Chương 29: Verdict

How, you ask, could he rise to such power at an early age? It was not known at the time. He only used Metal and Water cards. — He who calls himself Chi You, The Completed Works by He Shulin, foremost scholar of the Outer Realms Five elders looked at him as he entered the tent where they deliberated on who would join the outer sect or the body cultivation battalion.

Despite some of them showing their age, likely centuries of experience, they all shared the refined, smooth features of people having passed multiple stages of cultivation. At the head of the table, which was the main piece of furniture, sat Elder Gao. To her right, two men he did not know, both looking middle-aged, and to her left, one relatively young woman and Elder Wang Xing Yu, the head of administration for the inner sect with whom he had had a rather difficult conversation during his first week at the sect.

None of them showed any emotion upon his entrance. Two disciples sat to the right, seemingly acting as scribes, and the girl from the running challenge stood before the elders.

"Zhao Jianyi?" Elder Gao asked with her slightly raspy voice. He took a few steps forward and bowed low to the elders.

"Yes, honored elder."

"It was brought to our attention that you were involved in an incident during the 'Everlasting Ascend' involving this and one other candidate. If true, please describe what happened." Jianyi's mouth felt dry as he looked at the impassive elders.

"It is true, Elder Gao. I saw this candidate be the first to return from the halfway mark of the race. Another candidate attacked her, took the flag from her, and turned to complete the race." The tent felt quite warm.

"I… stopped the other candidate and returned the flag to her," he said, pointing at the girl by his side.

"That is all." Elder Wang leaned forward.

"Why intervene?"

"It felt like the right thing to do at the time, Elder Wang." One of the men raised an eyebrow, and Jianyi realized that the elders had not been introduced.

"How so?"

"The patriarch said that with the opportunities afforded to a cultivator comes the duty to defend others." Elder Wang leaned back, not reacting to his statement in any way.

"The point was made that you would not have failed the challenge if you had not intervened. Is that your assessment as well?" Elder Gao asked. Jianyi briefly looked at the girl beside him and nodded gratefully for her attempt to help him. He scratched his head. His original intervention certainly wasn't the reason for him missing the ninety-minute deadline. The subsequent attack from Lu Shan had played a role. Would he have found the will to succeed without it, though? He did not know. He looked at the elder.

"I don't know. The main reason for my failure is my weakened state. It is possible that I would have made it without the incident, but there is no way to know." It wasn't clear to him what the elders wanted to hear, but he did not believe that stating outright that he would have made it would have helped him. Better to stay with the truth. The younger woman to the left of Elder Gao spoke up for the first time.

"What is this weakened state you speak of?"

"Honored elder, I did not want to make excuses, just explaining. I suffered a serious setback when trying to open my lung and neck meridians and have yet to fully recover."

"Two meridians?" Her tone was sharp, disbelieving.

"Are you taking us for fools?" This was not going the way he wanted to. It had been a mistake to mention his weakened state in the first place; the scrutiny of the elders had rattled him. But there was no reason for that. He had done nothing wrong. He was not asking for anything. His spine straightened.

"I do not, honored elder. I am using the Martial Meridian Art to open my gates, which means opening two meridians at the same time. I failed one attempt and paid the price." This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. The elder raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to follow up when Elder Wang interrupted.

"Did Elder Sun recommend you use that specific technique?" The four other elders' heads rocked towards her in question, and even the two disciples in the back looked curiously.

"He did not recommend it, but he allowed it." The steel-gray eyes of the elder to the right of Elder Gao held Jianyi's gaze.

"What does Elder Sun have to do with this?" Jianyi's thoughts raced, and his newfound resolve was under threat. None of this should have happened. But there was no way but forward.

"Elder Sun is my teacher."

"The elder does not take students. Hasn't for centuries!" the man refuted him.

"It is true," Elder Wang confirmed. Elder Gao squinted her eyes, and the man looked like he had been slapped, sitting back in his chair. The last elder, who had not said anything so far, spoke up.

"I suggest we end the questioning now." Elder Gao nodded sharply and looked at Jianyi and the girl whose name he still did not know.

"You are dismissed. Return to your group."

"Thank you for speaking up on my behalf," Jianyi said slightly stiffly.

"No, thank you, for helping me up on the mountain. My name is Tang Miyao, by the way. I did not expect anybody to attack me—I probably should have." Jianyi weighed his head, "It did not cross my mind either. I am not sure I wish to live in a place where you have to expect this kind of backstabbing from your sect brothers and sisters. Anyway, I wish you good luck for the future." He moved to his bench and saw out of the corner of his eyes that Miyao looked at him, slightly taken aback. Maybe he had been too abrupt.

Talking with others his age was not his biggest strength. In the city, it had been largely a distraction—to his mother's frustration. Lu Shan had observed their return with wary eyes, but Jianyi ignored him and helped himself to another portion of the food. He was enjoying the steamed buns, one of his favorite dishes, as he saw someone wave over to them from another group. He ignored it as he didn't believe he knew anyone here, when the young woman walked over to his group and stopped at his table.

"Were we at the same trial? Seventh day of the seventh month?" Jianyi blinked. So much had happened on that day that he struggled to remember what she could mean, but then it came to him. When he had entered Administrator Deng's study, a young woman, the one standing right before him, had worn a fashionable red silk dress and carved jade hair pins, the very same she wore now in her hair. She had nodded to him as she had left the room.

The silence had stretched uncomfortably long, but he quickly got up and nodded at her.

"I do remember. In the administrator's study. You got Fire affinity qi cards." She smiled at him broadly.

"Exactly. I was so excited—and still am! My mother was the first cultivator in our family, and now me, and I got the affinity that I wanted. How did your day go?" Jianyi must have grimaced, because the young woman immediately reached out and patted his arm.

"I did not mean to pry. I am just too excited about all of this. My name is Deng Shuhua, by the way, you can call me Shushu." He felt overwhelmed by the sheer positivity exuded by this girl. He would not call her Shushu, he was not family, after all.

"It was a pleasure seeing you again, Deng Shuhua." With a slight bow, he made to turn back to his table.

"Oh… sure. I will see you at the sect—given that we have the same birthday, we should stick together!" Blissfully, no one talked to him anymore, and even Lu Shan left him in peace. The speculation amongst his fellow candidates ran rampant, though. Would they make it? Who else would or would not make it? Sometimes they changed their mind mid-sentence. It seemed exhausting to Jianyi. Instead of participating, he went through some internal qi control practices. Another hour passed by.

People around him got nervous, and even the inner disciples who had guided them through the day seemed slightly impatient. Eventually, though, disciples exited the tent of the elders and handed scrolls to the disciples heading the various groups. Jing and Guangming stepped a few paces apart.

"We are going to alternate in calling your names. If I call your name, please proceed to stand with me, and vice versa." Jianyi frowned slightly, as it was not clear which group would be going to the sect versus the battalion. Name after name was called. Both of the cousins, Hong and Jun, joined Guangming. Jianyi's heart continued to beat faster and faster. With the cousins in Guangming's group, he hoped very much that Jing would name him. But it wasn't meant to be.

About halfway through, Guangming looked at him and called his name. Jianyi had to swallow hard, fighting to keep his dignity. But he did. As he walked to the group around the male disciple, he thought about how disappointed Elder Sun and Minghao would be. They had helped him so much, and he had let them down. He barely registered when Tang Miyao also joined them and positioned herself close to him. He was ripped out of his thoughts when she hissed sharply as Lu Shan was also named by Guangming.

It seemed that the elders had decided to punish all of them for the scene they had created. He didn't have the energy to complain about the unfairness. He shook himself. His thoughts were unbecoming. Maybe this was even a more direct path to defend the Empire and get revenge for his father. He obviously lacked deeper insight, but maybe it was still possible to do spirit cultivation on top of the body cultivation that the battalion practiced.

He would honor his family either way, and the spear practice with Minghao over the last three months would certainly help on his future path. He nodded to himself, squared his shoulders, and looked impassively into the distance as the final candidates were called up. In the end, the group around Guangming was quite a bit smaller than Jing's. The disciple led them to another field. Jianyi did not pay attention, focused on keeping his emotions under control.

"Congratulations, disciples. I welcome you to the outer sect. The Empire's hopes rest on your shoulders." He looked up as he heard the raspy voice of Elder Gao. He realized that they stood on the original field, and the elder stood on the gazebo where the patriarch had welcomed them in the morning. Then, slowly, did the words of the elder register. Outer sect. He had made it! Tons of stone dropped from his shoulders, and a grin spread across his face. He had really made it.

Despite everything, his mother would be proud of him—and hopefully Elder Sun and Minghao, too.