The Way of the Sword (BL)

Chapter 160: Let the test begin!

These wooden puppets could exert peak strength from an Aurore Core Realms martial cultivator, so they needed adjustments so that new disciples who at most had second-level Realms Foundation cultivation, so they wouldn't get hurt while performing the blows with the wooden training puppet.

"Yes, everything is ready," Yun San said after adjusting one of the wooden puppets to have the third level of Realms Foundation for the strongest disciples.

"Brother Hong?" Qi Meiying asked looking at the handsome Hong Yu who seemed to look very seriously at the wooden puppets.

"Oh, everything is ready here too," Hong Yu said smiling gently. Qi Meiying sighed and assessed the puppets herself. It isn't that she didn't trust Master Han's two disciples but if something went wrong it would be her fault that she was supervising.

Yun San just frowned at Qi Meiying's attitude but he said nothing. To be honest, he didn't trust Hong Yu, who knows if an incident might happen, but he couldn't say anything about it... Without revealing the distorted and shameful relationship the two had been having.

Hong Yu just continued with a kind look when he saw Qi Meiying being even more careful with the wooden puppets.

"It's not like she can detect the power of greed inside the puppet," the coquettish voice in Hong Yu's head said spitefully. Hong Yu looked away from the other way so Yun San and Qi Meiying wouldn't see his guilty look.

The Spirit of Greed was at work again, he was powerless to stop this thing; his body looked like a puppet weaker than wooden training puppets. Hong Yu hid his own feeling of disgust and guilt from the Spirit of Greed who whispered terrible things in his head.

The disciples arrived in groups and surrounded the platform. Some disciples seemed to have bright eyes and were excited but most of the disciples were discouraged, which showed that they hadn't fully understood the Transverse Sword manual. As the recruitment of the Celestial Sword Sect was very broad and Master Han Yie's group went to the interior of the empire, most of the new disciples were uneducated or had no knowledge of martial cultivation.

It should be made clear that the majority of the new disciples were children between eight and 12-years-old, which is the ideal age to start forming the basis for martial cultivation. For this reason, even if they hadn't learned the technique it didn't mean that they would be wasteful or weak; they just needed systematic teaching in order to grow.

Unfortunately, these disciples are going to have to face the harsh reality of being weak and losing opportunities and treasures even young people had to face the world of the strongest. The shock of reality about the injustices of the world was being given in small doses to these new disciples.

"Group leaders please come closer," Qi Meiying said in a soft voice, using Heavenly Qi he could reach almost 10 kilometers (6,22 miles), so all the disciples and the guests could hear too.

"So, I'm going," Jong Kun said, saying goodbye and leaving Zemin Yan's group. So did Chong Bo and the other internal disciples who were looking after the newbies.

Other internal disciples appeared on stage each with a sign and a number.

"Everyone gets together according to their numbers. The selection will be decided by the score of each individual. The score will depend on how well the Transverse Sword hits, the wooden puppets will score" Qi Meiying started to explain everything.

The wooden puppets would act as a fighter and would be forcing the opponent to use the Transverse Sword stroke. Other attacks can earn small points, but the highest score comes from executing the Transverse Sword's movements. With limited time, the disciples would have to choose wisely how to act.

Qi Meiying explained the score in a few sentences: 1. A 50% hit with the manual technique would be worth 100 points and the disciple could have considered passing the test; 2. Striking 70% of the manual technique would be worth 150 points; 3. Hit with 90% of the manual's technique would be worth 300 points; 4. Hit with 100% of the manual technique, that is, a perfect hit, this would be worth 500 points.

Any blows other than the Transverse Sword manual would be worth only 50 points. This isn't very wise when you have 1 to 2 minutes to fight the wooden puppets.

Most of the disciples vaguely understood what Qi Meiying was explaining, but they didn't understand how the "wooden puppet" would judge the attacks, even the wandering martial artists who were watching as guests didn't understand either. They thought it would be Elder Han or another qualified person who would judge, but it seemed that this would not be the case.

Since chests are colors and not numbers, if there are individuals who tie in the score and belong to the same color, they can fight each other to decide who the best is.

For many of the disciples who have never fought anyone, the best chance would be to earn the highest score against the wooden puppets. Of course, for Zemin Yan, it would be better to earn the highest score of the wooden puppets to keep a low profile, since facing someone could happen accidents or his power was stronger than he intended to show.

In short, with the wooden puppets, Zemin Yan could maintain more precise control over the attacks against the puppets, but if it were with another novice disciple, he could be forced to use more force than he wanted to reveal.

"The first group will be the disciples with the number 1. Following in this increasing order" Qi Meiying finished explaining. Some internal disciples were among the children watching over them so that they went to the right group.

"So I'm the first to go," Shou Zuo said with a smile. He held an orange ball as number 1.

"Good luck, [span]Zuo-ge[/span]" Zemin Yan and the children said sweetly. Normally, they wouldn't be that intimate, but they thought they could be a little cute to cheer up Shou Zuo.

This made Wen Jie, Tai-Yang, and Zhong Liang feel jealous; they wanted this kind of sweet treatment too!

Shou Zuo's heart became soft once again and he already felt like a champion just for the incentive. Of course, there were people who looked ugly to Shou Zuo. No matter how handsome he was, the flirtatious aura and slightly feminine charm made young boys appreciate and hate at the same time. They thought this kind of conflicting feeling of attraction was bizarre, so they covered everything with feelings of contempt and gratuitous hatred.

"As if a man effeminate is better than any of us" Ping Yan-Tao commented in a very loud voice, which caused a lot of laughter from the people around.

Ping Yan-Tao was one of the disciples who tested the sect with Shou Zuo, he was also the person who made fun of Shou Zuo from the beginning. Shou Zuo said nothing and seemed not to hear the other boys' mean comments and laughter.

Wen Jie shook hands and looked slightly at Ping Yan-Tao, although his gaze was light, there was a fury in his mind. However, he couldn't show something so ugly to Shou Zuo.

Furthermore, Wen Jie's body was still new and he couldn't exercise his real powers, he had to train the body in order to release the fetters of his soul. Well, at least he was better than at the beginning, when he woke up in the body of the injured and abandoned young man in the forest.

Anyway, Shou Zuo and Ping Yan-Tao went up on the platform with the other nine participants. Perhaps the irony of fate, but Shou Zuo and Ping Yan-Tao were separated from the other disciples since they were at the Realms Foundation, which had only single wooden puppets for this level. So, they were side by side, which made Ping Yan-Tao feel uncomfortable, while Shou Zuo was as calm as a cloudless sky.

The nine disciples on stage fought the wooden puppets, fighting would not be a correct word. Half of them came from poor families or remote villages, so they didn't have much contact with the world of martial cultivation, much less with the cultivation of swords. Soon they were barely able to use 10% of the strength of the Transverse Sword manual.

Although the first manual focused on two principles, agility, and physical dexterity, it was too much for ignorant children and adolescents. Not to mention the short time to learn, in addition, there were no breathing techniques or techniques on how to collect the energy from heaven and earth to complement the Transverse Sword manual.

In short, half of the nine disciples just swung the sword and hit the wooden puppet.

"This is not the way to do it ... Watch me" the wooden puppet spoke, which shocked the novice disciples and the audience. Wooden Puppets are generally inanimate but these puppets from the Celestial Sword Sect were different, so they were considered treasures and Elder Han could only get a few. Even so, the cultivation of the puppets was the most basic, within the sect there is even the Master of the Wooden Puppets who had the cultivation Immortal Realms and above.

[ol][li data-annotation-id="9b537485-d1c1-a162-bf82-a27437e56ce7"]Gege is a brother in Chinese. A form of intimate treatment.Ge is even more intimate, like brothers at heart or a man who is very close, similar to Hyung in Korean or Nin-san in Japanese.[/ol]