That cloud looks like a duck! Oh, and over there too. That one as well. And another…

  I let out a long-suffering sigh, blankly staring at the sky. Three weeks of travelling with but a small sack of belongings and the clothes on my back in a caravan I hitched a ride with on mostly dirt and muddy roads is as bad as it sounds.

  Don't get me wrong, at least I get warm meals every day, and am safe enough with the guards, though there isn't much danger after winter with most of the beasts running or culled.

  But the mud from melted snow and the sheer boredom are too much. I made a few friends in the caravan, hard not to considering we see each other every day, but my will to keep chatting with Jiang and Uncle Wei up front is down in the dirt like I wish to be.

  I groan in annoyance as we ride over another rock, and I get slammed down onto the wooden floor of the large carriage packed with beast meat and parts.

  Old Feng was able to get me hitched with the caravan, Uncle Wei being a friend of his. From what he said, Blue Poppy City, like others nearby, has a deal to send butchered beasts to the Azure Tempest Sect who are apparently the only ones in any close enough distance to process the thousands of beast parts that, through some qi nonsense, get turned into pills or weapons. The meat from monstrous beasts though can only be eaten by cultivators, so no point in keeping so much in the city.

  Sighing once more as we start going over gravel, I give up trying to relax on my own and head up front and see if I can steal a sip from Jiang's gourd, the man jealously guarding the Plum Blossom juice he bartered for before we left.

  ---

  "It was nice travelling with you two, Uncle Wei, Jian. Thank you for taking me all this way," I say with a small bow.

  "Haha, it was no problem Zhan!" Jiang says joyfully as he pats my shoulder, his father grunting and giving a nod.

  "Hopefully we don't see you too soon, but we'll be here for the month before heading back so you know where to find us if you need a ride back."

  I give a slight smile, "Don't worry much, if anything I'll see you two in a few years."

  Jiang laughs at that, "Ha! Confidence is good! Then good luck Zhan!"

  Saying my goodbyes, I leave the two to veer off to a smaller street while I keep heading down the main street. Wide and going straight from the gate to the massive building on the other side of town, the sole building taller than three floors.

  The building in question is the Azure Tempest's recruitment hall. How something as large as the Long's palace, where an entire city's governance and a clan live, is considered only a hall is astounding.

  This town, Cloudrest, is a place where the sect regularly interacts with mortals and the Empire, and one of a few places to get recruited into the sect with other towns scattered across the edge of the sect’s territory.

  Looking around, everything is coloured in the sect's colours of azure and white, from the signs of shops to the flowers put out in front of homes. I can tell those that live here do so in luxury as at no point do I see a single beggar and trust me, I know where they would be.

  Up ahead, I see the crowd parting to the side, and I quickly move as well, keeping my eyes low as I keep walking, knowing why instinctually.

  "…that lowly boy shouldn't have gazed upon Senior Brother Lei Guang's face as he did," one of the cultivators says with a scoff, out of the corner of my eyes, I catch sight of finely made martial robes coloured solidly in sky-blue, "To insult Senior Brother as so is to court death! One move was all it took to put him in his place!"

  Ah, courting death. It's one of those cultivators.

  I take a step further to the side.

  "Such an effortless victory only shows the depth of Senior Brother Guang's skill and talent," another adds reverently. "It will not be long before Senior Sister Shen Yuexin herself takes notice of his unmatched skill."

  The figure in the center, clad in deep azure robes, speaks and I shiver from the rich arrogance lacing it as he passes beyond my sight, "Of course she will. Who else in our sect is worthy of the admiration of a jade beauty such as her, if not me?"

  His arrogant laugh and the cackles from his companions that try to match his fade soon enough, and I flow into the now calmer crowd that continue with their business.

  Thankful that they were too self-absorbed in trying to boost the man's ego to find an issue with me or anyone else, it's relatively smooth riding to the recruitment hall, bar the odd disciple to dodge.

  I'm surprised to see a market right in front of the sect's walled compound where the hall is contained. Wooden stalls hawking everything from food and clothes to pills of all things, a few of the stalls even have the solid azure-robed disciples attending them!

  Walking through the market, it seems nearly all the buyers are those about my age, most wearing finer clothes than I, but there are those in poorer positions like my own that flit between the stalls containing cheaper goods.

  Curious, but not enough to linger, I push through the bustle and reach a small open space in front of the gate where none of the stalls get close to. There are quite a few people lined up at the closed gate to the compound, all my age once more, with some younger ones accompanied by either their parents or even servants from their clothing.

  Peering down the line, there's a desk manned by an elderly individual wearing plain, billowy azure robes and flanked by bored disciples wearing the same robes as most other disciples in town. Given the stacks of parchment on the desk and the brush the man uses as he speaks with those lined up, I guess this is where I can register, though I pause at the heavy bags the man casually takes, stuffed with about three hundred coins from what I can tell, that vanish from his hands.

  Blinking the sight away, not wanting to question the impossibility, I settle in line and recall another monk teaching that was a constant back home.

  Staring straight ahead, I empty my mind.

  The sun's lowered in the sky a bit once I'm broken from my fugue as the head of the person ahead of me moves away. Looking up from the parchment he was writing on, the elderly man just stares at my clothing and sighs. I push away the familiar annoyance from his judgment and pull out the scroll Captain Haoran gave and present it with both hands.

  "Greetings, Elder. This one is named Zhan and was given a recommendation by Captain Haoran of Blue Poppy City."

  His word puts some life into the old man who grabs the scroll and analyzes the seal on it for a moment before promptly breaking it to read the letter. I shift my feet as his eyes dart around the scroll before he sets it aside and gives a faint nod.

  "This is indeed an official recommendation," with quick strokes, he writes onto the parchment in front of him and tosses a token that I catch. "Keep this, it is your proof to attend these trials. Without it, you will not be able to pass through the gates once the tests start," he says with a nod towards the currently shut gate.

  "If what the captain says is true for you to earn his favour, then you will not need to worry about the trial; the two do not compare in difficulty. The gates will open in two days, so come back then."

  I give a respectful bow and leave at his gesture. The rectangular token is plain, no particular marking to distinguish its purpose, and I can't tell how they'd know who a true participant is or not.

  Shrugging, I tuck it into my robes and go exploring for a place to sleep for the night that hopefully won't be a stable given how full the town likely is.

  ---

  Stretching, I lean back until I hear a satisfying pop. Shrugging my sack over my shoulder, I give a pat of farewell to Hay the horse's side who gives me a neigh in goodbye. He's one of the nicer horses I've had the pleasure of sharing a pile of hay with.

  Seriously, a coin a night at the worst possible inn I could find is robbery. It wasn't even for a private room! Luckily, I was able to barter some things I had on hand to sleep with Hay on his hay and get a bath, don't want my first impression smelling like a horse.

  The sun's barely risen as I walk through the streets, barely filled with those heading for work. It's a quick jaunt to the market in front of the compound which has a few merchants working their stalls and even fewer of my fellow hopefuls waiting in front of the gates.

  I notice that all but two of us are wearing rougher clothes, one of the others being a boy a little older than I and a young woman silently standing with a servant beside her.

  Guess the others never had a need to wake so early.

  Happy to stick by myself, I move close to the gate to the side and out of the way.

  A few others start filtering in as the sun rises, and I people-watch in boredom while devouring a whole loaf I bought the other day. Stale, but still tasty.

  I'm brushing the crumbs off when the gates slowly open with a groan of weight and out walks the old man from before.

  "Those of you here now know the respect the Azure Tempest Sect is owed to even allow you to enter its grand halls," his voice carries with calm authority, "for you have risen early and shown respect by arriving before others. Such diligence is not overlooked. Those who come late reveal their hearts, careless, inattentive, unworthy of the storm's embrace. As such, those who stand here now shall hold a slight advantage in the trial ahead. Come."

  He swiftly turns and calmly walks back through the gates, and that breaks the floodgates as people rush to the front, pushing past others to get through first.

  I wince as I see a few get pushed to the ground and trampled and hang back, others having the same idea as we wait for the crowd to thin-

  A flash of light at the gate makes me blink the spots out of my vision. I hear some screams from the crowd as they part to reveal the source of the flash, a smoking body on the ground, pushed a meter from the gate and twitching as sparks intermittently lash out from his body.

  Everyone shift nervously, more cautious of the innocuous gate but the fact that he isn't dead doesn't seem deter them as they slowly continue moving forward. Taking my chance, I take the gap presented by those avoiding the unconscious body to pass the crowd and with slight hesitation, take the step through the gate.

  I panic when I feel something tickling me in my robes, quickly stuffing my hand in and pulling out the token I received and watch in fascination as somehow, a lightning bolt is burnt into it, below it a few letters.

  Gazing at it with wide eyes, I slowly put the token away after not seeing a blatant reason for how that was possible and walk forward past the few gawking at their own tokens.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  The courtyard within the compound is far larger than I thought; no other location in town has an open space as large as this. Throughout the grounds, there are slightly raised stone platforms, at least thirty, each with a disciple in sky-blue robes standing on them holding various weapons with a rack of more nearby. And looking over the courtyard is the recruitment hall, which the elderly man is leisurely walking towards, and up above him, a balcony occupied by a woman in her thirties wearing pure white robes edged with silver and azure.

  The old man's inside and climbed to the balcony as the stream of people starts tapering off, at least six hundred people, until he's… deferentially standing behind the woman?

  "Choose any weapon, then stand and face an Azure Tempest outer disciple. Impress Inner Elder Ruilan, and you shall move on to the final trial. Fail, and leave promptly," the old man announces.

  None move for a moment, but after no other instructions come forth, a stampede occurs again. I jog this time to get my choice of weapon by heading to the stages further from the crowd. There are a few that run at full speed and are already grabbing weapons from the rack at the stage I choose, and of course, all the swords are already gone. There's quite a diverse selection, hammers, axes, halberds, but I stick with something I'm vaguely familiar with and grab a spear, luckily it's nearly the same as an Imperial one.

  Lines are being formed at each stage, most long and I see a few people running in from the gate and scrambling for a weapon.

  Lining up beside my stage, I get in a low stance and practice my thrusts and some slashes, trying to warm up but I can feel that just like during the beast wave, I can only do very simple moves. Although a blur, I can remember that I just added my spear in a forest of them, not doing anything special besides pushing the tip into beasts, though I suppose that's all you really need to do with a spear.

  My little practice gets the others near me to copy and practice with their newly gained weapons.

  I pause my practice at a yelp I hear and look to the stage to see a boy a few years older than me dropping his jian, letting it clatter to the floor while holding his hand in pain, the outer disciple he's facing just calmly standing there with her own jian in hand.

  "Pick it up, or leave," she says.

  I can see the back of the boy's hand is an angry red with some purple bruising rapidly growing from the strike the girl apparently landed, something he doesn't like as he grabs his sword once more with his other hand and charges towards her with a furious yell.

  He sends a flurry of slashes at her, the girl flowing through his wide swings with the few that she lets get close getting parried away. The boy's breathing heavily by the end of his furious storm, and she hits him again but on the other hand, slow enough that I could likely react to, and he drops the sword once more with a painful hiss.

  The girl stands calmly and waits; this time, the boy hesitates to reach for his sword, and apparently, a moment too long. A flame erupts on a stand to the side where the boy put his token, the wooden piece catching fire.

  "You failed, put away the weapon and leave," she dismisses the boy as the fire dies down in moments, token burnt to ash.

  "B-but-"

  "Now."

  That gets the boy running, picking up his sword, he rushes off the stage, slowing down enough to place the weapon back, and he's off to the gate.

  "Next."

  So, she doesn't use her full strength; no way a disciple of the sect would be that slow. Since I could see her moves clearly, that means that the first disciple was at the most my stage, maybe even lower at the fourth.

  The next few hopefuls, now with their spirits dampened, also end up with burnt tokens. One that looked to be doing well seemed to let his nerves get to him and somehow tripped but kept going. The second time it happened, his token was burnt.

  I started to doubt my chances when the fifth doesn't pass, though that gets wiped once I get third in line.

  The one up this time was the older boy I saw early at the gate, one of the two in finer clothes, and they go at speeds that's a clear step above what I could do, definitely at the sixth stage. He seems to know what he's doing with his sword, though still a level away from the disciple who beats him as bad as the others.

  He keeps going, even as I see bruises on his hand and one on his face where she smashed the blunt side of her sword and gave him a nosebleed.

  His token ends up doing something different once he fights through the hit to the face, his token smoking but not bursting into flames; instead, another lightning bolt is etched beside the first, and the disciple sends the preening boy to the hall.

  After the boy swaggers away, the next goes up with renewed determination. By the time I'm up on the stage, a young girl in rough clothes is the only other to pass, never dropping her dagger even when her hands start bruising.

  Leaving my token amongst the ashes of the others, I stand across the disciple and lower into a stance that seems comfortable and let out a deep breath.

  I don't move, and after a second, she knows I don't plan on attacking first and dashes in quick. I panic thrust towards her, knowing she'll be fast even if matching my stage, but the speed is still surprising, and the strike is off enough for her to lean to the side and close in.

  I feel the painful smack on my leading hand, but don't let it distract me and sweep the butt of my spear at her, forcing her to take a few steps back. Taking advantage of the distance, I let go with my hurt hand and send a wide-sweeping slash towards her one-handed.

  I know I messed up with the force I put into it, making me twist farther to the side than I expected and making me turn my legs awkwardly. She knows it as well as she blocks the slash with her sword, feeling as if I hit a stone wall, and pushes at my spear. I curse and stumble back, and before I can react, I feel her sword smack against my gut.

  I wheeze as I tumble a meter back. I don't take the time to catch my breath, not wanting to give them any reason to think I'll give up, and cough as I stagger to my feet. I can feel my torso is going to be sore for the week, and I thank my past self for only eating bread; otherwise, I'd be spewing my breakfast, and that certainly wouldn't endear me to the sect.

  The disciple waits calmly for me, a single drop of sweat being the only evidence of her having fought fifteen people up to this point.

  As I said, I barely know how to use a spear; the last time I used it was a blur. But I haven't survived this long with a spear.

  Switching it up this time, I charge with a yell and drop both hands low near the butt of the spear and swing it like a shovel, remembering the sweet memories of smacking spiritual crows. She of course blocks it with her sword, her other hand bracing the blade, and the block feels the same as last time, unmovable.

  Before she can try doing some move, I let go of the spear as it rebounds back and twist my body to send a punch straight at her face.

  Her face flicks to the oncoming fist, and I swear I see her brow raise in amusement. My punch is stopped cold against her palm that appears, and before I can even think, her other hand, no sword in sight, whips forward.

  Her palm strike hits my forehead with a crack that rattles my skull, and the world tilts.

  I stumble back and drop to the ground hard and press my hands to my head to get my mind to stay still as it bounces in my skull. Trying to push through the pounding blood and dizziness takes a few seconds, and with a ragged breath, I'm on my hands and knees with the world still shaking.

  "You have passed, take your weapon and continue," the disciple is as unfazed as before, and then the pedestal with my token, with a new etching, I sigh in relief.

  It takes another few seconds to find my feet which she thankfully lets, stumbling to pick up my discarded spear and token, I can only slightly bow to her before feeling dizzy, which she reciprocates with a nod, and I stumble away.

  The pounding behind my eyes dulls as I reach the hall, still there but a constant presence. Inside are about a dozen others, all holding weapons and injured in some way, either resting on the ground or against a wall.

  A man in green robes appears in front of me, a medicinal smell wafting off him as he looks me up and down.

  "Hmm, dilated pupils," he mutters. Reaching into a pouch on his waist, he pulls a pill and shoves it into my hands.

  "Eat this, it will clear the haze. The trial won't be over for another hour, so take the chance to rest."

  I don't look down lest I get dizzy again, so just pop it into my mouth. It dissolves just like the Cool Spring pill, and there's a clump once more that I swallow.

  Spicy.

  I head to a free space by a wall as the man moves on to another person and slump down.

  Setting the spear beside me, it feels like a moment once I close my eyes before a gong rings out and I'm waking up again.

  Blinking, I look around and can see far fewer people than were tested, less than half than what we started with.

  "Follow me," the old man says on the other side of the room as he turns to head down some stairs.

  Shuffling with the crowd, I follow down the well-lit staircase that takes a good minute or two to climb down. The bottom reveals a large, hollow room built underground and littered with pits, two disciples standing by each with what looks like pulleys near them. Looking down into the nearest pit, it's a relatively small open area surrounded by solid gates all around. I feel a little nervous when one violently shakes.

  "Within each pit are monstrous beasts, captured by the sect during the past beast wave," the old man says from a raised platform in the middle of the room. On it is the elder from before sitting on an extravagant seat as she silently watches.

  "They are well within your means to defeat, though some easier than others. Choose one and eliminate the beast the disciples release, though be warned, the disciples will try to save you, but your safety is not guaranteed." I can see some near me blanch at that, "If you fear death, leave. Those who cannot overcome a minor fear such as this are not worthy of cultivating."

  Some looked as if they were going to leave, but his last sentence seems to make pride overcome their self-preservation. Although nervous, the old man said they're weak enough that we can deal with them, which gives me confidence, considering that at worst, I'd need to face a beast a single stage ahead of me on its own.

  Far easier than facing a horde of them.

  This time, there are far fewer confident enough to run for the pits, though I notice some aren't discouraged as they walk calmly.

  I find a free pit easily, quite close to the stand in the center of the room. Going down the stairs leading into the pit, I turn and see a gate shut me in.

  Letting out a deep breath, I ready my stance, facing a gate where a disciple stands above, peering over the lip of the pit who, once seeing me ready, pulls a lever.

  As soon as a sliver of light reveals the beast, it comes bounding out with a howl, claws scraping stone as a wolf covered in sharp quills quickly locks onto me and bounds towards me in rage.

  It is a good test of mentality. The beast is definitely weaker than me by at least a stage, so most should be able to take care of it, but many never face a beast, and some would panic or hesitate. I don't. I wait for my moment, and as soon as it lunges, paws outstretched and vicious maw open, I raise my spear.

  Crunch

  I grunt as its weight pushes down on me, but my strength is enough to keep me standing as it skewers itself on my spear, its growl dying abruptly as it goes limp. Heaving the corpse to the side, I place a foot on it and pull my weapon out, leaving a clear hole through its neck and spine.

  Letting out a deep breath, I turn with the gate now opening once more and climb out, ignoring the wide-eyed looks from some who watched the fight before a disciple sends me off to the stage.

  Only two others are making their way over as well, one the girl from this morning, and another boy my age with a bleeding arm that he holds. Further back, I see a few despondently leaving while clutching their injured limbs, though some I notice that are still waiting looking down into some pits with pale faces.

  Arriving at the base of the stage, we get waved to step up by the old man and awkwardly stand a few paces from the pair.

  "Congratulations, you are the first to have shown they have the mentality to overcome the obstacles ahead," the elder's melodious voice says for the first time, "Be proud, from here on out, you are disciples of the Azure Tempest Sect."

  I let out a sigh of relief at that, the boy slumping to the ground and holding his arm tight, and I even see the girl relax a tad at that.

  "Minor gash, a Blood Stemming pill will be enough."

  I jump at the voice beside me and take a step back, the other two not being any better at seeing the green-robed man appear beside the boy.

  He flicks a pill into the boy's open mouth, who instinctively swallows, casting a glance at the two of us and walks away with disinterest after seeing no wounds. I share a wide-eyed look with the girl, her cool fa?ade broken at the man suddenly appearing.

  Looking over, the elder and the old man don't seem interested in continuing to talk, so I focus back on the two others who passed.

  "My name's Zhan," I introduce myself.

  "…Lan Yue"

  Turning our gaze to the boy, he shrinks nervously under our gaze, "T-Tie Feng."

  Then we blankly stare at each other, or Lan Yue and I do, while Tie Feng doesn't meet our eyes.

  Breaking the awkwardness, I give a nod and turn my gaze out and watch from my position as others start arriving, far more worn and injured than the three of us, though.

  The other two stick near while we watch the few hundred get whittled down, most leaving relatively intact, but a few never coming out of the pits.

  By the time it's over, the number of participants dropped to less than 200.

  The elder speaks once more, giving a slightly similar speech that dies down to 'you passed'.

  She stands and her chair vanishes, much like the bags of coins the old man received, and I brace myself as the platform we're on suddenly starts rising.

  The new disciples all let out exclamations, and I watch with slight dread as we rise higher in the air and before my fears of being squished against the ceiling manifests, lights spark to light, revealing a hole leading to the surface where stone slides open, revealing the sky.

  My jaw drops as we rush up the tunnel, bursting into open air and getting a moment to look over the town of Cloudrest and the stunning view around it before we're off.

  Despite the speed, we somehow don't feel any wind, and although very curious, I don't try to peer over the edge as some try. I don't want to risk falling off this… thing. Those who apparently like risking their lives needlessly and try to peer over the edge hit their head on some sort of invisible barrier.

  The forest we fly over goes by in a green blur, soon passing by low hills and mountains untouched by civilization before we're there.

  My gaze sweeps across the sect grounds, nestled in the corner of a vast valley. The outer section sprawls with courtyards and clustered buildings, a waterfall spilling from the valley wall to form a river that cuts between the crowded outskirts and the inner section. Beyond the river rise pagodas and grand halls, each imposing, yet none rival the colossal palace perched high on a hill in the very corner of the valley, looming over the sect like a titan. The entire sect grounds look like it rivals in size to Blue Poppy City.

  "Welcome to the Azure Tempest Sect."