~~~

Fifty miles and thrice as many Spirit Beasts later, Liu Jin comes to a surprising conclusion.

Huang Shing is unexpectedly strong.

Saving him had been an unavoidable impulse. Offering to support each other during the exam, a spur of the moment decision. Both choices went against Liu Jin’s initial intentions. He had not wanted to call any undue attention to himself during the exam. Yet, as Liu Jin watches Huang Shing kill Spirit Beast after Spirit Beast with quick jabs and heavy palm thrusts that crush bones and organs, it becomes clear both choices are not without their merits.

It is not that Liu Jin hadn’t known Huang Shing would be at least somewhat capable. He is, after all, in the Ninth Level of the Nascent Realm, barely a half-step away from the Spirit Realm. While cultivation level is not the only existing metric to gauge someone’s strength, it is by far the most reliable one.

However, Liu Jin had not expected Huang Shing to be quite this good.

Perhaps, he shouldn’t be so surprised. After all, techniques and skill also play important roles in determining a person’s strength. This is something Liu Jin learned as far back as New Moon Town. Even among those in the same cultivation realm, knowledge of secret techniques, access to hidden treasures, and even simple body conditioning will lead to widely different battle performances.

For example, Liu Jin has a wide breadth of medical knowledge, Nine-Headed Snake God’s Inheritance, a knife made from the claws of a Ravenous Silver Wolf, and a few other things. A “normal” cultivator will have access to none of those, leading to a disparity in battle performance. Of course, as one goes up in cultivation realms, any standard of normalcy begins disappearing. High-level cultivators are all exceptional in their own ways. Then there are those who are exceptions among exceptions.

Huang Shing definitely belongs to this latter category.

He tears through the Spirit Beasts as if they were paper, his body dirty with blood and guts. Even though all the Spirit Beasts they have encountered have been in the Nascent Realm, Huang Shing still shows no signs of having trouble. Much like Liu Jin, he is stronger than his level would suggest.

Had it not been Bei Hong and Lu Mei he ran into, Liu Jin probably wouldn’t have needed to interfere. Unfortunately for Huang Shing, those two are similarly exceptional.

“I’m getting tired of-Ack!” Huang Shing starts coughing to the side as they pass through a gate. “Ugh! I think I swallowed some blood.”

“You’ll be fine,” Liu Jin replies, his spear slicing through a Spirit Beast’s throat. Unlike Huang Shing, Liu Jin barely has any blood on his clothes, a few drops at most. “That was just a Two-Headed Lion. It’s not innately poisonous. Should you gather its blood and drink it for three days, it might even improve your cultivation.”

Huang Shing makes a disgusted face as he ducks under the swing of an ape-looking monster and delivers a palm thrust to its chest. Another comes at him from behind. “Gross! If I’m going to eat something to get stronger, I’d rather it be meat!”

Liu Jin shrugs as he spears the ape-looking monster attacking Huang Shing through its back.

“Hey, we must be close to the end, right?” Huang Shing asks as the two keep running. “It’s been hours already!”

“It has not even been half an hour.”

“We’ve killed over a hundred of these monsters!”

“That one is true,” Liu Jin admits, his spear slung over his shoulder as he runs. “And a little worrying.”

“Exactly! Shouldn’t we have reached the next stage by now? The Eternal Flame Clan sure is demanding.”

He didn’t get it. Liu Jin shakes his head.

“That is not what I meant. Think. How many of the people who were transported before us would have been capable of killing this many Spirit Beasts?

Not many. Not even half.

After fighting so many Spirit Beasts, it’d be natural to start getting tired. That would lead to mistakes, which would lead to injuries and then worse.

“At the very least, we should have overtaken some of them by now, yet we have not seen a single one of them.”

No one has caught up to them either, but that is not unexpected. Liu Jin and Huang Shing had been among the last to touch the crystal. Of those who remained, most lack the strength to pass. As for the ones who are strong enough, Liu Jin doubts they’d be able to match their pace, let alone surpass it.

“There’s also the ground to consider.”

Huang Shing looks at Liu Jin as they pass under another gate. “What about it?”

“We have yet to run into a single dead Spirit Beast. Those who came before us had to fight their way here. Yet, there are no corpses to be found, not a single drop of blood on the floor that we haven’t put there.”

Huang Shing’s whole face scrunches into a frown. “So? Is that bad?”

“It could mean we were all transported to different areas of the Ash Road, and the two of us ending together was a fluke. Maybe, we are even inside a different spatial realm within the Ash Road. Or it could be as simple as those who have failed being transported out along with all the dead Spirit Beasts.”

“So? Which one is it? And how does it help us pass?”

“I... don’t know.”

“You don’t know?!” Huang Shing echoes incredulously. “You were being so serious I thought for sure you were leading up to something important! You’re just nervous, aren’t you?” Huang Shing raises a finger at him. “Look, you’re even sweating.”

Liu Jin blinks as he brings a hand to his forehead and ends up wiping a few drops of sweat.

“Anyone would get tired from fighting this many Spirit Beasts.”

Even though he says that, Liu Jin’s gaze remains fixed on his fingers, his mind hard at work as he slowly becomes aware of several little things.

Somewhere along the way, his breathing has become heavy.

And his pace has slowed down considerably.

And his muscles are far more tired than they should be.

He looks at Huang Shing. It is impossible to tell whether he’s sweating or not with all the blood and guts on him. What Liu Jin does notice is that Huang Shing has not pulled ahead of him even though Liu Jin has been slowing down for the past few miles. It might be that Huang Shing is deliberately matching his pace, but Huang Shing does not strike him as being that thoughtful.

Another red gate appears on their path. As the two get close to it, a sudden thought strikes Liu Jin.

Gently, he throws his spear up.

They pass under the gate.

The spear lands back on his hand.

“Oh.”

This…

This could be troublesome.

“It’s heavier now.”

“What?”

“My spear is heavier now,” Liu Jin explains, testing it out by twirling it a little.

“After fighting so much, it’s only natural. That’s why we need to finish this quickly, Qing Jin!”

Liu Jin shakes his head. “Not what I meant. It is literally heavier. Everything is becoming heavier. The moment we crossed the gate, the weight increased.”

Gravity.

As they pass through the gates, the gravity they are subjected to is increased. That is the conclusion Liu Jin has come to.

“But I don’t feel—”

“Because the increase is gradual,” Liu Jin interrupts him. “It is so gradual that by the time we get to the next gate, our body has already acclimated. However, just because we don’t notice it doesn’t mean it is not taking its toll on us. Take a good look at yourself and tell me you are not more tired than you should be.”

Huang Shing comes to a skidding stop. Liu Jin does as well.

“What are we supposed to do then?!” Huang Shing throws his hands up. As he does, Liu Jin takes a step back to avoid getting blood on his clothes. “If we keep running, we’ll just get tired and be easy prey for the Spirit Beasts! Are we expected to dispel this?”

“I doubt it. This sort of effect has to be layered into the barrier protecting the Ash Road.” Liu Jin certainly doesn’t sense any other barrier nearby that could cause something like this. “If we try to tamper with it, we could bring the entire thing down by accident.”

Or worse.

“Ah. Then all the beasts would come for us. That means…” Huang Shing frowns. “...an endurance test? Is that what this is?”

Liu Jin nods. That is indeed the most likely option. They are meant to keep fighting and fighting until they can’t do it anymore.

“We’re probably not intended to ever reach the other side of the Ash Road. Rather, we’ll be graded depending on how close to it we get.”

Those who stopped or became too tired to keep moving were instantly transferred out. That is the most likely explanation.

Hopefully.

“You know...” Huang Shing puts his hands on his hips. “We’ve already killed an awful lot of beasts.”

“We have.”

“And we have made it pretty far.”

“True.”

“We might have passed already.”

“That is a possibility.”

Liu Jin meets Huang Shing’s stare with implausible impassivity. Huang Shing clicks his tongue and looks away, kicking some imaginary dirt.

“This will be annoying.”

“Almost certainly.”

As if offended by their inactivity, more Spirit Beasts choose that moment to enter the Ash Road, roaring and baring their fangs at them.

“Oh yeah, this'll be annoying.”

~~~

Several gates go by.

Liu Jin and Huang Shing are tired and barely keeping themselves going. The increase is always small, never overwhelming. If they were just walking, it would be manageable. However, running, punching, leaping and killing while the gravity increases is a much harder task.

Each small increase in gravity results in an exponential difference in effort.

“How much longer?” Huang Shing has his hand wrapped around the throat of a large ape as he slams it into the Ash Road. His movements are slow and brutish, a far cry from the deadly quickness they used to have. “How much longer do we have to do this?! Haven’t we already proven ourselves?!”

“I don’t think saying that will—”

“Has anyone other than us gotten this far?” Huang Shing is not listening. He keeps angrily shouting at the heavens. “Is the Eternal Flame Clan truly this demanding, or do you enjoy watching us struggle?”

“The last one is part of it, I’ll admit.”

Liu Jin and Huang Shing are instantly on their guard, spear and fists pointed at the sudden intruder.

She is a tall woman with long black hair and clear skin without a single blemish. Dark eyes shine with amusement, and ruby red lips curl into a soft smile that would rarely fail to take a man’s breath away. There is an elegant beauty to this woman that, under other circumstances, would make an impression on these two.

Right now, it is not her beauty that impresses them.

It is her Qi.

Emperor Realm, Third Level.

She takes a single step, and they instinctively step back. Her smile widens.

She is dressed in red, black, and gold. Her robes are of far higher quality than those of the examiners. Whoever this woman is, she is obviously a high-ranked member of the Eternal Flame Clan.

“Watching young ones try is always amusing. It reminds us of our younger days,” says the woman who looks to be in her twenties but is clearly much older than that. “Still, you two are quite something. Crossing over one hundred gates and defeating hundreds of Spirit Beasts. In any other selection exam, you’d have undeniably been the stars.”

Liu Jin blinks. Is it because Lu Mei and Bei Hong are participating?

Or is because…

“Alas, us, wise Elders of the Eternal Flame Clan, were clearly too preoccupied with other things to take notice of your performance. What a pity. In your case, it might be as if you had fallen unconscious right after the fiftieth gate, the minimal requirement for passing the exam.”

Her words stun them. She’s telling them that even though they have lasted this long, they’ll be judged as if they had done the bare minimum to pass. Huang Shing is torn between blowing up in anger and keeping silent out of respect and fear.

Liu Jin, however, chooses to focus on the bright side.

"Does that mean we pass, honored Elder?"

To him, it does not matter what his score is as long as he passes the exam.

"Of course you pass, child." The woman scoffs. "Why would we waste such promising candidates? Although... perhaps a supplementary exam for the two of you would not be out of place?"

Liu Jin looks at her with growing apprehension. "Another exam?"

"A way to further increase your points." The female Elder seems to think of something and nods. "Yes, this might work. I find myself rather restless lately. You see, my usual sparring partners are preoccupied with other matters. Perhaps, you might be able to replace them?"

"There's no way we're doing that!"

Huang Shing shouts it. Liu Jin thinks it. On this matter, they are of the same mind.

There is no way they're fighting an Empress.

“You did not let me finish,” the Elder chides him. “Obviously, I will not use my full power against you. In fact, I will not move from this spot. I also do not expect you to win. However, if you do manage to land a single hit on me, I will take you both as my disciples.”

That stops Liu Jin and Huang Shing in their tracks.

This woman is an Elder of the Eternal Flame Clan. If she were to take them as disciples, it’d lead to a huge increase in their status. The position she is offering them right now is undoubtedly one many inside the Eternal Flame Clan would spill blood over.

Just by looking at Huang Shing’s face, it is easy to tell he is tempted. Liu Jin cannot say he is unmoved. Studying under an Elder would make a few things hard for him, but it’d also make several other things quite a bit easier.

“And if we decline, honored Elder?” Liu Jin asks.

“Then I will just transfer you to the main compound right now. You will be inducted into the Eternal Flame Clan as Outer Disciples and will have to work your way up the traditional way.”

“And what if we take ho-honored Elder’s challenge and fail?” Huang Shing is trying to be respectful, but his tongue trips over the proper mode of address.

“The same,” she replies. “There is no downside to this offer. Unless, perhaps, you think me a liar?”

Liu Jin looks at Huang Shing.

Huang Shing looks back.

Then, as one, they turn to face the Elder.

“Honored Elder, we humbly ask for guidance!”

“Much better.” The Elder nods at them and smiles. “Our disciples need at least that much fire in them. Now, come and be tested!”

Thus starts a battle that ends in a minute but could have ended in less than a microsecond, with a result that is as easy to predict as the rising of the sun. Liu Jin and Huang Shing are unable to score a single hit.

That is how Liu Jin’s days in the Eternal Flame Clan begin.

~~~