"Come on Tian Ming walk quickly."
I hear Xi Liu Su urging me. Today she is in a very good mood. After all, today she is going to take the first step in realising her dream of becoming a cultivator.
I look at enthusiastic Xi Liu Su and shake my head but I still choose to pick up the pace.
Soon a large crowd appeared in front of our eyes. Men, women, children, young, old and all sorts of people have flooded the plaza.
Although only children between ten and fifteen can awaken as a cultivator, seeing a cultivator taking their first step is also a great spectacle for everyone.
It gives them a feeling of mystique. It opens a new world in front of their eyes. Most mortals can't even reach that magnificent world but they still aspire to touch it.
If they can't touch it at least they wish to engrave it in their heart and soul. They wish to dream about it and use that illusion of becoming something extraordinary as a blanket for themselves.
Both Xi Liu Su and I cut through the crowd and reached the front.
Even though the ones we push are sceptical and don't wish to let us through but since we are capable of becoming cultivators they give us a way.
Only one in every twelve individuals can become a cultivator. Although the odds are low, there is a chance we can become cultivators.
They don't wish to antagonise a future cultivator. So every child between ten and fifteen can easily bypass the crowd and stand in front.
This is an unspoken rule and no one wants to violate it. No, they are unable to violate it due to fear.
After reaching the front we see a giant formation that can house hundreds of individuals at a single time being prepared.
"Tsk! That bastard Cui Miao is here."
As I am marvelling at the formation I hear Xi Liu Su and turn to look at young city lord Cui Miao.
Cui Miao is tall and has a lean body. His face looked as if it had been carved by a knife, with slightly thick slanted eyebrows handsomely placed like swords above his brightly shining eyes.
There was also a lotus mark between his brows. He has the same silver-white hair as his father.
Cui Miao feels a hostile gaze and turns his head in anger. But as he sees the pretty face of Xi Liu Su the anger in his heart melts and he gives her a bright smile.
"Kyaa! Look, the young city lord smiles."
"So charming."
"Tsk! He is looking at Xi Liu Su. I wish that his smile was for me."
As he smiles all the girls in the plaza become enchanted. And why shouldn't they be, a handsome face and a great background and he is a hundred per cent guaranteed to become a cultivator.
Cui Miao has everything a girl would desire. But ignoring all of them he only sets his eyes on Xi Liu Su.
Then his eyes drift to Tian Ming beside her and his eyebrow twitch slightly as a cold killing intent leaks from his body for a moment.
Wang Xuan beside him feels the killing intensity as he shivers.
"Young city lord, forgive me. I was unable to deal with that orphan rat."
Cui Miao turns his head from Xi Liu Su and looks at the almost completed formation and says in a low voice.
"Don't worry after I become a cultivator she will understand how bad her choice is. I will show that brat Tian Ming what real talent is."
Wang Xuan gulps as he hears the cold words of Cui Miao and he looks at Tian Ming with a little bit of pity.
"It's done."
Wang Xuan turns his head at the formation as the three disciples of the flying sword sect jump beside the city lord.
"Thank you for your hard work cultivator, Ye."
"The city lord is humble, we are just doing the task of the sect."
Then he turns his head and takes a look at Cui Miao and says in a voice full of surprise.
"Is that the young city lord? He has the making of a great cultivator."
"Of course when it comes to talent he even surpassed me." Cui Wan says proudly.
"Really then I am looking forward to his performance."
"Please do and when he enters the flying sword sect please look after my son. He is a little amateur."
"Don't worry city lord if a junior has a problem with anything I will take care of it."
Cui Wan smiles pleased with Ye Lei's attitude and personality.
Someone like Cui Wan who has stayed in a position of high authority for decades can easily see in and out of a greenhorn like Ye Lei.
"Let's begin, all the children down there are really excited."
Ye Lei nods and looks at the crowd and shouts.
"Everyone who is between the ages of ten and fifteen stands on the energy gathering array we have set."
His voice strikes like thunder and fills the youths with energy and excitement.
Over three hundred and twenty children including Tian Ming, Wang Xuan, Xi Liu Su, and Cui Miao walk over and stand above the formation.
The formation is very spacious and can even accommodate three times more. And it's not the limit of children in this age group.
Maple City is a mid-sized city with a population of five million people. But most of them live in poor sectors and the formation is set up in the rich sector.
In this world, no one cares about the poor and the weak. Most in the poor sector don't even know about the arrival of cultivators.
Even among the ones who know only can make it. Among all the children here only about twenty children are from the poor sector.
"Now everyone form a distance of one and a half metres between yourself."
We listen to him and form an appropriate distance and the cultivator in green robes extends his hand as with a flash of light something appears in his hand.
That thing looks like a golden tortoise beetle as it breathes it releases green air from its body.
"This is.. this is a charm."
Someone says with surprise.
In the words of cultivation. The cultivators open their energy centre and store energy from heaven and earth inside them.
But on its own that energy is almost useless to utilise it, a cultivator refines the most mysterious thing that is present in the Heavenly Dao World called charm.
Charms are truly mysterious and there are generally two main categories of charms. Living charm and Non-Living charm.
Just like most living beings, living charms possess an ego but instead of intelligence they have only instinct. They look like living beings and behave like living beings.
As for non-living charms they take the form of non-living things such as swords, rocks, sand and even glass.
"Good eyesight this is a rank 3 Green Metamorphosis charm. It can feed on the raw energy of heaven and earth and release divine energy." Ye Lei explains.
Just like cultivators, charms also have similar ranks. And it is advised for a Rank 1 cultivator to only refine a Rank 1 charm.
"Now let's begin."
Then the metamorphosis charm in his hand takes flies leaving a green trail in its way as it lands in the middle of the formation.
The metamorphosis charm breathes in the raw heaven and earth energy and in just one try it fills the entire formation with divine energy.
In front of my eyes, a glowing green dust begins to rise from the ground and seeps inside my body.
"Don't resist it." Ye Lei shouts.
Since something foreign is trying to invade my body I instinctively resist it but then calm my body and welcome the divine energy.
The particles of divine energy travel through the spiritual veins of my feet. They move upwards and try to enter my lower energy centre.
This process is excruciatingly painful because of the thick walls that the particles are unable to penetrate.
The pain increases as the particles gather together forming a stream and finally break through the walls and they do not stop here they move upwards trying to break the walls of my middle energy centre.
The pain is still great but I've endured it. This time the stream is strong. It takes a minute but finally the walls are broken.
Then the stream began to move upwards towards my upper energy centre. The wall of the upper energy centre is three times as thick.
But the stream is relentless and doesn't care about anything in its path. It directly collides with the thick wall.
A pain that I have never felt before hit me. I clench my teeth to force my mouth shut so I don't scream. I clench my fingers tightly, almost digging them into my palm.
The pain may be great but I have not wasted the past twelve years of my life. I have always looked ahead. I knew today would come, so I prepared as best I could.
Time begins to pass and the pain intensifies. I don't know how much more I have to endure but I still endure it.
The world belongs to cultivators. If I fail today I don't know if I will get any second chance so I have no choice but to endure the pain.
Soon the wall breaks down and my consciousness expands. My patience pays off. Twelve years of hard work haven't let me down.
I have my eyes closed but I can see and feel everything within a certain distance.
'About one meter. So that's why the cultivator told us to create some distance.'
I measure the size of my consciousness and slowly open my eyes. I am not the only one who has taken the first step in the path of cultivation.
Including me, there are about twenty-five people who are still standing.
As for the rest, they are all on the ground either tightly holding their stomach or their chest.
A small number of them are even holding their heads with a pained expression on their face.
I can see that all of them have suffered excruciating pain just like me. But I have endured it and they succumbed to it.
Now all of them have failed I can guess just from their expression. They have regret in their eyes. They are thinking that if I had held on for a bit more time.
If they could speak now they would want to ask for another chance but the pain in their body won't even let them speak.
This is now their reality; they have to live their life as mortals. When I look at their faces I feel glad for what I did in the past twelve years of my life.
I am not gifted and talented like Xi Liu Su or Cui Miao. So I feel gratitude toward Grandpa Xi who pushed me into hellish training.
If not I would be just like them falling on the ground groaning in pain.