After defeating the golem, Verus was called by one of the imperial officials in grey and hurried over to talk to him. He’d become the center of attention after damaging the golem’s body slightly, and that made him uncomfortable, so he wanted to leave as soon as possible.

The official handed Verus a small bag and explained its contents to him before dismissing him. Verus took the bag and then quickly moved to leave. Almost everyone had found something else to gawk at by now, but there were still a few gazes on him right until he left the arena.

Once outside, Verus began heading back to the sect. As he walked through the busy city streets of the capital, he went over his performance in his head. He’d succeeded in passing the trial just using human ki, but he’d had to use his most powerful attack and it had drawn a lot of attention. He’d been hoping to remain beneath the other competitors’ notice and only exploding onto the scene at the last moment. That wasn’t going to happen now. The power of his attack had been too spectacular. Using it had felt wonderful at least.

Verus sighed deeply as he walked. It was a real shame that his human ki attunement was so poor. His instincts from his past life gave him great skill with that ki. Whoever he’d used to be, he’d definitely been a powerful cultivator and a master of human ki. If he’d used the Way of Imperial Might to create his core, his human ki techniques would be even more powerful.

However, using the Way of Imperial Might would have meant joining the army. Also, because of his low attunement to human ki, his use of that ki was quite inefficient, so depending on it for future growth would have slowed his development by centuries. Thus, after some experimentation, he’d ended up forming his core primarily out of void essence instead, with only a little human ki to reinforce its exterior.

Idly, Verus wondered what Realm he’d reached in his past life. He still had no idea who he’d used to be, but he’d probably been very famous and powerful. Hopefully, he wasn’t infamous and didn’t have many enemies. Ugh, being reincarnated was so complicated! Just thinking about it gave him a headache.

Verus pulled out the bag the imperial official had given him and opened it to peer inside. It contained a pearl amulet on a golden string and a small rectangular stone tablet. They were for the next trial and their uses had been explained to him. The amulet would allow the imperial officials to locate him, while the stone tablet was for imprisoning a spirit.

The next trial was simple. Verus was to go through a portal out into the wilds to capture a spirit. Once he stepped through the forest, he’d have three days to return and hand the spirit in. Thankfully, he didn’t have to go right away. He had some time to prepare himself and find an ally. The trial allowed him to bring up another cultivator in his age group who wasn’t competing along to help him.

Verus didn’t have to think much about who he wanted to bring. Not only was Escora the best hunter and wilderness survival expert he knew, she was also the only real friend he had left in the sect now that Warin was dead.

A wave of grief and anger rose up within Verus. The last time he’d gone out into the wilds, his closest friend had died a meaningless death as others watched and did nothing. Rage flowed through Verus for a several long seconds, but then he put aside his feelings and concentrated on the task at hand. Now was not the time. Giving into emotion would only distract him and endanger his goals.

Upon returning to the Great Wind Sect’s main temple, Verus headed for the outer disciple area. It had been awhile since he’d been back there, and he quickly began to draw stares. Unlike many other inner disciples, Verus usually just wore the robes the sect provided him. They were simple and comfortable, and he had no social position to protect, but they also clearly marked him as an inner disciple. It was very rare for an inner disciple to return to the outer disciple area.

Since he knew where Escora’s room was, Verus headed right for the dormitory. He’d simply leave a note if she wasn’t home. However, when Verus knocked on the door to Escora’s room, it was swiftly opened by the room’s occupant.

Seeing Verus, Escora smiled at him, and Verus returned the gesture and added a polite nod. It was nice to see Escora again.

“Greetings, I hope I’m not interrupting your meditations, fellow disciple,” he told her as he clasped his hands and made a small polite bow.

“Ha, you don’t need to be so formal with me, Verus! Come in,” Escora laughed as she stepped aside and beckoned him forward.

A young man entering a woman’s room alone would be considered very inappropriate by the empire, but cultivators were given a lot more leeway in such matters, so Verus didn’t hesitate to enter. Cultivators had much more willpower and drive than mortals after all and their time was valuable.

“I’m sorry for not visiting you sooner, but I was kept quite busy. How are you doing?” Verus asked.

“Don’t worry, a month or two is nothing to cultivators like us, and I’ve been busy defending my medallion as well. I’m planning to join you in the inner sect at the end of the year after all. Don’t think you’re going to stay ahead of me forever.”

“Oh, good!” Verus’s genuine smile widened. “I can’t wait to see you there.”

“Ya, without me around, I imagine you’re basically hiding in your room and doing nothing but practicing by yourself.”

Verus laughed uncomfortably. She had hit a little too close to the truth there. “Anyway, I’m here to ask you for your help.”

“Oh, what does an inner disciple like you need from me?”

Verus quickly explained the nature of the second trial and that he wanted her to go with him. Escora gave the idea a few seconds of thought before nodding.

“It sounds like an adventure. I’ll gladly lend you my expertise.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to interfere with your own plans. Getting into the inner sect isn’t easy.”

Escora made a dismissive gesture. “You’re really worried about asking me to help with a hunt? It’s not a problem. I’ve been looking for an excuse to go get some fresh air, and this is a perfect reason to leave the sect anyway. No one will be able to complain about not being able to challenge me if I’m away helping a contestant in the princess’s tournament.”

Feeling relieved, Verus explained the rest of the trail’s details and then made plans to head out the next day. Both of them needed some time to prepare for the trip out into the wilderness. They would be travelling by spatial gate and Verus didn’t know exactly what to expect.

The next day, Verus met up with Escora and journeyed to a complex alongside the imperial palace. After going through some security, they entered a courtyard where several officials were herding people through a spatial gate that would occasionally flicker to show a different scene. The portal was similar to the last one Verus had seen. A shifting tear in space between two steel pillars that were covered in glyphs.

“Ugh, a spatial gate. The Heavenly Empire sure loves using these,” Escora remarked with a scowl. She obviously remembered the disorientation from the last time they’d gone through a similar portal.

Verus stealthily rolled his eyes. He remembered when she’d been excited to see a spatial gate. “They do allow instantaneous transport over incredibly long distances.”

“And yet, why do I get the feeling that this is more about showing off than practicality?”

“Because you’re insecure,” mumbled Verus. It was obvious that as a descendant of the Telhri, Escora didn’t completely trust the empire and didn’t like being reminded of the massive power the empire wielded.

“What did you say?” Escora asked suspiciously.

“Nothing.”

After showing one of the officials the amulet he’d gotten after the first trial, Verus was instructed to put it on and Escora was given a silver one of her own. They were also informed that the amulets wouldn’t protect them. They were only so that contestants didn’t interfere with each other and could be located.

“The object of this trial is not to fight other contestants. There will be plenty of time for that later. Thus, you’re being sent a fair distance from everyone else. If you do run into another contestant, you’re not allowed to attack them directly, and your amulets will be recording everything that happens. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I do,” Verus replied.

“Then head through that spatial gate there,” the official said as he raised a hand to point. “Once you capture a spirit in the talisman, simply press it to your amulet and we will open a portal for you to return through.”

Escora grimaced sourly as she stepped through the portal. “Here we go again.”

As Verus’s companion vanished through the rift, he stepped in after her. Immediately, the world went a familiar grey and he felt an incredibly disorienting falling sensation. Uncomfortable numbness crept into his skull, and he felt his sense of time fade. All he could do was grit his teeth, until he was thrown back out into the real world an unknown amount of time later.

Verus emerged about a foot off the ground but managed to land on his feet despite his disorientation. He then fought to clear his mind as he looked around. He’d been attacked by a spirit soon after his last trip through a spatial gate, so he had to keep his guard up.

He was standing on a rocky hill and Escora was standing to his left. She’d also shrugged off the effects of the portal and was standing. Disregarding her for a moment since she seemed fine, Verus studied his surroundings in more detail.

It looked like they were on top of a hill in some sort of wasteland. The yellowish earth was dry and cracked. There were jagged rocks scattered around, and very little life in sight. It took a few moments for Verus to locate a small scraggly thorn bush and the remains of a long dead tree. There were however enough hills that he couldn’t see off too far into the distance.

Escora made a disgusted face. “That was just as horrible as I remember.”

“But at least we didn’t have to walk halfway across the world. Do you have any idea where we are?”

“No, we’re nowhere near my tribe’s territory or anywhere I’ve heard of. That’s not really a surprise though. The empire controls a massive amount of uninhabited land on this world. Much of it was occupied by demi-humans before they were wiped out but isn’t suitable for colonization.”

“So, what do we do now?” Verus asked. She was the wilderness expert.

“Now we look for your spirit. You packed your scrying tool, right?”

Verus had brought his scrying device so he pulled it out. By focusing his senses through it, he could vastly increase the distance he could scan for sources of ki. This allowed him to quickly find some interesting locations off in the distance, so they headed out to investigate. Unfortunately, the readings vanished when they got closer, resulting in them walking around under the hot and bright sun for the rest of the day without finding anything. The wasteland was desolate and seemed empty of life. They found no spirits and the only soul animal they saw was a huge bird that flew overhead for a while before disappearing.

Defeated, they found a sheltered spot nestled between two hills to camp for the night.

By the time it started getting dark, they had a fire going and were settling down to eat. Escora had managed to spear a small snake earlier, but Verus declined her offer to share. He was fine with the rations they’d brought.

Verus enjoyed the silence of the wasteland under the stars, but Escora soon interrupted it.

“So, Verus. What’s really going on with you and this tournament? Tell me straight.”

Verus frowned and looked over at her. “What do you mean?”

Escora leaned his way and met his gaze. “I know you. You wanted in the inner sect because it was necessary for you to advance along your cultivation path, but you seem to really care about this tournament now. Why?”

“My master ordered me to take part.”

“No, I can tell you care personally. You have your own reason,” Escora replied with a shake of her head. “You keep quiet and seem serene most of the time, but you’re the type that actually has a lot going on inside. Don’t keep it hidden and bottled up. What are your real plans for this tournament? After what happened to Warin, there’s no way you’re just going along with the sect’s orders, like a faithful hound.”