The Seven Stars Sect was once the supreme sect in the country of Jing. At its peak, it even had some not insignificant influence in the nearby nation of Chu. This was all thanks to one of the ancestors of the Seven Stars Sect. It was said that this ancestor had reached the pinnacle of martial arts. With his protection, the Sect was able to become the number one organization in the country. However, its rapid expansion had also led to its downfall. When this ancestor had passed, the enemy came out of the woodworks to reclaim their lost territories. Little by little, the Seven Stars Sect was whittled down to its current state, not much more than a second-rate power. However, even weakened, it still was undoubtedly the local powerhouse of the Nan province. The sect's martial and economic presence in the entire Nan province is only rivaled by one other organization, Gray Wolf Gang.

The Gray Wolf Gang had been the undisputed powerhouse of the Nan Province. They were originally one of the fiercest bandit groups in the entire country of Jing. However, when the Seven Stars Sect needed to relocate from its downfall, it consolidated its power base in Nan. As a result, the Seven Stars Sect had worked with the armies stationed in Nan to root out the Gray Wolf bandit group. When the Gray Wolfs were on the brink of total collapse, the leader surrendered and asked for amnesty for himself and the remaining members of the band. The Seven Stars Sect was not in a position for prolonged fighting as it still needed to put its own house in order. The armies were weaker than the Gray Wolf Gang, but more than that, they also had to guard themselves against invaders from Chus. The war between the three camps ended and the remaining bandits reformed themselves into the Gray Wolf Gang. Just like you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, the gang retained a lot of their former nature. They would push their actions just far enough to not draw the attention of the Sect and the government.

In recent times, the ex-bandit group’s ambitions have been on the rise again. They have seen the wealth and power controlled by the Seven Stars Sect and are no longer content with their station in life. The conflict between the two groups has started to escalate which was one of the reasons for the Seven Stars Sect to increase its number of martial disciples in the present day. More than that, the current sect master had also dreamt of a day when the sect would reclaim its lost glory. To do that, they must first become the unequivocal masters of the Nan province.

Once the carriage had come to a standstill, a man in his forties effortlessly jumped down. His movements were fluid and were performed with ease, indicating that the man was a powerful martial master. The man strolled into the restaurant and was quickly greeted by Fang Teng.

“Protector Wang, welcome to this humble establishment.”

Fang Li had never seen his uncle be so subservient and show so much respect for any one person. From this encounter, he knew that this man must be an important person.

“Protector Wang, why has an esteemed person such as yourself personally made the trip?”

Fang Li could tell that the man was in a foul mood and wasn’t giving his uncle much face. He didn’t even look in their direction.

“Humph!” Protector Wang coldly snorted.

“The roads here haven’t been safe. The elders ordered that I personally come to escort the applicants this year. Cut to the chase, is this the child you are sponsoring?”

“Ah yes, this is my nephew, Fang Li. Please take care of him.”

Protector Wang’s impatience could be clearly felt in the air. Without skipping a beat, Fang Teng produced a large pouch and pressed it into Protector Wang’s hands.

Feeling the weight of the pouch, the corner of Protector Wang’s lips twitched slightly upwards.

“Good good. I will make sure he is well-taken care of. If he fails to enter the sect, I will deliver him back unharmed. We best be on our way now, don’t want to keep those old geezers waiting too long.”

After saying that, Protector Wang led Fang Li up into the carriage. From the outside, Fang Li could see that it was a large carriage and that it must be spacious and luxurious inside. It was indeed large on the inside and would comfortably fit ten adults, however, there were about thirty young children roughly the same age as Fang Li all squeezed into the inside of the carriage. Even if the kids were relatively smaller than adults, the space was still limited and at a premium. Seeing that there really wasn’t any seat for him, he just found a spot and settled in for the ride.

With a quick glance, Fang Li could tell that there were three distinct groups of children simply from what they wore. The first likely had strong family backgrounds and were wearing finer clothing with elaborate embroidery on them. The second group wore well-made robes but didn’t have any special designs on them, this group was in the majority. And finally the last was wearing clothes that Fang Li was most familiar with. It had patches all over. Fang Li would consider himself part of this group, but over the last week, his uncle had gifted him some nicer clothes. Just from appearance, he would be somewhere in between the second and third groups.

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There wasn’t much to do during the two days inside the carriage. Thankfully Fang Li was the last person to be picked up, there was no way for the carriage to add another person. Fang Li had overheard some of the conversations between the more well-dressed kids. The oldest in the group was already 13 this year, he was also at the center of all the well-dressed kids. Normally he wouldn’t be allowed to take the entrance exam because he was too old. However, the sect was making a special exception for him since he had some family ties to the sect and he came from a martial family. It was exactly the time to recruit more kids like him. He could have directly joined the Seven Stars Sect without having to go through the hassle, but the higher-ups wanted to at least present a facade of fairness. Fang Li had been right, the other kids that had surrounded him were the second or third sons of merchant and crafts families.

Fang Li had also learned a bit more about the Seven Stars Sect. The sect headquarters were located inside one of the larger mountain ranges in the state of Jing. It had been originally called the Nie Li mountain range, but after the sect had taken control of the area, people started to refer to it as the Seven Stars mountains, coincidentally, there were actually seven mountains in this range. The Sect had thousands of core members that live in the headquarters all year round, the exact number was unknown. There were also outer sect members that were in the various cities managing the different interests, Fang Li’s uncle was one such person.

The two days had passed in the carriage slowly. When the group of preteens was at their breaking point, the carriage finally stopped, they had finally reached their destination. One by one they exited the confined space of the carriage. It was late in the day and the group was treated to a beautiful sunset, unfortunately, most of the children didn’t fully appreciate the view. Protector Wang snapped his fingers and drew the attention of everyone.

“We need to walk the rest of the way from here. So gather up and don’t get lost.”

After an hour of walking, a voice ranged out from up ahead. “Little Brother Wang, you’re finally back!”

“This Wang greets Division Head Zhao. I have completed my mission and brought back the applicants” Protector Wang replied respectfully with a bow to an older man.

“Good, good, did you encounter any troubles on your way back?”

“Nothing I couldn’t handle, but I did have to dispatch two groups of those bandits.”

Hearing this the Division Head frowned, he hadn’t expected so many of the protectors to encounter trouble. In the past, the Gray Wolfs won’t dare to make a move on their people, but times have changed and he was not looking forward to the turmoil in the near future.

Division Head Zhao scanned Fang Li and the other children. When his eyes landed on the boy the kid that was already 13, his eyes briefly paused, and nodded to himself. “Bring this group to the courtyard and allow them to rest for the night. Tomorrow morning, we’ll begin the selection process.”

“Yes, Division Head Zhao.” With another bow, Protector Wang began walking once again.

All the boys were excited to enter the sect proper. Most of them who knew of the Seven Stars Sect knew this was an extremely important place and for many of them, this would be their only chance to see what it was like to live here. Protector Wang led the group from the front. Occasionally, someone would call out to him or he would give another disciple a quick wave. The bulk of the people that passed by them were all wearing green robes and each had a weapon strapped to them. The most common ones were swords and blades. Just from the way they carried themself, even a farmer like Fang Li could tell that these people were proficient martial artists.

Like Division Head Zhao had ordered, the group of boys was led to a small courtyard, there was one big room with enough beds for each of them. “Someone would bring over some dinner. Stay put and don’t wander off or you’ll be expelled and disqualified from taking the exam.” Protector Wang left the warning and left the courtyard.

That night as Fang Li slept, he dreamt of wearing the same green robes and carrying a weapon of his own. In his dream, he was a peerless martial artist and an important figure in the sect. He had enough money to retire his parents. He also didn’t forget the kindness his uncle had shown his family and promoted him to a division head in the sect. Fang Li wished he could stay in his dreams a bit longer, but he was jolted awake by the loud yell of Protector Wang. He was impressed that the protector’s wake-up call was even louder than his second brother’s.

The group of kids was led down the mountain to the testing area. There, they saw other youths around their age and Division Head Zhao all waiting for them.

Once they had settled in next to the other group of kids, Fang Li looked around. He did a quick headcount of the group of boys that had been waiting, there were around a hundred people going through the selection process. What he didn’t know was if there were anyone else taking the test after them or if there were already any tests administered before they got here. They were standing outside of a dense bamboo forest. Fang Li guessed what he had to do next would involve the forest.

“Applicants! Listen well because I will not be repeating myself! Inside this bamboo forest, there will be different paths that you can take. All the paths will lead you to the same place. At the end of the path, you’ll find a rocky mountainous area. This second area will be filled with slopes and sharp rocks. Once you pass that you will be at the bottom of a cliff, there will be ropes coming from the top of the cliff. If you manage to climb to the top of the cliff, you will officially be considered a member of the Seven Stars Sect. Those who finish before noon will be inner court disciples and be trained by masters. And those that manage to finish, but outside the allocated time, you’ll be members of the outer court.”

Like Fang Li, most of the boys here didn’t know the difference between inner and outer court disciples. But regardless, everyone was going to try their best, as long as they become a member of the Seven Stars Sect, their future prospects would improve immensely.

“Don’t be afraid, these seniors in green robes will be protecting you from behind in case there’s any danger. You may begin!”

As Fang Li cast his sights forward to the uneven, steep slope, he saw many lengthy bamboo shoots growing out of the ground. He was used to terrain like this since he often had to go into the fields and water the crops. He thought to himself that this first obstacle wouldn’t be too difficult for him! As he still deciding which path to take, he saw that the other kids had already run ahead leaving him behind. Not wanting to be the last at the very start, he picked an open path at random and headed in that direction.

Every now and then Fang Li couldn’t help but glance back at the green robe youths trailing him. They looked impressive and must have been the senior disciples that had passed the selection in earlier years. As he jogged, he started daydreaming that in the near future he would be like them too. Suddenly, he felt his foot caught on something and almost fell. Looking down, he saw a bamboo shoot. “I need to focus, no time to daydream. If I don’t do well here, I can forget about those green robes.”