10 This is For a Reason

Seeing these two arrived late, frowns could be seen everywhere.

"Such lack of discipline..." Mei Lan, who had the heaviest frown, snorted and complained.

The village chief and the elders were instantly filled with anger!

Not with the old lady, Mei Lan, or the belittling and bored gazes from the envoys but from the two youths that just stood behind the line.

"Just continue." Ling Qin said, not wanting any more unnecessary scenes that will take more of their time.

Murmurs buzzed out of the crowd.

"That's Lin, he will repeat the Trial and Observation? It seemed that now he's at the second stage, he will want to enter accept any invitation from the city."

"Good for him, he was a weird kid from not accepting it."

"Words say that Lin boy only declined because of not wanting to leave Feng."

"Feng? The useless' son?"

"Yeah, like father, like son. From what I heard, this Feng has yet to step into any stage yet."

"Hahaha... wait, is that Feng who's with Lin?"

"I'm not sure, the useless family is far from here so they don't show up that much but Lin's only friend should be Feng."

"Well, weird people attract weird people. Since Lin is talented, I don't pity nor envy his father, Jun for having a son like him."

These kinds of whispers surround the area and some were even caught by the envoy's ears.

'Hm? Is that the boy from last year with the Leaf Turning Physique? Maybe he regrets his decision of declining the invitation from Li Kong last year. If not for us, Li Kong would've crippled this kid due to anger for being rejected.' Ling Qin inwardly amused himself with that thought.

Without further ado, the village chief then called the first in line. The boy at the age of eleven stood in the middle with a nervous face.

"Name?"

"P-peng"

"Age?"

"Evelen- I mean, eleven...!"

Just from this interaction, the envoys already lost their interest which was feeble from the very start.

"Cultivation?"

"Second Stage of Body Refinement!" when Peng said this out loud, he felt a little confident.

But seeing the indifferent faces of the envoys, his confidence shrank back.

The village chief looked into Peng with his spiritual sense to see if this kid is lying or not. After a brief look, the decrepit old man nodded and continued with the questioning.

"What is your goal in life?"

"I... I want to be a great soldier that will contribute to the Hawk Might City!"

"Okay, wear this necklace and say whatever you see in your mind." the village chief then placed a necklace with a jewel that hangs on it over Peng's head.

Peng knew that this is a Physique Detector Jewel. He hoped that hover the past year, he had unlocked a physique without him knowing.

When the jewel shone, he closed his eyes and focused on what will appear in his head.

After a moment of silence, the village chief shook his head and took the necklace away.

"That's enough."

"Ah..." Peng's face contorted into great disappointment. However, he had no choice but to accept it. Maybe, next year, he will see something.

"Next" an elder then called while Peng came back to his parents. Since none of the envoys said anything, it is obvious that he failed again.

[Hm... this is kind of a weird Trial and Observation.] Rumia murmured.

'Why do you say?'

[Since they didn't just hand out some paper with a list of names, age, etc. that they need to know, they want to test the children's temperament and attitude. They made the village chief the inspector even though they all can use spiritual sense. Maybe there were some precedents about cheating and taking in the talented in secret Furthermore, that out-of-place question at the end...]

'What is it?' Feng, who was nodding at Rumia's accurate observation, asked.

[Nothing.]

'Hm, but I agree with you. They want to see if we have any ounce of confidence in ourselves. If we can't even handle the pressure at this level, how can we handle a heavier pressure in the future?'

[That's correct.]

Lin turned back to look at Feng weirdly. He was hearing Rumia's voice but not Feng's thoughts.

After Peng, youths came forward bearing nothing extraordinary about them that almost made the envoys doze off.

But when a particular girl came to the front, the village chief's mood lightened up. The people recognized this girl too. She just turned nine years of age too and was the granddaughter of the village chief. They have high expectations from her.

"Name?"

"Qiu"

"Age?"

"Nine"

"Cultivation?"

"Second Stage of Body Refinement"

Hearing this, the people were baffled. They knew she was just at the first stage back then but now, she is able to compete with Lin's talent!

"Final question, what is your goal in life?"

"To become an empress of the Xin Dynasty!"

Qiu placed her hands on her waists. This shocked the people and especially, the envoys. Even her grandfather was included in them.

The village chief's body shook. It is okay to desire such a thing but saying it in front of the envoys? It might look too overbearing and offend them.

Empress of the Xin Dynasty... that's farther than the moon for most people.

However, instead of getting offended, the envoys raised their hands while the three at the center only smiled.

Seven out of ten envoys raised their hands!

Seeing this, the village chief almost skipped his remaining life and die out of joy. His smile was wider than the horizon. Although Ling Qin, Mei Lan, and didn't raise his hand, Qiu has seven options to pick from!

"Qiu, you can say your choice later."

"Okay" Qiu nodded as if she didn't do anything special and received the necklace. After a moment she said uttered some words...

"There are clouds and they're swirling above a mountain." she briefly said which made the village chief nod.

"That is Storm Mountain Physique, a Rare Grade Physique." he had already tested it days earlier so he had already expected it. But for those who have no idea were shocked.

Rare Grade Physique?

"I want her to work at the city hall. Although she is far from being an empress, she can feel like one there once she obtained high standing." Mei Lan from the city hall said.

Even Li Kong raised his hand, "Most monarchs from today came from the battlefield." he only said those words.

At that point, even Ling Qin raised his hand.

"I want her in the High Wind Academy."

This stupefied everyone. Ten out of ten!

The village chief couldn't restrain his excitement any longer so he gently pushed Qie to go to the back. If she stayed in the vicinity any longer, he may have already lost his composure and hugged this cute and talented granddaughter of his.

"Next." the elder shouted after Qiu went back.

Although there are more who made some envoys raise a hand, the next youths were unable to compete with Qiu. These youths are usually affiliated with the elders.

And finally, only two children remained.

"Next," the elder said and Lin glanced at Feng.

Feng nodded which made Lin have a confident smile and walked to the middle.

Recognizing Lin, Li Kong made a heavy expression.

"Name?"

"Lin"

"Age?"

"10"

"Cultivation?"

"Fifth Stage of Body Refinement."

Lin answered with a lifted chin.

"..."

Did they hear right? Fifth Stage of Body Refinement?

"Excuse me, I'm old and have trouble with my hearing, what's your cultivation level?" the village chief repeated.

"Fifth Stage of Body Refinement."

"Fifth Stage, not Second Stage?"

"Fifth Stage, five."

There was a brief silence before the village chief couldn't contain it and exploded in anger.

"Boy! This is not the place to lie!"

"I'm not lying, village elder!" Lin felt wronged and replied.

The people scoffed at this and thought that Lin got ahead of himself after being called talented. They all looked down at him and believed that Feng must've influenced him to be so mischievous.

The village chief groaned and muttered as he used his spiritual sense to look into Lin's "real cultivation level"

"You're dead to me later. Fifth stage? What are you, a heaven-sent genius? Your lie couldn't be more un... believa..." the village chief's words stopped.

His wrinkled face made way for his eyes to widen up big and with his pupils contracted.

The envoys raised one of their eyebrows, the people frowned, and Lin's parents stiffened from their son's answer while Feng just smiled at the scene.

"F-f-fi-fifth Stage!" the village chief shouted in great disbelief. He looked again and shouted once more, "It's true, he's at the fifth stage!"

This made the people more confused. The envoy thought that this village chief had gone senile so they checked using their own spiritual senses too and-

Bam*

Ling Qin stood up and slammed the table.

"A ten years old kid at the Fifth Stage of Body Refinement!? That kid will become the High Wind Academy's core student!"

Hearing this, the other envoys were shocked to the core but didn't argue. Only two other envoys could go toe to toe with Ling Qin and they were obviously Mei Lan and Li Kong.

"No, the mayor will personally make this child his disciple. Lin, what do you say?"

"Lin, I am willing to forgive your last year's mistake if you accept my invitation today. Expect to be treated well by the military with its profound resources!"

But to these invitations, Lin could only bow his head and reply.

"I'm sorry seniors but I have to decline your offers."

"What!?" not just the three but everyone had the same reaction. However, that didn't stop the three envoys from wanting to take this gifted child.

"This is for a reason." Lin showed a genuine saddened expression while Feng's smile became sinister.

"Tell me what reason it is and I will make it disappear!" Ling Qin stated.

"I don't want to leave my mother to be with my abusive father."

With that statement, all eyes then went to Lin's father, Jun who was standing beside his wife.

"W-wh... what?" his voice nervously cracked.

"And to the people whom he banded to torture an innocent father." Lin continued.

Jun's friends then gulped. All of them stiffened and drew in cold breaths.