Spring Winds

I did it!

I passed!

I finally got it! Haha, suck it all of you who said I couldn't do it!

Nonexistent haters:"...."

"Cheers, everyone. Cheers!"

"Hurray!"

Clinking our cups together, we all take a swig of some good wine. Now, you maybe were I have acquired such excellent drink, Well, luckily some good brothers here had snuck in some merry juice into the small banquet hall where we were situated.

Ah-ha! I hadn't had a drink in so long! Bringing the cup of ambrosia to my face, the sweet smell of alcohol tickled my nose.

"Ahh! Good wine!" I sighed with appreciation.

"You handle your drink quite well, little lady," a gruff but friendly man praised.

"Thanks, brother," I replied and promptly took another drink. Hehe, I feel so giddy after drinking.

The men that passed the entrance exam were quite powerful. Though they probably don't admit such a fact openly, I could feel the strength radiating from their body. Not to mention power, they had to be quite good at memorization and reading to pass the oral exam as well. In total, the final number of contestants that was accepted was only 25 people compared to the roughly 200 participants. Anyways, I'm just glad that I managed the oral exam.

"Man, that physical examination took a lot out of this old man," one of the men sighed.

"I feel you, if I had gone through hellish training prior, there would be no way I could have passed that," another stated.

The room made collective sounds of agreements.

Eh? Difficult? I didn't remember it to be too bad.

"Yes, remember that one course that would blow through our stamina?" The man who said this was thin and in his late twenties. If memory serves me correctly, he was pretty fast, though he needs to work on his stamina. I believe his name is Duan He.

"Yes, the one that made us do a couple of hundred strikes to the dummy in under a minute?" The second who responded to him is Wan Yan if I am correct. He is average build and height, but underneath him, I sense something deeper.

"Man, that one was bad, but it wasn't as bad as the last one."

"Brother, don't remind of that one. That is one truly belongs in hell for that."

A few hours ago...

"Welcome recruits, as you all know, I am Master Le of Peak Quan Li Peak. Lets cut out the formalities and let us begin the fun part, the physical examination!" At this moment, a wild grin spread across the face of the gruff looking man. Almost giving him a maniacal look, one filled with power and blood. Oh~scary~.

I suppose not everyone felt that same sentiment, as they all gave a visible shudder. A shudder? Really? That was I sight I didn't expect to see in a group of grown men. And martial artists not to mention. Oh well.

Master Le must have noticed my borderline uncontained, excited face since he picked me out of the crowd first.

"You, there, in the green." he pointed right at me. A dozen or so eyes turned to look at me. "What's your name and number."

"My name is Zhu Na Ran, and I am number 203."

"Miss Zhu, would care to be the one to start us off with the first test?"

"Sure." I don't see why not. If I finish first, then I get to leave early.

"Let's start soft, you boys and girl," he gestured to me. "A strength counter. All you need to do is punch this here dummy, and it will tell you what strength score you have. The bare minimum that you need to get is at least 150. Two total strikes. One from your leg and another from your arms. "

Looking at the dummy in front of me, I walk closer to get a better look at it. Hmm, it was rather crude looking but sturdy. On its stomach was a strength counter talisman painted on its belly. I suppose this is where we're to strike it.

Eh, what to chose, what to chose. I suppose I'll do my arm strike first since I always worked on my weaker side before tweaking my stronger side. The only exception being cultivation.

Stretching out my shoulders a bit, I quicking punched the dummy square in the stomach.

425 was quickly projected over the head of the dummy. Huh, its a bit lower than I thought. Maybe in need to angle the punch differently. Oh well, moving on to the leg.

Lifting my leg, I delivered a punishing down kick onto the dummy.

637 was projected into the air. Ah, well its seems like my leg is still the same.

Noticing the silence, I turn back to the crowd. The men seemed to be in shock and awe, and Master Le looked quite pleased.

"You did well, lass. I'll pass you for this course."

"Thanks! It's an honor to receive your praise."

The rest of the testing was rather forgettable after that point. There was the dummy thing that Duan He and Wan Yan talked about, but that was pretty easy. Oh, there was also a large, long pit we had to jump over. Said hole was filled with mud and rock, but that was a breeze too. It couldn't compare to me trying to jump across a river a few times to make it here, but that's a story for another time.

In the end, I passed and made it into the sect, so that's all that matters.

"How, did you do it?"

"Ah, huh?" A bunch of men looked over at me.

"How did you manage to get through all of those tests?"

"Yeah, it's the first time I've seen a young girl like yourself keep up with grown men."

"Oh, uh, nothing special. Just some training here and there. I had to travel a lot and fight off a bunch of things, so maybe that helped."

"I'll say, for sure. I like you, little lady, here, cheers." Lifting his cup, the rest followed.

"Cheers," I said, and I took another drink.

The rest of the banquet passed merrily, but soon, the bells signal that it was time for the disciple ceremony.

Standing in two groups, I stood in the front row of the martial division. Turning my head over to the other side, I saw her. The girl from last night. She was also standing in the front row, but face forward. It looks like she made it. Not that I doubted her to begin with anyway. Hehe, I hope to see her around more.

Looking onto the stage, it seemed all the peak masters were standing there. Colors of the rainbow and black and white robes stood neatly in a row.

In front of the group was a young man in his early twenties dressed in white and silver robes.

"Congratulations, everyone, for making it past the entrance examination. I know that it is late, so I'll proceed with the disciple selection. First to chose is - "

"Me!!! Haha," suddenly an old man showed up on stage. He looked unkempt with his faded grey robes and his bushy grey hair and beard.

"Master Luo," the young man saluted, and the rest of the master did as well.

Huh? Is this Master Luo that took on all 100 hundred martial participants and destroyed the hopes of another 100 cultivators; this Master Luo?

Though I am skeptical, I can't deny the intense pressure being radiated from this man.

"Master Luo, may I know why you are here?" the young man asked.

"Go ask that master of yours. He's the one nagging me to pick a disciple or two. And since he wants me to pick one so badly, I might as well be the first!"

"Em, of course."

"Hmph, alrighty, let's see here," he glanced over the crowd before landing on me than the girl from before. "eh, those two."

The rest of the masters looked a bit shocked. I don't know why though, since I think that the girl and I would be great disciples. Maybe, they wanted us to join them? But, it seems that they aren't willing to make any disagreements.

"Very well, Master Luo. I hope you won't regret your choice."

"Em, I'm too old to worry about regrets. Come along now, girls." Waving his hand, a cloud enveloped the other girl and me.

I could faintly hear before we departed, "Those poor girls...."