Rolling

"Welcome to Qing Feng sect. I'm Tan Fei from the alchemy peak, chief organizer for this year's abilities test. I invite you to come up through the stairs to meet me at the central square."

The voice came from nowhere, and everyone looked up to see who was speaking but couldn't.

Is this one of the powers of a cultivator? they wondered.

"Come, let's go," Lin Fan said and walked toward the stairs.

Ho Ming followed suit.

For the first few steps up, Lin Fan didn't feel much.

But as he climbed up the stairs, he could feel his energy slowly draining away.

It was not from exhaustion; something was sucking the energy out of him.

It had already started.

He immediately figured this was part of the abilities test.

"Ho Ming, hurry. The stairs are taking away our energy; we must make it to the top as soon as possible."

"I'll try my best. Don't worry about me."

Both of them immediately started to quicken their pace.

The other enrollment seekers didn't think much of it, chatted and took their own time to climb up the stairs.

"Look at those two jumping up the stairs like monkeys."

"Heck, maybe they think they will be enrolled if they reach first."

"From their coarse clothes, they must be from some village; that explains the uncivilized behavior."

When they saw Lin Fan and Ho Ming jumping up the stairs, they mocked both of them.

Such uncouth behavior compared to young lord Tan Rui.

They turned and checked on Tan Rui when they thought about him.

Their eyes went wide open with what they saw.

Tan Rui was taking big steps up the stairs.

When it wasn't enough, he resorted to jumping up as Lin Fan did.

"Young lord Tan Rui, why are you in such a hurry?"

Tan Rui went past them without any response.

His usual smile was gone; he didn't even bat an eyelid when they asked him what was happening.

"Why is young lord Tan Rui also in such a hurry?"

All of them felt perturbed and looked at each other.

Then it hit them.

They felt the energy in them disappearing.

Some of them started to sit down on the stairs.

Slowly those sitting could only lie down on the stairs.

When this happened, disciples wearing the gray Daoist robes came and carried them away.

"Damn it! There's something about the stairs; we better hurry up."

"Wait for me."

"Ah Si, don't leave me behind; this is my last chance."

The enrollment seekers started to rush up.

Those with not much energy left started to grab onto those who still could, pleading with them for help.

Lin Fan looked back, saw Tan Rui coming up and others lagging behind him.

"Ho Ming, can you keep up?" Lin Fan asked.

He could see the end of the flight of stairs not far away.

Ho Ming, by this time although exhausted, replied, "Yes, I can."

Memories of Ho Fu forcing him to take the Qi Concentration pills and training came flooding into his mind.

All the preparation was not for nothing.

Ho Ming's strength and endurance were now above most adult males.

Lin Fan turned and wanted to continue on his way.

However, when he glanced at Tan Rui, he could see Tan Rui pointing his chin at Ho Ming.

He was signaling to a man behind him.

The man nodded and with a step, he leaped past Tan Rui.

Lin Fan sensed something wrong.

This man seemed older, much older than all the teenage enrollment seekers.

A cultivator.

Lin Fan quickly came back down.

"Help me, I feel tired," the man said. When he came close to Ho Ming, he grabbed his ankle.

Ho Ming immediately reacted and kicked at his hand and shouted, "Get away from me."

The man didn't let go.

He was too strong for Ho Ming.

When the man saw Lin Fan coming, he reached out his other hand and tried to grab him too.

But when he saw Lin Fan's eyes staring at him, he froze and released his grip on Ho Ming.

As if he had gone out of his mind, the man stood up, then rolled down the stairs.

"Damn!"

Tan Rui cursed as he dodged the man's body rolling down.

Others behind him weren't as lucky.

Some of them who couldn't get out of the way in time got caught and also rolled down the stairs.

Sounds of bones cracking and patches of blood spilled on the stairs.

"Enough!"

That voice boomed in the sky again.

This time, Tan Fei's voice was filled with nothing but anger.

Disciples then appeared and with a stroke of their swords blew a gust of wind and cushioned those who were tumbling down.

While this commotion was going on, Lin Fan and Ho Ming had continued on their way and finally reached the top.

A cool breeze blew and made it more bearable with their clothes now wet with sweat, sticking to their skin.

"Yes, I did it. Father, I did it!" Ho Ming exclaimed in joy with what he had accomplished.

Lin Fan patted him on his back and said, "No time to celebrate; there's more to come."

While trying to catch their breath, they looked at what was in front of them.

A huge square with over fifty disciples standing in a line waiting for them.

There was a table and a disciple sitting at it, and he was waving at them.

Lin Fan and Ho Ming walked toward the table.

The disciple handed them a pill and said, "This is a Qi restoration pill; it should replenish all the strength you've used up earlier. After you are done, wait around for the next instruction."

The pill emitted a nice and sweet smell, enticing those who held it to eat it.

Seeing that the system didn't warn him of any malevolent intent, Lin Fan swallowed the pill.

Warmth came from his dantian after the pill went down his stomach.

Slowly his strength came back.

After that, he moved aside and waited for the next instruction.

"Stop him! That cheater!"