Everyone followed Yu Qiang to the arena floor. The stands were full of people, so many that they looked like nothing but a sea of hair.

Wu Jian’s eyes were better than most, and because of that, he spotted Hou Jingshu near the front seating. She was surrounded by her fellow Core Disciples. Most of them were men, but a few were women. It looked like she had been chatting with them, but she turned her attention toward him the moment he walked onto the arena.

She waved at him.

He waved back.

“Tch.”

“Hmm?”

Wu Jian blinked and looked in the direction of the clicking tongue. Yong Hai looked away when he noticed Wu Jian looking at him. He snorted and turned around again.

“Pay him no mind. Yong Hai is merely jealous,” said Xia Lin.

“I know. Don’t worry. The actions of insects doesn’t bug me.”

“… That was a terrible pun.”

“Really? I thought it was rather clever.”

“You’re the only one who would think that.”

Wu Jian shrugged.

The arena floor was set up with four stages spaced only a few chih apart. Each stage was relatively large, about twice as big as a standard stage, and made from white bricks. Near the end opposite where they had emerged was a black obelisk, a testing stone. This one was much bigger than the previous one.

Yu Qiang and the two instructors stood before the testing stone’s platform. The nephew of Yu Chenguang stood between the pair. Wu Jian wondered why this young man was proctoring their test. Was it because of his relationship to the nation’s famous hero?

“We’re going to get started right away because there are so many of you. This testing stone will test both your bones’ density to determine your age and your cultivation level. Come up when I call your name, place your hand upon the stone, and channel your chi into it.” Yu Qiang summoned a scroll from his storage ring and called out a name. “An Feng.”

An Feng was someone Wu Jian didn’t know. She was a woman with long brown hair tied into a ponytail, brown eyes, and a lithe figure adorned with the standard hanfu worn by female disciples.

Xia Lin provided him with the information he needed. “She belongs to a small noble family here in the capital. They don’t have much clout, but I hear An Feng is rather talented despite her young age.”

“How old is she?” asked Wu Jian.

“Eighteen.”

“Hmmm.”

Xia Lin continued. “She was able to reach the third stage of the Hunger Realm during her first breakthrough--a rather impressive feat considering her family doesn’t have that many resources to cultivate with. I even heard that her family didn’t help her train because they wanted her to focus on becoming a wife instead of a cultivator. There was a rumor going around that she trained in secret and broke through to show her family that she was worth their effort and attention.”

Wu Jian could respect someone like that. She sounded like someone he wouldn’t mind spending time with.

An Feng walked up the steps to stand before the testing stone. Her brown hair swayed as she placed her hand upon the stone, which glowed with bright lights that coalesced on the stone to form characters.

“An Feng. Age, eighteen. Cultivation, fourth subrealm of the Asura Realm. Congratulations. You pass. Next up is Banh Ming.”

Banh Ming went up, followed by several other people. None of them stood out. All of them were between eighteen and twenty-two, and they had only reached the first or second subrealm of the Asura Realm. That meant they were qualified to compete in this test, but their cultivation was just average.

“Jian Wu.”

Wu Jian walked up the steps and stopped before the testing stone. He tilted his head to look at the top. It was quite intimidating up close like this. He placed his hand upon the stone, closed his eyes, and channeled his chi. Lights flared on the stone’s surface, then gathered together and formed several characters.

Gasps echoed from the crowd.

Even Yu Qiang seemed shocked that he had raised his cultivation already. It took him several seconds to say anything. “Jian Wu. Age, sixteen. Cultivation, eighth subrealm of the Asura Realm. Congratulations, you pass.”

Wu Jian nodded and stepped down. He caught Yong Hai glaring at him with pure hatred in his eyes, but he didn’t do anything. He couldn’t even if he wanted to. Wu Jian ignored him and went to stand by Xia Lin.

“I didn’t know you’d already raised your cultivation by another subrealm,” she said.

“It was thanks to a friend of mine. She’s an accomplished alchemist,” he said.

“It wouldn’t be Zhou Lihua, would it?” she asked.

He nodded. “It is.”

“I heard she’s also good friends with Her Highness.”

“Yes. I heard they have been friends for several years now.”

He didn’t say anything else. Several other people went up, including Xia Lin and Yong Hai. While Yong Hai had not increased his cultivation at all, Xia Lin had gone from the first subrealm to the second subrealm. Yong Hai’s face had flushed red with shame as he walked down from the platform.

“Now that everyone has been tested and passed, we’ll move onto the next stage of the exams: testing your martial prowess,” said Yu Qiang. “Everyone who joins the academy will go into military service for at least a decade. You must therefore be an able fighter. While we teach you how to fight while you’re an Outer Court Disciple, Inner Court Disciples have a much higher standard. Members of the Inner Courtyard will make up the elite units of our armies. Your martial prowess must be outstanding in order to be considered. That is why we will be hosting a tournament style competition to determine who will join the Inner Courtyard.”

The Inner Courtyard and Outer Courtyard differed a lot. Everyone in the Outer Courtyard was treated equally. They were given aid based on their abilities. Cultivators who weren’t as good were actually helped more than cultivators who didn’t struggle. The belief was that cultivators who didn’t struggle didn’t need as much help.

The Inner Courtyard was a meritocracy. This was where the academy felt a little more like a regular sect. Inner Court Disciples who displayed greater aptitude and strength were given more resources to increase their cultivation. Core Disciples were given even more resources.

“Here is how the exam is going to work. I want everyone to come up and place your hand in the box. You’ll grab a token with a number on it. That token will represent what stage you’re fighting on. You will only have to fight one person. The winner will pass and the loser will fail. I know this may sound harsh, but because the Inner Courtyard is for our elite units, only the cultivators who prove their worth are allowed to enter.”

Everyone came up one by one to grab a token. Wu Jian walked up and was about to grab a token, but Yu Qiang stopped him.

“Because you’re so much stronger than everyone else, you’ll be fighting me in an exhibition match. Oh. Don’t worry about passing. You’re already guaranteed to pass because your cultivation is so high. We can’t afford to keep you in the Outer Courtyard.”

Wu Jian retracted his hand from the box. “All right.”

Since Wu Jian was not part of this test, he stood next to Yu Qiang and watched the proceedings. Several people taking the test noticed him and spoke in hushed whispers. He could have listened in, but he chose not to, since it didn’t matter what they said about him.

However, one among them was not willing to keep silent.

“Disciple Yu, can I ask why it looks like Jian Wu is not participating in the second test?” asked Yong Hai.

Yu Qiang frowned at him. “That should be obvious, Disciple Yong. Disciple Jian is far stronger than every person here. It doesn't matter who he fights. His cultivation alone is so high not a single person in the Outer Court can win against him. He has no need to pit his skills against someone else.” Yong Hai turned red in the face. Yu Qiang continued as though he didn’t see. “Of course, it would be a shame if Disciple Jian was unable to showcase his skills to everyone, so he will be fighting me in an exhibition match.”

Yong Hai did not look satisfied with this response, but he didn’t say anything else, merely turning his head as though to ignore what just happened.

Now that Yu Qiang had spoken, no one bothered asking about Wu Jian anymore. The matches proceeded as normal. Wu Jian did not pay attention to most of the matches, but he did watch Xia Lin fight against her opponent. She won her match in less than ten moves. Yong Hai also won his match.

The battles lasted for several hours. It was morning when they first arrived, but now the sun had peaked.

Yu Qiang stepped forward. “Now that the matches are over, we have a special surprise for you. I’m sure some of you are wondering why Disciple Jian did not fight in the exam. We have determined there was no point because whoever he battled would lose. Since that’s the case, we have exempted him from the exam. However, to make up for it, he is going to spar with me in an exhibition match.”

While the crowd at first looked ready to boo and hiss, their tune soon changed to hollers of excitement. The Core Disciples seemed particularly interested in seeing a match between them. Many of them were leaning over the guardrail as though that would somehow give them a better view and quite a few were badgering Hou Jingshu.

Wu Jian walked onto the indicated stage with Yu Qiang. They stood several dozen chih apart. An instructor stood between them. He would act as their referee.

Yu Qiang grinned. “I’ve wanted to spar with you ever since I saw your first bout with Her Highness.”

“Hmm. I have also wished to test myself against you,” said Wu Jian.

Yu Qiang’s grin widened as he summoned a weapon that Wu Jian had never seen before. It looked like two swords stuck together with a long handle in the middle. Each blade was longer than the average dao and the gleaming double-bladed surface without adornments gave it an austere aura. He could tell from the chi being channeled through it that this weapon was a high-quality profound spirit weapon. It was at least high earth grade.

“Come. Bring out your weapon,” said Yu Qiang as he expertly spun the weapon around. The way he moved made it look like an extension of his body.

Wu Jian scratched the back of his head. “I would love to, but I don’t have a weapon anymore. I, uh, used it in an auction recently…”

Yu Qiang blinked. “You… auctioned it off.”

“Yeah,” Wu Jian nodded. “It was for a vital ingredient that Hou… erm, that Her Highness needed for an alchemy pill.”

“That was very selfless of you. Since you don’t have a weapon, then I won’t use one either.”

Yu Qiang stored his weapon back into his storage ring. Wu Jian was a little disappointed since he would have liked to fight the man with his weapon, but he didn’t ask him to bring it back out. Asking him to fight with a weapon after all this would have been an insult to the man who wanted them to battle on an even playing field. It would be even more humiliating for Yu Qiang when Wu Jian won.

Wu Jian liked the guy, so he didn’t want to humiliate him.

“Are you both ready?” the instructor asked. They nodded. “Then bow to your ancestors.” They bowed at the instructor. “Bow to your audience.” They turned toward the audience and bowed again. “And now, bow to each other.” They faced each other and bowed one last time. “Now fight!”