Xiao Shan followed Bao Tie into a resource pavilion, adorned with simple but luxurious jade statues of auspicious beasts and phoenixes.
He changed into his new robe in white with grey cuffs similar to outer disciples' robes. He also found a small bag, seemingly a regular cloth bag but he couldn't open it; a golden string tied it up.
As he got out of the pavilion, Xiao Shan met with Bao Tie and asked about the bag.
"It is a bag of holding. Circulate your qi into it as you touch it. You should see the contents in your mind and get them out or in with a thought."
"You need to imprint it, same as the dagger. Pour a drop of your blood into the string."
Xiao Shan took out his dagger and proceeded to imprint the bag. As the drop of blood touched the string, it changed color to a deep red. He could feel the contents of it in his mind. He tried to put his dagger on it, and it turned into a ray of light as it entered the bag.
Xiao Shan was fascinated with the bag, trying to get the dagger out and in. Bao Tie sighed, "Let's go. We need to get you registered at the examination pavilion."
They walked to the far west side where an entrance to the examination grounds was.
They arrived at a large red gate, adorned with phoenixes. The word "Judgement" was written ominously at the top. Xiao Shan felt a cold sensation through his body as he passed through the gate.
As they crossed the entrance, they saw a group of people lining up to a table. Suddenly all the people in line turned to look at them, some stared curiously while others had ill intent.
"Is the sun rising from the west now?" exclaimed a thin tall man as he walked out of the queue. "Bao Tie, you finally dare to come out of your cave." The man got close to Bao Tie and stood in front of him with a mocking expression, expectant.
This man was Bai Geng, a peer from Bao Tie's generation and part of the Bai family.
Bao Tie was expressionless as he kept walking around the man. "Xiao Shan, be careful not to step on the twig. It could break and splinter your feet."
They left the man behind. As Xiao Shan followed, he was starting to think about how many enemies Bao Tie seemed to have.
Bai Geng's face was turning red as he fumed. He hated Bao Tie and wanted to cause an altercation to get him reprimanded but was rebuffed and insulted easily. While Bao Tie still mocked him, his attitude was unexpected. Bai Geng also did not dare to go further given that a sect elder was tending to the queue of entrants.
Xiao Shan stood in line and took a look at the people in the line. Many were young men dressed similar to him; they were new disciples.
Once they got a turn at the table, an old man spoke with Bao Tie and handed off a wooden token.
The token had symbols and a phoenix engraved on it. It was the identity token for examination takers.
Bao Tie handed the token to Xiao Shan as they proceeded into a tall pagoda. At the entrance, a middle-aged man in blue robes stopped them.
"Before entering, you need to activate the token so the grounds formation will let you in," said the man.
Xiao Shan was already getting used to cultivation artifacts and understood what he needed to do. He took out the token and circulated his qi into it. The token shined with a soft green light.
"Second level of Qi Condensation. Very well, you may enter," said the man at the door as he moved to let them pass.
Once inside the pagoda, a large hall had many doors, each one with a sign that read "participant." As Xiao Shan walked through, his token started to shine. He felt a pull from it indicating where to go.
They found the door the token was taking them to. As they arrived, the door unlocked and opened.
Inside was a small room with a simple mat on top of a jade slab. Xiao Shan could feel the thickness of the spiritual energy in the room.
"Enter the room and wait to be called. Sit and cultivate here to be at your peak," mentioned Bao Tie as he stood next to the door.
Xiao Shan assented with his head as he got into the room. He sat cross-legged on the mat and started to cultivate as he waited his turn.
Eventually, he was called. His wooden token started to vibrate as a voice called him, "Disciple Xiao Shan, come to the arena." Xiao Shan stood up and walked out. He saw Bao Tie, who just signaled with his head to go ahead.
Xiao Shan walked through the corridor till the end, where he saw a door marked with the sign "Arena." He entered the door to a wide circular area.
This area was surrounded by tall walls. It seemed like at the top there were people observing; however, it was difficult to distinguish anything, either because of the height or because something blocked Xiao Shan's sight from peering further.
Xiao Shan looked at the center of the arena. He saw an old man in blue robes. Although wrinkled and hunched, the man exuded a certain majesty and pressure. Clearly his cultivation was very high.
Behind the elder was Xiao Shan's adversary, a young man very much close to Xiao Shan's age. The young man was thin and scrawny. His eyes were sunken in his face and had deep eye bags. He seemed like he had countless sleepless nights. He was dressed in similar attire to Xiao Shan, his hair tied in a bun held by a pair of golden hairpins.
The elder looked at the scrawny disciple, his eyes filled with approval. He recited quickly some rules of engagement.
"The rules are simple: the first combatant to give up or be incapacitated loses." He looked at Xiao Shan. "If you value your life, don't hesitate to give up. There is always a next time." With that, the elderly man suddenly started to float in the air. As he floated to the top of the arena, his voice rumbled, "Begin!"
Xiao Shan frowned. He felt this elder was clearly picking at him with the last comment. He looked at his opponent who, while looking somewhat frail, made a sudden movement.
The scrawny young man moved quickly, narrowing the distance to Xiao Shan. He took the hairpin from his hair and viciously stabbed at Xiao Shan, who blocked with his arm, avoiding getting stabbed while stepping back.
The scrawny young man attacked several times by stabbing with the hairpin and throwing kicks. However, Xiao Shan showed a strong defensive stance, either blocking or parrying while keeping some distance.
This made his opponent frown. The scrawny young man then jumped back, gaining some distance, then started to move his hands as he recited an incantation. Immediately a gust of wind picked up, and a whirlwind materialized, lunging at Xiao Shan who could only defend against the spell.
Several sect elders were sitting at a balcony high above the arena. They were watching the combat. Some of them praised the young man. "Your scion from the Chen family is pretty good. To be able to cast spells at this level means his talent is pretty good," spoke a middle-aged man. "Brother Zhang, thank you for your kind words. Our Chen family has many good scions, and I also have good hopes for this one," said another man while laughing heartily.
Xiao Shan took the whirlwind impact, pushing him back. However, he was prepared for this. He recalled what Bao Tie had taught him: spells, while powerful, required a lot of energy. Low-level cultivators like him and his peers could not display most spells' might and would likely only run out of energy.
He endured the wind onslaught. He kept a defensive stance.
"Stop running and fight like a real man," said the scrawny young man derisively while attacking again with a combination of kicks and stabs with the golden hairpin.
Xiao Shan calmly kept his defensive strategy, hoping to tire out his opponent.
Eventually, this strategy worked out. The scrawny young man started to get agitated since he could not get a definitive hit, and the combat was just getting longer.
He again jumped back while flashing a double-handed incantation. He summoned the whirlwind again in an effort to strike at Xiao Shan.
However, this whirlwind was weak. Xiao Shan realized that his opponent was getting tired. He then jumped to the front, taking the whirlwind head-on while slapping his bag of holding.
The scrawny young man gritted his teeth while finishing the whirlwind technique. He felt a certain exhaustion; however, he had no time to think. He tried to lunge forward to stab the enemy head-on when he suddenly felt his legs fail.
As he looked down, he saw a streak of light pass through. His legs lost all strength as they started bleeding. This gave him a pause. This pause determined the outcome of the fight as Xiao Shan lunged from the whirlwind seemingly unfazed.
With panic in his eyes, the scrawny young man threw his hairpin at Xiao Shan, who made a motion with his hand. At this moment, a streak of light arrived to block the hairpin. A dagger materialized to block.
Xiao Shan took the dagger in the air as it blocked the hairpin. He lunged at the opponent as he forced him back to the wall of the arena with the dagger pressing against the opponent's throat.
This left the scrawny young man gasping for air. As sweat rolled from his forehead, he quickly called out with fear, "I give up!"
The elder observing in the air frowned. The whole battle changed very quickly. The no-name disciple suddenly became a dark horse in this competition and managed to overwhelm his opponent to submission.
"The winner of this round is disciple Xiao Shan. Move back to your rooms until called out," the voice called.
Xiao Shan put his dagger back in his bag of holding as he walked back, gasping for air. This was his first real battle. It felt like a life-or-death affair; however, he had fared better than expected.
This made him excited as he walked back. He then saw Bao Tie waiting for him. "You did well. Go back and rest."
Xiao Shan assented with his head and sat back in the room. As his body relaxed, he felt very exhausted. He then started to cultivate, trying to recover the energy spent in this battle.
He had no major injury; however, he did not let his guard down and tried to be in peak condition before the next round.
Some time passed, and Xiao Shan had the feeling like he could break through at any moment. His body felt like it was full and gushing with spiritual energy. The dense energy of the array had helped him reach the peak of the second level.
Meanwhile, in the balcony on top of the arena, the elders were still discussing what happened. "Who is this Xiao boy from? I never heard about a Xiao family," said one elder. "He seems like a disciple from the Bao family's black sheep," said another. "Bao Tie? That junior is always making trouble. I don't believe this disciple has anything to do with him."
The discussion changed as the next match started. However, in a corner, an elder sat with a frown, his face marked with dissatisfaction. This was an elder from the Chen family.