A Rigorous Test

Momo took offense at the dismissive attitude Deacon Gorou was showing right how the gate. "How dare you judge us already! We might represent the good luck to balance all the bad you've suffered today, and your too interested in getting it over with to even do your job properly!"

Deacon Gorou, started cleaning wax from his ear as he pretended not to notice the tirade. "Listen, you must be extremely important in your Clan. I'd guess a relative of the Clan Leader personally. So I understand you are accustomed to ordering around people on the level of Elders in your Clan."

A sharp smile showed as he blew the earwax and released the aura of a Perfect High Origination expert. "I think it's safe to say this is around the upper limit of their Cultivation, so you probably think you can push me around too. But this place is not your Clan, and I am not restricted from using my strength to teach you respect. This is the Skull Sect, you are one of a hundred applicants and I make the rules."

A boiling rage built in Momo as she listened to the insolent speech, and she nearly exploded again. Two things stopped her. The first was that this man was correct in all that he said, even if he made every word an insult in the process. The second as Cifer setting his hand on her shoulder.

"Not now." Cifer whispered urgently. "We need his approval if we are going to join the Skull Sect."

Momo slowly took a deep breath, releasing it as she felt the tension leaving her body. "I apologize sir. We wish to enter your Skull Sect. What tests must we pass to be admitted?"

Deacon Gorou was impressed by the self control they showed. Most spoiled brats would have tried even harder to run over him for the sake of their moronic pride and dignity. But, while she needed a push, this girl was willing to apologize.

"I was a little overbearing myself." Deacon Gorou was willing to meet her halfway now that she'd taken the first step. He retracted his aura as he explains the exam. "The test is in three parts, all of which can have either positive or negative values based on the results. A final score of 10 is all you need to be considered to have passed."

"First test focuses on Potential. I'll look at your Manifestation, age and stage of Cultivation. It can go from -5 all the way up to a full 20 points by itself, but nobody gets a free pass from the other tests. In general only people with Striped Blue Manifestations end up with negative scores."

"Next test is comprehensions. I'll give you a few Techniques, Pill crafting and Weapon forging manuals. They will all be from the same Tier as your Cultivation. After an hour I'll see how much you retained and Comprehend of the manuals you've read. Score can range from -10 to 10."

"Then comes live combat. We will start you with a Sect member who matches your Stage of Cultivation, and allow you three matches. Each match you will either raise or fall a Stage and we will give you a final score based on the fighting record you end with. It ranges from -20 to 5 points."

Momo frowned, recalling the scene of Oji easily killing someone three Stages above him. Yet from what she recalled, Oji had the worst kind of Potential and his Comprehensions were only better because of his wealth of experience. With the different weights on everything, Oji would never pass this exam! "What if we actually won all three rounds during the live combat?"

Deacon Gorou shrugs. "5 points. Unless you have the Potential or Comprehension level to continuously improve your Cultivation level it won't matter all that much even if you are invincible within your Cultivation Stage. Some random peasant with a Cultivation Tier above you can smash you with the same effort as flipping their palm. It's more practical to have the random peasant than the invincible genius if the genius will take years longer to reach the same, rather low, point."

Cifer nods. "From a certain perspective I can understand that. Would you like me to go first, or should Momo get us started?"

"You first Cifer." Momo answered immediately. She was a bit frightened by the strictness of this entrance exam. Her age and Cultivation were poor, and her Manifestation wasn't impressive, so she'd likely get next to no points there. Her Comprehension wasn't bad, but with so much negative possible it meant that being just a little wrong would quickly reduce her score there.

The only thing she was absolutely certain of was that she could use her Famine form and the doubled Cultivation it enjoyed to win all three fights and earn five points. Due to her nervousness, Momo was hoping that Cifer might pass the exam first and then use his influence inside the Sect to open a back door for her.

After her answer, Cifer shrugged and bowed to Deacon Gorou. "I'm called the Cifer because when I was left with the Clan it was with a note that nobody could understand. I have no surname. I am 15 years old with a Cultivation of Intermediate Broken Origination. Please, allow me to prove that the Skull Sect has use for me."

"Get on with it kid." Deacon Gorou didn't care who went first or whatever. Either they were worth nurturing or they were rubbish. The order they went in didn't matter. "Show me your Manifestation."

Momo felt a rather savage pleasure when she saw Deacon Gorou's eyes nearly pop out of his head when he saw Cifer's Azure Manifestation. If only he knew that this was Cifer holding back as much as he could!