The young cultivators conversed openly with each other as they all waited for something to happen. They were calm, as expected of cultivators from established organizations. That was because they had been briefed about what to expect from the pocket realm.

“So I take it you will be taking a shot at the alchemy trials as well?” Huang Si asked the boy standing beside him.

“Yes…Did Senior Tai tell you?”

“You’re carrying a pill furnace on your back…but yes. Heard you ran tests on your own creations. Either means you must be that good or you’re irresponsibly playing with what you don’t understand.”

“And which one do you think it is?”

Huang Si grinned.

“The former, of course. Otherwise, Senior Tai would’ve never bothered to enlist your help.”

“Well, this isn’t fair. You know so much about me, while I barely know anything about you.”

“Fine then. Ask away,” Huang Si said as he held up both hands to gesture his surrender.

“What trials are you going to be taking? Your seniors should’ve thought out a detailed plan for you, right?”

“I wish,” Huang Si shook his head. “I’m not talented enough to draw their attention. I’m only taking part in the combat trials. I have no talent in any crafts.”

“Really? I would think an organization as big as the Bloodwave Conclave would have an equally impressive heritage.”

“They do. It’s just that they are only available to those with talent. Our elders don’t like wasting time on those who aren’t exceptional.”

“I see you have your own issues in large organizations…”

“You got that right.”

The two didn’t get a chance to converse any further as the other participants finished entering into the pocket realm.

The change was apparent, as the previously bright blue sky suddenly turned violet. Several bright stars then filled the sky and began spinning around in circles.

“So the pocket realm has closed,” Huang Si muttered.

Before Li Lang could ask Huang Si for clarification, their surroundings changed once more. This time, all the young cultivators abruptly found themselves inside a grand hall.

There were giant pillars that supported the roof, each so thick that it would require dozens of people to wrap around them. They were all painted a crimson red, that matched the color of the wooden walls. The room was so spacious that it easily allowed for thousands of people to be there at once. Perhaps tens of thousands.

However, the people around Li Lang hadn’t changed. It was still the same faces, with Huang Si right beside him.

Giving no chance for the young teenagers to think, bright lights materialized above each cultivator. The light was very quickly dimmed, revealing a violet card. They slowly fell down toward the cultivators.

Li Lang didn’t hesitate to reach out and take hold of his card, as did everyone else around him. The Head Councilman of The Orchid Covenant had explained to him how things worked inside The Great Trial of Water Crest.

The card held the trial points for the cultivators. It was almost like a debit card.

Inside The Great Trial of Water Crest, everything costs trial points. Whether it be to take a trial or to stay idly in the pocket realm, trial points were required.

Li Lang channeled Qi into his card as he had been instructed, and a number appeared on it. It showed one hundred points.

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

“Well, I think I’ll be heading off to the combat trials now. There isn’t any time for me to waste,” Huang Si declared, waking up Li Lang from his thoughts.

“Okay. good luck. My companions and I will be meeting up at the mess hall during dinner time. Feel free to come join us.”

“...You guys don’t plan on spending your trial points on food, right?”

“Of course not. It’s just a good meeting place. If we all got rooms, we wouldn’t know where to find each other.”

“That’s fine then. I may come if I am free.”

With those words, Huang Si followed the crowd, and all headed toward the edge of the room. There were various pathways on every side of the grand hall, with signs that directed the disciples.

Li Lang let the crowd get their head start and only began to move when the traffic died down.

He used the time to organize all the objectives he had for this venture.

First, the combat trials were something he planned to participate in, but he would save that for later. While he wanted to obtain various martial arts and Qi arts, they could wait. Each one he obtained would require many long hours to become proficient.

Meanwhile, Ruby could assist with practicing the crafts, accelerating his progress. This, in turn, allowed him to take on the tougher trials for better rewards.

That was why he wanted to focus on his crafts. Li Lang had split four of the five crafts among his companions. He personally was responsible for two of them. They had planned to pass their assigned trials, so they could share the techniques later.

It was something Wei Ping and Long Yi had done at his request. Li Lang would only study them one at a time, but the pocket realm was a valuable opportunity to gather knowledge.

That was why Li Lang planned to tackle the alchemy and Brushweaver trials first.

Should I do alchemy or Brushweaver first? Hmm…It’s the same to me, so whichever is closer, I guess.

Seeing the crowd thinning, Li Lang started moving toward the pathway side of the room that was closest to him. When he got there, he found a wooden sign on the walls above the nearest passageway.

It was labeled with the word ‘Earth’, and also had arrows pointing in the other directions. The arrow pointing right had martial, fire, and wood on it. The one pointing to the left had water and metal labeled on it.

Assuming they were ordered based on distance, Li Lang headed left toward the Brushweaving trials.

The vast majority of people all went for the combat trials, and barely a tenth had other intentions. It wasn’t surprising, as they were all still so young. It wasn’t uncommon for cultivators to pick up on a craft much later on in their lives.

That was why Li Lang easily spotted a familiar face heading toward the same trial. In fact, the other party noticed him first and headed straight toward him.

“Li Lang, we already meet again!” the young woman cheered.

“Ling—Sima Xue…Are you here to take the Brushweaver trials, too?”

“That’s right. But I thought you were an alchemist? You’ve become a Brushweaver too?”

“Yes…”

“Hmm,” Sima Xue curiously tilted her head as she examined Li Lang. “Good for you. Shall we go, then?”

“...Sure.”

Hearing the hesitation in Li Lang’s voice, Sima Xue stopped dead in her tracks and turned to fully face Li Lang.

“Is something wrong?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Come on, don’t keep it from me!”

“...It’s just that I can’t get used to the… difference in your personality.”

“Oh, that! My master warned me not to develop any bonds with the people I met in the righteous sects, so I adopted a cold personality to keep everyone away. Didn’t work exactly as planned, though. They still followed me around, just from a distance. I was honestly troubled about it.”

“I see…Then why did you even bother to talk to me? Thinking back, you did try to warn me of the attack.”

“I heard about how you managed to join despite your low aptitude from somewhere. I didn’t want or think someone like you would become as arrogant as the average member of the orthodox sects. You still had a chance to get away from their clutches, and everything seemed to have worked out!”

“...”

Li Lang took another deep breath as he forced himself to reset his mental image of the girl before him. They soon walked together down the hallway labeled with the word ‘water’.

“If only the trials could be taken together…I really want to see what someone who can refine pills with a hundred percent success rate will do in Brushweaving!”

“That’s…We’ll be discussing our experiences about the trials in the dining hall during dinner time tonight. You’re welcome to join us if you would like.”

“Oh, a get-together! I want to, but I have to go find my junior disciples first. Maybe once they are settled, I’ll drop by.”

The two soon found themselves at a dead end. There was a giant calligraphy scroll hanging at the end of the path. Once again, the artwork featured the word ‘water’.

“Well, see you later!”

With that last remark, Sima Xue ran toward the scroll and reached out her hand at the scroll. Her hand phased through as if it wasn’t there, and she took that as a cue to jump straight at it. Her entire figure vanished into it.

Umm…They didn’t tell me about this one. Is this an entrance to an artifact space, or a hidden entrance of some sort?