Chapter 4: The Out-of-Turn Trial and the Sovereign's Price
The Medical Wing of the Celestial Sage Academy felt less like a sanctuary and more like a tomb where a miracle had just occurred. The scent of ozone from the discharged lightning lingered in the air, mixing with the sharp, herbal aroma of spilled tinctures. Master Physician Hong, a man whose word was usually law within these sterilized walls, stared at his trembling hands.
Before him, the Academy's star pupil, Gong Jue, was breathing steadily. The lethal purple veins that had threatened to tear the boy's Dantian apart had vanished as if they were never there—all because of a fifteen-degree twist of an earlobe.
Tian Mo stood by the doorway, his silhouette framed by the deepening orange of the sunset. He didn't look like a man who had just performed a medical feat that would baffle the Royal Physicians; he looked like a man who had just corrected a typo in a mediocre book.
"The badge," Tian Mo said. His voice was cold, flat, and carried a weight that made the stone floor seem to vibrate. "I believe we agreed."
Physician Hong wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "The... the 1-Star Physician Badge is not just a piece of metal, Tian Mo. It is a declaration of mastery. Usually, one must pass the 'Five Chambers of Diagnosis' and a written exam of ten thousand herb combinations."
Tian Mo turned his head slightly, his abyssal eyes locking onto Hong's. "You have thirty seconds to decide if my 'Practical Demonstration' outweighs your bureaucracy. If not, I will leave, and the next time Gong Jue's lightning resonance backfires—which it will, because you still haven't fixed the primary flaw in his heart-valve—you can explain to the Dean why you let the only man who could save him walk away over a piece of tin."
Hong gasped. "His heart-valve? But you said the ears—"
"The ears were the vent. The valve is the source," Tian Mo interrupted, his tone bored. "Twenty seconds."
"Wait! Stop!" Hong scrambled toward a mahogany cabinet, fumbling with a jade key. He pulled out a small, velvet-lined box. Inside lay a silver badge engraved with a single, pulsing star and a stylized needle. "Here! This is the 1-Star Badge. I will register your name in the Guild's records immediately. But please... the heart-valve... how do I fix it?"
Tian Mo took the box, his fingers brushing the silver.
[Ding! 1-Star Physician Badge detected.]
[Integrating Authority... Accessing Physician Guild Archives (Level 1)...]
"Mix 'Bitterroot' with 'Sky-Ice' water," Tian Mo said, already walking out of the room. "Apply it to the center of his chest during the next full moon. And tell him to stop practicing the lightning technique at midnight. The Yin energy of the night is what's causing the valve to contract."
Tian Mo didn't wait for a thank you. He didn't need it.
The Hunger of the Library
As Tian Mo stepped into the cool night air, his nine students followed him like shadows. They were silent, their hearts pounding with a mixture of terror and exhilaration. They had watched their teacher humiliate a Senior Teacher, refine stones with a tap, and now, force a 1-Star Master to beg for advice.
But Tian Mo wasn't thinking about his fame. He was thinking about the void in his stomach.
[Warning: Host's Qi Reserves at 15%.]
[10x Energy Consumption Active.]
[System Note: Foundation Establishment Realm requires 100,000 units of Refined Qi. Current accumulation: 1,200 units.]
The "Refined Stones" from the hall had been a snack. He needed a banquet.
"Teacher," Lu Feng stepped forward, his new, straightened spine giving him a height he hadn't possessed yesterday. "The Academy will be in an uproar by morning. Vice-Principal Mu will not let this humiliation go unpunished. He will call for a formal tribunal."
Tian Mo stopped. He looked at the moon, which was a pale sliver in the sky.
"A tribunal is for those who play by the rules, Lu Feng," Tian Mo said. "We are going to the Supreme Teacher Pavilion."
The students gasped in unison. The Pavilion was the highest authority in the Kingdom. Even the King had to bow to a 4-Star Supreme Teacher.
"But Teacher," Qin Yue whispered, "only 1-Star teachers can enter. And even then, they must wait for the annual exam cycle. The next one isn't for eight months!"
"I don't have eight months," Tian Mo said, his eyes glowing with a faint, predatory golden light. "I have a hunger that eight months of waiting cannot satisfy. We are going to trigger an 'Out-of-Turn Trial'."
The Pavilion of Eternal Wisdom
The Supreme Teacher Pavilion sat on a separate peak, connected to the Academy by a bridge of white jade. It was a massive, nine-story pagoda that seemed to pierce the clouds. At the entrance stood two massive statues of lions, carved from "Truth-Stone," which were said to roar if a liar tried to enter.
Tian Mo and his nine students arrived at the gates just as the moon reached its zenith.
The guards at the gate—two armored men at the Foundation Establishment Realm—crossed their halberds.
"Halt! The Pavilion is closed to all but 1-Star Masters and above. Grade E instructors are forbidden from even treading on this bridge."
Tian Mo didn't stop. He didn't even slow down. He simply reached into his sleeve and held up the silver Physician's Badge.
The guards froze. A 1-Star Physician was a respected auxiliary professional. By law, they were allowed entry for "Professional Consultations."
"A Physician?" one guard muttered, his brow furrowing. "I recognize you. You're that assistant... Tian Mo. How did you get that badge?"
"By being better at medicine than your Master Physician," Tian Mo replied, his voice echoing in the quiet night. "Now, open the gates. I am here to ring the 'Bell of Rectification'."
The guards' eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
The Bell of Rectification hadn't been rung in fifty years. It was a mechanism designed for geniuses who believed the current system was too slow—an Out-of-Turn Trial. To ring it was to challenge the entire Pavilion. If you succeeded, you were promoted instantly. If you failed, your cultivation was crippled, and you were executed for wasting the Sages' time.
"You're insane!" the guard shouted. "You want to take the 1-Star Supreme Teacher exam... tonight? Alone?"
"I am never alone," Tian Mo said, gesturing to the nine students behind him. "My evidence stands with me."
Tian Mo walked past the halberds. He approached the massive bronze bell that hung in the courtyard. Without a mallet, he simply balled his fist and struck the metal.
BONGGGGGGGGGGG—
The sound wasn't just loud; it was heavy. It swept across the Academy like a physical wave, blowing out lanterns and shaking the very foundations of the Grade A pavilions.
The Three Elders
Within minutes, the pagoda lights flickered on. Three elderly men, dressed in robes of deep crimson with gold trim, descended the stairs. These were the Proctors of the Pavilion—3-Star Supreme Teachers.
At the center was Elder Mo, a man whose beard reached his waist and whose eyes were like cold flint.
"Who dares disturb the silence of the Sages?" Elder Mo's voice boomed, carrying the power of the Golden Core Realm.
The pressure was immense. The nine students fell to their knees, unable to breathe. But Tian Mo stood perfectly still. His 10x strengthened meridians absorbed the pressure, filtering it through the Library.
[Ding! Scanning Elder Mo...]
[Cultivation: Golden Core - Level 3.]
[Flaws: 218. Primary Flaw: Left lung is calcified due to 'Fire-Snake' poison inhaled 12 years ago.]
"I am Tian Mo," he said, his voice cutting through the Elder's pressure like a hot knife through butter. "I am here for the 1-Star Trial."
Elder Mo narrowed his eyes. "Tian Mo? The assistant with the 'Trash Class'? I have heard of you. Vice-Principal Mu has already filed a complaint regarding your conduct today. And now you ring the Bell? Do you know the penalty for failure?"
"I am familiar with the word 'failure'," Tian Mo replied, "but I have never seen it in my own reflection. Start the trial, Elder. My students are tired, and I have much to teach them before dawn."
The two other Elders laughed. "Arrogance! To pass the 1-Star Trial out-of-turn, you must complete three tasks: The Diagnostic Walk, the Technique Refinement, and the Student Resonance. And you must do them all within the time it takes for one incense stick to burn."
"Light it," Tian Mo said.
Trial 1: The Diagnostic Walk
The first elder, Elder Han, pointed to a row of one hundred marble statues. "These are the 'Statues of the Ancestors'. Each has a hidden flaw in its 'Qi-Path'—a crack in the stone that mimics a blocked meridian in a human. You must identify fifty of them while walking past them once. You cannot stop. You cannot touch them."
Tian Mo began to walk.
He didn't look at the statues. He looked straight ahead, his hands folded behind his back.
"Statue 1: Blocked Gallbladder meridian," Tian Mo said as he passed the first one.
"Statue 2: Deviated Qi in the Heart-vessel."
"Statue 3: Correct."
"Statue 4: Ruptured Dantian node."
He spoke faster and faster. His pace was a steady, rhythmic walk.
"Statue 12: Impure Qi in the lungs."
"Statue 15: Fracture in the spinal marrow."
Elder Han followed behind him, checking a secret scroll. His face grew more horrified with every step Tian Mo took.
"He's... he's not even looking at them!" Han whispered. "And he's identifying the 'Perfect' ones too? No one has ever noticed Statue 3 was perfect!"
By the time Tian Mo reached the end of the row, he had identified all one hundred.
"One hundred," Tian Mo said, stopping. "You said fifty. I gave you double. I hope your scroll can keep up."
Trial 2: Technique Refinement
Elder Mo stepped forward. "Identifying flaws is one thing. Fixing them is another. Here is a manual for the 'Burning Palm'—a 1-Star battle technique. It has been used for a thousand years. It is considered perfect. You have five minutes to find a way to increase its power by ten percent."
Tian Mo took the manual. He didn't flip through the pages. He simply gripped the spine.
[Ding! Scanning 'Burning Palm' Manual...]
[Total Flaws: 12.]
[Optimizing...]
Tian Mo threw the manual back at Elder Mo. "I don't need five minutes. I need ten seconds."
"The 'Burning Palm' is inefficient," Tian Mo declared. "The user focuses the heat in the palm's center. This causes a back-pressure that burns the user's own wrist. If you shift the focal point to the three knuckles of the middle fingers and breathe in a 'Triple-Staccato' rhythm, the power doesn't increase by ten percent. It increases by fifty."
"Nonsense!" the third elder shouted. "That would cause the Qi to explode!"
"Then try it, Elder," Tian Mo challenged.
Elder Mo, curious despite himself, raised his hand. He followed Tian Mo's instructions—shifting the focus, changing the rhythm.
BOOM!
A pillar of fire erupted from his hand, three times larger than his usual strike. The heat was so intense it melted the stone floor. Elder Mo looked at his hand—it wasn't burnt. The energy had flowed perfectly.
"Fifty percent..." Mo whispered. "A thousand-year-old technique... perfected in ten seconds."
Trial 3: The Student Resonance
"The final test," Elder Mo said, his voice now trembling with a hint of respect. "A Supreme Teacher is nothing without his students. You must prove your 'Teaching Intent'. Your students must perform a coordinated breakthrough. If their Qi doesn't resonate as one, you fail."
Tian Mo looked at his nine students. They were exhausted, terrified, and pressured by the presence of the three Golden Core Elders.
"Lu Feng. Qin Yue. Everyone," Tian Mo said. His voice was no longer cold. it was warm, like a father guiding his children through a storm. "Ignore the Elders. Ignore the Pavilion. Look at the flaws in the air around you. Remember what I told you in the Refining Hall. The world is just a series of vibrations."
Tian Mo began to hum.
It was a low, guttural sound—the Frequency of Perfection.
The nine students closed their eyes. Their Qi began to vibrate in sync with Tian Mo's voice.
Hummmmmm—
Suddenly, a pillar of light erupted from all nine of them simultaneously. Their Qi didn't just rise; it merged. In the courtyard of the Pavilion, a massive phantom of a celestial tree began to form, its branches made of pure, white Qi.
[Ding! Resonance Level: 100%.]
[System Note: This resonance is creating 'Celestial Dew'.]
Droplets of liquid light began to fall from the phantom tree. Tian Mo opened his mouth and swallowed the droplets.
[Energy Level: 80%... 95%... 100%!]
[Condition Met: Foundation Establishment Realm reached.]
[10x Energy Debt: Settled.]
Tian Mo's aura exploded. He wasn't just a 1-Star Supreme Teacher now. He was a Foundation Establishment master with the physical density of a dragon.
The three Elders fell back, shielding their eyes.
When the light faded, Tian Mo was standing in the center of the courtyard. His clothes were tattered, but his skin shone like jade.
Elder Mo stepped forward, his head bowed. He held a golden badge with a single, brilliant star.
"Tian Mo," Elder Mo said. "In fifty years, no one has rung the bell. And in a thousand years, no one has passed the trial with such... absolute dominance. By the authority of the Supreme Teacher Pavilion, I grant you the rank of 1-Star Supreme Teacher."
Tian Mo took the badge. He pinned it to his chest, right next to the Physician's Badge.
"Now," Tian Mo said, looking toward the Academy where the sun was beginning to rise. "Tell Vice-Principal Mu to prepare his resignation. I'm coming for the Grade A block. And I'm taking my 'Trash' with me."