On the dawn of the fourth day, Bai Yunfei and the group of applicants were once more led to the cave on the Northern Point.
However this time, the one leading them through the cave wasn’t Li Tiechui… it was the first elder!
Standing outside the cave entrance, the elder displayed a grim expression on his face. Such was his aura that everyone gathered in front of him didn’t even dare breathe, let alone whisper to one another. Respectfully, everyone stood there in silence and waited for his instructions.
Like the others, Bai Yunfei’s head was drooped down to the ground. Not even his soulsense was peeping out of him.
This elder looked like any other normal old person, but the aura that was coming from him was anything but. Combined with that aura, the elder felt more like an impassable mountain in front of them.
“You will all follow me into the cave. Whether you’ll be able to benefit or even enter the cave will be up to your own skill…” The elder spoke to the fearful applicants, and with a flick of his robes, the elder turned about and walked straight in.
For a while, the applicants all looked at one another in hesitation. It was Ye Zhiqiu and Bai Yunfei who first strode into action. The two of them walked straight after the elder into the cave, sparking the rest of the applicants to follow suit. At the end of the procession, Song Lin and Li Tiechui followed after them.
It wasn’t long before the group arrived at the fork from before. Like the last time, Bai Yunfei could feel an abnormally strong amount of pressure emanating from the place, but he had long since prepared for this. Steeling his face so that no emotion showed, Bai Yunfei managed to step across. Zhong Xuhao on the other hand, had already a flushed color on his face. Already, he looked like it was taking a toll on him, but he wasn’t the only one. A good majority of the people with them were the same.
Without even waiting, the elder turned the corner, taking a completely different passageway.
What came into view in front of everyone stunned them all, Bai Yunfei and Ye Zhiqiu included. Every single person there was so shocked that they were as still as statues.
This corridor was two times as wide as the previous one, and the amount of shining stones gathered here was far more than the previous passageway. There were practically no shadows to be seen, and the corridor looked as if it extended ahead indefinitely.
On both sides of the corridor were two stone platforms cut out from the walls so that they were a meter wide.
However, the most surprising thing about these platforms were what was on top of them—soul armaments!
Blades, spears, swords, halberds, hatchets, battle-axe, hook-blades, trident, armor… the list went on with so many different ones!
With how the shining stones were adorned everywhere, the view was absolutely spectacular!
“Th—these, are these…” Bai Yunfei thought to himself, but he was almost fearful to think of a response. For the time being, his mind had temporarily taken a leave of absence.
“These are all soul armaments!” The elder’s stern voice woke everyone from their stupor and simultaneously answered their suspicions. “The fact that you all stand here is proof enough that you are students of our Crafting School. Thus, I shall give you all a gift for your entry; feel free to take any soul item within three hundred meters of here, take whichever one you desire!”
“But these are only the weakest of soul armaments, the low-grade human-tier. Three hundred meters after this is the middle-grade human-tier; a kilometer after that is the high-grade human-tier; two kilometers after that is the low-grade earth-tier! Three kilometers, the middle-grade earth-tier! Four kilometers, high-grade earth-tier! And five kilometers… the heaven-tier!”
Not even allowing anyone time to feel shocked, the elder continued on, “Each time you step into one of these places, you may take one soul armament! If any one of you reach the two kilometer mark, you will become students of the inner school! Should you reach the five kilometer mark, you will become the personal disciples of myself or the headmaster!”
Each word he spoke was like a thunderclap to the ears of everyone in attendance. They rang in their heads.
He waited several moments for everyone to properly register the bombshell of an announcement. When excitement began to show on their faces, the elder waved his hand, “Well then, go ahead and pick your first soul armament! The students on the side will give you a space ring if you wish. For those who haven’t yet awakened their soulforce, you may ask any student to help you store your soul armament!”
Having finished what he wanted to say, the elder nodded his head to Song Lin and Li Tiechui from the sidelines. Folding his arms against his chest, the man waited off to the side for the others to make their move.
After a short moment of hesitation, the crowd finally began to spark into motion. Running in excitement to the two platforms on the side, they began to pick out the soul armament of their desire. It went without saying that no one ran outside of the three hundred meter radius. They didn’t wish to take the lead and wanted someone else to try their hand first.
Even Bai Yunfei found it hard to keep the excitement from showing on his face. Both of his eyes were lit up brightly, but they weren’t looking at the low-grade soul armaments in front of him, rather they were fixated down the corridor where the higher grade ones were.
“Brother Bai, let’s go.” The voice of Ye Zhiqiu snapped Bai Yunfei out of his thoughts. He, Mo Xiaoxuan, and the others were standing off to the side as if waiting for him.
Bai Yunfei nodded, “Yes, let’s!”
Equipment Grade: Low RareUpgrade Requirement: 62 Soulpoints
Attack: 247
Equipment Grade: Low Rare
Upgrade Requirement: 64 Soulpoints
Walking up to the rightmost platform, Bai Yunfei made a quick look at the stats of the soul armaments there.
It was here that he made an important distinction; although all of these soul armaments were low-grade human-tier, the ones situated farther in the corridor were better in stats than the ones closer to the front.
Turning to Ye Zhiqiu, who was in the middle of perusing the selection, Bai Yunfei smiled, “If this isn’t to your tastes, let’s choose from over there, the things there are much better!”
“Eh? Brother Bai, what do you mean by that? Aren’t these all low-grade human-tier soul armaments?” Mo Xiaoxuan was just in the middle of looking over a small shortblade when he heard Bai Yunfei speak to Ye Zhiqiu. Despite his confusion, the young boy followed the two.
“They are all low-grade human-tier, but even those have differences in quality between them. Believe me, let’s go to the end of this area.” Bai Yunfei explained.
Without bothering to explain, Bai Yunfei strode ahead so that the others had to follow after him.
Three hundred meters ahead, several figures had already picked out a soul armament and were moving on. When they started to move, the others hurriedly picked out a soul armament and followed suit.
To the soul cultivators of the world, soul armaments were priceless treasures to behold, but here in this cave, they were laid out and displayed as if they were no better than a radish or cabbage for sale. The applicants here were no longer applicants hoping to join the Crafting School, right now, they looked more like people buying groceries at a market.
As the group walked forward, they all looked as if they had forgotten that they were in the middle of an examination. Practically everyone had already chosen their first soul armament, but it wasn’t as hectic as one might expect. Everyone was exceedingly quiet, and only a few words were exchanged between the applicants without much trouble.
Not long after, the group reached the eight hundred meter mark before the very first unforeseen development came up.
“Brother Bai, I—I can’t move!” Zhong Xuhao cried out. His face was flush, and his nose was dripping with sweat. Both of his hands rested on his knees as he doubled over to breath. It seemed as if he had only just finished running for some distance.
“Brother Bai, I… I feel tired too…” Like Zhong Xuhao, Liu Mang looked rather tired as well.
At the same time, twenty other people were starting to look unwell.
Hardening his face, Bai Yunfei turned his head to look at Mo Xiaoxuan and the other ones that were trying their best to continue. “You can do it!” He urged, “We’ll reach the one kilometer mark soon, there’ll be better human-tier soul armaments!”
The temptation of such soul armaments had worked somewhat on their emotions. Zhong Xuhao and Liu Mang both gained a look of expectation on their faces before they grit their teeth and walked on.
In honesty, Bai Yunfei was feeling slightly agonized as well. He had done well to make it so it wasn’t showing on his face, but the pressure that was amounting on him was already enough for his breath to start hitching up somewhat.
“I’m not even at the one kilometer mark yet and I’m already like this. There’s almost a dozen people that’re in better shape than I am. My talent in crafting isn’t better than theirs then!” Bai Yunfei turned to look at Ye Zhiqiu, who was completely unaffected still. With so many people walking ahead of him without a problem, Bai Yunfei felt rather disappointed with himself.
“Does this mean I don’t have what it takes to join the inner school…?”