000 gold left over, correct?"
She smiled. "The excess will be credited to your account."
"Fang…" JiaQi was hesitant.
"That's a bit much, man," said YuLong with a chuckle.
"Don't worry. It may be difficult for me to swing paying for everyone's Grandmaster courses, but as long as it's just this, I can manage."
YuLong and the girls didn't seem to think too much about my payment, just accepting it as me being overly generous. I also didn't think the school would look into it too much. Based on my experiences, they seemed to take a hands-off, neutral stance on most things.
I just had to avoid Zhuge Yan's assessing gaze. I wasn't sure what all he knew, but I didn't think he had anything on the level of the Ning Clan's information network supporting him.
The woman behind the desk swept the stones into a storage bag.
"With payment received, we will now need to hold individual assessments to establish your personal goals as a Martial Master. If others would please wait outside, this needs to be done in private. Mister Su, we shall begin with you.
Once the others left and I was alone with the woman, she took out an affinity-testing orb.
"Let's see if you have made any progress during the last few years."
I widened my eyes. This wasn't a good thing.
She smiled thinly. "You know how this works. Place your hand on it."
I did so, following the normal routine, now wishing I hadn't made certain purchases.
Like last time, when a mess of chaotic lines was shown, she tapped on the orb.
The lines transformed into the same nine images as before, but some of the colors had changed. There was also a strange static overlying everything.
She tapped the orb once more, but nothing changed.
"Strange…" She narrowed her eyes but quickly returned to her previous demeanor. "All of your basic affinities have advanced to peak six-star. This will be a firm foundation that may be of some benefit."
She sunk into thought for several moments before speaking again.
"Based on your results thus far, if you wish to continue with the elite classes in your second term as a Master, your minimum requirement will be to raise at least two affinities to mid five-star within five years."
"What? How?"
"The rewards for reaching Peak Master during the final assessment are enviable, but the cost is having to continue to excel. Your instructor will cover these issues with you when the time comes. I do not expect you will have much difficulty raising your earth affinity, but raising a second will be more difficult."
She made a few notes on a piece of paper before looking back at me.
"If you wish to explain the oddities in your affinity test, you may qualify for additional benefits."
"What oddities?" I forced my face to go blank.
She snorted. "You will not be penalized for them, but neither will you be rewarded until they are explained."
I remained silent, so she dismissed me and called for Yan to enter.
We spent the next month undoing our cultivation and practicing properly. It was made clear to us that this would be a valuable use of the time.
As Martial Masters in the elite class, we were assigned a villa on a hill separated from the rest of the school. This villa was where we would eat, sleep, cultivate, and have general classes with our primary instructor. We would only need to leave for profession-related classes.
The building was empty of furniture when we arrived, with blank white walls and bare wooden floors. The only notable features were the large windows in most of the rooms that looked out on the surrounding countryside where we could see other private villas in the distance.
When we walked into the classroom for the first time, our instructor was already waiting for us. She was a young woman in her early thirties, though she looked to be only a year or two older than us. She had a small, slight frame and looked weak enough that any of us could easily defeat her. None of us were stupid enough to believe that.
"I'm Grandmaster Yuan TianYu. I'll be your instructor from now on." She spoke with a strict, harsh tone and gave us an appraising look. "You should know that most Grandmasters were wary of accepting your class. I only did so at the personal request of our shared Grandmaster, Ning ChenKun."
"Welcome, Grandmaster," we all replied in unison.
"Master Sun has told me about some of the peculiarities of your class, and I have been working with him to develop a training program that will best take advantage of the strengths you have presented. For now, we will focus on cultivation. Before you can practice any true Master-level arts, you need to develop a solid foundation as a Martial Master."
She looked at me. "The school will not provide any formations or pills for this class. You must provide everything yourselves. Su Fang, you have already shown that you can construct a basic Qi Gathering Formation. I will need you to construct several around the villa so that everyone has access to them for both cultivation and practicing professions."
She examined each of us. "Unfortunately, we do not have an alchemist among our number, so pills will be limited. This is not terrible. Having unlimited access to a formation will be far more beneficial for studying cultivation."
She looked back at me. "If you can learn how to construct healing and rejuvenation formations, it would be very helpful once we start practicing combat. For now, it's not overly important."
She took out four technique manuals and handed them to my classmates.
"Everyone is using a high-level Rank 1 technique, so if you use a Low-Yellow Rank 2 technique, it will be difficult to practice martial or professional skills. These are Peak-Yellow. You will still have to be careful about not pushing too much qi through your meridians, but the foundation they provide will be sufficient for this first phase of training. Practice these techniques until you break through to Martial Master once more."
She looked at me. "Let's talk outside."
In a separate room, we sat down at a table across from each other.
"I understand that you have a blessing that enhances your cultivation comprehension and were the impetus for your class's ability to reach Peak Master previously. I'm assuming you will be able to create even Peak-Yellow meridians without any problems."
She placed a manual in front of me. "Show me."
I opened the cultivation technique and quickly read through its instructions. Then I held out my hand and created a practice Meridian following the pattern in the book.
The instructor nodded her head and took out several more books from her storage bag.
"You might not have anything to learn from a Yellow-Rank technique. These are four Low-Profound techniques that each work on different principles. One creates additional central meridians, one creates capillary meridians, one uses meridians of varying diameters to affect flow rates, and the last is an unusual technique that connects all the meridians into one large circuit to further enhance qi flow around the body."
She patted the manuals as she continued.
"While the others are learning the basics of Rank 2 cultivation, you should study these. I have noticed that you are using a rather strange Rank 1 cultivation technique. I am not aware of the specifics of your technique or what benefits it may bring you, but as you practice, consider whether you should switch to a more conventional one."
She paused while looking at me.
"You're also only practicing a single-element technique. While it isn't necessary, it would be easier to meet your personal requirement of raising two affinities to mid five-star if you were cultivating both types of qi. You should consider switching to a dual-element technique before we get too deep into the term and it becomes impossible to change. You can wait until after the first Trial to make your final decision on this, but if you are going to switch, it should be done before the second."
"Thank you for your guidance, Grandmaster Yuan. I will think about what you have said. For now, I will continue exploring my current technique."
The technique had several strange qi filters I hadn't seen anywhere else, and I still didn't know what they were for. Master Sun hadn't been able to tell me, and it seemed like Grandmaster Yuan wouldn't be able to either. I was extremely hesitant to give up on this technique with that mystery unresolved.
This could be a mistake, but it wasn't an irrecoverable one. At worst, I would switch after this Trial she mentioned.
With new techniques in hand, the class and I practiced for six months until everyone had broken through to Master 1 with high-quality meridians. Finally, it was time to receive our reward for pushing our cultivation level so high during the assessment.
Chapter 133 – Life 66, Age 20, Martial Master 1
The day after everyone finished advancing to Martial Master, Instructor Yuan had us gather in the classroom bright and early.
"At the beginning of the year, you were all given various assignments for raising your affinities." Instructor Yuan walked back and forth at the front of the classroom as she explained. "While most of you no doubt have access to outside resources to help you meet these goals, you are not to use them. Doing so will result in the entire class being penalized. If anyone has already done so, speak up now and your assignment can be modified appropriately."
She paused to let anyone speak up who needed to, but no one did.
"Very well, let's continue." She reached into her storage bag, took out a small clear vial, and set it down for all of us to examine. "Does anyone know what this is?"
I examined it closely. It contained the same energy I had seen in the chairs at the Ning Clan mansion.
"Some type of wood energy," I stated, "but it's strange."
Everyone but Zhuge Yan shook their heads, so the instructor directed her attention toward him.
"Well?"
"It's wood essence."
She nodded and then looked at the rest of us. "Essence is what gives people affinities. We do not know if this energy is somehow stored in the body or if it is simply used up to change the body. What we do know is that essence cannot be recovered from a corpse, so we must assume it is the latter option. On the other hand, it is theorized that affinity testing orbs work by somehow measuring the amount of essence in the body, which would lend credence to the former explanation being correct."
She picked up the small vial of essence and shook it. "In any case, the more of this you absorb, the higher your affinities will rise."
Staring at the vial in her hands, I realized why the energy had seemed so familiar when I saw it in the Ning mansion. I had never seen earth or wood essence before, but I had seen fire essence. I had once used it to boost my fire affinity while sitting in a pool in the Twin Mountains Sect.
Instructor Yuan looked at Shi YuLong. "You are from the Empire of Eternal Winter, correct?"
"Of course," he grinned.
"What is your water affinity?"
He froze.
"It's… uh…" He looked down a bit embarrassed. "I don't have one, not even low nine-star."
Instructor Yuan nodded. "Do you know why?"
Shi YuLong's eyes snapped to hers.
She continued. "Did you know that the crown prince of Eternal Winter has a peak four-star water affinity? The Saint allows each empire to harvest a single type of essence from within their domain. Eternal Winter harvests water essence. They use large, complex formations to gather all of the water essence in the empire and then pour it into their top prodigies."
That was what had happened in Brilliant Sun, I realized. The imperial clan harvested earth essence and transferred it to their children through the clan Trials.
"The rules for kingdoms are a little laxer. Some may harvest essence of many different types, but they do not do so as thoroughly as most empires do. They leave enough for their populace to still occasionally gain a decent affinity with any of the elements."
This was what Eight Flower had been doing with their Bagua Formation.
"Within the Nine Rivers Sect's territory, you will find that no one is born with any affinities. They cannot be. The sect harvests all of the essence within its territory. They also impose a tax on any essence harvested by the empires and kingdoms throughout the continent. All of this essence is taken to the sect to help its disciples raise their affinities as high as possible."
My face went blank as I processed what she was saying and why she was saying it. When I understood, a smile blossomed on my face. I knew what would come next.
"All members of the Academy's elite classes are allowed to enter the sect's Trials to compete for a share of essence. As you all reached Peak Master during your end-of-term Disciple assessment," she rolled her eyes slightly, "you will be permitted to enter a Trial twice each year. This will be of great benefit to you, but it is also why you were all given more difficult requirements for remaining in these classes after this term is over. If you fail the Trials, you will receive very little essence and will end up being removed from these classes."
Everyone was excited at the prospect, but I was the first to speak up.
"Can any affinity be raised in the Trial?"
"The sect is separated into different mountains for each element. Each mountain has a separate Trial. If you want to raise your earth affinity, you must enter the Earth Peak Trial."
Shaking the vial in her hand again, she continued. "Upon joining the sect, you will be assigned to a particular peak. I am a member of the Wood Peak. As such, I cannot visit other peaks without special permission. Only students of Yellow Orchid Academy who have not yet joined the sect are afforded the luxury of freely choosing which Trial they wish to attempt."
"Is there any reason to think about it?" YuLong laughed. "I'm just an earth cultivator. Why bother with anything else?"
"Remember the task you were assigned." The instructor glared at him and then turned to explain further. "As a Martial Master, the Trial will only raise your affinity to a maximum of mid five-star. As your earth affinity is already above this level, entering the Earth Peak Trial will not increase it. There are other benefits to be gained from the Trial, but if you wish to work on your affinities, you will need to visit a different peak."
"When do we go?" JiaQi asked. This was the question we all wanted the answer to.
"If there are no more questions, we will depart immediately."
She looked around. No one wanted to delay the trip any longer than necessary, but Zhuge Yan spoke up to ask an important question we needed the answer to.
"What does this Trial involve? What do we need to do to get the most essence possible?"
"It will test your ability with the chosen element. Anything the Saint deemed important for someone with that element to know will be tested. The better you do on these tests, the more essence you will be awarded. As for the specifics, you will need to learn them on your own."
Yan nodded in acceptance of this response.
"Anything else?" asked Instructor Yuan.
This time, no one spoke up.
"Then follow me."
She led us out of our villa and took us on a winding path through the hills to a secluded building hidden deep within the territory of the Yellow Orchid Academy. She stopped in front of it and turned to face us.
She held up a small jade badge, showing it to us. "Never come here alone. Only members of the Nine Rivers Sect are permitted to enter, and only instructors at the Academy on official business are permitted to bring anyone with them. If you come here without a sect token, the formation that surrounds this entire area will kill you."
Without waiting for a reply, she turned back and opened the door to let us inside.
There was only one room inside the small building. Its floors and walls were bare. The only thing inside was a stone archway.
The view through the arch was not simply the other side of the room. It opened out onto a small hill overlooking a sizable city at the base of an enormous mountain.
Instructor Yuan confidently walked through the arch and out onto the hillside where she waited for us to follow. We were all hesitant upon seeing this, but no one was willing to be left behind.
When I stepped through and out onto the dirt path leading away from the arch, I looked around at my surroundings. There were several other freestanding arches on the hill which should have led nowhere but instead led into other dark, windowless buildings like the one we had just left.
Standing there under the open sky felt surreal to me, and only the wind blowing through my hair convinced me that what I was seeing was real.
"These portals connect the Nine Rivers Sect to various places around the continent and are mainly used for recruiting and training disciples. You should feel honored. Only elite Yellow Orchid students are allowed to pass through them before joining the sect."
She began walking toward the large city in the distance. As we followed, the ground seemed to pass under our feet at an unusual pace.
"This is Dragon Peak, the center of the Nine Rivers Sect." Instructor Yuan explained as we continued walking forward. "If you wish to become a Sovereign in the future, all you have to do is climb to the top of this mountain and you will get your opportunity. Just don't be too hasty. Very few can make it to the peak. Most die in the attempt."
I wanted to say something, to ask a question, but it was too difficult to talk. We were traveling through some type of formation that was affecting our movements, and I had to spend most of my concentration on maintaining a steady pace forward.
Before I knew it, we appeared in front of a large arch that served as the entrance to the city. Across its crown, written in large gold embossed characters, was 龍生九子.
"The dragon has nine sons?" asked LiTing.
Instructor Yuan turned to us. "This is the motto of the Nine Rivers Sect. The Dragon has Nine Sons. For the sect to be successful, for it to fulfill its purpose, the sect must allow all types of people to enter. Warriors and crafters, merchants and beggars."
She paused and looked at us intently. "All types. Including thieves and murderers. This is the City of Mortals. You will be protected while you are here, but once you leave, the sect is a dangerous place. Since you are all Academy students, this isn't something you need to worry about for now. Just keep it in mind for the future."
We followed the instructor as she guided us through the city.
As we walked, I felt it all looked a little odd. Everything looked… normal. People were walking around doing normal jobs. They were cleaning streets, hauling loaded carts, and repairing buildings. It didn't look too different from Dragon Gate City. It certainly didn't look like I had imagined the Nine Rivers Sect would look like.
When I checked with energy vision, the strangeness grew. Everyone was entirely mortal. They didn't show even a hint of having cultivated.
"Everyone's a mortal?" I asked, confused. "Are these people in the sect?"
That didn't seem right at all, but I couldn't understand the situation.
"These are civilians, not sect members. They are all descendants of current or former sect members. While most cultivators would rather not have children in a place where they would be born with no affinities, there are always people who don't care."
"Where are the sect members?" asked JiaQi.
"At their own peaks, higher up the mountain, or… elsewhere…" The instructor seemed nervous about elaborating further. "Usually, the only reason to come here is to trade with members of other peaks. For that, you would need to visit the economic zones designated for sect members. Most of the city, as the name implies, is for mortals."
She pointed out a few more trivial things about the city, but that wasn't the focus. We were swiftly guided to a large open plaza at the center of the city. A large pentagon was inscribed on the cobblestone ground, and at each of its points, there was a large stone arch. Outside the pentagon, a square was inscribed in the ground, and there were four more arches at its corners.
"This is the Gateway Plaza." Instructor Yuan gestured at the arches. "These passageways will take you to each of the other nine peaks. Decide which affinity you would like to attempt to raise, and you may pass through the appropriate arch to visit that peak. Remember, once you become sect disciples, you will not be able to freely visit any peak other than your own."
Without thinking, Zhuge Yan stepped forward. "Darkness."
The instructor gestured to one of the arches on one of the outer square's corners. Yan walked over to it, passed through the arch, and disappeared.
JiaQi chose metal and was likewise sent away.
Both LiTing and I chose earth. She because it may help enhance her metal qi abilities, and me because it was the primary qi type I was using.
"I'll go earth too," said YuLong with a grin.
The instructor looked at him with a straight face. "You won't be able to raise your affinity for earth any higher as a Master."
"You said there are prizes to be had other than affinities, right? I want to check those out first."
Instructor Yuan just sighed and gestured for us to leave.
We tentatively walked up to the archway that led to the Earth Peak. All we could see was a hazy mist covering the passage, not the distinct image that we had seen through the arches outside the city.
"Well," I said, mustering my courage. "Let's do it."
We stepped through and disappeared.
Chapter 134 – Life 66, Age 20, Martial Master 1
We stepped out onto a solid stone platform. Immediately a middle-aged-looking man approached us.
"Academy students?"
"Ye… Yes," I said, slightly disoriented from the change in scenery.
We had moved from the middle of a bustling city to the outskirts of a small village surrounded by craggy, rocky hills. Instead of the city's wide array of eclectic buildings, the village only had a few small stone huts.
The majestic Dragon Peak which had soared above the clouds had disappeared. The bounty of colors from its various features, such as the reds and greens from trees and shrubs to the blues and grays from creeks and rivers, were no more. It had all been replaced by a dull brown solid stone mountain that looked rather squat by comparison.
"Please come with me." The middle-aged man gestured at one of the nearby stone huts.
Bewildered by our new surroundings, the three of us didn't move.
"Is this the Earth Peak?" asked Shi YuLong. "Where are all the people?"
"Yes, it is," the man confirmed. "Let's get you registered first. Once that is taken care of, I can share a bit of information about the peak on our way to the Trial."
Not wanting to delay matters, we put our questions aside and followed him obediently.
As we walked, I quickly checked his cultivation. He was a low-level Grandmaster. It felt a bit strange to see a Grandmaster being deferential to fresh new Masters. He was a Grandmaster in the Nine Rivers Sect. Did our position as Master-level Academy students somehow put us above him?
He brought us to one of the small huts near the archway and gestured for us to enter. Inside was a bored-looking young man with his feet up on his desk.
Our guide squeezed in front of us and waved us forward. "Senior brother, another group of students has arrived."
The 'senior brother' waved lazily at us. "Instructor?"
"Grandmaster Yuan," I answered.
"Names?"
"Su Fang, Lin LiTing, and Shi YuLong."
He wrote something down on a piece of paper and threw it to our guide.
"Verify them."
The guide ran out of the hut, and the young man turned his attention back to staring at the ceiling.
We waited in complete silence for several long minutes before the guide returned. When he did, he quickly handed another piece of paper to the young man.
"Take them to the Trial." He waved us away as he dismissed us from his thoughts.
Our guide took us back outside and started leading us towards the base of the rocky mountain.
Once we were safely away, YuLong snorted. "That guy was a bit of a prick."
The guide looked horrified at this and quickly shook his head in negation.
"Senior Brother Yang is a grade 2 outer sect disciple and has been growing quickly. He might rise to the inner sect during his next exam. We can't afford to make him angry."
"Is this what Instructor Yuan was talking about?" asked LiTing. "There are no rules in the sect, so he can kill anyone he pleases?"
Our guide once again shook his head. "That is only true on Dragon Peak, and to a lesser extent, the outer four mountains. The Peak Master of the Earth Peak is very strict about the rules here. It's just that they are his rules, not the rules of the sect. Murder is not allowed here, but an inner sect disciple killing a servant disciple like me isn't considered murder."
We nodded silently in understanding.
"As Academy students, you have extra protections, but even if you don't care about me, you should be careful not to anger anyone while you're here. With the right connections, even an outer sect disciple can make your life miserable once you join the sect."
Agreeing with his sentiment, I decided to ask about something else.
"Where is everyone? This place feels rather empty."
The guide breathed slightly in relief at the change of topic before explaining.
"They're around." He gestured expansively to the surrounding landscape. "People only come to the Earth Peak to cultivate in seclusion, so they're locked away in small caves everywhere around here."
Looking closely at the landscape, I saw darker spots which might have been the caves he was referring to.
"The village has a store to purchase items from the peak and a place to arrange meetings and lessons, but that's about it. You have to go to Dragon Peak if you want to see people just walking around or do any real trading."
LiTing looked surprised. "So, everyone on the Earth Peak is just hiding out in some random cave?"
The guide chuckled.
"No, as I said, the only real reason to come here is to cultivate in seclusion. Most disciples are up on Dragon Peak or—" He paused abruptly, cutting himself off. "—elsewhere."
He didn't seem to want to say much more, so we quickly hurried on towards the base of the mountain where we were guided into an ornate cave opening. The passageway led downward, deep into the roots of the mountain. While it should have been dark, light was provided by a faint glow coming off the walls surrounding us.
The passageway ended at a small room where a stone archway provided a view into absolute darkness.
To the side of the arch stood an elderly-looking man. I checked him in energy vision, but he seemed to be nothing but a simple mortal.
"Place all storage items to the side." The old man pointed at a shelf where two large bags already rested. "You'll end up in a rather unhealthy state if you try to take them inside with you."
We followed his order mechanically, but as I processed the statement, a twinge of fear shot through me. Was this Trial contained within a compressed space like a storage bag? What would happen if I entered while the storage space was in my soul?
I looked at the archway leading into darkness carefully. Something from my space affinity suggested to me that it was different from the portals we had passed through previously, but I couldn't discern any details.
What if my storage space exploded within my soul when I passed through? Was that possible?
My thoughts raced as I tried to decide what to do.
"System," I subvocalized, "what will happen to my soul if I pass through that portal?"
Cost 100 million credits.
Expensive, but did I have a choice?
"Purchase it."
Purchase confirmed. 1,906,831,805 credits remaining.
Your storage space is located within your soul. The portal in question leads to an area of expanded physical space. Entering such an area will not affect your soul or anything inside of it.
That was good news. It opened up even more questions, but I wasn't willing to spend the money necessary to ask them. I got the answer I needed for the moment.
After everyone had removed their storage items, we turned back to the elderly man.
"Can you tell us anything about the Trial? What are we supposed to do? How long will it take?"
"You have a maximum of one day inside, but you may exit at any time. In each room, you need only defeat your opponents to advance. Once they have all been destroyed, the way forward will open."
I looked at my companions.
"Ready?"
LiTing gave a faint smile and nodded.
YuLong grinned widely. "Let's do this."
We stepped through into the darkness.
I appeared alone in a large cave. All the walls were solid stone, and there was only a single passageway leaving this chamber, but it was labeled 'Exit.' I had expected the other two to appear alongside me, but appearing alone wasn't a complete shock.
Large stones were scattered everywhere, and a hulking two-meter-tall stone golem stood in the center of the cavern. It didn't move. It only stood still as a statue in the middle of the room, but I was certain this was the first opponent I was supposed to defeat.
With the only instructions given being to 'defeat your opponent,' my first instinct was to barrel straight toward the stone monstrosity and try to destroy it with a powerful technique.
I quickly curbed this impulse.
I might be facing down a monster, but it wasn't moving to attack me. There was no meaningful time limit, so I could spend a few minutes taking stock of my situation.
I looked around the room with energy vision, the walls, including the floors and ceiling, were covered in a soft haze. Whatever energies had been used to place me in this location and control the surroundings were completely hidden from me.
The stones scattered about the ground were completely ordinary with no traces of energy. This told me that I only needed to worry about the large stone golem in front of me.
Looking at it in energy vision gave me a far more interesting and detailed picture than normal vision had. It was a strange construction of countless different formations carved into several interlocking pieces of granite. Just one of its arms had over a dozen formations that controlled its movement.
In the center of its torso was what must've been the control center. It was encased in a thick wall of compressed stone. The tiny formations inside this core had threads of qi extending outward, connecting them to the arms and legs.
If I wanted to destroy this thing, the most direct method would be to destroy that central control unit in its chest. If the golem defended itself, that would be a difficult area to hit, but it would no doubt be the most effective. The only other option I could see would be to slowly disable it. First destroying its arms and legs, and only focusing on the control unit once the golem was completely disabled.
The stone the monster was made from was pure granite. By reinforcing my arm and fist, I might be able to break through it, but it wouldn't be easy. Granite was weak to qi, but that didn't mean it was easy to punch apart with qi-empowered fists. If I had a complete set of meridians, I would be able to transfer qi from around my body to sufficiently enhance the strength of my attacks. As a mere Martial Master 1, that would be incredibly difficult.
So, what should I do?
We had been told that this was a comprehensive test of everything an earth qi cultivator was supposed to know. The elder outside indicated that the test presented itself as pure combat, but that didn't mean that I had to resort to fighting, there were other options.
How smart was this stone monster? When would it attack me? Without these answers, it would be difficult to form an ideal plan, but I would do my best.
I walked to a nearby stone and carved the most powerful Qi Gathering Formation I could into it without it breaking apart. Then, I moved around the room, quickly carving similar formations into several other stones. The goal wasn't to create an area to cultivate. I wanted to quickly drain the room of as much qi as possible.
As I worked, the golem did nothing to stop me. Even when I approached it, it didn't move. Once the ninth formation was up and running, there was almost no free qi left in the air.
At this point, I moved forward and attacked.
The stone monster responded by moving its arm back to take a large swing and knock me away.
Halfway through its motion, the giant locked up. It had run out of energy and couldn't draw in any more.
Over the next several seconds, the countless formations throughout its body slowly began to dim until the creature dropped to the ground and fell motionless.
Not wanting to give it a chance to recover, I moved to its chest and started pounding it as hard as I could with my Mountain Destroying Fist.
It took me several blows just to make a crack in its armor. After over two dozen, the stone split apart, and the golem was put down permanently.
As soon as the monster was destroyed, energy flooded into the room. It wasn't qi. It was essence. A few flickers of the essence touched my body and were quickly absorbed. The rest of it got trapped inside the various Qi Gathering Formations that I had set up around the room.
I went to the first one and simply allowed the essence inside to soak into my body. However, I was running low on qi after the fight, so at the second formation, instead of just collecting the essence, I sat down to cultivate and restore my energy. When I did, something strange happened.
Qi entered my acupoints as normal, but the filters and acupoints that had remained dormant ever since I had started cultivating this Peak-Earth technique finally came to life. As I cultivated, the essence in the formation was not absorbed directly into my body. It was instead pulled in through these acupoints.
That's when I finally understood what I'd been using for the past several years. It wasn't simply a qi cultivation technique. It was an essence cultivation technique. But what was its purpose? The instructor hadn't mentioned anything about cultivating essence, and I didn't know what effects it might have. Would it still increase my affinities?
Should I continue to cultivate it, or should I just let the essence absorb into my body as normal?
I could come back here at least 9 more times if necessary, so I didn't feel any pressure to make the 'correct' choice. I could afford to do things wrong.
Simply absorbing the essence into my body was the normal, expected approach, but my cultivation technique was specially designed to absorb it into my acupoints. It might've been a waste, but I wanted to learn more about what this cultivation technique was doing and why it was doing it.
I decided to continue cultivating the technique. I quickly moved through the room, absorbing the remaining essence trapped within the various formations and sending it into my acupoints.
Chapter 135 – Life 66, Age 20, Martial Master 1
Once I was done absorbing all of the essence in the cavern, I turned my attention to the glowing formation that had appeared when I had finished off the golem.
I tried to study it and work out its secrets, but even with energy vision, it was like I could only half see it. The lines that formed it were disconnected, and so much was missing that what remained didn't make any sense.
Giving up on the idea of stealing this knowledge for myself, I walked forward and stepped onto the formation. The room around me disappeared and was replaced with a nearly identical cavern.
I was standing near the passageway that served as an exit from the trial once again. This time, instead of just a single golem, there were two that I would need to defeat.
With the way I had claimed victory in the first room, the increased number of opponents posed no additional challenge. I repeated the exact same process, siphoning away all the qi and then engaging them carefully to drain their remaining energy reserves. They both fell to the ground without fanfare, and I brought an end to their existence.
Once they were both destroyed, essence flooded the room once more, and I cultivated to draw it all into my acupoints.
This pattern repeated in the next three caverns with the number of golems increasing each time. However, defeating five was no more difficult than defeating one. I just needed to create the formations and drain the room. The stone constructs posed no danger.
This made me wonder how my classmates were faring without the ability to build Qi Gathering Formations. They would likely end up having to fight these things in actual combat. I could only imagine the difficulty of trying to put down such creatures with only the strength of a Martial Master 1. I hoped they were doing well.
As I cultivated the essence that was my reward from defeating the fifth stage, I tried to understand what was happening with it. After the essence passed through my acupoints, it seemingly disappeared. The more I stared at my acupoints, trying to understand what was happening, the more I felt a twinge inside, like there was an itch I couldn't scratch. Was that real, or had I just convinced myself I was feeling something? I didn't know.
In the sixth room, I met my first true challenge. Once more, there was only a single golem in the cavern. It was smaller and looked more fragile than the ones I had 'fought' previously, but this time it didn't wait around for me to drain away its energy.
Thirty seconds after I appeared in the cavern, it began lumbering toward me. It wasn't overly fast, but if it struck me, I knew I would be in trouble.
I could have tried to use formations to siphon away the construct's power again, but needing to constantly move while continuously switching between constructing different formations felt like it would be too troublesome. I had a few other options I could use to fight these things, but I decided to demonstrate the combat techniques I had been learning over recent years.
Within an environment perfectly suited to earth qi cultivators, I used a movement technique to propel myself forward and into range of the hulking rock monster.
It swung its arm at me, but it was easy to dodge. I powered up my Mountain Destroying Fist and struck it in the chest with everything I could muster.
The stone of its torso cracked, and it was knocked slightly backwards. I took that moment to reset my balance and prepare for another assault.
This process continued for five more attacks. With each one, I would rush forward, strike with all my strength, and then retreat out of harm's way.
On the sixth strike, the golem's chest crumbled, and it fell to the ground limply. Even though these golems were slightly more fragile, needing to move and attack forced me to consume more qi than I had on my previous opponents.
Essence flooded into the room, and I created a quick Qi Gathering Formation to collect it so that I could easily cultivate to regain my energy more quickly.
As I rested, I thought about the trials to come. If I proceeded in the same manner, I would soon be facing up to five rock monsters at once. While taking one down was simple enough, it'd be much more difficult if five were attacking me at the same time.
I thought through the last fight and came to the conclusion that I was simply lacking power. I couldn't put enough force behind my fist to swiftly end the creatures. If I could destroy a golem in a single hit, this trial would be much easier.
I only had about 20 more hours before I would be forced to leave. If I was going to do anything, I needed to be quick about it.
Using the abundant earth qi in the cavern, I began cultivating for advancement as fast as possible. This was surprisingly easy since the only energy in the cavern was earth qi and earth essence. This meant that I didn't have to worry about any impurities. I just had to pull in energy as quickly as possible and then form it into meridians.
I didn't have time to do anything fancy, but I was able to create a basic Low-Yellow meridian extending from my torso and into my right fist. It wouldn't do much, but it would allow me to impart a bit more qi into my attacks.
The other thing I did was open my storage space, surreptitiously take out the Profound-Rank wood-element spirit fire that I bought in South Gate City, and absorb it into my body. If anyone were watching, there wouldn't have been much to see in normal vision. If they were staring at me in qi vision, however, they would've seen something very unusual take place as I expelled the Cold Mountain Fire and absorbed the new flame. I could only hope that I wouldn't be penalized for it.
With preparations in place and only 10 hours left on the clock, I moved on to the seventh chamber. I was faced with two golems that only waited a few seconds before moving to attack me. With new strength in my right arm, I punched out and slammed my fist into the first golem's chest. The first strike wasn't enough to put it down completely, but two more hits did the trick.
I hadn't gained as much strength as I'd been hoping for, but it would have to do.
In the eighth chamber, I was faced with four golems at once. This was far more difficult to deal with, and I only barely managed to put them down using my fighting techniques.
After recovering, I entered the ninth chamber where I had to face eight of the stone monstrosities. There was no chance that I would be able to defeat them with only my martial prowess.
Tacking to a new course, I approached the nearest golem, quickly created a spear of wood spirit fire, and stabbed it directly into the thing's core. The creature fell to the ground immediately. As the golem fell, I pulled back on the fire, reabsorbing it before it could dissipate.
Then, I turned around and stabbed a second spear into the next golem which had already closed in enough to ready an attack. Like the first, it fell to the ground motionless.
I backed off, giving myself room before I had to face the next six opponents. Spirit fire was incredibly powerful in this situation, but using it to stab my enemies with fiery spears was extremely draining.
Refocusing, I used my wood affinity to clamp down on the spirit fire. The spears were wasting a lot of energy because they were too large. I concentrated on creating the thinnest needle-like spear that I could. Using these long needles, I was able to down the remaining six golems, but I was entirely spent at the end of it. If I had to face sixteen of them in the next room, I didn't believe that I would be able to emerge victorious.
I set up another Qi Gathering Formation and quickly absorbed energy to refill myself as quickly as possible. Because of the sheer abundance of earth qi, and the fact that there were no impurities in it, my reserves filled up at a remarkable pace. I was completely restored in only two hours.
As I was about to step onto the formation to enter the next cavern, an idea popped into my head, and I knew what I would have to do to defeat the next stage of this Trial.
Instead of entering the formation, I looked around the room for a rock large enough to hold a formation but small enough that I could easily carry it in one hand. After picking the perfect stone, I inscribed the best Qi Gathering Formation I could into it.
Stone in hand, I stepped onto the glowing teleport formation.
In the tenth cavern, I was indeed confronted with sixteen of the stone creatures. Quickly moving to the first two, I stabbed with small needles of wood spirit fire and destroyed them.
Then, I backed away, moving around the room to keep out of the range of my other opponents.
As I did, I cultivated, restoring the energy I had expended. This was something I had practiced during my first life in South Gate City, cultivating while actively engaged in another task. It wasn't a great idea to do this since it usually led to pulling in a large amount of impurities, hurting one's foundation. But in this cavern, there were no impurities. There was only perfect earth qi, so I was free to cultivate without worry.
It took me several minutes to restore a good portion of the energy I had used in that first attack. When I felt that I had recovered sufficiently, I moved and struck out at two more golems, all the while moving around to stay out of range of the others.
This hit and run tactic worked well, but it took up a lot of time. It was over four hours after I had entered the room when the final golem fell.
At that point, my energy was completely exhausted, so I sat down to cultivate. As I did, I examined the essence as it entered my acupoints once more. This time, I was sure I was feeling something. Was it the feeling of my earth affinity slowly growing? I couldn't be sure. While I had increased my affinities in the past, I had never done it slowly like this before.
Recovering my energy took two hours. When I was done, I estimated that I had less than thirty minutes left before I would be forced to leave.
Even if I couldn't defeat the eleventh cavern, I still wanted to at least see what was waiting for me.
I stepped onto the formation that should have teleported me to the next stage, but the room around me only seemed to flicker. I began to think that something might've gone wrong. That was when a large stone boulder flew through the air, barely missing my head and crashing into the ground beside me.
Pelted with shrapnel, I looked around in a panic, but I didn't see anything. Then, I looked up and saw that the ceiling had risen several meters. There was now a ledge encircling the entire combat arena. Standing on top of that ledge was a new variant of stone golem, and it was lifting up another boulder, preparing to hurl it at me.
I began running, not wanting to be standing still when that stone was sent flying.
Ideas flashed through my head about how to handle this situation. Trying to climb a sheer rock wall to confront the thing openly would be difficult while it was throwing stones at me.
Deciding on my course of action, I reached into the ground and pulled. Earth walls sprang up one after another at increasing heights, forming a crude stairway. I stepped onto the wall closest to the ground and began leaping from one to another, quickly climbing up to the ledge.
Once I was there, the fight was easy, and I was able to quickly spear the golem through the chest with my spirit fire.
I sighed in relief and regret. While I wanted to continue to the twelfth cavern, I knew that it would be a bad idea. Trying to survive while two of those things were throwing stones at me would be incredibly difficult at my current level.
Besides, there wasn't much time left to do that anyway.
I cultivated all the essence remaining in the room, stood, and then headed for the exit.
When I appeared outside of the Trial, I saw YuLong and LiTing already waiting for me.
"Have a good vacation?" asked YuLong with his customary grin. "We've been waiting for you for hours. What took you so long?"
I was about to respond when I registered what I was looking at. YuLong had a massive war hammer propped up against his right shoulder.
"What is that?"
He patted the hammer contentedly. "You guys might've gotten essence, but I got this, a Rank 2 refined war hammer. Got a simpler one for defeating the fifth stage, and it let me easily handle everything up through the tenth, where I got this baby. Putting down those rock monsters would have been impossible without it. No shame if you couldn't get that far."
He looked a bit smug, but I wasn't going to burst his bubble by telling him I had managed to get further than he had.
"Everyone's returned. Good." Our guide appeared and gestured for us to follow. "With the Trial over, it is time for you to leave the sect."
Chapter 136 – Life 66, Age 20, Martial Master 2
Upon returning to the Academy, Instructor Yuan took us each into a room individually for private discussions.
After I sat down across from her, she took out an affinity testing orb and placed it on the table between us. Without needing any guidance, I placed my hand on it and inserted my qi. Once she tapped it with her finger, the chaotic lines resolved into the exact same nine images as the last time I had been tested.
"You weren't able to raise your earth affinity to five-star?" She raised an eyebrow as she looked at the orb. "This is going to be a problem. If you couldn't even succeed at the Earth Peak Trial, it's going to be impossible for you to raise an affinity with a qi type that you're not cultivating."
Her face took on a grim cast, and her tone turned severe.
"JiaQi and LiTing had their own rude awakenings and are currently in the process of deciding if they want to switch to dual-element cultivation techniques, but they at least already have their primary affinities high enough. If you couldn't get past the tenth stage of the trial on this attempt, then you're going to need at least three or four more just to raise your earth affinity sufficiently. If you want to raise a second affinity, it'll take at least two or three times as many attempts."
I wanted to justify my efforts. "Once I cultivate further into the Master realm, it will get easier. I was held back by my lack of meridians. The early stages would be much easier if I could pull qi from everywhere in my body."
She snorted rudely. "The Trial gets harder as your cultivation increases. With a higher level, yes, you would be more powerful. It would help you, but you should only expect an increased cultivation level to help you complete a few more stages at best."
The instructor's assessment struck me hard. I wanted to continue studying my current cultivation technique, but destroying my prospects in this life might not be worth it. However, one thing she said stuck out to me.
"Tenth stage?"
"Yes. To raise your affinity from peak six-star to low five-star takes the total essence you would gather from stages one to ten. To achieve mid five-star, it will take the total essence from stages one to thirty. If you leave the trial earlier, that essence stays with you, so you won't lose anything, but leaving early means it will take more total trips. If you can only get to stage six, it'll take you two trips just to break through to low five, and if you want to get to mid five, it'll take at least half a dozen more."
I tried to make sense of what she was telling me. "So, if I had beaten the tenth stage, I should have gotten enough essence for a low five-star affinity?"
"Yes." Her eyes narrowed, and she took on a vaguely threatening posture.
I sat there and quickly drummed my fingers on the table. If the essence hadn't improved my earth affinity, what had it done? Was it still usable in some way?
I had to ask the instructor. "Have you ever heard of a cultivation technique that absorbs essence?"
The arms of her chair creaked ominously as she squeezed them.
"That's why your technique is so strange? It's a godsdamned essence cultivation technique?"
I looked at her with hope. "Do you know about them?"
"I have never seen one… I had never seen one. But of course I have heard of them. It's just that no one in the sect is dumb enough to use them."
A trace of worry shot across my face.
"It's not that bad." She sighed and shook her head. "You just need to stop using it and get a new technique. I believe you still have some Rank 1 tokens for the library left. Use them to get yourself a decent cultivation technique."
I nodded but wanted to know more. "What's wrong with it?"
"They're good if you're out in the wilderness where there's free essence everywhere. Cultivation techniques with essence filters will let you cultivate normally while also slowly increasing your affinity over time. For a lot of people on the continent, that kind of technique would be a godsend. But you are in the Academy and should be joining the sect in the future. You don't need to rely on slowly cultivating wild essence to improve your affinity."
"It would still help though, wouldn't it?"
She seemed amused at the question.
"The key word was 'slowly.' For whatever reason, if you cultivate essence, it takes ten times as much of the stuff to raise an affinity. The amount of essence you get for beating each stage increases the higher you go, but if you want to get a low five-star affinity while cultivating essence instead of simply absorbing it, you will have to reach at least stage 60. Simply put, not only are you weaker than someone with a cultivation technique more focused on improving their qi in some way, but you will also have to consume far more resources to advance. Get yourself a better technique. Preferably a two- or three-element one."
"I… I will consider it…"
I did not want to change my technique. I needed to keep cultivating essence. If it took ten times as much energy to raise my affinities as normal, what did that mean? It shouldn't make them better in any way, right? The instructor would have mentioned it.
Ten times the cost when cultivating essence instead of absorbing it normally. Would that make the improvements permanent? I had to know. Asking the System only got me a demand for an outrageous number of credits, so if I wanted an answer, I would have to figure it out myself.
After everyone's debriefing with Instructor Yuan, we gathered together without her to discuss how we should prepare for future Trials.
"Weapons." Shi YuLong patted his new hammer. "You all need to get yourselves some weapons. You wouldn't believe how much of a difference a good hammer can make for breaking apart stone."
I looked around at the group. "Does anyone know what the rules are for taking weapons into the Trial? We couldn't take our storage bags, but would weapons be allowed?"
Zhuge Yan nodded. "I asked the elder at my Trial. Anything we make can be taken inside, but it has to be made by someone in our class. No outside pills, weapons, or armor will be permitted."
No one wanted to put Lin LiTing on the spot, her profession was officially a secret, but it had been obvious for years.
She squirmed in the silence that filled the room as we considered how to proceed.
"Maybe I could—"
"No." Zhuge Yan cut her off sharply. "If all of us show up to the next Trial with refined weapons, it will be obvious to everyone what happened. If we want weapons, we should try to earn them through the Trials openly. If anyone has an affinity above mid five-star, it might be worth using your next attempt to pick up equipment from that Trial."
LiTing sunk down in her chair.
"What about regular, mortal weapons?" I asked. "Do we have to make those ourselves, and if we do, will doing so be problematic?"
Yan looked frustrated. "Yes, we do. As for whether they will cause similar problems, it's hard to say, but I would lean toward being more cautious than not. How many people would easily accept that a cultivator is just a mortal weapon smith?"
I didn't want LiTing to worry too much about the situation, so I changed the topic.
"What did you two face in your Trials?" I asked Yan and JiaQi. "You haven't told us yet. We had to fight those damn rock monsters at the Earth Peak, but maybe another Trial would be easier without a weapon."
"I had to cut things," JiaQi grumbled. "Nothing to fight against. Well, nothing to fight against in the stages I was able to get through. Just cutting. I was able to use a water blade to get the job done early on, but once I was out of qi, I was finished."
"Illusions," responded Yan. "The first ten stages were all about escaping through various illusions. Since no one was controlling them, I'm guessing they were created by formations, but that knowledge didn't help me much. I was able to struggle through to the tenth stage, but then I started getting attacked by enemies I couldn't see, so I had to retreat."
It was good intel, but what could we do with it?
"I can work to create some formations," I offered. "We can all take them inside with us during the next Trial, but it will take time to design something that can help us. I know you all don't like talking about your professions, but…"
LiTing sunk back a little further, having already gotten a response to any offer she could make.
JiaQi was the first to volunteer an idea. "I'm studying taming, but there is very little I can do at this point, so don't expect me to gift you your own flame tiger or anything. I might be able to get us some small animals to help detect hidden opponents. I don't know if they will be able to see through illusions, though. I'll have to look into it."
Yan shook his head. "I'm studying to be an illusionist. We might be able to work together to design some formations in the future, but I don't have the skill to do much yet, and there is nothing I can provide others with."
YuLong smiled. "Fang already had formations covered, so I didn't need to think about that. I'm more of a fighter anyway, so I wanted one of the secondary professions. Went with talisman artist, not that it will help. I barely qualify to make Rank 1 talismans, and those won't do much for us."
Zhuge Yan put both hands flat on the table and looked at us. "Alright. Our profession lessons are starting back up tomorrow. We can discuss this with our teachers and see if they can offer any insights. If they aren't willing to say anything directly, try to focus on topics that you think will help. And remember, even if something doesn't seem valuable now, it might help in a different element's Trial.
As we were preparing for profession training, Instructor Yuan informed us that, as Masters, we would need to begin specializing.
Instead of simply studying general knowledge of formations, I was supposed to pick a subtopic to focus on, such as permanent formations, disposable formations, or grand formations. I would still learn the basics of everything, but my true depth would be in my chosen specialty.
I wanted to choose spatial bags as my specialization. That was by far the most important topic to me. However, I was informed that 'spatial bags' was considered a rather low-class specialization. There simply wasn't much depth required to master it.
At the instructor's urging, and with my need to create something useful for our trials, I went with specializing in disposable formations. Master Tan's explosive formations had left an impact on me, and if I could create something even more powerful, passing through the Trial would be simple.
Still, since mastering spatial bags was supposed to be 'easy,' I asked Instructor Yuan to arrange a few lessons with a formation teacher who specialized in it so that I could find out what I needed to know. She wasn't happy about it, but she begrudgingly agreed to do so 'later.'
My first lesson on Rank 2 formations was with Grandmaster Qin, and it was to cover the topic of disposable formations in more detail. I had thought about our conversation for ideas that could help us during the Trial and wanted his help to learn how to implement them.
"So, my idea is to have a prepared formation stone containing the earth wall technique that I can throw out to create a quick staircase. That's just an example, but it's the essence of what I want to accomplish. Encasing techniques into formations that I can throw out during a fight."
Grandmaster Qin smiled at my description. "That is the essence of the disposable formation specialty, but you have to understand its limits. If you want to have a formation create a staircase, you will need a filter so that it only collects earth qi, a way to target different parts of the ground in a specific order, a variable method for controlling power output toward different targets, and several more components. This can be done, but it will be an exceedingly complex formation."
He took out a fist-sized carved stone and placed it in front of me. "This is an Earth Spike Formation. Throw it out and it creates a spike of earth wherever it lands. It's simple. Disposable formations are a lot like talismans. Use them once and then they're gone. You don't want to spend days working on a one-time-use formation. Usually, at least."
I thought about it, but I liked my idea. Maybe it was just that 'disposable formations' wasn't the right specialty for me. "I can still make something like that and just pick it up after so that it's not a one-time-use item. It would still be useful."
"You can, and it might be a good idea to keep something like that with you in the future, but you are looking to pass the Earth Peak Trial, right? That kind of formation will be difficult to take with you. That formation, with all the parts it would require, would need a large chunk of stone, and that's something you don't want to be carrying around without a storage bag if you don't have to. Better to just use some Earth Spike Formations at different power levels and learn to jump between them."
He tossed out a small rock, and when it hit the ground, a spike of earth burst forth.
"The advantage disposable formations have over talismans is that as long as you only inject a small amount of energy into one, the formation will not be destroyed, so you can use it again. The formation stone will only shatter if you use it at full strength. The drawback to this is that disposable formations have a lower peak output than an equivalent talisman."
"That… could work." I considered the option. It still had one big problem, though. "What about different Trials? If I go to the Fire Peak Trial, there won't be any earth qi for the formation to draw upon."
A look of chagrin crossed the Grandmaster's face. "With your wide array of affinities, you have a few advantages in that regard that the rest of us don't. I can teach you to translate martial techniques into formations, but you will have to then use that knowledge to take techniques of other elements and create new formations out of them yourself."
This… This could be the excuse I needed to check out the other libraries without raising suspicion.
"When do we start?"
Chapter 137 – Life 66, Age 21, Martial Master 3
Over the next few months, I dispersed the meridian I had formed during the Earth Peak Trial and followed a Profound-Rank technique focused on variable meridian diameter to form two new ones. I wanted to experiment with the benefits and drawbacks such a design would have.
During this time, I also studied how to transform some basic earth qi techniques into disposable formations that any of my classmates would be able to throw out and activate. The goal was to learn to design things that could let any of them easily pass through the early levels of any Trial.
At the course's nine-month mark, we had a martial competition against one of the regular Master-level classes. They had all advanced to Martial Master 5 or 6 while we were languishing at only 2 or 3. This gave them confidence that they could easily overcome us, but as soon as the fighting began, the value of our elite training showed itself.
LiTing, our weakest fighter, was able to easily crush her opponent. The boy tried to use qi to shield himself from her attacks, but his barriers were so rough and flimsy that they could barely slow her punches of concentrated energy.
She could have won with a single hit, but she took time to experiment on the poor kid.
The rest of our opponents fell just as quickly, and we were each rewarded with a Rank 2 library token for helping teach that class about the difference in strength that comes from rigorous training.
While the others went to grab skills that would help them in their Trials, YuLong gave his token to me. I used both his and mine to purchase entry into the Rank 2 fire libraries for both martial and cultivation techniques. While I exited the building with only one technique of each type in my hands, I had a smile on my face and all the knowledge in both libraries safely stored away.
I spent the following three months dedicated to creating several different simple disposable formations around the fire techniques I had acquired. When it was time for our second Trial, I gave YuLong a large backpack filled with formation stones. He and I were both aiming to take on the Fire Peak, and I had prepared many contingencies for what we might face there.
The others were entering the Water, Metal, and Dark Trials. I couldn't help them this time, but I would try to do so in the future.
YuLong's reason for challenging the Fire Peak was simply that he had gotten as much as he could expect to get from the Earth Peak for now and needed to work on a second affinity. Since he was studying talismans, I expected he would want to raise his lightning affinity, but he said it didn't matter. He would be able to get further with help from my formations, so he gave me his token and decided to go wherever I did.
I expected the Fire Peak Trial to at least resemble the one from the Earth Peak, but I was sorely mistaken. The elder at its entrance told us that we would appear in a long corridor, and we would only need to walk to the end of it to pass through to the next stage. Going back the way we came would allow us to exit the Trial.
Upon entering, I appeared in an old lava tube. Light emanated from the cave walls, giving the place a hazy reddish cast. No 'test' immediately presented itself. Before beginning my trek forward, I turned on energy vision and saw the situation more clearly.
Starting a meter in front of me, the lava tube was chock full of fire qi. If I stepped forward, I might not be burned alive, but I wouldn't have a very pleasant time of it.
Among the formations I had prepared was a heat shield that I could use as protection in this kind of environment, but for this first stage, I was able to easily bull my way through by relying on my peak six-star affinity.
Once I reached the end of the tunnel, a glowing white formation appeared on the ground, but before I could step on it, I was bombarded with fire essence.
I didn't cultivate it. I couldn't have even if I wanted to, but I didn't want to. I was here to raise my fire affinity as high as I could so that I would have as many chances to permanently advance my earth affinity as possible.
The following four stages maintained this setup. The only additions were small crevices with a few fire-based herbs growing in them. These were the ingredients necessary for concocting basic Rank 2 Fire Resistance Pills.
I could have used such pills to help me progress, but instead, I relied on a Heat Shield Formation. In normal use, this wouldn't be considered a 'disposable formation' at all, but if the fire qi and temperature started to rise, the formation would activate in overdrive mode, protecting me while burning itself out.
In the sixth through tenth stages, creatures that looked like human adults made out of solid flame started to appear. The only goal was to get to the end of the lava tube, so if I had been capable of executing a fire-based movement technique, I should have been able to simply run past them.
As an earth cultivator, I did have movement techniques that could help me in this kind of situation, but I preferred not to use them. There was no earth qi in this Trial, so any of it that I spent was not coming back, and I might need it in later stages.
Instead, I dealt with these elementals the same way I had dealt with the fire construct during my final fight as a Disciple. I used basic Qi Gathering Formations to trap them in place long enough for me to run past.
On the first few stages where I faced off against them, this wasn't much of a problem since I had carried several such formations into the Trial with me. However, the number I could carry was ultimately limited. Starting on the ninth stage, I had to forcibly take control of the environmental fire qi and use it to carve formations into the rock walls. This was difficult and time-consuming, but it was the only way I could think of to save my precious resources.
Still, the elementals themselves weren't much of a problem. What was worse was that they caused the heat in the corridor to soar. As I ran through the lava tube, I had to rely on both my Heat Shield Formation as well as pushing the excess fire qi away with my affinities.
When I reached the end of the tenth corridor, I was drenched in sweat and exhausted. It had taken me several hours to reach this point. I was behind the pace I had wanted to set, but I still had to take a moment in the peace at the end of a stage to collapse to the ground and rest.
As I did, essence flooded into my body, and I felt something snap. Fire energy welled up within me.
I looked at the dense fire qi further down the corridor and waved my hand. I was able to control it effortlessly. My fire affinity had improved to low five-star.
When Instructor Yuan was calculating the time it would take me to get enough essence for a mid five-star affinity, she made one important mistake. She considered it my 'secondary' affinity and based her numbers on earth being my 'primary.' While I had indeed spent the last few years focused on earth and formations, it didn't compare to my centuries with fire and alchemy.
While I had avoided alchemy in the academy to both fit in and not be railroaded down that path, I didn't have such concerns within the Trial. The instructor's comments after my first visit convinced me that few people knew what happened inside. Those that would know were concerning because they would be people with both martial and political power, but I wantedthem to know more about my capabilities. It might open more doors.
In the eleventh stage, herbs of every element started to appear. There was also a crude rock outcropping at the entrance to each stage that could serve as a rudimentary alchemy cauldron.
These Trial stages were puzzles with countless answers, some intended, some not. If a person were weak in one area, they would be able to solve the stage through other means.
My knowledge of Master-level alchemy was not perfect. The System had given clear evidence of how much more I had to learn. However, I knew far more than the designers of this Trial had anticipated.
I still didn't want to expend my personal qi until I had to, but such a thing was unnecessary anyway. There was a bonfire of qi around me, and with my new and improved fire affinity, it was easy to control it enough to concoct a few slapdash pills. Their efficacy wasn't anything impressive, but they were cleansed of impurities, so they were good enough.
Relying only on various hastily made concoctions, I was able to easily rise from the eleventh to the twenty-sixth stage in a little over twelve hours. I wasn't sure exactly how much time I had left, but it was between four and five hours.
At the twenty-sixth stage, the size of the lava tube expanded. The atmospheric fire qi intensified, and it was excited into a state where it was putting off overwhelming levels of heat.
Even just doing simple alchemy at the beginning of the stage was difficult because the excessive environmental qi wanted to corrupt anything I tried to create. I had to modify a Qi Gathering Formation to form its normal qi barrier, but instead of pulling energy from outside and making the qi inside denser, it pulled qi from inside and expelled it out.
This let me work, and I concocted every pill I expected to need through to the thirtieth stage.
Instead of being able to just run through these tunnels, I was beset by large wolves that looked like hellhounds and had to defend myself. I couldn't easily trap them, so I was finally forced to use my earth qi to fight them. I wasn't worried about finishing them off, though. I only spent as much energy as needed to knock them aside so that I could continue rushing further down the corridor.
When I reached the end of stage thirty, I had no desire or time to continue further. I just slumped to the ground to rest as the final minutes of my timer ticked away.
Essence filled me, and for the second time that day, I felt a snap as fire welled up within my body and my affinity reached mid five-star.
When it did, a voice echoed out from every wall of the lava tube.
"You have reached the maximum potential of the Master-level Trial of the Fire Peak. You may continue forward to test yourself, but you will receive no more benefits from this Trial. As you have passed the thirtieth stage on your first attempt, you will be rewarded based upon the manner in which you did so."
A small dark iron alchemy cauldron appeared in front of me. It was elegantly designed with several flowing images of mythical beasts on every surface. At a glance, I could see that they were composed of several miniature formations, but I couldn't easily work out their purpose.
As I examined it, the voice spoke up once more.
"This is a restricted item. You are not allowed to remove it from the lands of the Nine Rivers Sect. If you do so, you will be killed." The voice paused briefly to let the message sink in before continuing. "Seek out new challenges at the other peaks to test yourself."
I wanted to take the cauldron and hide it away in my soul space so that no one would see it, but doing so would have been a grave mistake if I was being watched. I picked it up and carried it out of the Trial openly.
Outside, Shi YuLong was waiting for me.
"Why do you always take so long?" he asked in an annoyed tone. "I was out of there after only a few hours. How the hell can you spend so long inside when you can't even cultivate? You need to learn to admit defeat and just leave early like I did."
As he talked, I noticed the left eye of the elder guarding the Trial's entrance twitch in annoyance, but he didn't say anything.
YuLong seemed oblivious to the cauldron I was holding, so I slipped it into my storage bag without comment. After that, we returned to the Academy.