Chương 35: A More Graceful Approach

The entire class turned and looked back at the obstacle course. They had already been watching it earlier, but as Elder Ji motioned to it, the wall of crystals came alive, lighting up and moving quicker, even as they were all watching. He continued to talk, "I will be splitting you into teams of five. Today, we shall just do it for time to learn about the obstacles.

But over the next few weeks, we will use different variations to force you to learn to work with what you have and to utilize your team to the fullest extent. Everyone, look for your teammates." Paike immediately found Liming and Guan Li next to him and looked around. Already, he could see groups forming. They needed two more people, but they didn't want just anyone. Unfortunately, he didn't really know anyone who would actually consider joining their group.

Already, the three of them together were a bit unfair, but they covered each other's weaknesses well. That should help with convincing a couple others to join them. What they really needed was some ranged damage. Unfortunately, Yixin hadn't made it into the class, but that was one of the easier roles to replace. Paike watched as Li Feng and Mei Lingchi grouped up and grabbed three people he didn't recognize.

Han Saiyan and Ren Shu were standing across from each other, arms crossed as they talked, standoffish but clearly gathering their own group. Zhai Lianitian and Xia Jun were also talking nearby. It was unsurprising that Zhai Lianitian had managed to get in the class even after he had hurt her. She was probably the favorite going into their little tournament. She saw him looking in her direction and turned away. He was certain that there was a flash of fear on her face.

Before Paike could make a move one way or another, Liming returned with two cultivators.

"Paike, Guan Li," Liming said, gesturing to them in turn.

"This is Zhang Shuying and Mi Lixian." The two women bowed politely.

"We would be honored to join your group," Mi Lixian said. She was much shorter than his sister despite being at least an year older than her. Liming turned to Paike, who gave her an inquisitive look.

"I know these two from when I was choosing my house," she explained.

"Miss Zhang is an archer of some skill, and Miss Mei has a rather unique combat style using her lute. But I've seen her use it to great effectiveness." Paike nodded. Well, having anyone with ranged ability—a replacement archer—was going to be a blessing for sure. As for a musical cultivator, well, that was interesting. She had to be exceptionally talented to make it to this level. It wouldn't have been his first choice, but it wasn't a bad addition.

"We'd love to have you. We'd be honored to accept your presence on the team," Paike said after a moment's thought.

"Well, with that, we have five," Guan Li said as he looked around, finding most of the other young cultivators had formed groups. The rest of the students had been quickly picked up by the two more powerful members of each team. Though some looked happier than others. Elder Ji clapped his hands, gathering everyone's attention.

"These are your groups for now. I hold the right to change them at a moment's notice, though. So get used to them, but don't get too reliant on any one person." Paike frowned. Why had he given a warning? A quick group switch early on would have thrown them off balance and maybe been a better teaching moment. Perhaps there was another reason for it. Paike tried to think of some reason for the warning beyond the obvious. It didn't seem like Elder Ji wanted to reveal too much too soon.

Maybe it was about not revealing too many secrets between cultivators. That might be it.

"Okay, everyone gets five minutes to talk, and then we will all run the obstacle course together," Elder Ji said, waving his hand. The obstacle course shifted, with two rows duplicated, leaving four rows with shimmering barriers between them. Paike looked and noticed that the course wasn't actually any wider. It was simply a bending of space that allowed there to be four instances of the obstacle course instead of the two they had seen before.

Interesting, he thought, and he wrenched his gaze away from the distorted sense of scale between the forest and the obstacle course, which was starting to give him a headache. That concept was far beyond his current ability to fully ponder, more than just acknowledging its existence. The five of them walked quietly, putting a little distance between themselves and the others, hopefully far enough that they wouldn't be easily overheard.

"So," Paike said, "tell me more about yourselves." Zhang Shuying unslung the bow from her shoulder. It was taller than she was.

"I mainly focus on arrows of wind," she said.

"My primary focus for physical cultivation is speed. Up close, I won't fare well in a fight, but from a distance, it will be difficult to evade my arrows," she added with a modest tone and a neutral expression. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Good. You'll probably work well with this obstacle course, especially if eventually we need to interfere with each other," Paike said. He then turned to Mi Lixian.

"What about you, musician? What do you do with your lute?" She smiled.

"My lute has a certain charming effect. Those who listen to it find themselves easily snared and redirected." Paike tapped his chin. That wasn't an uncommon sort of ability for a musical cultivator. It often depended heavily on their target's willpower, though even the strongest-willed cultivators couldn't entirely ignore it, as long as they were of similar power. It had a lot to do with cleverness, timing, and making sure it was targeted correctly. That was all something they would need to see in action.

"And how is your physical cultivation?" Paike asked. Mi Lixian shrugged.

"Good enough." Paike nodded. It had to be decent to get her to this level, but it probably wasn't anything extraordinary, based on what she said. He turned to Guan Li, expecting him to introduce himself. Guan Li introduced himself as a scout and Liming as a healer. Paike frowned at the description she gave, hoping that she would eventually learn to do much more. She hadn't mastered the arts they picked up for her yet.

He explained that he primarily focused on defense, although he was currently expanding his options. He was also a solid melee combatant. Everyone looked at each other and then turned to Paike. Paike was a little put on guard, hoping that someone else would step up, but it seemed that all four of his teammates were looking to him for leadership. He swallowed and accepted that as natural. He was the oldest here. But it was strange.

Liming must have known these girls better than she let on to have made sure to pick ones who'd be more than willing to listen to someone like him.

"Okay, so in general, I think we should keep a flexible mind to strategy. But there are certain roles we obviously fall into. Guan Li is going to attempt each obstacle first, unless it's obviously not to his talents. This will give us information, and he's most likely to be able to escape injury or complete it. From there, he may either stay past it and give advice or help from the finish line, or come back to assist, depending on our needs.

I will help everyone else get through, protecting them from damage if necessary or lending a helping hand. Our healer and support..." Paike nodded to Liming and Mei Lixain "will have to do their best to empower us and each other to get through obstacles." Zhang Shuying raised her hand tentatively.

"Uh, what about me?"

"Well, for now, you'll probably have to follow in Gaun Li's footsteps. I hope that you have decent physical cultivation and are nimble," both were traits an archer should possess. And she nodded a little hesitantly.

"But once we learn more about the rules beyond just simple obstacles, which I'm certain we will, you will have a more active role. Understand?" He asked and received nods just in time. Looking up at the wall in front of them, he started planing a route. Elder Ji summoned a clap of thunder to start off the race. Paike let Guan Li go first and watched in awe as the young cultivator scampered up the wall of shifting crystals with ease.

The crystals moved, pulled into the wall, and changed angles constantly, but Guan Li never stayed in one place long enough for it to matter. Each time he touched a crystal, it was simply to push off or dig his fingers in for a second as he flew up the wall. The sheer speed and agility were impressive, but as fast as the crystals were moving and shifting, Paike knew that wouldn't be viable for all of them. He might be able to make it up, but it would be tricky.

The others were lighter than him, so they might have an advantage, but judging by their pale faces, he wasn't so sure. He looked over.

"Mi Lixian, you're next," he said. She nodded and swallowed before she approached the wall. She managed to climb a few handholds before one slipped, and she fell back down to the ground. She landed on her feet, crouching slightly and touching the ground with the tips of one finger, and glared up at the wall, clearly frustrated. The wall was about ten meters high, and she had barely made it 10% of the way up. Paike frowned.

"Anyone else want to try?" he asked, but no one spoke up.

"Mm. I guess I'll go." He began to agitate the qi in his body, shifting it around, reinforcing the strands of tree qi in his muscles. He could feel the energy pulsing through him, his Middle Ruby spiritual focus reinforcing his newly awakened physical cultivation. Grabbing a crystal, he squeezed it and launched himself upward with his legs, jumping for the next one. He slammed his feet into the wall, pushing off wherever he could.

But four or so meters off the ground, his arms began to tire, and his fingers started to ache. WIth him being much larger than everyone else and not being accustomed to the activity, it was harder from him than he had expected. He tried to push more qi into them, but it was too slow. The fresh qi struggled to reinforce them as it burned off. He kept the flow going, but it just wasn't moving quickly enough. He had never had a problem where he burned qi this fast.

Never had he been pushed so hard in one specific area. His fingers grew weaker. Clearly, Guan Li was better at climbing. Paike slowed down, trying to place his feet so he wasn't relying entirely on his arms, but his forearms were already protesting despite the qi reinforcement. He made it a few more feet before the crystal holding most of his weight shifted down half a meter, jolting him and causing him to lose his grip.

He fell back, tucking himself into a ball to roll properly and avoid injury, but the impact still knocked the wind out of him.

"I don't think that's going to work," Liming said from above him as Paike rolled to his feet.

"Looks like a more graceful approach is needed," Paike muttered, catching his breath.

"You're welcome to try," Guan Li called down from the top.

"Everything all right down there?" Paike looked up and then glanced at the other teams. No one else had more than one person at the top, though a few teams were making progress.

"It's okay. We have time to think. But what can we do to get up there?" Liming thought for a moment.

"How about you give me a boost? How high do you think you can throw me?"