44 Telling Stories of Grand Adventures

Yun sat down on the couch and began to regale Zhu Cai, "Shortly after leaving we were all gathered together in the forest just outside of town where we were told what the first challenge would be. They gave us three whole months for the first phase, but the goal was to travel safely within that time period on foot from here, north of the Volcanic Ridge Mountains, then back down south to the riverside!"

"Wow, that's quite the journey Yun'er, how many passed this first challenge?"

"In the first challenge only sixty percent passed. When this crazy endurance race started this Yun traveled slowly for a few days to let others clear the path before speeding up. Of course, just as this Yun sped up there was a shameless older brother who turned green at being passed by. His name was Gu Jian and he attacked this Yun with his twin clubs, breaking through and nearly causing me harm."

Yun continued describing how she constantly encountered interesting and difficult situations throughout the woods, but she chose to exclude the part about the cave where she spoke with the master-spirit that resided inside her soul. Finally she finished explaining the things that happened in the first half of her journey before she went on to tell of what happened in the continuing phases.

"When they started the second phase of the tournament they teleported us randomly into a scrubland and told us to collect tokens from other fighters, but that we weren't allowed to be malicious. The goal was to take a second token and return to the base camp with only two tokens per person, eliminating fifty percent of the remaining competitors. This Yun encountered a few fights, but nothing truly difficult. Without much effort by this Yun the second phase was completed. Afterward this Yun and her twin brother Fenglong found each other and had a long conversation after three years. Pitifully he wasn't able to progress to the final rounds."

"I see, sounds like it's good you caught up. Which sect is he in?"

"Bone Tool Sect. He's planning to be an alchemist and has been focused on learning the herbology that's required as well as preparing to practice the secret skill that allows their sect to form a life-bond with a beast and share their thoughts and cultivations."

Taking this opportunity they both paused and ate the delicious food that Zhu Cai had prepared, "Cai'er you're just as good a cook as you are a crafter. How did you learn such skill in both fields?"

"While I'd love to say 'practice', I do have to give credit to my mother. When i was just a little cub she insisted on teaching me to cook. This is actually what started my love of crafting. I would spend every day in the kitchens with her crafting new foods for us to eat and discovering what works and what doesn't work. Eventually this knowledge transferred over to making objects as well, as i would start using scraps of wood to make things. When I turned six my father taught me about cultivation as a means of protecting myself and advancing my future, so I began to cultivate to have the strength to craft greater things."

"That's quite interesting. You've managed to achieve a wonderful level of skill in both fields."

Yun and Zhu Cai then continued to eat and chat about life in general. After a short time they finished their meal, and Zhu Cai asked Yun to continue her tale.

"Following the short break we went into the third phase of the tournament, where we eliminated two thirds of the remaining competitors. After this phase we reduced our numbers down to 1,020 remaining competitors.

"The fighters were spread out across three different arenas with safeguards in place, and the terms of the battle were battle royale. No teams, no groups, and the Elders intentionally split those who were known to be related to each other into separate arenas to attempt to prevent team ups and inferior fighters from eliminating stronger fighters through group tactics. Of course, this failed.

"This Yun herself had to deal with two separate group attacks, one from the very start. Being a smaller and younger participant had it's disadvantages. The first group attacked from multiple angles, attempting to make it impossible for this Yun to fend them off, while the second group actually attacked that first group from the back to get through. Something happened during this battle that still doesn't make any sense to this Yun, and there's been no one who explained it so far, but there was a surge of power that flowed through this Yun's body and weapon, helping drive back those foes.

"Eventually this Yun and her brother passed through to the fourth round, while all those who failed were now separated from the victors and sent home. We boarded barges and traveled to a hidden cavern in a cliff, within these caverns we traveled upward to a hidden cliff pagoda where the next, and most interesting, challenge occurred.

"An Array Tower battle. Within the tower each warrior was in their own world, and within this world there were many different layers you could advance through. These little worlds only contained one living being, and that was Volvaka Fire Eaters!"

Zhu Cai was stunned. Fire Eaters were known to be brutal and vicious fighters, and were almost never defeated by young warriors. "How did that work? They're too strong for those at the early stages of Neidan Forging!"

"These Fire Eaters had their abilities limited based on what level you had reached. In the first floor of the tower they could not use any of their special skills, and only had the equipment on their bodies to fight with. This floor was a wake up call for this Yun, as these warriors punished my lack of attention to their bodies beyond their weapons early on. After fighting multiple times with them this Yun finally managed to travel to the second floor, killing nine enemies on the first.

"On the second floor the Fire Eaters gained access to the first level of their Smoking Gauntlets ability, where they create a smokescreen and heat transfers to anything that receives a strike from their imbued equipment. On this floor this Yun spent some time trying to find the exit, as well as wondering where the enemies were, before finding out they only came out at night from the caves in the valleys. Fighting intensely with these enemies, this Yun killed six of them before going to the third floor.