Chapter 20: Knowledge about cultivation stages and new faces.

Lin Tian and Su Qingxue pushed through to the packed yard, where new outer disciples stood in uneven lines. while a senior in darker robes shouted "numbers" and pointed pairs toward the chalk-marked squares .

Dust hung low over the dirt where someone had already been dropped and now sat off to the side holding his ribs ,

He must have fucked up Lin Tian kept the dual core locked down, and through the thread he could feel Su Qingxue’s pulse running a little faster than usual. Maybe from that sharp readiness that came before a fight, while she kept her eyes forward and murmured low enough that only he would hear,

"Stay clean, no extra light and no showing off, and if they want to look at your root after, let them see a boring win!"

"The "Boring" wins are still wins," Lin Tian chuckled.

Su Qingxue finally looked and muttered, "That is not what I meant Lin ,and you know it,"

Before the pairs could be fully sorted, a broader figure stepped onto the low platform at the far end of the field and the shouting senior went quiet without being told, grey at the temples and robes heavier than the drill instructors’,

Elder Zhou Ming of the outer court who had run every intake through these squares for the last twenty years, and when he cleared his throat the last side conversations died on their own ..

"Stand where you are and listen," Elder Zhou ; his voice carrying across the squares without strain.

"Most of you will spend your lives on this slope or one like it, and if you do not understand why, you will waste what little talent you have . I will say this only once , and you will remember it when your bones ache and your tokens run out "

He let the silence sit a moment while his gaze moved over the lines as if weighing which faces would still be here in a year.

"Cultivation is not a ladder you walk because you wish it , it is a mountain that grows steeper the higher you climb, and the first step is "Body Tempering" where flesh, bone, and blood are forced to hold spiritual energy without tearing, and many of you have already done some version of it in village yards and family courtyards,"

" which is the only stage where sweat alone can still matter, and after that comes "Qi Condensation" layer by layer where you draw the world’s energy into you ’weak’ meridians , and this is where most outer disciples live and die . Stuck between the third layer and the seventh because their roots are thin and their resources thinner."

A few of the new arrivals shifted where they stood, but Elder Zhou did not soften his tone at all.

" "Foundation Establishment" is the first true gate where you build a base inside the dantian that has to hold a lifetime of work. if that base is flawed you will never climb past it no matter how many manuals you steal. And look around you because half the seniors on this slope are still clawing at early Foundation and they are the ones who were told they had talent when they left home... "

"While "Core Formation" is rarer still since a core is a second heart of pure cultivated will and the people who form one are already someone a village would kneel to if they walked its road ,

" and "Nascent Soul" is the stage where the soul takes a shape that can survive the body’s death for a time, and on this mountain you will be lucky to see one such elder in a season of drills . "

" beyond that "Spirit Severing" , " Dao Seeking",and ...."Immortal Ascension" are names you may hear in stories and in the upper halls, not in the east field."

"Because the difficulty does not rise in steady steps but in walls, and each wall asks for more than effort, it asks for fortune, for resources!! for a root that does not crack, for the kind of stubbornness that outlasts failure."

He paused, and when he spoke again the edge in his voice was heavier.

" "Azure Cloud" will give you a path !! a token, and a chance to stand on this dirt and prove you belong higher. It will not carry you, and the ones who treat the outer court like a ’ waiting room’ for glory are the ones who leave in a year with nothing but bruised pride.

"so fight ! Fight clean today, and learn what your body can take !!! " The voice made their heart tremble

Elder Zhou stepped back , "Deacon Liu Shan" took over and the pairs were called toward the square . The weight of the speech still sat on the newer faces.

Lin Tian’s opponent was a solid-looking boy from a minor side branch, early Qi Condensation with a practiced form . That came from regular food and a clan that still bothered to train its weaker ’sons’.

When the match started the boy opened with a straight fist sequence , Lin Tian slipped on the first,

took on the forearm on the second, and stepped inside on the third ,

The boy released his Qi energy and throw a straight punch , Lin dodge with a nice precision. , he stepped sidewards.

Lin’s Foundation energy settled , he hooked an ankle and shoved ,

Baam !!! , the boy’s foot crossed the outer line !

Silence held for breath before the senior marked the slip. "Pass. Next," he ’barked.’

Su Qingxue’s match was shorter because her opponent overcommitted, and she used it without wasting motion . Send him past the edge, and when she walked back her breathing was steady and her eyes found Lin Tian first...

"Hmph Clean ! ," she whispered proudly , Lin Tian nodded , like he’s pleased with her.

---

On the raised edge above the practice ground, where inner disciples sometimes paused , mostly when business brought them down the mountain ,

"Ye Qingyao " stood with her arms folded and her silver-white hair tied high , the pale strands catching the morning light like frost .

She was already a name on the upper slopes" ice-path", the kind of disciple outer newcomers glanced at once , and then carefully didn’t dare stare .

The faint chill that clung to her robes wasn’t only the weather . Beside her stood two outer seniors who had been trailing her on a resource errand .

Ye Qingyao had not come to watch the intake. ℯ

She had stopped because the match below had held her attention !.

Hmm....His steps are clean. Someone taught him that, or he taught himself? The way he slipped the first strike and stepped inside on the third wasn’t luck , someone must’ve drilled that into him.

She looked away before the thought could grow and let her eyes drift over the rest of the intake ordinary exchanges, ordinary noise , until "Liu Yue" leaned on the rail beside her, and started talking as if the morning needed filling.

"Did you hear Zhao Wenshan is back from the southern outpost?!! The one from the Zhao line. Half the outer court girls were already asking, when he would take the mid-slope sparring stage again."

Han Shu made a small sound that might have been agreement. "He is still Peak Foundation and stable..the elders ’only’ like him because he does not make messes , hmph ! "

"Stable is not the word they use in the dining hall," Handsome is the word they use ! "Liu Yue corrected her and continued, "and what about Jun Hanyue from the west peak? "

"People say he formed his core last season and still walks around like the mountain owes him a greeting.. If the inner court ranking list opens again this year, those two will be on it before half the seniors finish arguing about tokens... I’m sure mark my words !"Han shu declared confidently.

Ye Qingyao’s expression didn’t change, "Zhao Wenshan is reliable.. Jun Hanyue is loud , to me "Reliability" lasts longer on this sect "

"Ohh ..you always say that," Liu Yue complained, "You never say who is actually good-looking!!!"

"I didn’t come down here to rank faces."

"You came down for the resource slip and stayed for the view , is that good ?" Liu Yue said and then nodded vaguely toward the field adding,

"Including that mixed-root on the Pavilion filed , You looked at him for a second."

"His movement wasn’t bad." Ye Qingyao pushed off the stone. "That’s all, we have an assignment before noon . Let the intake finish without an audience."

Liu Yue followed, still comparing Zhao Wenshan’s jawline to Jun Hanyue’s reputation !

Han Shu fell in step without comment. None of them saw Lin Tian’s gaze lift a moment later toward the empty place on the rail, a faint cooler thread of presence already fading from the air, until the thought surfaced before he could stop it.

Wait... was someone staring at me from there?