The first thing Ren saw, as they crossed the gates of the body division, was multiple men and women dancing around each other in intricate patterns, and even though most of them were only Novices, who Ren could surely best in a bout as Zhi Mu had informed him, it was an inspiring sight nonetheless.

As they walked past the crowd of training disciples, Ren could discern many of them slowing down slightly to catch a glimpse of their group. One boy even took a fist to his stomach in his inattention, eliciting a huff from Xin Jing.

An Adept sitting a little further down the road stood up as soon as the five of them approached, Han Ting leading their procession. He was an older, relatively short man, grey, unkept hair covered his head and made up a short beard adorning his lower face. Were it not for his neatly kept brown robe and powerful body, Ren would have thought him a vagrant.

The man walked towards them at a leisurely pace, and with a booming voice, greeted them. "Little Ting, how nice of you to bring your friends to visit our humble division." His face broke out into a bright smile, and he made to hug the tall boy.

Han Ting reciprocated the gesture with a smile of his own, and the two of them hugged. "Uncle, when did you make it back to the sect? I thought that you would be gone for at least another month." Han Ting asked, still smiling from ear to ear.

The two of them disengaged their hug, and Han Ting's uncle held him fondly by his shoulders. "Our group made profitable progress and swift trades in the capital, one more month was more of a pessimistic estimate. We arrived on yesterday's evening." He shook his head but didn't even acknowledge his switching of words, and looked at Ren and the others accompanying Han Ting. His face turned more serious then, as he took them, and Zhi Mu specifically, in, obvious recognition shining in his eyes. "Well, I am sure you will have a great time with your friends, little Ting. You should make way to your sister's place, she has also returned and would surely be delighted to accommodate you, however long the lot of you plan to stay." He gave Han Ting a pat on his shoulders and made his way past them, humming as he walked.

Ren was perplexed as he watched the man walk away. Han Ting said he was his uncle, and yet he did not feel all that strong. Ren had expected that, apart from Han Ting's sister, all of his family should be part of the absolute elite of the sect. Apparently he was wrong.

Xin Jing made a funny face, as she looked after the man. "Well, he seemed nice, I guess? Are we going to visit your sister, Han Ting?" The girl said, her blue eyes trained on the taller boy.

Han Ting, a grin still on his face, answered immediately. "Of course we will! As my uncle said, she will be most pleased to see us, and I am sure you will be as well."

"Let's speed up a bit more, I don't really want to stand around." Zhi Mu suggested, and directly accelerated, before they could respond. Ren looked at the other three, but they simply shrugged and ran after Zhi Mu, their robes fluttering in the wind.

As they caught up to the young Adept, Shen Junan asked him, a puzzled expression covering his face. "Why did you want to hurry along, Brother Zhi, we are not in any kind of hurry, are we?"

Zhi Mu's spirit coiled into itself, and Ren expected him to avoid the question, but it immediately eased back, and the yellow eyed boy responded, trying to sound casual. "I simply don't like those larger crowds, everyone looking at us, even if they try to hide it." He considered for a moment, and added on. "Especially when they try to hide it."

Zhi Mu seemed to expect them to react in some way, his spirit still somewhat tense, like he was expecting a fight, but Ren didn't see any of the others wanting to comment on it, and he personally was also indifferent about it.

Before they went to meet Han Ting's sister, the five of them first strolled around the body division for a bit, looking at different buildings and people. They mostly tried to not get recognized, but as both Zhi Mu and Han Ting were very recognizable, not to mention the other three of them also did not look like members of the body division, making many people curious.

At last, they stopped in front of a stone stele that should be their last stop before they would make their way over to Han Ting's sister.

The stele towered over them, being at least twenty meters in height, as well as it's other two dimensions, making it look more like an oversized cube. An inscription on it read, 'Test Your Body, Have No Fear, Do Not Pretend'.

Multiple people surrounded the cube like stele and punched or kicked it, though only ever once. Ren observed them landing one hit and then being frozen for multiple seconds. Some collapsed after being unfrozen, while others only looked exhausted or even exited.

Sensing the movement of spirit in and around the stele did not make this phenomenon at all clear to Ren. Multiple streams of spirit pervaded the stele, building ever fluctuating arrays that constantly evaded his observation while connecting with the Cultivators hitting it.

Looking at the spirit of the different practitioners made it a little easier to make sense of what was happening to them, as while the stele's arrays were nothing but gibberish to Ren, he felt far more confident with the systems of Cultivators. What Ren observed was that after a disciple hit the wall of the stele their spirit connected with a stream of spirit leaving the cube, making them lose consciousness. He would almost liken it to his own experience being immersed into his manual, the heart of the lonely sword.

As Ren was quietly contemplating what this would mean for the purpose of the stele, or why people were punching it, Han Ting began talking enthusiastically, though his voice was low. "Hey, hey, how about it, do you want to test yourselves on the Stone Of Want, everyone?" He looked at each of them with big eyes, making them pause for a moment.

Finally, after they looked at both people collapsing and Han Ting's pleading expression, they relented and Shen Junan stepped forward, a wry smile on his face. "I think that I should go first, out of all of us I have the weakest body and if I don't collapse, neither should any of you." He said, already taking a step toward the cube.

Before he took another step, Han Ting interrupted him though. "The Stone of Want's test is not solely based on the power of your body, Brother Shen. If it was, I could never in good conscience tell you to participate in it." The words made Shen Junan pause, and Han Ting continued. "It will also take into account your spirit, as well as your heart of cultivation, and even your age. It will then give you an estimate of your potential. The ones who collapsed after punching the wall are in fact not people who tested themselves for the first time, instead they have not improved sufficiently and the Stone Of Want delves deeper trying to see if it missed something, making them collapse. Those who get tested for the first time never have any adverse reactions, you can all just punch it at the same time, no need to go one after the other." Han Ting smiled, and the four lined up to punch the wall.

Even with Han Ting's reassurance, Ren was still a little wary of the massive stone towering over them imposingly. Nonetheless, he gathered his wits, and with a flash of spirit let his fist connect with the surprisingly smooth surface. The world went dark.

Opening his eyes to a world of endless white, Ren's senses were bombarded with different arrays, and it felt like he was pushing against a wall while swimming in an ocean of emotion, trying to drown him and make him lose focus. He felt his mind fade slowly at first, terrific cries, moans of pleasure and everything in between flowing all around, but suddenly the sheen of a blade emerged in his hand as if it had always been there, cleaving the ocean apart, letting him advance and breaking the pressure on his shoulders. Soon the flood of emotion returned though, while an invisible pressure drowned the surroundings. Ren's mind was working overtime trying to solve the situation he got himself into, but at the same time, there was only the blade to rely on. Moving as if in a dream, Ren cleaved through his surroundings, his mind quieting, and a smile emerging on his face. The pressure did not let up, consuming the endless ocean till Ren's blade could no longer keep up. 'What a rush', he thought as his world turned dark once again.

When Ren opened his eyes again, what he immediately realized was that the other three also opened their eyes, though only Xin Jing also had a smile adorn her face while Shen Junan frowned deeply and Zhi Mu's expression was the epitome of neutrality.

Han Ting came running along, and looked at all of them expectantly. "Well, how was it? It is an exciting experience, right?" He said.

"It really was something, but I didn't expect it to be so sudden and intense." Ren answered him, his expression still plastered with a small smile as he thought back to the expanse of white that the cube showed him.

Zhi Mu had this to say to the test. "I can see how people would be affected by what the damn stone throws at you, but it is definitely not adequate to gauge someone's potential, at least it is not a bad workout."

Xin Jing immediately piped up as Zhi Mu gave his opinion. "It was amazing! Both my body and heart of cultivation were being strained, it was truly exhilarating to experience, fighting enemies on all sides."

This made Ren look at her weirdly. 'Enemies on all sides, she says. We had different experiences, but how did the stone decide on what scenario to pick?' Ren thought to himself.

"I didn't really like it, but I suppose it was at least a remarkable experience. Can we make our way over to your sister's house now? I am getting a little exhausted." Shen Junan said, his frown gone.