CHAPTER 10 (Part 2)
The Training Yard and the First Test
The training yard was chaos.
Hundreds of outer sect disciples stood in uneven rows, some stretching, some whispering, some already sweating under the cold mountain air.
Wooden practice swords lay stacked near the front.
Stone dummies stood like silent judges.
At the center, an elder sat in a tall chair, robes darker than the rest.
His eyes were half-lidded.
But the pressure rolling off him was suffocating.
Zheng Wen Te's chest tightened.
So this is cultivation…
The arrogant disciple who had dragged him here leaned close.
"That's Elder Han."
"Outer sect instructor."
"Don't look at him too long unless you want to die."
Zheng Wen Te quickly lowered his gaze.
A bell rang again.
Silence fell instantly.
Elder Han's voice was calm, but it carried like steel.
"New recruits."
"Step forward."
A group of about twenty young men and women shuffled ahead.
Their clothes were rougher.
Some had bandaged hands.
Some had fear in their eyes.
Zheng Wen Te found himself among them.
Elder Han's gaze swept across the group like a blade.
"You have entered the Azure River Sword Sect."
"This is not a place for peasants to dream."
"This is not a place for cowards to survive."
His words struck like frost.
"In this sect, only one thing matters."
"Talent."
He raised one hand.
A disciple placed a black stone tablet before the recruits.
The surface was smooth, etched with ancient characters.
"This is a Qi Sensing Stone."
"One by one, you will place your hand upon it."
"If it lights up, you may remain."
"If it does not…"
Elder Han's smile was thin.
"You will be sent back down the mountain."
A murmur spread through the recruits.
Sent back.
To ordinary life.
To weakness.
To nothing.
One boy stepped forward first.
He placed his palm on the stone.
For a moment…
nothing.
Then—
A faint flicker of white light appeared.
The boy gasped in relief.
A sect disciple nodded.
"Barely passable."
A girl went next.
Her stone glowed brighter, a pale blue.
Whispers erupted.
"Blue Qi… not bad!"
"She might become an inner disciple one day…"
One by one, the recruits tested.
Some stones glowed.
Some stayed dark.
Those who failed were dragged away immediately, faces crumpling.
Zheng Wen Te watched silently.
His stomach twisted.
This world was crueler than Earth.
On Earth, failure meant poverty.
Here…
failure meant being discarded like dust.
Finally, only three recruits remained.
Zheng Wen Te was one of them.
The arrogant disciple smirked.
"Go on then, old man."
Zheng Wen Te stepped forward.
His hand hovered above the stone.
His mind flashed—
His wife leaving.
His children crying.
The Creator's sigh.
The orb in his palm.
You are my last prophet.
His fingers touched the tablet.
For a heartbeat…
nothing happened.
His chest sank.
Then—
The orb in his palm pulsed.
Warm.
Alive.
And the stone exploded with light.
Not white.
Not blue.
But a deep, ancient gold.
The entire yard froze.
Even Elder Han's eyes opened fully.
The golden glow climbed like fire up the tablet, forming strange symbols no one recognized.
Disciples stumbled back.
"What… what is that?"
"Golden Qi?! Impossible!"
Elder Han rose slowly, voice sharp.
"Who are you?"
Zheng Wen Te's throat was dry.
He stared at the glowing stone.
He did not know the answer.
Not yet.
But somewhere, far beyond the heavens—
Shangdi's fading words echoed.
Let them be.
Let see if they can survive.
Zheng Wen Te whispered, barely audible:
"…I just wanted eternal sleep."
But instead…
the world had given him destiny.