In the morning Yu Chen kissed his mother goodbye and hugged Mo Chen, who whispered reassurances that they’d definitely see each other again. His father waited patiently while they said their goodbyes, but Yu Chen knew time was short. Before he knew, and long before he was ready, he found himself leaving his family behind and following his father down the road to the village.

His father led him towards a small caravan on the village outskirts that was just preparing to leave. Yu Chen stood quietly by as his father talked with the tinker in charge, handing over a small bag that the man tucked into his pocket before turning to greet Yu Chen.

“Ach, you’re quite the big lad.” the tinker said as he looked up at Yu Chen. “You’re sure this lad is twelve? You know they won’t accept anyone older.” he said, voice filled with doubt. His father simply nodded, and the tinker gave a small shrug in reply, as if to say, “Not my problem”.

“Alright. Well, the rules are simple lad.” The tinker continued. “Stick with the caravan and don’t wander too far away. We will be traveling directly to the sect, although we will be stopping in a few towns along the way. Your father has already paid for your food and a place to lay your head. Other than that, fighting and stealing are not allowed. I’m not keen to leave a boy on the side of the road but there will be no thieves in my wagons. Understand?”

Yu Chen nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat before turning to look at his father. Despite his appearance he was still a twelve-year-old boy being sent away from home to some place he’d never been. He was fighting hard not to cry, determined to not embarrass himself or his father.

His father understood and pulled Yu Chen into a crushing hug. “It’s ok son. This is the best for you, I know it is. You’ll enter that sect and make your mother proud; you hear me?”

“Yes, father,” Yu Chen mumbled into his chest, fighting hard not to snivel as he gripped his father tightly. “I will.”

Eventually, he stepped back, and his father gave him one last nod before turning on his heel and stomping away through the village, his shoulders drawn in like a man burdened with a great weight.

Yu Chen turned around and went to find the tinker who had walked away to give them some privacy in their final moments and found the man issuing out orders to the others. When the man saw Yu Chen, he quickly pointed out a place for him to stay and told him in no uncertain terms to stay out of the way while they got on the road.

The journey to the sect took almost a week, and by the second day Yu Chen was further from home than he’d ever been. According to the tinker, their destination lay at the foot of the large mountain range that came into view on the fourth day, and the sect itself was hidden somewhere deep within.

For the most part the journey was uneventful. The only excitement came from the various towns their little caravan passed through on their way to the mountain. The tinker seemed to know people everywhere he went, and more kids joined them at each stop as he spread the news of the upcoming war and the conscription that was soon to arrive.

Yu Chen talked and played with the children as they traveled, finding it helped to keep his mind off of the painful thoughts of leaving his family. They mainly wanted to discuss the sect and what they could expect when they became cultivators, and in those few days he heard so many rumors and made up facts passed off as truth that he hardly knew what to believe.

“If the sect accepts you you’ll become an immortal, everyone knows that.” One boy told another with an arrogant sneer.

“I heard they can breathe fire.” another boy chimed in, gesticulating with his hands as he spoke, pantomiming billowing waves of flames.

Yu Chen kept silent as he listened to the boys prattle on. He’d heard all of the same rumors they had, but who knew what the truth was? All he knew for certain was that cultivators could fly, as that was something he’d seen with his own two eyes.

The times when he wasn’t playing around, he spent filled with a constant sense of worry. He couldn’t help but think about his family, and the talk of war had left him fearful for his father and brother. He had nightmares some nights where he found them dead, and he spent his waking hours worried that he would never see them again. On top of that his trepidation regarding the sect only increased as they approached, and he wondered what life there would be like there, and worried if he would even manage to get in.

Some of the boys had spread rumors of an entrance exam, and the tinker had confirmed it when asked, stating that he would tell them what he knew when they arrived. The thought of failure hounded Yu Chen. No one knew what would happen if they failed the test, but the children spread stories of the most horrific consequences. Most likely, he’d simply be sent back to his family, and while the thought made him happy, chances were he’d then end up in a war.

Time passed as they traveled and before he knew it they’d arrived at a bustling town that nestled at the foot of the mountain that had once seemed so far away. All of his worries fled his mind, and he couldn’t help but stare around wide eyed as their wagons entered the town.

To his young mind the town was massive, easily dwarfing the small village he came from. He could barely believe how many people he saw as they crowded the edges of the road that they traveled down.

His eyes drank in all the sights around him, and the sound of hawkers crying out their wares filled his ears. The scent of all the different foods wafting in the air made his mouth water, and Yu Chen wouldn’t have believed you if you told him a place could be so full of humanity.

Their journey through the town eventually led them to a small river that meandered through its center, and Yu Chen couldn’t help but notice the change in the quality of the buildings and environs once they’d crossed the river. Things seemed to improve dramatically as they moved closer towards the mountain, as the buildings here were all built of stone, and it was quieter, while the few people on the streets were dressed in nicer clothes than any he'd ever seen.

They’d nearly made it through the other side of the town before the wagons finally came to a halt right outside of a cozy inn, two stories tall and made of stone. The tinker hopped off his wagon and cleared his throat before calling all of the children together, and Yu Chen joined the other children as they all hurried to go stand before the man.

“We’ve finally made it.” The man said as he smiled at the children before him. “This path behind me leads up the mountain and directly to the Golden Mist Sect, the largest sect this side of the yellow river.” He pointed his finger behind him as he spoke, and Yu Chen’s eyes followed the path as it trailed into the woods, before disappearing into the dense mist that surrounded the mountain as the sect’s name suggested.

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“From here on I can no longer help you, and I know not what tests the Sect will have for you. I only know that arriving at the Sect is the first test, as it is said that the unworthy cannot pass through the mists and make their way up the mountain.” He rubbed his face as he spoke, as though he wasn’t sure what to make of it.

“If you are rejected or cannot make it through the mists I will be staying at this inn here for the next three days. As long as you return to me before the three days are up I will ensure you make it back to your parents safely.” The tinker spread his hands as he finished speaking.

The children milled there, uncertain what to do, so the tinker waved his hand towards the path and added. “Now go on, there is no point in waiting, the sooner you try and fail the more likely it is that I can get you back to your homes.”

Yu Chen gulped as he looked at the dirt path that disappeared into the woods. Without waiting for the others, he steeled himself and took his first step onto the path. As he began walking the other children joined him, one after the other, until they were all marching down the path in a tight huddle.

The path curved back and forth as they walked, winding its way up the mountain. Before long the mists began to thicken, clinging to the children and obstructing their vision, making it difficult to see too far in front of them. Yu Chen didn’t falter and kept marching forward, although around him he heard some of the other children begin to bitterly complain.

Soon however, he was forced to stop as the group encountered their first obstacle. The mists had thinned out a bit, allowing them to see that the path up the mountain had now split into three, and there was no way to determine which one they were supposed to choose. While Yu Chen ruminated over the choice a few of the boys who were a bit more hot blooded picked a path and started up them.

Yu Chen shrugged and picked his own as well, deciding that sticking to the middle was just as well as any of the other directions. Some of the children followed him on the path he chose, while others went their own way, but he paid little attention to them.

The next time he encountered an intersection he didn’t even pause, just continuing to barrel straight down the middle path. He kept going in that manner, passing intersection after intersection, until he arrived at one where he couldn’t help but to stop and frown. The few other children who had stuck with him this far also stopped and they all looked around in consternation.

“There’s footprints everywhere.” One kid said.

“Lots of them!” Another added.

“The path so far has been clear; I don’t remember seeing footprints before…” A third voice chimed in doubtfully.

Yu Chen tilted his head as he examined the area. The shifting mists made it hard to identify anything, but he swore he remembered the tree that stood between the right and middle pathways. It’d caught his notice before, standing out as it was split down the middle where lighting had struck it.

And if that was the case… “We’re going in circles.” He announced firmly, and a few of the others nodded while some sighed.

What should he do now? He’d only picked the middle path so far and that had just brought him back around to where he’d started from. Perhaps he should try the left path this time? Once again he started walking. Some of the other children seemed to share his thoughts and followed, while others decided to try another path.

By now only two other kids remained beside him as he went down the left hand path, and at the next intersection he lost another. The air grew colder as night set in, and the clinging mists carried a definite chill to them now. Intersection after intersection appeared in the mists and eventually he found himself walking down the pathway alone.

The fourth time he encountered the split tree he paused, sitting for a spell while he thought. He’d taken every path leading from this intersection by now, and while he hadn’t tried every branching pathway up the mountain, he had a feeling that none would take him to the top.

Was it his destiny to not make it to the sect? They said the mists were here to weed out the unworthy. Was that him? His eyes drifted back the way he came as he thought about it. There was one path he hadn’t taken yet… Was that the trick? He got up and turned around, leaving the intersection from the path he’d come, determined to arrive at the top.

His determination didn’t seem to matter much, however. He didn’t have to walk far before he felt the mists begin to dissipate, and he knew without a doubt he was simply descending the mountain.

Frustrated Yu Chen turned around and walked back to that first intersection, where he paused and thought some more.

And some more.

And some more.

He wasn’t sure how long he sat there for, but eventually an idea came to him. No one had specifically said he had to stick to the path had they? He’d only been told to reach the top of the mountain. He glanced around, noting that despite the mists that obscured everything and confounded his senses, he could still discern up from down. With a determined nod, he stepped off the path.

Digging his toes in he began running up the side of the mountain.

He used the burning sensation in his thighs as a compass to continue moving upwards, even as the mists swirled around him and tried to lead him astray. It was all the confirmation he needed that he was on the right path as he used his powerful physique to dodge trees and bushes and as he bullied his way through the undergrowth in a rush to reach the top.

He didn’t stop moving, and he didn’t feel tired no matter how far or hard he ran, but it had always been that way for Yu Chen. The harder he pushed his body, the harder his heart pumped, and the harder his heart pumped the better he felt.

His thoughts and worries fell behind as he raced through the wilderness, and he didn’t even notice when the mists surrounding him began to disappear, revealing the mountain around him. He simply kept running and running, until he faintly began to make out the sight of lights sparkling around the peak of the mountain.

The sight of those lights in the distance gave him a second wind, and he redoubled his efforts as he scrambled towards the peak. Eventually the path he carved up the mountain intersected with a dirt pathway, and he stopped and thought. It was less direct than the route he’d been carving up the mountain, but paths led somewhere, so he decided to continue on that way now that the mists had dissipated, and he could see again.

He slowed his mad dash now that he’d found a pathway and began walking again at a normal pace. Just running up the side of a mountain for a short distance would have left anyone else winded and gasping for air, but the only sign that Yu Chen had exerted himself at all was his slightly elevated heart rate.

The peak of the mountain grew closer, and Yu Chen felt his heart tremble in trepidation.

Faintly, in the distance, he could make out a large gate looming out of the darkness. Yu Chen made his way towards it, and as he grew closer he began to make out the walls that encircled the sect.

It was quite possibly the most awe inspiring sight he’d ever seen in his life.

He reached the gates and realized they were tightly shut. Worry wormed its way back into his heart and he began to fear that he’d taken too long and the entry trials were already over.

Yu Chen paused, unsure of what to do. Looking around for some sign, he noticed a small door set into the side of the gate.

What other option did he have? Drawing up his courage, Yu Chen walked up and knocked on the door before he could talk himself out of it.

He waited there for someone to come, and as the silence stretched out he began feeling foolish. Screwing up his courage he knocked again, louder this time.

This time he heard movement inside, followed by the sound of numerous locks unlatching in quick succession. The door slammed open and Yu Chen hurriedly stepped back as an angry man started yelling.

“Hey, who’s the fellow with balls! You know Elder Gu will have your nuts and your head if you’re playing games with the Sect’s security!” The man yelled as he looked around before settling a baleful eye on Yu Chen.

“Explain yourself, don’t be shy now!” The man stated as he crossed his arms and glared at the boy before him.

“Ah, apologies sir!” Yu Chen said as he hurriedly bowed his head repeatedly. “My name is Yu Chen and I’m here for the entrance exams, I hope I’m not too late!” He kept his head low, not daring to look up at the man.

This was a cultivator in front of him, a real one! Yu Chen could feel the power radiating off of him, and he was careful not to offend the man as that was a quick way to a painful death.

“Entrance Exams?” The man said under his breath, and Yu Chen could feel the man’s eyes boring into him. “Look up!” The man demanded.

Yu Chen looked up as commanded, but he studiously avoided the cultivators' eyes lest he offend the man.

“You know the entrance exams are only for those 12 and under, right?” The man said as he closely examined Yu Chen.

“Yes sir,” Yu Chen replied. “I am twelve sir, I’ve always been big for my age.”

The man simply grunted in reply as he continued looking at Yu Chen. After a spell he turned and shouted over his shoulder at someone inside the guardhouse.

“Hey Zhang Lie, didn’t you say that there wouldn’t be any kids out here until mid morning at the earliest?”

“Of course!” A voice replied from within the guardhouse. “The formation controlling the mists won’t run out of power until around noon, and no one’s getting up the mountain as long as it’s powered. You know how the elders are, this whole test is supposed to show their perseverance or something.”

The cultivator looked at Yu Chen and cocked his head.

“Then what’s this one doing out here?” He said in consternation.