The road grew busier the closer Ethan came to the hills. At first, it had only been a steady stream of people leaving Stonebridge. Now it looked more like a river.
People filled the road ahead and behind him. Some travelled alone. Others walked with family members at their sides. Wagons rolled along the road carrying supplies. Merchants shouted offers from passing carts.
The closer they came to the hills, the more excited the crowd became. Conversations grew louder. People pointed ahead.
Some even quickened their pace.
Ethan adjusted the strap of his travel pack and continued forward. Then he rounded a bend in the road. His steps slowed.
A broad valley stretched between the hills. Thousands of people filled the open ground below. For a moment, Ethan simply stood there.
Stonebridge had felt crowded these past weeks. Compared to this place, Stonebridge suddenly seemed small.
Tents dotted the valley. Temporary stalls lined the edges. Smoke rose from dozens of cooking fires. The sound of countless voices blended into a constant roar.
The examination had not even begun. Yet people had already gathered from every direction.
Ethan remained where he was for several moments before finally walking down the slope. Finding a place to sit proved difficult. Every patch of open ground had already been claimed by someone. Families sat together beneath temporary shelters. Young men and women gathered in small groups.
Some looked nervous.
Others looked confident.
Many tried to hide their anxiety.
Eventually Ethan found a relatively quiet spot near the edge of the gathering area. He set down his travel pack. Only then did he remember the cloth bundle Aunt Mei had prepared. A faint smile appeared on his face.
He untied the bundle.
Inside were several steamed buns and a few simple side dishes. Nothing fancy, just practical food for a long day. He ate slowly.
The food had cooled during the journey, but it still tasted good. As he ate, he noticed a middle-aged man pacing nearby. The man walked several steps, stopped, Looked around. Then repeated the process. After watching this happen three times, Ethan finally understood. The man was nervous.
Not for himself.
For someone else. Sure enough, a young woman sat several paces away. She appeared completely calm. The contrast was almost amusing. The man eventually noticed Ethan watching.
"First time?"
Ethan nodded.
"Yes."
The man laughed softly.
"I figured."
His eyes drifted toward the young woman.
"My daughter is taking the examination."
The young woman immediately rolled her eyes.
"I can speak for myself."
The man ignored her.
"I haven’t slept properly for three nights."
"You’ve said that at least twenty times."
"I might say it twenty more."
Several nearby people laughed. Even Ethan found himself smiling slightly. The young woman shook her head.
"I’m the one being tested."
"Exactly."
The man sighed dramatically.
"That’s why I’m worried."
The girl covered her face. The people around them laughed again. The nervousness hanging over the area eased for a moment. Eventually the conversation faded.
The father returned to his daughter. Ethan returned to his meal. Before wrapping the bundle again, he deliberately saved part of the food.
The examination would continue tomorrow. There was no reason to finish everything today. A little preparation now might save trouble later. He carefully packed the remaining food away.
Time passed. The valley continued filling. The sun climbed higher, more roads fed into the gathering, more people arrived.
Hours slipped by.
Then something changed, at first Ethan couldn’t identify what it was. The noise around him gradually decreased, conversations became quieter. People started looking toward the sky.
Ethan followed their gaze, his eyes narrowed slightly, something was approaching from beyond the hills. At first it appeared no larger than a dark speck then it grew larger and larger.
A murmur spread through the crowd, people began standing, thousands of eyes turned upward. The object finally emerged fully from behind the hills, it was a boat, or at least it resembled one. Long and narrow, large enough to carry dozens of people, Yet it floated through the air.
A collective gasp swept through the valley. The floating boat moved silently above the crowd, no sails, no visible support. It simply glided through the sky as though the wind itself carried it.
Ethan stared.
This was the first time he had seen something that completely defied common sense.The floating boat slowly descended toward a stone platform built near the center of the valley.The crowd grew even quieter, many people looked as though they had forgotten to breathe.
The boat settled gently onto the platform, several robed figures stood upon its deck; The younger disciples moved first, one after another, they stepped down from the vessel. Each wore similar robes marked with the same emblem.Their movements were calm, disciplined, confident, not arrogant.Simply accustomed to being there.
The crowd naturally made space, no orders were given no threats were made.People simply stepped aside.Then an elderly man appeared near the front of the boat.The atmosphere shifted again.He looked ordinary, an old man, nothing more. Yet nobody could ignore him.
Ethan noticed something strange.Even the disciples seemed more careful around him. The elder stepped off the floating boat, a sword rose from behind him. It hovered quietly in the air, Then drifted beneath his feet. A ripple of shock spread through the valley.
The elder stepped onto the floating sword. Without hurry, he descended from the platform.His robes fluttered lightly in the wind the flying sword carried him downward until his feet touched the ground. The entire process looked effortless. As though such a thing were perfectly normal. For cultivators, perhaps it was. For mortals, It was astonishing.
Silence settled across the valley.Thousands of people watched, nobody spoke. Ethan found himself staring as well, not because the elder demanded attention, but because the sight was impossible to ignore. For the first time since arriving in this world, the distance between mortals and cultivators felt real. Not through stories,not through rumours. But through something he had witnessed with his own eyes.
The elder eventually stepped onto the wooden platform. His gaze swept across the valley, thousands of faces looked back at him. Then he spoke.
"Welcome."
His voice wasn’t loud, yet every person heard it clearly. Ethan’s eyes narrowed. The elder continued.
"The examination will begin tomorrow."
"The rules will be explained before testing begins."
"Maintain order."
"Wait for your assigned group."
"Those who create trouble will leave."
His words were brief, direct, nothing more. The elder stepped aside. Another disciple immediately moved forward and began organizing the crowd, the examination grounds sprang into motion. Wooden signs were raised, registration areas opened, people formed orderly lines. Despite the enormous crowd, everything moved surprisingly smoothly. The sect had clearly done this many times before.
Ethan eventually joined one of the registration lines. The process took hours. The valley remained crowded long after the sun had begun drifting toward the horizon. When his turn finally arrived, a young disciple sat waiting behind a wooden table. The disciple looked only a few years older than Ethan, yet there was a quiet confidence about him.
"Name?"
"Ethan."
The disciple recorded it.
"Age?"
"16" Ethan answered.
The disciple wrote several more notes before handing him a small wooden token a number had been carved into its surface.
"Keep it."
Ethan looked at the token.
"What is it for?"
"Testing order."
Simple and Direct. The disciple had already turned toward the next person. Ethan stepped aside, around him, hundreds of others held similar tokens, tomorrow, those numbers would be called. Tomorrow, the testing would begin.
As evening settled over the valley, cooking fires began appearing everywhere. Families gathered together, candidates talked quietly, others sat alone. Thinking, waiting.
Ethan found a place near the edge of the valley. The wooden token rested in one hand. The remaining food Aunt Mei had prepared rested beside him.
Above the valley, the last traces of sunlight faded beyond the hills, tomorrow would answer a question that had followed him since arriving in this world. Did he possess the qualification to walk the path of cultivation?
The answer was only one day away.