I walked into the elder’s grand audience hall to find my four teammates already waiting for me.
“Each of you has made significant progress over the past 10 years,” I said, giving each of them a calm, steady look. “Remember, once we arrive, our only objective is to demonstrate our skills for the Temple’s elders. I must reiterate: Do not antagonize the other teams. Do not act arrogantly. Do not threaten anyone. And, most importantly, do not challenge anyone.”
I stared Mandakh in the eye. “Especially not Yong JinZhan. No matter what he does—even if he mocks you for being one of his defeated opponents—do not challenge him in any way. Understood?”
Mandakh looked down and gave me a reluctant nod.
Honestly, rather than placing my teammates in a position where they could challenge Jon directly, I would have much preferred to face this challenge on my own. Unfortunately, though, that wasn’t allowed. Each Palace was required to send a team of five, so I would just have to do my best to keep everyone in line.
After getting a series of muttered agreements, I had nothing more to say—everything had already been said over the past 10 years. So, I walked off to the side of the room and sat down to meditate, playing out the upcoming competition in my mind.
Normally, the Palace’s elders would be here to give a farewell speech and wish us good luck. However, I had requested that Sovereign Enkhtuya refrain from such displays. We were not headed to glorious competition where we would bravely face down the alchemists of the other two Palaces. We were making a short trip to demonstrate our abilities to the Temple. That was all. I needed my teammates to understand this fact.
15 minutes later, the air in the middle of the room split apart, forming a portal of utter darkness.
Standing, I nodded at my team, then led them through.
---------------------------------------------------
We appeared in the middle of a stadium, with rows of empty bleachers surrounding us in every direction.
To our left, a second portal disgorged a group of unknown young men and women.
To our right… A familiar young man in ragged black clothing stepped through a portal.
I averted my gaze. I wasn’t here to challenge him. I was only here to put on a demonstration for the Temple’s elders. Nothing more.
Looking forward, I found the elders in question. On a lower platform, an aging man in silver and blue robes sat next to one of the vine-like creatures. Above them, on an upper platform, was what looked like nothing more than a bush of violet roses.
After only a glance in energy vision, I knew that these were the three most powerful beings I had ever met. As far as I could tell, the man and the vine creature were only slightly stronger than the Wong Clan’s Martial Spirit had been. The rose bush, however…
I had no idea what the energy body of a rose bush was supposed to look like, but the one in front of me shone with so much karmic energy that it nearly blinded me. Staring at this bush, I almost felt as if the world was ready to collapse around it.
This couldn’t be the Saint of Myriad Herbs, could it? Was this what it was like to be a Martial Ancestor? How far had this rose bush advanced? Had a Peak Ancestor decided to oversee such a minor competition? Why?
When everyone around me stepped forward and bowed deeply to the three elders, I realized that I had become distracted. So, hurriedly, I rushed to follow suit. In response, the human elder stood and walked forward. This man didn’t look old—not exactly—but his temples had started to turn gray, and as this man was a Martial Spirit, this meant that he must have entered calcification hundreds of years ago.
The elder came to a rest at the front of his platform and waved his right hand, activating three sets of formations which created three separate bubbles, one around each group of alchemists. He then directed identical streams of qi at each of these bubbles.
I recognized these qi streams as a variant of the urgamal’s language. However, before I could unravel their meaning, the bubble that surrounded me vibrated, producing a soft but powerful voice.
“Welcome. I am Jalari Taksi, Junior Elder of the Temple of the Herb Saint. 450 years ago, I stood where you stand now.”
After giving us a moment to let his words sink in, the elder sent out another stream of qi. “It is time for the members of the next generation to rise up and take their places as the leaders of the Temple. To that end, Elder Yargui, Elder Khaltmaa, and I will put you through a series of tests to see which of you—if any—are suitable for taking over our positions.”
I frowned, and as I looked around at my competitors, I saw that I wasn’t the only one who hadn’t been expecting this. This was supposed to be a simple alchemy competition, wasn’t it? When had it turned into a ‘series’ of tests?
Seeing our reactions, the Elder Jalari sent another wave of qi at the formations. “The competition between the Palaces will still be decided by the final pill competition, as you have been told. However, this only determines how many people from each Palace will be allowed to journey to the Domain of Myriad Herbs. It does not guaranteeyour entry into the Temple. That is something that only these… preliminary competitions can help you with.”
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The elder gestured toward the tangle of vines. “Elder Khaltmaa and I are each allowed to grant one person an advantage that will assist them in entering the Temple more smoothly.
Jalari nodded toward the rose bush that sat on the upper platform. “If you are able to catch Elder Yargui’s attention, however, she can grant you direct access, here and now. So, do your best, and show us what the Western Island is capable of.”
As Elder Jalari turned around and walked back toward his chair, the youths around me buzzed with excitement. However, seconds later, once Jalari was comfortably seated, a new formation activated, and that excitement ended.
Without any warning, a powerful force slammed down on all of our souls, causing several of the people to my left to collapse. Looking down, I saw that this formation resembled the one that I had used on Mandakh and the others—but only superficially. Several lines of the inscriptions led straight into solid rock, a telltale sign of a Rank 7+ formation.
The pressure of this formation started out at the level that I associated with Peak Kings, but even with just that, several of the alchemists from the True Martial Domain were already rolling around on the ground in agony. By the time the pressure increased to that of a mid-level Emperor, everyone from that domain had already conceded defeat.
They were the only ones, though.
All of my teammates still stood strong, but while I was happy for them, I was also concerned. Why had no one from the True Martial Domain been ready for this? Even if the Temple kept a lockdown on the specifics of this competition, surely there were people in each Palace who knew what it usually involved. Why hadn’t the elders from the True Martial Domain ensured that their youths were properly prepared?
The only answer I could come up with was that this wasn’t part of the usual competition. This was new.
Had the Temple’s elders been receiving reports about how I was training my teammates? Were these ‘preliminaries’ just a way for them to test my limits? Glancing over at the slovenly man to my right, I realized that the answers to these questions didn’t matter. At this point, all I could do was push forward.
Even as I thought this, the pressure increased, rising to the level of an Emperor 6 or 7.
While all of the youths from the True Martial Domain had bowed out early, everyone from both the Nine Rivers and Heroes Domains was still standing. This suggested that, while most Palaces might not place too much emphasis on soul cultivation, the Nine Rivers Domain was an exception. Their alchemists had been as diligent in soul cultivation as the Emperors that I had met back in the Nine Rivers Sect.
As the pressure of the formation increased, however, youths from both domains began to show signs of distress. Then, when it reached the level of an Emperor 9, three women from the Nine Rivers Domain collapsed, along with two of my teammates. The only ones left standing were me, Jon, Mandakh, Lau CoiHung, and one of the women from the Nine Rivers.
When the pressure increased yet again, rising to that of a Peak Emperor, both Lau CoiHung and the last of Jon’s teammates collapsed, leaving only me, Jon, and Mandakh—though, by this point, Mandakh was only holding on by the skin of his teeth.
While I wasn’t an expert at reading urgamal expressions, none of the elders seemed overly surprised by this outcome. It was clear that Elder Jalari, at least, had been expecting it.
Jalari tapped a finger on the arm of his chair, and the pressure of the formation rose to the level of a Martial Sovereign.
Mandakh fell to one knee. His breathing was labored, and his eyes were bloodshot, but he clenched his teeth and persevered.
I smiled and patted him on the back. “Good job, but go and rest now. Pushing yourself any further will only lead to injuries.”
I could sense that Mandakh didn’t want to give up, but when a trickle of blood began to run from his nose, he lowered his head. “Yes, Teacher.”
He looked up to Elder Jalari. “I concede.”
Instantly, the pressure on the boy vanished, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
This left only me and Jon.
Looking to my right, I saw that Jon’s body was covered by a white sheen, and for the first time, I began to get nervous. That sheen was almost certainly the result of some stolen blessing, and without knowing what it was, I didn’t know if I would be able to defeat it.
Over the next ten minutes, Jalari increased the pressure of formation several times, bringing it all the way up to what I loosely classified as equivalent to a Peak Sovereign. Here, finally, Jon started to flag.
“You’re Su Fang, right?” he asked, suddenly. “The new leader of the Heroes Domain?”
I looked over at the man and gave him a calm nod. “Yes, that is correct.”
Seeing that he had my attention, Jon gave me a winning smile, but a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth revealed the strain that he was under. “This competition’s a little boring, isn’t it? Just standing around like this? Why don’t we make it more interesting? Let’s make a bet. Whoever gives up first has to kneel down and call the other grandpa.”
I cupped my fists and lowered my head. “Apologies, Young Master Yong. I am only here to demonstrate my skills to the elders. I have no interest in any bets.”
Jon looked like he was about to give me a genuine smile, but then, he blinked, confused. “Wait… what?”
Jon glanced around worriedly before returning his focus to me. “Come now, Fang. It’s just a little bet. You aren’t scared, are you? I heard that the Heroes Domain is full of nothing but brave warriors. They aren’t being led by a coward, are they?”
I nodded. “If that’s the way you see it, then I can only accept your judgment. However, I cannot accept your bet.”
Ignoring our conversation, Elder Jalari motioned toward the formation, redoubling its pressure.
Jon instantly fell to one knee. Then, when he looked over and saw that I was still standing there calmly, with not a care in the world, he lowered his head in defeat. “I concede.”
Instantly, the pressure of the formation vanished, but only from Jon. I remained firmly entrapped within its embrace.
When I looked up at Jalari, he smiled at me and waved a hand, causing the pressure of the formation to increase once more. Then, after waiting only a second, he did it again.
I might not have always been as diligent with my soul cultivation as I should have been, but after four thousand years, even this casual approach had grown my soul to an unbelievable level. Not even I understood how powerful it had become. This ‘test’ was a good opportunity to find out.
Unfortunately, though, after Jalari increased the power of the formation several more times, I was still able to move about freely, while the formation’s inscriptions had begun to falter. The stones of the stage beneath me simply weren’t capable of channeling so much energy.
Seeing this, I cupped my fists and bowed. “I concede.”
For a long moment, nothing happened. Then, weakly, Jalari raised his hand and deactivated the formation.
“Congratulations to all of you for enduring the power of our Soul Suppressing Formation.” After being translated by the formation bubbles, Jalari’s words sounded smooth and natural, but the uneven steams of qi that he was sending out suggested this was only a façade.
Above Jalari, the leaves of the rose bush rustled, causing a large portal to appear behind us.
“This will take you to your inn. We will reconvene tomorrow and continue with our preliminary tests. Spend this night recovering from today’s ordeal.”