Chapter 26: Entrance examination

Cao Yun was cared for by the two servants Kang Hai and Kang Cai. Both women were pretty young. These girls looked quite alike with dark blue eyes and black hair. They were always dressed in green outfits with brown outlines.

The young man was focusing on resting his body and decided then to advance his mind cultivation. When he had been swallowed in his own mind, he was able to see his sea of consciousness. This was a spiritual representation of one's mind. In theory everyone could learn to project their conscious mind in it, but in practice, only Spirit Warriors were truly able to achieve it. Wanting to see it again, Cao Yun used all of his intent to focus on the sensation he had felt back then.

After several hours, Cao Yun's mind was absolutely empty and tranquil. He felt as though all of his thoughts had sunk into the bottom of the ocean. Gradually, this sensation spread through his entire body and all his senses were dulled. Finally, he was able to get back to this calm sea. As far as his eyes could see, a serene blue water was covering the world under a very light blue sky. Up in the sky, the Yi character was shining with yellow colors. It almost looked like a little sun.

In the middle of the sea, just above the surface, a single drop of blood floated in the air. Very bright, it also reflected the Yi character as if it had been engraved within.

Getting out of his own head, Cao Yun asked for a brush and paper. After achieving True Success he had been able to vaguely draw the Yi character. Now that he had reached Perfection, he wanted to try again. With the vivid image still in mind, Cao Yun dragged the brush across the paper. Once done, he admired his drawing. The result was identical to the one in the real manual.

He then wrote a letter addressed to Feng Yingyue recounting his journey to the Wubei Sect. Adding the Yi character with it, he had Kang Hai send it to the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute. With this perfect drawing, her mind cultivation could advance as well. He even took the time to explain to her in details the feelings and sensations he had during his meditations.

He went back to the green 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks' manual. The third page of the First Layer exposed the second character. It was pure black and seemed a little sharper than Yi. No matter how much he tried to concentrate, he could not understand any of the characters on the page.

After meditating a little bit to calm his mind, Cao Yun used all his new intent to try and draw this black character in his mind. Compared with the Yi character, this time was different. He was within his own sea of consciousness and the symbol was literally being drawn in the sky. Strangely, the character did not reflect in the water below as it was ethereal.

In his first try, Cao Yun was able to achieve Small Success, 8 repetitions. But he could barely do any more than that.

After his Small Success, he had gained knowledge about the black character. Watching the third page of the First Layer again, the text was clear. This black character was Zhi the Water Will. Yi was strengthening the intent, in other words, the focus of your mind. Zhi was strengthening the will, the ability to persevere in any goal you set for yourself. The stronger the will, the longer you could exert your intent.

As his body was still recovering, Cao Yun decided to train his martial arts within his own mind, using his sea of consciousness. Most cultivators could not access their sea of consciousness before they reached the Spirit Warrior realm. Of course, it was always there but cultivators tended not to focus on the mind in the lower realms. Some alchemists were still able to access their sea of consciousness pretty early on, but no sooner than the late Mortal Warrior realm. It was really beneficial as they could strengthen their mind with various techniques this way.

Cao Yun repeated his martial arts deep within his own mind. He focused on the 'Dance of Slaughter' and the 'Three Storms', but he also trained the one throwing move he had gotten from 'Bladeless Eternity'. As a 5th-grade Mortal, he could now supplement these martial arts by making his Qi flow through the right Meridians. Each technique had its own flow of Qi. By respecting this flow, every move became stronger and faster.

The rest of his time, Cao Yun focused on trying to free his Meridians from any blockage. With his new intent, he could also drive the intent of the Drop of Wrath. Both combined allowed him to circulate his Qi more efficiently. His intent allowed him to feel absolutely everything in his body, as long as he focused on it. Whether it was the flow of his blood, the subtle movements of his muscles and his skin, or even the electricity coursing through his nerves, his entire body was transparent to him.

This fantastical feeling allowed him to feel the blockages in his Meridians and solve them fairly easily. As he practiced the pathways from the 'Cultivation of Wrath', his first Meridian was completely opened, his Lung Meridian. In this cultivation method, it needed to be fully opened first, because it controlled how Qi could be absorbed through breathing. Among the twelve principal Meridians, the 'Cultivation of Wrath' taught a pathway traversing all of them in an intricate way and they would open up in a certain order to harmonize each other. The Meridians were linked to specific organs: Lungs, Heart, Pericardium, Triple Burner, Kidneys, Spleen, Liver, Gall bladder, Bladder, Stomach, Small Intestine and Large Intestine. The first ones focused on absorbing the Qi from the world and transforming it within the body. Of course, they also enhanced the body functions. The last ones focused on the Jing, the essence of life.

According to his newfound abilities, Cao Yun was thinking that he would need four months to open up all his Meridians and step in the 6th-grade of the Mortal realm. Most cultivators took from one to two years just in this grade. Of course, there were always faster cultivators. Some alchemists were even able to cross this grade in a matter of weeks with the right pills, but it was not optimal as they could not really feel the process. This lack of sensation and control over their own Qi could be a problem in later stages. But Cao Yun was using a very stable method to cultivate. The richness of his Qi through his Meridians was proof of that.

Once the Meridians were open, they would naturally circulate some Qi without any restraint.

-

The date of the entrance examination was finally upon Cao Yun. During these last few days, he had not seen Xiao Xuefeng at all. However, he had become very familiar with Kang Hai and Kang Cai. They were twin sisters who served Master Xiao since they were 5. Apparently they came from a very poor background and Xiao Xuefeng took a liking to them. They had no real talent for alchemy or cultivation but they were really lively and pleasant to be around.

They guided Cao Yun to the place of the exam. Without knowing it, he had been staying deep within the Wubei Sect, in a private chamber of Xiao Xuefeng's residence. She had joined the sect not too long ago as a guest elder and had many business to attend to. The Wubei Sect was atop the Heidai Peak in the Nine Peaks mountains.

The place of the examination was a little lower on the peak. There were many people waiting in front of a giant black gate. Many of them seemed to come from rich families as they were surrounded by bodyguards who were in the Mortal Warrior realm at the very least.

Some young people were also on the side. The way they were dressed clearly showed their humble backgrounds. Cao Yun had more respect for them. He had both lived the rich family and the poor hunter life. Obviously, he could not blame the kids for being born in a rich family, but he found that the poor ones had probably more talent, just to achieve the same or slightly inferior results.

Cao Yun literally walked through the black gate to join the people waiting. And of course, his entrance was noticed by all. Some eyes darted on him, but his clothes were really common and he did not seem to come from a rich family. Children from great backgrounds were intrigued but then they saw him go toward the poor kids and they lost interest.

"Hello, fellow cultivators. You're all taking the entrance exam?"

He politely saluted the poor kids who were pretty shocked. But one of them immediately answered. "Ah, fellow cultivator, it's the third time I'm trying. I almost succeeded last time, and I have high hopes today." He was way taller than the others and through his clothes, he had huge and chiseled muscles. As soon as you saw his face, you already thought he was a good guy. His entire demeanor inspired trust and honesty.

He went closer to Cao Yun and tapped him on his shoulder. "I'm Ren Chao."

"... Chen Guo." Cao Yun almost blurted out his real name when faced with such an honest guy.

He tapped again his shoulder. "You seem strong! I'm sure you'll achieve great results today. Come, let me introduce you to some guys." As he was walking, taking Cao Yun by his shoulder, he stopped. "And some gals!" All the poor cultivators were really happy to talk with Cao Yun. More than half of them had already tried this exam and failed. Apparently you could only try under 20 and some of them were reaching the age restriction this year. Talking with Cao Yun was also a way to calm their nerves.

The other cultivators, from better backgrounds, did not deign to watch them.

In another spot however, a young man with a cold attitude watched them from the corner of his eyes. Disdain was all over his face. "Commoners! They hope to achieve something?!"

-

As Cao Yun got introduced to tens of young cultivators, people wearing a black and grey robe with red outlines walked out from the black gate.

Immediately, the cultivators around Cao Yun stopped talking and got in line. They recognized the elders in charge of the examination. They were late Mortal Warriors. One of them was even ready to cross over to the Spirit Warrior realm.

Every cultivator felt these elders' senses on them.

"Brother Tang, it seems like the candidates this year are not so bad."

The oldest of the elders answered. "I had to eliminate a huge number of failures just to get these few people." All in all, the candidates were eighty-nine.

"Brother Tang, you're a little too strict I reckon."

"Brother Lin, if we're not strict enough, our Wubei Sect will lose its prestige."

"But if we don't have enough disciples, we'll lose our sect altogether..."

"Then, maybe Brother Lin will want to take care of the screening process next year."

Elder Lin suddenly cleared his throat. "Maybe, you should just... get on with the exam."

Brother Tang continued to tease him a little. "You're always too lazy, Brother Lin. I'll have to report to the Chief Elder. You need some occupations."

"Brother Tang..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Elder Lin saw his friend walk further away and address the candidates.

"Welcome to the Wubei Sect! Most of you already know me, I am Elder Tang. Here is Elder Lin, Elder Lü and Elder Wang. We are in charge of this examination. Let me tell the rules to the newcomers. This examination is divided into three parts. First, we'll assess your cultivation level. Then, you will go through three tests where you'll be alone to assess your fighting ability, your talent and your character. Were you to fail any of those, you will be refused on the spot to maybe try again next year. I will talk about the third part if you're able to pass the first two."

As he was speaking, there were three other people watching from afar. They were two old men and a woman. No one could see them as they were floating above the clouds. With their spiritual senses, it was easy for them to watch from this distance.

They got distracted when a fourth person joined them. It was Xiao Xuefeng.

"Miss Xiao, you join us? How peculiar of you."

The old woman took over "It appears that Miss Xiao has chosen a candidate this year."

Both men were surprised. "Really, Miss Xiao? Who could it be?" They both watched even more intently at the cnadidates.

Xiao Xuefeng only let out a small smile. "I'm sure the chief elders will be able to figure it out in a few moments."

"You're that confident in your little finding?" One of the men started asking. "Then, what about a bet? I'm pretty confident in mine as well."

"Oh? Brother Suxian also has a candidate? This could be interesting..."

Xiao Xuefeng was not fazed by the proposal. "And what would you bet?"

"Well, I'm in need of a special pill, so... What about this? If my candidate performs better than yours, you'll have to forge me a 1-star Heaven Pill. I'll provide the ingredients of course."

"And when I win?"

"When?!" Chief Elder Suxian was a little surprised by her confidence and wondered if he had not spoken too fast. "Well, I..."

"Chief Elder Suxian, I heard you received some Exquisite Purple Jasmin, right?" The other old man asked.

"Yes..." He opened his eyes as big as he could. "Brother Luoming could not mean?"

"If you win, Miss Xiao will forge this incredible pill. And if you lose, you'll give her this Exquisite Purple Jasmin. I hear it makes an otherworldly tea that can enhance the mind and spirit. Even a grand alchemy master would envy anyone for drinking it." He turned with a sinister smile toward Chief Elder Suxian. "What say you, Brother, do you dare?"

Chief Elder Suxian was exasperated by this Chief Elder Luoming. They were always competing with each other, and he almost never won. "Fine!" He calmed himself and looked back to Xiao Xuefeng. "Is Miss Xiao willing?"

"I am. I accept the bet."

Chief Elder Suxian had a terrible feeling about this. Next time, he would have to better control his mouth. But nothing was lost yet.

When the chief elders focused back on the candidates, they were already leaving the entrance.