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She paused to let anyone speak up who needed to, but no one did.

“Very well, let’s continue.” She reached into her storage bag, took out a small clear vial, and set it down for all of us to examine. “Does anyone know what this is?”

I examined it closely. It contained the same energy I had seen in the chairs at the Ning Clan mansion.

“Some type of wood energy,” I stated, “but it’s strange.”

Everyone but Zhuge Yan shook their heads, so the instructor directed her attention toward him.

“Well?”

“It’s wood essence.”

She nodded and then looked at the rest of us. “Essence is what gives people affinities. We do not know if this energy is somehow stored in the body or if it is simply used up to change the body. What we do know is that essence cannot be recovered from a corpse, so we must assume it is the latter option. On the other hand, it is theorized that affinity testing orbs work by somehow measuring the amount of essence in the body, which would lend credence to the former explanation being correct.”

She picked up the small vial of essence and shook it. “In any case, the more of this you absorb, the higher your affinities will rise.”

Staring at the vial in her hands, I realized why the energy had seemed so familiar when I saw it in the Ning mansion. I had never seen earth or wood essence before, but I had seen fire essence. I had once used it to boost my fire affinity while sitting in a pool in the Twin Mountains Sect.

Instructor Yuan looked at Shi YuLong. “You are from the Empire of Eternal Winter, correct?”

“Of course,” he grinned.

“What is your water affinity?”

He froze.

“It’s… uh…” He looked down a bit embarrassed. “I don’t have one, not even low nine-star.”

Instructor Yuan nodded. “Do you know why?”

Shi YuLong’s eyes snapped to hers.

She continued. “Did you know that the crown prince of Eternal Winter has a peak four-star water affinity? The Saint allows each empire to harvest a single type of essence from within their domain. Eternal Winter harvests water essence. They use large, complex formations to gather all of the water essence in the empire and then pour it into their top prodigies.”

That was what had happened in Brilliant Sun, I realized. The imperial clan harvested earth essence and transferred it to their children through the clan Trials.

“The rules for kingdoms are a little laxer. Some may harvest essence of many different types, but they do not do so as thoroughly as most empires do. They leave enough for their populace to still occasionally gain a decent affinity with any of the elements.”

This was what Eight Flower had been doing with their Bagua Formation.

“Within the Nine Rivers Sect’s territory, you will find that no one is born with any affinities. They cannot be. The sect harvests all of the essence within its territory. They also impose a tax on any essence harvested by the empires and kingdoms throughout the continent. All of this essence is taken to the sect to help its disciples raise their affinities as high as possible.”

My face went blank as I processed what she was saying and why she was saying it. When I understood, a smile blossomed on my face. I knew what would come next.

“All members of the Academy’s elite classes are allowed to enter the sect’s Trials to compete for a share of essence. As you all reached Peak Master during your end-of-term Disciple assessment,” she rolled her eyes slightly, “you will be permitted to enter a Trial twice each year. This will be of great benefit to you, but it is also why you were all given more difficult requirements for remaining in these classes after this term is over. If you fail the Trials, you will receive very little essence and will end up being removed from these classes.”

Everyone was excited at the prospect, but I was the first to speak up.

“Can any affinity be raised in the Trial?”

“The sect is separated into different mountains for each element. Each mountain has a separate Trial. If you want to raise your earth affinity, you must enter the Earth Peak Trial.”

Shaking the vial in her hand again, she continued. “Upon joining the sect, you will be assigned to a particular peak. I am a member of the Wood Peak. As such, I cannot visit other peaks without special permission. Only students of Yellow Orchid Academy who have not yet joined the sect are afforded the luxury of freely choosing which Trial they wish to attempt.”

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“Is there any reason to think about it?” YuLong laughed. “I’m just an earth cultivator. Why bother with anything else?”

“Remember the task you were assigned.” The instructor glared at him and then turned to explain further. “As a Martial Master, the Trial will only raise your affinity to a maximum of mid five-star. As your earth affinity is already above this level, entering the Earth Peak Trial will not increase it. There are other benefits to be gained from the Trial, but if you wish to work on your affinities, you will need to visit a different peak.”

“When do we go?” JiaQi asked. This was the question we all wanted the answer to.

“If there are no more questions, we will depart immediately.”

She looked around. No one wanted to delay the trip any longer than necessary, but Zhuge Yan spoke up to ask an important question we needed the answer to.

“What does this Trial involve? What do we need to do to get the most essence possible?”

“It will test your ability with the chosen element. Anything the Saint deemed important for someone with that element to know will be tested. The better you do on these tests, the more essence you will be awarded. As for the specifics, you will need to learn them on your own.”

Yan nodded in acceptance of this response.

“Anything else?” asked Instructor Yuan.

This time, no one spoke up.

“Then follow me.”

She led us out of our villa and took us on a winding path through the hills to a secluded building hidden deep within the territory of the Yellow Orchid Academy. She stopped in front of it and turned to face us.

She held up a small jade badge, showing it to us. “Never come here alone. Only members of the Nine Rivers Sect are permitted to enter, and only instructors at the Academy on official business are permitted to bring anyone with them. If you come here without a sect token, the formation that surrounds this entire area will kill you.”

Without waiting for a reply, she turned back and opened the door to let us inside.

There was only one room inside the small building. Its floors and walls were bare. The only thing inside was a stone archway.

The view through the arch was not simply the other side of the room. It opened out onto a small hill overlooking a sizable city at the base of an enormous mountain.

Instructor Yuan confidently walked through the arch and out onto the hillside where she waited for us to follow. We were all hesitant upon seeing this, but no one was willing to be left behind.

When I stepped through and out onto the dirt path leading away from the arch, I looked around at my surroundings. There were several other freestanding arches on the hill which should have led nowhere but instead led into other dark, windowless buildings like the one we had just left.

Standing there under the open sky felt surreal to me, and only the wind blowing through my hair convinced me that what I was seeing was real.

“These portals connect the Nine Rivers Sect to various places around the continent and are mainly used for recruiting and training disciples. You should feel honored. Only elite Yellow Orchid students are allowed to pass through them before joining the sect.”

She began walking toward the large city in the distance. As we followed, the ground seemed to pass under our feet at an unusual pace.

“This is Dragon Peak, the center of the Nine Rivers Sect.” Instructor Yuan explained as we continued walking forward. “If you wish to become a Sovereign in the future, all you have to do is climb to the top of this mountain and you will get your opportunity. Just don’t be too hasty. Very few can make it to the peak. Most die in the attempt.”

I wanted to say something, to ask a question, but it was too difficult to talk. We were traveling through some type of formation that was affecting our movements, and I had to spend most of my concentration on maintaining a steady pace forward.

Before I knew it, we appeared in front of a large arch that served as the entrance to the city. Across its crown, written in large gold embossed characters, was 龍生九子.

“The dragon has nine sons?” asked LiTing.

Instructor Yuan turned to us. “This is the motto of the Nine Rivers Sect. The Dragon has Nine Sons. For the sect to be successful, for it to fulfill its purpose, the sect must allow all types of people to enter. Warriors and crafters, merchants and beggars.”

She paused and looked at us intently. “All types. Including thieves and murderers. This is the City of Mortals. You will be protected while you are here, but once you leave, the sect is a dangerous place. Since you are all Academy students, this isn’t something you need to worry about for now. Just keep it in mind for the future.”

We followed the instructor as she guided us through the city.

As we walked, I felt it all looked a little odd. Everything looked… normal. People were walking around doing normal jobs. They were cleaning streets, hauling loaded carts, and repairing buildings. It didn’t look too different from Dragon Gate City. It certainly didn’t look like I had imagined the Nine Rivers Sect would look like.

When I checked with energy vision, the strangeness grew. Everyone was entirely mortal. They didn’t show even a hint of having cultivated.

“Everyone’s a mortal?” I asked, confused. “Are these people in the sect?”

That didn’t seem right at all, but I couldn’t understand the situation.

“These are civilians, not sect members. They are all descendants of current or former sect members. While most cultivators would rather not have children in a place where they would be born with no affinities, there are always people who don’t care.”

“Where are the sect members?” asked JiaQi.

“At their own peaks, higher up the mountain, or… elsewhere…” The instructor seemed nervous about elaborating further. “Usually, the only reason to come here is to trade with members of other peaks. For that, you would need to visit the economic zones designated for sect members. Most of the city, as the name implies, is for mortals.”

She pointed out a few more trivial things about the city, but that wasn’t the focus. We were swiftly guided to a large open plaza at the center of the city. A large pentagon was inscribed on the cobblestone ground, and at each of its points, there was a large stone arch. Outside the pentagon, a square was inscribed in the ground, and there were four more arches at its corners.

“This is the Gateway Plaza.” Instructor Yuan gestured at the arches. “These passageways will take you to each of the other nine peaks. Decide which affinity you would like to attempt to raise, and you may pass through the appropriate arch to visit that peak. Remember, once you become sect disciples, you will not be able to freely visit any peak other than your own.”

Without thinking, Zhuge Yan stepped forward. “Darkness.”

The instructor gestured to one of the arches on one of the outer square’s corners. Yan walked over to it, passed through the arch, and disappeared.

JiaQi chose metal and was likewise sent away.

Both LiTing and I chose earth. She because it may help enhance her metal qi abilities, and me because it was the primary qi type I was using.

“I’ll go earth too,” said YuLong with a grin.

The instructor looked at him with a straight face. “You won’t be able to raise your affinity for earth any higher as a Master.”

“You said there are prizes to be had other than affinities, right? I want to check those out first.”

Instructor Yuan just sighed and gestured for us to leave.

We tentatively walked up to the archway that led to the Earth Peak. All we could see was a hazy mist covering the passage, not the distinct image that we had seen through the arches outside the city.

“Well,” I said, mustering my courage. “Let’s do it.”

We stepped through and disappeared.