Three months had whisked by in the blink of an eye, with well more than half of them already spent, and but one month now separated Xiao Yan from his coming-of-age ceremony.
In his tidy little room, Xiao Yan stared dully at the green water in the wooden tub. This was the very last of the Foundation Liquid. The further one traveled along the later ranks of Dou Qi, the harder the cultivation grew; since his breakthrough to the seventh rank, Xiao Yan's Dou Qi had lain quiet for nearly two months, and in all that while, no matter how he trained, the feeling of a breakthrough had stubbornly refused to come.
He gaped at the tub like a fool for a good long while before shaking his head in helplessness and muttering: "I wonder whether this last drop of Foundation Liquid can carry me through to the eighth rank of Dou Qi?"
Rising slowly to straighten his numbed and aching body, Xiao Yan, to his own surprise, did not continue his training of Dou Qi. Instead, he drew from the wardrobe a well-fitted set of black robes...
In the month before the coming-of-age ceremony, everyone was required to take part in a screening — the purpose of that screening being, of course, to weed out those who had failed to pass in Dou Qi. Any clansman whose Dou Qi stood above the seventh rank would, upon the close of the ceremony, earn the right to enter the Dou Qi Pavilion in search of a cultivation method; but those ranked below the seventh would lose that privilege, and once the ceremony was over they would be parcelled out to the various enterprises of the clan. Unless they later distinguished themselves, or caught up with their more talented kin in the pace of their training, it would be very hard indeed for them to rejoin the inner fold of the family...
No sooner had he finished changing than there came a soft knock at the door.
"Xiao Yan-gege, are you in?"
At the girl's clear, ringing voice, Xiao Yan's brow gave a little twitch. He did up his robe, swept up the wooden tub in both hands, and hid it away in a sheltered corner; only then did he stroll unhurriedly to the door and pull it open in one go.
The door swung back, and warm sunlight spilled in at once, falling across the youth in his black robes to make him look altogether spirited.
Beyond the door stood the girl, poised and graceful, her fresh pale-green attire setting off a figure that was just beginning to take shape. The small bosom veiled by her garments was still somewhat young and unripe, yet it still proudly gave out the allure of youth; about her waist, so slender it seemed scarce a single hand could span it, was casually tied a ribbon of purple, and as the breeze drifted by, the ribbon fluttered...
Gazing at the lovely girl outside the door, Xiao Yan stood stunned for a long moment before slowly coming back to himself. He gave Xun'er a leisurely once-over, then clicked his tongue in wonder: "At this early hour, I thought some goddess had descended upon us. Looking closer, it turns out to be my very own Xun'er."
Hearing this praise, touched with a teasing note, Xun'er blinked her large, liquid-bright eyes, and only smiled her modestly tucked-lipped smile. Yet the brows that quietly curved themselves into lovely crescent moons betrayed the joy in the girl's heart.
With pleasure gleaming in her autumn-water eyes, Xun'er too lifted her delicate chin to take the measure of the youth who had come to the door.
Nearly a year of hard cultivation had worn much of the boyishness from Xiao Yan; his clear-featured face had taken on a certain ineffable air. Months of grueling training had likewise made his frame sturdy and strong, and with the black robe across his shoulders, he passed, on the whole, for a handsome young man.
Stepping out of the room and closing the door behind him, Xiao Yan, seeing Xun'er's eyes fixed upon him without so much as a blink, looked himself over in some bewilderment and asked, puzzled: "Something not right about me?"
A faint blush crept over her pretty face, and Xun'er hurriedly averted her gaze. Pressing her lips into a smile, she said: "Come on, Xiao Yan-gege — today is the day of the screening, you know. Are you ready?"
His eyes narrowing, Xiao Yan shrugged his shoulders, and a hint of veiled arrogance curled up at the corners of his mouth. His outstretched palm slowly clenched, and he said with a light smile: "The name of 'waste' — starting today, I give it back to those who bestowed it upon me!"
Gazing at the utterly confident Xiao Yan, Xun'er tilted her small head and laughed softly. "I believe in you, Xiao Yan-gege!"
"Of course you do — I suppose you've already seen through my strength again, haven't you?" Xiao Yan rolled his eyes at her, curling his lip in exasperation.
Watching the somewhat crestfallen Xiao Yan, Xun'er smiled a charming smile and nodded faintly, giving an adorable shrug of her hands. "From the third to the seventh rank of Dou Qi in under a single year — at such a pace of training, even Xun'er can't hope to catch up with you, Xiao Yan-gege..."
"Come, then, girl!"
Xiao Yan gave his nose a rub, patted Xun'er amiably on the head, and, waving a hand toward the training grounds behind the clan compound, set off at a long, brisk stride.
Watching the youth's retreating figure — so utterly unlike the lonely, dejected shadow of before — Xun'er smiled in quiet relief, and murmured softly to herself: "Xiao Yan-gege, didn't Xun'er say long ago that one day you'd win back your own dignity and glory..."
...
Upon the vast training grounds of blue stone, more than a hundred youths and maidens stood waiting, and a great clamor rose to the sky.
At the center of the grounds stood the enormous test black stone tablet — a device of this sort that only the more influential families could afford to equip, and one of no small value. Beside the black stone tablet, as in the year before, stood that same cold, indifferent tester.
On the platform to the left of the grounds sat the inner members of the clan; in the central place sat the clan head Xiao Zhan and the three elders.
Within the arena, those young men and women who awaited their judgment stood in nervous agitation — the ones who usually performed well showed scant anxiety on their faces, while those of middling or low talent wore expressions of vague dread and fretfulness.
Xiao Zhan, his face set grim, cast his gaze over the hall filled with clansmen of every mien and let out a soft sigh in his heart. Yan'er... will you be able to pass this test?
"Clan head, the time is almost upon us. Why has Xiao Yan not yet arrived?" Beside Xiao Zhan, the Second Elder knitted his brow and asked.
Xiao Zhan glanced sidelong at him, and answered impassively: "The time is not yet come. What is there to hurry? Has the Second Elder so little composure?"
Choking on Xiao Zhan's rebuff, the Second Elder's face darkened somewhat, and he gave a cold, sinister snort. "Even if you did buy him that Foundation Liquid, it cannot possibly have raised him to the seventh rank of Dou Qi within a single year! Don't you go expecting any miracle."
At these words, anger flared in Xiao Zhan's face. His temper was strung tight enough as it was, and here was the man poking precisely at the sorest spot. He was just about to snap back when a slight commotion stirred in the arena.
His gaze turned. At the far end of the grounds, along the little path, two figures were approaching at an unhurried pace — their measured strides seemingly in no rush at all, though this was an important day.
Watching the faint smile on the black-robed youth's face in the distance, Xiao Zhan, for reasons unknown, quietly released a long-held breath...