The Test

The first year disciples are given different kinds of lectures, and it's the deacons who are in charge of teaching them. However, coming is not mandatory, so some people only come to lessons that interest them.

While the deacons are in charge of teaching the disciples, there were also some senior disciples who would take the mission of teaching those juniors in exchange the sect would give them contribution points.

Entering the hall, Wang Yu was surprised by its size, the floor and the wall were made of some special dark metal. He felt that even if used his strongest attack it wouldn't even make a dent on it.

Right after entering the hall, the deacon looked at Wang Yu "So you are the new disciple, not bad your body is greatly trained."

He then looked in the direction of a one handed man in his twenties, before saying.

"Come and duel against the new kid. Don't go easy on him, he's not simple."

Hearing the talk of the deacon, the disciples started to look at Wang Yu differently. For those disciples who rarely met vice elders, the deacons and some inner sect disciples were of the highest authority inside the sect.

Wang Yu couldn't refuse the order from the deacon, so he could only enter a circle where the one handed man stood.

Standing in front of the one handed man, Wang Yu felt his blood boiling. He wanted to feel his strength compared to a cultivator, and while he felt some danger emanating from his opponent, he didn't feel as much hopeless as before the man who brought into the sect, nor the deacon.

"Make the first move" Said the one handed man who was holding a spear in his one hand to Wang Yu.

Wang Yu breathed deeply before jumping and slashing with his sword toward his opponent who stood there not moving.

In the last moment, before the sword cut through the one handed man he disappeared. At that moment Wang Yu felt a shiver in his spine, before jumping to his right side.

Yet despite his fast reflexion he couldn't dodge fully and got a slight wound on his shoulder.

The one handed man didn't stop and so did Wang Yu, but the moment the spear and sword were about to collide, the spear became mirage and continued, stopping only before Wang Yu's neck.

The bizarre thing was that Wang Yu's neck bled slightly even though the spear hadn't even touched him, and this is Wang Yu's neck which was slightly thicker than a normal person's.

"Great, you really haven't disappointed me. Your movements and reflexes are extremely good. It seems that you have been through a lot of dangerous situations before." Applauded the middle aged man, before suddenly changing his tone.

"Yet you have lost, do you know why? In terms of strength and speed you're not slower than him, but in terms of technique you were at a big disadvantage."

Wang Yu understood the logic, yesterday while trying to choose a technique he had found the mirage spear art, it was one of the exquisite spear techniques and he only knew the basic sword art. So losing wasn't unfair, actually Wang Yu didn't believe that the world is unfair, everyone has his opportunities, a lot of poor and weak people had become rich and strong and vice versa, the problem is about grasping the opportunity.

"Thank you seniors for the pointer." Wang Yu bowed, thanking the deacon and the one handed man, he then left the circle and returned to the side of Lu Chi.

The disciples looked at Wang Yu with a different light, they knew that while he had lost in the battle, in terms of speed, strength and reflex they were inferior. Nonetheless, there were some arrogant youths who didn't feel much threat. After all, for someone to become a servant meant that his talent was very bad.

After Wang Yu's fight, the other youths started to fight against each other. The most courageous challenged some seniors, while the deacon stood there giving some pointers.

During this time Wang Yu started to train with his sword technique, while he was still unable to control the Qi inside his body as to inject it into his sword as the manual said.

He started to train according to the sword manual, feeling the difference between it and his usual sword techniques. He couldn't pinpoint the difference between them, but while the movements were somewhat the same he felt that it contained more charm.

The divine sword technique contained all the information about training with swords ranging from the most basic moves to the most sophisticated, this is why Wang Yu had chosen it directly.

Wang Yu had also dueled with another senior who had trained with the divine sword technique which let him understand more.

Wang Yu enjoyed training with swords, and thanks to his strong body he could train for more time. Unlike the others who would get tired after two hours of training at most, Wang Yu could continue for half a day. This was the advantage of training one's body, he also had another advantage which was his spirit, with the help of the Spirit Pot treasure Wang Yu's spirit was way better than normal cultivators at the same realm.

Despite all those advantages Wang Yu felt that he was still weak in front of the seniors he had met today, as for the deacon and the man who brought him they were another level.

"You are training very hard, you should take some break and cultivate, at this stage you need to absorb as much Qi energy and circulated inside your body as possible, so that you can open your first meridian." The one handed man who had dueled before with Wang Yu was standing behind Wang Yu who had even felt him approaching.

"Thank you senior, it's just that I've lost myself while training with the sword." Thanked Wang Yu.

After their first duel Wang Yu had dueled again with the one handed youth, and got to know him more, his name was Qu Gen he was from the Hunter Department who had been inside the sect for six years.

Qu Gen looked at Wang Yu as if remembering his past self "I have been like you in the past, training my spear as a maniac. Thanks to that I was able to progress rapidly with my fighting techniques, but that's also a mistake I've made, to get stronger not only do you need to have stronger techniques you also need to reach higher realms."

"No matter how good your techniques are, if your inner Qi is weak the attack of your opponent would be irresistible. Especially those demons who had a thick skin" Qu Gen was emotional while talking about how important reaching a higher realm.

"Thank you senior brother Qu, I will make sure to remember what you have told me today." Answered Wang Yu sincerely.

...

At noon Wang Yu left the training hall with Lu Chi and the other disciples.

"Brother Wang, you were really fierce today!" Exclaimed Lu Chi.

"Yeah absolutely, no one from us freshman is your opponent." Said a youth called Mu Chi from the alchemy department, whom Wang Yu had met today and they became friends.

"Not at all, I only have a slight advantage because I went hunting in the darkness forest. After you go there you'll improve immeasurably."

"What's it about to hunt inside the Darkness Forest," asked Mu Chi. Many new disciples were in awe of the Darkness Forest, they all wanted to make an adventure there but they also heard about how dangerous it was. Making them excited and also afraid.

"The Darkness Forest is full of danger, there are a lot of beasts, some live alone, others live in packs. So there would always be casualties even though we are cautious, and this only talking about the periphery if we are talking about the core of the Forest, I can't imagine how dangerous it is." Described Wang Yu, who had a rich experience in hunting inside the periphery.

"In two months we, the first year, are going on an expedition toward the Darkness Forest's periphery, this is something all newbies should participate in. So we would like you to join our group." A youth from the Refinement Department asked Wang Yu.

"You don't know much about the sect, did you think that the sect would allow Wang Yu to take part in this expedition, he has already hunted there for quite some time, it's not challenging for him. This is why the sect would assign him a different test." Said Mu Chi whose elder brother was a senior disciple in the sect.

"What advice do you have for us? What do you think are the dangers we should avoid while we are inside the Darkness Forest?" Asked a girl from the sword department, the girl's name is Chen Ma. She had a big sword on her back, and unlike the other girls she was tall and had long legs and a good figure. Her beautiful face had a serious look making her appear heroic yet attractive.

"Well I think you should prepare some insect repellent potions, also some antidotes. In terms of dangers that you should avoid, I think it's underestimating your opponents, also the lack of vigilance. You should also train your body well during this period of time, also try not to be nervous. From my experience, to survive you should be calm neither arrogant nor afraid."

Wang Yu stopped speaking before adding "You should also bear in mind that sometimes one or two demonic beasts will enter the periphery and when that happens it would be a massacre so in case you meet one, you should split up. But I don't think that the sect would allow for that."

...

Inside a hall in the sect, an old man was sitting on a mat, in front of him was a man who was standing respectfully. If Wang Yu was here he would have recognized him as the man who had brought him to the sect.

"How was the boy?" Asked the elderly man.

"He has a strong body, and his spirit's way better than someone who had just opened his dantian days ago. As for his killing intent, it's extremely intense."

The elderly man stayed silent for some time before saying. "He's a good seed, unfortunately he has a bad talent so won't be able to reach a high realm. He would at most reach the seventh level of Qi Condensation, nonetheless it's not bad for someone like him who's adapted to hunting."

"Yes master." Said the middle aged man respectfully.

The elderly man continued saying"The sect needs more talents, it's the truth that we are dominating the other sects, but in this tournament the other sects have shown that their talents aren't worse than us, especially the Evergreen Sect and the Holy Puppet Sect."

"Master, there's also another problem. Our hunting department only gets a few disciples each year, and because of the dangers most of them die." Said the middle aged man sorrowfully.

"You don't understand, this is a strategy done by the sect to weaken the Hunting Department. Nonetheless our hunting department doesn't need trash, few strong are better than a bunch of weakling." Actually the hunter department has the least number of disciples, but anyone who could survive in that hellish environment was stronger than normal cultivators.

"Anyway, the Qihou War is approaching ask him if wish to participate. If he accepts then help him get stronger before the war, as much as possible. If not, then let him go to the Darkness City." Said the old man.

"As you wish," replied the middle-aged man before leaving the hall.