Chapter 32: Stop Barking
Everyone left the storage quickly. They returned to that open field and, shortly after, followed the head Elder to an area behind the building.
A few meters later, they all stopped. They saw a small tree, about five feet tall, on top of a hill. It looked simple at first glance, but every Spiritual Guardian with a Divine-level body or higher felt overwhelmed by a strong, hot energy.
"That's the Celestial Yang Mulberry Tree. One of the few treasures saved from the great academies of the past," the head Elder said with a sigh. "No one is allowed to get closer than ten meters. The test will be done at its roots, which spread out over several meters around it. They're called the Celestial Yang Roots."
"This stage is a test for Summoners — but not for everyone. If a woman tries, she'll get poisoned and die. I suggest only the men take part, since they'll have to use the Yang in their bodies with the help of their partners' power."
The Elder explained it subtly. All lifeforms have Yin and Yang, which are opposite, natural energies. But races with gender differences have big gaps — men have way more Yang, and the opposite is true for women.
This root only reacts to a high amount of Yang. Women have very little, so they're vulnerable to the risk of Yang invading their bodies and wiping out the Yin — which would cause a fast and painful death.
"Just so you know: the last day will be the turn for the female Summoners. So you can just watch for now, no need to worry," the Elder added casually. "It's pretty simple: each of you will uncover part of the root and try to use your Yang together with the power from your partner's ring. The Summoner stays in control of everything, linking with the root. In the end, you need to spread your Yang through the root and dry it out."
"But don't get cocky. The Yang in natural life is super pure and dense. If you manage to dry out just ten centimeters of the root, that's already a lot. The judgment's simple: the more of the root you dry, the more points you get. Every two centimeters earns you 50 points."
Everyone nodded. This was another control test — but this time for the Summoner, and luck didn't play a part in it.
"In the end, after the score count, you get to keep whatever part of the dried root you managed to extract. It's not very useful for men, but it turns into a treasure for women."
Everyone understood — the next test was probably the opposite. The women would get something they could trade with the men for the root. It was a method to benefit all Summoners and encourage interaction between them. The Academy preferred for them to get along — not the other way around.