Early in the morning, Li Huang was already up; she had her fill and was running and doing all kinds of exercises.
As she was doing so, Xie Ning was near her, talking to her about what she could expect in the evaluation and the tournament.
"I know as a matter of fact that they will test your six senses. How? I don't know, but they will; they will also test your body strength for individual parts and how you walked the path of body cultivation."
"Then they will take all that information and, with an equation, will determine your potential."
"Anyway, you will train today and relax tomorrow so you are in peak condition by then."
Li Huang nodded before going back to doing push-ups.
nothing interesting happened that day or on the day she spent relaxing
Now, Li Huang was making her way towards the evaluation office with Xie Ning.
To participate in the tournament, you either had to have a pass given out by the Black Winter Empire or have enough influence.
As Li Huang had neither, she had to use the evaluation office where they would test out the things, and if Li Huang showed enough potential, she would be allowed to participate in the tournament and show off.
at least that was what she thought she would do
It shouldn't be that hard to get into the tournament after the evaluation.
Li Huang arrived at a reception desk, many other lines around her
The bored woman behind the desk took a look at Li Huang and nodded before giving her a jade tablet.
"Fill in your information, such as name, age, realm, and how you achieved it alongside foundation training; no specifics—general information is fine, as we will test you later to get specifics for strength, agility, etc., but you can put on a more detailed report if you want to."
Li Huang nodded but then looked up at Xie Ning, who just sighed and took the tablet and began filling in everything.
Xie Ning's finger wrote on the jade tablet, and the information began getting filled
After only five minutes, a very detailed report of Li Huang was made.
Xie Ning gave the tablet to the receptionist, who nodded and put the tablet in a pile of other filled tablets.
"Now, you wait until your name is called; you can do so there." The woman pointed to the side where many other young persons like her were going.
Li Huang nodded
"You go alone; I will go take a good seat to watch you. Don't embarrass me." Xie Ning smiled and ruffled Li Huang's hair a bit before leaving.
Li Huang smiled and went into the room.
There she found a few doors, and someone entered the room, and after a few minutes they left, either happy or sad or neutral.
all around people waiting for their names to be called
There were some couches and chairs, but most were taken, so Li Huang decided to just stand up and wait.
She saw some interesting characters there.
There was a man wearing all black and a mask.
a girl that was wearing silk and talking with some men while laughing
a burly man taking a small couch for himself
There was a man with thick, powerful eyebrows and a sword on his waist.
and a woman with long black hair, she appeared normal at first, but Li Huang could see a few holes in her skin.
after an hour Li Huang was called as one of the last ones
The room had one desk and four chairs.
one desk and one chair for her and one big desk and three chairs for three examiners
There was also a big stone on the back and some markings on the ground near the stone.
Li Huang just sat down in her chair and waited.
"Okay, Li Huang, open the first drawer on the desk and take the jade tablet out for us to begin."
Li Huang did just that and put the tablet on top of the desk.
"We will begin the vision evaluation portion; the tablet will show you a color, and you have to pick the one that doesn't fit."
Li Huang nodded, and the tablet activated.
It was a two-by-two pattern of circles.
three were purple and one was darker than the others, so she pressed on that one.
and the circles changed color, and Li Huang pressed on the "wrong" circle correctly five times.
then the patterns changed to a three-by-three
and the "wrong" color was more similar to the normal ones
after another five it changed to a four-by-four
another five, and it was now changed to a five-by-five
and it finally changed to a six-by-six with so little change between the "right" and "wrong" colors that it was basically impossible to confidently say which one was the odd one out.
On the final one, Li Huang frowned a bit and pressed two options.
"Why did you press two options?" one of the evaluation officers asked in an even voice.
"I was only going to press one, but I saw a second one that I thought was also wrong."
The officer nodded and wrote some things on a piece of paper.
"Okay, now, hearing evaluation, the table will begin emitting a sound in different frequencies and ranges; you press on the tablet as soon as you hear anything at all."
Li Huang nodded; that was an easy one.
So she just waited and began pressing on the tablet as soon as she heard anything.
That was a quick test, and the evaluation officers were writing things on a piece of paper.
"okay, touch evaluation, the table will simulate a feeling, one stop of the tablet will be diferent, pass your hand along the tablet and press on where the odd feeling is, its similar to the sight test so there should be no problem"
Li Huang nodded and began
Sometimes the tablet felt velvety while a part was more silky than the rest.
or the whole thing was rough and one part was slightly more rough than the rest
After a bit she also finished that test.
"Time for smell, the tablet will release an odor, then the tablet will show you a list of words; you just select what words fit the smell better."
Li Huang thought for a bit and then nodded.
the first ones were simple with five-word selection
then ten
fifteen
twenty
and finally twenty-five words
As the words grew, so grew the nuance of the smell.
Was it nutty or woody?
fruity or flowery?
sharp or pungent?
sickening or decaying?
After that, the evaluation officers nodded.
"There is a second drawer on your desk with five bottles; each bottle has a number and five pills inside. Eat one and describe the taste just like the smell test."
Li Huang looked, and there were the five bottles inside the desk.
She opened bottle number one, and after tasting it, she described it on the tablet.
She did so until the very last pill.
"Okay, senses are done. Now please, get up and face the rock at the back of the room; when ready, throw a simple punch at it.
Li Huang got up, but just as she was going to punch, she frowned and sat on the floor as she took off her bracelet, anklet, and vest.
After that she got in position and punched the stone.
She turned just in time to see her jade tablet glowing a bit like it registered her information.
"Okay, now we are going to test your agility and speed; the floor will begin glowing in a bit. All you have to do is run and step on the glowing portion of the floor." one of the officers said while pointing at the portion of the floor with the markings
Li Huang nodded and prepared mentally.
Just as the office said, one part of the floor began glowing green, and she ran at it and stepped on it, causing another part to turn green.
"Soon, blue marks will appear. You have to touch all blue marks before the green and then red marks will appear. You have to dodge those."
Li Huang began having to actually try and make it to the marks as quickly as she could.
Just when a thin layer of sweat was coating her body was when the test stopped.
Li Huang took a few deep breaths and put her weights back on.
"Just one final thing: place the jade tablet on top of your stomach; it's going to scan your body to make a double check of the things said in the interviewing tablet."
Li Huang nodded and did just that; after a brief light, the evaluation was all done.
"Okay, Li Huang, after you exit, enter the big door to your left. That is where the participants will go to wait for their turn."
Li Huang nodded and smiled and exited the room with a smile on her face as she made her way to the big door.
There she found the same strange characters from the waiting room and some other faces she saw.
She just nodded at everyone and made her way to an open seat.
Just as she was about to seat a man who was standing around, he jumped right up and took her seat.
The swordsman with the eyebrows from before shook his head; just as he was about to offer his seat to Li Huang, his eyes and everyone else's eyes opened wide.
Li Huang had picked the man up by his windpipe as he clawed at her face with no results.
"Why would you go ahead and do that? to get my attention? or to try and humiliate me? or to try and demoralize me before the fight? It doesn't make sense."
The man's face began going red and slowly began getting purple.
"Whatever." Li Huang let go of the man as he fell down on the floor on all fours as he took deep breaths.
Li Huang just sat on her chair and used the man as a stool for her feet.
Just as the man was about to get back up, Li Huang hit the heel of her foot on a spot on the man's back, locking it in place.
"Huh, who knew learning from massage techniques would be useful? Now be a good stool and stay there; you started it."
Li Huang looked around and raised an eyebrow. "What?"
almost everyone stopped looking at her, and only a few still looked at her.
"Miss, may I know your name? Mine is Min Ying. The swordsman from earlier asked, and everyone began paying attention; she was considered one of the big players now.
Li Huang smiled as if the man she was using as a stool was not even there in the room.
"Li Huang, pleasure to meet you."
"Li Huang, huh? What about we ditch this tournament? I am sure you would love to spend some time with me and not some fruity swordsman; the name's Gang Jian, by the way."
Li Huang turned to look at who spoke.
It was the burly man from earlier.
Li Huang lost her smile.
"I hope we meet in the tournament." following that, Li Huang ignored him as he laughed
"It's alright, honey, I love my woman unruly, and even more, I love them strong."
Li Huang did not spare the man another glance.
"Anyway, Miss Huang, Are you here with a sect or a group?" Min Ying asked
Li Huang shook her head
"No, I am here on my own, with my aunt, to be more specific." Li Huang answered with a smile.
"May I be so bold as to ask Miss Haung what she practices?"
Li Huang shook her head again. "It's no problem, considering I can see right through most of what you all practice." Li Huang's smile, even if gently, caused the top players there to shiver.