Elder Qez did not simply blast the children with Qi haphazardly, he looked at the condition of both the children as every strand landed on their bodies.
If anything looked off at any point in time he would retract his energy as not to harm the children but as no anomalies had occurred he proceeded indifferently.
These two kids were not simply tools to be used and discarded after all, they at least demonstrated a future potential that could rival his own in the future.
So far this was only a show of potential not the certainty of success and even the metrics used to judge this potential could be biased in some way.
Elder Qez had lived for over two-thousand years, he had seen genius's rise and fall countless times throughout his life, not everyone lived up to his expectations.
From an odd death during a mission to open animosity or jealousy to the over zealot desire to achieve, if a genius couldn't overcome such hurdles on their own they didn't have a future in general.
This was no different, maybe they will succeed or maybe they will fail.
Today he simply did one of his duties as an elder with no real expectations for these kids, he simply was too old to believe now.
His long life while bringing him joy over the years also brought with it a heavy mental toll.
'The girl can take around twelve more strands the boy about eighteen' adding more Qi strands to each child he carefully controlled the output.
The onlookers only saw him stop for a moment before continuing to add more Qi strands without delay, wincing at every additional Qi strand added.
From their perspective the elder hadn't give much thought to the safety of the children adding 20 strands at once but from elder Qez's perspective time slowed to a crawl as he inspected every nook and cranny of the children for abnormalities.
The girl winced slightly, elder Qez immediately retracted the excess energy sent over before any problems arose.
The spectators drew a breath some almost reaching out to stop him.
"Did the elder hurt her?"
"Is she injured?"
"The Qi seems to have recoiled"
"What happened did you see?"
"It was too fast - I couldn't keep up"
"She reached her Qi limit, I couldn't fully test her" elder Qez mentioned this out loud to clarify what had happened.
She had not reached her Qi gathering limit yet, simply the amount of energy given to her had overflown from her energy bowl.
"Ah good good, she is the future of the sect"
"If someone like this had been crippled here…"
"Would have been such a shame to loss such a good seed"
"With talent like this even heaven would be envious"
"The sects future is still bright!"
Elder Qez sighed, he did not see it the same way as them.
They would need to re-test the girl in the future when her current limits are exceeded, not that it would matter anymore by that point.
As one gathered spiritual energy from the surroundings the body got stronger and stronger while the Qi one could gather and contain increased, spells casted got ever more devastating and the damage to the surroundings increases, so it was important for each sect member to know where they stood at any given time.
Her current cultivation compared to the other children was around the third stage of Qi gathering, far beyond what this test was made to measure.
Most of the kids here had only entered the first stage of Qi gathering, while a couple here and there had entered the second stage.
This 'Qi gathering' rank was one of many ways to differentiate between cultivators on a basic level.
In the cultivation world the higher your rank the more people will either worship you, respect you or fear you, very rarely would anyone dare disregard the ranking system.
It was simply a matter of survival.
From the lowest rank we start at:
Qi gathering, the lowest of the low the weakest of the weak all those inside this rank are considered beginners. Inside of this stage one had to gather Qi to create layers around the body, these layers are generally referred to as a single stage from one to fifteen but can be higher.
Foundation establishment is the second rank and the most populous within the sect, the cultivators in this rank can be considered novices and unlike the previous stage where one builds outer layers of Qi the cultivators of this rank must create and reinforce the 'root' pathways inside the body for Qi to be contained and channeled through.
Core formation followed next but we won't go into detail about this one yet, just know that anyone that reaches this stage can be considered an elite of sorts. Anyone that has achieved this rank is immune to all mortal plagues and ailments adding upon the increased lifespan.
Nascent soul would be the next higher rank with very few ever actually achieving this, but once someone does then they can live for thousands of years as long as they can avoid any conflicts.
It is very possible for Nascent soul cultivators to out number core formation cultivators simply due their long lifespan, but that would require a level a peace rarely ever seen in history
Elder Qez is one such person having achieved this rank.
Each rank while significantly stronger then the last also became increasingly more difficulty to achieve and simple meditation would not be enough in most occasions to rank up.
This caused for a pyramid of power to form, where the higher rank one was the less of said rank there are… in most occasions.
After that is the highest stage currently known to those in the final edge sect, Deity transformation.
That stage being simply too far off for us to talk about currently we will move past.
Bran Ai and Kiara respectably are in the first stage with Kiara being closer to the second stage then Bran Ai was.
While Kao and Man-Shik are in the nearly at the second stage of Qi gathering
For the children this period of time was the most important for their future growth.
If they can successfully rank up into foundation establishment in less then fifteen years they will have a major advantage in the future.
Otherwise if they reach their late twenties, every year they fail to enter foundation establishment the spiritual veins in their bodies will become more stagnant.
Spiritual veins(roots) will not stop gathering energy however it stops expanding and retaining energy as effectively.
For this girl and boy whom had already achieved the third stage of Qi gathering at the young age of four and five, it was a gift of heaven.
"We will have to stop here for today. I suggest none of you attempt to approach these two with the premise of becoming a master and disciple, none of you are worthy" elder Qez looked to the crowd.
"What! You may be an elder but that does not give you the right to interfere beyond this point! This is the disciple acceptance ceremony, it is for us to choose disciples!" One of the spectators raised an objection not fearing the elder in this moment.
Even if the elder was more then a thousand times stronger then the crowd combined there were still social and societal rules one had to follow, not to mention the sects own rules.
"That is why it was a suggestion" elder Qez simply said and stood to the side.
Both the girl and boy looked a little frightened, how should they act in this occasion if not with fear?
They had no idea why this old man suddenly appeared or why those watching seemed to be angry but they could tell it was about them.
The spectators had been driven into a frenzy not caring for the elders position.
Had they not come here today to recruit a disciple?
If people missed out today wouldn't they be seen as fools in the future?
They had the insight to come here today, why would they not take a chance at fate?
To be known as the master of either of this children it would bring immense pride and wealth… I mean pride and honor to them.
"As elder Qez has assisted me here we can now conclude the test" Aakriti clapper her hands twice, the soft yellow light of the formation dimmed and the sand near the children fell back on the ground.
"Now then I will hand all of you a little green stone that I want you all to hold onto, I will teach you all how to use it" garbing a little bag at her side she tapped it a few times and out flew 213 small green stones.
A stone headed straight stopping in front of a child's face, the little kid grabbed the stone out from the air holding it in his hand,
Inspecting the stone he didn't see anything odd about it, it was just a normal green stone a little odd but nothing special.
Not every child had seen jade as it wasn't exactly common everywhere so many inspected the stone finding it pleasant to look at.
"Okay now that I've given you the stone, I want you guys to do as I say. First grab the stone with two fingers with one of your hands, then instead of gathering energy like you usually do, push that energy onto your hands all the way to the tip of your fingers and into the stone" she made sure the children could see her every action, even going so far as to use a visual spell that mimicked the flow of energy in a way they could understand.
"!?"
"?"
"Wha?"
"That's easy"
"Like this?"
About a third of the children seemed to understand how to do it instantly, the others needed a little time.
Bran Ai tried to do as asked.
'How do I move the Qi around, I can't really feel it or even really see it with my eyes open' He closed his eyes feeling his surroundings, the air hitting his face the hairs on his neck standing alert for the slightest movement.
In the darkness allowed within the sect he envisioned something moving.
Bran Ai couldn't exactly see spiritual energy, he could barely feel it as is.
Everyone else had an entire week to practice feeling Qi while he only had a few hours of practice total.
Just like the vast majority of kids starting for the first time or adults that had an opportunity latter in life, he could only visualize what he believed it to be.
In the end spiritual energy is fickle, it may a times be right in front of you only to snub you only to come back later and help you.
If spiritual energy did not want to be found then it wouldn't be found and if it did it would seek out the person who calls for it across space and time.
While spiritual Qi could break the laws of physics with relative ease, it did not mean it was easy to control.