After nearly half a year of frantic cultivation, Han Li finally stood before Doctor Mo to be tested.
Zhang Tie pressed close beside him, awkward and unnerved, and small wonder—Han Li had already learned from him that, after all these months of practice, Zhang Tie had accomplished absolutely nothing with the formula. Han Li knew that Zhang Tie had applied himself to it no less earnestly than he had. He might not share Han Li's reckless, life-risking frenzy, but he had not been stingy with his effort, either. He could honestly be described as diligent and hardworking.
And yet, oddly enough, the formula seemed to have no effect on Zhang Tie whatsoever. No matter how hard he labored over it, not a single shred of progress appeared. It seemed this formula simply was not meant for him.
Han Li's own heart was in his throat, and he felt far from at ease. He knew that Zhang Tie would almost certainly fail this examination, while he himself, though he had seen a little progress, was only a hair's breadth better off. He had thrown himself into his cultivation body and soul, and all it had earned him was a slightly stronger flow of that strange energy within him. If before it had been as thin as a strand of hair, now it had swelled to the thickness of a cotton thread. Yet whether even that would pass Doctor Mo's scrutiny, he genuinely could not say, and so he too found his heart rising into the air with worry and anxiety.
"Are you both ready? Show me the fruits of your cultivation." Doctor Mo narrowed his eyes, sitting in the great armchair and gazing coldly at the two boys.
"We're ready." The two of them answered, forcing up their courage.
Slowly, Doctor Mo rose from his chair and set down the book that never left his side upon the table.
"Hold out your hands."
"Circulate your energy for me to see."
Doctor Mo took hold of Zhang Tie's right wrist with one hand, feeling for his pulse, while his other hand came to rest on Zhang Tie's lower abdomen, upon his dantian.
It was a full quarter of an hour before he drew both hands away, his face utterly expressionless as he took a careful measure of Zhang Tie from head to toe.
Zhang Tie's face flushed crimson. He hastily hid both hands behind his back and hung his head, not daring to meet Doctor Mo's eyes again. He knew full well that Doctor Mo must have noticed that he had shown not the slightest trace of progress with the formula, and the old doctor was hardly likely to look kindly upon him now.
"Your turn."
To everyone's surprise, Doctor Mo made no move to scold Zhang Tie at all. Only the faintest flicker of disappointment passed through his eyes before he turned to Han Li.
Doctor Mo seized Han Li's right wrist in the same fashion.
"So cold, icy-cold. It doesn't feel like a living person's hand at all," Han Li thought, slightly disconcerted.
The skin of Doctor Mo's hand was dry and covered in calluses, and it pricked faintly against Han Li's own as he was gripped—that was Han Li's first impression. Perhaps stirred by the foreign stimulus, the energy within Han Li began to circulate on its own, without him willing it. Following the eight extraordinary meridians, passing through the acupoints all over his body, it flowed from his dantian up to his head and out to his limbs, whirling through a full circuit in the blink of an eye, then returning to his dantian. The instant that energy moved, the faint unease on Han Li's skin vanished.
"Why!" Doctor Mo could not help letting out an exclamation, evidently having detected the energy within Han Li.
"Quickly, run through the formula once more." Though Doctor Mo strove to keep his face calm, unwilling to let his joy show, the fervent light in his eyes still startled Han Li.
"Go slowly. Let me study it closely." Doctor Mo added at once, his usually cold tone turning urgent as he placed his other hand on Han Li's dantian.
Han Li felt Doctor Mo's hands trembling faintly, a sure sign of the man's excitement, and so he ran the energy through his body another time as bidden.
"Splendid! Splendid! This is the sensation, this is precisely what I have wanted. No mistake—no mistake at all! Hahaha!"
After a thorough examination, Doctor Mo could hold back no longer and burst into peals of laughter. His hands clamped tightly upon Han Li's shoulders, and his squinted eyes flew wide as he stared at Han Li as though contemplating some rare treasure of the world, a hint of madness flickering in his gaze.
Han Li's ears rang with Doctor Mo's laughter, one laugh after another, and his shoulders ached from the grip. When he saw the mad expression on the man's face, fear crept into his heart.
"Good, very good." Catching the fear on Han Li's face, Doctor Mo realized he had carried away his composure, and immediately cut short his laughter. "From now on, work as hard as you do now. As of today, I take you on as my personal disciple." He released his grip and gave Han Li's shoulder a couple of pats by way of encouragement.
Doctor Mo's face soon resumed its ordinary calm, as though all that madness had never happened. Only the eager glances he now and then cast at Han Li betrayed that he was still riding the wave of excitement.
"As for you…" Doctor Mo finally turned his gaze back to Zhang Tie.
Zhang Tie had long been stunned by what had just unfolded, and only jolted back to himself when Doctor Mo's words swung toward him. The thought of the harsh reality—that to fail the examination meant being driven down the mountain—struck him, and his gaze at Doctor Mo turned into a look of desperate pleading.
"Your aptitude really is lacking. In all this time, you've managed to cultivate not a single thing. To take you as a disciple would be a strain." Doctor Mo kept shaking his head.
Zhang Tie's heart sank deeper with each shake.
From Doctor Mo's words, both boys understood that he did not wish to take Zhang Tie in.
But then, all at once, Doctor Mo seemed to think of something intriguing, and his gaze toward Zhang Tie took on a strange expression.
"However, I checked your bones a moment ago. There is another inner technique that suits you better. Would you care to learn it from me?" Doctor Mo abruptly changed his tack, evidently willing to let Zhang Tie pass after all.
Zhang Tie, hearing this, could hardly have said no, and agreed on the spot.
"Good, very good." One could tell Doctor Mo was in fine spirits now, for that "good, very good" slipped out of him again. "The two of you may go. Tomorrow I shall teach you your new inner techniques."
Han Li and Zhang Tie exchanged a glance. Both felt that today's examination had been a winding, topsy-turvy affair of reversals—and yet both of them had gotten through. That brought them a quiet, genuine comfort.