A roar resounds through the building as a youth strikes with all his might. There is the sound flesh hitting flesh

"Hmmm… Strike of the High Mountain, correct?" Ryo comments with a smile, still laying on his side and floating. He'd nonchalantly stopped the disciple's attack with the palm of his hand "A great technique, but also a very difficult one to utilize. Unfortunately, a technique is only as good as the one using it." Ryo shakes his head. "I apologize, but you're out."

Disappointment flashes through the youth's eyes before he gets a hold of himself.

"I understand, Master Ryo" he bows before walking away, heading for the front door.

Ryo hums with a nod "Don't forget to stop by tomorrow. I shall be giving out some advice to those that are willing to listen."

"Next"

'Now then' the red-haired cultivator's eyes sharpen. Not that anyone would be capable of telling since he has what Kenki likes to call 'Permanent Brock eyes'

'Kaito, let's see what he can do' he watches as the boy walks up.

"Same rules, demonstrate a technique that will be capable of dealing with the beasts in the outer regions of the Emerald Forest"

The boy only nods as a response, unstrapping the all too large bow from his back. It must be about sixty percent of his body-length, the right size for an adult but comedic when wielded by a kid only twelve years of age.

"Hoooh?" Ryo exclaims when he sees Kenki conjure up several arrows made entirely out of Qi. They're the elements of light and fire.

'What is that?' Ryo could not help but question. He'd gone over all of the offensive techniques present on the first floor of the heavenly library, and he'd never read of anything that would explain what is currently happening in front of him.

'Is it a modification of one of the existing techniques, or something that he created on his own? The way that he wields the bow suggests that he has a great amount of experience with it, interesting.'

Ken grabs the arrows, a dozen in total, positioning the glowing projectiles in between his fingers. He nocks one of them and takes aim.

What follows is a barrage with in intensity that Ryo had hardly expected. The arrows are let loose with a staggering speed, trailing an orange line behind them as they cut through the air. Twelve strikes hit the palm of his hand dead center, Ryo not required to move a muscle for the duration. They explode upon impact, slightly charring the surface of his glove.

'The raw power behind the blows is lacking, as to be expected with only forty percent affinity, but the piercing strength… not to mention the accuracy and speed with which he is firing them –sublime.' Ryo's eyebrows rise when he notices that the barrage is not over at the twelfth strike. Instead it continues. Thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth and so on.

Only upon taking a closer look does he realize that Kenki is constantly conjuring up more and more arrows as he is firing. Each arrow let loose is replaced by a new one immediately after.

And the most striking feat in all of this, Kenki does not seem to be running out of Qi no matter how long he continues to fire for. Being a holder of every affinity, all he needs to do is to open his dantian up for the Qi to flood in, replacing the depleted stores at a moment's notice.

"That's enough." Ryo calls out with an imperious tone, the intent in his eyes freezes Kenki in place just long enough for him to stop.

"This is the Sun Fist technique, isn't it? You've modified its shape and properties" He questions, taking in the residual Qi and giving it a taste as he tries to recall the features of the Sun Fist.

'It is a simple technique in all aspects, the fundamentals behind it mirror many other methods. To utilize it one simply needs to gather the elemental Qi on the surface of their hand, reinforce and stabilize it so that it does not explode when outside the body, and then send it flying out with a punch. There are some nuances on how one should mix and control the two forms of Qi but that is the gist of things…' Ryo thinks back on what had been demonstrated by the youth, trying to find some flaws in the new technique.

'A lot of the Qi goes to waste when he forms the arrows, about half of it being lost in transition. Most from heat loss when the Qi is traveling through his body, some just dissipates in the air when he forms the arrows.' A glance shows Ryo how flushed the boy is, his skin reddening with blood as the body desperately tries to rid itself of the excess heat. 'He will need a lot of training to smooth out the channels in his body.' Usually it would not be required –the channels naturally attuning themselves to the Qi– but when one wishes to utilize an element they have less than fifty percent affinity in; That's when matters get complicated.

And Ryo had plenty of experience in that field.

Kenki nods "It is, Master Ryo"

"Innovative." He comments "Using the bow to launch an attack instead of the movement of your fist, it greatly increases the speed and accuracy of the technique. Its power leaves much to be desired but the sheer number of the arrows more than makes up for it."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

'I should also inform him that shifting the elements of the Qi will strain his dantian. Absorbing wood and earth Qi and then turning it into fire and light Qi comes at a cost. No need to tell him that here in front of everyone, he'd die of heatstroke before he reaches that point anyways.'

The red-haired cultivator declares his judgment.

"You pass" Ryo tilts his head in the direction of the others that have already tested their strength against him. Kenki goes to join them.

"Next!"

======================

"Hmph" Ryota could not help but snort at the sight of the archer, contempt plainly evident in his gaze.

'The arrogance! Thousands of years have gone into gathering and refining the knowledge in the Heavenly Library, and this worm thinks he's too good for the techniques gifted to him by the sect, too good to fight at close quarters combat, as every cultivator ought to.' His eyes follow Kenki with the same intensity a bird of prey would track its target.

Kenki, on the other hand, remains relatively inactive. He politely greets disciples nearby, exchanging a few sentences with those that decide to spark up a conversation. The contents of their discussions induce a sense of repulsion in Ryota, nausea bubbling up into his head just by listening.

Why the core disciple had not beheaded him for the insult of thinking himself better than the sect, instead going as far as to praise him, Ryota did not know.

"Brother, that was really impressive, and you invented that technique by your lonesome, how!?"

"Would you like to join our hunting party after we pass the examination, brother? It would be dangerous to go out into the woods by yourself."

"Whoaah, such pretty hair."

He has to actively stop himself from listening in after the last sentence, his disgust reaching a point where he starts to feel physical pain.

'The lot of them, just a bunch of riffraff, trash the sect acquired from Emperor knows where in the continent.' Ryota feels his mighty heart beating faster and faster even as he stands in place, arms crossed, doing nothing. 'They don't even make an effort to offer genuine compliments or conceal their motives; all they focus on is recruiting this newcomer into their third rate excuse of a guild. Their supposed praises lack sincerity; instead, they aim to manipulate him into joining their ranks… urgh.'

Why does the sect even bother to recruit from the outside? Everyone knows that the descendants of cultivators, true cultivators, will always outperform their peers. Their techniques will be stronger, their minds sharper, their bodies tougher. It is not even a discussion, one merely needs to take a look at the records, this group won't even make good cannon fodder in a battle. Not with this roach thinking that he's too good to be fighting up close.' Ryota's blood surges to his head, his scalp takes on a faint pink hue due to his lack of hair.

Unlike the others, Ryota could judge the strength of those arrows. Even with the elements of fire and light they had been pathetically weak, not even good enough to scratch the surface of his skin. Just goes to show why the knowledge stored in the sacred scrolls should not be altered on a whim.

Any divergence from the texts will inevitably result in inferior techniques.

'Nevertheless, I wonder…' a small spark lights up in Ryota's eyes '...the attacks may have been weak, but they appeared powerful and impressive, the effect they had on everyone around him, maybe that is what I have been lacking. Any punch I throw, any kick I land, any strike I block, they have gone almost unnoticed no matter how great the feat. Of course!' An eerie smile spreads on his features, causing the disciples around him to shuffle away in fear.

'No wonder that I've been having trouble swaying the others around myself, I need to flaunt, or my lessers would not know any better. Having power is one thing, but demonstrating that you have it, to be feared for what you are capable of, for your words to hold weight, that is art of its own…' Ryota nods to himself 'Truly, I now understand what Father meant.' He almost sends a grateful glance at Kenki, revulsion stops him.

"You can better yourself even by observing the lowliest of vermin" he recites the wisdom under his breath. At the time he had not understood what power the words held. They had been committed to memory, as the words of your betters always should be, but not truly comprehended.

Lest he say, happiness and triumph fills his soul.

Kaito will be forgotten. After this day he will not meet him again, all Ryota needs to do is pass the exam. He will swiftly advance through the initiate and adept realm, into the foundation realm. And after that, the outer sect will be dead to him.

The powerful will rise, the weak shall remain stagnant. That is the honest truth.

=====================

"So this is everyone, huh?" Core disciple Ryo's eyes roam over everyone. Twenty-seven disciples in total had made it past the initial test of strength.

The doors of the building are slammed open through the use of his intent.

"I don't see a reason to dawdle here any longer, prepare yourselves for the long run ahead. The distance to just the outer reaches of the forest is not insignificant, thirty kilometers of difficult to cross terrain. There are no roads or paths leading there, so good luck making your way through the overgrown grasslands." He flicks his index finger, a trail of light leaving it and separating into exactly twenty-seven different strands.

Each one extends and flies to an outer disciple's jade necklace where it is absorbed.

Kenki realizes that his jade begins to move of its own accord, in the same manner that it had when he'd been led to this building. Its function as a compass has been restored.

"All of you have…" Ryo rubs his neck for a moment, slightly contemplative "...let's say an hour and a half to reach the rendezvous point." That said, the red-haired cultivator proceeds to fly out of the wide open doors, holding that same lying down position all the while.

"If any of you fail to reach it in time, then tough luck, you'll have to increase your stamina and try again in the next exam" He ends off, the voice distorted and steadily fading as distance increases.

"..."

"..."

There is an awkward silence as all the initiates exchange glances with each other. Nobody had expected the core disciple to just leave them like that, almost without any explanation. Even those here for their second try at the exam are surprised.

"So…" Kenki's voice breaks the silence, drawing the attention of all the disciples towards him. He holds out the jade necklace by the chain, the item obviously leaning and bobbing in the general direction of the Emerald Forest. "...has the timer begun?" His question echoes through the hall, there are no replies but his words are audible to all who are present.

There is the stomping of a foot as one of the disciples rushes out of the building with a staggering speed. A disciple with a bald head, Kenki notes in his mind.

The action is copied by a second disciple, and then a third one, and then almost everyone else, a cloud of dust being kicked up at their passing.

By the end of it all, only Kenki and one other person, a girl, is left. They exchange a glance. She smiles at him.

"Brother, how long do you reckon they can keep that speed up for before they start heaving for breath?" she says in a friendly manner as she uses a piece of string to tie her long blonde hair in a ponytail.

Ken shrugs. "Hell if I know, I'm too new to this whole cultivator business to judge people's limits."

"That so?" She comments, skeptically raising an eyebrow. "You can create a new technique but you can't tell how long the others would be able to run for?"

"Yeh, that sounds about right." Deciding that it's his turn to leave, Kenki heads for the doors. His mind is filled with numbers and simple mathematical formulas as he tries to calculate how long it would take him to cross thirty kilometers. At what speed he should run, should he strain himself or take it slow, maybe give up altogether and head directly for the training yards to build up his stamina.

Ultimately he concludes that the task at hand would not be too difficult for him. He has some experience when it comes to traversing difficult terrain. Nothing to speak of the brutal conditioning and strengthening that Dongmei had imposed upon him for several years. Conditioning that had carried on into the initiate realm.

"See you around, sister." He waves at the blonde-haired teen before rushing off himself.