It wasn’t really that difficult to get transport to Redmaw Town. As it turned out, there was a wagon convoy that made trips back and forth between the two towns. It’s mostly a goods wagon, transporting Redmaw’s produce and merchants over to Northstar City, and back. So, there’s often space for some passengers, for a small fee.

It’s a safe, well-travelled route, apparently the leader of the wagon caravan is a 4-star cultivator. The merchants pay him a transport fee, of course, and the passenger traffic is really just extra income on top of the regular merchant traffic.

Not all cultivators continue cultivating all the time. Many eventually stagnate, unable to break through the next level. Perhaps they lacked the right kind of mindset or comprehension. Or perhaps just a lack of resources. Or just, well, poor foundations. 4 and 5 star is often the bottleneck, just like his mother.

There were a few other passengers in his wagon.

“You’re headed for the Sect Trials?” Another boy asked.

“Yes.” Mingwei answered. The boy looked like he’s the same age.

“Are you forced into it?”

“Huh? No. I chose to participate in this one.”

“Why not the Northern Star Sect?”

“I didn’t want to?” A big sect sounded like trouble, at least, not yet. He wanted a small sect where he could stay low profile while he developed his base. He had the experience of his old world, where there were many crouching tigers and hidden dragons. It is important to hide one’s strength, especially with a foe like the Devourer Dragon.

“Stupid.” He said.

“Huh?” Mingwei decided to play the humble cultivator. “I doubt I’ll pass the Northern Star Sect’s trials. I’m not that talented.”

“Stupid.”

“Yes.” He decided to just play along. “Are you going for the Sect Trials too?”

“No! I’m going to join the Northern Star Sect.”

Mingwei didn’t know why the boy was so antagonistic then. But it didn’t matter. “I see. Good luck.”

“I’m working on my core now. Once I have it I’ll participate in their next Sect Trial.”

Mingwei nodded. “Okay.”

The journey was really just one day. There were other merchants, and he took the time to observe what they sold. There’s a fair bit of minerals and ores, and from that alone, Redmaw was probably a hillside town. There’s also some wood and produce, like wooden planks, furniture, and fruits. So, a hillside town with some forests around it.

“How many people live in Redmaw?” He asked a merchant who sat just a few seats away.

“If I’m not mistaken, about 100,000. A lot smaller compared to Northstar that’s home to like... 2,000,000.”

“Ah.” Mingwei nodded.

“You said you were from Green Snow?” A merchant asked.

“Yes.” Mingwei nodded. Green Snow’s population was around 800,000. Way bigger than Redmaw.

“Why didn’t you join the Green Insect Blade Sect? Isn’t that a better sect?”

Mingwei smiled. “Ah. I wanted something different.” They most chatted on idle, simple stuff. It wasn’t uncommon for children to travel in this world, for sect trials. Usually it’ll be escorted, but if a sect was far away, it’s not entirely uncommon for 10 or 11 year old children to make the trip themselves. If they died during the trip, well, that’s a risk some families take, though most parents would insist their children attempt to sect in their hometown.

They arrived at Redmaw Town later that same night, and Mingwei found a small guest lodge to stay and prepare for the Sect Trials.

-

The Sect Trials happened a few days later, and during that waiting time, Mingwei spent most of his time cultivating. During this time, he didn’t use his wooden-ball formation, because he didn’t want to attract unnecessary attention. He reckoned that the Sect may have similar formations for cultivation, and those larger scale formations would be more effective.

Qi Cultivated

330/??? (+150, 15 days x 10 Qi per day)

So, Mingwei finally made the walk to the Longbow Sect’s area. It was a massive mansion at the edge of Redmaw Town, but with walls. The gates are open for the Sect Trial, and already, quite a bit of people are waiting. A few hundred candidates, of which, perhaps 30 to 50 will be selected.

All of them were made to wait in a vast empty field in the outer compounds of Redmaw Town. Mingwei noticed, probably a 300. It’s not a bad number, but of course, pales in comparison with what Northern Star Sect or the Green Insect Blade Sect’s sect trials, where the potential candidates are in the tens of thousands.

It’s a lopsided system, that the bigger sects get a larger share of candidates.

An elder got to the stage. He looked quite old, and he seemed authoritative.

“Welcome everyone, candidates from near and far. I am Elder Hulong of the Longbow Sect, and today, we are conducting our Sect Trials. I’m sure all of you are excited, but I must start with bad news. I believe almost 70% of you will all fail.”

Mingwei looked at the other candidates, and wondered how many would make the cut.

“Alright.” Elder Hulong said. “Let’s do some really simple tests. All of you who are here because you have developed at least a core, so what comes next should be easy. Those who can’t do this before the time is up can just leave right now. Those who can, show it to the Core Disciples standing in front.”

He stopped, and did a punch. And his hands had a faint glow on it.

“Gather your Qi, push it through your Arm Meridian, and concentrate on your arms. This is a basic [Qi Punch].”

He looked at the group, and then he did it again. Mingwei nodded. Qi Punch. Truly was simple enough for a sect trial.

[Basic Qi Punch - deals 1 damage per Qi spent. Minimum Qi - 1. Maximum Qi - 200,000]

Mingwei paused, and easily did a Qi punch. A core disciple saw it, and told him to walk to another corner of the field. But strangely, there are some that could not do it. Indeed, just by this alone, 100 candidates were told to leave.

“That was quick.” Mingwei heard some of the other candidates chatter. Mingwei wondered how that’s possible. If one is able to form a core, they should certainly be able to use a Qi punch. He expected almost everyone to pass that simple test.

“Alright. The next test is this.” Elder Hulong got into a stance and did a block. “This is the Basic Qi Barrier. Everyone, pair up, and punch each other with your Qi Punch. Your job is to block it with the Qi Barrier in your hand.”

Ah, now this was still basic. Concentrating QI into reinforcing the hand required a bit more understanding of locational Qi control.

[Basic Qi Barrier- blocks 1.5 damage per Qi spent. Minimum Qi - 1. maximum Qi - 300,000]

A boy next to Mingwei turned and bowed. “Let’s practice.”

He launched a simple Qi punch at Mingwei, and indeed, it was crude and unrefined. He probably used about 5 Qi in the punch. Mingwei spent 4 Qi, and then blocked it. A clean block.

“Alright, your turn.” Mingwei nodded and used a Qi Punch with only 2 Qi. The boy also managed to create a barrier and also blocked it successfully. But he spent 10 Qi on it.

Again, he most likely lacked the ability to sense how much Qi was used in the punch, so he wasted a lot of his Qi in a block that overdid it.

Still, a success by the measure of the Trial’s requirements. A core disciple came and told both of them to go to another side of the field. Through this simple process, another 80 candidates were removed. Now, there’s probably 150 to 200 candidates left.

“Great!” Elder Hulong smiled. “Now we go to the third part of our sect trials.”

He stood in a stance, and he leaped. “Now, this is a basic cultivation move, called the [Basic Qi Leap]. It involves channelling Qi into your legs via your leg meridians, and jumping further. It involves a bit of timing and coordination to release your Qi at the same time as jumping.”

[Basic Qi Leap - Jumps 10 feet per 5 Qi. Costs minimum 5 Qi per leap.. Minimum Qi - 5. maximum Qi - 100]

Mingwei nodded and jumped 10 feet easily. So did many others, and yet, the candidates were quickly whittled down to only 90 left.

In large sects, such moves are already expected to be known, and so their sect trials can be more... exotic. The number of candidates are so large that they might as well just cut away a bigger chunk with harder tests.

“Alright. We’re left with only 90!” Elder Hulong was rather pleased, and he walked among the remaining candidates. “Good. The next part will be a bit more interesting. All of you will face off against our Inner Disciples. You will be expected to attack the core disciples in front of you, and you will be assessed by how many attacks you land. The Core Disciples CAN attack back, but don’t worry, they won’t use much Qi.”

There were 10 Inner Disciples.

“So, let’s get to it?”