V5C16: Application

Out of the fifty-three that had initially applied, four were unable to provide anything of value within the half-hour given to them, although that did not mean that they were necessarily out of the competition. Seventeen obtained a poor evaluation, eleven managed to pass, nine performed at an above-average level, seven did well and five, including the Ascendant, did excellently or better.

As one might expect, the three other people that performed excellently did not do so due to obtaining all of the information from their manual before even coming into physical contact with it, so there were still notable differences between their performances. The worst among them managed to present everything after the thirty minutes of reading and just barely reached the required level, the second managed to present a similar resonant technique combination as she had, and the third managed to finish in twenty-five minutes and by bringing up the kinds of things that the previous two did.

There were similar differences between the performances of the other groups, so some assumed that the ratings of their ability were done rather arbitrarily.

None of them were confident enough in announcing such a suspicion, whether due to being afraid of the sixth realm aura that radiated from his body, or because they did think that there was some kind of reasoning hidden behind that still face of his that they did not fully understand.

What none of them were hesitant to do was admit that if the woman with crimson hair had acted completely fairly, then she was certainly going to be far beyond every single one of them, at least in this challenge. It was incredible to get that much information within such little time with one’s spiritual perception, especially due to their assumption that she wouldn’t be able to reach out all that far with her spiritual perception.

After all, the typical spiritual perception range of a fifth realm cultivator – which they were able to identify her as due to her releasing her aura freely – was only fifteen metres. From where she had been standing before, she would have barely been able to reach the manuals as they emerged from the archive. Hence, she would have had to scan the manuals the moment that they had neared the door, giving her no more than a minute to get through it and then make the conclusions that she did arrive at. Something like that was absolutely incredible, and not something that they wanted to compete in as there would simply be no point in doing this.

Fortunately, knowledge didn’t always translate to power, and they didn’t need to best her in this regard. So long as they performed well enough in the four trials, and there weren’t eight more competitors beside them and the red-haired woman, they would have no reason to clash at all.

“If any of you have reconsidered, then you might as well leave,” the man instructed.

Those that failed did look a little down, but they did not leave and quickly settled their internal conflicts as they raised their heads and radiated whatever confidence they could manage to bring out. The rest had not done too poorly, including the seventeen that still failed to pass, so they imagined that they would be able to redeem themselves with the other parts of the entrance ceremony. Provided that the rule of four passes required the equivalent, and not the exact outcome, a better performance on the other three parts would be sufficient.

Wei Yi was almost sure that this was not the case, judging by the man’s thoughts, but she wasn’t going to disappoint them this early on. There was a chance for them to excel in some aspect, after all.

Once they were all confirmed that they had no intention to leave, he was able to continue, “The second aspect is application. Knowledge is useless if it cannot be applied, but there are also different ways of applying anything that you know. For that reason, this test will be more free in nature. You have the choice of any of the techniques that had been brought out, all of which were simple in principle, and you will face someone that has practised that technique. You must use knowledge of that technique and nothing else either to land a hit, or to avoid a hit. You can keep going after the first, but we will hold back less with every attack.”

Given that the people attempting to become honorary members of the Preservers were all in the third realm or above, this wasn’t so much a threat if they wished to compete with the warrior in the same realm. On the other hand, if they were to only use the technique itself in one way or another, they would struggle far more.

However, most of them also knew that this was something that they would need to do if they wished to succeed in the overall entrance ceremony. So long as they could reach the best outcome that the Preservers hoped to see, they would be able to get in regardless of any previous failures. Hence, the twenty-one that hadn’t had success at first got even more interested in proving themselves than those that had just barely completed what had been wanted from them.

Wei Yi had wanted to go first, but the leading figure raised his hand and blocked her.

“This will only give you more time to prepare, which you hardly need, but if you are to go first, you may set an unreasonable standard for the others.”

“Isn’t your rating system independent of our performance?” she asked.

“It is, but I have not explained it, so none of you can be sure. Unless you think that you are worse in this field, then you will be going last, and with a technique that has not yet been explained to a sufficient degree. You will be challenging me in this test. Understood?”

“… I’ve already read every book, so you may want to get another few… or not at all. Can I use one of the techniques that you know?”

“… We will speak about this after the rest of this group makes their attempt.”

She shrugged and stepped back, as she wasn’t particularly concerned with this either way. With her previous performance, she had already passed, so she could skip the next three tests and have as much of an ability to get in as if she did her absolute best on the next few challenges. It would be best for her not to do so, however, as she had no reason to avoid challenge and no reason to avoid getting a good impression from the man in charge.

Provided that she would be allowed to browse more of the libraries that the Preservers had under their control, she would be all too happy to show off quite a few of her skills, far more than their tests might allow her.

The others didn’t voice any complaints, so they were able to proceed onto the process of the second challenge, with the northern woman coming first. She had performed at a passing level in the first one, so most were seeking to use her experience to be as ready for the challenge as possible, rather than hoping for a showcase of excellence.

Judging by the fact that she didn’t even consider picking a different technique to attempt to make use of over the one she had personally read, she wasn’t too confident in herself either, and her trembling hands made it clear to those that noticed that she might not have been confident at all. She only barely managed to pick up the manual, check through every page to make sure she didn’t miss anything about the technique she had chosen, the Starry Torrent. It was a relatively simple technique, as the leading Preserver had said, based around gathering small quantities of energy then sending them out widely and inaccurately as spheres to attack nearby foes.

This was an introductory technique for the second realm, lacking any particularly defining features that might make it popular among the cultivators of the world. It was made even worse by the fact that it was the closest thing to pure planar techniques that was available to the common people of the Planar Continents, although it had a slight leaning and affinity to flame and was thus a flame-type skill.

Even without using other planar methods or having a physique, it was relatively easy to evade the attacks by an unskilled cultivator, but equally as difficult to evade when one’s practise and skill was applied to take full advantage of the traits of the method. All of this was similar to what one might expect from a technique, which is what made some confident in saying that there was no such thing as a bad – or worthless, at the very least – technique, only a cultivator that is incapable of using them properly.

In Wei Yi’s mind, this wasn’t usually the case, as some of her techniques were literally superior to the vast majority of similar techniques that she had seen, but the point still remained. Someone who had cultivated a method for some time would be vastly superior at using it than someone who had first read it half an hour ago, trying to focus on intricate details over the simplest aspects of the technique, which had to be priorities while learning a skill at first.

For that reason, as she and one of the Preservers that had stood by the side of the steps to the archive came away from their respective groups, the Minor Achievement Stage accomplishment in that technique of the latter was almost certain to overwhelm the woman. She would need to rely on one of the finer details that she did learn to evade an attack if she wanted a higher chance of success, as trying to attack her foe would be more likely to result in a complete failure to properly circulate her energy and instead damage her far more than she could ever damage her foe. It would be incredibly risky to do anything else.

“I… will attempt to evade the attack.”

The armoured man she faced nodded, clapping his gauntleted hands together. A burst of energy surged out from the collision and quickly formed a small sphere around them, barring others from entering and them from going too far out of the field. After all, if the challenge was won through flying off out of the district, it wouldn’t show a good understanding of the techniques.

“You have a minute to prepare, after which I will attack. My use of the technique will not kill you, but I cannot guarantee that significant injury will not occur.”

“Understood. I can only use my own strength for this, right?” the northern woman asked.

“Only your own body, and the technique. Any uses of a physique or abnormal physical trait are technically permitted, but they will affect your rating, and will require you to succeed several times against more powerful attacks in order to pass. As such, if you do have an abnormal physical condition, it is best for you to hold back and find a way to make use of knowledge rather than brute force. This will be noted in your assessment, and while it is unlikely to improve your rating, it may work in your favour if you attempt to join us fully.”

The woman nodded and shut her eyes, her trembling hands slowly calming and her breathing slowing down. As the sound from the inside faded, some of the spectating participants were no longer afraid to speak and interrupt the trial of the woman in the centre of the barrier, but they remained quiet.

Some wanted to avoid interrupting their own thoughts, and others didn’t want to affect others, as they knew that they would be beaten up if they made too much noise. There was a lot to learn from this experience, and if they overlooked it now, they would suffer when it came to be their turn. It was also impossible to ignore the presence of the crimson-haired woman beside them, observing the proceedings carefully.

Although it was hard to guess what she could do beside reading a book quickly, her general stance and the way that she had talked to the leading figure of the Preservers here displayed that she was certainly worthy of being respected. To needlessly anger her and stop her from studying the situation in the same way would be beyond stupid, regardless of their own wants and desires.

One minute passed, and the Preserver acted right away.

From the left hand of the armoured man, a dozen spheres of violet light that was mixed in with crimson burst out and flew at a slow yet agonising pace. It wasn’t that they were too fast to avoid, but that they were just slow enough that any careless movement that could be made against a simple burst of energy wouldn’t work against them, as they would be able to shift their path and travel in the direction of the target before their target could move again. After all, without the use of some technique or even planar energy, moving on the air was impossible.

Even Wei Yi was not currently able to step on the chains of Law without using some of her energy, and couldn’t go beyond this without overcoming the heavens themselves, a field that she had not yet fully comprehended either.

All of the bolts of energy spread out and flew towards their target, or, rather, in the woman’s direction. Some were only moving in that direction vaguely for the moment, but would be certain to come back around or curve their trajectory the moment that it seemed advantageous to the one using them. Again, this was what made the technique so dangerous when nothing but the same technique could be utilised, as it was rather hard to predict all of the movements that could be made.

The northerner didn’t dodge, as expected, but instead drew upon her energy and desperately circulated the energy within her body, trying to manifest a number of similar particles.

She was attempting to use the technique she had just recently checked in one attempt.

To the majority of those in the area, this seemed both absurd and incredibly ambitious, so few of them were able to take the proper time needed to comprehend whether there was any legitimate chance of this succeeding.

‘I can tell she won’t be able to fully perform the technique in one go. She is missing too many of the fundamental pathways and is going about their order and speed all wrong. That being said, something will come out of this, and the question is whether she understands this well enough to take advantage of it,’ Wei Yi analysed calmly, resisting the temptation to help her out and quickly provide her with a little guidance via carefully-placed taps of energy, ‘If I keep getting involved with every woman of note I come across, I’ll seem like the typical main characters of the worst stories I’ve seen. I mean, I’m obviously not doing this for the same reasons as they are, but it is still strange…’

With everything in the world, it was hard to tell what was caused by sheer coincidence, what was the fault of the heavens and their will, and what she had caused with the high level of the Dao she had, so she didn’t devote too much time to it, especially not after she had already decided not to help. Instead, she just watched carefully.

Exactly as she had predicted, when the northern woman attempted to conjure the Starry Torrent, the outcome was hardly optimal. It clearly affected her body and did some minor damage, and the resulting spheres of energy were closer to flimsy sparks that could be put out with the lightest breeze. Even a normal person with no cultivation whatsoever would only be lightly burned by these sparks, not to mention a Preserver with a fourth realm cultivation and the properly executed version of the technique on their side.

Hence, with the sparks that were fewer than the spheres by three, she had to do something to overcome the incoming Starry Torrent, which had already gotten half-way to her.

The woman breathed out a hot breath, a fine red mist coming out alongside it from the internal injuries she had endured. With those sparks floating beside her hand, she thrust it out and willed them all to fly out towards the nearest sparks that were heading straight for her. At the same time, after their movement began, she ran after them.

This happened quickly, in mere moments, so the outcome was clear in less than a few seconds after the two sides shot out their Starry Torrents. Judging this by the knowledge that most had about the technique, this should have been a clear victory for the Preserver, and some of the audience were clearly sure of this, as they muttered to those near to them about the exact way in which this fight would end, and exactly how the northern woman would fail.

Despite that, the spark and sphere collided, and both exploded straight away. At once, nine projectiles from both sides were removed from the field, and the three that remained from the Preserver’s use of the technique were too far away to prevent the northern woman from rushing straight up to him.

She threw a punch at his chest, not managing to summon all that much strength, so when it landed, her fist was hurt more than his plate armour, which was completely unscathed.

Nevertheless, this was a success.

“One round out of the way, succeeded in landing a hit via the Starry Torrent method. You would have failed to evade the rest, however, as I could hit you before your body would be able to summon three more projectiles,” the Preserver said, his voice once again passing through the barrier that weakened around them, “If you wish, we can continue, but this will tax your arm and may lead to permanent damage to the meridians if you persist in this fashion.”

“No, no need. I had tried to go just far enough to be able to explode your bolts from afar, but I guess it wasn’t that easy.”

“Using a technique on first try – if you aren’t some kind of monster,” the Preservers all glanced at Wei Yi, as did the rest of the participants after a moment, “is not meant to be simple. To also manage to control your strength perfectly would require a far greater understanding of the technique.”

“Still all it is, though,” Wei Yi said, seeing as she was already being singled out by the rest, “With the right knowledge, you could use a technique while understanding nothing about what it is meant to do. There are plenty of examples of that in history, resulting in people being controlled by a mental technique they unknowingly practise while thinking it is meant to be something else. In the future, it would be good to be sure of the basic circulation method no matter what other information you search for in the technique.”

The latter portion was amended after she considered the fact that some may get a little aggravated at being criticized without any suggestions being offered.

“Indeed, that is sound advice,” the Preserver leading the ceremony nodded, “You have passed, so please leave the barrier and allow the next person to enter. Take the time to heal your internal injuries, and request a basic healing pill if you require it. One can be provided to you, but no more than one per challenge. To use it wisely is also part of the tests.”

As she didn’t wish to be in a vulnerable position in the next two tests, which were likely to involve at least a little action akin to the one she had just experienced, the northern woman accepted one such pill and headed out of the spherical shield, coming out near to the Ascendant.

She hesitated for a little bit, then came a step closer.

“Thanks for the advice.”

“You’re welcome. The rest will be able to make better use of the advice than you, so… Preserver, are competitors allowed to help one another in any way?”

“That timing is abysmal,” he replied dryly, “You have already done so, and there are no rules against it. Don’t go beyond advice and assistance in healing. Any involvement during the challenges, even if it is from an action taken prior to them, will disqualify you and the person you involved.”

“Should I even bring up the fact that healing also affects one’s performance in the next challenges?”

“You don’t need to do so, just focus on what it was that you had wanted to do. Also, in the future, you may refer to me as Ru Shi. Since I had forgotten to introduce myself, I can understand the confusion.”

He promptly turned away and waved to another participant, informing them to enter the barrier, so they looked back to one another, and in particular the pill that had been offered to the northern woman. It was a beneficial one for her condition, but it was only a one-star pill that would be effective at little more than alleviating the discomfort from the injury rather than healing it.

For that reason, Wei Yi would have to modify it ever so slightly.

“I’m Wei Yi, by the way. Give me that for a moment,” she said, holding out her lone hand to accept the pill.

“Do you have some method of enhancing it?” the northern woman asked, passing it over after a moment, “Also, I’m Chao Jin.”

“I do, although it is more of an exchange between the duration of the effect and the… well, the effectiveness. I can boost the latter and shorten the former, which generally benefits the vast majority of pills. Hence, you will receive double the effect in barely half of the time, which should be enough to recover the damage to the fourteen meridian channels you have torn apart there,” she explained, holding the pill between her thumb and index finger while carefully weakening her energy so that it wouldn’t do too much, “You are cultivating a fire-type technique, right? You should focus on the meridians in the upper arm during your cultivation for the next few days, which should result in some long-term benefits.”

“Uh… Thank you? Are you sure?”

“If I’m wrong, I might as well abandon entering the Preservers. You can trust me about simple things like this.”

She took her fifth realm energy and slowly spread it out to the level of the fourth realm, then the third, second and finally split apart the thin strands of energy to an enormous cloud of cosmic light, a small clump of which was shoved into the pill. This was a small test of her own energy control, so she didn’t mind it too much.

The final result should have been sufficiently weak, so she put the pill through the slightly parted lips of the norther woman, shutting her jaw so that she didn’t try to spit it out. Chao Jin’s eyes widened for a moment, a gasp being suppressed by her shut mouth, but she didn’t interpret this strangely and swallowed the pill after a moment, consuming it with her energy at the same time to begin digesting the medicinal essence.

For a woman in the fourth realm – the very first stage of it, admittedly – it was not particularly difficult to break down a pill, and so she quickly felt the effects of this influenced pill. The moment that the outer shell was broken, the energy within burst out and spread throughout her body.

It took effect in instants, mending the many minor injuries that formed within her body as a result of the reckless use of the Starry Torrent. That took up little of the overall energy that had been contained within the pill, and so the rest went to influencing many of the previous injuries and general damage that she had sustained over the many years. Given the low grade of the pill, it couldn’t do too much even with the infusion of cosmic energy, but the additional bonus granted by the influence of the Ascendant’s energy gave it just enough power to amend some of the most basic hidden injuries.

These occurred in almost everyone that ever endured the world around them without the same kind of healing that the cosmic energy and the Ascendant physiques could provide, and so there was plenty to be healed in her body. The northern woman was unable to feel most of these changes, but she did realise that her body felt a little better than usual.

“This is… amazing. Are you able to share this technique? I have a certain budget for acquiring-”

“Nope. Not compatible with your cultivation method, body, or anything of the sort. Also, this is much more expensive than a simple technique,” she interrupted her.

Chao Jin was, understandably, a little surprised by the sudden rejection, but it was nothing unusual in the world of cultivation. There were plenty of techniques that had certain secrets and abilities that made them impossible to spread, and even if the person using them wanted to, there was always a chance that these techniques belonged to some larger organisation that didn’t want these methods to spread. Hence, it was perfectly ordinary for techniques to be difficult to share.

Even without that, it would be strange if anyone was willing to share a powerful technique with someone they had met only a few moments ago, so there was no reason to question the blunt refusal from the Ascendant.

As they finished, the next person in the barrier began, with the barrier having been enhanced by the Preserver that entered after the first one. They fought for several rounds, and then headed out to allow the next pair to enter and perform the same trial. Some were more successful than others, but eventually, it came to Wei Yi’s turn.

She entered the barrier and looked upon her opponent, the Preserver named Ru Shi, who looked back with an expression that showed a hint of focus and wariness.

“So, which technique should I be trying to deal with? I can detect thirteen techniques that you have cultivated beyond Minor Achievement, so I can challenge you with any of those and win for at least fifteen rounds, assuming that going beyond that won’t unleash something about the techniques that simply cannot be resolved with an Uninitiated usage of them,” Wei Yi said, “I could resolve all the seven that are above Great Stride in a similar manner, with the same amendment.”

“Then I will provide no introduction to any of my methods. Begin.”

In a few rounds, the results of the second round were clear, and Wei Yi had once more passed perfectly, in no small part due to the Preserver getting understandably horrified of the way in which every technique’s planar construct seemed to explode with a quick swipe of her hand, or a casual breath.