Male and female cultivators yawned as they rubbed their eyes and chatted amongst their friends in hushed voices while standing at the front of their sect entrance. It was still faintly dark since the sun had just started to awaken.
"The test every year is always exciting," one disciple whispered.
"Really? I'm nervous since it's my first time..."
"I heard we're going to the Disappearing Forest this year."
"I hope I get teamed up with you."
"Huh? Where is Tan Hu?"
"Tan Hu can't go since he's only just reached the second tier."
"Ah... that's true. Not everyone can go."
It was time for the Moon Sect disciples to get tested on their skills and knowledge that they have obtained and learned these past few years; and this test was to be taken inside the Disappearing Forest. The Disappearing Forest is a small part of a larger forest in the east that was close to the forest surrounding the Moon Sect and was only separated by a few villages.
This area, compared to the rest of the forest, was named so because although its location is well known, there are times when this zone seemed to completely vanish, with mist covering its original area. If someone walked through it, they would only find a normal forest, unable to enter this special zone. The Disappearing Forest would then mysteriously appear again in its original spot as if it was never gone in the first place. No one knows why this happens but there is a clear set time from when it disappears and reappears.
Most of the Moon Sect disciples gathered in front of the sect entrance as they got ready to leave. Wu LiJing was already there, standing with her back straight as she observed the disciples, along with the two masters who would be in charge of the expedition. It was early in the morning and a few ended up waking up late, still rushing over. Those who were late didn't dare look up at the masters and their senior sister, who was emitting an indifferent aura as she stared at them. She was dressed in her dark violet robes compared to the inner and outer disciples, who were dressed in a lighter lavender color.
The difference between the two was that outer disciples wore a white inner robe and had a white sash and inner disciples wore black inner robes and had a black sash instead. One had to earn their title as an inner disciple by passing a certain level or getting recognition by one of the masters who taught them.
One way to enter as an inner disciple right away was by testing in. All sects have a special spiritual stone that could test someone's core rank and measure their potential of growth by the amount of inner chi they possessed. Blue and purple core cultivators usually are able to enter right away. For others, if they possessed a good amount of chi and also passed a skills test, then they could enter in as an inner disciple and even be taken in by a master. Wu LiJing was able to test in many years ago when she first joined. Only by showing their potential by training can they get more resources to further their cultivation and prove to their sects that they are worth the investment.
In general, inner disciples have more opportunities. For example, they are gifted with stronger herbs every month to help with their cultivation and are also able to go on missions and gain more experience outside of the sect and get rewards for fulfilling missions. If a master from the sect favored them, they could also receive private lessons and get to learn from the masters directly by becoming their main disciples.
The Moon Sect would be considered a normal-sized sect and currently has about a little over one hundred inner disciples and two hundred outer disciples. So, with more than half of their disciples leaving, quite a big group was gathered.
The Moon Sect has five masters in total in addition to their sect master, Wang WeiYue, with three who mainly focus on educating the outer disciples and the other two who mainly focus on the inner disciples. All of the masters are more than one-hundred years old and earned their title through hard work and time. They also have their own personal disciples that they chose and trained in the sect.
Usually, only two masters are necessary during an outing test.
Currently, both masters for this expedition didn't look too happy as they stood next to Wu LiJing, while waiting for the rest of the disciples to arrive. Within the sect, Lu HongHou is usually in charge of teaching their disciples about inner chi distribution and skills pertaining to using their chi, since he is one of the best in controlling and integrating spiritual energy between the masters. For this expedition, Master Lu is in charge of keeping track of the one hundred or so outer disciples since one of his special skills is to see long distances and detect disturbances.
The other master who would instead look after the eighty to ninety or so inner disciples is Ruan FuPing. Within the sect, Master Ruan oversees the teaching of martial arts, but he is quite flexible in his subjects since he could be considered a master of all weapons.
"We're leaving the rest behind in a few minutes," Master Lu said in an annoyed tone and his eyes narrowed. When the disciples heard this, the ones who were a bit late shrunk back and bowed their heads in order to hide in case they were to be punished.
With a face that looks no older than thirty-five, Master Lu wore dark blue robes and had a golden whip hung on his side. A pendant that had the Moon Sect symbol carved into it hung nicely from his sash. His robes did not seem to have a single wrinkle and his hair did not have a single fly-away. His nose was a little bigger than most, but he could still be considered attractive and always displayed a stern expression with natural hawk eyes.
Master Ruan, who was standing next to Master Lu, smiled. "Now, now. The disciples are probably late from staying up yesterday and working hard. We told them to wake up earlier than usual so we could arrive at the destined place earlier. It's alright to be a bit late. The disciples will just have to work harder to prove themselves." Some of the female cultivators glanced at Ruan FuPing and looked away shyly, chatting amongst themselves.
Master Ruan looked to be around the same age as Master Lu and wore black robes, had quite a handsome face with small eyes, and was shorter than Master Lu by just a few millimeters. He had a mole under his left eye, which only added to his mature charm, causing those who liked older men to blush. The metal pendant with the Moon Sect symbol hanging on his sash glinted next to the black sword he carried.
"Hmph! It's already way past the time we were supposed to leave!" He glared.
Master Ruan FuPing chuckled. "Alright, alright. Don't get mad. Look, you're scaring the disciples. They may not do as well if you punish them now. How about this? When we get back, I'll punish the outer disciples to do a hundred reps with their qing qong and the inner disciples will do three hundred." He raised a finger on one hand and three on the other to show how little he's giving them to do.
Wu LiJing turned to look at the handsome master and smiled inside. All of the disciples' faces turned pale and cursed all of those who were late and still weren't there yet. They knew that although Master Ruan always looked amicable, smiled easily, and was carefree, he was very strict when it came to being punctual. Most of the punishments he gave were to those who were ever late to his lessons. Now they all had to be punished since a few weren't here yet!
Master Lu opened his mouth and his annoyed face faltered, "That much? Would they even be able to wake up to attend our lessons the next day?! You're being too harsh on them again! Why would you punish all of them?! Just punish the ones who were late!"
Ruan FuPing smiled and sighed, patting Lu HongHou on the shoulder. "HongHou, I only said this since you wanted to punish them. Besides, I'm punishing them all because they all have the same living quarters, yet they left their friends to sleep as they hurried here. Therefore, they should all be responsible. I'm being fair here, see?"
He sounded so righteous, it made Lu HongHou frown and he shrugged the hand on his shoulder off. He pointed at Ruan FuPing, raising his voice. "The disciples are already taking a hard test today, yet you want to punish them further? You think I don't know that you're just annoyed because you hate it when others are late so you're taking it out on them?!"
Their bickering started... again. It was well known among the disciples that these two masters frequently argued against one another. Some disciples had hopeful eyes that their Master Lu would be able to turn things around and either lessen their punishment or get rid of it completely! After all, they wouldn't even be able to stand properly tomorrow if they went through with the punishment!
Wu LiJing gazed at the nervous disciples who were whispering among themselves and suddenly made eye-contact with a male outer disciple. He jumped and quickly avoided her gaze, hiding behind his friend. Wu LiJing shook her head and looked up towards the east. The sun was going to further light up the sky at this point. Before they travel to the forest, they also have to teach the disciples how to make a fire, find water, and so on to survive in a forest by themselves should anything happen. That was why they had to wake up earlier.
Wu QiaoHua stared at her aloof cousin as her friends, Wei SuSu and Xin Mei chatted next to her.
"Eldest Senior Sister got here before any of us even arrived," Wei SuSu whispered.
Xin Mei's eyes brightened as she admired Wu LiJing. "She's so cool. It's so lucky to be able to see her this close! Look at that posture! Those robes!"
A female cultivator near-by heard them and joined the conversation with a sneer. "How does she look cool? Look at her attitude; she probably thinks she's better than us!"
"Right. Do you not see the look she's giving us right now? She's probably hoping for us to be punished heavier," another one said.
Wei SuSu frowned. "I don't think so."
"Right, don't say such things about Eldest Senior Sister!" Xin Mei glared at them. "And as a matter of fact, she is better than us!"
The female cultivator, Yu Yuan, rolled her eyes. "Do you not see that she doesn't even care about anyone and hasn't cared to make any conversation for the past years that she has been here? She's always so arrogant." More than half of the disciples in the sect were already part of the Moon Sect before Wu LiJing joined in, therefore, there were still a few who were dissatisfied with Wu LiJing, even if her cultivation may have surpassed many of them.
Xin Mei smirked. "She has a right! Eldest Senior Sister became the direct disciple of Sect Master Wang when she was sixteen years old and is already in the Body Enhancing Realm! What about you?" (a/n: Body Enhancing Realm - Third Tier)
"So? My sister was an inner sect disciple with Wu LiJing before she became a direct disciple. She told me that Wu LiJing showed the rest of the inner disciples no respect when she first joined and gave them the cold shoulder even when they tried to help her. If she didn't try to win over Sect Master Wang, my sister would now be the direct disciple instead!"
It was obvious that Yu Yuan and her sister were part of the faction that were jealous of Wu LiJing. Within a sect that had more than one-hundred students, it was obvious there would be small conflicts from differences in interests and opinions, as well as envy.
Wei SuSu smiled mockingly. "There is no need to question Eldest Senior Sister's skills and talent."
"Right! Can your sister even compare to Eldest Senior Sister?" Xin Mei scoffed and turned to Wu QiaoHua. "Isn't that right, QiaoHua?"
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