Chapter 17: BREAD BREAD BREAD

Thank you to my new Patrons: TheZachalope, ben russ, Gabriel, Honeyboy, Homie, Aman, Nishanth Murugan, Pagrek, Alex Ibarra, AN: I am very excited, I finally get to start reaping the narrative rewards of all this prepping.-/-Jin woke up bright and early the next day, as had become his habit. Fear suddenly overtook him as his eyes fluttered open and he lay on his futon before he remembered that his training was done.The Illusion Room was finished and had been accepted by those who'd commissioned it.He took a few moments to appreciate this fact and that his nightmare was coming to a close. The moments turned into minutes turned into hours as he simply lay there watching dust motes dance in the sunlight streaming through the windows.One thing that people didn't mention enough, which was one of the amazing things about being a cultivator, was that one's senses improved to the point where one could find beauty in anything.This in addition to the physical health he felt in his body was almost worth the unequal hierarchies, the high demands, and the long working hours.He breathed out a sigh of relief and stood up, using the wooden bucket full of water to wash himself. A small exertion of qi turning into heat dried him. He got dressed.Exiting his room, he made his way to the landing platform where he and Elder Flower had arrived all those months ago. The sect leader had been right, it was an incredibly sunny day. Almost too sunny. A small filter of qi went over his eyes to block the harsh light and he wondered if the mortals of this world made sunglasses to protect themselves against the rays of the sun on the occasions on which they were particularly punishing, he knew eyesight corrective glasses existed for the rich.He turned his head downwards, looking to the base of the mountain where the make-shift camp of mortals waiting for the outer disciple selection process had grown by another few people.Did they know the risks and dangers of becoming cultivators? Or was it simply such a prestigious position that they felt like they had to try regardless of anything else.Upon acceptance, one would be taken away from one's family and one's friends. Trained brutally and discarded ruthlessly if one's talent wasn't sufficient. Only one in a thousand ascended to a meaningful position within a sect. Everything below the rank of an inner disciple was just functionally being a slave."I see that you are awake," a female voice suddenly said from behind Jin, and he turned around to look at Elder Flower, who had somehow snuck up on him."I am curious about how my Illusion Room will function," Jin said lightly.At the mention of the scenario, Elder Flower pulled a disgusted face. "It's a much more brutal selection process than the journey of a thousand steps, or even the boulder challenge," she said. "You will likely hear a lot of screaming."Jin sighed. "That's better than them losing their sanity afterwards isn't it?""I agree, regardless I'm not too interested in spending more time with mortals than I have to." she twitched her nose. "They smell.""I can't imagine that the amenities at the base of this mountain are particularly awe-inspiring, yes. Where are they even getting the freshwater from?" Jin wondered. Staying at the base of this mountain for several months, wouldn't people at some point start running out of food? Also, he hadn't seen a water source anywhere when he'd been flying over the landscape on the flying sword.Elder Flower stepped forward to look down at the encampment. "They've dug wells and they've brought enough food to be here for a year. It is common knowledge that one might have to wait a long time before undergoing the test," she observed calmly. "Regardless, I will be going now. Do try to not get invested in any of the participants. Most of them aren't worth much," she said coldly before jumping into the air and disappearing from his side."Why would I get invested in anyone?" Jin muttered to himself. "It's not even my sect."After a few more minutes of waiting, Elder Zhang came to find Jin and touched him on the shoulder to carry him down to the mortals.The disciple selection process was about to begin.-/-As Jin joined Sect Leader Shen, Elder Kwang and Elder Zhang at the base of the mountain still a few hundred metres away from the impromptu camp of potential disciples he wondered how exactly they were going to officiate the selection process.At the end of the day from the outside, they just looked like three monks and one incredibly handsome young man. Wouldn't it be too awkward to simply shout at the mortals until they came over and then tell them that the selection process was about to begin?His question of how exactly this would be done was answered very quickly when sect leader Shen who was standing in the middle of the group put his hands together in a praying posture and closed his eyes."Earthly Rights of Heavenly Eternal Wood Rising," the man recited in a low tone of voice and suddenly Jin heard the earth beneath him cracking and rumbling.He remained as still as a mouse knowing that the original position he was in right now was the one that the sect leader had calculated for him to be safe in. If he followed his instincts and jumped out of the way then god knows what would happen to him. So he clenched his buttcheeks, closed his eyes and pretended that he was contemplating the eternal dao instead of just trying not to shit his pants.Didn't the sect leader know how scary it was to have spells suddenly cast in one's presence by someone eternally more powerful than one's self? Especially when one didn't know what that spell would do?Wood suddenly erupted from the ground underneath the quartet. Brown barked, strong and twisting it reminded Shen of a certain anime where ninjas had abandoned stealth to throw magical mechs at each other.The wood continued emerging.A structure that was in a way similar to an unpainted torii gate erupted from the ground carrying the quartet dozens of metres into the air until they could once again behold the entire valley like they had been able to previously when still on the mountain.Surprised shouts and exclamations erupted from the shabby camp they were now looking down upon and countless round and shocked faces turned in their direction. With his heightened senses Jin was able to tell that dozens of eyes were fixed on him despite the distance.It wasn't a very comfortable experience.That's certainly one way to make an entrance, he thought to himself.-/-Xiao had not done much after arriving at the forward camp of the Mad Monks Sect disciple selection grounds. After all, he was tired from his journey and mostly wanted to gain knowledge about the situation.The group of people were nothing like what he had expected to be waiting for him here. Of course, he'd known that there would be others similarly trying to become cultivators, but he hadn't expected there to be so many and he hadn't expected them to be this entrenched.He was very surprised to find that the people here had even dug a well and that some of them had arrived in luxurious carriages full of preserved food and had been waiting here for almost a year.Exchanging some animal pelts that he had learned to skin during his travels for information, Xiao found out that the general consensus of the hopefuls was that this particular sect had no specific schedule for when they selected their disciples. However, the general consensus was also that it occurred every year when enough people had arrived to justify doing so.At least no one had been able to find another rhyme or reason to the timings.At the end of the day, Xiao didn't see why cultivators would want to work under a schedule. Having met two cultivators in his life and having been heavily impacted by their attitudes and decisions, he was very clear in the fact that cultivators did not care very much for their so-called mortal counterparts. This made his blood boil at the injustice that resulted from this attitude but he was very well aware that when one was an ant one could not protest being stepped on without first gaining sufficient strength.He had asked around if anyone knew what the selection process would maybe entail, and had received a variety of different answers. Some mentioned that they could be asked to meditate for a long amount of time to test their mental fortitude, while others swore that it was going to be an endless series of steps that ate up willpower.After exchanging some more of his inventory for a bit of food, Xiao was just about to sit down and consider what kind of training he could reasonably complete here while waiting when people suddenly started shouting and running around in a confused mixture of elation and fear.Xiao jumped up but refused to drop the piece of bread that he had purchased at a very steep price. He turned his gaze towards the mountain that the Mad Monks Sect inhabited, with its temples and its bamboo forests, only to find his view obscured by a gigantic wooden gate which towered over their camp with its ridiculous proportions. One could barely make out four human figures standing on top of it and looking down at them imperiously, doubly so because the sun was rising over the mountain, blinding anyone who tried.A deadly calm struck him as he realised that before he had even gotten the opportunity to sit down and adjust his nerves, fate had decided to roll the dice for him once again.-/-Jin wondered if this was what it felt like to be Moses speaking down to one's followers from the mountaintop holding the stone tablet with the Ten Commandments.It hadn't taken long for the mortals from the camp to start approaching the gate clearly having identified the fact that its appearance was the announcement of the disciple selection process.They stumbled over slowly and reverently with either respect in their eyes or bowed heads.Jin examined them curiously, wondering if there was any sort of way of identifying who had it in them and who didn't. There were not any older people present, most looking like they were at least less than thirty. There were more men than women and some were obviously from richer backgrounds than others. This was mostly delineated by clothing and average hygiene. Some were dressed in rags and some were dressed in clean if crinkled robes. Some were dirty and some were freshly washed. Some of them looked like farmers and some of them looked like merchants.However, from this perspective all the way up they all blended together into one indistinguishable mass of hopefuls. In front of the heavens, every mortal was as irrelevant as the next. This was the perspective that Jin gained from the height that he was standing at.His eyes briefly passed over a boy dressed in a shabby blue robe that might have at some point been luxurious, who despite the atmosphere was managing to find the time to munch on a large piece of bread.Jin cracked a small smile. If nothing he had to respect those wise enough to know that one couldn't write an exam on an empty stomach."Welcome to the Mad Monks Sect," sect leader Shen's voice suddenly boomed out from next to Jin loudly enough that he could almost imagine the sonic shockwaves. Jin flinched at the leader's loudness but managed to quickly gather himself to continue standing there imperiously."Today we will be initiating a test to determine if any of you are qualified to become valued disciples of our sect. You will be tested on your intelligence, your perseverance, and your willpower," sect leader Shen suddenly snapped his fingers, releasing not one, not two, not three, but five Illusion Rooms from the pouch at his side.With five Illusion Rooms, Jin naturally meant that these were five separate artefacts created to store scenarios. The scenario inside of them was all the same. Every single one of them contained Outlast. Once Jin had created the data comprising the game in his mind he could very easily inject it into as many Rooms as he wanted. The issue was mostly that Illusion Rooms were not cheap to make. However, if they'd only have one then this whole process would really have lasted way too long.With his increased mental abilities, Jin completed a quick headcount of the gathered mortals coming up with the number 84. Most of them would doubtlessly fail the process of testing very quickly, while some would manage to make it further along. All in all, he assumed that an Illusion Room would require on average half an hour to fail. That meant ten mortals per hour, which meant that he was now stuck here for approximately eight hours.He sighed. The five Illusion Rooms gleamed in the sun and projected a mysterious purple light which illuminated the front of the gate even more brightly than the sun did. Another snap of sect leader Shen's fingers and suddenly a purple film was covering the inside of the torii gate, barring entry.The only way for a mortal to enter was to complete the scenario, get the passcode and then think about the passcode while walking through.The catch that made it difficult was that if one ever voluntarily paused the scenario one would be disqualified. One could restart from the beginning if one died, but one couldn't take a break. Those with too little ability to solve the scenario in a reasonable time frame were just as unwanted as those too cowardly to endure it."The five artefacts you see in front of you are all the same so there's no advantage or disadvantage depending on which one you pick," sect leader Shen said."These are so-called Illusion Rooms which contain a mission which you must complete using the template of your body that will be projected inside of it once you touch it. You can always quit, but beware that this means failure. Death simply means you have to start from the beginning. Completing the scenario will grant you the key for passing through this door. Once you have passed this door you have successfully been selected. Congratulations." The sect leader looked down at the mortals who were exchanging cautious glances with each other. "Do not fight for the opportunity as there is no advantage to going first or last, simply handle it amongst yourselves and begin!" Shen announced loudly.-/-The "begin!" loudly shouted by the monk standing in the middle of the quartet on top of the gate echoed through the valley as if unwilling to leave its airspace until everyone had surely heard it.Xiao took a bite from the piece of bread in his hands and looked around curiously to see the response of the other participants. None of them had walked forward yet and seemed to be cautiously observing each other rather than the so-called Illusion Rooms as I was trying to find who would go first.Many of them were clearly confused, not understanding the explanation of what the artefacts floating in front of the torii gates actually were.Of course, Xiao wasn't sure what they were himself, but he knew that all he had to do was go over and touch one and then he would obviously find out. After he shoved the last piece of bread in his mouth and started chewing he didn't hesitate in stepping forward from the crowd to go towards the floating cube on the right.That was when the patience of everyone around him broke and a large burly man stepped forward, grasped him by the shoulder and pushed him back.An ugly and scarred face obviously belonging to some sort of mercenary glanced back at Xiao with a hideous grin. "Let me handle this one kid, didn't your mom tell you to be cautious before she sent you here?" he asked, swaggering over to the cube that Xiao had been intending to touch along with several other men who were bumping into each other in the attempts to get there first.They still somewhat respected the words of the cultivator and didn't aggressively fight for the right, but it was still a bit disrespectful.Xiao stepped back and looked on. He wanted to go first because he was a bit nervous about the selection process and wanted to get it out of the way. Either he was qualified or he was not, but it was better to find out early so that he would have time to process disappointment or to enjoy his success.He watched as the burly man who pushed him aside reached the floating artefact and with a slowness mirroring the anxiety he must have been feeling touched it with a large calloused hand.At the same time as this happened the other four artefacts also became occupied by four other people who touched them.A few minutes later, the screaming started.-/-"The ones rushing forward, it can already be said that they failed," Elder Zhang commented idly as he looked downwards at the scrambling scene of people trying to be the first to reach the Illusion Rooms without fighting so overtly as to draw negative attention from the examiners."Well, if they manage to pass the test and escape that unpleasant experience then they can still take some courtesy classes once they are disciples, no?" Elder Kwang wondered aloud.Zhang simply shook his head. "Those who do not even have the basics of politeness, cannot possibly have the mental fortitude necessary to undergo the harrowing experience," he claimed.Shen and Jin remain silent on the matter, simply looking curiously at the five men who were now blanked out, standing in front of the Illusion Rooms. Their consciousness taken away by the magic inherent in the artefact.Jin's neck felt very uncomfortable and he wondered why the sect leader hadn't put the artefacts more to the front so they wouldn't have to glance down at such a steep angle. Didn't the man know that this is how one developed cramps? It was in fact very unhealthy to not take care of one's body like this. The neck was one of the most important parts considering its connection to the spine and head.Jin's hand went up to massage his right shoulder as he curiously continued looking at the disciple hopefuls.He wanted to know how the mortals would face the challenge that he had created for them. In essence, he agreed with Elder Zhang's assessment of those currently being tested. However, he thought that rather than the lack of grace it was the lack of intelligence that this act displayed that would make them surefire candidates for disqualification.Obviously, it was always difficult to put oneself in the shoes of others, but what Jin would have done in the situation of those mortals would have been very different. He would have leaned back and waited to see how the first few people challenged the Rooms. After all, the sect leader had confirmed that there was no advantage to being the first or the last and that none of the rooms were any different from each other.However, the sentence was in a way misleading because while there wasn't any change in the scenario that occurred between the experience of the person who first underwent it was different from the last person. The difference was in the knowledge of the experiencer.After all, one of the things that one could do when someone passed or failed the scenario was to simply ask this individual what they had undergone. If the other person was willing to answer then the person who'd asked would be going in with an absolute information advantage. In this case, this information advantage would actually alleviate some of the fear that the scenario tried to produce. After all, knowing at least a bit about the tasks one has to undergo meant that they became less daunting than if they remained complete unknowns.In this regard, the selection process was actually a mind game to pick out those who had the most patience. Because that was the attribute that would be most strongly rewarded in this case. If all of the mortals had actually been educated and intelligent enough it would have led to the horrible result of them simply refusing to go first. In the end, this would have dragged on for months and the people who would have to go first would be the ones who didn't have enough food supplies with them to sustain a longer waiting period.Because of this Jin felt really grateful for the five idiots who had stepped forward to become the first sacrifices and he agreed in a way that the lack of grace indicated a lower likelihood of success. However, the lack of intelligence and patience was a much more damning factor.His ears picked up on a conversation that was happening below before another quickly emerged to fill up the space with a bunch of inane chatter. Immediately after the introduction of the artefacts everyone had been too intimidated to talk with each other. However, now that five people had stepped forward and were simply standing there silently touching the Illusion Rooms people were starting to lose some of their anxiety.Nothing bad had happened yet so what exactly was the issue? That was probably their thinking.Jin thought that this turn towards a more relaxed atmosphere was actually being too naive. But, that was perhaps simply because he knew that out of the five, at least one of them would not have the mental qualities necessary to survive long.While the elders might have brushed off Outlast as something that was at best disquieting and at worst a bad experience, mortals shouldn't have such high standards right?Right on cue seven minutes after the first five participants had touched the artefacts, one of the large men who had pushed their way forward released their hand from the artefact and fell back on their ass shaking all over and paler than a wedding dress.The man didn't scream as much, as he simply opened his mouth and fought for air as what was doubtlessly an intense bout of anxiety overcame him and threw him straight into a panic attack.Jin was very well aware that people had already been unable to complete Outlast due to issues of fear and psychological distress when it was only a 2D experience. Now that it was completely immersive with completely realistic graphics, he knew fully well that some people would be unable to handle it.He watched as the atmosphere of the mortals dialled down to a scared zero as the man struggled to breathe and clutched at his throat as he choked for air. Eventually, he managed to calm down enough to lay there sweating profusely. Then he promptly stood up and started running, pushing for the crowd to come out on the other side and sprint out of the camp as fast as he could. Everyone was too dumbstruck to truly question what he had experienced. However, the chance would soon come.A scream resounded through the clearing and the second person who first touched the artefact ungraciously removed themselves from the scenario and fell to the ground. Shaking all over and pale as a ghost the symptoms were incredibly similar. However, this man didn't run away and simply sacked to the ground bonelessly.Now the test of intelligence would truly start. Would anyone be capable of coaxing information out of the man who had failed but remained conscious enough to answer questions?People went up to and worriedly asked the man what he had experienced.The true test started now.-/-AN: It's not often we see this examiner's perspective, I hope I did it well