Second Floor

As Wei bowed, swirling bright lights suddenly enveloped him. He had that sensation of his body twisting and stretching again, and then next moment his feet hit the ground once more. Since he was already standing in a rather proper position, his knees easily absorbed the weight, bending only slightly.

Wei stood up and let his hands fall to his sides. Looking around, he was back in the Arcane Tower, but instead of two large gateways, there was now a singular table with three middle aged, robed people. Two were men, and the third was a woman. They were all wearing different colors, and their robes were bright. On the left side of the table a man with chiseled features and his hair tied into a ponytail was wearing a crimson red robe. In the center was a dainty looking man, handsome but a bit feminine, wearing white cream colors. And on the right, a beautiful woman who looked about thirty years old was wearing blue robes embroidered with intricate, beautiful pink flowers and green vines.

The tower hall was a wide open space, filled with row upon row of basic, single person cots. It was a circular hall about the size of a sporting field across, and had stone walls that reached up several stories high. There were at least two hundred other children already here, milling about, laying on the beds, reading books or throwing a ball up into the air above their head and catching it as it came down.

Some kids sat together in group, chatting and playing games on the stone floor.

”Name?” The feminine man in the center of the table asked.

”Wei Wang, 3rd Class, Eastern Bridges District, teacher Miss Rodriguez,” Wei responded dutifully.

”Very well, Wei. You have made it to the second stage of the selection trial. Once 240 children make it here, the second stage will commence immediately. You are number 219, which means that you have less than one day to prepare. Still, its better than being the last one to make it, and having no idea what it happening. Either way, we simply have too many students to test every single year, and so there is nothing that can be done,” the feminine man said.

Next the woman spoke. “Wei, in this test, there will be a tournament. Even though you don’t know anyone here, you will need to form teams of five. When a teammate is elimated in this trial, they will return to the outside world, their test ending immediately. If your team ends up winning its match, you will return here and join forces with another team. At each stage, you will need to have a team of five. If there is an odd number of test takers left, they will either be given a bye until the next round, when they can try to get a full team, or they will fight at a disadvantage."

The handsome man followed her in explaining the rules. “Even though this test is in the form of a tournament, since the teams are changing from round to round, its not exactly a knock-out tournament, but its good enough. Once all teams reform, your matches will be decided at that point, and the next round of the tournament will commence. Since there are 48 teams starting, naturally this lends itself to a six round tournament structure. Out of 6 rounds, you can expect to get a bye once, as long as you make it that far.”

”Wei,” the woman spoke gently, “Did you manage to find anything special in the first trial?”

At this, Wei looked up. He glanced down, and then figured he shouldn’t hide anything from the selection committee. After all, it wasn’t like they were his opponents. If anything, having found a special item might improve his scoring in their eyes.

”Yes, I found a jade tablet that contained a hand-to-hand combat style, and also, there was a strange spark of light that entered my body.”

”Hm, I see. Hand-to-hand combat, that’s actual quite rare to be contained on a jade tablet. Although its easy enough to practice without the tablet, it’s not common to find it engraved like that. It must be a form of hand-to-hand combat that is more powerful than regular fist fighting.”

”You didn’t find anything else? Such as a cultivation manual?”

”No. If you don’t mind, can you tell me what the spark of light was?” Wei asked.

The handsome man cut in. “That was a spark of origin Chi. The selection trial is capable of refining the origin energy of the world into a spark of Chi. You happened to find that spark, and it entered your body and empowered you to learn the hand-to-hand combat style. If you had found a cultivation manual, you would be able to gather origin Chi yourself, and you could quickly become more powerful at the hand-to-hand style you found. Unfortunately, you didn’t, so you are in a bit of a peculiar situation.”

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”Of the other children who passed the first stage, about 25% found a cultivation method. 50% found a combat style, and 25% found a crafting method. Those who found only a crafting method, I’m afraid, have the worst luck. It will be hard for them to win this round with that alone, although later on they have the potential to become more wealthy. Those who found cultivation methods are the best off, although they too are at a bit of a disadvantage if they didn’t find a combat method to go with it. There are some who found both a combat style and a cultivation method, they could be considered extremely lucky and will no doubt pass this stage. Currently, there are only three who found both. If you can get on their team, you will be exceedingly lucky.”

”Now, now, don’t burden him too much,” the feminine man in the center sighed and leaned forward. “Wei, if you want to win, keep your eyes open in the next round. Your priority should be finding a cultivation method. There will be better weapons available in this round, but since you have a hand-to-hand style, you don’t need to worry about them. If you can cultivate a few more origin Chi sparks within yourself, you can empower your combat style further and might stand a chance of defeating others who are stuck at level one of their style.”

”Best if you don’t get his hopes up,” the handsome man replied, “Even if he does find a cultivation technique, and somehow manages to cultivate it, he is already behind those who have both, and of those who have both, all of them have actual weapons! Even if he cultivates, with just his fists, how is he possibly going to defeat them? No, I’m sorry Wei, even though you made it to the second round, I doubt you will be able to achieve victory here.”

”Ho! you are so confident he will lose?” The beautiful woman laughed. “I have a gift for him, then, since you went so far as to dash his hopes entirely. Wei, can you show me the jade tablet with your combat technique on it?”

Wei retrieved the jade slip from the folds of his clothing and passed it to the woman, who picked it up and studied it intently. A moment later, light began to emit from her eyes and spark-like Chi origin entered bubbled up from her body and rushed into the Jade slip. The energy was absorbed, and the lights disappeared.

”Wei, I have engraved the next two layers of the basic hand-to-hand technique on your Jade slip. It just so happens that when I was your age, I came in first place with that same exact combat technique! However, you still don’t have a cultivation method, so for now, you wont be able to learn anything I engraved on the tablet!” With this, the beautiful woman loudly laughed and threw her head backwards.

The handsome man scowled and leaned back in his chair. From the center, the feminine man folded his hands in front of his face and leaned forward, “Well now, Wei. If you find a cultivation method like I said, and manage to stay alive for long enough to gather some origin Chi, you might just have a chance at winning. If you can master the third layer of the hand-to-hand technique before the finals, you might be fast enough and strong enough to defeat even those with a weapon technique that’s still on the first or second layer.”

The three judges didn’t say anything, and it looked as if Wei was about to be dismissed, but he suddenly asked a question. “Um, if you don’t mind me asking, how many layers in the hand-to-hand combat technique are there?”

The handsome man raised his eyebrows thoughtfully and looked Wei over, and then responded. “Cultivation methods and combat techniques work differently. When it comes to cultivation methods, one must diligently meditate in quiet for months just to master the first layer, years to master the second, and decades to master the third. Cultivation manuals come in different grades. I wont go into the details now, but the highest grade cultivation manuals have up to 9 layers, and take at least one thousand years to master. Obviously, this is impossible for a mortal, but once you reach the fourth layer, and then again at the sixth layer, your lifespan will lengthen and you will gain more years of youth.”

”On the other hand, combat technique manuals rely on the condensation of the origin Chi. The truth is, its up to you how many sparks you put in each layer. Some combat techniques have 100, or even 1,000 layers! However, that’s not to say someone who is on the 1,000 layer of their combat technique is necessarily the strongest! If they only put 1 spark in each layer, they could be said to be like a twig floating in the breeze, who somehow managed to be lifted up into the highest atmosphere. But they will be like nothing compared to the true eagle who soared to that peak on their own power.”

”Hehe, the reality is, there are as many combat techniques as there are stars in the sky, but a true master is one whose cultivation has reached the limit. For them, whether it is a basic technique or an advanced method, the power they are able to exercise will be enormous. It’s all up to how you choose to cultivate. There are no rules here. Those who make unwise choices, fall from the heavens long before those who are diligent and wise!”

Wei nodded. So that’s how it was in the Arcane Tower Sect. The wise would rise like eagles, but the foolish would perish below. Wei thanked the masters and then turned to face the rows and rows of cots.

He had less than a single day to make a few friends and join a team. At this moment, the majority of the other trial participants were asleep. Suddenly, he remembered that it was only 3 am outside, and thought that maybe getting a bit of sleep wasn’t such a bad idea.

He found an empty cot close to the western wall, and crawled into bed. Even though his mind was racing with new knowledge, he was asleep within moments.