17 17. Competition Day - Part 3

[UNEDITED]

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked out the huge viewing window. They saw an old man wearing a white robe tied with a yellow sash. He had an emblem on his chest that was composed of a sword with the letters H. R. S. His whole look gave of a feeling of purity and tranquility

"He's Ding Huo from the Holy Righteous Sect," Hong Ling whispered to them, "They work under the Guan Empire."

Bai Cong nodded his head and focused on what the man had to say.

"Before we begin, I will explain the rules for this competition. There will be an age test to determine if you are under the age 18. It will be tested through a device called the Soul Reader, which will test to see how old your soul is," Ding Huo said.

Bai Cong tensed when he heard that. He knew more than anyone else how old his soul was. But it wasn't like he could back out now. He clenched his teeth and silently listened on.

"This has to be done before I can go any further so I will ask all the competitors to come to the arena floor," he beckoned the people down.

Everyone in the room started walking out of the door that directly led to the arena. Bai Cong also followed everyone out of the room and left his brothers to themselves. The ground was dusty brown when Bai Cong stepped on it. He looked up and saw how filled the stands were. There looked to be thousands of people spectating in the stands and observing all the people who were going to compete.

But that wasn't what made Bai Cong nervous. He didn't know how he was going to explain why his soul was older that his body, especially when his family was also here watching. Bai Cong was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't see the person in front of him. He bumped into the body and staggered back a bit.

"Apologies," Bai Cong said as he patted the non-existent dust of his clothes and looked up at the person he bumped into.

The boy in front of him turned around and that's when Bai Cong noticed who he bumped into. It was Xiong Wei, the boy he had been planning to kill since he's laid eyes on him.

Xiong Wei nodded his head, "Greetings," he said, "I believe you haven't told me your name."

"Yes," Bai Cong said, he didn't want to engage in idle conversation with the boy but he still had basic courtesy, "My name is Bai Cong."

"Bai? You're from the Bai Family?" Xiong Wei asked in surprise.

"Yes," Bai Cong said simply.

"Well, I guess that makes sense since the only people I know of who have silver hair is the Bai Family," Xiong Wei said to himself. 'This only makes things more complicated,' he thought.

"Yes, my family's hair color is quite unique," Bai Cong said softly.

Nothing was said after that and both boys stood in line quietly as they awaited their turns with the Soul Reader. The Soul Reader was a small, inconspicuous looking rock. There didn't seem to be anything special about it, Bai Cong observed.

The line grew shorter until it came to be Bai Chen's turn. He placed his hand on the rock and Ding Huo looked at a small orb. The number 15 appeared within the orb briefly before it dissipated.

Ding Huo nodded and let Bai Chen head back into the line of people who passed the check. The next in line was a stout-looking man who had very common features. He put his hand ok the rock and the orb shined and clear number 20.

Ding Huo shook his head and pointed to a door that led outside the arena. The man grumbled as he left the arena. Bai Chang was after the man, not wasting any time, he placed his hand on top of the rock. The orb shined and the number 10 was shown. Ding Huo nodded and Bai Chang ran over to his brother with a face of smiles.

The line filed down some more until it came to be Xiong Wei's turn. He took slow steps up to the rock and placed a hand on top of it. The stone shown for a while before the number 7 was finally shown. Xiong Wei didn't wait for Ding Huo to direct him and walked over to where the rest of the people who had passed were gathered.

Bai Cong walked up to the rock with a bit of sweat on his back. He hesitated for a bit before he put his hand on the rock. The rock shined a bit before a number was shown. Ding Huo gasped a bit when he saw the number but Bai Cong was already expecting it.

Bai Cong looked down at the ground and didn't look at the number.

"How amazing that one so young is competing," Ding Huo said in amazement.

This surprised Bai Cong. He looked up and caught the number that was within the orb just before it dissipated.

'How can this be?' Bai Cong thought to himself, 'How can my soul be only 5 years old when it should be 34.'

"You can go ahead," Ding Huo pointed to where the other people who had passed were standing.

Bai Cong nodded his head, not revealing his inner turmoil on his apathetic face. He slowly walked over to his brothers and brooded on in silence.

The last few people went with a few more getting pulled out. Now, what had used to be over 500 competitors turned into a small group of a bit less than 300 competitors.

"Now that that is done, we will now begin the process of determining your potential and the grade of your spirit root. As some of you may know, I, Ding Huo, am from the Holy Righteous Sect and a part of this competition is to pick out some potential students for our sect. So this competition can give you a chance to show off your talent and hopefully impress some of the teachers that have come to spectate," Ding Huo smiled at the young cultivators in encouragement.