A kaleidoscope of colors Wu Shan had never even seen flashed through his entire vision, only to be replaced by the sight of a sleek wood floorboard that he stared at on his knees.
His bond with Jinlong tugged reassuringly, and true to form, the flying rascal coiled around its master who smiled warmly.
Around him, he saw Zhang He and Shao Lei, but around them lay the competition. His colleagues, about three hundred, more or less, standing circled around them on the large, expansive flat floor, presumably on the peak of a mountain. There were no walls, instead only a horizon of clouds and mountains piercing them.
In front of the trio stood an imposingly tall man with facial hair that could be likened to a demon, pitch black, sharp and bending just perfectly around his rictus of stone-cold hatred, maximizing the fear-factor.
“Just in time, recruits. At ease!” The man boomed. The three stood up quickly to face the tall man. “Welcome, Lotus Buds. My name is Bo. This should conclude this decade’s arrivals. Training will begin tomorrow. In the meantime, feel free to socialize with your siblings in arms. Tonight, you will sleep here. If you remain asleep when I arrive, you will be disqualified. Remember. Do not kill. Be here once I arrive.”
Bo simply flew out of the grounds, leaving the three hundred odd people there, on top of the mountain.
“A meeting,” Shao Lei spoke in a hushed voice, attracting both of the boys’ attention. “I know what’s happening.”
Zhang He raised an eyebrow. “You do? Because I don’t. A minute we were shedding all of our dignity entertaining our sovereign ruler, and the next second, we’re here, being commanded by a goddamn Demon.”
Wu Shan sighed. “Not even an orientation. What is even happening?”
Shao Lei smirked. “Rivalries brewing. By not telling us anything aside from the task at hand, we’re forced to interact with other people, and interaction invariably leads to enemy-making.”
“Since when were you worried about making enemies?” Zhang He asked.
Shao Lei scoffed. “Since never.”
The surrounding youths were in all shapes and sizes, with a general skew towards males than females, with a ratio of around two to five. Not enough to go around, Zhang He lecherously noted. Among some of the youths were magical beast owners like Wu Shan, all in their infantile stage.
“Boys, what say you we make enemies right now?”
Wu Shan shook his head. “That’s immature. These are our brothers and sisters. They’ve got our backs. We should be making allies.”
Shao Lei shrugged. “You’re right.”
Both boys beamed.
Shao Lei then smirked. “You’re forgetting that I’m the leader.”
Before any of the boys could stop her, Shao Lei voiced herself.
“People!”
The youths who had since then simply talked within their social groups looked towards the brazen lady, staring curiously at her.
“As you all may know, being a Lotus Bud is the highest honor that anyone our age can ever hope to attain. We are the future of the empire. The true experts, the artillery to decide the war! And, you also know that in the end, only nine of us will remain when the decade is up. My group is currently three-strong. We have six free slots. Whoever wants to join the winners,” Shao Lei pointed towards herself, smiling seductively. “Say I. If not, forever hold your peace. We aren’t accepting any new members.”
Wu Shan’s eyes widened before looking towards Zhang He. “What? That’s true? Did-did you know that?”
Zhang He nodded. “I didn’t predict this, though.”
“W-why would she burn bridges like that? What purpose is there to do that? Why?!”
Zhang He shook his head. “Do you smell that? These are all noble-born scions, pure and simple. Natural talent plus everything that money can buy.”
Shao Lei continued. “At the end of this ten-year cycle, we will be the graduates, and we shall make sure that there is no one else but us three! The best decision you can do for yourself is to join us now because I’m telling you…!”
Zhang He sighed. “Our senior sister hates them.”
“We are the strongest!”
Zhang He tensed. He could feel the collective Qi pressure of the surrounding youths boring at them. While most were Foundation Establishment, he could feel some emanations of Core Formation experts, hidden expertly within the crowd.
Shao Lei smirked. “That was easy.” She turned around to face her junior brothers. “Four Core Formation experts aside from us. Probably stronger. Maybe weaker.”
Both boys gaped. “You did that on purpose?” Wu Shan asked.
Shao Lei nodded.
From a particular group, one particularly effeminate-looking young noble burst out. “Do you know who I am?”
The trio looked at him for a few seconds. Shao Lei turned to glance at Wu Shan. “Where do you think they keep the food around here? I’m a little hungry.”
“I am the son of the Ninth Prince! Royalty! How dare you insult me like that?!”
Zhang He’s stomach rumbled. “Wish we could bail earlier. The place smells like expensive perfume and sweat. That does not mix well…”
The young master lunged straight towards Shao Lei, hands flat, but deceptively sharp.
The moment he got close enough to land a punch, the wispy-white head of a cloud dragon burst out of Shao Lei’s cheek, biting off the boy’s hand whole.
“Gah!” On his knees, the boy sobbed, clutching the stump of his hand.
The collective pressure let up somewhat, and murmurs arose like wildfire.
“Oh, almost forgot,” Shao Lei bumped her forehead. “A show of strength. Well, there it was.”
With a flick of her hand, the dragon’s mouth formed on her palm, and the boy’s hand was spat out. With a swift grab, the boy retreated, whimpering back to his group.
“As all of you may have noticed, there are Core Formation experts among you, under the age of twenty-five! Amazing, isn’t it?! Well, I’ve got news for the five foundation establishment bottom-feeders that thought they could be among the nine in the end. Three new Core Formation experts have arrived. Only room for two bottom-feeders instead of five, but hey! Life isn’t fair!”
Already people began to argue loudly, pushing each other around. Four people, hidden in the crowd, were calm.
One was a tanned young man with no shirt, an adorable, brown ape wrapped around his neck playfully. The other was a slender lady with long hair and nearly jade-white skin that looked almost unhealthy if it wasn’t for her youthful glow, playing with a fiery bird that was small enough for her hands to cup around. One was an unremarkable-looking young man leaning against the wall, yawning. The fourth and final was a woman of a deep tan, almost bordering brownness, with thick, braided hair and a far-away look.
Shao Lei smacked both boys’ heads lightly. “See those four. These are the actual competition. The others are just filler.”
Zhang He bristled at that. “Do not touch me like that. And second of all, if there are nine slots, why should we worry about those four?”
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The area was noisier than ever, and groups were falling into anarchy while a few brave souls kneeled in front of Shao Lei.
“Please accept us in your group!” They all begged. Shao Lei looked at them with disdain.
“You had your time to say I. Grace period’s over. Run along,” she crossed her arms.
With a sigh, Shao Lei sat and crossed her legs. With an abrupt splay of her hands, a circle bore through the floor around the three.
“This is just a line. Make sure nobody crosses it. We’re taking turns to rest until the bastard comes back tomorrow.”
Wu Shan raised an eyebrow. “Rest? Why? We’re cultivators.”
Shao Lei shook her head. “I’m afraid it’s not that simple. Check your cultivation bases.”
Both boys crossed their legs, and moments later, they furrowed their eyebrows.
“What-“
“I only noticed after my show of strength. There isn’t any Qi in the air. Moreover, we’re all seeping out Qi unconsciously. This mountain is anything but normal.”
“Hence the hunger,” Shao Lei supplied.
Zhang He frowned. “The only way to minimize Qi loss is by sleeping.”
“And when we sleep, we become vulnerable,” Wu Shan continued. “Master Bo only wants us conscious once he arrives. If we’re to be rendered unconscious by external forces prior to his arrival, that’s it.”
Shao Lei nodded. “We are going to be everybody’s target, now. It seems like although they know that there are four Core Formation experts among them, they can’t pinpoint who they are exactly. They are an unknown to the masses. We are a known. We are famous. We are vulnerable, also.”
Wu Shan sighed. “Everyone and their grandma is going to want a shot at us.”
Zhang He snorted. “That’s funny, what you said, ‘Storm Fist’.”
Wu Shan stood straight, along with Jinlong who swam through the air gingerly, eyeing the others curiously.
“I’ll take the first shift. The both of you rest for now. No one is getting by.”
The two closed their eyes and nodded off, cross-legged as they were. Wu Shan crossed his arms, stone-faced as he looked at the conniving bunches surrounding them. The son of the Ninth Prince seemed to have successfully reattached his hand, although his expression was wracked with pain.
“I suggest you all cease your planning. If you don’t bother us, you will have a greater chance to make it to tomorrow.”
The young master sneered. “Are you threatening us?!”
Wu Shan shook his head. “A warning.”
The boy cackled, throwing his head back. “You?!” The boy wheezed. “Enough to defeat all of us?! You are obviously dozed up on so many pills to have attained Core Formation! Your foundation is as brittle as rice paper! You are just a paper dragon whom I don’t even know of!”
“I’m warning you all. Back off.”
In the blink of an eye, a group of almost fifty Foundation Establishment experts appeared right before him, attacking all at once.
A moment later, the group lay on the floor, beaten, bruised and bloodied beyond recognition, barely breathing.
Wu Shan frowned. “Oh, damn. I shouldn’t have hit as hard as I did. They must be suffering the most from the Qi drain!”
The grounds quieted down, and all fighting, scuffles or disagreements paused as they beheld the sight before them. Defeated cultivators beneath the feet of the man who tamed a Golden Dragon were spread out on the floor.
“He doesn’t hold back.”
“He could have been disqualified!”
Wu Shan ignored the whispers, opting to keep a watchful eye on the crowd as they mellowed down, forming protective formations with groups of twenty, letting the lowest rung stay on the outer rim while the most important members lay in the center.
The sun dipped below the endless clouds, taking with it the merciful light of day. Qi fires lit around the grounds, illuminating it past a point of pitch darkness.
Shao Lei’s eyes opened. “Get some rest, ‘Storm Fist’.” Standing up, she dusted her butt, throwing Wu Shan a tired expression.
“As you say, Bi-”
Shao Lei appeared before him, hand to his throat. “Finish that thought.”
Wu Shan smirked. “As you say, Bieeutiful princess.”
Shao Lei grinned caustically. “Nice save. Sit down before I take both your legs.”
Wu Shan was about to push on, but he was feeling tired. The Qi drainage wasn’t kind, and he was already down to three-quarters capacity just from standing around (and beating up the initial wave of idiots).
“You’re right. Have a good night, Shao Lei.”
Wu Shan sat himself down and slept.
After what felt like the briefest of moments, he was smacked by Shao Lei.
“-ake up!”
Wu Shan got on his feet, looking around at the crowd of youths in absolute mayhem, running around like headless chickens.
“What’s happening?!” Zhang He wheezed. “You woke us up so abruptly!”
Shao Lei ground her teeth. “Turns out this isn’t just training. I count fifteen dead, all eaten.”
“By what?!” Wu Shan looked around to find Jinlong, before realizing that the dragon was still wrapped around him.
“Fucking rocs!”
“Rocs?!” Zhang He repeated.
A loud caw tore through their conversation, filling the three with the sensation of impending doom.
A giant hawk-like bird swooped down and grabbed a young man, crushing him within its steel-clad talons, leaving a trail of blood in its wake.
“We might die,” Zhang He choked out.
Shao Lei’s ears began to ring, drowning out the hubbub of panic and despair. Her muscles began to lock, and her breathing became laboured.
She tried her hardest to break out of it, but she couldn’t. The fear held onto her deeply, past her body, and into her soul.
Wu Shan held his arms around her. “Calm down. We’re gonna get through this. As a team, but to do that, I’m going to need you to stay with us. Can you do that for us, leader?”
Shao Lei’s ear-ringing dimmed down, and with an unrelenting expression, she nodded.
The three were back to back, rotating slowly as the platform’s numbers were chipped off, separating the wheat from the chaff.
The moment a roc dove for the trio, they all threw their attacks on it. Dragontrail, Blood Dragon Spear and an incarnation of the Cloud Eater Dragon enveloped the hapless Roc, destroying its head within moments, sending it crashing towards them.
Opening its deceptively large maw, Jinlong bit off the roc heartily, devouring almost a third of its remains in only a single bite.
Several more rocs flew at once towards the trio, but with a combination of strong attacks and teamwork, the rocs were all felled, given to Jinlong to eat. By that time, he had eaten several tens of times his own weight without a single increase in mass.
Yawning tiredly, it coiled around Wu Shan, falling asleep.
Three more rocs came, and three more rocs died. Once it was quiet, the youths stopped shaking and began to look around. From almost three hundred, their numbers had dipped to two hundred in only a single night.
Shao Lei pants halted when she came to a realization. The roc blood around her mouth… taking a lick of it, her eyes widened.
“Eat the rocs!”
Shao Lei dove for the closest roc, ripping off a piece of meat from an incinerated part of the roc. True to form, the animal was ripe with Qi, refilling her abused dantian by almost a twentieth in a single portion.
Both Wu Shan and Zhang He caught on, each taking a roc and eating off of it, avoiding the raw parts and eating only the incinerated parts, but even after those parts were finished, the three had found that the raw flesh contained more essence, and in turn was tastier.
After finishing their grotesque meals, the three lived to see the first rays of sunrise, smiling optimistically. The grounds were lousy with giant bird carcasses, not a single piece of flesh left to the buzzards.
True to form, Bo appeared once again from the skies, landing in the middle of the ground with a staff in hand.
“To all who remain conscious and alive, you pass.”
With a bang of his staff, the remaining contenders were lit up with a green aura. “If you see this light, this means that you have passed. If you see a red light, this means that you have killed, and this means that you are dead in about six seconds.”
A few of the contenders with obvious blood on their hands flailed about, throwing themselves on the ground, begging Bo to reconsider, but they couldn’t get far enough into their pleas before fragmenting into red mist, blown by the wind.
“As you can tell, you are no longer in the Jade Empire. Rather, it’s a pseudo-plane that only a branch-immortal such as the legendary Jade Emperor can create. The terms of this plane? Instead of drawing Qi from the heaven and earth, heaven and earth draw Qi from you. To regain this Qi, eat a potent magical beast, consume potent herbs and inhale pills like never before.”
With another bang of his staff, the clouds from a several-mile-radius cleared, revealing the rest of the mountain range. At the bottom of the gorges and valleys lay lush forests, giant animals visibly traversing them and the promise of strength.
“Training is survival and survival is training. We shall teach you nothing because you should seek nothing outside of yourselves. Survive. The Jade plane is filled with all sorts of cultivation methods, pill formulas, magical weapons and divine artifacts. It is up to you to seek them out. Once this decade is up, the nine strongest individuals remaining will have bloomed, no longer to be Lotus Buds, but something greater.”
Shao Lei whispered to both Zhang He and Wu Shan, eliciting scowls from them both.
“The hundred that died today knew what they got themselves into. Do not weep for them. Be happy that they shed their blood to bring you closer to strength. Remember to become your own beacon. Light your own way, and reach the ultimate strength the way you choose so. Your own Dao is the most important after all.”
The three nodded amongst each other, ironing out details with minute whispers.
“Once again, survival is training and training is survival-”
The three sprinted towards the ledges, and with a final step, jumped out from them, holding hands as they let the wind through their hair.
Shao Lei beamed. “Whohooo!”
Both boys were also exhilarated, each of them smiling.
“Alright, now,” Wu Shan yelled over the din of the wind. “Activate your spell!”
Shao Lei smirked. “What spell?!”
Zhang He paled. “I should have predicted this!”
Wu Shan scoffed. “Hold on!” With a few gestures, dark wings sprouted from his back only to fizzle out moments later. “Wait…!” Another attempt, the wings fizzled out.
Zhang He scoffed. “Quit messing around! Let me do it.!
Summoning his spear, he was about to transform it into a dragon, but it collapsed a few seconds after being summoned.
Wu Shan frowned. “Are you joking?!”
Zhang He tried again and failed again. “You can’t be serious!”
The ground was zooming in quickly, and Shao Lei’s grin was as mad as ever. “We can’t die!” She cackled.
Zhang He tried to hide his teary eyes, but couldn’t. “WHY?!”
Jinlong opened its eyes and uncoiled from Wu Shan. With a flash of light, the dragon grew to nearly thrice its regular size. Before, when it was just an oversized worm as thick as his arm, it was now almost five meters long and with a girth the size of a large thigh.
With a self-important smirk, Jinlong grabbed the three by all its talons, slowing their descent in the nick of time, keeping them from hitting the ground by mere inches.
Shao Lei wore a smug grin as she looked at Zhang He. “Because our fate is much grander than that.”