10 The News

Time always flew as fast as an arrow speeding forth.

Wei Gaoyuan had been in the East Mountain Sword club for three years where he'd always kept the lowest profile among all the students.

In the schedule of the club there was a small test for all the students at the end of each month, and a large trial every year; students who were ranked high in the trial will be rewarded while those who got a very low rank would face different degrees of punishment; Students who had not passed the test for three months in a row would even be expelled from the club.

Wei Gaoyuan had never participated in any tests or trials. At first, he just participated in daily practice with others in the club while more than ten days later it was difficult to see his presence. Since he was known as the person that Mu Yunyi had arranged to come into the club, the owner of the club personally talked to him just a few times about his absence, and then he was allowed to act free.

Today was the end of this month, the day for the test. Thus, nearly a hundred of students were assembled in the training field of the club, on the contrary, Wei Gaoyuan was now sleeping alone in his room.

Few people knew that he was not lazy but in a special practice.

In the first days when he began learning the Martial Arts in the club, every time after the training during the day he would always find himself in a unique space in his dreaming while sleeping at night. And this space was really a wonderland because in this space the practice of Martial Arts was in a much higher efficiency than the outside. Even more unbelievable, while practicing in this dream space, the shortcomings of the martial arts he learned from the club and even the techniques in the scroll of the woman in white would often automatically appear and showed the methods of corresponding correction in his mind.

In addition to it, this amazing dream space could also create the virtual opponents for him, very strong opponents. Even if Wei Gaoyuan had never won the virtual opponents in this space for three years, his swordsmanship and agility had been progressing much more rapidly than the students his age in the club.

For this reason, he tried to find at least four hours a day on sleeping in order to get more "dreaming-practice", which was one more sleeping hour than the other students. Once he was awake, he usually went alone to the woods at the city side to practice breathing techniques as the nice and quiet environment there could make him easily calm down.

Having been practicing in this way for three years without interruption, Wei Gaoyuan's power and Internal Qi was getting stronger and stronger. He was able to smash a three-inch-diameter tree easily with only one hand just a year ago. Until yesterday his Dantian had got a qualitative change that once his Internal Qi was running inside his Dantian it could then be released and even shot as he pleased.

（Dantian: at about the abdomen of the human body, in the system of Taoism and Martial Arts practice, it is well known as the center for Internal Qi storage and flowing.）

According to the knowledge he got these days, he knew that he had reached the stage of the level 9 of the Mystery in Martial Arts.

The rapid progress made him ecstatic. Even if only got the access to the Mystery, he'd got identification of entering the stage superior to mortals, roughly equivalent to the height of a level nine official in officialdom.

Wei Gaoyuan once had a roommate named Hu Xiaoshu, a slight and short boy from the simple common family. The two boys usually said a few words on weekdays, and then Wei Gaoyuan applied for a single room for not being disturbed or disturbing others. Thus, the talk between the two boys became much less than ever, and they normally had saw each other only once for several days.

When the test in the morning ended, Wei Gaoyuan met Hu Xiaoshu in the dining hall. With three years of growth, Hu Xiaoshu had been taller than before, but still very thin as a stick.

"You guy didn't attend the test again," Hu Xiaoshu didn't know how to evaluate Wei Gaoyuan but muttered, "although you seemed quite familiar with the owner of the club, but just thinking more about your own future. You don't intend to goof off like that in the club for a lifetime, do you?"

"No, just goofing off for a few years first, and then I'll follow my own plans for the future," Wei Gaoyuan smiled and replied slowly.

"Alas! Brother, time goes by so fast! I cannot imagine what your future life would be if without any special skills," Hu Xiaoshu gave a sigh and waved his fist, "if you had listened to my advice to practice martial arts hard following the regulations of the club, you could reach the level of the Exterior Force now, and would be a mighty one at the level nine of the Mystery before the age of your thirty…"

(Stages in the Martial Arts: from the weak to the strong, the Undistinguishment, including Exterior Force < Interior Force < Transforming Force; the Mystery, from level 9 to level 1; the Nature, form First Heaven to Ninth Heaven)

"Brother Hu, really thanks for your advice. I've got the designs for my future…oh, what about today's test, I guess you guy can handle it, right?" Wei Gaoyuan tried to get off the point.

Hearing it, Hu Xiaoshu didn't know what to say next but gave a long sigh. Every time he tried to motivate Wei Gaoyuan to get to the right ways, his former roommate would respond in such a I've-already-got-my-plan attitude.

Just remembering something, Hu Xiaoshu asked, " Have you got the idea that the Trial Island is about to open?" "

"The Trial Island?" Wei Gao yuan returned a serious look, shook his head, "I've never heard about it. The students in the club need to go outside for a trial? "

"Not strange for you guy, never bother about what's happening in the outside world," Hu Xiaoshu shook his head, and then said seriously, " the trial island is the island controlled and managed by the four major martial arts clubs in Qizhou City. They start trial missions on the island every three years, and all people are authorized to sign up for it who are under the age of seventeen either living in Qizhou City or surrounding villages and towns.

"Wow! So, you're gonna to signed up?" Wei Gaoyuan didn't seem to have much interest about it actually.

"Of course I am!" Hu Xiaoshu said. " The trial missions is obviously launched for selecting the talents by the four major sects controlling the four clubs before the curtain. Just think of it, doesn't it mean each participant has the opportunity to be selected by the four major sects? "

"Oh?" Wei Gaoyuan raised his interest and asked, "is the person without spiritual root allowed to be the disciple of four major sects?"

"As far as I know, the person without spiritual root could be an outside disciple of four major sects." Hu Xiaoshu said. "Besides, each of the sects have their secret scrolls on martial arts, which can help someone to reach…hmm… about the stage of the Nature, as powerful as the owner of our club."

"The owner of our club is a warrior at the Nature?!" Wei Gaoyuan was in surprise. He didn't know that Zhao Xiongying was that powerful since he had never seen Zhao Xiongying fighting with anyone.

Wasn't it a perfect opportunity for him to realize the dream of being the martial artist at the Nature? Wei Gaoyuan hastened to ask, "when will the deadline be for the registration?"

"The end of this month," staring at wei Gaoyuan in surprise, Hu Xiaoshu asked, "you also wanna get a try?"

"Thank you so much! Brother Hu!" Wei Gaoyuan hurriedly stuffed himself with the rest of the meal and then ran away quickly with a mutter.

Watching Wei Gao flying away from the back, Hu Xiaoshu sighed once again. It was the first time he'd seen his roommate caring so much about one thing, but how could that guy who'd wasted three years compete with other students in the trial mission? To just use his-plan-already?

...

In the quiet and beautiful forest at the city side, Wei Gao was sitting cross-legged on the clearing under a few trees, his eyes lightly closed. The vaporous clouds of mist was seen rising from his body with his regular breathing.

After making the Internal Qi flow in a full circle in his body, Wei Gaoyuan exhaled a turbid air from his mouth, opened his eyes and a glint of golden light flashed in his pupils and quickly faded away.

(Making the Internal Qi flow in a full circle: Da zhou tian in Chinese, one of the techniques in the Martial Arts to run the Internal Qi through all meridians around the human body, which is of great use for refining and transforming the Internal Qi.)

After becoming a level nine warrior at the Mystery, Wei Gaoyuan practiced in breathing techniques nearly ten times more efficiently than before, but the Internal Qi he'd stored in Dantian hadn't multiplied since he just felt that his Dantian had expanded a lot even with a bottomless sign.

After another completion of full circle flowing of Internal Qi, he felt very hungry. He got up when hearing the footsteps and faint talking from the distance in the woods ahead.

"It's deadly boring! Only hunting for so few little things for a whole afternoon. "

"Your ladyship, you might have no idea that in this small forest on the edge of the Meiyun Mountain it's been an excellent result to hunt seven wild animals in one afternoon… "

"These little water deer and hares just don't deserve'hunt'. I got them without any effort. I wanna catch the beasts like wolves, tighers! "

"Well... This forest is located in the suburbs of Qizhou City surrounded by more than ten villages and towns. So the local government couldn't allow wild animals like wild wolves and tigers to exist. "

"Hum! We'll go to Dongchuan Mountain next time... Look! A big one over there! Just watch how I catch it alive! "

As he was thinking about whether he should leave quietly or greet the strangers, Wei Gaoyuan just saw a red shadow flying fast toward here…