An Important Guest and Announcement!
The Double-Edged Sword was the name given by Tianshang Long to the two Swords he had carved for himself. He felt that the name was stupid, but Aaron made it a requirement since he had to track the progress of his training of the Double-Edged Sword. He did not care about the name as much as the usage of the sword. He had designed the sword himself. He also carved the sword himself using Black Wood. This wood was lightweight but was hard to break and chip.
He had carved the Swords himself as he found out from Old Man Long that concentrating on something for a long time would increase his mental energy and its control. Also, he had started to train in hidden weapons. They were thin sharp knives, and he could change their trajectory by 3% using his mental energy. The hidden weapons were also carved from Black Wood.
This was under the case when his mental energy was constantly under the pressure by the ring given Grandma Ming and also the suppression by Old Man Long. During the training last year, he had asked Old Man Long to keep his mental energy sea under constant suppression. Being a scientist, he knew that quality was more important than quantity. He himself believed that 'Simple is best.' He liked to keep his things simple as he had realized during his experiments on planet Earth, that things that began complicated had the most simple solutions. Tianshang Long valued control over the amount.
Tianshang Long had reached a bottleneck in his training and no matter how much he trained hard he could not break through.
He had entered his mental energy sea and asked Old Man Long for help, but the Old Man just replied lazily saying that he had to find the answer himself and disappeared.
Tianshang Long finished today's training and took a bath before dressing up. He looked in the mirror seeing the changes to his facial features, he smiled wryly. Since he was a scientist on Earth, he never worked out. Though he was not in a bad shape, he was not used to the current sharp cheekbones and chiseled abs and biceps. His eye color also changed from black to gray. Tianshang Long's eyesight was perfect but his habit of pushing back his spectacles, when deep in thought was still there and he would subconsciously rub his forehead between the eyebrows.
He left the training room and went to his parents. Since it was the new year, every family in the Sea and Mountain Village would gather and celebrate.
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Looking at Tianshang Long come up from the training room, Tianshang Ling sighed. She had seen Tianshang Long train like crazy the last year. She knew that his motivation for training so hard was his elder sister. Tianshang Ling felt that Tianshang Long would find it hard to catch up to his sister. But as a mother, she supported him as much as she can. So, she would always cook lots of healthy food for him and was always ready to help him with his training. Tianshang Long never asked Tianshang Yixing or Tianshang Ling for help in his training, though. He had to keep his progress a secret. As he had gone to the training area in the village and seeing the children practicing the Basic Arts and he found out that even if all the children training came at him together he would be able to beat them.
Whenever Tianshang Ling and Tianshang Yixing asked Tianshang Long to show his progress, he always showed them the Basic Sword Art to the 15% level. This already impressed his parents, and they felt that he was a Martial Art's genius.
Tianshang Ling hugged Tianshang Long and said, "Father has prepared a gift for you. I know that you are eager to protect your sister, remember this always, even if you fail, you always have a home to return to."
Hearing this Tianshang Long realized that he had made his parents worry about him excessively. As Tianshang Long was wondering how to make sure that his parents did not worry about him, Tianshang Yixing entered the room dressed in the Village's traditional dress, a long robe with a pair of hammers hanging from his waist.
"Let's go," said Tianshang Yixing and made his way out of the house. Seeing this Tianshang Long turned to his mother, confused at his father's behaviors. Tianshang Yixing seemed a bit excited and also a bit nervous at the same time.
"You will understand, the Village Head is making an important announcement today. We should go," said Tianshang Ling as she followed Tianshang Yixing out of the house.
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It had been snowing for a few days in the Sea and Mountain Village. The village was decorated with lights of different colors, and people could be seen eating sweets and snacks as they made way to the training area which was where the village gathering would take place. Little kids were seen riding on their father's shoulders and some were swinging between their parents, holding their hands.
Seeing this Tianshang Long had a sad smile on his face. He was thinking about the past for a while, about his parents on Earth, who suddenly vanished. He shook his head, getting these thoughts out his mind and then looked at his parents. Seeing them taking in hushed tones and looking happy together, he decided to let go of his seriousness for a while and behave like a spoiled brat.
He forcibly got in between them as they were walking and held both their hands. This surprised both Tianshang Yixing and Tianshang Ling, as they knew that their son would rarely show any open expressions of love. And seeing his shy and blushing expression and lowering his after doing it, they laughed. Tianshang Yixing rubbed Tianshang Long's hair, and Tianshang Ling planted a kiss on his forehead as they made their way to the training area, meeting and greeting the other people in the village.
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The training area was decorated with lights and lanterns. There was a stage set up at one end of the training area. Apparently someone important was arriving in the village. Tianshang Long could sense the nervousness and the excitement in the air. The villagers had an expression of anticipation on their faces. Tianshang Long saw the three trainers make their way to his parents and greet them. All of them were married, but the twin brothers did not have any children yet. Xiao Yu looked as arrogant as ever but he too had a nervous and excited expression on his face. Tianshang Yixing and Tianshang Ling were talking to the three couples in hushed tones. It seemed as if they were waiting for someone or something. Tianshang Long had locked himself up to train for a year and he was not aware of happenings in the village. Being a scientist by nature, he had a tendency to lose himself in the work he was doing.
As Tianshang Long was about to ask his parents what they were waiting for when an oppressive aura radiated from behind the stage. Though the crowd was silent after sensing the aura, Tianshang Long, who constantly had his mental energy suppressed by the Old Man and Grandma Ming's ring, did not feel any pressure. The aura disappeared as two people appeared on the stage. The villagers were quite, but their expression was full of anticipation.
Between two people on the stage, one was dressed in a gray robe. He was the village head of the Sea and Mountain Village. The other was also a man who was dressed in light yellow robes and had a band on his arm which had 'Hunter' written on it. He looked like an official from an organization. Tianshang Long knew that the official dresses in the Elemental World were different from planet Earth.
Tianshang Yixing at this moment whispered to Tianshang Long, "Long'er he is an official from the Hunter's Guild. The conditions to become a 'Hunter' are quite rigorous. You can also become an official Hunter. The exam to become a Hunter is held every 3 years. You can participate in the next competition."
Hearing this Tianshang Long wanted to protest but he was cut off by a haughty laugh. He turned around to see Xiao Yu laughing and sneering at him. Xiao Yu turned to his father Xiao Shen, and said, "Father, I'll be taking part in the Hunter's Guild Exam. The younger generation of the Sea and Mountain village is not afraid of challenges."
Hearing this Xiao Shen laughed loudly and patted his son the back, saying, "That's the spirit, my son. I know you will make your father proud."
Tianshang Long raised his eyebrows and smiled slightly after hearing this, he did not say anything and just shook his head indifferently. It was at this moment Village Head cleared his throat and started to speak, "Everyone we have today here with us the Envoy from the Hunter's Guild. As most of you know that this year will be the Hunters Guild examination. This is an important event for the younger generation. This will decide your future in this world. Becoming a part of the Hunter's Guild is a matter of pride, and it will also be beneficial to your future training. I'll let Mr. Cao from the Li City provide with the details of the Hunter's Guild Exam."
Mr. Cao had a slight smile on his face, and Tianshang Long could see from the expressions of the older generation that Mr. Cao was a frequent visitor to the village. But he still did not understand why the villagers and even his parents were excited about the Hunters Guild Exam.
Mr. Cao cleared his throat and began speaking in a dignified voice, "Three years have passed and I know most of you already know how the exams are conducted. This year the rules have changed since the Hunters Guild is celebrating its millennium foundation ceremony. The difficulty of the exams has increased by a lot. To prevent our younger generations from getting hurt, the exam is divided into two parts. The preliminary exam will determine the physical abilities of the examinee. After clearing this round the content of the next and the final exam will be declared to those who pass the exams. For the next hundred years cycle, the exams will be conducted as such. The Hunters Guild will be selecting only elites of the elites. The physical abilities exam will be held after a week. Your strength, agility, reaction time, Basic Weapon Art's progress and mental energy level will be examined. Anyone less than 10 years of age can register by tomorrow. Be prepared."
After saying this, Mr. Cao turned around and left the stage with the village head. After the announcement of the examination, the villagers exploded in the discussion.
"What the hell! Physical abilities test will also test the mental energy level?"
"This younger generation sure is unlucky."
"If the physical abilities test is so difficult, what about the final exam?"
The villagers were engrossed in their discussions when Tianshang Long asked his father, "How is this Hunters Guild examination different from the previous ones?"
Tianshang Yixing replied in a serious tone, "In the previous exam the physical test consisted only of strength and agility test for those under the age of ten. As for the final exam they usually had to hunt for a low-level beast or a free low-level beast depending upon their ages."
Tianshang Long knew that he could easily pass the first round of the exam. He was also aware that his physical strength might not be the highest in the children of his age group, but his other attributes were highest among them.
Tianshang Long took a deep breath, looked into his father's eyes and said with determination in his voice, "Father, I'll also take part in the Hunters Guild exam."