By the time Wu Niu had arrived at the Wu family estate, the sun was directly above his head. Mid-day had come in its full glory, and the soul tests were soon to begin. The clouds had dispersed, leaving the sky empty. The morning humidity had also dispersed, and now it was rather arid and dry.

Approaching one of the side doors that led to the courtyard, Wu Niu’s father appeared before him to usher him inside. He looked slightly annoyed at Wu Niu’s, apparently late arrival.

Looking down toward Wu Niu, he spoke disconcertedly.

"Where have you been?”

Wu Niu opened his mouth to respond but was cut off before he could speak.

“The tests are about to start. Hurry to the courtyard. I'll be there soon. I have to finish some business first."

Closing his mouth, Wu Niu gave his father a gloomy nod and then hurried along.

Outside in the courtyard sat the family patriarch upon a polished wooden throne. He wore white robes, which were standard colored attire for the Wu Family residents. He was also quite handsome, which is an effect of body tempering. His grayed hair managed to retain some of its youthfulness. It was no doubt due to the impact that qi has on age. He was a practitioner retiree with "Silver" realm qi.

Essentially the "Silver" qi realm is three qi realm breakthroughs above the "Earthly" qi realm. “Earthly” qi realm is the realm in which all non-demon beings are born having.

Each realm of qi comes with significantly more potent qi than the last realm. Although this is the case, qi realms aren’t the end all be all factor in determining the strength of one’s qi. For example, if person A is on the verge of a breakthrough into the next realm, and person B, who just broke into that same realm, were to fight, then person A would win. Regardless of whether they are in the same qi realm or not, the person further into their cultivation will hold the power advantage. However, qi realms are still very important because whereas two people in the same realm have a small difference in power, two people of different realms have a substantial gap in power.

As far as Wu Niu was concerned, "Silver" realm qi was plenty strong.

The patriarch was the only "Silver" realm within the entire Wu Family. Everybody else was either "Earthly, Copper or Bronze" qi realm.

-His qi is so oppressive. I’m not even “Purity” body tempering stage, and yet I can still feel it.

In front of him was a table. Upon it were bottles of body tempering pills lined up in an orderly fashion. A dark, slightly transparent black orb sat on a pedestal in front of the patriarch. It was a soul gauge.

A soul gauge is an orb that, upon being touched, displays a projection of the soul of the person who touched it. The size of which can then be categorized into different tiers of strength.

Though there are no souls that are precisely the same size, putting them into different tiers is sufficient enough to measure the general relative strength of someone’s souls.

Stepping through the door into the courtyard, Wu Niu observed as a gathering crowd of families and servants came to witness the yearly event. Every year, the children that came of age would have their soul strength tested and would be given a certain portion of the pills accordingly.

The 12-year-olds who received the pill would have to ingest them in conservative doses as to preserve them over the next three years. At which point, they would be able to take the martial trials for the Silver Mountain martial arts sect.

Very few Wu family children have ever succeeded in passing the Silver Mountain sect’s trials (One of them being the patriarch).

Wu Niu had never been to one of these events as his father said "it was best for a boy to not see the worst of humanity” From what Wu Niu heard his friends say, the kids that come back having failed the trials are often viciously shunned and mocked for many months, and those who fail the soul test are shunned for life.

Wu Niu watched as the other 12-year-olds approached the soul gauge one by one and individually tested their soul strength.

The patriarch told every kid who had lower than a 3rd tier soul that they were unfit for martial arts and asked them to give up on their endeavors. His harsh words irked Wu Niu, but he couldn't rightly speak out against him. The patriarch was the patriarch, after all.

Eventually, a boy by the name of Wu Chao went up to be tested. Wu Chao was a good-hearted and innocent boy and was great friends to Wu Niu for most of their lives.

Resting his hand upon the soul gauge, Wu Chao’s joyous plastered face turned to one of dismay. His soul strength wasn’t even 1st tier.

The patriarch rolled his eyes and told Wu Chao to step away and leave the courtyard. His soul strength visibly repulsed many of the people in the crowd.

"That boy's father should be disgusted, for birthing such worthless trash."

“I’m ashamed to even be in the same family as him.”

Wu Chao's lip began quivering as he tried to hold back his tears.

At seeing Wu Chao's distraught, Wu Niu remembered back to the times when they would go out into woods to play make-believe as practitioners. They both had the dream of becoming great practitioners one day.

Wu Chao's hopes and dreams most likely shattered at that moment, and Wu Niu was forced to do nothing but stand by and watch as the mob viciously mocked and ridiculed him.

Running for the gate, Wu Chao turned the corner, escaping from the derisive mob hurling insults.

Wu Niu wanted to chase after him and reassure him he was still a worthwhile person, but couldn’t, because he still hadn't been tested yet.

Under his breath, Wu Niu whispered, "Tch. These people are despicable."