A dead silence reigned around when Kyon came to the center of the hall and greeted everyone with a bow.«Are you… Are you kidding me?» - Elder Boe"s eyes nearly popped out of his head. - «I wasted so much time and energy for his sake!»
How could the great elders and the patriarch treat a pract.i.tioner who was only in the base phase? To draw an a.n.a.logy, he was a typical office worker in front of the CEO of a billion-dollar corporation. The audience did not take him seriously.
«Are you making fun of your grandfather, little b.a.s.t.a.r.d?» - Boe hissed to Lee.
Lee swallowed and started to explain himself in a trembling voice:
«He is a great genius, grandpa! He beat Tsayan… At the party!»
«Great genius?!» - The elder yelled. – «Following your impeccable logic, even a disabled person is a genius! The boy can"t kill a fly! Is our youth making fun of the adults before the tournament?!»
Stephanie wished she was a turtle to hide her head in the sh.e.l.l.
Juno smugly looked at Kyon, her eyes read, "I told you so!"
The audience was disappointed. The youth had been shouting about the new talent from the rooftops. It was nothing but a dirty trick. Who was responsible for this delusion?!
The patriarch spoke in a restrained tone that instantly created general silence.
«Lee is rather short-sighted, but he wouldn"t make fun of the elders in this pathetic unworthy way.» - He looked at Lee with a condescending smile. – «Tell me the truth, son… Where"s the real Kyon?»
Lee hung down his head like a guilty child in front of his father. He was dying of shame. He wished he could kill Kyon and punish Stephanie for her dirty game...
Kyon cleared his throat. «Patriarch Bai... I am real Kyon. I defeated Tsayan at the party. I"ve come to qualify for a descendant of direct blood.»
The audience was speechless. Who was this guy, and who gave him the right to speak?
Bai frowned at the boy and then at Juno. His granddaughter nodded awkwardly and looked down. Then he looked again at the boy. Were they pulling his leg?
«Junior.» - Examiner Kirsan began trying to please the elders and the patriarch. - «You are disqualified. Pract.i.tioners below the fourth phase of development are not allowed. Wait till the elders give the final verdict regarding your fate.» - He turned to the patriarch to hear his judgement for the underling.
«Excuse me?» - Kyon flared up. – «What rules prescribe the development restriction?»
Kirsan smiled viciously. He rarely came across the fools who wanted to a.s.sert their rights.
«Have you ever seen at least a pract.i.tioner who qualified as a descendant of direct blood being below the fourth phase? I can"t remember any. So shut your little mouth and wait for the elders" decision.» - Kirsan said in a stern voice.
However, there was not a shadow of fear in Kyon"s eyes.
«I will refresh your memory... How about Flitz? Or Lee? He is at the end of the third phase, and yet, he pa.s.sed the qualification himself.» - Kyon emphasised the last word.
Lee clenched his fists and cast at Kyon an angry look.
Boe frowned. Did he just insult his grandson? It sounded like that. He was not sure and kept silent, waiting for Kirsan to say something.
«They are a rare exception to the rule. All of them have unique talents that put them above the rest. The other mediocrities, including you, have no free pa.s.s. I repeat for the deaf, you are disqualified.» - Kirsan firmly. His eyes were grim and dangerous.
Kyon said with no hesitation:
«Exactly!.. They have unique talents that helped them surpa.s.s others. You have just confirmed that the level of development is less important than talent. Are you going to disqualify me without a single test? How did you become an examiner? No wonder the Stones are in trouble.»
It was like a slap for Kirsan. An underling in the first phase dared to talk back to him! Veins bulged on Kirsan"s forehead. He gritted his teeth with rage.
«Don"t you dare to question my authority of the best examiner, sc.u.m.»
«Already have and no regrets about that. I can"t look at myself in the mirror if I pay any respect to a hypocritical and unskilled examiner like you.» - Kyon said coldly, his arms crossed.
The audience was stunned. They had never met such a c.o.c.ky boy! A younger pract.i.tioner dared to offend someone at Kirsan"s level? It was unheard of.
Juno touched her forehead, groaning in shame.
{Shut up, moron! Wash your mouth out with soap!}
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Stephanie bit her lip. {Laurel spoiled you too much! You warned me, but I didn"t think it was to this extent!}
Kirsan turned red. He was being humiliated in front of the most influential people in the family. It was like a little dog quietly p.i.s.sed on his shoe during an important meeting. It was unforgivable. He said in an ominous tone:
«For insulting a senior examiner, I use my power to condemn you to deprivation of your development, which means destroying your main keys.» - Kirsan went to Kyon, full of determination.
Juno caught her a.s.sistant"s sudden, steady look and elbowed her grandfather, giving him the "puppy eyes" look.
The patriarch took a deep breath and said imperiously and wearily at the same time:
«Kirsan, I annul your sentence. The test will be held as expected.» - He was running out of patience. If this nonsense had started, he would bring it to an end and take it off the table.
The examiner lost his spirit. «But… Uhm… Yes, sir Bai.» - Kirsan said humbly, afraid to contradict the patriarch.
«Father, I don"t have time for this nonsense. I have work to do.» - Diana said impa.s.sionately, raising from her seat.
Two elders also stood up, intending to follow the lady. Elder Boe was seething with anger. He was already thinking of ways to punish his grandson for this "innocent" trick.
No one wanted to watch the futile attempts of an ant to jump over the hill.
Juno caught another Kyon"s look and stared imploringly at her grandfather. It was outraging having to comply with his demands! But he had promised to clear her key in return.
Bai rubbed his nose. He was tired and needed some rest. The work of the patriarch was too exhausting. It was sucking out all the marrow of his life. What was going on? Why were the young people so stupid? Why was Juno playing this nasty trick on him too? By all means, the collapse of the family was quite justified.
The patriarch said:
«My sweet Diana, wait a bit more. Then we"ll take a walk together.»
«Alright then…» - The dazzlingly beautiful lady sat down and crossed her legs. The elders looked at each other and also returned to their seats.
A trigram with patterns was cut out in the floor in the very center of the hall. It was a circle with a diameter of two meters.
It limited and, at the same time, evenly dispersed energy. There was an empty slot in the centre.
Kirsan took a nephrite out of his spatial ring and placed it in the slot in the center of the circle. The corners of his lips rose in a grin when he announced:
«The first test begins. The task is as follows: when the testee stands in the center of the trigram, he will be subjected to t.i.tanic pressure equal to the beginning of the lord phase (5). If the testee can hold out for one minute without falling on the knee, he has pa.s.sed. It requires appropriate development, willpower and spirit, as well as courage to face an enemy who is overwhelmingly powerful. Now stand in the trigram.» – {And die!} – Kirsan gloated to himself.
He had acquired the nephrite, that was now in the centre of the trigram, in another empire at a fairly high price. He created the pressure of the peak of the fifth phase instead of the beginning stage that was intended for the test. Anyone in the first phase was doomed to death.
Under the gaze of the nine people, Kyon calmly stood in the trigram. Everyone expected his instant failure. The kid had to fall and lose consciousness. His undeveloped soul couldn"t resist longer than a moment.
Three seconds later, the nephrite was activated. Kyon felt a heavy stone on his body. His blood pressure rose, not too high but causing some discomfort.
{Uhm… Why is it so weak?} – Kyon wondered. The pressure was really strong, but it didn"t affect him because of his spiritual power. Kyon was completely sure of this.
He knew that a person with a development of five phases higher could kill with pressure alone, if not instantly. The target soul experiences incredible stress. The body doesn"t get the direct impact, but it undergoes the consequences of mental suffering and dies. In other words, the pressure influences the soul first, and only then it destroys the body. The difference in development was now four stages, that"s why Kyon was so confident he would pa.s.s.
Kyon remembered Kara come to his room and release her powerful pressure. At that moment, his soul vibrated. He felt as if a bull sat on his shoulders. Now, the pressure should be equal to his development or slightly stronger, according to what he heard. However, neither his soul nor his body felt anything. What had changed since then?
Suddenly, an idea flashed through Kyon"s mind. It was his unique body! It had given him spiritual power. How weird... He had only recently activated his body of the void. Where did it get so much power to provide him with cheating advantages in its infancy?
Kirsan frowned like the rest in the audience. It had been a minute since the testee stood calmly with his arms crossed.
«Have I pa.s.sed?» - Kyon asked.
The examiner coughed, perplexed, hiding how ashamed he was for his mistake in front of the important spectators. «Leave the trigram. There must have been a mistake when it activated.»
Kyon came out of the circle. Kirsan didn"t expect anything could happen to him. He entered inside. The pressure of the peak stage in the Lord phase had influenced him at once. Kirsan grunted hoa.r.s.ely and nearly crawled out of the trigram.
«What"s the matter, Kirsan?» - Bai asked with curiosity.
«Nothing, sir.» - He looked at Kyon. – «Enter the circle again!»
Kyon carelessly went inside. His indifferent look and raised eyebrow infuriated the best examiner in the Stone family even more. Why did the pressure have no effect on this boy?!
«Leave the circle!» - Kirsan barked.
«Are you really an examiner?» - Kyon asked suspiciously and left the trigram.
«Shut up, little snot! Don"t you dare to question my expertise!»
Kirsan entered the circle again. When the pressure was about to crush his body, he struggled to stay on his feet and left the trigram, panting hard. - {What the h.e.l.l?! It can"t be!}
The elders looked at each other, confused. The expression on Stephanie"s and Lee"s faces was indescribable. Diana yawned. Juno suspected something was amiss.
«What"s wrong?» - Kyon asked with a mocking smile.
«d.a.m.n it! For some reason, the nephrite isn"t fully functioning... I have to reschedule the test for another day... My apologies, Patriarch.»
«If this nephrite is defected, take another one.» - Kyon suggested. – «Or didn"t you take a spare one? It can not be! The best examiner means being ready for anything.»
«It"s not about the nephrite!» - Kirsan said through gritted teeth. - «The grooves on the trigram pattern must have rubbed off at the last test... That"s why it doesn"t give the full pressure.»
«I don"t think so.» - Kyon said. – «The formation works perfectly.»
«Do you doubt my words, little s.h.i.+t?! Do you think I don"t know what real pressure is like?!» - Kirsan was furious. His helplessness failed him. If the patriarch wasn"t here, the examiner would have broken his neck long ago.
«I do. I question your expertise so much that I will file a pet.i.tion for your resignation. You can"t distinguish genuine pressure from weakened. The nephrite works flawlessly. Anyone can confirm it except you, of course. Let Lee enter the circle and prove me right. Moreover, he has already pa.s.sed the test and knows the answer.»
«What are you talking about?! Patriarch, please, can I punish him?! He lacks discipline and understanding of the situation! Such ingrates must be chastised with a whip!» - Kirsan implored.
«Let Lee enter the circle. He will say who is right and who is not.» - Bai said, waving his hand.
«What?! No! No-no!» - Kirsan"s heart suddenly skipped a beat. – «Lee can"t enter the circle! It"s ridiculous! It"s a waste of your precious time!» - Kirsan became exceedingly nervous. During the last qualification, he played along with Boe and used a weak nephrite for Lee. That"s why Lee could withstand the pressure and pa.s.s the test. But what was going to happen now?!
«You can try and disobey me.» - Bai said quietly with a clear threat in his voice.
«No-no! Certainly not!» - Kirsan"s voice trembled. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
Bai looked at Lee. «Enter the circle, son. We need the truth.»
«Yes, sir!» - Lee answered and went to the circle.
He believed in himself. Last time, the pressure was not that bad.
Only Boe and Kirsan knew the truth about the nephrite that was chosen to help him win.