An Easy Exam

Eventually the carriage rolled to a firm stop, and Li Zian climbed out the back of it.

He yawned and stretched his arms and legs, feeling the warmth of the sun against his body.

His eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness of the day, and then he stared at the magnificent sight before him.

A massive mountain stretched high into the sky with a snow-capped peak and mystical winds and clouds floating around it.

In the distance he could see individuals standing on swords soaring through the air and riding on the backs of massive beasts.

He gawked at the impressive sight, but his attention was shortly turned away from the mountain and instead towards a man who suddenly appeared above them, standing in the air.

He donned a black and blue robe and had a revered aura around him. The man appeared to be in his fifties with a black and grey well-trimmed beard and short black hair atop his head.

There were maybe fifty people gathered on the ground below the man, all looking up at him.

Li Zian didn't need to use his divine sense- each and every one of these people were cultivators. Some were at the body training realm; some were at the Qi Condensing realm.

The ones that impressed him most were a ten-year-old youth donning black and silver robes with a sword by his hip with long brown hair, and a girl maybe eleven years old with dark auburn hair wearing a red robe with black vine-like patterns sewn into it.

Suddenly the man in the air spoke.

"Greetings, children. My name is Elder Yang, the fifth elder of the Skyward Sect. I will be conducting this month's exam to determine who, and who will not enter the sect."

The people standing below began to buzz, chatting in between themselves.

"Alright, quiet. I know you're all excited, but the truth is that I'm going to have to send a few of you away. Right now."

Elder Yang suddenly released a terrifying aura, and maybe half of the people gathered below were suddenly swept off their feet and thrown away into the sky where they promptly vanished.

Everyone else stared, bewildered, at what just happened to those people.

"They're fine, but they didn't meet the criteria to enter. You must be at the third layer of Qi Condensing to enter the sect."

Duan Jing frowned when he heard this from the carriage. "They changed it," he sighed.

"Everyone else here is at the Qi Condensing third layer, so you may partake in the exam," Elder Yang continued.

Everyone chattered between themselves some more, before Elder Yang spoke again. "The exam will be one of battle. You will face against a wooden puppet with the strength of a 5th Layer Qi Condensing Realm cultivator. If you can last five minutes against the puppet, you may enter the sect as an outer disciple. Otherwise, you may become a trial disciple or leave. It is up to you."

There were some loud complaints from the crowd, as they exclaimed about the unfairness of the test.

"I'm only at the third layer! There's no way I can last five minutes- this is unfair!"

"Hah, I'm at the fifth layer. This will be a piece of cake."

"I'm going to have to be a trial disciple, aren't I?"

Li Zian fixed his gaze on Elder Yang.

'This test is quite unfair. You must be at the third layer to partake in the exam, but the exam itself is much harder than that. Only a few people here will actually pass…'

Li Zian was extremely confident however- he was already at the seventh layer of Qi Condensing, so it would be easy to deal with the puppet.

Elder Yang waved his hand, and suddenly a raised stone platform appeared with a wooden puppet standing atop it.

The puppet was modelled like a fully grown man, carrying a wooden sword with strange inscriptions carved into it that glowed blue.

There were some more complaints from the crowd, but they were quickly shut down when Elder Yang spoke again.

"You will come up one by one to fight the puppet. We'll start with you," Elder Yang pointed at random boy.

The boy gulped and walked up to the stage where he clenched his fists and entered a fighting stance.

BOOM!

As soon as he stepped onto the stage, the wooden puppet launched forwards and smashed its wooden sword into his stomach, sending the boy soaring through the air and off the stage.

The crowd hummed about how the wooden sword it was using must be a spiritual artefact.

However a quick check with one's divine sense would prove that the wooden sword was completely ordinary- the puppet was just so fast and exerted so much force that it dealt a lot of damage against the cultivators.

Several more people went up one after another, and they were all thrown off the stage.

Li Zian decided it was his turn to go up. He leapt onto the stage, completely confident in his abilities.

"Sigh, this young man's just going to be beaten up like the rest of them."

"Indeed, it's a shame the exam is so difficult."

Li Zian pulled a strange face. 'What are these monkeys going on about? Nothing has even happened, yet they're so quick to judge. Somebody should put them in their place.'

The wooden puppet shot forwards, moving at a great speed.

Li Zian smirked and drew his blade.

A blue flash of water qi burst out, and the wooden puppet was cut clean in half.

Li Zian wasn't originally going to use his technique, as his strength alone could cut through it, but he realised last second that the wood that made up the puppet was special.

It had natural spiritual energy flowing through it- was it a type of natural treasure?

Li Zian sheathed his blade and looked up at Elder Yang.

"You pass. Stand by the mountain gate. You can wait and watch until the exam is over."

Li Zian nodded and walked over to a small stone arch that was positioned at the base of the mountain.

He turned around and continued to watch the exam. The wooden puppet regenerated. Li Zian silently wondered whether the wood the puppet was made from was the same type as the trees back in the villa grounds.

The other disciples continued to be battered by the puppet, being sent flying through the air with a single strike. Some lasted longer, but not by much.

Suddenly the girl in the red robe stepped forwards and clenched her fist. She was fighting in close combat it seemed.

Rose coloured qi burst out from her hands, coating her fists, and then it began to spiral outwards.

The rose qi burst forwards towards the wooden puppet which attempted to dodge, however it was enveloped by the strange qi and completely incinerated within a matter of seconds.

Several parts of its body were destroyed- its right arm and left leg were turned to ash, its head was now nice and crispy, and there were visible chunks missing in its torso.

She didn't move a single muscle, but still destroyed the puppet. 'Quite Impressive.' Li Zian thought.

'It's not a type of fire qi, but a unique type of qi. This girl must have a unique background.'

The girl made her way over to him, and stood by his side.

"Greetings, my name is Zhu Jie. May I ask your name?" She asked politely. Well mannered, impressive technique. Most definitely the daughter of a powerful family.

"Yi Zian," he nodded his head, and then turned his attention back to the arena.

More disciples went up and got their asses beaten, and eventually the silver-robed boy with long brown hair stepped up.

The boy drew his sword and the puppet dashed at him, swinging from the side with all its strength.

Then something strange happened- an image of a hundred swords appeared and descended upon the puppet, ripping through it.

However these swords weren't real- it was a restriction technique! They dealt no actual harm.

Li Zian knew a little about the different types of techniques from his parents. There were body techniques which focused on strengthening the body, sword techniques like his Rainfall Sword, there were fist techniques, illusory techniques, and many more types.

Restriction techniques involved restriction, obviously. Forcefully weakening enemies and slowing their movements.

That was the case with the wooden puppet- its movements had become so slow that it couldn't advance any further.

The boy took a casual step forwards and silvery qi shimmered around his sword. He decapitated the puppet with ease.

"You've passed," Elder Yang nodded his head in satisfaction.

The boy wandered over to Li Zian and Zhu Jie.

"Hello!" He said cheerfully. "I'm Qi Lei! Nice to meet you."

"Yi Zian," Li Zian told him. He knew one day he was going to mess up and say his real name. Why did he choose a surname so similar to his real one? He should have chosen something more complicated.

"Zhu Jie, nice to meet you," the girl nodded her head.

Qi Lei nodded his head happily and turned around to watch the exam continue.