The following morning, Tyler awoke in perfect synchrony with his internal clock, as if his body had an innate sense of when it was time to rise, aligning with the customary hour at which his alarm used to sound before sunrise.

Naturally, he was completely unaware of the happenings in Permanence City and that was on purpose. Lin Jian had purposefully made the announcement knowing Tyler was passed out fast asleep and with the aid of Theressa, had shielded his room in a sealing formation so he wouldn’t be disturbed by outside interference.

Naturally, he continued as if it was a normal day, much like he would have before the Shattering occurred. This marked his first morning waking up on his own, without being rendered unconscious, since his reappearance 10,000 years later.

As the sun remained low on the horizon, Tyler recalled his past conversation with Troy about the awe-inspiring panoramic vistas from the mountain. Such scenery was something Tyler cherished, especially during a morning run and that was exactly what he had in mind at this moment. However, he couldn't ignore the fact that he was currently starving.

Tyler swiftly departed from his room and made his way downstairs to the kitchen located beneath the library. Within, he found a few of Theressa's staff engrossed in their cleaning and meal preparation duties for the residents.

Without needing to voice his request, they promptly served him a satisfying breakfast comprising eggs, bacon, and rice.

Mere moments later, Theressa appeared at the kitchenette's entrance.

"Well, you are up early," Theressa remarked, her smile captivating enough to stir the emotions of all.

With his mouth full of delicious food, Tyler turned his attention to the lovely Theressa. He swallowed before replying with a smile, "I've always been an early bird." Then, he shifted his gaze to the nearby cook and lavished the young man with praise for the perfectly prepared egg-over-rice breakfast.

Before grabbing another bite, Tyler turned back to Theressa and asked. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit this morning?”

Theressa proceeded to explain a few things while he ate, mentioning that she was aware of the events from the previous day with Lin Jian.

She also mentioned that the Emperor had instructed her to provide him with an access token, granting him unrestricted entry to the library and most of the mountain's amenities as a gesture of apology for the circumstances surrounding their encounter.

Upon making contact with the token, Tyler's mind was flooded with information that proved to be a perplexing jumble of seemingly incomprehensible data. This overwhelmed him and triggered a severe, splitting migraine.

Theressa hadn't anticipated this reaction, but she quickly grasped that Tyler had accessed the token's content, validating certain details the Sword King had shared with her.

Nonetheless, she promptly applied a Qi-controlling technique to stabilize Tyler's mind. She chose not to delve into the specifics of the experience, and Tyler remained silent about it so she wouldn’t push the matter.

After which she took back the token she had given him prior as this new one was much, much better.

She stressed that the token's origin must remain a closely guarded secret, disclosed solely to herself, the other librarians in the nearby cities, and the Sword King.

Then, she emphasized that its authority should not be underestimated. By instructing anyone he encountered to seek answers from the Head Librarian, he would likely not need to provide any further explanation.

Additionally, the formation within the token would grant him unrestricted access to nearly all establishments free of charge.

They both then exchanged a few more pleasantries and through their short conversation, Tyler had eaten his fill.

He also learned that in Theressa’s opinion, were he to go for a run, he would be pleasantly surprised if he exited out of Edge City through its north gate and proceeded towards Permanence City. The sights were apparently quite something to behold if it was your first time on the mountain.

As he understood it from his conversation with Theressa, this particular form of exercise had become quite rare, even scarcer than it was 10,000 years ago. From his own observations, when he used to step out for a run at 5 AM, he rarely encountered anyone else during his two-hour jog, even in a moderately sized city like Kingston.

In the present era, physical activities were predominantly linked to cultivation or martial arts, and running was not widely considered an effective method for achieving those goals.

As a closing remark, she informed him that if he desired access to proper martial arts facilities, he should seek out Lo Shen at the training grounds in Permanence City or the Lo family’s branch in Edge City.

Recalling the routes he had previously navigated with the Head Servant and heeding Theressa's guidance, Tyler made the choice to head in the direction of the north gate, leading toward Permanence City.

He was made aware that it would be a substantial journey, approximately 50 to 60 kilometers uphill, before he would reach the neighboring city but that wasn’t his goal. The scenery was. Therefore, he wouldn’t be close to even running that far.

Exiting his accommodations through one of the library's side doors, far removed from the bustling main public entrance, he embarked on a slow warm-up jog. With no shirt and dressed solely in the comfortable, flexible pants provided to him, he began his morning run amidst the brisk morning breeze.

Taking heed of the librarian's counsel once again, he had fastened the small, watch-sized token to his waist using the provided cord. It wasn’t anything fancy or eye-catching but a small brown octagonal token seemingly made of metal.

As was customary at this hour, the streets lay eerily empty, a stark contrast to the bustling activity he had witnessed in the city just the day before.

Occasionally, he spotted individuals walking to and fro, transporting water or pushing carts laden with goods, as they prepared to stock their shelves before the mountain fully came to life.

After half an hour, Tyler reached the outskirts of the city near the north gate. Before the guards could intervene, demanding identification and passage payment, his token formation activated, acting as a free pass.

This was standard procedure for them, as cultivators and sect servants often possessed such passes so Tyler was let through without any hassle or even noticing the events that unfolded.

Before him, beyond the city limits, a meandering staircase wound its way upward, leading to a destination hidden from view. However, as he climbed the steps, he was rewarded with a spectacular spectacle: an awe-inspiring vista that stretched out before him, encompassing the surrounding terrain and the vast expanse of Lake Ontario.

Given how high he was on this mountain, he couldn’t discern traces of the once-thriving civilization, but the landscape was nonetheless impressive. With a heavy sigh towards the reality that everyone he knew were probably dead, Tyler focused back on his run.

Over the course of his run so far, Tyler realized that running felt noticeably easier than before. In truth, he had always been a proficient long-distance runner, but speed had consistently posed a challenge for him.

Consequently, running uphill had become an effective workout, allowing him to sustain his endurance over extended periods. However, even slight increases in speed would quickly exhaust him while running hills.

To his astonishment, Tyler found himself experiencing an unprecedented absence of fatigue.

Each breath he took seemed to infuse him with a newfound vitality, surpassing the refreshing sensation felt while running in the past. Drawing from his experience the day before, he recognized this newfound vitality as Qi.

The air itself was saturated with it, and even through physical exertion, tiny amounts of Qi were being absorbed by his body, serving as an additional energy source.

While this wasn't cultivation in the traditional sense, as there was no accumulation of Qi, it was the reason why most of the old world's diseases had vanished from history. The constant influx of Qi into one's mortal body helped ward off many diseases.

Concentrating on this peculiar sensation, he directed his attention to the air entering his body.

He sensed a subtle surge of energy coursing through him, permeating every inch of his being and revitalizing every aspect of his body but the moment he exhaled, almost all of that newfound energy would simply vanish after a single cycle through his bloodstream.

Although only minute amounts had been absorbed into his body, they had endowed him with what felt like boundless stamina.

In reality, his recently purified body was now primed for cultivation, and even without Qi, he would still feel hundreds of times better than in the past. Additionally his stamina would’ve been at least threefold what it was before the shattering.

Engorged by this feeling, he kept on running faster and faster while pushing himself to exhaustion and focusing on this phenomenon that he attributed to the new property of this world.

Step by step, he ascended steadily toward Permanence City. Along the way, he encountered a few individuals on foot, some traveling in horse-drawn carriages, and, most impressively, observed some soaring high in the skies.

Combined with the breathtaking scenery of the surrounding lake, the experience imbued a sense of wonder and fantasy.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Drenched in sweat, Tyler had been running uphill for approximately two hours before reaching the halfway point between the two cities, where a small village was situated.

In this village, there was a spacious plaza featuring several colossal doors carved directly into the mountainside. They were hard to overlook, given their towering height of at least a hundred feet.

Tyler could see a scattering of people throughout the area, with a group of young individuals lined up in front of one of the doors.

Various signs indicated that this place served as some sort of testing grounds for the Sword Sect, leading Tyler to assume that these youths were either outer disciples or aspiring to become one.

Amidst the bustling plaza, Tyler's gaze landed on several individuals responsible for overseeing assessments, and among them, he spotted a familiar face—Lo Shen.

Recognizing that he had been advised to seek out this man in Permanence City, Tyler considered this a fortunate stroke of luck. Determined, he decided to approach Lo Shen and initiate a conversation.

With unwavering confidence, Tyler paid little heed to his sweaty shirtless state amidst the crowd. Fully aware of his own physical condition, he held the belief that he was in excellent shape, thus dismissing any concerns about being shirtless in the presence of numerous onlookers.

As Tyler walked around shirtless, drenched in perspiration and emanating a somewhat flowery odor, he noticed a few onlookers casting disgusted glances in his direction.

Some individuals even wanted to reprimand him, suggesting he return home to bathe and leave the testing grounds of the Sword Sect before something bad happened to him.

However, their intentions were swiftly silenced by the lingering fear instilled by the Sword King's recent proclamation. The announcement had left them terrified of approaching unknown individuals and offending them, causing most to restrain their words.

Upon Tyler's approach, Lo Shen's gaze lifted and a hint of fluster crossed his face. Though not entirely certain of Tyler's identity, several factors added up in Lo Shen's mind.

The presence of Lo Tao in the library and the subsequent erasure of his memory, coupled with the timing of Tyler's arrival aligning closely with the recent announcement made by the Sword King, left little room for doubt.

Lo Shen couldn't help but form an inkling of who this enigmatic figure might be—an ancestor of great significance.

“Sup Shen, how’s it going?” asked Tyler, casually.

Everyone around were somewhat shocked that this lowly mortal was simply addressing an inner sect disciple, Admission Chief Lo no less, as if they were equals and a youth couldn’t hold back anymore and yelled out!

“Mortal trash…” He couldn’t even finish more than two words before Lo Shen’s released his full cultivation, his aura flaring up to a monstrous degree as it slammed directly into the young master, making his words get stuck in his throat before anything else could come out.

Although forceful, Lo Shen remembered that last time he did something like this, Tyler had actually been knocked out so he carefully controlled his True Essence to form a protective area around him so that he wouldn’t feel the slightest breeze.

With a single glare from Lo Shen, the youth coughed up a significant amount of blood as he dropped down to his knees, panting for air as the youth felt his cultivation be utterly crushed and ruined.

Following that, Lo Shen used a slightly different technique than simply infusing his voice in True Essence as that would be heard by everyone, including Tyler, and simply transmitted it directly into the ears of every cultivator present!

“Does the Sword King need to repeat himself for you to understand his meaning? Young Master Luo, you are henceforth barred from attempting to join the Sword Sect and your cultivation is crippled. Should your family seek justice, send them my way. I'll happily slaughter a few chickens to teach the flock.”

All this seemed to have taken a while but in reality, it had happened in a flash as no more than a second had elapsed since Tyler greeted Lo Shen and the latter followed up by trying to completely ignore the youth’s pale face and grim expression and answered Tyler’s greeting.

"Tyler, it's a pleasant surprise to see you here. I'm doing well, thank you. It seems you've been working up quite a sweat," Lo Shen greeted with a smile, deliberately choosing to divert attention away from the concerning sight of a young person coughing up blood in the plaza.

Choosing to not ignore the elephant in the room, Tyler immediately pointed out the youth’s issue.

“Shouldn’t you be like, I don’t know, making sure that kid’s not dying or anything?”

“Ah, Young Master Luo has been having some issues with authority that I’ve just corrected, so no need to worry he’ll heal in time.” said Lo Shen with a nonchalant smile on his face.

“Sure… Whatever you say bro. Anyhow, what’s going on here? Testing these guys or something from what I can tell from the signs?” Tyler said as he pointed around to the various doors.

Shocked that the ancestor would even be interested in such menial work he asked. “If you would like to see, I’d be more than happy to demonstrate!”

“You sure? That sounds like some private information to your sect, I don’t want to impose you know, I was just passing by to say hello after all.”

Lo Shen decided to just go with it and go in depth with his explanation as he pointed to the three youths with the best foundations that were waiting in line and brought them over.

“Liu Na, Zhang Wei, Young Mistress Fang. Step forward, we’re going into the testing plaza right away. The next 9 in line can also follow.”

Amazed that they were able to skip the line and directly take the test from Admission Chief Lo, the two youths were ecstatic and cheerfully walked forward, followed by the remaining 9 youths and Young Mistress Fang who kept a straight face, as if unfazed by any of this.

All of them ignored Tyler’s presence completely.

With a wave of his sleeves, the largest door standing at 100 feet tall cracked open and Lo Shen pointed forward at the youths.

“While they all go inside, we’ll go to the observing decks to accompany the observing elders if you don’t mind.”

“If you’re sure it won’t cause issues, why not. Sounds fun!” Replied Tyler, now genuinely curious as to what an actual cultivation exam would look like.

As they walked forward to the side entrance to the observation platform, a lot of the cultivators were puzzled by Lo Shen’s actions. To just take a mortal into the testing grounds like this was unheard of.

However, given admission chief Lo’s reaction to Luo Dong, who got his cultivation ruined for even seemingly speaking ill of this mortal, they all came to their own conclusions.

None of them even could envision that this sweaty shirtless mortal would actually be the ancestor the Sword King had warned everyone about.

Upon reaching the observation platform, Tyler found the sight before him to be rather underwhelming.

What appeared before him seemed to be a replica of the plaza outside, with only minor variations. Notably, the arrangement of the stones caught his attention, forming twelve distinct circles.

Almost as if on cue, the three selected youths positioned themselves within the innermost three circles while the remaining 9 formed a circle around them.

Looking around, Tyler saw 12 elders seated in a line facing the plaza with a few empty seats behind them on a platform and he slightly nodded at them but they all ignored him, not even returning a hint of recognition he was even alive.

He didn’t actually care as he recalled that mortals were seen as essentially sub-humans in the cultivation world so he simply shrugged it off. Lo Shen motioned for Tyler to take a seat on the highest platform behind the three elders.

“Please, Tyler. Take a seat over there, I must go down to perform the assessments. These elders here are simply here to evaluate the candidates individually and by extension provide guidance after testing. However, I am certain one of them would be more than willing to explain to you the process of this examination while I set things up.” Lo Shen said while secretly transmitting a message to these Elders, reminding them what the Sword King had said.

As Lo Shen uttered his final words, he swiftly unfurled his sleeves, conjuring a sword beneath his feet. With a graceful motion, he flew downwards to the plaza below in a slow flight.

As soon as he planted his feet on the ground, a formation sprang to life, sealing off the testing grounds and preventing any Qi fluctuations from escaping. Tyler remained oblivious to these fluctuations, so he casually took a seat on the observation platform.

Almost as if following a script, one of the elders spoke up. These elderly men were astute and had picked up on various hints from Young Master Lo, suggesting that this mortal was anything but ordinary.

"Tyler, my name is Duo Dong, Level 29 Elder of the Martial Path branch of the Outer Sword Sect. As requested by Young Master Lo, I'll explain the testing procedures here in the Sword Sect."

Tyler nodded politely, taking in the elder's introduction. "Thank you, Dong. I'm Tyler Reed," he replied, resisting the urge to make any comments about the elder's name, which bore an unfortunate resemblance to a slang term.

“First and foremost, the three youngsters below are all already at the cusp of a breakthrough into level 10, as they are all sitting comfortably at level 9. Their foundations are solid for their ages and are expected to succeed within the next few weeks to months.” Duo Dong paused.

“In addition to that, given their age, their talent is remarkable so they are the most likely to pass this test, hence their place in the middle of the formation down below where the highest concentration of Qi is located. The remaining 9 are also not bad, varying from level 5 to 8 and as some are going down the refining path rather than the martial path, their tests will also be slightly different.”

“If I may ask… What’s with the circles?” Tyler said, slightly confused.

“Ah, seeing as you are an outsider it would make sense that you don’t recognize this formation so let me enlighten you. This is my Sword’s Sect Nine Illusions Pagoda Formation! Every single one of the circles form a connection to the person sitting on it and they will enter the actual testing grounds with a mirrored copy of their body, enabling thorough testing without the fear of death.”

Following a brief introduction by Lo Shen to the youths about to undergo their test, he activated the formation, conjuring a sizable illusory tower seemingly out of thin air. This tower was divided into 9 distinct floors, matching the height of the main door to the testing grounds, standing at an impressive 100 feet tall.

Duo Dong proceeded to clarify that the test takers had the option to select from a range of tests, each featuring 9 distinct difficulty levels that the youths would need to progress through.

Completing a single level was technically sufficient to pass the test, but individuals who achieved this might be assigned as assistants to outer sect members or placed in other administrative roles. To truly gain admission to the Sword Sect, one would need to conquer at least three levels and complete the tests following this one.

The available tests were as follows: Combat, Treasure Refining, Alchemy, Formations, Runemaking and finally Law Confirmation.

Amongst the youths below, it would appear as if seven of them had chosen Combat Illusions. Two had chosen the Treasure Refining Illusions, two the Alchemy Illusions and finally, Young Mistress Fang had chosen Law Confirmation Illusion!

“Young Mistress Fang’s attempting to pass the Law Confirmation test! Truly the daughter of the legendary Timeless Blade!!” One of the observing elder couldn't help but blurt out.

As soon as any of the youths selected their preferred test, a screen displaying the test's content materialized in front of each elder. Since Tyler was positioned toward the rear, he had a clear view of all twelve formation screens at once.

The moment a Law Confirmation Simulation occurred, one of the elders flew off into the formation and sat in a lotus position in front of Young Mistress Fang as they were pretty certain that Young Master Lo would not have the proper law comprehension to host such a test on top of running the formation.

That last one shocked the twelve elders as usually, Law Confirmations were only held for late level 20s like themselves or true and rare geniuses, hence why the pagoda held such a test. To find those proud geniuses and to offer them a proper challenge.

Unbeknownst to anyone in the vicinity, Ancestor Fang himself had silently materialized on the seat farthest away from the group. Concealed by his exceptional cultivation, he remained shrouded from sight.

Tyler, however, was taken aback when his gaze fell upon the old man, who wasn’t there before. The man appeared to be in his late 60s, with long white hair and a thick beard, adorned in purple robes.

The old man turned towards Tyler, visibly surprised that this mortal had detected his presence, a feat even the mighty Sword King himself would struggle to accomplish unless killing intent was directed at him in close proximity.

In response, Tyler offered a warm smile and a nod of acknowledgement before redirecting his attention to the ongoing tests unfolding below.