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Azalea stood in front of Kid Vremya’s cave. She knocked on the barrier before pulling out Kid Vremya’s token, using it to enter. “Vremya! If you don’t go now, you’re going to be late for the competition!” Five years had passed in the blink of an eye, and during all of that time, she had still been doing Kid Vremya’s chores for him. However, she wouldn’t have to do that anymore, not after today!
Kid Vremya opened his eyes and grunted upon seeing Azalea. The other day, he had sent in a petition to the sect to promote him to outer disciple without having to enter the competition; however, he was ruthlessly rejected. Since he had skipped the previous competitions, it was needless to say most of the elders didn’t like his attitude. As such, none of them approved of his request which led to Kid Vremya leaving his cave and purchasing a spiritual tool from the disciples’ exchange plaza. He went to the corner of his cave and picked up a large turtle shell. It was roughly the size of his torso.
“What is that?” Azalea asked, tilting her head. “Is that your weapon?”
“It’s a defensive artifact,” Kid Vremya said. He tucked the turtle shell awkwardly underneath his right arm. “Let’s go.”
“Why do you need a defensive artifact?” Azalea asked, her expression darkening. She walked alongside Kid Vremya, heading towards the competition ground. “I know you’re stronger than me, and I’m already at the seventh stage of qi condensation. Do you know how strong your opponents are going to be? They’re going to be at the third stage!”
“I’m establishing my foundation,” Kid Vremya said. “If I use any techniques, I might get distracted and breakthrough to foundation establishment on accident.”
Azalea’s expression darkened even further. “That kind of thing doesn’t happen on accident.” She wrinkled her nose. “I bet I know the real reason you’re using that. You don’t have any combat techniques, do you? You’ve never went to the skill pavilion.”
Kid Vremya snorted. “How would you know that? Are you keeping track of me?”
Azalea’s face turned red. “Why would I do something like that, dummy? I know you’ve never been to the skill pavilion because I’m always carrying your token for you!”
Kid Vremya shifted the turtle shell to his other arm. “Isn’t your cultivation technique ice-related? Why are you getting so heated up?”
Azalea pouted and turned her head away. Kid Vremya was such a blockhead. “I’m getting heated up because I’m angry.”
“Yeah,” Kid Vremya said. “That’s what I mean. Aren’t you supposed to sever your emotions? No wonder why you’re cultivating so slowly.”
“Not everyone is a genius like you, okay?” Azalea asked and rolled her eyes. “Have you decided what profession you want to learn when you become an outer disciple?”
“Formation master,” Kid Vremya said.
Azalea froze, causing Kid Vremya to turn his head to the side to see why she stopped. “You’re going to learn how to be a formation master?”
“Yes. Why? Is something wrong?”
“If you were going to do that, then why did you reject Elder Formation five years ago?” Azalea asked. “She’s the elder who manages all the formations. If you really wanted to learn how to be a formation master, you should’ve accepted her offer.”
Kid Vremya snorted. “There’s no one in existence who can make me willingly bow my head and call them master.”
Azalea bit her lower lip. “You’re going to get beaten up very badly one day.”
“Are you cursing me?”
“No.” Azalea shook her head. “I’m just pointing out a fact.”
It didn’t take long for the two children to reach the competition ground. All of the newcomer disciples were gathered, and Kid Vremya was the last to arrive, barely on time. Like every year for the past five years, all the elders were present, but this time, none of them had any thoughts of leaving early. Their eyes lit up upon seeing Kid Vremya, and a confused expression appeared on Rachel’s face when she saw the spiritual artifact he was holding, but she didn’t ask any questions. Instead, she stood up. “Everyone’s here. Begin the competition.”
A woman stood up and stepped onto the arena in front of the newcomers. She explained the rules of the competition and the consequences of failure. While she did so, Kid Vremya looked around. Despite the sect supposedly becoming more inclusive, he was still the only male in the whole sect. The entrance standards for males were way stricter than they were for females, and in the past five years, he was the only one who had passed them. Most of his competitors were younger than him, which was unsurprising. There was only a dozen or so girls who looked to be the same age as him. With the way the promotion worked, those girls were either unfit for cultivation or extremely unlucky, but judging by their cultivation levels, it was the former. Of course, they were only unfit for cultivation when compared to everyone else in the sect. A third-stage qi-condensation cultivator who was ten years old would be considered an expert anywhere else. Since none of his competitors were strong enough to even make him lift a finger, Kid Vremya threw away all thoughts of strategy and focused purely on cultivating. He closed his eyes and sat down with his legs crossed in the middle of the woman’s speech.
The woman who was explaining saw him, and her eye twitched. “Now, we’ll begin the first round.” She pointed at Kid Vremya. “You’re up first,” she said, causing Azalea to internally slap her forehead in the audience’s seating area. Why couldn’t he just be respectful for once? The woman continued, pointing at a young girl who raised her hand. “You’ll be his opponent.”
Even though his eyes were closed in cultivation, Kid Vremya could still tell he had been selected. He went onto the stage, carrying his turtle shell. He placed it down, sat on top of it, putting his legs in the lotus position, and closed his eyes again. His opponent was dumbfounded, and she glanced at the announcer woman, who was also serving as a referee. “Begin.”
The young girl charged at Kid Vremya and punched towards his stomach. Icy wind surged forward, causing the air to screech. Her fist landed on an invisible barrier inches away from Kid Vremya, and there was a loud thud. A moment later, the girl recoiled and clutched her fist to her chest while wailing. It felt like she had just punched a solid steel wall with all her strength. Tears sprang to her eyes, and she bit her lower lip. She sniffled and took in a deep breath, preparing herself in case Kid Vremya decided to counterattack. But he didn’t. All he did was sit on the turtle, motionlessly cultivating. The girl took in a deep breath and punched again but with nowhere near as much force as last time. With a thud, her fist collided against the barrier once more. Helplessly, she glanced at the referee. “Is this allowed?”
The referee glanced at the semi-circle of elders sitting in the stands. Their faces were twisted with strange expressions. Only Rachel looked unamused. The referee shifted her gaze back onto Kid Vremya’s poor opponent. “It’s allowed.”
The girl pouted, but she nodded and circled around Kid Vremya. She punched at the barrier, seeing if any place was weaker than the other, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t make a dent in it. After five minutes, Rachel let out a sigh and stood up. “The artifact he’s using is the copper-shelled tortoise’s shell. It can block all attacks weaker than a fifth-stage qi-condensation cultivator’s strike. Sit down. We’ll pretend like this fight never occurred.”
The girl on the stage stared at the turtle shell. Why had the sect leader let her suffer for five minutes if the sect leader already knew that was the result? Rachel didn’t care about the resentment blossoming in Kid Vremya’s opponent. She turned her gaze onto the elders. “I told you we should’ve promoted him when he petitioned us.”
Awkward laughs came from the elders’ seating area. Elder Formation stood up. “Vremya,” she said. “Is there any meaning in what you’re doing? You could’ve defeated your opponent in an instant, but instead, you’re humiliating her and wasting our time with these antics.”
Kid Vremya opened his eyes. “You’re the ones who tried to waste my time first. Cultivating is much more important than bullying some kids, so that’s what I’m doing.”
In the audience, Azalea couldn’t help but bury her face in her hands. She didn’t even know why she cared so much about Kid Vremya anyway, but hearing his arrogant answer that definitely deserved a beating made her chest feel tight as if she were submerged underwater. If he didn’t get taught a lesson today, then she’d do all his chores for—no! She wasn’t going to do anything except be surprised.
Rachel let out a sigh and reached forward with her hand. A moment later, an icy fist caught Elder Formation, who had flown out of her seat and was heading towards Kid Vremya. “I’ll deal with him,” Rachel said and pulled back, sending Elder Formation away. Rachel leapt down to the stage and stood in front of Kid Vremya. “Today, I’m punishing you because of your blatant disrespect to your elders and your peers. For the next ninety years, you’ll be imprisoned on Icy Wind Cliff.”
“Ninety years?” an elder asked. “Sect Leader, don’t you think that’s too harsh?”
“Alright,” Kid Vremya said before anyone else could interject. “I accept my punishment.” He could tell Rachel was helping him out. Ninety years of cultivating in peace, what more could he ask for? It was a shame he couldn’t see the horrified expression on Azalea’s face—not like he would’ve done anything about it.