The Quantum Path to Immortality

The waiting area for successful students was surprisingly comfortable. Plush seating, refreshment stations with cultivation-enhancing drinks, and viewing screens showing the ongoing comprehension test filled a large pavilion-style space.

Aria settled into a seat and watched the screens. Students were still struggling with the stele, their lights slowly progressing from white to blue. A few had reached pale green. None had achieved the deep colors she'd managed.

"Excuse me."

She turned to find a boy about her age standing nearby. He had neat silver hair and wore expensive robes marked with the symbol of some sect she didn't recognize.

"Yes?"

"I'm Marcus Lightblade, from the Eternal Radiance Sect." He bowed slightly. "I wanted to congratulate you on your performance. Gold light is... well, legendary doesn't seem strong enough a word."

"Thank you," Aria said politely. "Just Aria is fine."

"I watched your progression," Marcus continued, sitting in a nearby chair without invitation. "You moved through the stages so smoothly. Like you were reading a simple book rather than deciphering an ancient technique. How did you do it?"

Aria considered how to answer. "I just... looked at the underlying structure instead of getting caught up in the surface complexity. Once you see the pattern, everything else follows."

"Just looked at the underlying structure," Marcus repeated with a slight laugh. "You make it sound easy."

"Well, it was designed by the First Dean to be learnable," Aria pointed out. "He wanted students to succeed. He built in stepping stones."

"Stepping stones that thousands of cultivators over millions of years failed to see," another voice said.

A girl approached—the silver-haired one Aria had noticed earlier whose presence bent space. Up close, her features were striking, with eyes that seemed to hold starlight.

"Celeste Voidwalker," she introduced herself. "Spatial Law specialist. I have to ask—what's your secret? Training method? Special technique? Divine inheritance?"

"Just good teachers," Aria said honestly. "My father trained me personally."

"Ah yes, the Sovereign," Celeste said. "That must be nice, having a Sovereign as your personal instructor."

There was no bitterness in her tone, just genuine curiosity. Aria relaxed slightly. "It has advantages. But Father's teaching style is... intense."

"I bet," Marcus said. "Sovereigns don't usually waste time on gentle methods."

They chatted for a while, joined by a few other early finishers. Aria learned that Marcus had achieved orange light after four hours of work—an excellent result by normal standards. Celeste had managed light purple after five hours, which was prodigy-level performance.

Both seemed friendly enough, though Aria could sense them evaluating her. Everyone was. She was the anomaly, the unknown factor that had just rewritten the record books.

More students trickled into the waiting area as the hours passed. Kieran arrived with orange light after four and a half hours, looking satisfied until he saw Aria and remembered she'd achieved gold. His satisfaction dimmed noticeably.

Jin appeared with light purple after five hours, earning congratulations from everyone. He nodded politely and found a quiet corner to meditate, seemingly uninterested in socializing.

Lyssa stormed in with deep orange light, looking frustrated. "I was so close to purple! Another thirty minutes and I would have—" She stopped when she noticed everyone watching her. "What?"

"Nothing," Marcus said diplomatically. "Orange is an excellent achievement."

"Not compared to gold," Lyssa muttered, glancing at Aria before looking away.

Mira and Torin arrived together after the full six hours, both glowing with relief and exhaustion.

"We passed!" Mira announced, bouncing over to Aria. "Barely! I got 52% and Torin got 57%, but we passed!"

"Congratulations," Aria said warmly. "That's great!"

"Great? Aria, you got 100% in two hours. We got barely-passing in six hours. There's a bit of a difference," Mira said, but she was smiling. "Still! We're moving on to the second trial! That's what matters!"

The viewing screens showed the final students finishing up. Of the thousands who'd taken the test, about half had failed to reach the 50% threshold. Those who'd passed filed into the waiting area, creating a crowd of roughly fifteen hundred students.

Vice Dean Yara materialized in the center of the pavilion.

"Congratulations to all who passed the first trial," she announced. "You have demonstrated adequate comprehension ability. Now we will test something more important—application."

She gestured, and a massive gate opened in the air behind her. "Through this gate is a specialized combat dimension. You will enter in groups of twenty and demonstrate your Infinity Law application. This is not a test of raw power. We want to see creativity, efficiency, and originality."

The Vice Dean's expression became stern. "Many cultivators achieve high comprehension but lack imagination. They know the theory but cannot apply it effectively in practice. I have seen students with 30% comprehension defeat students with 50% comprehension because their application was superior. Understanding alone is insufficient—you must show us how you use what you understand."

She continued, "You will each have ten minutes to demonstrate your techniques. Our examiners will judge you on four criteria: creativity, efficiency, power, and originality. Standard techniques earn standard marks. Impressive techniques earn high marks. Unprecedented techniques earn perfect marks."

"What constitutes a standard technique?" someone asked.

"Multiplying your attacks through Stage 2 principles. Creating defensive barriers using Stage 1 concepts. Basic applications that any competent cultivator with your comprehension level could manage." Vice Dean Yara smiled slightly. "We expect more from our students. Surprise us."

She gestured to the first group. "You twenty—enter the gate. The rest of you will watch on the viewing screens. Learn from each other's performances."

The first group nervously entered the dimensional gate. The screens flickered to life, showing them appearing in a vast empty space with three Sovereign-level examiners floating in the air above.

One by one, students demonstrated their techniques.

A boy created a hundred copies of himself using Multiplicity principles—impressive but standard. Score: 72/100.

A girl wove an attack that could extend endlessly through space using Endless Path concepts—creative but unrefined. Score: 68/100.

Another student combined both stages to create attacks that multiplied infinitely while extending forever—much better. Score: 81/100.

The demonstrations continued. Most students scored between 60-80 points. A few exceptional ones reached the low 90s with particularly clever applications.

Aria watched carefully, analyzing each technique. She could see what the examiners wanted—not just power, but innovation. Using Infinity Law in unexpected ways. Solving problems from angles others wouldn't consider.

Marcus was in the third group. He created a technique where a single strike split into countably infinite versions, each one existing in a different spatial layer, converging on the target from impossible angles. Score: 89/100. Excellent work.

Celeste demonstrated spatial distortion combined with Multiplicity, creating pockets of warped space that multiplied exponentially. Score: 92/100. Near perfect.

Kieran's technique involved creating an endless chain reaction—one attack triggering infinite follow-up attacks through recursive principles. Score: 91/100. Impressive.

Lyssa demonstrated raw efficiency—minimal energy expenditure for maximum effect, showing perfect understanding of conservation through infinity principles. Score: 88/100. Solid performance.

Jin went last in his group and created something that made the examiners lean forward with interest—a technique that existed in continuous infinite states rather than discrete steps, showing early grasp of Stage 3 Continuum concepts despite being at Stage 2 comprehension. Score: 94/100. Outstanding.

"Jin Silversky truly is a genius," someone muttered in the waiting area. "He's applying concepts beyond his current comprehension level."

Finally, Aria's group was called. She entered the gate with Mira, Torin, and seventeen others.

The combat dimension was vast and empty—pure white space that extended in all directions. The three Sovereign examiners floated above, their expressions neutral and evaluating.

"Proceed one at a time," the lead examiner announced. "State your name and demonstrate your technique."

Students went first, each showing competent but ultimately standard applications. Scores ranged from 65-80.

Mira went and demonstrated surprisingly creative close-combat applications—multiplying her strikes through Multiplicity while making each one lead naturally into the next through Endless Path principles, creating an literally infinite combo that never had to stop. Score: 83/100. The examiners nodded approvingly.

Torin showed his spatial specialty—creating portals that existed in countably infinite locations simultaneously, allowing instantaneous travel to any point in his range while the portals themselves continued multiplying. Score: 86/100. Excellent work.

Then it was Aria's turn.

She stepped forward, very aware that everyone was watching. The students in the dimension. The thousands watching on screens in the waiting area. Her family in the observation area. Everyone wanted to see what the gold-light prodigy could do.

"Aria Vance," she announced clearly. "Demonstrating Infinity Law application."

The examiners leaned forward with interest. This was the girl who'd achieved perfect comprehension in record time. What could she do with that understanding?