The arena was a cauldron of simmering disbelief. The handful of disciples who had failed the second trial shuffled away, their faces a mixture of shame and confusion, unable to comprehend how they had been bested by a fish-feeder. Only five participants remained: Li Yu, Li Jie, and three other senior outer disciples who had passed through a combination of patience and brute luck. The crowd's earlier mockery had evaporated, replaced by a tense, watchful silence. They had come expecting a joke and were instead witnessing a mystery.
Li Jie's face was a thunderous mask. The humiliation was a physical thing, a burning acid in his gut. Every ounce of his innate talent, his Grade Four spirit, his superior status, had been rendered meaningless by the quiet, inexplicable success of the boy he considered less than dirt. His fists were clenched so tightly his knuckles were white, and his gaze on Li Yu was filled with a murderous promise.
Elder Zhao cleared his throat, his cheerful demeanor now tinged with a profound seriousness as he looked at the small, dripping boy who had upended the entire examination. He exchanged a glance with the other elders before stepping forward to address the final five.
"You have all shown a measure of affinity," he announced, his voice carrying a new weight. "But the path of a beast tamer is not merely about calming the timid or luring the shy. It is about commanding the respect of the proud and the powerful. The final trial will determine if you possess the will and the spirit to stand before a true predator and not be found wanting. This is The Trial of Submission!"
He gestured towards the center of the arena, where a large, iron-barred cage was being wheeled out by a team of inner disciples. The cage was covered with a thick, black cloth, but a low, guttural growl from within sent a shiver of apprehension through the crowd. The air grew heavy with a palpable aura of primal fury.
"Inside this cage," Elder Zhao continued, his voice grim, "is a Rank 3 Spirit Beast known as a Crimson-Gill Marsh-Drake. Its power is equivalent to a cultivator at the Eighth Stage of the Body Tempering Realm. It is a creature of immense pride and violent temper. Your task is simple: you will enter the arena, and the drake will be released. You must make it bow its head in a gesture of submission. You may use any method you deem fit, short of permanently injuring the beast. Succeed, and you will have a place in our Beast Taming Hall. Fail… and try not to be eaten."
A wave of fear washed over the remaining disciples. A Rank 3 Spirit Beast! This was a creature far beyond their ability to handle. This wasn't a test; it was a death sentence.
The first disciple, a brawny youth at the Sixth Stage of Body Tempering, stepped forward, his face pale but determined. The cage was opened, and the Marsh-Drake stalked out. It was a fearsome creature, the size of a large wolf, with a low-slung, reptilian body covered in thick, dark green scales. A vibrant, crimson-red frill flared around its neck, and its eyes burned with malevolent intelligence. It was a creature of both land and water, its webbed feet ending in sharp talons.
The disciple roared and released his martial spirit, a Stone-Fisted Ape. He tried to intimidate the drake, but the beast merely hissed, its crimson gills flaring. It lunged, a blur of green fury. The disciple barely had time to throw up his arms before he was sent flying, his body crashing against the arena wall. He lay groaning, his arm clearly broken. He had failed.
The next two disciples fared no better. One tried a soothing technique, only to be met with a blast of corrosive spittle that sizzled on the ground where he had been standing. The other was simply paralyzed by fear and forfeited immediately.
Now, only Li Jie and Li Yu remained.
Li Jie strode into the arena, his face a mask of grim determination. This was his last chance to reclaim his pride. "A turtle might be slow," he growled, "but it is the master of defense! Your aggression is useless against me!"
He stomped his foot, and a brilliant green light erupted. His snapping turtle spirit manifested, not as an ethereal image, but as a semi-corporeal shield of emerald light that enveloped him. The Marsh-Drake watched him, its head cocked, a look of reptilian contempt in its eyes. It seemed to find his posturing amusing.
Li Jie began to slowly advance, hoping to wear the drake down with his superior defense. The drake, however, had no intention of playing his game. With a flick of its powerful tail, it sent a shower of sharp, hardened pebbles flying at Li Jie. The stones pelted his light shield, causing it to flicker. While he was distracted, the drake lunged, not at his front, but at his side, its claws raking across the shield. The light construct shattered, and Li Jie was sent tumbling. The drake stood over him, its jaws dripping with acidic saliva, and let out a triumphant roar.
Defeated and utterly humiliated, Li Jie scrambled out of the arena.
A heavy silence descended. All eyes turned to the last participant. The small, eleven-year-old boy who had somehow made it to the final round. No one believed he could succeed. They only wondered how quickly he would be torn apart.
Li Yu walked calmly into the center of the arena. The Marsh-Drake turned its fiery gaze upon him, a low growl rumbling in its chest. It was agitated, its victory over the others having stoked its aggressive instincts.
Li Yu did not release an aura. He did not prepare a defensive stance. He simply stood and looked at the beast. And for the first time, he opened the floodgates of his spiritual sense.
Because the Marsh-Drake was a creature of both land and water, a beast with an ancient aquatic bloodline, he could connect with it directly. He plunged his consciousness into its mind and was met with a storm of pride, rage, and a deep-seated territorial imperative. It saw him as a challenger, an intruder to be destroyed.
But beneath the storm, Li Yu felt something else. A flicker of loneliness. A deep-seated desire for a connection with a being that could understand its own primal nobility. It was a creature of a proud and ancient lineage, trapped in a world of lesser beings.
He did not try to dominate its will. He did not try to soothe its anger. He simply… responded. He sent a single, clear thought through their spiritual link, a feeling more than a word: I see you.
The drake's growl faltered, a flicker of confusion in its intelligent eyes. It had expected a challenge, but this was something else entirely.
Then, Li Yu took a step further. He focused his will, and behind him, the air shimmered. The blood-red Koi materialized, floating silently in the air. It had grown again, now nearly two feet long, and the golden thread along its spine shone with a faint but distinct light, a mark of a truly transcendent bloodline.
The moment the Marsh-Drake saw the Koi, its entire demeanor changed. The aggression in its eyes was replaced by utter shock, then by a profound, instinctual awe. Li Yu's spirit was not powerful in a combative sense, but its life force, its very essence, was on a completely different plane of existence. To the Marsh-Drake, it was like a common soldier suddenly standing in the presence of a divine emperor. The ancient, aquatic bloodline deep within the drake screamed at it, a primal command to show respect to a being of a higher order.
Li Yu sent another thought, a gentle but firm projection of his own will. Be at peace. Show your respect.
What happened next would be etched into the memory of everyone present for the rest of their lives.
The Crimson-Gill Marsh-Drake, the proud, untamable Rank 3 Spirit Beast that had effortlessly defeated the best of the outer sect, lowered its head. It bent its thick, scaly front legs and bowed, its snout touching the dusty floor of the arena in a gesture of absolute, unconditional submission. It was not the bow of a defeated foe, but the obeisance of a subject to its rightful sovereign.
Then, the crowd erupted. Shouts of disbelief, of shock, of pure, unadulterated awe filled the air.
On the high platform, Elder Zhao's mouth was hanging open, and the severe-faced elder was stroking his goatee in a state of stunned contemplation.
Elder Ning stood up, her face impassive, but her eyes blazed with a fire that seemed to light up the entire arena. She descended from the platform, her robes billowing around her, and walked until she stood before Li Yu. The Marsh-Drake remained bowed, not daring to move in her presence without Li Yu's permission.
She looked from the submissive drake to the quiet boy, and finally to the ethereal red Koi floating behind him.
"What is your name?" she asked, her voice clear and carrying across the silent arena.
"Li Yu," he replied, his voice steady.
"Li Yu," she repeated, a hint of a smile finally gracing her lips. "The sect rules are iron. A menial laborer cannot become a disciple through an examination."
A wave of disappointment washed over the crowd. Li Jie, watching from the sidelines, felt a surge of malicious hope.
"However," Elder Ning continued, her voice ringing with authority, "the rules also state that an Elder of the Beast Taming Hall may take on a personal disciple, regardless of their origin, should they display a talent that is beyond measure. What you have shown us today is not mere affinity."
She placed a hand on Li Yu's shoulder. "From this day forward, you are no longer a menial laborer. You are my, Ning Yue's, personal disciple. You will have the full rights and resources of a core disciple of the Green Mountain Sect."
The declaration struck the crowd like a bolt of lightning. A personal disciple of an elder! It was a status that even the most talented inner disciples dreamed of.
Li Yu felt a wave of dizziness. He looked at the powerful woman before him, at the bowed head of the drake, and at the stunned, hate-filled face of Li Jie in the distance. He took a deep breath and knelt on one knee.
"This disciple, Li Yu, greets Master."
His voice was not loud, but it echoed like thunder in the silent arena. The fish-feeder was no more. A new path, one filled with unimaginable opportunity and untold danger, had just begun.