The sun hung low, casting long, amber shadows across the jade plaza. Below the summit, the sounds of weeping and exhausted groans echoed as the gates began to groan shut. Thousands had been left behind, their dreams turning to dust on the lower steps.
Elder Karl straightened his back, his presence expanding until it smothered the murmurs of the crowd. "The gates are closed!" he declared. "To those who remain: you have proven your legs. Now, let us see if you have the soul to match."
He turned his gaze toward the center of the plaza, where a monolithic pillar of obsidian stood. At its center was embedded a sphere of Astral Quartz, clear as mountain water and pulsing with a faint, rhythmic heartbeat.
"The Talent Stone," a young woman whispered, her eyes wide. "It measures the purity of one's Qi channels. If it turns green, you're a Student. Blue is Outer, Violet is Inner... and Gold..."
"Gold is a myth," Kaelen snapped, rubbing a large, purple bruise on his forehead where he had met the jade step earlier. He shot a venomous look at Vincy. "Most of us will be lucky to see a flicker of purple. As for the 'Sponge' over there, I expect the stone to stay as dark as his future."
Karl began calling names. The process was ruthless.
"Mao Fen! Green. Sect Student."
"Li Hua! Blue. Outer Sect."
"Kaelen of the Great River! Deep Violet. Inner Court!"
The crowd erupted in cheers as Kaelen's violet light bathed the plaza. He strutted toward the Inner Court waiting area, pausing only to sneer at Vincy. "Follow that, peasant."
Elder Karl ignored the theatrics. His mind was still looping over the 'digestive issue' excuse. He didn't believe it for a second, but a Sect Elder's duty was to the Stone. The Stone never lied.
"Vincy Sparrow," Karl called out, his voice dropping an octave. "Forward."
Every eye in the plaza—from the lowest student to the elite Successor disciples watching from the balconies above—fixed on Vincy. He looked like a stray cat accidentally invited to a banquet.
"Listen to me, boy," Piet's voice hissed in his mind, sounding uncharacteristically strained.
"This stone is a soul-scanner. If it touches your energy, it's going to see a peasant's pond and a prince's ocean at the same time. We need to suppress the flow. Think of... small things. Think of dirt. Think of potatoes."
"Potatoes," Vincy whispered, trembling. "Small, brown potatoes."
Vincy reached out and pressed his palm against the cool surface of the quartz.
For three seconds, nothing happened. The stone remained clear. Kaelen began to bark a laugh, but it died in his throat.
The quartz didn't turn green. It didn't turn violet. It turned a color that wasn't on the spectrum—a blinding, chaotic white-silver that began to hum with a frequency that shattered the tea sets of the watching elders.
"Vincy, stop thinking about the potatoes!" Piet yelled. "You're suppressing it so hard the pressure is building—!"
CRACK.
A hairline fracture appeared on the Astral Quartz. Then another.
"Step back!" Karl roared, lunging forward to grab Vincy, but he was too late.
The stone didn't just glow; it screamed. A pillar of silver light shot into the sky, piercing the clouds and momentarily revealing the stars in broad daylight. The shockwave knocked the nearby examinees off their feet. When the light faded, the legendary Astral Quartz—a relic that had stood for a thousand years—was a pile of dull, grey sand.
The silence was absolute. Even the birds had stopped chirping. Vincy stood with his hand still hovering in the air, his face pale.
"I... I think I broke the rock," Vincy said into the void.
Elder Karl stared at the sand, then at Vincy, then back at the sand. His suspicion was screaming, but the sheer scale of the event was too large to handle in public. If he called Vincy a fraud, he'd look like a fool. If he called him a god, the other sects would start a war to kidnap him.
Karl cleared his throat, his face a mask of practiced indifference. "The stone was... old. A technical malfunction."
A collective sigh of "Oh, that makes sense" rippled through the less-intelligent students, though Kaelen looked like he wanted to vomit in rage.
"However," Karl continued, his eyes flashing with a hidden spark. "Since the stone failed to give a rank, Vincy Sparrow will be placed in the Sect Student dorms for 'observation' until a new stone is procured."
"The dorms?" Piet grumbled in Vincy's head. "He's hiding you in the trash pile so he can study you later. Clever old fox. Well, at least we get a bed. I haven't slept in a proper bed since I died."
"Welcome to the Myriad School, Vincy," Karl said, a thin, dangerous smile touching his lips. "Try not to break the buildings on your way to dinner."