Chương 80: Chapter 79 – The Selections Begin

"So let me see if I understood you clearly. You want to create a trial without a fixed location but instead sends out a beacon, where only the first 5 to reach it will get to attempt it? And whether they win or not, it is destroyed after those 5 attempts? What about the prizes you leave at the end? I know you don't for some of them but you said you will for this one?"

"It's just an idea, but yes. I could test out different puzzles for each location. And the prizes can be whatever I have on hand." Ren couldn't help but feel defensive when he heard Hua summarize his unique and interesting idea for a challenge.

"How are you going to leave the region after triggering the beacon? What if someone sees you? And if no one wins, are you just going to abandon the prize you placed or will you go back for it? What if some elders get annoyed by a random beacon alarming everyone every few months?" Hua was just getting warmed up as he came up with even more potential problems.

"What if you get selected for the trial and have to leave for the monastery. It's sure to take you nearly a year to return? Who will create the challenges then? What if you cause other disciples to start fighting to get a spot?"

"…. So it has some flaws but who's the 'Challenger' here? It just needs some refinement." Ren tried to salvage his whimsical idea even as Hua poked enough holes in it to make it a sieve.

"Yes, oh wise and powerful 'Challenger', tell me exactly how you gained such a towering reputation with ideas like this." Hua was grinning broadly at Ren.

"You just can't appreciate art. All ideas begin this way and have to be perfected slowly." Ren lied with a straight face. Most of his other ideas had needed very little polish.

"Oh you and your art. Ever since you made that pretty brush, you've been going on and on about art! But you can't even draw a simple painting! Or did you forget when you asked me for lessons to try your hand at talisman making? No matter how much you claim that was a landscape, I'm still convinced you drew an old man on a donkey!"

"I'll get better! We were just talking about living for centuries. Anyone can learn to paint if they practice for that long!" Ren found it even harder to defend himself when Hua continued making excellent points even while bantering.

"And you'll certainly need that time. Even Xi Yuan thought you odd for drawing a donkey and calling it a scenic landscape! If the heavens had eyes, that atrocity would be struck down."

"All I mean is, if I am building something to last, there's no reason that it shouldn't be beautiful! Even a ruin with a beautiful gate would attract interested explorers. And the only reason I came to you is I can't join the other qi gathering realm classes without losing face. Why can't inner sect disciples attend lectures in the outer sect without being mocked?" Ren masterfully changed topic and chose to turn a blind eye to Hua's knowing smile as he let it pass.

"This is some wonderful tea brother Ren. It's calming and delicious. Spirit teas are so much more refreshing, I can't go back to ordinary teas anymore." Xi Yuan complimented the brew but didn't look her usual cheerful self even as she spoke. They had all assembled on Ren's mountain for what might be their last gathering in months. Ren had already prepared and set a Soot Deer to roast on a spit. The fire aligned spirit beast was particularly succulent when roasted over an extremely hot flame.

This level of flame manipulation was as easy as turning his hand so he could afford to converse with his friends as they waited for dinner. Mei Ling had begged for a lighter meal. She had been tasting poisons to build immunity and her constitution was still delicate from the training. For her, Ren had fetched some of the fruits growing on the trees he had planted around the mountain. 6 months acting as nodes for his mountain array meant the trees had matured early and borne bounteous harvests.

He had already given over half his harvest to Hua to make wines. It would have only spoiled otherwise. He made a light meal without oily meat, featuring fresh produce he had grown in his fields himself. Even the tea he prepared for her was one meant to soothe the stomach and paired well with the fruit he served. Ren's culinary skills had only grown and his recent obsessions with making things look artistic carried over to the plates he presented, even if they were only snacks.

He had been inspired by more visits to the Serenity tea house in the inner sect. Without drinking himself to oblivion, he had been better able to appreciate the meals they served. And seeing as he went early, he actually had the opportunity to see disciples display their achievements in the four noble arts. Unfortunately for Ren, his pen was as bad as his brush and he lacked the ear for music, leaving him only Go, the game of strategy.

Though he had some skill there, without the confidence to face experts, he had remained in the audience and applauded the others. If only cooking qualified to be counted among the noble arts! This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. As they ate, they talked and the topic of the delayed selection trials came up. Only Ren and Hua would be participating but it was still a big event that gathered everyone's attention.

"What do you think the sect will test us on? Do you think we'll have to fight melees like in the tournament?" Ren asked.

"A fight would be easiest. Maybe they'll give us a quest. Or something that's specific to body cultivators like lifting heavy rocks?" Replied Hua with an overt wink.

"Oh look! The meat is ready!" Ren quickly got up to avoid further questions if the others noticed Hua's poor attempts to insinuate something. While he had always liked that Hua had not a cunning bone in his body, a little tact might not be amiss! A variety of kitchen knives he had forged fanned behind him as he masterfully dismantled the deer and laid out the choicest cuts for all to eat. There were even 4 types of accompaniments to dip the beautifully sliced meat into.

It was served with roasted mushrooms foraged on his mountain. Nobody could find his skills as a host wanting! Everyone made sounds of appreciation at his display. After all his efforts mastering the sword arrays of the Turning Seasons art, a few kitchen knives were easy. By then even Mei Ling had noticed how subdued Xi Yuan was. She asked hesitantly if all was fine but Xi Yuan was slow to respond.

"You are not pushing yourself with your cultivation right? You're already far ahead of us at the peak of the foundation establishment realm! There's no need to rush. I'm sure your master intends to make you a core disciple very soon." Ren added.

"It's just…. There's something strange going on in the sect. My father took me to an important gathering of the big clans and the sect leader but he made me wait outside. I don't know what happened inside but from what I sensed, it couldn't have been good. He even sent out elder brother Xi Yao halfway to speak alone with the clan heads. Nobody would tell me anything! | It was disturbing news to hear. Plots at that level were far beyond their capacity to influence but knowing of it in advance would surely be useful.

It was regrettable that Xi Yuan couldn't learn anything further. But her frustrations didn't end there.

"But whatever it was, father hasn't been the same since. Now everyone is making moves and if it weren't for my master, then I might even be engaged by now like brother Yao said. She already commanded me to withdraw from the selection trials for some reason. Everyone has been paying so much attention to those trials, I wonder if it means something." She sounded mournful as she softly mumbled, "I liked the sect better when everything was peaceful."

She absentmindedly ate a bite of her dinner and her mouth curved up a little. Sensing the mood, Hua quietly brought out some spirit wine he had brewed. A single whiff made Ren's head spin. If he drank it undiluted, it would have no problem affecting even a body cultivator like him! Hua considerately brought out a milder wine for Mei Ling. As he poured the cups, Ren and Mei Ling tried to cheer up Xi Yuan.

"I'm sure whatever it is that has the elders worried will pass soon enough. Just be patient YuYu." Said Mei Ling. Ren chimed in too.

"And you are a once in a generation genius! No one can make you do anything you don't want to! Just focus on cultivation and once you reach core formation, you can tell any unwanted suitor that you'll just break their legs or something!" To which Xi Yuan gave a smile as she were imagining such a scene. Their coaxing along with the food and wine soon had the celebration back on track and the gathering ended on a pleasant note.

The usually empty and silent inner sect was filled with enthusiastic disciples, many of whom Ren recognized as more burly than the last time he saw them. A changed physique was a sign that the cultivation manual used wasn't of the best quality or it hadn't been practiced correctly. From what Ren observed, there were indeed many who looked slightly out of balance, their increased height and changed strides affecting them adversely. He stood beside Hua as they all waited for the elder Ding to begin the selections.

As time passed, more disciples appeared, even those who hadn't prepared for the Golden Dharma Trials came to try their luck. While a strong body was said to be ideal to enter the subspace and benefit from the trial, many thought they could manage without it because the other necessary trait was said to be a strong will. Everyone thought theirs was strong enough. Almost all cultivators had strong wills but Ren felt there were degrees to it.

Not everyone had that intangible strength to keep pushing on when the pain or fear became intolerable. Just going by the attempts he had seen of the 1 st inner sect challenge, even the weakened snakeskin had managed to incapacitate many disciples! The sect would soon sift out the chaff. Counting the disciples, Ren realized just how much the inner sect had grown since the inheritance trial. Back then there fewer than 500 disciples but now there was nearly that many participating today.

That meant the number was closer to 800 which was a huge increase in under 2 years! Clearly the sect had made the best use of peacetime to bolster its numbers. Most existing inner sect disciples must have stayed in the sect to recover following the trial and thus reduced the number who usually fell during missions outside the sect. On the other hand, the rush to prepare for the trial must have also been a factor in so many disciples from the outer sect breaking through to the next realm.

'The sect's stability and growth is good news for us all.' thought Ren. At that moment, a tall and muscular middle-aged man flew towards them on a sword. To fly in this area of the sect, Ren assumed it had to be the elder they were waiting for. The voice that boomed from his barrel chest soon confirmed it.

"Greetings, proud disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect! I am glad to see so many willing to face the danger required to seize opportunity. It is the right attitude for cultivators and will take you far. But opportunities are not equal so don't be discouraged if you fail here. The heavens will always leave you a way!" Somehow, Ren got the feeling the elder wasn't just talking about the upcoming selections.