Chapter 2: Assessment

All the children present seemed to stand to attention and face the front at the sound, Tian An included.

In front of the group of fifty-nine children stood the three cultivators who oversaw the annual aptitude assessment for their city.

The two in charge of testing for aptitude had laidback expressions and tiny dark eyebags against their eyes.

The one in the middle, however, did not look nearly as exhausted, smiling at the children in front of him and standing tall and straight.

In the short time that passed while Tian An observed the scene in front of him, the man quickly started addressing them.

"Young ones, I congratulate you on having the very sought-after aptitude for the elusive art of cultivation." He paused here to make sure he had everyone's attention and to let his words sink in.

After a moment or two had passed, he carried on with his speech: "Know that you are but little saplings who have yet to even start on their journey into the vast world of cultivation. I plead for you to remind yourselves to act with humility and respect for those around you. I have seen too many people fall for their ignorant remarks." He ended with an ominous remark.

Quickly picking up from the pervading silence, he continued, "But let us not dwell on such topics; it would not do well for you young children to think of such things for longer than a moment."

"Now, I ask that if you have any concerning questions, please ask me or my fellow disciples once we are on the way to the White Lotus Sect.

Kindly follow me and keep pace; you may think of this as your first trial in the new world you are about to embark on. Don't feel ashamed if you do not make it; my fellow disciples will carry you to the sect to be distributed and re-evaluated for partnering sects."

The man marked the end of his speech by walking with the other two disciples around the group of children and heading on with swift footing to the main gate of the city.

Not to waste any opportunity, nor wanting to wait to be shoved by the other fifty-eight kids present, Tian An shuffled himself in the direction of the walking cultivators, quickly making his way away from the group.

Three hours of unbroken silence followed the group as they walked past the gates of the city. The further they walked, the more it turned into farmland surrounding it and eventually into dense forest beyond it.

By now, the children following the cultivators were feeling considerable discomfort at having to journey so far after standing in line all day.

Not a single person felt in the mood to talk, especially because they all had to walk at the very least at a moderate pace to keep up with the three cultivators ahead of them.

—--

Thankfully, when night fell, the three cultivators held up lights to pave the way for the grouping of children behind them and for any stragglers that might have fallen behind.

The silence was only broken when they came across a small clearing, and the cultivators ceased their movement forward.

It was the female cultivator who stepped up this time, addressing the group directly only when she saw the last stragglers had finally caught up with the group.

"This is where we will set up camp for the night," started the female cultivator. "I expect you all to stay in the clearing the entire night and to not wander off, less you wish to be picked clean by what lurks in the forest this time of night.

Some children shivered even in their exhausted state at the sudden threat they realized the forest held within.

"Carrying on for the night, me and my fellow disciples will be in charge of your group the following month as we pave our path up to the White Lotus Sect."

"As we travel along, we will slowly reveal truths as to why we wish for you to take on this frightening journey."

"Although we wish for this to be an enlightening experience, neither I nor my fellow disciples, Xin Hong nor Dong Ren, will be opposed to answering any questions you have relating to the journey or the sect itself." 

While making her speech, she pointed out both cultivators with a respectful gesture to her right and then to her left.

"You will address us directly with the honorifics of senior, for example, when addressing disciple Xin Hong. Please refer to him as Senior Xin; the same goes for Senior Dong as well."

"As I previously mentioned, we will be camping here for the evening. Please take any area you feel most comfortable in, and again, if you have any questions we ask, do not hesitate." The female cultivator concluded while bringing both of her hands together in front of her, marking the end of her speech.

Tian An was certainly wiped out after the long trek out into the forest.

He may be used to being awake at unconventional hours and constantly moving. But something about the unknown danger that lurks in the forest always had Tian An on edge. Even before the female senior in front of him brought any potential danger to light, 

Not wanting to waste time on dallying, Tian An quickly pursued a dirt patch among the clearing, not trusting the wild grass not to hide some unsavory insects.

Tian An didn't like insects.

Tian An didn't have to look very hard, as behind a small rock was a good cylinder of dirt covered with rocks and dried mud.

Tian An shoved some of the smaller rocks in the dirt around with his shoes until he was seemingly satisfied.

He then laid his tired body on the dirt below him and quickly fell into a light slumber.

The next morning came all too fast, with Tian An bringing one of the first of the children awake.

Well, it seemed some of the children may not have gotten any sleep at all, if their present eyebags were anything to go off of.

The first thing Tian An did was stretch his dust-covered body and shake his head like a dog to get rid of anything that may have crawled in at night.

Tian An has observed that, for some reason unknown to him, little critters love to take home the scalps of unsuspecting humans.

After his quick 'morning routine' Tian An couldn't help but get a whiff of something pleasant smelling among the sleeping bodies around him.

Tian An turned in a complete circle before landing on a uniform set of rocks that looked to contain a medium-sized fire.

Tian An wasn't interested in the fire; no, his eyes quickly followed up to the large, unidentifiable slab of roasted meat being rotated on top of the fire. 

Held up by large former tree branches that seemed to spin with seemingly no support,.

Surrounding the fire were the three cultivators as well as a small group of kids with deep eyebags present.

Tian An quickly shuffled his way over the sleeping bodies across the clearing as his stomach grumbled loudly at the sight of the meat.

Reaching the group in breakneck time for discrete fast walking, Tian An exchanged a brief glance with Senior Dong before they turned back to the fire in the center.

Tian An, taking that as granted permission to sit down. Pulled himself to an empty spot in the circle and inserted himself as closest to the fire as he could. 

Wanting to both curb his hunger and now fight away the cold morning air with the unending supply of heat, the fire radiated from its center. 

Tian An didn't even care for the loud rumbling in his stomach as he stared in a slight daze at the dripping fat coming from the golden, sizzling meat cooking in front of his eyes.

While silence did permeate the surroundings, there was, at some point, a stifled laugh that Tian An swore he heard from one of his seniors in front of him.

Though Tian An quickly lost interest in scrutinizing them, the smell of the meat brought him back to the amazing sight in front of them.

All Tian An could think of while looking at the meat were, well, thoughts of meat.

It had been a very long time since Tian An had meat that was harvested from anything larger than a garden snake. So in his eyes, it was worth trekking through more than the high mountains themselves if it meant meat like this every day.

To the disappointment of Tian An, he had to wait a full two hours before he even had the opportunity to partake in the meat in front of him.

Luckily for him, though, for the first time since the journey started, one of the kids spoke up to the seniors. Providing him with a small bit of entertainment and some food for though.

"U-um, excuse me, seniors?" A child sitting diagonally from Tian An spoke up.

The child looked a lot less clean than they had previously, with part of their tunic ripped, most likely from a passing branch, and their brown hair looking like a bird's nest of hair and various sticks.

The first to respond was Senior Dong, as he was the closest to the child.

"Yes? What is it?" 

The child purses his pale lips together to seemingly gather his courage before asking his question.

"I was just wondering if this is what we have to do every night the whole way there?" 

As soon as the question struck Senior Dong, he glanced at the cultivators next to them, and all three of them seemed to share a quick sense of amusement.

Not wanting to discourage the little one further, Senior Dong quickly turned back to the child and said, "Unfortunately, that is the price you must pay to complete this sect trial. Know that it doesn't get easier from here, as halfway through the journey we will stop finding a clearing for you to rest. We will also stop providing the food in front of you or the water that will be distributed soon enough."

Seeing the discouraged look on the young face of a potential future sect member. Senior Dong quickly included, "While it may seem tough at the moment, I assure you that the benefits you achieve through this journey will help you skyrocket your cultivation in the future."

Perking up a little at the final encouragement of Senior Dong. The boy shifted himself back to a more relaxed spot, letting silence overtake once more and allowing the other children to contemplate in silence.

That was the only conversation to be had between the seniors and the new recruits before most finally awoke and meat was distributed amongst the children.

Sadly for Tian An, even if he was the closest to the fire, he still wasn't the first to receive an enlarged leaf carrying a slice of meat.

It was only after eleven or twelve before he got their meals that he finally received his.

He was happy to note that his meal was a tad bit larger than those around him, making him smile to himself as he happily sat himself on a clearing a bit further away from the group.

By the time everyone was ready to journey forward, the sun had already risen a quarter of the way into the sky.

But before they set off, each child was given a canteen of water to carry with them and instructions not to lose it.

After having their needs met, the group became a lot more lively. 

With most of the group finding the energy to talk amongst themselves once more,.

Tian An stayed silent as he pushed himself to always stay in front of the group, not because he wanted to lead nor expose his back. 

But because he was very aware that the safest place to be was as close to his seniors as possible,.

So, if that made him work hard to keep up and, by consequence, avoid the awkward small talk of those around him, he felt it was all the better.

Staying in the front also gave him silence to think and observe around him.

Tian An was still on edge ever since entering the unfamiliar wilderness, and he would bet at least a minted silver coin that he would never feel relaxed in an environment like this.

For Tian An, that was a serious statement! 

You could get ten loaves of bread in exchange for a silver coin. 

Maybe Tian An should stop thinking about food so much, lest he seem like a foodie.

But besides the consistent need to keep his head on a swerve just to make his brain feel better, Tian An also took the time to respectfully observe the seniors in front of him.

Another reason he kept so close was because he noticed how easily the Seniors traveled through the terrain, never tripping over branches or sudden rocks, never getting their feet stuck in unexpected mud patches or the occasional vine.

Tian An noticed that they barely left a footprint where they stepped.

Even their white robes seemed to be freshly washed and unwrinkled.

So for the remainder of the day, Tian An focused his efforts on attempts to copy the seniors in front of him.

This proved to be much of a challenge, as all three seemed to move in different directions.

Senior Dong would always shuffle his feet on the third step, while the other two seniors did not. While Senior Xin looked to favor twisting his left foot and pushing himself forward with minimal force.

Finally, the senior who had yet to share her name, either intentionally or not, She likes to plant both feet in an impossible motion at the same time, as if she were walking with a skip in her step without the skip. 

As the hours passed, Tian An eventually had to give up on the pursuit of following his Seniors techniques. Since the burden on his mind made it difficult to focus on his surroundings,.

While Tian An would love to figure out an easier way to travel like his Seniors, he was not willing to give up his personal safety in doing so.

By the time the group had found another place to rest for the night, It became very apparent that there was a disparity between those who were willing to work hard and those who had yet to find the motivation to do so.

Since this time no speeches were made directly by the Seniors, Tian An made his way to the enclosed cave they had stumbled upon.

Tian An grimaced at the realization that the cave only had a single exit.

It had him recall an ugly past memory where he came across a group of sewer cleaners clambering on top of each other as they tried to escape the sewer path that they found to have a spirit beast dweller inside.

The entrance was tied with metal bars by the overseer after hearing the news from a runner, so as not to allow the spirit beast to run into the slums.

The result was a mass of humans reaching out with their hands. As they were slowly killed by the rat-shaped beast behind them, they were trapped behind the metal bars imposed in front of their only escape path.

Between Tian An's own distrust for enclosed spaces and the shadow left on his mind through past experiences.

Tian An decided it was best to sleep in front of the cave entrance, as he would rather take his chance with whatever was outside than be locked in on all sides.

That doesn't mean he just sat down, seeing as he was vulnerable being outside the cave when most would be hidden inside. He first dug up the surrounding grass and clawed dirt away to make a small, shallow area devoid of grass and roots.

He then packed the dirt around him into clumps to make a small wall between him and any passing insects.

While it may not stop them from biting him, he still made sure that they would have to at least work for their meal.

As for why Tian An wasn't worried about any larger forest dwellers, well, his seniors wouldn't let anything like that happen now, would they?

At least Tian An thought they wouldn't.

By the time Tian An had finished his preparations, he looked back towards the group and realized that a good amount of stragglers were still pouring in from the path behind them.

Seeing no more reason to focus on the others his age, he put his head to the floor and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

He was quite exhausted after today, even after their morning meal of fresh meat.

Now, unlike Tian An, all the other children couldn't help but lament the fact that they only had a single meal today.

Many of them, who used to eat three meals a day, were disheartened by the fact that they only ate so little.

In fact, it was the Seniors' mistake.

As cultivators advance and stay longer in the world of cultivation, they tend to forget the general needs of their mortal counterparts.

So when the Seniors heard what the disciples were whispering in exasperation to each other, They couldn't help but scratch their cheeks in mild embarrassment at forgetting such a simple thing.

In their defense, it had been a long, long time since they had to have three full meals a day.

Regardless of their past actions, they decided to make it up to the young ones by providing a full three meals a day, including three breaks to eat said meals.

For Tian An, it was almost like a luxury to have so much food every day; he was basically bursting with energy each day because of that fact.

In a blink of an eye for a few, and what felt like half their lifetime to others, A week had finally passed since the beginning of their journey.

The passing of the first week meant two things for the group.

The first was the sudden realization that they were five people short by the end of the first week.

It seemed five had dropped behind or asked to be sent to the sect.

No one had seen it happen, but it would definitely be true that there were fewer participants than before.

The second news, and on a better note, was that not only was 1/4th of their journey completed, But there was a promise that as night rolled and they set up camp, the Seniors would reveal the purpose of this long journey and what it meant to be in the White Lotus Sect. As well as a small surprise planned by their Seniors.