Chapter 11: Partnership
It was a noodle restaurant. I found this interesting, since this was the first time I'd seen noodles – any kind of pasta – in this world. I had memories of eating them in my past life, but this was my first taste of this world's version. Its presentation reminded me of ramen – the real stuff, not the instant kind. I found the noodles themselves to be kind of bland, but the vegetables and meat that they came with, as well as the spices, were tasty. Selene covered the cost, but since it was just regular food rather than spirit herbs and spirit beast meat, it cost less than two gold tablets for all of us combined despite being on the pricey side.
After we were done eating, we went wandering. As we did, I asked a few questions of Selene.
"What we usually call spirit stones are technically low-grade spirit stones, right? How much are mid-grade spirit stones worth in comparison?"
"One mid-grade spirit stone is worth a thousand low grade spirit stones. Above that, one high-grade spirit stone is worth a thousand mid-grade spirit stones. Supposedly, there exists an even higher grade called supreme-grade, which is worth a thousand high-grade, but I've never heard of anyone actually having one."
"What about beast cores? How much are the different ranks worth in spirit stones?"
"A Rank One beast core is worth about half a spirit stone. A Rank Two is worth between one and three spirit stones, depending on its aspect (or lack of aspect). A Rank Three is worth between seven and fifteen spirit stones."
"What about Rank Four?"
"Between thirty and seventy-five spirit stones. Why, do you have some for sale?" she joked.
"Well, actually, we killed a couple on our journey here."
She raised her eyebrows. "No wonder you could beat Abir. You already had experience fighting things on his level. Normally, a couple Body Tempering cultivators would be no match at all for a Rank Four spirit beast."
"What about pills? What kind of prices do they command?"
"It heavily depends on the type of pill and the purity. Anywhere from a whole bottle of trash pills for one spirit stone to a single pill having a price in mid-grade spirit stones."
"I assume potency makes a difference, too."
"Yes. Take body tempering pills. Assuming you have excellent quality—"
"How do the purity percentages get categorized in terms of quality," I interrupted.
She frowned at me for the interruption, but answered the question. "The lowest purity percentage that can even be considered a proper pill is fifty percent. Between that and fifty-nine percent is considered trash quality. Between sixty and sixty-nine percent is poor quality. Between seventy and seventy-nine is average quality; these are the most common, but with the high level of pill toxins, anyone who can afford better will shun them. Eighty percent to eighty-nine percent is good quality; this is good enough for the majority of cultivators, but you still have to be careful and make sure you take care of purging the toxins. Ninety to ninety-four percent is very good quality; this is the best that's usually available for anything close to a reasonable price. Ninety-five to ninety-eight is excellent quality. These are usually much more expensive, but those with the spirit stones to buy them will try for these, especially for more advanced pills, since the potency of the toxins and the potency of the pill are positively correlated."
"And ninety-nine and a hundred percent?"
"Ninety-nine is called top quality, because even masters and grandmasters usually can't get any better than that. One hundred percent purity is called perfect quality, and such pills – even for the most basic of pills – are really rare."
Seran frowned. "But Alzeic, didn't you say the body tempering pills you made were one hundred percent purity?"
I facepalmed. Seriously, Seran? Do you not understand the concept of discretion?
"You're an alchemist?" Young Miss Alaena said with interest.
"…Yes. The treasure I found included some basic and beginner alchemy recipes and instructions. I don't know how to make any more advanced pills, but I'm quite good at simple ones."
"Do you happen to have any of these supposed perfect quality pills?" Selene said skeptically.
I hesitated.
"Yeah, he does," Seran confirmed.
"Would you mind showing them to the head alchemist of our Clan? He can identify purity percentages just by touching a pill."
"Well, right now I only have body tempering pills…"
"If you really can make pills at that quality, and you can prove it, the Klesta Clan will be very interested in a good relationship with you, even beyond you assisting the young miss. You won't just have our protection these couple weeks, but you'll have our backing permanently, so long as you're willing to preferentially supply us."
Seran nudged me. "You should show them. You were telling me how important it is to have some kind of backing before, weren't you?"
"Well, it is a significant advantage, but—"
"But nothing! We're already allies with Miss Alaena, right?"
I sighed. "I suppose that's true. All right. Take me to him, then."
Selene led us to a wealthy part of the city. I felt completely out of place, and judging by her body language, so did Seran. Eventually, we were led to the Klesta Clan compound, which was a sprawling complex with lots of big, fancy houses and large courtyards. We headed not to the biggest house, but one of the ones near to it.
"Master Kenna, it is Selene, with the young miss and some guests. May we enter?"
There was a short pause.
"Come in, then," an older woman's voice called out.
The interior of the building was filled with pill bottles (made of jade), alchemy furnaces (also made of jade), and spirit plants. Two teenage alchemists were at work, overseen by a woman who looked to be about sixty, though her hair was metallic silver rather than gray or white. Unlike all cultivators I'd met up until then, this old woman gave off a powerful aura, and to my qi sense it was clear that she was in a completely different league from a mere Awakening cultivator.
"I greet the Master Alchemist," Selene said, clasping her hands and bowing.
"Yes, yes, whatever," the old woman said dismissively. "Why are you here?"
"I secured some highly-talented outsiders to serve as allies for the young miss, and I have been informed that one of them is also an alchemist. Alzeic, show Master Kenna the body tempering pills you made."
I bowed, then approached, withdrawing a jade bottle from my ring; inside were nine body tempering pills. I handed them over to the old woman.
She opened the bottle and sniffed.
"These are… quite potent."
"I used 1000-year spirit plants and Rank Three spirit beast meat as ingredients. I was very fortunate to acquire the ingredients I did."
She raised an eyebrow, then poured three of the pills into her hand. Her other eyebrow rose as well.
"These… these are perfect quality!" she said in shock. She gave me a sharp look. "You claim you made these yourself?"
"I did. The number of recipes I know is limited, but I am quite confident in my capabilities."
"Prove it. Using any ingredients here in this alchemy house, make a batch of healing pills."
I looked around. She definitely had the required materials to make basic general healing pills, as well as bone-mending pills and blood replenishment pills.
"Should I make general healing, bone-mending, and blood replenishment? To be thorough."
She narrowed her eyes at me. "Sure, but if you just ruin the ingredients, you're paying for them."
I nodded, feeling much more nervous than I projected. I collected all the ingredients that I would need for all three types and moved over to one of the apprentice-tier pill furnaces. I took a deep breath to calm myself.
First, the blood replenishment pills. These were the easiest of the three, so it didn't take me too long to get all the spirit herbs in the furnace, melted down and mixed, and then solidified into pills. One batch produced six crimson pills – though I was pretty sure it was supposed to normally only make five. I set the pills in a jade bowl, then moved on to the general healing pills. Less than a dozen minutes later, I had another half-dozen pink pills. Finally, I made a half-dozen white bone-mending pills.
I presented the bowl to Master Kenna.
"One extra pill per batch, full potency, and perfect quality. Unbelievable," she said after examining them, shaking her head. "You're an absolute alchemy prodigy."
"So is he good enough for the Clan's backing?" Alaena asked.
"Good enough? If he agrees to be a supplier for us, he's way more than good enough! You say you learned from a jade slip?"
I nodded.
"No actual teacher and you managed this… insane. I want to make you my student, but you're joining the Virtuous Soaring Clouds Sect, aren't you?"
"I am."
"Then I suppose that will be impossible. What a pity. Whenever you visit the city, you'll have to give me updates on how you're progressing as an alchemist."
"Of course, Master Kenna," I said with a bow. "Er… may I have my body tempering pills back? Or did you want to purchase them from me?"
"You're willing to sell?"
"Well, Seran and I are already at the peak of the stage, so I was planning on selling them anyway."
"Actually… could you sell those to Miss Alaena?" Selene asked. "I'm not sure how potent they are, but considering the ingredients you used, I imagine that single bottle should be enough to bring her from where she is to the peak."
I bit my lip thoughtfully.
"Well, you gave us those healing pills earlier. Why don't I just give them to her? Consider it a way of sealing the deal for our partnership with the Klesta Clan."
"Hah!" Kenna barked. "I like the way you think, boy! Now nobody can complain about the arrangement."
I walked over to Alaena and offered her the bottle. She took, a small smile on her face.
"Thank you, Alzeic, was it?"
"That's right. I'm Alzeic, and she's Seran."
Alaena stowed the bottle in her spatial ring, then turned to Selene. "Should we talk to father about them?"
"That's a good idea, but he's likely to be busy right now. You can tell him about this at dinner. For now, let's get them settled in in one of the guest houses."
The guest house we were taken to wasn't all that big, but it was luxurious, at least compared to what we grew up with. The two girls whose names I didn't know left us at that point, but Selene and Alaena stayed with us, the woman standing by the door and leaning on the doorframe while the Alaena, Seran, and I sat on cushioned chairs.
Alaena asked us about ourselves. She seemed very surprised that we were of such low birth, innocently stating that we seemed "too smart for that." As we chatted, it became clear that despite being the Young Miss, she wasn't arrogant at all; in fact, she was a bit timid and seemed to not have a lot of self-esteem. She was accidentally rude a few times, but it was clear that it wasaccidental, and from that I gleaned that she was rather sheltered.
"Why do you want outsiders to be your allies in the sect?" I asked after we'd been talking for a while.
"That's… well…"
"The fact is that she's the unfavored child," Selene said bluntly. "There's nothing wrong with her talent, of course, but her siblings are quite competitive, and her older brother and sister both have more backing within the Clan. It is possible – however unlikely – that any member of the Clan that we assign to watch her might be loyal to a faction that opposes her, and act against her."
"So an outsider wouldn't be playing politics, as it were."
"Exactly. By publicly aligning yourself with Miss Alaena, you destroy any chances of remaining on the Clan's good side if you betray her. And… well, as for why I chose the two of you, specifically, that's because of a few things. First, your talent. Second, your power. Third, your character. Forgive the question, but the two of you aren't romantically involved, correct?"
"That's right. We're best friends, but we're not lovers or anything."
"We saw the lead-up to your fight, which means we saw the reason and how you, Alzeic, behaved. That you would step in so angrily to defend your friend – not to stake a claim on someone you consider yours – speaks highly of your character."
"I… see."
"You sound displeased."
I shook my head. "Not displeased, exactly, just… disappointed. From where I'm standing, my reaction should be considered normal, not notable."
She sighed. "Should? Perhaps. But it isn't. Cultivators, more so than mortals, are incredibly self-centered as a rule. Though I think you know that; it's why you traveled so far to join the Virtuous Soaring Clouds Sect instead of another, closer sect. Because they are a more righteous sect than most. Don't delude yourselves, however; just because they are more righteous doesn't mean they are complete moral paragons, and any large enough organization will have individual members who don't abide by the standards of the organization."
"I doubt there are any sects with a good amount of resources who all upstanding, and if there are, they're probably extremely restrictive for their disciples," I said. "I guess what I'm saying is I know, but close enough is good enough."
"Well put. I'll have to remember that turn of phrase."
Huh. Was that a phrase solely used in my past life? Weird.
"Well, we'll be taking our leave for now. Supper will be delivered later. Please remain here until tomorrow morning; I'll discuss how to keep you protected after that, since I imagine you'll want to explore the city a bit before the recruitment test."
"Thank you."
They left. Once we were alone, I sighed.
"That was stressful," I said, letting myself sag into the chair.
"Really? I think the Klesta people are very nice," Seran said happily.
"Yeah, but we were kind of forced into this situation. I don't regret it, exactly, but I'm sure that this will cause us all kinds of problems in the future."
"Well, we should look on the bright side: we made a new friend!"
I chuckled. "I guess so. Alaena does seem nice, though she could stand to be a bit more assertive."
"Yeah. She's really too timid."
About an hour later, dinner was delivered, and after that we sparred in the courtyard for a while before returning to our rooms for the evening. Falling asleep in the extremely comfortable bed was easy. It was even more comfortable than I remembered beds being in my past life, and I was out almost instantly.
-x-
As it turned out, we were essentially put on house arrest for the next nine days – long enough for Alaena to complete a full body tempering cycle and reach the peak of the Stage. Neither of us really minded, since we were allowed to use the compound's public training yard. I spent an hour each morning visiting my realm to mine, then meditated a bit to restore my mind (it only took an hour to recover instead of the two it had back in the day) before heading to the training yard. There, Seran and I sparred with each other and with members of the Klesta Clan, both those in Body Tempering and those in Awakening Stage. It was nice to be able to really push myself against strong opponents, even when I lost, since it wasn't a life-or-death situation.
We returned to the guest house for lunch, then chilled out for a while, meditating or reading books – mostly novels – that were in the guest house. Then we went back to the training yard and trained some more before heading back for dinner. This pattern continued for the entire nine days that it took Alaena to reach the peak of Body Tempering. When she was finished, we had only a week left until the recruitment test.
But at least we were finally allowed out into the city, accompanied by Selene, Alaena, and two young men. On the first day out an about, we ran into some members of the Senter Clan who did a lot of shouting but didn't actually try to start a fight. Apparently the Senter Clan was unhappy with what had happened the other day, but "talks" had already occurred between the two Clans and as a result, out-and-out violence wasn't permitted when there were witnesses around. If Seran and I had been alone, that would have been a different story, though.
"There are a lot of things here in the city that are useful, but the really good stuff is at the sect," Selene told us. "I recommend waiting until you get into the sect before trying to buy alchemy ingredients or other cultivation resources."
And so instead of spending spirit stones on spirit plants and whatnot, we spent most of our time either wandering or in leisure activities. The city had a theater where we watched a play that included cultivator-caused illusions as special effects as well as a distinct musical hall where people put on instrumental performances (both individual and orchestral); I actually enjoyed the music more than the play: some of the musicians were cultivators who actually infused qi into their performances.
As the start of the test crept closer, I started to get genuinely excited and more than a little nervous. I had no doubt that the two of us had sufficient talent to get in, but I also had no idea what the test was going to be like. Seran was also excited, but she didn't seem to share my nervousness. Alaena, however, was just as nervous as I was.
On the night before the big day, I decided to see what a Rank Five spirit beast was like, knowing that defeat was inevitable. I headed into my realm's beast forest and began my search. The forest had massively increased in size and it took me a long time before I encountered anything. When I did, I was somewhat taken aback by what I found.
It was a griffon.
Now, if I'd been in a world that resembled a non-cultivation fantasy, this wouldn't have surprised me much. But griffons weren't exactly standard issue in xianxia stories. They did fit, at least more than that troll we'd fought, being magical beasts, but I had never heard of them before in this world. It was also kind of big, standing about seven feet tall at the shoulder: definitely bigger than the standard lion/eagle fusion.
It turned toward me, spotting me through the trees. It let out a shriek that literally stunned me, if only for a couple seconds, then reared back and flapped its wings. There were no giant trees between us, and the enormous blast of wind it issued made sure that in an instant, there weren't any smaller trees between us, either. I summoned my spear and stabbed it into the ground, barely keeping myself from being blown away. Several saplings and bushes bounced off me, but my clothes and skin were sturdy enough to not take any damage.
It slammed its talons down and shrieked again. This time I went deaf from the noise. It gripped the ground, then shot forward with unprecedented speed. I recovered from the stun a sliver of a second before impact, then went flying back with a crack, sans spear. I slammed into a big tree and landed, somehow, on my feet. The griffon was on me before I could regain my bearings, tearing into me with its talons. My new clothes (or the spirit version of them) and my skin were no match for the griffon's strength and the sharpness of its talons, and it ripped apart my torso with only a few scratches. Then it leaned forward and the last thing I saw was its beak closing on my neck.
I woke with a gasp. So that's what a Rank Five is like! I wager to guess that it corresponds to mid-Awakening for most cultivators. I'll definitely need to reach the next Stage before having any hope of success.
The guest house came with an attached showerof all things, with an array powered by beast cores to conjure the water and eliminate the waste, so after showering I got dressed and waited for Seran to do the same. There was to be no breakfast today; as soon as Alaena arrived, we were heading out to one of the plazas to be picked up – along with the rests of the hopefuls – by representatives of the Virtuous Soaring Clouds Sect. Apparently, we had gotten lucky with our timing, since the sect only recruited once every three years.
Alaena arrived, accompanied by Selene, shortly after Seran was ready. Together, we made our way a quarter of the way across the city, which took a while, and joined the frankly enormous crowd in that filled the plaza. I wasn't sure how many people there were, but my best guess was a couple thousand, or possibly three. With so many people, my ability to use qi sense was impaired, but I thought that the number of people who had already ignited their qi centers was around half, at least within the area I could sense.
Selene parted ways with us at the edge of the crowd, since she wouldn't be joining the sect; apparently, she was an ex-member who had left to return to work for the Clan when Alaena had been born. That meant, of course, that she was way older than she looked, but with the absurdly extended lifespans of cultivators, that was almost a given. That left the three of us waiting alone.
Fortunately, we didn't have to wait long. Streaks of colored light approached the city from the sky, and people began pointing and shouting. Soon, our guides would arrive.
Chapter 12: Recruitment Trials
The streaks of light came to a halt above the crowd, revealing themselves to be cultivators standing on oversized swords as though the weapons were surfboards. I'd read of cultivators using flying swords to ride around on in xianxia stories in my previous life, and had even heard the term "flying sword" in this one, but it was still absurd to me. Still, I couldn't deny that they were apparently an efficient mode of travel, considering how fast they moved.
I counted the number of flying cultivators: seven, mostly men. They all looked to be in their late forties or early fifties. Only one was close enough for me to sense his qi, and he gave off the same overpowering feeling that Master Kenna had, which I suspected corresponded to being in the Foundation Building Stage. These were – probably – Outer Elders. Inner or Core Elders would be even more advanced in cultivation that that.
"Those who would be tested to join the Virtuous Soaring Cloud Sect, remain still!" one of the flying men called out. "We are Outer Elders of the sect, here to transport you to the testing site."
The seven of them stretched out their hands, and white clouds began billowing out, gathering together and spreading as they sank until the entire crowd had clouds around their feet. Then the clouds lifted, carrying us upward and pushing us on top of them, becoming a completely solid platform. We rose until we were level with the Elders, who landed around the edges of the cloud platform. Then, without warning, the cloud accelerated away from the city in the direction of the sect.
Considering that we had (roughly) a hundred miles to go, according to the map, I expected the trip to take a while. However, we kept accelerating, though there was no feeling of acceleration nor any wind. I only knew we were moving faster because Seran and I were at the edge of the cloud and could see the ground far below flying by. In the end, the trip lasted about half an hour, during which time the Elders occasionally ordered the crowd to be silent. The cloud eventually set down in a valley surrounded by mountains, then split up and flowed back to the Elders before vanishing.
A short distance away, a large rock formation that towered some two hundred feet high, which was made entirely out of cream-and-green jade, jutted out of the valley. On platforms carved out of it at varying heights were forty men and women of varying ages, including the seven who had brought us here: three rows of nine about halfway up, one row of nine about three-quarters of the way up, and a single woman of indeterminate age with long violet hair and flowing silver robes sitting on a solitary seat near the top.
"Welcome to the recruitment test for the Virtuous Soaring Clouds Sect," the woman said in a strong, firm voice, her voice carrying easily to all of us despite the distance. "I am the Sect Leader, Mei Fan Shakir."
The Sect Leader is a woman? I did not expect that.
"Today, you hopefuls will undergo a test in four parts. First, we will examine your spiritual roots. Those who fail will be teleported elsewhere to await being returned to the city. Next, you will undergo the trial of will. Those who fail will join those who failed the first part. Third, the trial of character. Again, some will fail and join the others who failed. Those who remain will then be divided up into groups based on your stage of cultivation to undertake the final part of the test: the trial of contest. Only those who pass this final trial are allowed to join the sect."
The jade rock formation began to glow with a white light, and a moment later, the hopefuls started glowing as well – though not all of them, and those that did were different colors of the rainbow, plus gray and white. I glowed a brilliant white, while Seran glowed a light blue, and I thought I spotted a darker blue (indigo?) somewhere, but aside from that, I noted that the earlier in the rainbow the color, the more common it was, and I didn't see any violet from where I was. That probably meant that the better your roots, the further down the rainbow you went, with gray coming before red (since it was most common after no color at all) and white coming after violet (since that's what I had).
After a few seconds, the lightless just up and vanished. A few seconds after that, so did the grays. Following the pattern, the reds disappeared next. For several seconds after that, those of us who remained continued to glow, and I did see some other blues and indigos, and even a single violet, but no other white glows. Then the lights faded.
Only about one sixth of the original number of hopefuls remained, and that was after just culling those who had less-than-average spiritual roots, if I was understanding the colors correctly. Next would be the trial of will, and that was sure to weed out a lot more.
"The trial of will begins. Follow the path as far as you can."
The jade rock formation flashed, forcing me to shield my eyes from the bright light, and when the light faded, I was standing on a field with nothing but grass as far as the eye could see – well, nothing but grass and a dirt trail that led straight forward. I looked around, but I was completely alone.
This is probably purely mental – some sort of illusion. I bet there will be spiritual pressure or something that grows stronger the further I go.
So I began jogging. Five minutes passed, then ten. It wasn't until I reached a half hour that I noticed the building pressure pushing down on me. By the time I'd been jogging for an hour, the pressure had grown to the level of an annoyance, and the terrain had shifted from plains to uneven and slightly rocky. An hour and a half in, my breathing was being affected and I felt as tired as if I'd been going for three times as long. At two hours, the terrain was truly hilly and all broken up, and I felt genuinely weary. Two and a half hours, and I was moving into mountainous terrain, slowing my pace significantly not just because of terrain but also because I was exhausted. When I hit three hours, I had reached the base of a staircase built into the mountainside, and only the feeling that I hadn't yet proven myself was keeping me from stopping to heave out my lungs.
I reduced my pace to a measured walk, taking the stairs one at a time while focusing on evening out my breathing. It was difficult – beyond difficult. The higher I climbed, the worse the pressure became, and soon each step felt like I was moving mountains.
My right foot lifted up, up, over, down. Slam! The stone step cracked beneath my foot. Pushing, I lifted my left foot up, up, over, up, up, over, down. Slam! And… repeat. And repeat again.
I fell forward, gasping for air.
No! I can't… I can't stop now! This is the trial of will… in the stories, this is what separates the wheat from the chaff. I have a cheat ability, a "golden finger;" I'm a protagonist, damn it! I… have to…
I crawled one stair more, then shuddered to a halt.
This is… impossible…
I started crying.
Shame washed over me. Why was I crying like a child? Because I wasn't special enough? Because Iwasn't special, just the gifts I had been given by whatever fate reincarnated me here? Because I was a filthy fraud who couldn't even muster up the willpower to make it to the end? How could I be a protagonist, a hero of the tale, when I was so weak?
Why does this even matter? Why does any of it matter? Why do I want to be a cultivator in the first place? To be strong? For what?
My eyes widened.
That's why I'm struggling! I don't have a goal! That's why I've been stuck at the peak of Body Tempering this whole time. What do I really want? No… what paths lay before me? I've been blindly following the single route laid out in front of me, and when route ends, instead of searching for a way to continue, I've simply been sitting and waiting for someone to hand me a continuance. But that's stupid; heroes act, NPCs react. If I just keep reacting then I'll never amount to anything, no matter how strong I get.
"I am Alzeic," I said with a trembling voice. "Son of shopkeepers, friend of Seran. I like swords – and to a lesser extent, spears – and I find pleasure in challenge and comfort in monotony, a paradoxical balance that allows for stable growth. What I want… is a life where I can explore and adventure to face challenges and see new things but also have a home to which I can return, a place where I can be either alone or with those I love at my choice and engage in simple hobbies. I want to be a good person in this world full of selfish dastards, to venture forth and right wrongs, stop villains, and help the helpless."
I smiled. "Huh. Kinda sounds like an adventurer, or a knight errant, or a paladin. Well, knights errant don't have the home part. I need to meditate on this."
I pulled back enough to sit, then closed my eyes. As I meditated, the pressure lessened, and it became easier to breathe. I circulated my qi through my meridians, focusing my meditations on the World's Path. The idea that there was only one single Path was, of course, absurd… but neither was the world just a complete and utter mess. There were patterns of chance and intent, interwoven in a beautiful tapestry that any one individual could only see a tiny portion of. The World's Path, then, wasn't a straight line, nor was it just noise. Lant had mentioned individual cultivators following their Branch of the World's Path, their True Way of Cultivation. Because of that, I had viewed it like a tree – everyone had the same starting point, chose their limb, and as they continued it branched further.
But that wasn't right, was it? Sure, the initial steps to cultivation were very similar for all cultivators, but there were already differences right at the start. Furthermore, branches sometimes tangled, but the various limbs were separated from one another in a way that different parts of the world, and different paths taken by those in it, were not. A spiritual tree growing from spiritual roots – the symbolism and metaphor seemed perfect at first glance. I even had a metaphysical sapling in my spiritual realm. But… weren't the different paths more like tangled roots that branching limbs?
Of course, that still viewed the World's Path as a single organism, with the individual paths as parts of it. But that was far too reductive. The world was an ecosystem. Heck, it was an entire world. Reducing it for the sake of metaphor seemed almost pointless, really. The "optional" step of structuring my qi center to nurture my spiritual roots had proven that it wasn't even just in three – or four if you counted time – dimensions. It was endlessly complex and impossible to fully perceive, let alone understand.
I felt a pressure, distinct from the pressure pushing down on me, begin to build in my head, right behind the center of my forehead. I was close to something.
The courses we chart are all connected in ways we do not understand. We are all part of the tapestry of reality. The weave of the world. Sentient strands of thread that possess free will yet cannot defy the existence of the weave. And I… I will embrace the paradox of my desires for exploration and challenge yet also familiarity and stability, the paradox of being good in a land where people often see good and evil as relative. A knight with a castle to return to.
Something broke wide open in my mind, the pressure in my head vanishing in an instant, and suddenly I could see. The world was both wild and cultivated, both ugly and beautiful, both cruel and kind, both apathetic and caring, both wonderful and terrible. I saw the World's Path, and it was too much for me to comprehend. Like a road of light in amongst countless other strands, my True Way revealed itself to me.
"The Way of the Noble."
I felt a surge of power, and the overwhelming view of the World's Path faded away, replaced by a focus on my True Way. This world didn't exactly have nobles in the sense of "hereditary aristocracy subservient to a king," or at least the culture that I was brought up in didn't, so the "noble" in "the Way of the Noble" meant the adjective, short for "noble person." But even that wasn't quite right: "noble" was just the closest approximation to the real concept; "heroic" would be another close approximation. It was hard to boil it down to a single word. It wasn't just that I was virtuous or doing good deeds, though that was definitely a large part of it. It also dealt with, well, everything I'd said while reaching my epiphany, including the idea of having a "good" home and the idea of pushing myself forward rather than becoming complacent. What mattered wasn't that I could encapsulate it in words, but that I understood it.
I opened my eyes, only then realizing that not only had my exhaustion vanished, but the pressure pushing down on me was no longer overbearing, instead reminding me of the strain of a good workout. I stood and continued my ascent.
I'm pretty sure I just broke through to the Awakening Stage. That's awesome.
The pressure built and built, but eventually I saw the top of the stairs and made it my goal to at least reach that point. By the time the last step was before me, I was about to fall over again. I persevered.
One last step!
And then it was over.
"Is… is this the end of the path?" I gasped, leaning on my knees. There certainly didn't seem to be anything more. Just a small altar of some kind a few steps away. I tried to move to it and fell forward, hands brushing the edge of the altar.
There was a flash of light.
I blinked. I was back in the valley, all traces of fatigue and strain gone. Looking around, I saw that the numbers had dwindled once more: roughly a quarter of those who had been left after the first part of the test remained, around a hundred and twenty-five or so.
"The trial of character will now begin."
The jade rock formation flashed again.
-x-
"Alzeic, would you mind helping me out?"
I looked over at Dad, who was putting some bottles out on display, then around at the shop.
Right, we just restocked yesterday.
I walked over to assist him.
Shouldn't I be cultivating instead of wasting my time on this?
I stopped short, blinking in confusion. Where had that thought come from? Sure, I did spend most of my time on matters related to cultivation, but it's not like I never helped out at the shop. It wasn't wasted time; it was simply natural to help one's family.
But they're still mortals. They'll be dead of old age soon anyway. I should focus on the things that will matter long-term.
All right, what the hell? This is ridiculous. These aren't my thoughts.
"You all right, son?"
"I'm fine," I said with a strained smile. "Let's get these on the shelves."
I helped him stock everything.
"I'm heading out to cultivate outside," I told him.
"Just don't forget dinner again."
I grinned. "I won't."
I exited the shop. Two of the neighborhood kids were fighting. I sighed.
So annoying. I should shut them up.
"No, you shut up," I growled. "You're not me. I must be under the effects of some kind of mental attack. But I don't remember getting attacked." I paused. "Actually, I don't even remember what day it is… that's odd. No, that's more than odd."
I frowned.
"Ow!"
My attention snapped back to the kids. The girl, who was younger, was now on the ground, her face already bruising from where the boy had hit her.
"Hey!" I called out, striding over. "Whatever you're fighting over, it's not worth injuring anybody! Megan, are you okay?"
She shook her head and started to cry.
"Elro, you should go home. I'll talk to your parents later. Megan, let's get you to the doctor."
I escorted the girl to the doctor, then started toward Elro's house.
This is such a waste of time. Who cares if he gets punished or not?
"It's not about punishment, it's about righting wrongs I don't know who you are, but you sure are selfish."
After speaking with Elro's mother, I headed back outside. I'd nearly made it to the edge of town when I spotted a creature rapidly approaching – a creature that appeared as a spirit beast to my qi sense.
"No! A spirit beast, here? I need to stop it before it gets to town!"
I broke into a run. The spirit beast was some sort of six-foot-tall armadillo creature, a larger version of the Rank One beasts I'd fought so long ago, and it was rolling its way to town.
"I'll stop it!" Seran shouted, racing toward it, spear clutched in her hands.
"Wait! We don't know how strong it is!"
Strong enough to blast through Seran's defenses, it turned out. She used Shimmering Veil, but when it slammed into her it knocked her backwards and she fell. It uncurled and went to bite her head.
"No!"
I stretched my hand out and used Divine Wrath Bolt, halting its attack.
Then I noticed three of the normal-sized rollers approaching.
"Seran, get back!"
But Seran was frozen, either in shock or fear. The other rollers were close, and it looked like they were going to go past us into town.
I have to save Seran first; the town will just have to deal with things until I can take down the big one.
I hesitated, because I was inclined to agree with the intruding thought. Time halted. The problem was that the intruding thoughts had universally been wrong so far. Therefore, the thought must be wrong this time, too. But it didn't feel wrong to prioritize the life of my best friend over the lives of the townsfolk… until I thought about it in those terms.
But it's equally wrong to prioritize saving townsfolk over saving Seran. More numbers doesn't equal higher priority, just as caring about someone more doesn't mean that they matter more, morally speaking. I have to save everyone.
Time unfroze. Conjuring a Shadowlight Sword, I slammed into the big one with enough force to knock it away from Seran.
"Seran! Wake up and fight the little ones! You're strong enough for that!"
Seran scrambled to her feet just as the smaller rollers moved past. I flung out my left and as I turned, felling one with a Divine Wrath Bolt and leaving two for Seran to deal with. My diverted attention cost me, and the big beast bit into and broke my right forearm.
"GAH!"
"Alzeic!" Seran cried.
"GO! Protect the town!"
I conjured the sword again in my off hand and attacked. Seran listened to me and quickly caught up with one of the enemies, dispatching it easily, but I was focused more on my opponent. Fortunately, my sword – especially when augmented by Severing Slash – could break through the beast's armor-like hide, and it didn't handle pain well. I was able to take it down.
I turned toward Seran to see that she'd killed the last one, then dropped.
"Dammit…"
If I hadn't let myself get distracted by the Rank Ones, I wouldn't have gotten hurt, or at least not so badly. I really screwed this one up.
"No, I didn't. I got hurt, but nobody died. Ugh…"
I closed my eyes. When I opened them, my arm was in a sling (and a splint), and I was standing in front of a man who was clearly a cultivator.
Shit, has it really been a week already? I'm about to sell the roller corpses to this guy in exchange for healing pills, but he gives me bad vibes.
He said something, and I frowned.
That price is way too little.
I should just rob him. He won't expect someone as injured as I am to attack, and I'm pretty sure if I catch him by surprise it won't be hard to kill him.
What the hell? I'm not murdering someone for trying to rip me off; that's insane!
"I can see you don't like my offer. Tell you what – recommend me one of your town girls to spend a night with, and I'll give you double."
Double is—
"Hell no! I'm not treating anyone like they're a commodity! Say that again and I'll break your jaw!"
He raised an eyebrow at me. "You think you're in a state to do that?"
"Try me."
I should kill him for this insult.
He simply stared at me with his eyebrow still raised.
"…I'll take your initial offer, but only if you leave immediately afterwards."
"Deal."
I blinked, and it was nighttime. The cultivator stood over the dead body of one of the young men of our town. Behind the young man was a young woman. Considering the sword in the cultivator's hand, it didn't take a genius to figure out he'd killed the man, who had been protecting the woman.
"YOU!" I shouted in rage.
"Oh, I see you're healed," the cultivator said, turning toward me. "If you agree to let this go, I'll give you a treasure. It's inside my locked spatial ring, so if you kill me, you won't be able to acquire it."
What kind of treasure?
"I don't care about your treasure! You… you…" I summoned my sword. "In the name of justice, I will erase you!"
"It's a treasure that can help you break into the Foundation Building Stage!"
Those are really rare! Maybe it's worth it to agree to let him live long enough to get the treasure. I can still mete out justice afterward.
"Fuck off!" I shouted, directing my words to both the cultivator and the thoughts. I lunged forward. After a brief exchange, the cultivator was dead.
"Thank you!" the woman cried, flinging herself at me.
I blinked, shocked out of my anger.
She is rather attractive… maybe I can get a reward after all.
"No woman would behave like that, and even if they did, that would be taking advantage of them. I am sick of this farce! There's no way any of this is real! My memories have too-large gaps, the logic doesn't quite work, and those intruding thoughts… Whoever has trapped me here, release me from this illusion!"
Nothing happened.
"Fine! I will break out of this illusion myself!"
I closed my eyes. Remember how it felt to forcibly resist the butterflies, I told myself. Remember, and recreate.
I opened my eyes and let out a shout.
"Haaaah!"
The world broke.
Chapter 13: Acceptance
I was back in the valley again. Around me, others seemed to still be in trances, and as I watched, several disappeared. I waited silently until everyone woke up at once.
I counted the number of people left: exactly ninety, including me.
"The final trial, the trial of contest, will begin shortly. Approach the Obelisk of Measurement at the base of the Jade Crag," the Sect Leader commanded.
What was left of the crowd moved forward to the twenty-foot-tall black obelisk that I hadn't even seen earlier.
"When you place your hand on the obelisk, above it will appear your current stage and whether you are early, mid, late, or peak in that stage. Move to the spots for Mortal, Qi Refining, Merdian Opening, Body Tempering, Awakening, or Foundation Building based on your results. You will find them marked on the ground. Now, one at a time, place your hands on the obelisk."
Seran turned to me. "Your hair changed color! It's all the colors of the elements!"
"I broke through to Awakening in the trial of will. Now shush, this is important."
Seran and I held back and went last. When we were all sorted, I noted the division: zero Foundation Building, ten Awakening, thirty Body Tempering, twenty Merdian Opening, ten Qi Refining, and twenty Mortal.
"The rules of the trial of contest are as follows: you will be sent to different areas as groups, where you will be required to hunt conjured beasts and search for artificial spirit herbs. You will gain points for kills and finds. Each group will be scored according to different criteria. Only those who meet the point threshold will be accepted into the sect. Because of the scarcity of your targets, this usually results in around half passing."
The world flickered around me, and I found myself alone in a valley, though I didn't see the "Jade Crag," the rock formation, so I assumed I wasn't in the same valley. I immediately focused on using my qi sense. I picked out a flower with strong qi almost immediately.
As the afternoon wore on, I collected plenty of flowers and other plants, each of which vanished the moment I picked them, briefly causing a number to appear in the air – the cumulative point total, not the number of points for that plant alone. I also faced fake spirit beasts, most of which were the equivalent of Rank Three and thus effortless to dispatch, but quite a few of which were the equivalent of Rank Four. Rank Four was no longer slightly beyond me, requiring me to use my spirit techniques, however; hitting the Awakening Stage had dramatically increased my physical capabilities. Rank Fours weren't that much weaker than the typical Early Awakening cultivator, if that Abir was any indication, but they were considerably weaker than me.
I spotted what appeared to be a wyvern big enough for a person to ride guarding a spirit vine.
Mist of Obfuscation.
The wyvern was far enough away that it wasn't caught within the radius of the fog, but it reacted nonetheless, moving closer to the fog and breathing white-hot fire at it that burned away the obscuring cloud wherever it touched. I moved closer, using the technique again, and this time it was inside. Once I got close enough, I used Restraint Under Heaven, but it realized what was happening and was fast enough to fly up far enough to avoid the mud/stone part. However, its legs were caught by the vines/branches/roots part. It struggled to break free, and the restraints began to crack and tear.
I shot two Divine Wrath Bolts: one at its torso and the other at its head. It shrieked in pain and anger. I charged through the fog, conjuring a sword, and jumped.
I had never used Severing Slash while airborne before, largely because it didn't make sense according to my old world's physics. But this wasn't my old world, and it seemed like the sort of thing that should be possible here, so I did it.
I nearly cut through the thing's entire neck. It disappeared like the others, granting me enough points that I was able to surmise that it had been Rank Five. Then I collected the artificial spirit vine.
I ended up defeating two more Rank Fives before I decided that I was too low on qi to run around fighting things and began searching for a place to hole up and regenerate it. I was tempted to use the spiritual realm, since I could meditate and recover there for as long as I wanted with only an hour passing in the real world, but I would be completely vulnerable if I did, whereas I could interrupt regular meditation. I found a small cave. I meditated for two hours, bringing me back up to around sixty percent, then headed back out, though it was already evening.
I continued my search. I defeated three more Rank Fours, a half dozen Rank Threes, and one Rank Five in the next hour and a half, along with collecting plenty of plants.
Then I heard the scream. I ran toward it.
Two cultivators – one man and one woman – were desperately defending against some sort of massive eagle that would have stood at least eight feet tall if it were on the ground. Mostly it was shooting wind magic attacks, but occasionally it would swoop by and try to grab them with its talons. The woman was using a combination of little pieces of paper – talismans, probably – and barrier-type spirit techniques, while the man kept using his spear to deflect things using martial techniques. Both were injured fairly badly.
The heroic path: the noble one needs no reason to protect others.
The words were similar to the intruding thoughts from the trial of character, but decidedly different. It didn't feel like someone was trying to deceive me, but rather like I was hearing wisdom imparted to me by the world itself. Also, the words weren't words, exactly, but rather concepts and ideas that I interpreted as words.
I ran forward, but not too close.
Is there any reason I can't fire off more than one attack at the same time? Or any reason I can't supercharge my attacks by just pouring extra qi into them? I've never actually tried to do either one of those things.
The former, I almost immediately discovered, wasn't possible without someone splitting my mind – a feat I wasn't capable of. The latter, however, absolutely was, though it also required me to "charge up" the attack. I stood, using my spear to help keep myself aimed right, and charged up a qi-oversupplied Divine Wrath Bolt. I brought it up to the limit of what my meridians could handle, which was about a third of my max reserves, or nearly all of what I had left.
I waited until the bird stopped in midair to launch another wind attack at the pair, then let loose. With a deafening kaboom, purple lightning and blue fire shot across the distance in an instant. The eagle shrieked and crashed to the ground.
I charged, swapped to my sword, and Severing Slashed, right on its neck, using what left of my qi – just over triple the required amount – and bringing down my weapon on the bird's neck while it was still stunned. The blade went deep, then snapped near the hilt.
I jumped back and retreated. The eagle tried to get up, but it ended up just struggling feebly for half a minute before collapsing and disappearing. Points appeared – enough to tell me that the thing had been a Rank Six, not something I could have hoped to handle without both the element of surprise and overcharging my attacks. After all, Rank Fives were still stronger than me if I didn't use my spirit techniques.
"Are you alright?" I asked the others.
"Who in the world are you?" the man said in shock. "You look like you're still a teenager!"
"I am. I'm sixteen."
"What was that?" the woman said. "That attack you used, the elemental spirit technique. It was so strong!"
"Ah… I overcharged it with qi. My meridians actually kind of hurt right now."
"Even so, that was astoundingly powerful. How far into the Awakening Stage are you?"
"I just reached it today."
The two of them shared an incredulous look.
"You're one of those super prodigies, aren't you?" the man said.
"I guess?" I looked up at the sky. "How much longer do you think this will last?"
"Probably not much longer?" the woman said with a shrug.
The world flickered.
And we were back at the Jade Crag.
Well, about half of us were, anyway. I counted forty-three remaining.
"Congratulations to the forty-three of you who passed," the Sect Leader said. "And special congratulations to the one who received the highest score: the boy who managed to Awaken during the trial of will and break out of the illusion during the trial of character – after passing, of course. All of you, line up shoulder to shoulder and face the Jade Crag."
We did as instructed. I was still in shock from the fact that I was the top scorer. The Jade Crag began to glow, and once more we each glowed with the color that indicated our roots. I looked up and down the line. Twenty orange, twelve yellow, six green, two blue (including Seran), one indigo, one violet, and one white (me). Thankfully, Alaena – who was green – was still there.
"All of you performed exceptionally well. Now, beginning from the left of the line, speak your names."
I paid special attention to the other blue, the indigo, and the violet, all of whom were teenagers (of varying ages). Surprisingly, none of them were in the Awakening Stage. The violet was a girl with long, light brown hair named Diana. The indigo was a boy with long black hair named Ronan. And the other blue was a boy with short auburn hair named Zeke.
"The Elders you see here before you represent nearly half: the lower twenty-seven are half our Outer Elders and the upper nine are half our Inner Elders. No Core Elders chose to join us today. A shame, considering that we have a white light who also managed to score the highest in the trial of contest. Now, the Elders will consider whether any of you are desirable to them as direct disciples. But first… Disciple Alzeic. Are you interested in becoming my direct disciple? I currently have three direct disciples, so you would be the fourth and by far the youngest."
I hesitated. "Would I be able to freely interact with the other entering disciples? I have agreed to be the ally of a scion of the Klesta Clan, and one of the others is my best friend whom I have sworn to never leave behind. If being your direct disciple means being separated from them, then I am afraid I will have to decline, though I am honored you would offer."
Everything went completely silent, and as the silence stretched, I began to wonder whether I had just royally screwed up by turning down the Sect Leader.
"Name them," she said after far too long a pause.
"Alaena Klesta and Seran."
"Your friend, Seran, is likely to be wanted as a direct disciple by an Inner Elder. If that is the case, you will be able to see her often, though you will not live near one another. As for the Klesta girl, I do not know. Elders? What say you?"
One of the Inner Elders, a woman with shoulder-length neon blue hair, spoke. "I am willing to take Seran as my direct disciple, should no one contest it."
Another Inner Elder, a man with long, literally shining obsidian hair, spoke next. "I will take Alaena Klesta as an auxiliary disciple."
The heck is an auxiliary disciple? I thought in bafflement. I know that direct disciples receive special attention from and often live near the Elder who is their master, and that Elders only take those who are outstanding as direct disciples – which actually makes an Inner Elder willing to take on Seran kind of a surprise – but I've never heard of an auxiliary disciple before. Is that like a backup direct disciple or something?
"With this, you will be able to interact with both," the Sect Leader said. "Do you still decline?"
I clasped my hands and bowed. "I am honored to accept."
After that, Diana, Ronan, and Zeke were taken as direct disciples of other Inner Elders, and the remaining five greens were taken as direct or auxiliary disciples by the outer Elders, leaving the thirty-two "average-rooted" individuals without masters and set to join as ordinary Outer Disciples.
The Elders who had not chosen anyone either left on flying swords or came down to pick up the unchosen disciples on a cloud, while the Elders who had chosen disciples flew down and placed their disciples on their flying swords and flew away with them. In the brief time before that happened, I addressed Seran and Alaena.
"I will come see you both as soon as I can, okay?"
"See you soon, then!"
"All right…"
And then I was the only one left. The Sect Leader landed in front of me without using a flying sword, instead simply floating down. I couldn't sense any qi from her at all, which meant hiding one's qi was a thing in this world.
She offered her hand to me, and I hesitantly took it.
The world flickered.
"This is my area," the Sect Leader said, gesturing to the manor and its grounds, which included a huge courtyard with a big pond, an orchard, and a garden, as well as a spot for meditation and an open area with nothing but grass. "You may not enter the building without permission, nor may you take from the garden or orchard unless I give you leave to do so. You may not use the meditation spot. In general, assume you are not allowed here at all unless you are coming to speak with me."
She led me away from her courtyard. Several smaller courtyards and dwellings surrounded hers at a distance.
"Each of these belongs to one of my direct disciples. As you can see, there are five places. Three are occupied. You may choose either of the others as your own. At the moment, they should all be resting, but they are currently all in the sect rather than away on a mission, so tomorrow I recommend you introduce yourself to them."
She opened her hand and a white-and-silver sash appeared in it. The name of the sect, plus the image of a golden star, were on it. "You must always wear this sash. It identifies you not only as a member of our sect, but also as my direct disciple. As my direct disciple, you are considered to be part of the Core Sect. Tomorrow, I will assign one of the others to teach you about the rules of the sect and show you around. You will spend the majority of your time in the Core Sect area, though you will be able to freely enter the Inner Sect area as well. Our sect, as a mid-sized sect, is not small: there are approximately two hundred thousand members altogether. One percent of that is the Core Sect, and about nine to ten percent is the Inner Sect. The rest, of course, is the Outer Sect, which you need not concern yourself with."
I took the sash and put it on.
"Go, choose your domicile and rest until tomorrow."
Then she walked to her house and entered, closing the door behind her. I wandered around a bit, locating the two unoccupied dwellings, and picked one at random. It was essentially just a smaller version of what my master had, or at least the courtyard was. I headed inside and was very pleasantly surprised by what I found: living room (with a two-seater couch and one armchair), bedroom (with really nice bed and dresser), meditation room (with qi gathering array), bathroom (with bath/shower, toilet, and sink), kitchen (with table and chairs, stove, oven, sink, cupboard with preservation array, and fridge/freezer with cooling and freezing arrays), and storage space. It was nicer than a lot of living spaces from my previous world, and certainly nicer than anything I'd seen in this world, even the Klesta guest house.
So at least I wasn't going to be living like an ascetic.
Since I didn't know whether I was going to have time tomorrow morning, I took a shower before changing into bedclothes and going to bed.
-x-
SIDE ONE
Visits: 1976
Deaths: 286
Kills: Rank One x150, Rank Two x150, Rank Three x150, Rank Four x150
Visit Cooldown: 12 hours
Kill Rewards: None Unclaimed
SIDE TWO
Spirit Garden 1: Ginger, Ginseng, Licorice, Astragalus, Angelica, Sage, Thyme, Kale (10y)
Spirit Garden 2: Azure Skygrass, Golden Binding Grass, Amethyst Chrysanthemum (1000y)
Spirit Garden 3: Nothing
Spirit Orchard: Ginkgo, Goji, Plum, Fig (1000y)
Spirit Pool: Cleansing Water
Spirit Pool Inhabitants: None
Advancement Tree: Young Tree
SIDE THREE
Bed: Grade 2 – Return to Waking World, Visit by Meditation
Pill Furnace: Grade 2 – Journeyman Level
Spirit Forge: Grade 2 – Journeyman Level
Spirit Mine: Grade 3 – Low-grade Spirit Stones, Low-grade Spiritual Jade, Spirit Iron
SIDE FOUR
Cultivation Stage: Awakening (Early)
Qi Center: Ignited, 9 Celestial Harmony Roots, 91% Maximized
Meridians: Open (Tier 1)
Body: 100% Tempered (Worldly)
Mind: Open Gate, 10% Understanding, 0% Enhanced (Fundamental)
Progress Rewards: 8-Element Qi Refining Method,
Spirit Mine (Grade 3),
Solar Dragon Meridian Opening Method,
8-Element Body Tempering Method,
Spirit Garden & Orchard Activation & Enhancement (2)
Bed Upgrade (Grade 2)
The tree had grown bigger, now standing about twelve feet high, but the only other change was to the spirit garden and orchard; when I touched the obelisk it let me know that the speed had improved from five years per day to ten years per day. It would take less than three years for something to reach 10,000-year now – or more relevantly, only a hundred days to reach 1000-year. And if this kept improving… well, eventually I might be able to actually get 10,000-year stuff in a reasonable timeframe.
I currently had 230 mid-grade spirit stones, 3,862 low-grade spirit stones, 93 mid-grade spiritual jade, 10 low-grade spiritual jade, 112 spirit steel, and 16 spirit iron, so I didn't see the urgent need to mine tonight. Instead, I made myself a new sword to replace the one I broke and then headed out into the forest. I was feeling much more confident about tackling foes now that I had killed several conjured Rank Five spirit beasts.
It took all my qi, but I was able to kill all five types before dying to the injuries I suffered from the last one. The five kinds were griffon, ogre (standing fifteen feet tall), worm (a burrowing menace with a diameter of about five feet), water drake (a lesser dragon creature that lived in the water and could use water arts), and spider (a human-sized assassin-type bug that had stealth abilities and poison. It was to the spider that I died, but I killed it in the process.
Upon waking, I decided that honing my qi sense to tell enemy power level and detect things with stealth abilities was a priority, at least when it came to combat-related stuff. I was also curious as to what my new kill rewards would be for Rank Five, so I would keep fighting every night.
After doing some meditating, I realized that my potential maximum qi had increased by ten percent. Was that because I'd entered the Awakening Stage, or had I advanced partway through the Stage when I heard the "words" right before I fought the eagle? If the latter, then it meant I should put myself in situations where my True Way is relevant to continue progressing. Though I was pretty sure that I needed to enhance my mind somehow as well. Maybe? I thought I remembered something about that, and the obelisk did say that my mind was "0% enhanced."
When I stopped meditating, I noticed that there were three qi signatures in my courtyard of different strengths. All were stronger than the Foundation Building Elders by a significant margin, but the strongest of them was, frankly, completely absurd. If I had to guess, I'd say that the first two were in the Inner Palace Stage and the third was in the Crystal Core Stage. Which was crazy; how many Crystal Core cultivators did this sect have? That was the highest stage that Lant had known the name of! Was the Sect Leader – or Master, as I should probably start thinking of her – the next Stage after that, or was Crystal Core the highest stage anyone in our sect had?
These were definitely Master's other direct disciples.
I should go introduce myself.
I left the house. My three senior disciples stood in the middle of my courtyard, waiting for me. Only two of them were men; one of the Inner Palace disciples was a woman. She looked the youngest, appearing to be in her mid-twenties, with her venom green hair tied up in side buns; she wore a flowing green dress. The other Inner Palace disciple had short, flame-red hair and wore clothes not too dissimilar to mine; he looked like he was in his late thirties. The Crystal Core disciple appeared the oldest, with some graying of his metallic gold hair around the temples he seemed like he was about forty; he wore a martial arts gi. I knew on an intellectual level that they were far older than they appeared, but it was difficult to process how old they might actually be. Centuries, almost certainly.
I bowed.
"Junior Disciple Alzeic greets his Senior Disciples."
"Well, at least the kid has some respect," the woman said.
"Hah! Yeah, that's true!" the younger of the men agreed.
"Mm. We will see how that translates into behavior," the older man said. "I suppose we should introduce ourselves. I am the first disciple of Master Mei, Orden."
"I'm the second disciple, Kai," the younger man said.
"And I'm the third disciple. My name is Nea."
"We've been disciples for a long time," Kai said. "He's seven centuries old. I'm five centuries old. And she's two centuries old. So you're just a little kid to us! Try not to get upset about that."
"It's hard to wrap my mind around," I admitted. "I grew up in a town that never had anything to do with cultivators. That people can even live that long is… hard to grasp. I promise I won't be offended, though."
"Good kid! So, you ready to learn about the sect?"