Vessel of Worlds

The lot-drawing for the Foundation Establishment Trial was conducted all at once.

Every number was sealed inside an identical wax pellet, and all the pellets were placed within a specially made storage pouch. The pouch's opening was only three or four cun across—just wide enough to fit half an arm inside. Unlike an ordinary storage pouch, which allowed a cultivator to probe its contents with spiritual sense once opened, this one completely blocked spiritual sense even when unsealed. The only option was to reach in blindly and draw.

All the registered outer-sect disciples formed a long queue and took turns reaching into the pouch, each quickly withdrawing a single wax pellet roughly a cun in size. Some broke their pellets open immediately, pulling out the small bamboo slip inscribed with a number inside.

In barely more than a shichen, every cultivator had drawn a pellet.

The paired matches began at once. Two cultivators who drew the same number formed a pair. With over nine hundred pairs in the first round, the matches were split across more than a dozen stages and held simultaneously. Each stage had at least three Foundation Establishment cultivators serving as judges and keeping order.

Andy drew the number "627" and was assigned to the Guanyun Stage.

Since his match hadn't come up yet, Andy stood below the platform, watching the current bout with interest.

One of the combatants was someone he recognized—Jin Ye. She stood holding a jade-green bamboo whip artifact roughly a zhang long, regarding her opponent with a cool gaze.

Her opponent was a boy at only the tenth layer of Qi Refinement—barely meeting the minimum requirements. Facing a senior sister far above his own level, he was doing his best to appear calm, but the faint trembling of the small yellow sword hovering before him betrayed his nerves completely.

The two exchanged bows, and a middle-stage Foundation Establishment elder declared the match begun.

Before Jin Ye had even moved, the boy struck first. His small sword traced a slightly wobbly arc toward her. She gave a soft huff through her nose, lashed out with the bamboo whip, and in a single crack of wind, wrapped the whip around his sword entirely.

The boy panicked, pouring everything he had into trying to wrench his sword free, but no matter how hard he pushed, it wouldn't budge. The golden glow around the blade was fading, and a low, groaning hum began to emanate from it—the unmistakable sign of an artifact about to be damaged.

This was his most precious artifact. He blurted out: "Senior Sister, please have mercy—I surrender!"

Jin Ye smiled faintly, flicked her whip, and the little yellow sword wobbled back to its owner.

The boy's face was crimson as he retrieved his artifact and walked off the stage without a word.

The gap between them had been too vast. The entire match lasted only a few breaths. In truth, the majority of first-round matches ended just as quickly. Unless both combatants were close in cultivation and equipment, one or two exchanges were enough to make the outcome obvious, and the weaker party would concede rather than risk damage to their artifacts or serious injury.

Andy's first-round opponent was an eleventh-layer cultivator—a dark-faced young man wielding a small knife, a mid-grade artifact. Andy drew a gleaming golden longsword, an upper-grade refined copper artifact he had named the Gongbu Sword.

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The instant the two artifacts clashed, the Gongbu Sword carved a cun-long notch in the small knife and drove straight at the dark-faced cultivator. Though his opponent managed to produce a green wooden shield as well, the Gongbu Sword pierced its defense with ease, and the dark-faced cultivator had no choice but to concede.

While Andy's victory came effortlessly, Jian Xin'er's luck was considerably worse—she drew an opponent in the first round who also wielded upper-grade artifacts.

A first-round match where both sides used upper-grade artifacts was rare enough to draw a crowd. After finishing his own bout, Andy hurried to the Tianchi Stage to watch.

In the end, Jian Xin'er's three golden copper rings—versatile in both offense and defense and working in flawless coordination—locked down her opponent's white jade ruler and forced her off the edge of the arena, winning the match. After this fight, Jian Xin'er's ring artifacts became famous among the outer-sect disciples.

On the Wanghai Stage, a fierce-browed young man directed a massive green sword that cleaved his opponent's red spike artifact clean in two.

On the Luoxia Stage, a bright-eyed young woman used a gold-and-silver silk ribbon artifact to scoop up both her opponent and his artifact and toss them off the platform.

On the Tingyu Stage, two eleventh-layer cultivators wielding mid-grade artifacts were locked in an intense, drawn-out duel with no clear winner in sight.

On the Xunhua Stage, two upper-grade artifacts ground against each other without either gaining the upper hand—until one combatant's spiritual power suddenly gave out. He coughed blood and collapsed in defeat.

……

Scenes like these played out again and again across more than a dozen stages simultaneously. Two full days passed before the first round was complete. There was no break—lots were drawn again immediately, and the second round began.

This time Andy drew number "11" and was assigned to the main venue: the Yingfeng Stage.

His opponent was Li Qing, a fellow twelfth-layer cultivator who had entered the Taixu Sect two years before Andy.

When the two stepped onto the stage—similar in age, height, build, and cultivation—it was immediately clear that this match would not be the lopsided affair the first round had been.

They exchanged bows, and a middle-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator declared the match begun.

The instant the words left the judge's mouth, both Andy and Li Qing slapped a defensive talisman onto themselves—a natural precaution against ambush when facing an evenly matched opponent.

The difference was that Andy used a mid-grade Golden Shield Talisman, while Li Qing used a low-grade Diamond Talisman. Among early- and mid-grade defensive spells, these two metal-attribute barriers were the most practical.

Their next moves were also strikingly similar—both drew their offensive artifacts.

Andy flipped his right hand. A flash of white light, and a gleaming golden small sword appeared—narrow-bladed with an extremely short hilt. He tossed it before him and began cycling through rapid hand seals, channeling streams of spiritual power into the blade. In moments it had expanded to three chi in length, radiating brilliant golden light. This was the Gongbu Sword that had served him so well in the first round.

Li Qing was just as quick. He produced a miniature crimson pot, only two or three cun tall. With a flick of his wrist and a flash of red light, the pot appeared above both their heads. He too began firing technique after technique into it.

The pot grew—but only to about a chi before it stopped expanding. Instead, its color deepened, growing redder and brighter, until it blazed like a sun overhead, too intense to look at directly.

Even through his Golden Shield Talisman's barrier, Andy could feel waves of heat radiating from the pot. It was clearly a fire-attribute upper-grade artifact.

I've got a real fight on my hands. Andy thought grimly. Fire-attribute artifacts were generally among the most offensively powerful of the Five Elements.

He had also heard that artifacts in unusual shapes—mirrors, pagodas, pots, bells—tended to be exceptionally powerful and versatile.

With Li Qing wielding an upper-grade fire-attribute pot artifact, Andy couldn't afford to take him lightly.

He quietly palmed a golden round shield, then sent the Gongbu Sword forward. The golden longsword traced a razor-straight line of light as it shot toward Li Qing at tremendous speed. Li Qing's Diamond Talisman barrier alone would never be enough to stop it.

But with a light tap of his right index finger, Li Qing sent a fire crow—two or three chi long—streaking out of the blazing pot's mouth. Its features and plumage were indistinct, wreathed in flame, but it had three legs, giving it a distinctly uncanny appearance.

The fire crow burst from the pot with two sharp cries and lunged at the golden sword, beak first.