"Third day of my life. How fun... How long till we reach there?"
"We'll reach there in an hour!"
She groaned softly and accepted it, no resistance, as long as there was something to do. She could not handle doing nothing for less than a day; she had to keep her mind on something.
{"Maybe this time I should learn the Flying Palm Technique. Doubt it'd be my style, but I'll give it a chance."}
Kaida's hand went into her dress, taking the book out and opening it. Kaida gazed at it while yawning. Her eyes read through each line, all carefully, without missing a single word. Kaida glanced at the drawings and poses to send it out; with that, she found it decent. It was also versatile, meaning she could shift it from a palm. Maybe she could make it a needle or a string, which would make it fast and deadly.
A sound of tapping could be heard. Her head shot straight up, and she shoved the book inside her dress once again. The back of the carriage opened as two men stood.
"We have to get ready. We have to infiltrate this sect to get information," his voice spoke—rough, but also not too old. Seemed like a guy in his early years, maybe 20s or even 30s.
Kaida blinked once and then exhaled. "You do know how dangerous it would be if one of us was caught, right? Well, both of you. I wouldn't mind getting tortured."
She got up, moving like the wind right past them. Kaida landed right beside both of them. But she saw the place wasn't the Empire, not even close in the slightest. She could see a Sect floating in the sky on an island, just below a few mountains. Seeing their clothing, which looked like the generic cultivation main character—
"Do you have clothes for me to change into or no?"
"No need. You'll be accepted first. The dress you have is made of an unknown material, but it looks like an ocean. Could you tell us? But also—it would get you accepted really quickly."
"Either as an Outer, Inner, or maybe even Core Disciple. But of course, you need Qi Condensation to Core Formation for Outer Disciples," he spoke, going on and on.
"So I'll be an Outer Disciple. Or at least very close to an Inner Disciple." Kaida knew it was a lie, but her voice was deadpan like always. It would be hard to detect she was lying unless someone had the ability to detect it.
They sounded surprised. "Core Formation!? But you don't look over fifty!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm like a hundred years old. I just used some pills to look young," she rolled her eyes to their surprise. Moving with them to the path to the entrance.
Once they stopped at the Sect, she noticed about a hundred others there—all about Qi Condensation or higher. Some even above Core Formation, which she couldn't sense.
"This is going to be a hassle..." Kaida put her hands on her forehead, rubbing it softly.
The men that were following her stared nervously and stayed a little bit further away from her now.
"Do you even wanna know what this Sect is called?"
"What is it called?" Her voice was unamused; she didn't want to know, but she didn't care if they told her.
"The Waning Sky Sect. It's highly revered and has many cultivators which are stopping us," they whispered to her after getting a little closer.
She nodded. Kaida could tell this would go wrong. By now they were in the school and told her without thinking of doing that outside of it. Yet she went through with it.
"Welcome, all newcomers!" The man's voice was a booming voice of what was likely a middle-aged man, but she couldn't sense his Realm. Kaida could tell he was powerful.
His aura was hidden and suppressed around him. "We welcome you all. To begin, you will enter that gate one by one. We will begin with the back instead of the front this time. I change from front to back every time the test begins. But before you ask, the Gates are a way for us to test not only your physical strength and cultivation level but also how you handle certain scenarios if they were to happen."
Kaida sighed, stepping behind the two men who were part of her 'team' she came with. The Elder—or maybe even Sect Leader—went over to the trial. She stood looking back, waiting for his instructions.
"We won't tell what it does. No one does. Just know there are four, and depending on how you do, you will become either an Outer Disciple or Inner Disciple. Unless your stage is too low."
He moved his hand. Mana poured out, forming into a screen, or at least what looked like one. It played out a moment of a person failing the first gate, but not what happens there.
"Failing the first gate will make you leave instantly. But without further speaking—young lady, if you may—go inside."
She watched the door open, looking ahead. As she stepped up, the door closed, and her senses were cut off. Not simply sight and the complete darkness covering the area, but also her hearing, feeling, smelling, and even tasting.
It was all empty, and yet, with a calm expression, she shifted to sit, her legs crossed with her breathing in. The soft breath continued in a synced and paced manner. For what would have felt like hours, days, or even weeks, her mind raced due to the complete loss of senses.
Her brain went haywire trying to get it back, but with her will, she controlled how much it could react. With that, only the basic necessities of a brain functioned, and the rest was for her to control. Finally, as she opened her eyes, light shined down. Her eyes blasted with it as Kaida blinked a multitude of times to get used to it. It felt like forever, but considering no one aged a day, it was probably her loss of the sense of time.
"Gate one is cleared! Go ahead to the second one, you're doing better than every other person who's gone first."
Kaida got up and walked ahead. Though she wasn't used to it, she balanced herself properly. Reaching the second trial, she went inside. The door closed, and what mirrored like glass and mirrors—yet a memory of hers. Osami stood laughing at her and clearly belittling her while speaking something incoherent.
It was too off-character for her. Kaida chuckled quietly and wiped away the illusion instantly. "Osami wouldn't act like that. Her words spoke of insulting my art when that's what she loves. Try again." It was easy, mostly because the illusion was so wildly off. It's why Kaida passed easily.
"Gate two cleared, I see. That's my fault. I shouldn't have done something so wildly inaccurate. Thank you." He spoke calmly, laughing. It was amusing for him as well, genuinely.
Kaida found it good that someone like him wasn't arrogant. Usually, they were, and they'd attack anyone who got in their way. It was a breath of fresh air for her due to how many novels she'd read involving those types of people. "Very well, no problem."
She could tell what the next two were going to be. It was either her mind or body, maybe even Qi—but she doubted that. Or it could've mixed both of them together, making the fourth one different.
Kaida walked forward. She reached what was the third test. It felt a lot different—a featureless void of pure white. It would've been blinding if it was that generic glowing one, which felt like stepping into the sun. The pressure of gravity pushed her down—at first double, and then triple—as she stayed up. Kaida was resisting this much, at least.
"Oh, you must at least be Qi Condensation then. Now it's time to go higher!" It doubled again, going from three times to six times.
Kaida shook a little but stayed up. "Foundation Establishment... How fun. Let's see now—if you can handle the next one, I'll know you're Core Formation," his voice calm but also enthusiastic.
He curved his lip. The gravity went up by four more, now 10x, as she was pushed down. The energy inside her shifted around, creating a soft barrier, giving less weight on her. Her organs were ready to burst at this level, but she resisted to make sure no one noticed to keep her lie up. But after a while, she adjusted the Qi back to her center. Her breathing steadied, though it was clear any longer would've caused her to fail. But instead of the Sect Leader going higher—
"You've passed the third gate. Now for the fourth. Once you pass this, you'll become an Outer Disciple... Also, I love the control over your internal energy even in this amount of stress—most others wouldn't be able to!" He stopped the gravitational field. Kaida dropped to the ground from the extremely quick change, sitting on the void.
Kaida grinned. She began slowly healing herself. She blinked. Kaida glanced over and asked a genuine question, "Could I stay here for a minute? My senses are still haywire from this gate."
She could hear the talking from the members outside, almost mocking her. Of which the Leader gave a chuckle. "Of course. It isn't wrong to ask for breaks—you're still human, even with cultivation."
Her expression changed from a calm, collected one to a soft smile, barely visible. Kaida knew the Leader could see through her lie. It's not that he was just that strong—it was that he's dealt with liars and schemers before. She could see from the way he acts.
The way he talks and treats others—he'd accept anyone if they'd be willing to change. She sat down with her legs crossed. She had no other way to sit because the one other she would've done may have been offensive here.
{"Can't risk looking informal or rude sitting like that. This is probably universal."}
After two minutes of sitting, she moved up and gave a thumbs-up, though not realizing where the Leader was looking from. She walked ahead, reaching the end, and in there being what studied like three lights. Though empty, she saw a button.
"To begin this test, you need to click the button and click it a second time as soon as the three lights turn green. This isn't made of technology non-cultivators use, but instead Mana, which means it's unable to lag behind—so don't worry about it."
Her face, though now deadpan, would show respect towards how thought out this was. {"Looks like he actually has experience and doesn't only say 'I'll kill you for not agreeing.' I love this already!"}
She pressed the button, her eyes staring directly at the light as they counted up from one, two, and then three in red...
DING!
0.070 ms
{"Doubt that's good, at least for this world."} Her eyes stared in confusion.
"Ah, an average reaction speed for someone at Core Formation. Good job!" He looked happy at her, a warm expression, as she left the exam.
She was made an Outer Disciple, as the rest of the students now had to go through it without knowing how it worked. They only heard what she said.
"Okay, you can go adjust yourself. The Outer Disciple area is atop that peak... It's mostly for Core Formation ones. They're on the verge of breakthrough. I'd recommend the one next to it, which is Foundation Establishment."
She nodded and walked off, watching the two men who were supposed to follow her run off. Probably from fear and knowing they couldn't do anything to help her. Though while she moved, she watched as Outer Disciples and Inner Disciples talked.
Some even trained and sparred, their talks on how to improve and grow instead of petty insults. A real school, which isn't like all the others. She found it refreshing. She could find many medicinal halls with disciples inside there as well. They weren't restricted to simply training like this. Maybe they could even make medicine.
{"Oh, I absolutely love this. I might snatch a pill-making technique, but I think with how they act, they'd just let me."}
She gave a soft giggle—not a chuckle. It felt childish and almost instinctive to her. Her voice feminine and warm. And her dress now shifted into a more fitting manner for the domain—at least Outer Disciples. She saw some wearing just their "pajamas" while outside. Instead of wearing what all others do. But she found it fine. Everyone seemed fine with the clothing due to its modesty. It didn't show off physical appearance at all.
{"I'm never leaving this place. There is no way anything is going to make me. Of course, unless they're somehow evil—which I doubt."}