Celestial Martial Path

A large group of the promising village youths set off with the village head for the entrance examination in the centre of the province. A large stadium utilised only by the most noble of the province was borrowed each decade by the nine schools.

The village head took each batch of children every year and taking advantage of the long trip, he began the explain the basics of the examination, "The examination consists of three parts children, remember this clearly. The first test is your raw power, your strength and manipulation of power."

Many of the youths began to show their prowess and physical strength.

"Quiet down! The second test will demonstrate your spirit and courage through an illusion test"

"Chief, what does an illusion mean, does it hurt?"

"Huh, that all depends on your ability my boy. Now the final test is the most simple, yet often the tallest hurdle to becoming a student of the nine schools. That is your talent in martial cultivation. A wise man once said, 'not all men are born equal'."

This time, no sounds were made, many of the boys began to show signs of anxiety and fear of not having the required talent.

A furious roar from the tamed lion beast pulling the carriage shocked all the children out of their silence. The village head quickly opened the door to the outside only to be welcomed by dozens of bandits surrounding the carriage.

"What do you people want?", roared the village head, voice growing harsher by the word.

The bandits exchanged a quick glance before forming an arrowhead formation and rushing at the chief.

"Audacious!", harrumphed the chief. Martial power revolved around his fist. With a solid punch outwards, the first row of bandits were blasted back by an invisible ripple of energy. The fallen bodies impeded the rest of the charge forcing the bandits back into a defensive maneuver.

The two peculiar cloaked figures behind majority of the bandits moved forwards as the bandits parted sides creating a path.

"Fifth stage Spiritual Condensation Realm, I can deal with this alone. " came a dark growl from the taller of the two cloaked figures. The other nodded and prepared a supportive stance.

The village head shivered. Only one with an equal or higher cultivation level could determine another's cultivation, yet this man had discerned his own accurately and calmly. Martial power yet again revolved around his fist as he prepared another thrust of spiritual intent, yet the instant he was about to release it, the hooded man's eyes glowed a combination of odd colours before vaporizing in the air. Instantly the man appeared above the chief and tackled his aged body to the ground.

The village head's initial screams and struggles were declined to muffled moans of pain. The cloaked man glanced towards the children muttering what seemed like a kill order, however before any movement from the bandits began, the man's eyes turned sharp and attempted to disappear. A bright flash followed by a speeding arrow penetrated the torso of the hooded figure, his body lurched before falling out of the carriage. Chaos appeared before the bandits as they attempted to locate the attacker however a wave similar to the chief's, yet much stronger swept out.

The aftershock created by the ripple of energy had kept the children's curious eyes closed, however the sounds of screaming and death could be heard from outside. Roaring sounds of battle continued for several minutes before the last cry ceased.

"By the gods, Lu Feng! It must be the deity's will for us to meet again." exclaimed a rather casual yet powerful voice. The village head, Lu Feng could only sigh and smile in welcome of an old friend.

"Bah, your looks have become as old as mine! It's been ten odd years yet you still haven't broken through to Spiritual Refinement? No wonder your talent was half of mine in our youth!" came the powerful and cheerful voice. The man was Lu Sha, the good brother of the village head and also a chief in his own village. The younger generation stared in shock as the usually stern and unforgiving men became children discussing and sharing even the smallest of things.

After a quick introduction from Lu Feng, an agreement was made to combine the two groups for safer travel. The newly allied village was similarly a branch guild of the Lu clan, a first tier power even within the entire province. The Lu clan sent elders out to form branch guilds each year in order to establish a strong foothold within the Sky Split region.

Although both villages were branch guilds, the youths of Lu Sha's village were heads and shoulders above Jun Xiang and his peers, whos cultivation realms didn't pass fifth stage Body Refinement. The strongest of Lu Sha's group, Lu Xia, had reached the ninth stage Body Refinement at a shocking age of fourteen, demonstrating his superiority in talent. His thick, trunk like body engraved with overbearing muscles stood over two meters tall and the imposing might of his stature and gaze burned a desire within all the other youths present. Even Jun Xiang was moved by the strength of Lu Xia, staring into the mesmerising muscles that screamed for attention.

"How long can your shabby WildFallen horse even last Lu Feng?" Lu Sha burst into a fit of laughter.

Lu Sha's face darkened, however recovering his composure quickly, he was about to send another witty remark about his companion's lacking cultivation talent when a shout from the driver interrupted his thoughts.

"My Lord! We will arrive at the Martial Sky Stadium in a cup of tea's time. Did you wish to bring the young ones out?"

Lu Sha nodded quietly and gestured for the children to exit the carriage. Jun Xiang leapt out of the carriage landing neatly on both his feet. Wind gushed around his figure and large amounts of dense natural energy enveloped the group of youths. A single thought ran through all the minds of the youths, 'Such profound power!'.

"Behold your eyes juniors! This is the place Duke Yu ascended the ranks to become the top tier genius that each major power extended their olive leaves to, this is the place the Sword Monarch fought Venerable Yin to a draw to settle their differences, this is the place millions of geniuses originate and this will be the place you ascend to the ranks of geniuses!". A gust of profound energy swept across the plains and at that moment Lu Feng looked as if he had become several years younger. "Let us depart young ones, this is your stage now."

A smile crept across Lu Sha's face as he watched his old friend, as if he was back when they took the exam themselves. These youngsters, so full of energy, full of curiosity and full of that competition nature that cultivators needed to grow. Generation by generation, cultivators had evolved, and yet each new group of children brought to this stadium each decade was just as fresh and lively as the ones before.

Lu Sha took at quick glance once more across the score of children. Silently nodding to himself, he calculated Lu Xia's ninth level body refinement, two seventh level body refinement, eight sixth level and seven fifth level. It was quite satisfactory this year, the average cultivation of the group had been raised by over twenty percent since last year. Lu Sha shifted his eyes back to stadium, but then quickly realising he had counted nineteen, their groups clearly had ten children each.

'Who was it? A hidden expert that avoided my basic detection?'

Lu Sha swiftly swept his eyes across the group once more, this time he realised there was a shorter boy, eyes gleaming with excitement and body trembling with glee. And yet this boy's cultivation was only the third level of body refinement despite being twelve years old.

Geniuses would generally reach the sixth level of body refinement at the age of twelve, even average boys would reach at least the fourth level and yet this child had only cultivated to the third level. Dismissing this disappointing thought, Lu Sha urged to group forward towards the stadium.

Jun Xiang naturally did not notice the odd looks of Elder Lu Sha, but as the wind enveloped him, a new understanding of wind began to form. He had always thought that wind obstructed paths and blocked others with sheer force and yet now, this steady yet fierce breeze parted before each cultivator and enveloped them as if caressing them. Wind wasn't a power like fire and water, wind yielded to others but struck them when unaware.

Within his consciousness a small stream of swirling power began to form, brilliantly and smoothly. It had become a slither of transparent force before infusing into the walls of Jun Xiang's mind. Again Jun Xiang did not notice this subtle change yet his understanding of wind had advanced beyond what even the strongest genius within the group Lu Xia had.

'Others may not know of it, but this was the overlord's first steps, weak, unorthodox, but steady steps that would bring him beyond reality and beyond his dreams, breaking each and every limitation to become what was truly strong.'

At least that's what Jun Xiang murmured to himself.