Spring Winds

Chapter 8: The Final Exam

"So, Senior, what brings you to Yun Cai Peak," the green girl, who's named Zhu Na Ran asked as I watched her flounced down the stone stairs.

I found after interacting with her for a bit that she can be extremely friendly.

Which worried me a bit.

Isn't this girl a little trusting of those that she meets?

Stopping in her path, she turns her head back and smiles. "Eh? Aren't you coming?"

Realizing that I had stopped walking, I continued walking down. "Personal reasons," I answered as I followed after Zhu Na Ran.

"Ah, some trouble back at home or something?"

"Something like that."

"Hmm," she nodded and didn't say more as she hopped down the last few steps in one swift movement.

Back at Ning Jing Hall, we saw that all remaining participants stood in the main pavilion. I was mildly surprised at how many people were remaining after the first two trials, about a third of the original admissions qualified.

Looking up, I noticed that there were three men dressed in light grey standing on the landing of steps in front of Ning Jing Hall.

Suddenly, Zhu Na Ran grabbed my hand and dragged me towards the crowd, "What are you doing?"

She looked back and smiled, "Trying to find a good spot to see," and continued to pull me along until she found a spot she was satisfactory. "See, perfect view, right?"

"Eh," I nodded as I looked back at the three up top.

In the center of the three was a middle-aged man with a few grey streaks in his hair. However, his face maintained a shadow of his youth. Smiling amicably, he walked out in front of the crowd and signaled us to quiet down.

The murmuring of the crowd was soon reduced to a mere hush as we waited for the third trial.

"Congratulations, participants, for making it this far in Yun Cai Peak's entrance exam," the middle-aged man smiled. "My name is Sect Master Qing Shui, and I'm glad that so many have chosen our humble sect. However, your journey through the entrance exams is not over yet as you still have one more trial to pass." Pausing, Sect Master Qing Shui started to perform some martial arts hand signals, and suddenly a vast array formed underfoot.

"It would be in your best interest to continue pressing on as long as possible," Sect Master Qing Shui said as suddenly the array began to light up.

I could feel Zhu Na Ran's grip on my hand tighten before it seemingly disappeared.

Strange, was this going to be another teleportation array, I pondered as I felt a faint impression left on my hand.

However, that would be the least of my problems, as my feet suddenly landed in hot sand. Looking around, I found myself on top of a dune in a vast barren desert.

Perhaps it's not a teleportation array.

Past all the tall golden dunes, I could see a tall stone pillar in the distance, half-buried in the sand.

"That must be the place," I mumbled as I shielded my eyes from the hot blazing sun, beads of sweat already starting to form on my brow.

Starting my journey over to the stone pillar, I use a little of my qigong to hop from one dune to another, slowly gaining ground.

However, despite appearances, the pillar didn't seem any closer.

"How strange," I stopped moving. Using my qi, I sent a faint echo through the ground to see if anything was causing a disturbance.

All of a sudden, an alarming presence started to rush towards me underfoot. Jumping up as high as I could, I nearly fell into the mouth of a giant sandworm before it dove back into the sand. It's long body slithered back into the sand and quickly disappeared.

Landing softly back onto the sand, I didn't want to be too heavy-footed around the worm.

It appears I've encountered a level seven spirit beast, the Fiery Sandworm. Based on its age, it can be between the length of a pinky finger to the extent of a mountain range.

Seeing as long this worm was, it would be at least a thousand years old for it to develop to this size and length.

Its main characteristic was that it was blind, however susceptible to substantial movement in the sand. If it felt pressure in the sand, it would immediately rise and swallow its prey before disappearing back into the sand.

"Just my luck," I whispered as I waited for the worm to come back up to the surface.

I didn't need to wait long as I felt the sand begin to tremble as the rushing force of the worm started to create a sinkhole.

Timing my jump, I rose in the air and started to create another ice blade, which proved itself to be a difficult task.

Prior, I could absorb the moisture in the air to freeze into ice, however being in a desert, I would need to be cautious about my blows.

Dropping down my arm, I slashed down the middle of the worm's mouth. However, I seemed to have underestimated the beast as it shrieked and went back underground.

Landing back down, I tried to see the relative distance between my position and pillar. The pillar seemed to be less than fifty li[1] away.

If I could defeat the worm as I make my way over the pillar, I would reduce the amount of qi needed to travel and fight.

"Hmm, it has holes in it, but it will have to do," pursuing my lips slightly, I waited for the worm to reappear.

Ideally, in this next jump, I should be able to travel about five to ten li if I play it smart.

The worm reappeared once more and utilizing the same method. I sliced into one of the worm's hearts. If my knowledge of the anatomy of this worm were correct, then this worm would have five hearts in total. Meaning, if sliced five times, all with the heart untouched, it could create five more sandworms.

How troublesome.

"Reeee!" The sandworm shrieked as my blade pierced through its body and sunk back into the sand.

Looking back at the pillar, I see that I was gaining ground.

Returning my attention to the worm, formed another blade with the dwindling amount of qi I had.

Screeching the worm reappeared with a new tactic.

"Tsk," moving back, I slide down backward from the dune as the worm, swallowed the entire dune from existence.

Slicing sideways, my bade the worm's body split open and started to spray hot blood onto the sand. Creating a protective barrier, I wrinkled my nose disgust as the red blood hit the barrier before sliding down.

The pools of blood began to sizzle as the scent of burning sand began to blend with the smell of blood.

However, it appears I've only destroyed three of the worm's hearts as it still was alive for the time being.

I still had about thirty li left to travel, and if my next blows made it to their intended destinations, then the worm should be dead by the time I make it to the pillar.

Jumping back up onto the nearest dune, I wait for the worm to reappear.

But after some time, there was no movement, and I couldn't see the worm underground.

"Reeee!" Bursting out of the ground and spraying sand into the air, the worm reappeared behind me.

Turning around, I created two blades and slashed at its remaining hearts.

Although I hit the worm's vital points, it appeared that it wished to take me down with it as its large mouth began to crash down overhead.

Creating another barrier, I was forced to take a less desired exit.

Jumping into the worm's mouth, I burst through the back of the sandworm.

Soon after, blood and pieces of meat fell from the sky, and the shriek of birds could be heard overhead.

Dispersing my barriers, I continue my way to the stone pillar.

The environment began to shift from the sandy desert and back into what appears to be the mountain terrain of Yun Cai Peak.

The pillar, no longer buried under sand, stood erect as dark clouds began to form above it.

As I approached the pillar, a strange hair raising sensation came over me as visions began to flash before my eyes.

Visions that were too fast to process; however, the distinct sounds of war could be heard over the chaos.

"Ah," holding my head, I pressed on as it felt like stone were weighing down on my head. However, the pressure disappeared as soon as I touched the pillar. The cold sensation from the rock seemed to soothe any lingering pain from before.

Suddenly, a powerful consciousness, filled with power and killing intent, burst from the pillar as it weighed down on me. I felt my legs buckling from the pressure, and a deep sense of fear grew in my heart.

But as quickly as it came, it disappeared only to come back with what seems to be a scroll. At that moment, I felt a profoundly invasive sensation coming from my stomach before going.

Did it just come out to scan my body?

Piecing together the images and the scan, I could only assume that this was a test to see if any spies were trying to sneak into the ranks.

"Meditate and concentrate," a voice from above ordered.

Sitting into lotus position, I gathered as much qi and energy I could muster in preparation for the next event.

Immediately, an intense pressure soon descended upon my body.

[1] li - also known as the Chinese mile, is a traditional Chinese unit of distance. The li has varied considerably over time but was usually about one-third of an English mile and now has a standardized length of a half-kilometer (500 meters or 1,640 feet). This is then divided into 1,500 chi or "Chinese feet."