The Second Test: The Mind Test
After the moderator informed about the rules and how to get through the test, he started to hand out crystal balls to all young participants in the clan’s martial arts test. Then he said…
“All young participants can choose their spot within this courtyard. This test will finish when the sun sets. The committee agrees to give you three chances altogether. Anytime you fail, we will take back your Qi energy stone. If any of you blew all three chances, you will lose all three Qi energy stones.”
“It’s not free if it comes with a condition. He made it sound like the committee is so generous to us kids. What he actually means is that we have to pass the test in one go…”
“But I think it sounds better than not passing the test. At least you guys still have more chances.”
A senior martial artist said to the young martial artists. He thought these juniors had a better chance than him because he had only one chance to pass the test in the previous clan’s martial arts test. A lot of participants did not make it through this round…
Thud, thud, thud!
“Are you Zheng-Fu?!”
All of a sudden, Zheng-Fu heard a girly little voice calling him from behind. When he turned around, he saw Tian-Qi…
“That’s right. It’s me. Why did you ask?”
Zheng-Fu confirmed while looking at the girl. When he saw her, he thought that for an 8-year-old girl, she had very healthy smooth skin. Her hair complimented her too, making her a very pretty girl. All the young boys and some of the seniors in the clan probably fell for her. However, for him, she was merely a young girl with no curves at all. She was not different from those girls with flat breasts he saw in the previous world…
“What are you staring at? You dirty!” Tian-Qi quickly covered her breasts with her hands when she noticed that Zheng-Fu was staring at them. She hurriedly yelled at him…
“Dirty? It’s not like you have something interesting for me to see. Those are as flat as plywood. I don’t think I’m interested. Check out that senior over there. She is more like it.”
“You! Did you just call me a plywood!?” Tian-Qi was so angry at Zheng-Fu when he said that her breasts were very small. But she felt like Zheng-Fu was right. Her breasts were the smallest among the girls her age…
“Me? No! I didn’t mean to be rude. I was just being observative. Please ignore what I said.” Zheng-Fu explained while feeling a little lost. He then shrugged his shoulders…
Thud!
Tian-Qi stomped with anger. She frowned to make sure Zheng-Fu realized that. Then she walked away feeling offended. She did not expect that Zheng-Fu would dare to talk to her that way because everyone was scared of her. She also remembered that Zheng-Fu was a quiet boy, but that was a long time ago. He did not talk to anyone back then. She wondered why he changed this much…
Tsk!
“What an annoying freak, that Zheng-Fu! What do we do with him, boss? His Qi energy level is…”
“Who cares about his high energy level? I heard that he doesn’t have any fighting skills, despite that level of energy. My bet is he possesses that much energy from absorbing it from the Qi energy stone. So, the energy didn’t come from within! Just wait until the third test. I’ll be the very one to take him down.” Dong-Chu scolded and ran his hand up his throat to show the boys that he would give Zheng-Fu some lessons. He did not forget to give a mischievous smile…
“What if he refuses!?”
“I have a plan for that. Don’t worry that he wouldn’t participate.”
“All right, young martial artists. It’s time to begin!”
The moderator set a sandglass right after he finished the sentence. If the upper part of the sandglass was empty, it meant that the time for the kids was up. It was about noon now, so they only got half a day or three shichens before the sun set…
“This year’s young participants are something. Everyone possesses much higher Qi energy than their seniors’.” Tong-Tieng said after having been observing the young martial artists in the courtyard, busy finding their own spot to take the test…
“That’s right. The most interesting ones would be Zheng-Fu, Tian-Qi, and Dong-Chu. All three of them could glow the test stone. But I can see that our student is the best.” Tong-Lang added and smiled from ear to ear, not caring whether anyone could hear him…
“I agree. Zheng-Fu is definitely the star of this competition, Elder.” Hai-Gang who sat next to Hai-Gu also added…
“You couldn’t be more correct. The boy is the one because he is my student.” Tong-Lang turned to talk to Hai-Gang before laughing out loud…
“Hahaha!”
Tsk!
Tong-Tieng, Tong-Lang, Hai-Gang, Hai-Gu, and Kong-Shi were enjoying their conversation, but Lao-Chu was not. His whole face crinkled like a piece of used paper. No one was supposed to make him lose his face like that because he was the great elder of the clan, and they got the nerve to be sarcastic with him, too. This was why Lao-Chu’s face got so weird from having to swallow his pride…
Lao-Chu got some idea, so he turned to Mo-Zi who kept his eyes on the young contestants and then said, “Excuse me, Leader. May I discuss something with you?”
“Please.”
“Would it be all right if we increase the rewards to this year’s winner?”
“More rewards? What do you have in mind?” Mo-Zi wondered why Lao-Chu needed to give more rewards to the winner. Lao-Chu, hearing that, let out a mischievous smile and then said…
“I went out the other day and I saw the Body-Strengthening Ginseng. I would like to give it to the winner of this year, sir!”
“Body-Strengthening Ginseng!”
Tong-Tieng, Tong-Lang, Kong-Shi, Hai-Gu, and Hai-Gang were startled when they heard about the Body-Strengthening Ginseng because it was a very rare herb. It could increase physical strength for anyone who consumed it. This would be great for Zheng-Fu because he had a weakened body. Everyone in the group had this thought for Zheng-Fu…
“What do you think, Leader?”
“I think it’s up to you. If you see that it’s suitable, then be it. Besides, it’s yours, not the clan’s. And come to think about it, an additional reward that is hard to find might increase some enthusiasm among the kids.”
“Thank you for your permission, Leader!” Lao-Chu thanked the leader, turned to the direction that Kong-Shi and friends were, and gave them a secret smirk. Then he sent someone to give the news to the moderator about the additional prize…
There were two reasons why Lao-Chu wanted to increase the Body-Strengthening Ginseng as an extra reward. One, he wanted to lure Zheng-Fu to participate in the third test because he believed that the boy would not win the competition. And two, since he acquired the special ginseng in a shady way, he wanted his son to own it legitimately without any suspicions from others…
After the moderator was informed about the extra reward, he felt kind of surprised. Then he walked up the stage and announced the good news. “Attention everyone! We have good news for you. The great elder just decided to give an additional reward to the winner of this year. The winner will be receiving the Body-Strengthening Ginseng that helps improve physical strength. The one who consumes it will enjoy a stronger body.”
“Body-Strengthening Ginseng!”
“What a piece of good news! That is something rare! Where do you think he got it?
“Yeah! Why didn’t they give us something like this the year we competed? Why?”
The older kids envied this year’s participants for having to fight for this exceptional reward. They did not have any chance to expect something this extraordinary in the years that they competed in the competitions. The competitions rather made them depressed with uninteresting rewards…
Dong-Chu was not excited about the news because he already knew of the special ginseng. He knew that his father was going to give it to his big brother, but then his brother had to move out to join the headquarters. So, his father decided to give it to him…
After the second test began, more than half of the participants broke their crystal balls one by one. Zheng-Fu, on the other hand, remained calm in his meditation position, trying to maintain the equilibrium in his mind…
The mind test was designed to challenge the fear of each participant. The crystal ball would bring out fear in an individual. The kids had to deal with those fears for as long as half a shichen, then they would be free to break the crystal ball. Anyone who wished to stay until the end was encouraged…
Mo-Zi proved to be the one who could face his fear until the end, three shichens, in this competition. It was the best record made during the latest period of the clan’s martial arts test. Kong-Shi came second with a time of two and a half shichens. Lao-Chu followed Kong-Shi by a bit of a minute…
After a shichen passed by, the number of all participants went down to ten. As of now, there were only three participants left and they were Zheng-Fu, Tian-Qi, and Dong-Chu…
“There are three of them left now. I wonder what was going on in those kids’ minds.”
Everyone was so psyched out for those three young martial artists. Dong-Chu was the first one to show sweat on his forehead. His face started to get paler and paler as if he encountered something frightening. It looked like he was about to give up…
Another half a shichen passed…
“Argh!”
Dong-Chu screamed off his lungs and got up, looking around as if he was frightened by something. Not long after, he realized that he had come out of the extra dimension. Then he turned to check the time and found out that he was in another dimension for as long as one and a half shichen, which was not long enough for him. When Dong-Chu looked at his father, his face turned pale immediately…
“You useless son!”
Lao-Chu cursed his son deafeningly as soon as he realized that the boy who broke the crystal ball was his very own son. It should have been Zheng-Fu and Tian-Qi instead. Lao-Chu’s blood veins appeared all over his face now. It had been countless times that he lost his face in an event today…
“Why did you have to be so angry, great elder? The boy had done great. He could withstand his fear for about one and a half shichen. That’s not bad at all. I myself could endure only a shichen.” Tong-Lang would not wait to make a comment to keep Lao-Chu’s ego shattered…
Tsk!
It was normal that Lao-Chu would be so angry at Dong-Chu because his eldest son could stay in the other dimension for up to two shichens. And so could he. Dong-Chu was supposed to endure for more than two shichens, so he was very upset about his youngest son. He really thought that his son could do better…
Dong-Chu tried to keep his face down after seeing the look on his father’s face. He was so furious because this was something unexpected to him. He could imagine giving up before Tian-Qi, the daughter of the leader of the clan. Instead, he was defeated by the clan’s freak, the boy whom he always underestimated like Zheng-Fu…
“How could this be possible? Did I just lose to that freak, Zheng-Fu!?” After walking away from the test courtyard, Dong-Chu started to curse Zheng-Fu with all his heart…
“Boss!”
“Don’t you worry, boss! You only lost to…”
“Keep your mouth shut just about now!”
“Oops!”
The members of Dong-Chu’s gang started to cover their mouths because they were afraid that Dong-Chu would hurt them. After all, he was being so furious. Dong-Chu, on the other hand, could not stop staring at Zheng-Fu with an utmost grudge and then said…
“You just watch, freak! I’ll make sure you taste the feeling of having to lose face like this in the free sparring in the third test!”