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Bai li yue woke up with a start. She was lying on the hard ground in the midst of the applicants who had made it to the top of the mountain. Dawn was making way for sunrise and the camp was rousing up for another day. She stretched her limbs which no longer retained effects of yesterday's ordeal. 

'Sister li yue, are you feeling better?'

'Yes, thank you. I don't remember how i made it.'

'You should have accepted Brother shen's help. You almost died out there.' 

'I'm fine now.' 

She reassured meixiu.

'Here. Take this medicine pill. I was saving it for myself but thanks to Brother Shen, i no longer need it.'

'Thank you.'

Bai li yue accepted the pill from the generous Meixiu and felt her body relax. The pill worked wonderfully. Her aches vanished in an instant.

'What pill did i just swallow?'

'You're now asking? If it had been a poison pill you would have been dead by now. Sister li yue, you should be more careful in the future.'

Bai li yue nodded. Meixiu was right.

'I'll keep it in mind. Thank you, Meixiu.' 

The supervisors led them down the mountain once the sun had risen. They finally got a chance to admire the beauty of their surroundings on the way down. The vista was one of pastoral perfection. The greens of the trees were a perfect match for the blue of the sky and the yellow of the morning sun. 

At the back of the mountain stood an upright black stone slab in the path before them. A wizened elder sat beside it with his eyes closed. 

They were wondering what the next test held in store for them and what purpose the slab served when the elder spoke.

'The fact that you've made it this far is testament of your tenacity. But there is where the road ends for many of you. You will go no further because you will be judged and found wanting. Who among you is brave to go first. I promise; it won't hurt.' 

He laughed at his own joke. 

The applicants looked around, waiting for a brave person to act as a pioneer. Eventually the first person stepped forward. 

'Sword river sect, here I come! Are you ready for me, your grandfather, Gong Huizhong?' 

He hollered with false bravado in the direction of the Sword river sect on the opposite bank. 

He was appropriately scolded by the elder for wasting time.

'Idiot! Step forward and place your hand on the rock before I kick you into the river.'

The slab buzzed to life when the young man touched it. It shone with a red light and gradually changed colours from to orange then yellow before turning green. The green light changed again before settling. His final result was a deep yellow.

'Pass!' 

The old man shouted and the previously nervous young man grinned with pride.

'Yes! Sword river sect, the day has finally -'

A swift wind picked him and hurled him away from the measuring slab and into the arms of a supervisor who smoothly caught him.

'Next!'

The young man's success gave others the courage to step forward. Soon the test was progressing rapidly. Naturally, not everyone passed the test. 

'Grandfather, please give me one more chance. I wasn't ready. Ancestor- ahhh!'

A young girl from Meixiu's group begged in tears before being flung into the air.

'Elder, I don't understand. Huizhong's result was yellow. Mine is also yellow. I'm obviously better than him. Why did you fail me? Ah! Wait! Waargh!'

The elder kicked him straight into the river and scowled in the direction of the remaining applicants. It was an unsettling sight since his eyes hadn't opened even once since they arrived in front of him.

'Bunch of cowards! The boy was obviously rewarded for his courage. If you fail, you fail! If you pass, you pass! Don't question my rulings or-'

'You'll kick us into the river!'

A few of them finished his go to statement.

'Good! You learn quickly. Next!'

After that, those who failed quickly left the testing grounds when they saw how those who pleaded suffered at the hands of the elder. Unlike the first young man hurled into the arms of a supervisor, those who failed found themselves flying through the air. There were no supervisors to catch them as they landed in the river. There were however supervisors waiting to lead them away when they emerged dripping wet. 

Bai li yue was in the crowd watching. She had already reached the conclusion after watching people pass and fail that yellow was the cut off point. The people who got the slab to shine red or orange were summarily disqualified. Those who made it into the yellow spectrum were safe for the most part if the colour was more yellow than orange. She had heard of this tool from the second elder who had travelled across most of the continent. These tools could manifest through anything be it a sword, a rock or a tree that had received the blessing of a deity during their first moments of ascension. They had many uses in the cultivation world. Some could measure the spiritual root known also as the core of cultivation talent of a person to the minutest degree. He had even told her of some that could measure the future attainment of a person. She didn't know what this slab was measuring but whatever it was, had to be important to the two sects.

For the time being, Bai li yue hesitated, still watching. 

As if standing will make a difference!

She scoffed quietly at her foolishness.

Meixiu followed behind Shen duyi who made waves when the slab emitted a glistening violet light. He wasn't the only one whose energy turned the slab violet. A young lady in white and a twin brother and sister in similar coloured robes also stepped into the limelight. 

Meixiu passed by a hair and whooped with joy. She waved to Bai li yue to step forward as she was ushered away to the next test. Bai li yue just wasn't quite ready to make a move. The moment of truth was fast closing in, but there was no solution to her problem.The only cure for ignorance is knowledge. 

If only my future didn't hinge on that knowledge. Who cares? If I fail, then so be it.  I'll just find another sect.

But if she was honest with herself, the thought of failing after working so hard was an unwelcome one.

'If I keep thinking like that, then I'm already in big trouble. I don't even know the result, but I'm here thinking about what to do after failing. When did I become such a coward?'

She burst into action and placed her hand on the slab before the elder invited her to do so. A chill spread from the slab into her body rushing to her dantian. The slab flickered for a second and then emitted a bright blue light.

'Huh?' 

The elder opened his eyes for the first time to inspect the slab. It was working fine. It had to be the girl then. He took a closer look at her.

In a long forgotten hall lost in time and space, a king dressed in superior robes flicked his wrist and froze again in a deathly stillness. 

The first test had begun.

In the infinite space of a heartbeat, the elder closed his eyes again. He'd forgotten why he'd opened them a moment ago.

'Pass!'

Bai li yue was relieved. She walked past the slab and joined a batch of people already moving to the next testing area. 

The arched bridge connecting the two banks and the two sects came into view. It was a large white stone walkway stretching from one side to another. When she arrived, a supervisor led her to a table holding numerous scrolls. There were no differentiating marks on any of them so she chose a scroll lying in front of her. Once they'd all chosen a scroll, the supervisor explained the rules to them.

'The scroll in your hand holds a sword skill. You can read the scroll when you step on the bridge only three times before the paper disintegrates. You have the time it takes to cross the bridge to learn the skill and display it to the examiners on the other side. Speed and mastery are the keys to passing the test. Good luck!'

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