The Cultivation Gauntlet

All immortal skiffs, guided by unseen forces, descended gracefully onto a plaza of truly exaggerated proportions.

Xia Yi, who had been about to disembark with the majority of the cultivators, was suddenly called out by Li Junying.

“Junior Brother, over here!”

Turning, Xia Yi spotted Li Junying, who was waving enthusiastically as he strode towards their group.

“Senior Brother Li.”

Xia Yi began to cup his hands in a respectful greeting, but Li Junying quickly waved him off.

“There’s no need for such formalities, Junior Brother. Please, follow me. We’ll head straight to your accommodations.”

With that, Li Junying produced his flying sword and stepped onto its gleaming surface.

Seeing his cue, Xia Yi and the others likewise summoned their flying swords. Under the subtly resentful gazes of Pei Yunxiang and Fei Miaoyun, Xia Yi ascended his own blade.

The five cultivators then soared away from the plaza on their swords, their departure drawing no particular notice from the bustling crowd below.

Guided by Li Junying, the group of five eventually reached a rather secluded mountain peak, situated not far from a towering main peak.

“Junior Brother, this will be your abode. Rest well, and I shall return to fetch you tomorrow morning.”

Before Xia Yi could even utter a word, Li Junying swiftly vanished into the distance, leaving a trail of air in his wake.

Xia Yi was left standing alone, utterly bewildered by the sudden departure.

‘Well, no use dwelling on it now,’ Xia Yi thought. ‘We should probably just head inside for the time being.’

The special residence Li Junying had arranged for Xia Yi was, indeed, remarkably spacious, easily capable of housing five or six individuals without any discomfort.

Each person was allocated their own private room, and the abode boasted a full complement of facilities, including an alchemy chamber and a dedicated cultivation room.

After registering their unique auras with the formation eye at the entrance, the four settled into the elegant, ancient pavilion.

****

The very next morning, a communication from Li Junying’s token abruptly roused Xia Yi from a state of blissful slumber.

Emerging from the comforting embrace of his soft bed, Xia Yi swiftly tidied himself and his surroundings before stepping out the door.

Li Junying, who had clearly been waiting impatiently, immediately seized Xia Yi the moment he appeared and pulled him onto his flying sword.

“Junior Brother, there’s no time to explain! Quickly, onto the sword!”

Xia Yi simply stared, a question mark hanging in the air.

‘I understand you’re in a rush,’ Xia Yi mused, ‘but isn’t it a little late to tell me that after you’ve already dragged me onto your sword and flown off?’

“Senior Brother Li, if I may ask, where exactly are we headed?”

“Ah, right, I completely forgot to mention it, Junior Brother. A certain prominent figure has specifically requested you to design the assessment content for the disciples.”

Xia Yi’s eyes widened. ‘What new game is this?’

“Don’t fret, Junior Brother. That adult merely wishes for you to design a portion of the inner sect disciples’ assessment, not the entire thing. There’s no need to feel overly pressured, as the adult themselves will bear full responsibility for the outcome, regardless of what it may be.”

“I understand the logic, but I have no idea how to design an assessment.”

“It’ll be fine! You can do it, Junior Brother! Your Senior Brother has faith in you!”

With those encouraging words, Li Junying ushered Xia Yi into a truly peculiar space.

Then, with the speed of lightning, he darted out of the space, leaving Xia Yi with a final parting instruction.

“Junior Brother, you have two days to design the assessment. The inner sect disciples will begin their trials on the third day, so make sure to make the most of your time!”

“Time!”

“Oh!”

Xia Yi was left speechless.

Li Junying’s lingering echoes left Xia Yi utterly dumbfounded. ‘Seriously, Senior Brother,’ he thought, ‘you could at least provide a beginner’s tutorial!’

‘This is like tossing someone who just got their driver’s license onto a highway and telling them to race a supercar!’

He couldn’t fathom what whim had possessed that adult to appoint him, of all people, to design an assessment, especially one for inner sect disciples.

‘Fine,’ he conceded. ‘Since I’ve already received the benefits, I might as well give it my best shot.’

Considering the preferential treatment he had received from the adult, Xia Yi decided it wasn’t such a big deal, especially since he wouldn’t be held accountable for the outcome.

‘Just get it done!’

With this resolve, Xia Yi approached the sole item within the vast space: a magnificent scroll painting.

As if possessing a spirit of its own, the scroll unfurled itself the moment Xia Yi drew near.

Xia Yi’s gaze sharpened, revealing a vibrant depiction of a secret realm emblazoned across the scroll.

Dominating the center of the image were several bold characters: “Do as you please.”

“‘Do as I please?'”

Before Xia Yi could even fully process the meaning of the words, the scroll unexpectedly enveloped him, pulling him into the painting itself.

Xia Yi’s vision blurred for a moment, and when clarity returned, he found himself standing unmistakably within the very secret realm depicted on the scroll.

Above his head, those very same characters still floated in the air.

Gazing at the floating words, Xia Yi furrowed his brow, falling into a brief contemplation.

He mentally willed the large characters above him to vanish, and no sooner had the thought formed than they swiftly faded from the sky.

“‘So that’s it…'”

Following this, Xia Yi experimented with several other thoughts, eventually arriving at a definitive conclusion.

Within this secret realm, he possessed the power to create and alter anything and everything simply by willing it.

In essence, it was akin to activating a super-powered creative mode.

The scroll would manifest any changes Xia Yi envisioned within the secret realm.

After silently marveling at the adult’s astonishing abilities, Xia Yi found himself facing a new dilemma.

While he had certainly completed the ‘beginner’s tutorial,’ Xia Yi was utterly stumped as to what kind of assessment he should actually design.

‘There aren’t any references at all. I can’t just create a cultivation version of “Boys and Girls Go Forward Rush”… can I?’

‘Hmm?’

‘Wait!’

‘It seems… perhaps… maybe I can actually design something like that!’

Since the adult hadn’t provided any specific guidelines or references, why shouldn’t he create a cultivation-themed version of “Boys and Girls Go Forward Rush”?

This approach offered a clear reference point, preventing the assessment from seeming too perfunctory. As for the difficulty, he would simply tailor it to his own standards.

After all, wasn’t he himself a newly promoted inner sect disciple?

A wicked chuckle escaped his lips.

A sly grin spread across Xia Yi’s face as he began to reverse-engineer a ‘Male and Female Cultivators Go Forward Rush’ based on the template of ‘Boys and Girls Go Forward Rush’ etched in his memory.

He merely made a few minor adjustments to certain details.

For instance, the stage that required contestants to leap left and right was subtly ‘buffed’ with an illusion array (TL Note: A formation designed to confuse or disorient), which inverted the challengers’ sense of direction.

This would effectively test the participants’ self-control and spatial awareness.

Alternatively, he considered adding a quiz stage to gauge whether the challengers possessed adequate knowledge reserves.

Or, perhaps, for the final sword-riding race, he could introduce a few tight, right-angle turns and equip the distributed flying swords with some peculiar, magical gadgets.

These additions would serve to test the contestants’ reaction speed, observational skills, and a touch of luck—for, after all, wasn’t luck an undeniable component of true strength?

As these thoughts swirled, the smile on Xia Yi’s face slowly twisted into something subtly sinister.

‘Indeed, as inner sect disciples of an immortal sect, they should naturally strive for comprehensive development in virtue, intellect, physique, aesthetics, and diligence!’

‘Heheheh~’

Thus, for two full days, Xia Yi toiled within the secret realm, a somewhat unholy grin plastered across his face.

He had finally ‘grinded out’ his ‘Male and Female Cultivators Go Forward Rush’.

After a self-test, he confirmed that the difficulty was precisely calibrated to a route he could complete with considerable effort.

Having further refined the scoring rules, added a leaderboard, and incorporated a few other peculiar elements, he was finally satisfied.

Xia Yi, utterly content, withdrew from the scroll, just as Li Junying arrived to collect him.

Moments after the duo departed, three indistinct figures materialized within the ‘Inner Sect Disciple Assessment Secret Realm’ that Xia Yi had so meticulously crafted.

As they surveyed Xia Yi’s ‘masterpiece,’ a range of subtle emotions flickered in the eyes of all three.

“The individual chosen by the Saintess (TL Note: A title for a revered female leader or holy maiden) is truly… quite… imaginative, wouldn’t you say?”

The figure on the left was the first to speak.

“They’re a… ‘bright and cheerful’ child, certainly. Just a touch… psychologically twisted.”

The figure on the right chimed in, a note of agreement in their voice.

“Ah, well… perhaps we should lower the difficulty somewhat,” the central figure finally interjected after a moment of silence. “Placing spring-loaded shoes made of intensely itchy cacti in an inescapable pit is, admittedly, a bit excessive.”

With that, the three of them proceeded to replace certain elements, ensuring that the original structure of the assessment remained intact while mitigating some of its more… enthusiastic challenges.

They aimed to prevent the assessing disciples from experiencing an overabundance of ‘joy.’