The four followed the elder from the Martial palace one of the towers nearby. This tower was an administrative one and had not to be used for the test, but Wu Guang had visited it on the first day to store his weapons as recommended by Elder Di before the tests started. The latter had said to him that as all weapon tests would provide the respective weapons, so he should store them and anything else of value. Although the grounds were safe, he would need to leave all his things while attending the tests, so for someone without a group, it would be for the best.
Wu Guang followed this recommendation and had stored everything except his money pouch and the calligraphy set.
Seemingly the rest also received a similar recommendation as to when they arrived the elder ordered them to take their weapons from the storage.
With this done and everyone armed he again made them follow him without speaking anything towards another of the unused towers.
Only when they arrived he explained
"This tower is for the advanced test meant for any applicant who wants to join as inner disciple-in-waiting. Judging from your cultivation you four are qualified" After waiting for them to confirm, he continued
"The test has a time limit of twelve hours and is unranked. No penalties exist for failing and if you do so, you will retain your current points and most probably enter the sect as outer disciples. If you pass, your points will also remain unchanged, but if they are not sufficient you will join anyway. I will not explain anything about the test except that you have to reach the finish and activate the rune plate there to pass. There will be an inner disciple waiting for you in the reception room of the tower and you will have three hours to rest and eat the provided meal. You will not be able to leave until the test is either passed or the time runs out and you fail. Now, go in"
Without any further explanations or words, the four of them were ushered into the tower. An inner disciple was indeed waiting for them and after showing them around, provided a quick explanation of what they were intended to do. Three hours later the seven doors that were located opposite from the entrance would open and everyone would need to choose one and enter. The door tests were different, but all of them would have the same level of difficulty and end in a room that contained a rune plate. Activating it with their plaque, the test would be considered passed and they could return without any obstacles towards this room. The maximum amount of time was twelve hours and if the finish wasn't reached, the obstacles passed would also be retired but the path forwards would be closed.
In a situation where an applicant did not return after passing or failing a rescue party would be sent three hours after the test time ran out.
With all this information explained in a rushed manner, the disciple nodded and left the tower. The entrance door started glowing in a blue hue right after he closed it, signaling that runes were active and most probably they could not leave even if they wanted to do so.
***
The next three hours were silent as everyone rested and prepared for the next test. Judging from the time, they would be starting the test a pair of hours before sunset, so it would take them all night. The food provided was similar to the packed one Wu Guang bought, so it did not solicit any reaction from the group. Some moments before the three hours for resting ended, Lang Juan wished good luck to everyone with Duqi following suit. The foreigner nodded towards everyone before approaching the doors and Wu Guang silently smiled towards everyone while also nearing the doors.
Right as the time ran out, the doors were briefly illuminated in a mix of different colors before opening at the same time. The passages were identical and nothing could be sensed or seen. Although from the brief information they were provided one could understand that the tests behind each had differences between them and only one person could choose a door, there was no manner of guessing anything about the contents, so they would need to choose blindly.
The foreigner had also retrieved his weapon, which was a bronze staff. And now after balancing it a bit in his arms he let it fall on the floor. The staff fell without any audible sound and one of the ends indicated towards the second door from the right. After he motioned as in question towards the rest and receiving no negative response proceeded to enter. The door instantly closed right as his figure disappeared into the darkness behind the doorway.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Seems that we will have to follow a similar way of choosing our door, leaving it to luck. I will go in this one, you two, let's meet after we pass" Said Wu Guang before approaching the central one and entering after waving his hand towards Lang Juan and Duqi.
Although he did not see which doors they entered in the end, he sensed that they had flanked him from behind and decided on the passages to the sides from the central one.
Right as he entered the darkness he did not feel or see anything, but after the door closed behind him it dispersed and left him standing alone in a small room with only a narrow corridor illuminated by rune lights as the way forward. After waiting for some moments to get accustomed to the light and space, Wu Guang started walking. The corridor was just about three feet wide, so he had to unfasten the blade bow and hold it vertically to pass. Understanding that shooting would be impossible he did not mount the bowstring, deciding to use it only as a melee weapon if needed.
As the Body realm would not have senses, Wu Guang did not expect any very serious traps, but as it was a test he expected some easier ones at least. After thinking of it for a brief moment he decided to only use his current senses, without relying on the Saint-like ones he could actually use thanks to his consciousness for now.
Scanning every inch of the corridor for the next 10 feet forward before each step he advanced a bit slower than normal, but this was rewarded as he spotted and easily evaded two pressure panels connected to a pair of grates that would impede his advance on activation. The corridor was too long to be located inside the tower, as Wu Guang walked for almost a mile before exiting it and entering a spacious room. After looking behind he saw that the corridor was going upwards, so he had descended under the ground level.
The room he had entered had three entrances apart from the one he used, but all of them were closed with iron gates. Scanning the room with his senses, he found out something strange on the central tile of it and approached carefully. The tile was etched in runes and also had the instructions for clearing the test inside the room.
These instructions said that the applicant would need to stand on the center tile and without leaving it defeat his opponents. Although none of them were present, after concentrating his consciousness Wu Guang managed to smell and then sense a bit of beast essence from the two smaller iron gates and guessed that he would fight several non-spirit beasts.
Wu Guang prepared the bow and nocked an arrow before standing on the tile. The room had a circle shape and both smaller gates were located ten feet from where he stood, so if the beast were not many in number as they should be for this level of test, he could shoot them before they approached.
After a single incense stick of time, the smaller gates opened and a single beast came out from one. It was a dog-sized red-colored rat with two pairs of teeth about an arm long and wide seen protruding from the mouth. This beast was called 'Inflating Rat' and was not considered dangerous if encountered alone as their speed and strength were low, but in large numbers they would overwhelm their prey, managing to devour even low-level spirit beasts. They could actually consume any type of organic material and would actually become a dangerous spirit beast after digesting a sufficient amount of qi-infused one as their combat capabilities would improve extremely after ascending. Their name made reference to the fact that they would inflate while eating and would only stop doing such after becoming fully round, with the paws not reaching the ground and by such rendered immobile until everything was digested.
The rat that came out was almost only bones so right as it saw a human it ran towards him with visible hunger in its small eyes. Regretfully for the rat, Wu Guang released the arrow at the instant it started to move. And at the end not only the rat did not reach its prey, but even did not make more than a couple of steps. Killed by an arrow that entered right between its eyes.
Wu Guang did not relax and instantly nocked another arrow while moving his eyes between the two passages. The second beast appeared some moments later from the second passage and the situation repeated. Right as the new arrival, which was a big tiger-striped beast that looked like a dog called 'Striped Half-Wolf' saw Wu Guang it received an arrow to the head, dying instantly.