One of the outer disciples stepped forward, handing over a small booklet in which all the recruits wrote their names.
When everyone had finished, a space was opened up for battle.
"Yun Xi," the elder called, and the pale beauty stepped forward. A disciple of the same cultivation took his place across from her.
"Begin!"
She moved first, she step across the arena stones, with her watery aura cutting through the air and driving straight toward his chest.
"Shit!" The disciple barely deflect the strike, and Yun Xi's fist already striking toward his arm.
He felt his bones crack on the impact. By the time he finally managed to circulate his Qi and build up his defenses.
Yun Xi's fist hit his face. His nose burst open, and he fell backwards.
"Enough," Elder Su said. "Yun Xi passes."
"That was a great fight, Young Lady Yun Xi. With your talent, you'll certainly reach great heights," Elder Tian praised her.
"Thank You, Elder Su." She bowed before turning around to leave the arena.
As Yun Xi stepped down from the arena, Han Jian moved to meet her.
"It has been a while, Young Lady Yun. Your technique was impressive." He greeted her with a bow.
"Young Master Han." She returned the gesture with a graceful smile. "Your praise is too kind for me. I still have much room to grow."
"You are too modest. I had meant to approach you since the first test, though the occasion never quite presented itself."
"Think nothing of it," she replied warmly. "I wish you well in your own test."
Yun Xi drifted away from Han Jian and made her way back to Ling Tian's side.
"You know him?" he glanced at her and asked.
"Who? Young master Han? Yes, I met him a few years ago at a noble clan meeting."
"I see, no wonder he keeps sending me his death glare and killing intent."
"A commoner? And he likes me?"
"We ran into each other before the test. He was making trouble for your new sister, calling me commoner trash." He tilted his head toward her.
"It's plain you've never noticed how he feels. Then again, I'm not sure you've ever given much thought to that sort of thing."
"Well," she said, a quiet smile settling across her lips, "he's left it rather too late. I've already found my man."
Well, let's see how far his superiority complex will go…
****
The tests that followed were of little interest.
Recruits and middling disciples traded blow after tedious blow until Elder Su stepped in or exhaustion settled the matter.
"Hardly worth watching..." Ling Tian muttered, shutting his eyes and turning his focus inward to circulate his Qi.
Only one name roused him from his indifference.
"Next," Elder Tian announced, glancing at the booklet. "Han Jian."
Look at me, this is what your would-be husband is made of, Yun Xi. He cast a sidelong glance her way, a quiet smile on his lips.
The Han family's young master strode forward, silver robes embroidered with his clan's insignia rippling in the breeze.
His hand fell to the hilt at his side, drawing it in a single smooth arc, sword Qi coiling like brilliant serpents along the gleaming edge.
"Come," he said contemptuously to the disciple who would test him, a burly young man of modest appearance.
Before settling into his stance, Han Jian cast a glance toward Yun Xi. He would let her see precisely what a worthy man looked like in combat.
"Begin!"
The elder's call had barely faded before two auras at the Elementary Spirit Realm surged outward.
His opponent was a fire cultivator. The disciple roared, hefting a broad axe overhead and bringing it down in a thunderous arc.
Han Jian sidestepped with practiced elegance, his blade meeting the axe with a sharp ring of metal. Both men were driven back a pace before squaring off once more.
Each collision sent shockwaves rolling through the air, the force of their cultivations enough to make the weaker recruits shuffle back without quite meaning to.
"Not bad!" The disciple snarled, dragging the axe across the ground with a grinding shriek.
His fiery Qi surged through the handle and flooded the darkened blade, wreathing it in a roaring blaze.
"The same cannot be said for you." Han Jian pressed forward undeterred, the Qi along his sword blazing with renewed intensity.
Their weapons collided with a thunderous crack that sent a tremor through the earth beneath them. Han Jian's jaw was set tight, every muscle straining as he drove his weight forward.
"Move!" His Qi erupted outward, hurling the outer disciple off his feet.
The man hit the ground hard and struggled to rise, only to shudder and spit a thin thread of blood.
Spent, Han Jian dropped to one knee and turned his gaze toward Yun Xi, searching her expression for something resembling admiration.
A real man fights like this. Only I am worthy to stand at your side — not some gutter-born nobody.
The thought lingered as contempt filled his features and his eyes slid toward Ling Tian. That commoner could never match him. Of that, he was certain.
"That was a great demonstration, young master Han. You'll certainly reach great heights," Elder Tian praised him, but received nothing but a dissatisfied grunt as Han Jian returned to his original position.
Hopeless... the old man thought wearily, though there was no time to dwell on it. He cleared his throat and called the next name.
"Ling Tian, come forward."
Ling Tian calmly walked forward, the wooden sword coming out from his side.
Elder Su looked confused. Why did Ling Tian pull out a wooden sword? But decide to continue the fight.
The disciple he would be fighting was also a sword user, a man of medium height and an ordinary face.
His spiritual root was wind, his clothes fluttering as he swung his sword around himself, and the wind Qi spread through his body.
"Are you messing with me, junior? Bring out a real sword." The disciple, angry thinking Ling Tian is messing with him.
"Don't worry about it, senior. Please instruct me well, senior!" Ling Tian gave a formal bow, his voice calm and humble, interrupted by Elder Tian's order.
"Then don't blame me if anything happens, I won't take it easy on you." The disciple grinned.
"Begin!"