" Oh, wow, so that is the capital. It's big! " A voice said beside me.
It was a slightly deeper voice. It portrayed a teenager going through puberty as his vocal cords were adapting to the masculine charms that he was growing into.
Looking at the person in question. Chang Niu 'aka Chubby in my head and speaking habit' had his eyes wide open. They were filled with curiosity and wonder as he looked at Zhongyang Feng or as I call it in my mind ' Central Wind' capital city of the Azure Wind Empire.
Here from where we were standing and observing the south entrance of the city, we saw a huge road, a gate where the road led to, and the walls that enveloped the prosperous part of the city. After all, every city had to have those that were at the bottom.
In this case would the sprawling quartet of the poor outside that wall and surrounding the city. We currently were standing outside the city and looking through that part of the outer city.
This part of the city is what gave the Central Wind capital city its breathtaking width, as these people did not build into the sky as had been a good choice back on Earth. After all, why build up when you can expand outward.
The city easily rivaled the cities of my past world in that department thanks to the wide plains it was built in and the two rivers that cut through the city as they provided the necessary drinking liquid that kept everything alive.
Either way, it would still be some time before we reach the city in question. Leaving the Chubby alone for a second, I looked at the others that had similar expressions on their faces and noticed one simple thing. Almost all Internals had one of those and the Externals were the opposite, where the majority showed expressions of recognition.
Once I saw the proportions, it was easy to understand. I had been told that recruitment happened in the capital city, but it's my own fault for not digging deeper into that statement.
' Looks like only Externals are recruited in the city and the Internals are sifted through the population in the other parts of the Empire. Kind of obvious, though. '
Shaking my head away from the obviousness that I miss, or deliberately did not bother to learn about, and spoke at Chubby. " Chang Niu, you're showing your country bumpkin status to everybody. Look at the Externals and how some of them are gloating at the fact that some of them are from the city. "
Realizing that fact, once it was pointed out, he looked around and saw what I meant. For a second he had that face that said I messed up, but the next he shrugged his shoulders and went back to staring at the city.
His slightly chubby face that somehow refused to vanish no matter the amount of hardcore masochistic training Gao Junjie threw at him, only made him seem more funny and nonchalant as a person.
I shook my head at him. Chang Niu, aka Chubby, was the epitome of a person living in the present. He cared not for the past or the future, only about what he felt in the present. It made him much more easygoing than anybody else that I knew, at least when compared to the other few kids that I had spent the last two and a half years with. Well, less since not all of them were there from the beginning.
Thinking of others, I checked them out. Mao Zhong, the almost always annoyed and frowning kid that had been the first among his peers to take a step forward and accept my Dream of Remembrance had a rare not annoying face but one filled with curiosity as he too looked at the city.
From it, it was easy to guess that he too was recruited from outside the capital. Zhen Ling on the other hand was different. He was a curious kid and as I found out, an information seeker. While he showed that this was his first time seeing the huge capital city, I gained something else from him. There was nostalgia involved.
All three of them had different backgrounds and it showed. Chang Niu was recruited in the South of the Empire, where agriculture was the center of everything, and the hills were splayed with villages consummated with farming rice in huge quantities.
Reason for being recruited? A passing Jade Merc on a job passed through his village on a hunt and noticed how Chubby was treated differently. Specifically, he ate too much and his family was having trouble with his body's demands. Farming families never had that much, to begin with, but somebody like him only made it worse. The said Jade Merc got curious at the rumor and checked him out, and that was how he ended where he did.
Mao Zhong came from a small town somewhere in the west. He came from a craftsmen family. Specifically a carpenter's family. Due to the successful family business, his family had more and it showed by having 3 brothers and two sisters. Another Jade Merc had been passing by the small town and noticed him as the kid had been helping out the family business. The merc saw him and noticed the good bone structure he was born with. A talk and offer later he too ended where he did.
Zhong Ling was different from the others though. He had the most in terms of material wealth backing him, as he came from a merchant family. Said merchant family was associated with the Heavenly Jade Association. It wasn't much, but it was enough to be able to send his 3ed son to an evaluation which he had luckily passed.
Contrary to the feelings of the kid in question, who was eager to learn the family trade, his father seemingly convinced him by giving him a speech about the benefits if he did his best. He argued that trading skills could be learned by all, even later in life, but gaining a cultivation base and not just any but one of the best in the Empire was the superior option.
He thoroughly blindsides his son of the true danger that he would be exposed to if he was able to join the Jade Mercenaries. Something that son only realized how true was as he learned combat.
I am sure his father had applied the logical side of all this and would turn out a winner if the gamble paid off and the son turned out great. And if not well, he had two other sons, and both were trained as heirs, in case one of them died and failed to continue the family's legacy.
Too bad for the father but two people could play this game, so if he could bet on his son that meant so could I.
And that is what I did. I bet on their future potential at being my minions.
Of course, to them, a minion was similar to a servant, in a sense, when I explained it.
With plenty of benefits to be had, I lured them to my side, but only the lure I cast out became too big and a kid with an MC aura surrounding him sensed the good blessings I could give out like a shark could sense blood, so he locked onto me.
Right now, Bai Hui the kid, stood beside me and my minions, including Tao Fang, as I was loath to call him a minion even in my mind. Who knows how his MC aura would react?
At first, I wanted to do nothing with him, and I still don't, kinda, but when I realized that he had locked onto me, I knew it was too late to do anything about it. At least it was if I did not want to create hostility between us.
So I reluctantly accepted his presence near me.
My musings aside, I looked at Bai Hui and the others again. All of them were of similar age, with Mao Zhong being the oldest among them. He was 17 and the strict training regime had worked wonders on his build as he currently was the tallest among us, with me being the shortest, unfortunately. Currently, he was close to 1.8 meters and he still had room to grow.
Right after him, was Chang Niu. His slightly Chubby complexion did not hinder his growth and he was only slightly behind Mao Zhong.
If I take into account that he is younger by about two years, which made him younger than me by about half a year, who had celebrated her 16 birthday not long ago, I worry a tiny bit for him.
I only hoped he would stick with growing taller, as currently, it looked like his genetics favored him going wide too and the only saving grace he had right now was the controlled food and exercises that he was undergoing.
Right after him, was Bai Hui. Bai Hui is a bit of an enigma.
I am not sure what happened when I made that deal with him, but The Dream of Remembrance did more than just provide him with a mental buff.
I have no idea what he had unlocked, but the next time I paid attention to him was the following year's annual tournament. It was faint but his body development had shifted slightly to a more feminine style of development than pure man looks, like every other male kid in this generation of the recruits.
He was sixteen and looking at his pretty-boy features that are gaining prominence with every year, I knew he would become a lady's man. especially with his silver eyes that had become even more prominent than before.
Another reason why I am accepting of his presence without showing any hostility is that I knew the reason why he was still sticking to me.
Unlike the other three minions, he still had to accept my Mantra Seed.
The others practiced the Heavenly Jade Mantra-Body version, to which I had full access.
In his case, though I did not. To modify the seed for the best possible result I would need to know about the Mantra that he cultivates and he refused to tell me about it, so no seed for him.
Only he was still stuck on the side, probably thinking about it.
The last one among us, Zhong Ling, was somewhere in the middle between us, being around 1.6 in height currently. As I did not count, as I was the boss, he stood out far less than the others. He was close to 17 but had a few more months to reach it.
As we walked into the city, Tao Fang and I stood out. Me being who I am stood out naturally, especially since everybody around me walked a bit behind me. Tao Fang, on the other hand, stood out for a different reason.
The Mantra that she was cultivating, had a much broader aspect than we both imagined. Her body curves had gained in proportions and if my interpretation were correct, her body would slowly shift over time into the ideal body ratio. What the ideal ratio for her was, I have no idea, as it largely depended on the height of the body itself and some other hidden parameters.
The only reason her body was not more prominent is that the leather armor that we both were wearing was thicker than one imagined and that we both had an extra thin layer over to cover us.
Still, that did not stop her facial features from presenting themselves. Over the year and a half since her seed sprouted and turned into a Symbol, her features turned more ugh… cute, and sleek. And that is the best expression I could think of for them.
The bones on her face shifted and changed a tiny bit here and there so that everything turned a bit more proportional. That along with the bluish-purplish hue her eyes gained increased her beauty appeal by a lot.
As such, she and I attracted even more attention as we were the only females in a group of 50. Kind of harrowing if you think about it, but I doubt any of them would even consider doing something to us, much less attempt it with the 10 Jade Merc that had escorted all of us.
Still, even if they had not been here I could defend myself from them, and even extend that help to a few more people if needed, depending on the situation.
As we approached the main southern road that leads into the capital I gave a mental sigh. It was a relief to finally reach your destination after walking for 11 days.
Determined to avoid a carriage I opted to walk with everybody else. The scenery along the way was great, and the mild sunny days only showcased that. If my internal calendar was correct, then currently it was somewhere around April and May.
Thankfully there was no rain so the roads weren't muddy either and the only thing that did bother me all this time was that it took so much time to reach the destination. With a car, it would have taken maybe 10 hours if a decent highway was available.
Anyway, I am sure we could have reached sooner if we had picked up the pace since everybody was a Cultivator and the body version at that. Thankfully there was no need for it since I would not have been able to indulge myself in the scenery as we walked past everything. The occasional conversations between us only added to the experience.
It took us about half an hour to reach the gateway inside the city from the outskirts and that was only thanks to the main road that was both wide and straight enough. Aside from the carriages passing us by doing their deliveries that left some dust behind and the constant passage of people there was nothing special that happened.
If there is something that had to be pointed out, it's that I finally realized the divide between commoners and those above. The commoners and workers were always in a slight hurry to reach their destination, wherever it was, while those of higher standing either took a carriage or were in the presence of guards.
Or as it was somebody of even higher standing, having both. In this case, it was somebody bearing the symbol of the Ming Clan, one of two Clans subordinate to the Xia clan in the South.
Yet, even that, paled to the attention that we had gained as we walked towards the gate in question.
Seeing 40 kids in a particular garb styled after the place that took and trained them wasn't something that everybody saw, every day. At least aside from the military.
The guards, on the other hand, were probably far more familiar with this than anybody else. Since it's them that see and meet the Jade Mercs the most and since it happens every five years, I am sure this is nothing new to them. Looking at their faces I could already see some knowing looks among them.
Once we reached the gate, which was wide enough for 4 carriages to pass side by side, well if they squeezed and had no people interrupted their travels by checking what was on them.
Moments later, I saw two Jade Mercs talk to the guards. Some of them had amusing expressions as they looked at us. I wondered for a second before looking at Chang Niu and immediately understood why.
Ignoring him I went back to observing the guards when I noticed that their stares shifted from the amusing sight that was Chubby and shifted on me and Tao Fang. It was even easier to notice once I stared back straight into them.
Most looked away, and some stared right back, but whatever the case there were only two things that would come out of this.
The first is that I was beginning to attract male attention as did Tao Fang. And the second being that soon, very soon, rumors would start spreading about the two of us.
What kind of rumors, I will learn later, but if there is one thing that I am even more sure of, it's that very soon a lot of people will know who I am and who I represent, especially since my Jade colored eyes already did that.
And once they identify who I am, the word is bound to reach the Xia Clan.
Ignoring that part as it was out of my hand, I switched back to the Jade Mercs talking to the guards. Not sure what they were arguing about, but soon after we passed the gate and entered the real city, not the outskirts that were filled with the poor.
Immediately the surroundings turned grander as everything became more organized.
More stylized and most of all, more distinct from the culture that it represented.
The wooden architecture, the tiled roofs, and the iconic dressed people, only emphasize even more that I am now walking in the center of an Asian Culture themed Empire.
The only thing that made this city feel even grander is the Emperor's Palace in the center of the city, which I could see, and the designed feel of the Palace and the city surrounding it.
That part was easy to notice, even from the outside. The reason is simple. Four main pathways lead inside and outside the city. Alongside the two rivers that bisected the city, it also was designed to have four districts so that each one could represent the four Great Clans with the fifth being in the center where the Emperors Palace stood.
Every district of the city has its own residential, commercial, and workers designated part.
The funny thing though, is that somehow we the Yu Clan have properties in all four of them.
Well, the Heavenly Jade Association does, with the main residence of the Yu Clan situated in the Summer district of the city, meaning the south side of the city we just entered
There are in the others as well, but the main one was here in the southern part.
Anyway, passing through the city and ignoring the ahs and ohs from Chubby we soon reached a large multistoried building.
There were multiple pagodas connected into one block, only the pagodas were not that big, since it's forbidden to build anything bigger than the Emperor's Palace, in height but I'm sure width is included.
Once we all were before the building in question, the Jade Mercs that escorted us here faced us and spoke. " We have reached the capital and from this point on all your lives will change. Once you go inside, you will be redirected to the residential part, but that part will be temporary only. Tomorrow or the day after, you will be informed to whom you will be sent for further training. How and what happens after that will be up to the Master you're assigned to but there is one thing that all of you will be expecting. "
There the man stopped for a second to let it all sink in. " You and your Master will be constantly sent on Missions. They won't be that hard at first, after all, you still need to learn much, but with every assignment done, the difficulty will increase. How and why you chose a method to resolve a Mission, will be evaluated. With those results, your Master will learn about your strengths and weaknesses so that he can improve what is there and reinforce what needs to be reinforced. "
Most of the recruits knew this, just as I knew that training for something and doing the thing are different things.
It is for that reason that I will be joining them for the foreseeable future, only I don't know the details of it, since I still need to speak with my father about it. He is the one arranging things for me
" That being said. " The man continued. " You do not need to panic or be scared of anything. The education and training that you have received already is usually a good indicator of what you need to know. Therefore, the only thing that you will be judged by is your personal preferences. Those will determine what kind of mission you will be sent on and where. "
" Oh, before I forget, let me give you one more piece of advice. " The man said. " The tensions between the Yu Clan and the Xia Clan have risen. Depending on the mission, it can get quite dangerous, especially if it's one that requires you to go South. Before you start any rumors that are obviously over the top, listen to what I say. While on missions it won't be that bad, since your Master will be with you, but once you have some downtime from a mission, always be more careful of what you do and say. You never know what your actions will cause or what your mouth will provoke. "
" That is all. Now go inside. " He said and pointed at the man beside him. They came forward toward me and Tao Fang.
With a short bow and hands cupped over each other, they spoke. " Miss. Master Shen has ordered that we escort you to the main residence. "
" He did? Alright then. Lead the way. " I said to him and his friend. With a short goodbye to my minions, we were on our way.
The thing about cities is that they grow organically with time, no matter the input of people. Yes, buildings can be torn and new ones built but all cities are built organically with time. And with time, roads that lead here and there, around this or that obstacle appear.
Here it is different though and that is for a simple reason. Even if the city was pre-planned, with time cities still grow as the people that tend to them change with time. But here in this world with Cultivators that gain a lifespan the greater the stage is, that change is slowed down considerably.
That factor is also the reason as to why scientific understanding is so bad. Due to the long lifespan, people are more prone to stick with traditions due to the sheer weight of lived time and when those at the top don't want to change, things don't change.
It is for that reason that the inner part of the city has stayed relatively the same ever since it was built and it is for that reason that it is very easy to find the right address if you know where to look for the said address.
Soon we reached the residence of the Yu Clan and I immediately recognized the entrance. Two and a half years ago I left that same entrance and now I am returning to it. There is nothing significant in that observation but it does signal that another part of my life here is starting.
Saying my thanks to the escorts, I entered the residence. Getting in was easy.
My eyes are the perfect identification for the identity of their carrier. I still had a seal that guaranteed my identity but seeing their nods at me, it was easy to guess that they had been told that I was coming.
With some greetings of, Miss, coming our way I head inside.
Tao Fang followed me without a word.
Looking around I found more evidence that nothing changed in the little time I was away. Not that I saw that much of this place, after all, I had been under house arrest since the beginning. I gained awareness of being here.
Along the way inside I saw a small lake with a few small islands around a small lake. It carried elegance, so I made my way to it.
It was this very lake that drowned the previous Jiao and I took possession of the body.
Making my way over the small bridges, I consider everything that happened while I was here in this World.
Thinking for a second I realize an important thing. Outside the drama between me and my father, which was caused by my appearance, nothing much happened.
Should I be glad that nothing happened? Or should I think otherwise and wait for the action in the future?
' Either way, this is as good a time as any other, to close a chapter of my life here and begin a new one. Especially, since it took me so much effort to gain control of this body and make it my own. Now, all that is left is to have some fun. '
" I have seen enough. Fang, let us go meet Father. " I say and immediately make my way to his office, but midway we are interrupted by an unexpected encounter.
" It actually is you, Little Sister. "
" Fang, look, a wild Older Sister appeared. I wonder what will happen now? " I proclaim loudly with a chuckle, totally ignoring the confused looks that they both gave me. " Haha, ignore the joke, since it's lost on you. So what can I do for you, Lijuan? There must be a reason you sought me out just as I arrived back home. "
Stunned and a bit shocked by the way I took control of the flow, her mouth opened and closed for a few seconds before she recognized herself. " You have changed, Little sister. And by a lot. I barely recognized you. "
" Hmm, must be because I grew more than you expected. In all the unexpected ways, am I right? " I ask her, as I make a few poses for her. Aside from the height of 1.56m, and a modest, very modest chest, I am sure it was hard for her to realize it was me. I had changed from the little girl she knew me by. " Aside from the unexpected meeting, is there any reason as to why you sought me? After all, I doubt we were that close with each other? Or were we? Fang, you should know better than me. Were we close to each other? "
" Miss, you did indeed spend time with her and Lady Ye. As for being close to each other, I do not know, but in my opinion of the previous you Miss, I doubt it. " I heard her reply to me.
Taking away my gaze from Yu Lijuan, I glanced at Tao Fang and noticed no reverence in her expression, and the best part of all she did not convey any feelings of submission that a servant normally had, not even when she was in front of somebody else.
Nodding internally I observe my older sister by three years. Yu Lijuan was a beautiful girl and it was easy to see that she inherited her mothers, grace, but I doubt a brief few seconds of meeting with her was any indication of my knowledge.
The only thing that marred her right now was the confusion that was constantly caused by the barrage of unprepared events. She narrowed her eyes at Tao Fang for a second.
" Hmph, who are you to dare bring forth your opinion on the relationship between us sisters? " My older sister asked. Even though she recognized me, she couldn't recognize my servant.
" Older sister, I am not surprised you don't remember. I doubt you paid my servant any attention before, why should you now? " That got her thinking. She looked between me and her for a moment before it clicked on her face.
" That's… impossible. I remember who your servant girl is and that is not her. " She stated with conviction.
" Of course, it's possible, Older sister. What you are seeing is what happened to her after she started to cultivate. " Throwing, even more, salt at my older sister, I saw her take a closer look and pay more attention to Tao Fang.
I doubt she noticed this, but as Tao Fang cultivated she gained a slight attraction to herself. I have no idea how it works but, it was much harder for people not to pay attention to her.
" Cultivate? Impossible? What kind of Mantra would change somebody as average in looks as her into that? " Yu Lijuan pointed at Tao Fang, stunned at the obvious.
" What kind? Well is that not a personal question, my dear sister? " Continuing the charade I started, I question her. " After all, what kind of Mantra she practices should not matter to you? Or did I have to ask for your permission to have my servant cultivate? "
When I opened, with that line, I finally saw her brain start working. Her confusion vanished and she began to speak like a lady in her playfield.
" No, no you don't. " She replied. " I just did not expect that such changes were possible. "
" Well, they are. " I commented. " So are you finally going to tell me why you sought me outright as I arrived? "
Nodding, she spoke. " I was with my mother and grandmother when a servant arrived and announced your arrival. So grandma sent me to fetch you. "
" Interesting, I guess it's finally time to meet my grandmother here. " I said. " Too bad I have no memory of her, I heard she had doted on me quite a lot? "
Immediately I saw a twitch on her face. It was barely there but it was there. " She did, before. Now she barely mentions you. "
" I see. I wanted to meet Father first, but I guess it can wait. " I say to her and point at her. " Go on, sister. Lead the way as I have no idea where to go. "
" Come, then. " She sighed, but then started walking. " We were with her eating some pastries and drinking tea when the news came. "
We followed her through the corridors and soon after we entered a room with lots of wooden furniture that was centered low and centered around one main table. On the biggest chair or bench, in this case, sat an old lady on lots of cushions and with some extra pillows on the side for more comfort.
Her looks made her look far less in age than she was. To my eyes, I looked at a woman of around 40 to 50 in the looks department but the white hair said everything that had needed to be said.
A quirk of cultivation is that no matter how old you are, as long as you have a lot of theoretical life-span ahead of you, then your hair will retain its color but the moment you start nearing that limit it will start losing it, no matter your cultivation stage.
Once inside the old woman stared at me as if waiting for something from me. Shrugging in my mind I did a little bow and addressed her. " Your granddaughter greets you, Grandma. How have you been? "
" Hmph. " Was all that I received in return for that little greeting.