To stunned silence the Immortal turned around, slamming the door behind him.

For a moment the air seemed to hold still. Zhang Yi and the other boys all stared at the door that had just slammed shut, processing the Immortal's words. Then, a young villager broke the silence.

"H-he's just messing around, right?" the boy asked from within his cage, face pale with fear. "This is just part of the test, r-right?"

No one responded. While it may be comforting, to believe that the Immortal was not really planning on selling them into slavery and that this all really was just a test along the way to joining an Immortal Sect, the sheer venomous derision in the Immortal's words left no room for doubt about his intentions.

Zhang Yi looked around the room, comparing the fear-ridden faces of the other boys to the intense dismay he felt fill his own mind. Then a sharp voice cut through the air.

"Now is not the time for fear or despair. We need to escape from these cages!" shouted Jiang Fang, the son of Lord Jiang. "We hav-"

"T-there's no way we can escape from an Immortal!" one boy interrupted fearfully.

"Of course we can!" Jiang Fang responded firmly. "The Immortal drugged us all before kidnapping us. If he were all-powerful, he could have just grabbed us all by force. Instead, he used cunning and trickery. That means... we definitely stand a chance of escape! "

Murmurs of realization and agreement came from the caged villagers. Jiang Fang's confident and charismatic statement renewed hope in them.

Zhang Yi nodded his head slightly. Jiang Fang's point did seem to make sense, at least on the surface. For what purpose would the Immortal waste his time drugging them all if he so capable? If they somehow managed to free themselves from the iron cages, perhaps they really could escape.

Furthermore, there was a magnetic confidence in Jiang Fang's words that reassured the frightened villagers and made them want to believe in his words. Indeed, the leadership ability of someone who had been raised to rule a city could not be doubted.

It was just a shame such a skill belonged to greedy and vile people like the Jiang Family, Zhang Yi thought.

"Now, as I was saying, we simply need a way to get out of these cages..." Jiang Fang said, looking around. "Anyone have any ideas..."

As Jiang Fang and the other boys began to discuss, Zhang Yi's attention drifted back to the cages.

They were large iron cubes with a wooden bottom plating. The front of the cage was the opening and it was closed shut by a large iron shackle. If the cages had a weakness, it would be one of those two features.

As Zhang Yi stared at the cage, an idea came to mind. If he could somehow knock the cage onto its side, the wooden bottom would be in the air, without any solid ground behind it. Then, he could break the wooden planks and exit the cage.

He charged up to the edge of the cage, slamming his shoulder against the metal. A loud slamming noise filled the air and his cage shook.

'I barely titlted it,' Zhang Yi grimaced, feeling a jolt of pain run through his arm. 'If I want to knock it over, I'll need to hit it a lot harder!'

"What are you doing?" one boy asked. "You won't be able to break the iron bars with your body."

Zhang Yi ignored him, charging into the front of the cage even harder than before. The force of his blow rocked the cage over. For a moment he felt it tipping before the entire cage fell to the side, slamming into the floor and producing a cloud of dust. Now on the floor, Zhang Yi lifted himself from the ground, turning to face the cage's wooden flooring.

'It worked!' the pale-skinned boy thought, smiling slightly. He raised a fist, slamming it forward into the wood. He hissed in pain, feeling a shock travel up his arms, before punching the wood a second time. Then a third. Then a fourth. Finally, upon his fifth punch, one of the wooden planks broke in the middle.

By now, the other fourteen boys were all staring at Zhang Yi in transfixed silence. Could he really be able to get out of the cage?

"So that's what you were doing! By knocking over the cage, he can break through the wooden bottom!" He Zhao, the blacksmith's son realized.

Zhang Yi continued punching and kicking at the wooden planks of his cage, cracking and smashing through them. As he worked, the other boys began to cheer and encourage him loudly. Even Jiang Fang was smiling slightly upon seeing him chip and break off pieces of the wood. Slowly but surely a hole was forming in the wooden side of the cage.

The rest of the other boys began to mimic him, shoving into the sides of their own cages and trying to knock them over. As they did so, Zhang Yi continued to expand his hole. Soon, it was large enough to crawl through.

He leaned forward, pushing his head through the hole. Jagged wooden planks pressed into his robes, depositing splinters into the thick cotton. Slowly he wrigged his upper body through the hole. Then he lifted his legs, pulling himself out fully.

Zhang Yi fell to the floor, covered in sweat and splinters, but feeling immensely satisfied.

Clapping and cheering broke out amongst the boys for a few seconds, before Jiang Fang interrupted them.

"Help break open the other cages!" Jiang Fang shouted. "We need to hurry up before the Immortal returns."

Zhang Yi nodded, walking over to He Zhao's cage. The blacksmith's son had only managed to break open a melon-sized hole in the wood. Zhang Yi raised his foot, kicking the wood as hard as he could. One of the planks snapped off from the force of his blow. Repeatedly the two continued to widen the hole. After a few minutes, it was large enough for He Zhao to crawl through.

The two split out, walking to other cages and helping the boys within it escape, each freed boy then helping another. Soon, all fifteen of the boys had been freed.

Then, Jiang Fang waved his hand, motioning for the others to gather around him.

"Good job everyone," Jiang Fang began. "Now that we've got out of the cages, we need to prepare our escape plan. Firstly, we know that Immortal said the auction would take place in an hour. That was half an hour ago. Meaning, we have twenty to thirty minutes before he returns."

The boys around Jiang Fang nodded, listening intently to the boy who had become the unofficial leader of their group.

"Here is the plan," Jiang Fang continued. "We all gather around the door to this room silently. The moment the Immortal enters, we all attack him. Some of us can restrain him while the others beat him."

"Why don't we just break out of this room now?" He Zhao asked. "We all charge upstairs and escape from this place."

"No, that won't work," Jiang Fang said, shaking his head. "If we were to charge upstairs, the Immortal and whoever else is with him would immediately hear us coming and be able to prepare. Silently ambushing them one by one is our best bet of escape."

He Zhao frowned but accepted Jiang Fang's words.

"I'm in then," he nodded. "But I do have a suggestion."

"What is it?"

"We can use the broken wooden planks as makeshift stakes or clubs," He Zhao said. "Having weapons will drastically increase the chance of us killing the Immortal!"

"That's a brilliant idea," Jiang Fang smiled. "Everyone let's spend the next few minutes collecting any pieces of wood that would make good weapons."

Thus, the fifteen boys quickly walked around the room, gathering up any pieces of wood sufficiently large enough to be of use as a weapon.

Zhang Yi himself snagged a short but sharp piece of broken wood that could be used as a dagger and a long, mostly pristine wooden plank he could use as a club.

Then, ten boys gathered in wait around the door of the room, clutching their weapons tensely. Jiang Fang had sent the five youngest members off to a corner, as they would be more of a hindrance than a help.

The ten boys here all knew at least some basic martial arts, but none were anything resembling trained soldiers or martial art masters. Everyone was keenly aware of how bad their chances at survival were.

Who knew how strong the Immortal was? In the stories, they had all sorts of wondrous abilities, like flight and illusions. Perhaps the Immortal would simply wave his hand and reduce them all to ashes. However, Jiang Fang's earlier words were just enough to convince everyone they had a fighting chance.

Time seemed to pass slowly, each second dragging on in the tense atmosphere.

Zhang Yi clutched his wooden weapons in each hand, legs wide in the stance Bing Meilu had taught him. The words she had spoken to him in their final meeting flashed through his mind.

"I believe our business is done then," Bing Meilu said had said, turning away from him "You should be fully capable of defending yourself now."

The thin boy could only hope that what she had taught him would be enough to survive the coming fight.

Then, the sound of approaching footsteps began to fill the air. Closer and closer, the sound approached

Zhang Yi felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise. He could feel his heart beating vigorously with trepidation.

The jingling of metal keys sounded out from beyond the door. Then, there was a slight scratching noise as a key was interested in the door's lock. Wood creaked and the door began to open. A man stepped forward-

"Now!" Jiang Fang shouted, shooting forward.

The young noble lashed out with the large wooden plank he was using as a bat, cracking it against the side of the Immortal's head, just as he entered the room. In the next split second, the nine other boys leaped at the man, slashing and stabbing out with their own makeshift weapons. Jagged stakes of wood pierced into the Immortal's body from all sides. A scream filled the air as he registered the pain.

Instantly, the boys were blown back by an unseen force, as if a great gale of wind had smashed into them. Zhang Yi rolled backwards, leaping to his feet.

He was greeted by the sight of the Copper-robed cultivator glaring furiously at him, body riddled with several pieces of wood. A slight green haze swirled around his body like a hurricane.

"You dirty brats!" the man shouted, drawing a copper short-sword from a sheath on his waist. "How dare you attack me!"

The green mist around his body swirled around the sword, surrounding it in a green aura.

The immortal leaped towards the nearest of the ten boys, who was still dazed on the ground. He stabbed his sword downwards, only for the boy to roll to the side. At the same time, Jiang Fang viciously slammed a kick into the immortal's backside, sending him stumbling forward, right into Zhang Yi's punch.

Zhang Yi felt the Immortal's nose break under his fingers, hot blood spilling onto his skin.

The Immortal grunted, tanking the blow and jumping sideways. At the same time, he raised one hand, forming a strange hand sign.

"Wind Valley Graceful Steps," the Immortal shouted.

The green haze migrated from his sword to surround his legs, forming coiling cloudlike shapes over his lower body. As the Immortal did so, the ten boys surrounded him, raising fists and wooden weapons in preparation.

The Immortal's face twitched slightly before he suddenly smiled widely.

"Good job, all of you!" He said, laughing. "You managed to pass my trial! I didn't expect you to all be so fast!"

The ten boys froze, nervously glancing at each other. What was this? Could it be that this whole thing really was just an elaborate test? However, Zhang Yi immediately spoke up.

"Don't listen to him!" the young boy spat. "He's clearly lying! Let's finish him off now!"

Zhang Yi was something of a village outcast. He was a penniless orphan without anyone to care for him. He managed to just barely scrape by on what he earned doing odd jobs for the villagers.

Many of them would scam him, making him do work and then reneging on the promised payment. After all, Zhang Yi had no one to back him up, so who cared if they broke their word to him?

As such, Zhang Yi had long since learnt to tell the truthful from the lying. And right now, the copper-robed Immortal set off every alarm possible.

His smile was forced, his laugh was nervous, his eyes were still filled with rage and there was no sincerity in his tone.

Immediately, the Immortal's eye twitched slightly and he chuckled casually.

"Of course I'm not! Look, just follow me upstairs and you'll see. I have an entire celebration feast prepared!" the Immortal responded."Don't tell me you want to risk losing your chance at immortality?"

"Zhang Yi's right" He Zhao commented. "I'm not an intellectual type or anything, but even I can tell when someone is being dishonest. You'd think an immortal would be a better liar."

The Immortal's face fell into a full-blown scowl and his grip on the copper-short sword tightened. An unconscious consensus formed between the boys and they all charged forward.

Punches, kicks and stabs all shot towards the man in the center of the circle. The green clouds swirling around his legs glowed for a moment and he shot into the air, jumping over all of the attacks. Several of the boys slammed into one another, causing four of them to tumble to the ground.

The Immortal landed behind one of the still-standing boys and slashed his sword powerfully. A wet splashing noise filled the air as the blade sliced through the boy's neck. Blood spurted from the wound, slashing the Immortal in the eye.

Several of the boys froze, watching with horror as the body of their fellow collapsed to the ground.

"I didn't really want to destroy any of the merchandise, but I guess I have to 'Kill the chicken to scare the monkey.'" the Immortal spat, slashing his blade into the air and splattering blood across the floor. "Now, unless you want to die like your friend over here, you'd best all surrender!"

Instead, the nine boys all charged towards him, faces contorted with anger. The Immortal sneered, twisting to look at Zhang Yi, who was closest to him. he leapt forward, stabbing his blade towards the young boy.

Adrenaline tore through his body like nothing Zhang Yi had ever felt before. His brain shut down and instinct took over. he dropped the wooden club he still held, body shifting into the stance his Teacher, Bing Meilu had drilled into him so many times.

'Nine Heavenly Stances of the Immemorial Palace Gate - Prosperity'

The Immortal's blade shot towards him like the fangs of a leaping snake, about to reach Zhang Yi's nec-

With the sound of leather shoes on liquid, The Immortal tripped on the blood he had spattered, falling face-first into the ground.

Immediately, Zhang Yi ran forward and kicked the sword from the fallen man's hand, before slamming a foot down on his head.

"Aaagh!' The Immortal shouted, trying to push himself up, only for a second kick to smash his head back down into the floor.

Several of the other boys crowded around Zhang Yi, kicking viciously at the downed man.

Blood splatters shot through the air, accompanied the brittle crunch of snapping bones as nine village boys brutally beat a man to death.