The sun is bright and somewhat painful on this day, gentle and thin leaves blow through the wind across the village. The fragrant smell of flowers and bamboo can be felt all around. Its a shame such a beautiful day was to be wasted on this dreaded ceremony.
All the boys and girls that belonged to a family of Spirit masters gathered in front of the alter, a patterned stone staircase that led to a small basin with pure water in it, this water apparently had the ability to open ones Spirit pores with the help of a Rank 3 Spirit master.
One of the clan elders stood next to the basin, some of the other elders stood nearby behind him. One by one he called out their names, striking fear in the hearts of the children, wondering if their turn was next.
The most notable was a boy from a bigger family getting a B grade, he's set for a good future now. No A grades had awakened at the ceremony. The Elders whispered among themselves in disappointment, the pressure on the youth was maddening.
"Zhang Feng." The elder had a piece of parchment in his hand in which he read out the names, Zhang Jian gave him a pat on the shoulder and a weak smile "It'll be fine" and Zhang Feng started to walk toward the basin.
He was sweating, everything that his family had weighing on him, the future family head, having to carry on the legacy. Everything dragged him further into the ground, some other kids actually collapsed after awakening out of fear and shock.
After what felt like eternity, he reached the basin, the elder had a still monotonous look on his face, he's seen this a million times before and he's experienced it for himself.
"dip your hand in the water" Zhang Feng did as he said, bubbles formed around his skin like carbonated soda. it was excruciatingly painful, his skin felt like it was boiling. He almost immediately took it out.
The Elder's hand set itself on fire, at least it looked like that. That was pure Spiritual energy pouring out from his hand, a deep magenta color indicated that he was Rank 3. With his hand coated in Spirit energy, he took Zhang Feng's, His hand felt like it was burning.
He wanted to scream out in pain. Something changed with Zhang Feng, he could feel something moving in his blood, something circulating in his body.
It was his Spirit! As soon as the Elder took away his hand, Zhang Feng's entire arm erupted in a dark red flame. But alas, this was not to be praised. Zhang Feng's Spirit energy could only reach from his fingertips to his shoulder, that classified him as D grade talent. A disappointment to his family.
As the flame quickly settled, the Elder shook his head "D grade, move on." Zhang Feng was in complete utter shock, his life was over. A new world, a new life and for what? He had no choice but to physically move himself, but his mind was still wandering over that basin "What could have I have done?" "Why me?" and questions like that plagued his mind.
The elder called out the next name "Zhang Jian" Zhang Feng turned around, his eyes widened and his pupils shrank in utter fear. "Brother! what will happen to him?" His mind raced with all the horrifying possibilities, it was shameful, being afraid of your younger brother.
Zhang Feng tried to calm himself down, he stood from a distance watching his brother walk up the stairs. He looked calm, no sweat ran down his face. Zhang Feng felt almost embarrassed.
With a smile he dipped his hand the water, and kept it there for more than 5 seconds. Once he took it out, it was pink-ish red from the heat. The elder brought out his Spirit energy once again, took Zhang Jian's hand.
It was an orange-red flame that didn't go beyond his wrist. "F grade, what a shame, move on."
As calm as he walked in, he walked away towards Zhang Feng's direction. "Come brother, nothing good will arrive from us staying here any longer." He spoke calmly with a soft smile on his face and his eyes near closed.
"B-but" Zhang Feng was on the verge of tears, their lives were over. Neither of them could even achieve even C grade. "We don't need to worry about anything. Come with me, it is not proper to speak in a place like this."
Zhang Feng walked with his brother, even though Zhang Jian walked slouched all the time, his head was always held high with confidence. He envied that confidence, he envied how little his brother cared.
Zhang Feng felt ashamed, not only did he get a low score, he was afraid of his brother getting a higher score than him. Zhang Feng was disgusted with himself, he could only look at the ground as they walked.
"HEY, THATS ZHANG JIAN! THAT BASTARD!" The two brothers turned around to see who it was, it was some of the kids that Zhang Jian used to beat up back when they were kids. Well that sort of continued as they kept coming back to fight him. "What is it now? how jobless are you fuckers?" Zhang Jian spoke with an annoyed look on his face. His brows furrowed and his head tilted.
"We all got C grade, that means a lowly F grade like you is nothing now." the six of them stood with confidence and a smug expression. Zhang Jian laughed, he kept a hand over his eyes to stop himself from crying out of laughter.
"You think that makes a difference? I can kill all of you any time I feel like it. The fact that you would confront me in numbers than in person is proof alone that you will be nothing but a bitch your whole life!"
"Brother Feng, go home. I will wrap this up quickly and join you, get tea and set up the board. I will be back by the time the tea is ready." Zhang Feng nodded, he didn't feel like talking, much less even looking at his brothers face. He walked ahead, without turning back.
"Bastard! You will regret talking to us like that!" and they charged him. With a smile he took them on, Zhang Jian does not care about ranking or cultivation, when it comes to fighting, all that matters is pure martial skill.