As I opened my eyes and revealed my sapphire irises to the world I saw the wooden ceiling above my bed. I laid there for a few second, gazing at nothing but seemingly thinking about everything.

After a few seconds of staring i finally got up from my bed which creaked as I rose from it.

My shoe-covered feet touched the old wooden floorboards as i straightened my back and styled my short black hair before walking towards the door.

In the academy of cultivation every aspiring cultivator was given their own small room which, due to the academy's immense age, were filled with dust and ancient floorboards.

I exited my room and walked into the hallway. I saw several other students walking out their doors. Every single one of us turned our bodies towards one side of the hallway before stepping forward and making our way to the outside battleground of the academy where all the students were gathering because today was graduation day.

Today it would be decided which students were fit to become real cultivators. For the last 6 years this academy has though the students how to fight and the basics of cultivation which would help them when they became real cultivators instead of just normal humans with martial art training.

The last 6 years have been leading up to this. On this day countless dreams will be crushed but countless others will be reached.

I planned on being one of those who reached their dreams today. I will not fall. I cannot fall.

As we walked into the open battleground on the outside, which was as wide as 5 fully-grown elephants, we noticed the academy elder and several assistants waiting for us.

The assistants carried strange, crystal boxes which head a deep black coloration just like my hair.

As the students all gathered into several rows and settled down the academy elder spoke in a gentle voice that still had enough force behind in order to allow all the students to hear him clearly.

"I am proud to be standing here in front of all of you on this day which I know you will remember as an important turning point in your lives for better or for worse."

"Now let's get to the main part. I will call out the names of all the students who successfully passed and are able to become true cultivators."

All of the students paid full attention to the elder's words. Some were already sweating due to the stress. They just couldn't endure it anymore. They wanted to know if they passed and they wanted to know now.

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I remain calmed. It was always important to remain calm. Under stress you could make mistakes more easily. It's not that i wasn't nervous. I just controlled it in order to not show it.

"I will now call out the students who passed. They will walk forward and choose one elemental spirit." the academy elder spoke as one of his assistants carried a scroll which he gave to the elder.

The elder opened the scroll and looked at what was written in it. Dozens of names were written in the scroll. Names of the passing students.

He started calling out names.

"Adam Fatestar "

A student walked out in front of everybody else. He had blond hair that reached his shoulders and bright green eyes. Everyone knew he was going to pass. He had incredible martial prowess and a powerful background. Adam came from the prestigious Fatestar family which was among the most powerful families in the sect.

He walked forward and stopped in front of the other assistant who held the black crystal box. The assistant opened the box so Adam could see what was inside.

There were three small beings in the box. Each one could fit in a palm. One looked like a large, living drop of water. The second one looked like a large pebble in a rough shape of a humanoid. The other was a small sphere of wind which was turning in a counter-clockwise motion.

Adam gazed at all three before reaching inside the box with his hand and picking up the roughly humanoid shaped rock. As he held it in his hand he felt a connection to it. He opened his palm and gazed at the rock human which was now standing up. The rock human's legs, followed by the rest of it's body, seemed to melt into and fuse with Adam's palm but Adam felt no pain from this. He felt energy surging inside his body. It was first in his palm before quickly moving up his arm and into his chest where it spread across it's entire body.

Adam felt different. His skin felt like it was covered in a rocky exterior. His muscles felt swift and flexible and his mind now felt like it saw and felt everything around him.

Adam had bonded with an Elemental Spirit of the Earth.

Elemental spirits are beings of pure energy who were split into three types which all had control over a specific element. Those elements were Earth, Water and Storm.

A person could bond with a elemental spirit and form a symbiosis with it. The spirit would enter the person's elemental core and use it to transfer it's energy to the person's body which the person could refine and then expel it out of their body in the form of attacks.

So this Earth spirit could transfer it's energy to Adam's body which Adam could refine and then use as an attack.

Adam looked to his right and saw a tree about 25 meters away. He raised and extended his right hand and then commanded the spirit inside him. Since they were now bonded they could send simple thoughts to each via their mind. The Earth spirit heard his command and followed it. It expelled energy out of itself and into Adam's body. Adam refined this chaotic energy into a more stable form and...

Bang Bang Bang

Small pebbles shoot out of his palm and hit the tree.

Adam, now satisfied, walked away and allowed the elder to continue calling out names.

"Richard Sunborn" he said in his gentle but powerful voice.

It was now my turn.

I walked forward and approached the black crystal box. Each student was offered a choice of 3 different spirits and had to choose one.

I had decided on a spirit long ago.

The Storm Spirit!