I was down, unconscious, my face down in the ground, my vision was blurry and my whole body felt weak.
I could faintly hear an examiner say, "That makes the thirtieth one to fail, he was our last examinee, this means this year we'll only have five Black Robed Disciples.
No, this can't be! My path to glory can't end with a setback like this, I didn't even get to use my secret trick up my sleeve!
It can't be!
…
I felt a warmth around my wounds and injuries, my heart started beating faster, my mind wasn't even thinking, it was just pure rage and pain!
I can't face this major setback this early! Not now, not ever!
I slowly rose again, to the surprise of my examiners and drew my sword out infant of me…
I could barely even spout out my next words…
"Five Flames Art…F-First Stance!—"
I took a basic, steady stance, like I was back in the fields, training basic slashes.
My face could barely keep itself up as I was staring the dummy down.
I raised my sword above my head and brought it down heavily.
A basic, downward stance, that was the first stance of the Five Flames Art-
"—Bultaneun Wangnyeong! (Burning Sovereign's Mandate)!"
My sword was ignited with a fire, not loud and bright flame like before, but one with a basic color, and it had command to go with it.
A dominating aura emanated from me and my sword, an aura that even the Examiners had to use their Qi to resist!
"This…this sword strike is…it's like watching an emperor issue a mandate to the death of evil itself!" The examiner that sat elevated above the others muttered, he was in fact the head of the entire Gansu Military Academy and was attending to see any special talents! And beside one other person, no one else had caught his attention, until now!
The other two examiners were too amazed to even comment, they couldn't help but just watch the simple downward slash on the giant dummy.
The dummy itself, couldn't hope to resist. The aura emanating from me stunned it in place, and it had no choice but to watch the downward blade cut it into two!
Myself, I was incredibly tired now, my entire body was fatigued, my face still bloody from the earlier attack, and all my qi reserves were depleted by that point.
But fall I did not, I stood, strong and still, holding my blade downward, I passed out standing.
—
After a long moment of silence, an examiner spoke up, "Well, Academy Leader Tianlei, I believe this makes two Black Robe disciples, and despite his tremendous performance, I believe he performed the second-best in this exam, no?"
The Academy Leader had to close his jaw manually and cleared his throat, he didn't even want to say it out loud, Yan Mo had performed so spectacularly that he almost wants to say he's the best!…but…that freak of talent from Hainan…
"Ahem, yes, that is fair to say I suppose, this examinee Yan Mo will be our sixth Black Robe Disciple this year and the second best performing on the entrance examination!"
The last examiner could tell that the Academy Leader had a hard time spitting out those words, and he understood, no matter how pressuring this last sword strike was, he just can't be compared to the Hainan Monster.
In fact, he couldn't help but wonder why a talent like that would even want to come out of Hainan to the Gansu province, was there some kind of unknown conflict between the Southern Sea Temple of Hainan and the Zhongnian Sect of Gansu?
Both were part of the Great Nine Sects, but internal conflict has never not existed before….
—
I awoke in the medical building of the military academy…
"Haa.." I couldn't help but breathe out of exhaustion and sink deeper into my bed. I wonder if I had passed? I barely remember what happened after I was knocked out cold…
"Brother Mo! Are you finally awake? You've missed the first week of training!" Brother Zhi's familiar voice spoke to me
"I'm sure it's alright, brother, I musnt've missed muc-HA?! A WEEK?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?" I was shocked and sat up in my bed so fast I nearly flew out of it.
"Oh lord, the examiners are going to kill me!" I couldn't help but put my face in my hands and weep dry tears.
"Ah, brother, it's okay, do not worry, we only did theoretical studies for the first week, they said only tomorrow will we start practical training! So rest up and get ready for tomorrow! As for me, I'm gonna visit their library…" Brother Zhi had a large smile on his face as he scurried out.
That damn rascal, does he really love books that much or can I not help but sense some kind of ulterior motive?…
Aia, this isn't the best, my face had just some sort of bandage around my nose, but otherwise I looked fine.
I groaned out of my medical bed and went outside, taking on the view of the Gansu Military Academy!
It was a large site with countless buildings! Although…he doesn't what what any of them are…where are his dormitories? Where's the library? Why is no building around here marked?!?
I sighed in disbelief and picked my head back up, ah! There! Behind one of the buildings I see a training grounds with some wooden swords.
I hurried over there to practice my heirloom technique, after all, its power was clearly leagues above the Soaring Flame Arts or whatever it was even called, its of no value for me to remember anymore! For I had found my new style!
I left my real sword by the racks and picked up a wooden training sword instead and stood in the middle of the training grounds.
The Five Flames Art is split into two focuses. The first of course is the Sword Art, it is the result of the technique and training.
But! The other part is arguably just as if not more important, because it is like the horse of the carriage! It is what empowers the sword art! It is the understanding of the Tao and comprehending it while fighting and swinging my sword, while others are busy meditating on it!
I started doing basic strikes and combinations while practicing the Five Flames Art, I was doing simple vertical and horizontal slashes, as well as thrusts and pierces.
I understand the main essence of the Tao, it is 'The Way'
The Tao is all encompassing and is in all things, in me, in the trees, the birds, my sword, and even the grains of sand on the beaches.
It's a way of saying, everything has some kind of path, a way forward.
I swung my sword towards a stone pillar and struck it, my sword bouncing off of it and causing some recoil to myself.
Then, suddenly, a light drizzle of rain started. All noise around me died down and was replaced with the platter of water.
My own heartbeat also seemed to become louder.
I focused again and started swinging my sword.
Everything has some kind of flow, the recoil of my sword striking a stone pillar, the drops of rain falling from the sky, and my own heartbeat.
They all have a flow and a 'path' to them.
To the average cultivator, they let this path guide them to whatever future the universe decides for them, they 'flow' with the Tao.
I gripped my sword tightly and suddenly rose it high in the air and swung it down harshly, creating my own winds.
These winds caused, for just the slightest moment, for all rain to stop hitting me.
This is what the Five Flames Art is, I don't flow with the Tao and let them lead it to whatever future it wishes, I will control the Tao myself and forcefully create my own path!
A path not determined by fate or Tao, a fateless path to success I will lay with my own two hands!
That is the truth behind the Five Flames Art!
Now I see it, what that book meant by comprehending Tao through swings of my sword instead of meditating like a hermit!
This is a great first enlightenment to the understanding of the Tao
I put the wooden sword back and grabbed my own real sword and walked back out on the training grounds.
I walked up to the stone pillar, surely one that has been standing there for centuries, a symbol of the hard work, grit, sweat, tears, and blood of all the disciples to come before.
A symbol of centuries of tradition since this academy was well established.
I whispered quietly to myself, "Bultaneun Wangnyeong."
The stone pillar was cut into two, a precise cut that left it still standing.
A smile creeped its way on my face as I extended my hand out to feel the pillar.
That's my way forward!
—
Inside the dorm overseeing the training grounds was Li Baiyu. A disciple out of Hainan that shamelessly spied on the best performing disciple behind him.
He grit his teeth as he watched him, who is this central plains fool? To come in at the last second and not let Baiyu keep all the fame for himself? What a bastard!
He dares to stand outside my very own dorm, the only one to see the training grounds clearly, and gain an enlightenment before him?
The Gansu Academy was supposed to be some bumpkin school where he could shine bright and make a name for himself, maybe defeat a couple Zhongnian wannabe's and after a year or two, return home with a deeper understanding in the basic arts of the plain lands.
And yet, now of all times, this idiot decides to show himself?
Haa, Li Baiyu could barely control himself, but he had no choice. His grip on his bed frame had become so tight that it crushed it.
"And now I need to request a new bed frame! Curse you, Yan Mo!!!"
—
"Achoo!"
Hm? Is somebody speaking of me?
Oh well, hopefully they're saying something good!
Since I wasn't sure where the dormitories were exactly, I decided to sleep out in the medical building's beds.
Eager to see what kind of training they'd give in the mornin-
"There you are! How dare you be the second best performing disciple and be late to our first practical training after missing an entire week?!"
An examiner's voice shouted out from the entrance of the medical building. He had a bald, shiny head and a physique that could make the strongest common-man be shameful of.
'Ah…have I overslept? I don't even remember going to sleep-'
I was forcefully snatched out of my bed and pushed outside, to the middle of the entire academy, a large area for only the Black Robes to train.
There were five other black robed disciples besides me, one of whom I even recognized as my brother Guo Yanzhi! Besides him, there were two other females, and two more male disciples, one of whom looked…unusual to say the least. He had hair whiter and paler than that of an arctic fox and a face card that can win any beauty pageant, and yet his stature was meek to say the best, he looked 3 years my junior, but if he's here, he must be a great talent!
I was put into line with my brother Zhi and we were all forced to listen to our instructor.
"You all wish to be the 'strongest warriors in history' don't you? Well, to do that, the very first thing you need is a strong body! Heh..heheh, ahem. A strong body will let your body withstand more strikes and it will aid you in your battles if you ever run out of Qi!"
The instructor kicked forward six wooden buckets the size of a toilet!
"But there are also ways to train both your inner and outer energies! Fill up these buckets with water, put it on your head, and squat down until your legs are perfect right angles!"
The disciples stood still, seeing if he was being truthful…
"I SAID DO IT!"
All six disciples rushed for the buckets and the nearest pool of water.
This is nothing new! I've been doing this type of training since I was 12! Though, a much easier version…my current Dantian is about the size of a pigeon's egg. It doesn't sound like much, but countless youths across the realm would give up their entire fortunes for a Dantian the size of mine
But there's only one way to know just how useful this training will be…