A while after his master had left, Luo sat down under a tree to collect his thoughts. "I wonder what this mark was, it's not even visible on my body. Well, master did say that I'll know in time what it was."
"And that time is now brat!!" Luo heard a voice in his head as if in response to his thoughts.
"Who or what are you? Why can I hear your voice?"
"Stupid questions!!. Think logically and you'd arrive at a solution."
"Are...are you the master's voice?"
"Correct!!. Well in a way it's more special than just his voice. I am a part of his soul that he marked your soul with. So I am your master while the master is away."
"That's...That's so awesome. It's like the master never left"
" Boy, the master did leave. I cannot protect you to a great degree. All I can do is to train you in the ways of cultivation and guard your soul."
"Just that...Are you kidding? You can guide me.. What more can I ask for? This disciple is in your care master."
"Good attitude kid. Do you want to get started?" "Yes master"
"Okay.. Explaining too many things before their time only results in confusion so I won't go into too many details. For now, all you have to know is that the Qi cultivation technique you have is one of the best and very few in all the realms currently practice it. But, it's cultivation practice might be hard for you in this realm. Never mind.. The life of a cultivator is riddled with hardships and this is just one of them. You'll just have to take it in stride.
Now onto the second point, there are a lot of things that you will need to increase your strength and cultivation levels. You will need to refine your body, your Chi, find skills that are good for offence and some for defense and a lot more. And finding treasures, ohh boy, that will occupy you as well. This is the life that you will face next. So be prepared Luo, it's going to be a hard road to travel."
Luo was excited at the prospects his master explained. As he had vowed, he would aim to be the strongest in this world, now that he had reforged his body. He smiled, happy to have experienced hope for the first time in his life.
"Master let's go back to the town. I am thinking of joining one of the cultivation sects. I have no money to my name and I know that cultivation requires a lot of resources. It makes sense to join a sect."
"Yeah, let's go with that."
Luo sprinted to the town, exulting in the strength of his body. His lean muscles rippled as he stretched and ran, with each push off covering four times the range of a normal human being.
He immediately rushed to his home and changed out of his almost torn clothes into a spare set. After he tidied himself he went out into the town to find out how to go about joining a cultivation sect.
Luo ventured into the town center , where the administrative buildings for all the tier four sects were present. He walked determinedly inside one of the buildings that belonged to a big sect named the Heavenly Dragon sect, because it had the biggest building in the square. It was lined with an impressive wooden gate.
The wooden pole in the gate was surrounded by a huge carving of a dragon coiled up against it. The details were very intricate, down to each scale of the dragon and it was pulsing with spiritual power which anybody who cultivated could clearly sense. The gate did justice to the name of the Heavenly Dragon sect.
The town square was busy as usual and observed a quiet traffic of people flowing in and out. Luo walked in through the big wooden gate, the other side of which was a beautiful garden with an oriental building in the middle. There was a marked increase in the amount of heaven and earth energy inside the garden. He strolled through and walked in through the open doors of the building.
He went to a desk where a representative sat for handling various matters from trade inquiries to mission requests. A woman with blonde hair and blue eyes wore a practiced smile and delivered perfectly practiced dialogues as a courtesy.
"Good morning sir. What can I help you with, today?"
"Hello sister. I am looking for information on how to join your sect."
"Oh that's simple, please give me your details and I will record them here. If you meet certain criteria, then Heavenly Dragon will give you a jade slip*[1] to participate in the competition as a possible candidate on our behalf. You can get this jade slip from any sects' administrative buildings. I see that you are new to this so I'll tell you a secret. If you get multiple jade slips then you can choose which sect to join if you manage to qualify in the Summer Competition."
"Thanks for the explanation, sister. How can I obtain the Heavenly Dragon's jade slip?"
"You have made a good choice as you can see that the Heavenly Dragon is one of the top sects, not like the Ancient Zither Abode or the Turtle God sect. Now if you'd please give me your information.."
"Yes sister. What do you want to know?"
"Your Name?" "Luo LianHao"
"I haven't heard of any LianHao family. Does the mister belong to a minor noble family or something?"
"Umm..no"
"Sorry, what was that. I didn't quite hear you."
"I don't have a family. I am an orphan." Luo wore a blank expression, unsure of what her response would be like.
She dropped her quill and her visage changed immediately from one of polite practiced courtesy to an ugly condescending grin, her eyes losing all warmth, now replaced with fires of contempt. "An Orphan! HAH! Guards, who let this worm inside? Throw him outside immediately!! Ahh to waste so much of my time when you're clearly trash. Get out, Heavenly Dragon is a place of quality and only the nobility are allowed to join. Who would give a pebble on the street like you a jade slip?"
Luo had not expected this. He thought that his new strength would be enough for him to start a new life. He never expected that even here, family name and wealth and connections mattered. Her contempt made him feel sick. Everybody around had heard what she had said and they looked at him as if he was a piece of trash as well.
"Kid , it's alright. There are all kinds of people, believe me and as for these kinds of people, absolute power is the only way to shut them up. So, chin up." He calmed down at hearing his master's voice and walked out of the building, amidst their sneers and condescending looks.
He went and tried his luck for getting the jade slips from both the Heavenly High Pavilion and the Crouching Tiger sect. Although he did not get such a severe reaction, he was politely declined and shown the door. His brows furrowed in anger, he walked into the town square again.
A beautiful woman who was shopping for Qi pills and herbs in a nearby shop had been watching the whole situation. She let out a small sigh "Why do they always have to be so haughty?" . As Luo walked by dejectedly, seething with frustration, she called out to him "Hello brother. You seem down. Care to tell big sister about it, I might be able to help."
"Thanks sister for your kindness, but I doubt you could help." She pursed her lips in defiance with an expression that would not take no for an answer.
"Well, I gathered it already alright. I know you're having trouble getting the jade slip, right? It's commonly known here that the sects you just visited are all only for the nobles. Let me help you. Now, come on."
The woman folded her fan and packed her wares quickly and grabbed his hand with her free hand and rushed him to the opposite corner of the square from where they were standing. She hummed a tune as she rushed him through the streets until they reached an old wooden gate that had no adornments or intricate carvings on it. It was a simple gate, covered with moss but it was beautiful in its simplicity.
Like before, as soon as they passed the gate, Luo could feel the spiritual energy rise in the garden. He also heard faint notes of music from an instrument he knew well. "Is..is that the sound of a Zither?"
"Hmm, what? Ohh yeah, it is the Zither. Why? Does brother know how to play one?"
"A little bit."
"Well, then you'll fit in even better than I expected. This is the Ancient Zither Abode after all."
Luo had heard about the Ancient Zither Abode and the image he got from what he knew about the sect was that of healers and artisans but not a sect known for martial strength. "Sister, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for trying to help me but I wanted to join a battle type sect."
The woman stopped and looked in his eyes with a curious expression " Do you think that my sect's disciples lack in martial strength? I will have you know that is not the case. It just so happens more often than not that we produce more healers than fighters, but they can hold their own in a fight, you better believe me."
"My sect, huh? Are you a part of this sect sister?"
She lifted her head in pride "Why yes, yes I am"
They walked in through the gates of the building. As soon as he entered, he observed that there was a huge courtyard in the middle of the building and a cozy desk for the representative of the sect one a side overlooking the courtyard. There was a boy who was asleep at the desk, owing to nobody having approached him in a while.
The woman walked over to him and smacked his head with a fast rap of the fan. "Ahhh...who is it?... Oh no, it isn't what it looks like Master Fu Lin. I was just..I was.."
"Save it. If I catch you sleeping again at the desk one more time, I'll have you on janitor duty for a month. Got it? "
"Yes master. Absolutely."
"Now this man here is…" Fu Lin looked at Luo and asked "I forgot to ask...what is your name?"
"My name is Luo LianHao. Are you a master here, sister Fu Lin?"
"Yes. And before you ask, I abhor discrimination. Anyone should be able to cultivate and have opportunities based on their merit. It's not a popular opinion around here but who cares!!" Fu Lin laughed.
Luo felt nice and grateful for someone who would give him an opportunity based on his merit and not based on his class. "Master Fu Lin, can I get a Jade slip on behalf of the Ancient Zither Abode? I can go through any tests that you might have."
Fu Lin smiled at him and slapped his shoulders twice "Of course, Of course. Now if you'll come this way, there are a few tests before I can give out a jade slip to you."
Fu Lin looked at the boy at the desk "Pan Hua, go get the test room ready for Luo LianHao here." Pan immediately got up, bowed to his master and ran to make preparations. Fu Lin and Luo followed at a much slower pace, while Luo took in the sights of the building that languidly and peacefully went about its business.