One truly does not learn the true worth of something until it is gone.

Yu Xiang took a deep long whiff of fresh outdoor air, enjoying the smell of nature, so contrasting from the stuffy stale air found deep inside the tunnels.

A content sigh escaped from Lin Fen’s mouth at his side, the young alchemist falling down on his backside in obvious relief.

Yu couldn’t help but smile slightly as he contemplated following his feline companion’s example. For all of the scholarly decorum he tried to project normally, the diminutive beastfolk was a cat through and through.

But as much as he would have liked to relax like his friend, there was no way to know if there was still more to be done for this test. Despite this, he still decided to leave Lin Fen to himself instead of bothering him with his baseless speculations.

After all, their task was just to reach the summit, and reach it they did, but such flawless logic was not enough to beat down his doubts, so he busied himself with scanning the surprisingly quaint top of the dark mountain.

Unlike the rest of the earthen spire, the flat peak was covered in a glistening carpet of lush grass, Yu Xiang could feel through his aura that the entire lawn was spiritually interconnected and acting as a single giant spiritual herb.

As the garden itself cultivated, the concentration of spiritual energy in the vicinity heightened, transforming what should’ve been a cold and barren place into a small heaven for cultivators.

The young reincarnator could already feel his spent reserves of chi refilling slowly, a process that would undoubtedly speed up immensely if he started actively drawing energy from the air.

The sensation that such a spiritually saturated place gave him was awfully nostalgic for Yu Xiang. It brought to mind simpler days, back when he was but a child living in the Inner Compound’s nursery, and the only thing he cared about was the wonders of cultivation.

It had been a bit of an obsession at the time if he was being completely honest with himself, he hadn’t even made the effort to get to know the other children, although he didn’t really regret it that much, the recollections from his previous life would’ve certainly made any such attempt painfully awkward at best and outright alienating at worst.

Ultimately, it was this sense of familiarity that ended up helping the green eyed cultivator finally relax.

He returned to his friend’s side, who was lounging on the soft grass like a pampered cat, and sat down to regain his strength, waiting for whatever would come next.

And so the time passed.

The duo spent roughly an hour sitting alone in companionable silence, recuperating from the day’s ordeals, until someone else finally reached the top of the mountain.

A solitary disciple passed through one of the many holes that acted as both exit and entrance from the dark tunnels, not quite but almost limping his way into the windy garden.

Yu Xiang quickly recognized him as the only other sect born disciple to have participated in these advancement trials.

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The green eyed cultivator looked him up and down as he slowly made his way over. His robes were smeared with dirt and his face held traces of soot clinging to his skin, his previously neatly tied hair was now loose and wild, swaying in the breeze and slapping the poor guy in the face.

Yu took in his pitiful state and his awkward gait and promptly decided to lend him a hand.

The young reincarnator easily coaxed a healing pill out of Lin Fen’s clutches, who simply rolled his eyes before handing over the wrapped up medicine.

Yu Xiang approached the battered and bruised disciple calmly, while the young cultivator was too busy dragging himself forward to notice Yu until he was right in front of him.

A quick scan of his aura revealed him as a high Natal Realm cultivator. “Welcome junior brother. Would you perhaps like some healing?” Yu Xiang made sure not to mention the word ‘help’ or any of its synonyms.

Cultivators could be prideful idiots at the most inappropriate of times, doubly so when it was young cultivators.

The injured youth looked in barely disguised humiliation at the proffered remedy, before his gaze went upward towards Yu Xiang’s face and a spark of recognition lit up in his eyes.

His shoulders sagged noticeably in relief and he performed the closest rendition of a grateful bow he could make in his condition. “Thank you for your kindness brother Xiang. I will be sure to repay your thoughtfulness in the future.” He plucked the medicine out of Yu’s waiting hand and immediately popped it into his mouth.

A visible wave of ease spread through his body and he repeated his previous bow once more before making his way to the center of the garden to recuperate in peace.

Yu Xiang was not that surprised at the youth’s reaction, because in truth he had the same realization once he’d gotten a closer look.

They knew each other.

Now, while it was true that they were both sect born disciples, that simply wasn’t enough to make their acquaintance a certainty, after all, there were dozens of other sect born outer disciples that he didn’t know. It was just that this particular disciple, his name was Liu if he remembered correctly, used to be in the same nursery as Yu.

The young reincarnator shook his head as he made his way back to his previous seating. Isn’t the world such a small place?

Another period of silence enveloped the mountain peak, which lasted for roughly half an hour before someone else arrived.

A pair of cultivators exited from the tunnels this time, two girls covered from head to toe in fine dust, the two let out a simultaneous sigh of relief before plopping down to rest on the soft grass.

Another half an hour later another group of cultivators, which Yu Xiang knew, arrived. Su Rong walked ahead of his two companions, looking worse for wear.

The moment he saw Yu he promptly headed towards the opposite side of the garden to begin recuperating.

More time passed and all the present young cultivators finally returned to their peak condition. Their wounds had healed and their reserves of spiritual energy were full to bursting. No other disples had arrived after Su Rong's group and the test takers were starting to get antsy after being idle for so long.

Thankfully before their impatience could boil over something finally happened.

"Well well, it seems that no other disciples will be making their way here."

All of the young cultivators flinched as Elder Chao's voice suddenly came from behind them.

They all simultaneously turned around, laying their eyes on the middle aged cultivator who was sporting a small amused smile.

"I see that you are all eager to continue." He said as his smile widened. "Very well then, let us begin with the final test."

A wave of excitement tinged with nervousness spread through the young cultivators. They'd been through a lot to get this far, and now they were just one last step from advancing, a step that would bring them closer to the peak of the divine Golden Peak mountain and its sect. None of them was willing to give in at this point.

"Now." Began the Elder. "This last test is extremely simple. There are eight of you remaining so you will fight one on one against each other in four simultaneous bouts."

The tension among the test takers spiked as they were immediately put against one another, Yu Xiang cursed internally and prayed to the heavens that he would not have to fight Lin Fen.

"Furthermore, if any of you desire to, you may issue a challenge between yourselves to decide who will fight who."

Yu Xiang turned around in a fluid movement, and a pair of smoldering dark eyes met his own emerald orbs.

He already knew who he was going to fight.