The First Test

We saw so many people in such a confined space. I felt several hands grab places not meant to be grabbed. Giggling of girls as they were pushed up against me. Poor Yi Meng had it worse. I saw her struggling against the tide of people, I grabbed her hand and yanked her over to my side. Alicia managed to grab ahold of me and latch herself onto me. I pulled the three of us towards the station's exit. They clung to me as we forced our way through the crowd mowing people over. We reached the exit as Heng finally found us.

"Well, this is absolute insanity," Heng said as he yanked us out of the crowd.

A car was waiting on us, we got in as we watched others pile onto buses. Several masters seemingly glared in our direction. I simply flipped them the middle finger. I could see their faces turn a dark hue of red and heard faint yelling as we drove off. The car took a windy path with the buses following our direction. I watched as the scenery became something out of a science fiction book. Floating mountains with buildings with ancient Chinese architecture sat. People flew past us on large swords. My jaw almost hit the floor of the car. Yi Meng only laughed at my shocked expression. Heng also laughed.

"You will get used to these kinds of things. The Heng family is massive. We are tied very closely to the immortal plains. We even have a fairy that will be judging our competition. So, the rift between the two Is very thin here. So, the strange becomes reality." Heng explained.

I just soaked it in. Everything was already strange with just cultivation being added to my life let alone what was happening before me. It was wonderful, everything I saw I wanted more of. I could see why cultivation was addicting. the power alone would be enough for most to suffer through its trials. I would shudder at the thought of who stands at the top of this world. Suddenly a medium-sized female flew by our window, slowed down, and made eye contact with me. I smiled and nodded to her with respect. The woman smiled back and waved excitedly. She zoomed off showing her acrobatic skills. She then hovered in front of the car keeping up with its speed. She waved at Heng. Heng let out a scared yelp as he saw who was waving at him. She frowned and went back to my window. She put her tongue out towards Heng and motioned for me to roll down my window. I did and she kissed a card and handed it to me. On it was a number and her lipstick. Her golden eyes locked on mine as she made the call me a symbol. I nodded with a smile while YI Meng was punching my arm.

"We can't take you anywhere! Do you even know who that was? That was the immortal fairy who is judging our competition. How do you start trouble everywhere you go?" Yi Meng said continuing the abuse to my arm.

"I didn't even do anything to stop it, you bratty sister," I said trying to defend myself.

Heng just looked at me with shock.

"I don't even know how to comprehend this." He said quietly.

We arrived at the base of a massive set of stairs. At the foot stood a man more ancient than time itself. He looked like he was waiting for everyone. We all got out and stood in neat formations. Heng moved us towards the front of the crowd.

"Welcome family members, branch members, and sect members of the Heng family. I am Chu Heng. Your patriarch and one of the three testers of this competition. The first stage is simple. These steps are designed to weed out the weak among you. Each step will exert an amount of pressure on your body when you can't handle any more sitting on the step you stop at. To pass you must be in the top thousand candidates. You may begin." Chu Heng stepped aside and motioned for us to start.

I took the first step and didn't feel anything, so I quickened my pace, soon I had gone further than a hundred stairs. The weight started to become noticeable, but not anywhere too close to unbearable. I looked behind me to see several others struggling to keep up. I felt a pair of hands grip mine and I looked down to see Alicia.

"How can you still stand?" She groaned as I kept going.

"I don't know, but this is baby stuff for me," I replied shrugging as I moved up another few steps.

I could see the girls Sherry and Bailey not too far behind us, I looked at Alicia and put her on my shoulder.

"Unhand me rogue" she cried out as I began taking steps two or three at a time.

"Let me know when it's too much ok?" I replied as I kept climbing

about halfway up she begged me to set her down and continue. I nodded and gently set her down. She waved me off trying to catch her breath. I took off with a wave and began running up the steps. About halfway up them, I could begin to truly feel the pressure. By the time I was almost to the top it felt like an anvil was on my back and only getting heavier. With just a few steps to go, I fell to my knees and began crawling toward the top. One stair to go I thought to myself as I could feel blood gushing from my nose. I drug myself up that last step and rolled over. Looking down at me was the Immortal fairy. Her beauty radiated with the sun.

"Gorgeous," I whispered.

She looked at me and put her finger to her lips to quiet me. She grabbed my arm and stood me up, dragging me over to a table with a bunch of seats. The old man from earlier there. He looked at me with amusement and smiled.

"Good I'm glad my boy still has a good eye. I am your grandfather Chu Heng. or adoptive grandfather I should say." The Chu laughed as he hugged me.

I was in shock, all the special treatment seemed to make sense. why we had our cabin, our car, and why we were in the front of the formation. Suddenly Yi Meng appeared out of breath.

"You're a damn monster, Jason. I have never seen anyone skip three steps at a time." She huffed glaring at me.

I simply shrugged as she took her seat next to me. We were now just waiting on the rest to finish.