With the battles for the Ranking of Young Lords finished, the months-long Veluriyam Pagoda gathering was almost at an end. The next order of affairs was awarding the victors their spoils. The top 36 of the Pill Pagoda battles were eligible to study within the Pill Pagoda. The top 36 of the Martial Pagoda battles were permitted to cultivate within the Main Pagoda, and those in the Genius Rankings, the Martial Pagoda.

There were three pagodas in the Veluriyam Pagoda complex. The Main Pagoda was flanked by the Martial and Pill Pagodas. Martial geniuses had a slight edge in the competition: those in the Ranking of Young Lords could enter the Main Pagoda, but those in the Genius Rankings had the Martial Pagoda as a consolation prize. The benefits and opportunities available in the Martial Pagoda were inferior to those in the Main Pagoda’s, but they were still quite attractive for those in the Genius Rankings.

The three pagodas opened only once every sixty years, and many people competed for only a few chances at entry. The three hundred were chosen out of countless cultivators were recipients of utmost...