Severing Time & Space

Lacking Conviction

“Wu Meiying!” Elder Wu Jinsu called out.

At the sound of the name being called, everyone’s eyes were drawn to the spot where the person in question and Wu Jian were standing. Despite being young, she attracted a lot of attention due to her grace, and also because many considered her odd. Everyone focused intently on her as she graced Wu Jian with a bright smile.

“Looks like it’s my turn,” she said.

Wu Jian nodded. “Go show them what you can do.”

“Of course. You be sure to watch me too.”

She walked toward the stairs. Her footsteps were unhurried and confident. Wu Jian watched her with a bright smile. He didn’t know how strong she had become, but the last time she was tested, her score had been 3,300. While she hadn’t trained quite like he had, Wu Meiying had been training more than normal, so he was certain her strength had increased a lot.

“So Wu Meiying has come up again.”

“She’s very strong, but don’t you think she’s kind of an oddball?”

“I don’t know. I think she’s kinda cute.”

“She’s an odd beauty, that’s for sure.”

Wu Jian furrowed his brow as he listened to the people talking about his friend, but he couldn’t get upset at them. Everyone in the Wu Clan thought Wu Meiying was an odd person. It was because of the strange predictions she made that always came true, and the fact that she had no trouble telling someone when they were going to face trouble.

Many people believed she was cursed. They talked about her when they thought she couldn’t hear. Wu Jian had asked her why she put up with all those people talking about her once, but she just smiled and said it didn’t matter.

“The only person whose opinion matters to me is yours. Why should I care about the opinion of people whose opinions don't even matter?”

Those had been her words several years ago, and while they did warm his heart, he still believed these people shouldn’t speak ill of her like this.

His attention was turned away from the people talking when Wu Meiying stood before the testing stone. He could only see her back. Her long hair, blacker than a raven’s feathers, billowed in the light breeze. As he watched her, the image of a woman with the same colored hair but tied into an intricate bun overlapped her form. He blinked several times. Then he rubbed his eyes. When he removed his hands from his eyelids, the image was gone.

I must be seeing things.

Wu Jian deftly slapped his cheeks to regain focus.

Wu Meiying slid her feet across the ground, adopted an unusual stance that he knew none of them had been taught, and rather than punch the testing stone, she delivered a swift palm strike. The sound of her palm hitting the testing stone echoed around them. Bright red lights gathered inside the stone and formed a number.

“3,900!” Elder Wu Jinsu announced.

“Holy s**t!”

“Did he just say 3,900?!”

“So another person younger than me got a higher score than I did, huh. How depressing.”

“I wonder if she’s become so strong because she hangs out with Wu Jian?”

“I don’t know about that, but I do know those two are attached at the hip. You almost never see one without the other.”

“Think they might be training in secret?”

“Probably. I mean, when you think about it, their increased strength is abnormal, especially Wu Jian’s. He was a complete wimp the last time we took this test. They have to be doing some kind of special training.”

Wu Meiying walked back down the stairs and up to Wu Jian, where she grinned and gave him the victory sign.

“What do you think, Jian?”

“I think you’re incredible,” he said honestly.

Wu Meiying giggled as she moved to stand next to him. He studied her profile, which she noticed. She turned to look at him.

“What is it?”

“You were holding back, weren’t you?” he asked, leaning down so he could whisper in her ear.

“I don’t know what you are talking about. I would never hold back when it really matters,” Wu Meiying whispered back.

Something tells me this test doesn’t really matter to you…

“Hmmm. Well, in either event, it seems everyone is talking about us.”

“Let them talk.”

“They say we’re attached at the hip.”

“Oh? Like this, you mean?”

Wu Meiying moved so close their hips and thighs were touching. Because it was hard to maintain their balance when they were so close like this, the two wrapped their arms around each other’s waists. A grin appeared on Wu Meiying’s face as she looked at him with a question in her eyes.

“Yeah. I’d say this is about accurate,” Wu Jian said seriously.

“Maybe we should walk around like this from now on. What do you think?”

“It might be hard to train like this.”

“I’m sure we’ll manage.”

While the two were messing around, Elder Wu Jinsu continued to call out Wu clansmen and clanswomen to go up and test their strength. No one’s results were outstanding like Wu Jian’s and Wu Meiying’s, but there were a few exceptional people who had high scores. Wu Ming scored 3,367 and Wu Lang scored 4,104. Of course, Wu Lang was already fifteen years old. He would be sixteen in a few months, and if his score didn’t reach at least five thousand by his sixteenth birthday, the chances of him being able to break through to the Hunger Realm were slim.

“Wu Lang isn’t going to make it,” Wu Meiying suddenly said.

Wu Jian glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. Wu Meiying’s eyes were glazed over.

“You mean he won’t break through?”

She nodded. “He lacks conviction and motivation.”

“Hmmm.”

Wu Jian turned back to look at Wu Lang, who really did seem unmotivated. Well, not everyone wanted to become a cultivator. Chances were good that Wu Lang would go on to become a farmer on their plantation, which was how the Wu Clan earned a good portion of their income.

More people went up to test their strength, until, finally…

“Wu Yong!”