It was almost like a separate world inside the temple.
There was a massive garden – no, garden couldn't even begin to describe it. A meadow surrounding a gigantic lake, with ancient-looking towers, foggy clouds and even mountains in the background. The gates led to another world, or at least to a place that couldn't possibly fit inside a temple.
"What you are seeing is real," Ye Wu Tian assured me. "This is a pocket space. I'm not sure if we can call it another world, but it certainly exists as an alternate space. My Divine Dragon Sect guards two pocket spaces like these. There are also many other sects who stand sentinel over many other pocket spaces or dimensions."
"I'm surprised the normal folks haven't stumbled across them," I murmured.
"We keep them away." Ye Wu Tian chuckled. "I don't know if your master has told you, but do you know what's the main reason why we keep cultivators and these pocket spaces a secret from the public? From the rest of the world?"
"Uh, to prevent mass panic? To prevent witch hunts?"
"Nope." Ye Wu Tian laughed. "Why would anyone panic over the discovery of cultivation and mystical techniques? And we cultivators are so powerful that we don't have to worry about witch hunts. If the military forces of the modern world try to attack us, we will crush them. Yes, we might take losses, but we will prevail. There is nothing in their arsenal that poses a threat to us."
"Huh? Then why?"
"Scarcity of cultivation resources," Ye Wu Tian replied. "You know how thin the qi in our world is, right? How…unconducive it is for cultivation. There isn't enough qi and resources for all of us. Imagine if everyone in the world knows about cultivators. Everyone would want to become a cultivator. Who wouldn't? The promise of extending one's lifespan endlessly, mystical powers, strength…"
He then sighed.
"But not everyone can be a cultivator. This world doesn't have the qi or resources for that. There will be violence…bloodshed. It might sound tyrannical and unfair…but the current great sects monopolize the resources and qi because there simply isn't enough for the whole world. Human greed and ambition knows no bounds. You can imagine the slaughter and chaos that will ensue if everyone wants a slice of the cultivation pie for themselves."
"Wouldn't the current cultivators just kill all the non-cultivators?" I muttered.
"Of course…but the point is that we don't want to kill them where there's an option to avoid all that violence and bloodshed in the first place." Ye Wu Tian looked at me sternly. "The demonic cultivators might beg to differ, though. But that's why we have to protect the world, to destroy these demonic cultivators before they can harm anyone and bring the existence of the cultivator world to light."
"Okay."
"Anyway, this is the Divine Dragon Sect's greatest resource. The Dragon Pool." Ye Wu Tian beamed proudly. "Welcome."
He then led me toward the huge lake, where a number of priests awaited. They bowed their heads when they saw us approaching.
"Elder Ye."
"At ease." Ye Wu Tian gestured for them to relax. He then waved toward me. "I am bringing a prospective candidate here to test his talent for summoning. As usual, if he passes, he will join our sect. Otherwise he'll be rejected."
"Just to make sure, you won't kill me if I fail, right?" I asked, unable to keep the nervousness out of my voice. Ye Wu Tian burst out laughing.
"Of course not! We are not demonic cultivators! We don't kill people over every stupid thing. Not even to keep a secret. We just need to alter people's memories for that – hypnotism will do the job. But since you're already a cultivator, there's no need for that."
No wonder nobody remembered what happened at school when Ba Bai attacked. The damage to the walls, floor and campus buildings had been repaired. From what Tong Xue told me (Pang Zi as well, before his death), a mass murderer showed up and stabbed Teacher Qiang and a few students before escaping. The police, too, had their memories altered after they protected my parents from Ba Bai. It seemed that my parents didn't remember what happened exactly, other than the mass murderer charging into a wall of guns before being forced to back off and run away.
There was no mention of demonic techniques or magic powers or the supernatural whatsoever.
So the cultivators had infiltrated even the authorities and were in place to handle such incidents and cover everything up. It figured.
"The hypnotism and memory alteration protocols are only for non-cultivators?"
"That's correct."
That was a relief. I took a deep breath and followed him toward the lake. At his instructions, I took up position next to the water. Looking at it, I couldn't help but see just how clear the waters were, how clean. It was so different from the polluted rivers or canals that I had seen when traveling all over Cheng Shi City. The fish was visible through the sparkling water, there was only the faintest trace of algae, and lots of beautiful aquatic plants such as water lilies bloomed on several parts of the surface. I was reminded of the beaches in Okinawa.
Amazing. I couldn't help but gawk at the lovely sight.
"Okay, enough staring." Ye Wu Tian slapped my back, almost sending me splashing into the lake. "Let's begin. Hold your hand out over the water."
I obeyed, stretching my hand. I felt a little foolish when nothing happened. Fortunately, Ye Wu Tian didn't seem to care. He continued with his instructions.
"Gather the qi into your hand and try to call out for your spirit beast."
"My spirit beast?"
"Yeah, uh, how do I explain it?" Ye Wu Tian paused and considered for a moment. "All summon cultivators have a destined spirit beast, fated to be with them. If you're not a summon cultivator, then no spirit beast will answer your call. Of course, for many, spirit beasts will still answer the call, but depending on what kind of spirit beast appears, we'll be able to tell whether you have the potential to be a summon cultivator or not. After all, there's no meaning to training and nurturing a summon cultivator who is paired with a weak or low-tier spirit beast, like…say, an old mouse. Or a scavenger beetle."
I realized once more how little I knew about the cultivation world. I hadn't heard of either of those spirit beasts before. Hell, I didn't know what kind of spirit beasts existed.
"Do you need to have a dragon to enter the Divine Dragon Sect?" I asked. Ye Wu Tian chuckled.
"Well, not necessarily. Of course, only those with dragons can become inner disciples. If you don't get a dragon, you can just become an outer disciple, or join another sect. Don't worry, the Divine Dragon Sect has connections, so we can direct you to the relevant ones, such as the White Tiger Sect, or Monarch Butterfly Sect. There's also the Ling Xiao Sect, the Shou Shen Temple and the Hundred Beasts Sect, which don't necessarily favor a single type of spirit beast over others."
That was a relief.
"But that doesn't mean they accept any disciples too," Ye Wu Tian reminded me. "Like I said, if you end up with a low-tier spirit beast, even the Ling Xiao Sect will not accept you. Cultivation resources are scarce and these sects are highly competitive. They will only accept disciples with good potential."
Yeah, I couldn't blame them for being pragmatic.
"All right, now let's see what you can get!"
I nodded and closed my eyes, channeling my qi into my right hand. A few seconds passed and I waited, feeling my qi stretch out through the lake.
My sixth sense went onto overdrive, observing the network of dragon veins that spread across the surface of the lake. The dragon pool wasn't an ordinary body of water that housed spirit beasts. It was a portal, one that would open up to transport the relevant spirit beast across dimensions to its summoner. I could feel a strong connection, which meant that I could definitely summon a spirit beast, so not all hope was lost.
The question was, what kind of spirit beast was it? Would it have enough potential for me to be considered a disciple of the Divine Dragon Sect, or any of the summon cultivator sects that Ye Wu Tian mentioned?
I didn't know, but it didn't matter. I reached out as best as I could and grabbed the invisible string of fate that was before me. It didn't exist, of course – everything was an interpretation through my spiritual senses, images conjured by my mind to attempt to comprehend the abstract phenomenon that was occurring right now.
"You're there, aren't you? I can sense you."
A smile spread across my face, even though my eyes remained closed. There was no use keeping them open – all I would see was a blinding vortex that swirled chaotically above the surface of the lake. The figure of my spirit beast had yet to appear visually, but I could sense its presence. It was close. Very close.
The spirit beast had answered my call and was now making its…not, his way toward me.
"Thank you," I whispered gratefully. I offered the spirit beast my hand, and I sensed him surging out of the portal and toward me.
"So that's your destined partner," Ye Wu Tian remarked, also sensing the presence of the spirit beast. He didn't sound very excited, probably because he could tell – as I could – that the amount of qi emanated by this spirit beast was meager. Pretty small, in fact.
No doubt this was a weak, low tier spirit beast, but that was fine. I could feel the connection, the bond between us. I wouldn't trade him for anyone else.
Splash!
"Whoa!"
To my surprise, a big fish swam out of the portal and landed right in my hands. As he did, the portal closed and vanished, leaving the lovely sight of the lake. Not that I was paying the beautiful scenery any attention, now that I had more important matters to occupy my mind.
The fish was red, with diamond-hard scales, and had golden fins at the top and bottom of his body, almost resembling crowns. He also sported golden whiskers (barbels). His pectoral and tail fins were white, though, he gazed at me with wide eyes before flopping about.
"Oh, hey! Nice to meet you."
The fish appeared to nod in delight. Ye Wu Tian, on the other hand, seemed a little less sanguine about his appearance.
"So your destined partner is a magic carp."
"A…magic carp?"
"Carp, carp, carp!" Magic Carp said, flopping about in my hands. I stared at him, dumbfounded. Then Ye Wu Tian cleared his throat.
"This is unfortunate."
"I'm guessing this means no summoning cultivator sect will accept me."
"Well, the magic carp is the lowest tier spirit beast. Apart from his high speed, he has nothing going for him. Um, well, he has a good immune system, which allows him to survive in the most polluted ad toxic waters, but other than that…" Ye Wu Tian. "Magic Carp has a weak swimming ability, so they usually live downstream."
"Can Magic Carp evolve?" I asked. Ye Wu Tian gaped at me.
"Excuse me?"
"Never mind." Evidently Ye Wu Tian still didn't know the real potential of Magic Carp. Too bad for him, I guess. But I didn't know how to develop a spirit beast, and clearly none of the summoning cultivator sects were willing to teach me. "Could you at least teach me the basics so that I know what to do with this guy? I'm not going to abandon him."
"Fair enough. You won't be accepted into the Divine Dragon Sect or any of the summoning cultivator sects, but I don't see why you should get rid of your Magic Carp." Ye Wu Tian nodded and turned away. "Follow me. I'll get you a training manual that is usually issued to all summoning beginners. You can read that and use it for your Magic Carp. It contains information on basic spirit beast training and basic summoning techniques, so your Magic Carp won't have to follow you wherever you go."
"Thanks."
Even though I couldn't help but be disappointed, I supposed that it was better than nothing.