2 months has passed by as the new disciples settled into the sect, there was little to no fanfare or major events of note as they worked their way in to a place they could cultivate peacefully, dividing themselves between the divisions and diving deep into their cultivation.
The only major announcement that had happened was that the Sect Master had gained taken on a direct disciple much to the dismay of others that were working to gain that spot, many sighed with envy and some even voiced complaints that a new disciple took that spot, but they were quickly quelled when the Sect Master herself threatened to punish anyone who went against her decision.
This sort of calm was typical when new disciples were introduced, there would be no events held so they could learn how the sect normally works, though because this batch of disciples was small compared to normal it was even quieter than usual, there were only a couple of hiccups or events that caught peoples eyes but nothing drastic.
Of course, now that they were on their third month in the sect it was almost time for the scheduled events to begin happening which let to many rejoicing, these events were great for earning extra rewards and points after all, many disciples lived frugally only buying what they needed for their cultivation during the three months, so the rewards were welcome.
Of course, everyone knew what the first event that would be held, it was an event that only the newest disciples and those of similar cultivation could participate in – The Newcomers Tournament.
It was a simple tournament that would take place in the training area, a simple knock out based tournament where the winners of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th would receive point prizes, with the 1st place receiving permission to pick a free technique from the Mesmerised Tortoise's Pavilion.
The rewards won't seem much to the experienced disciples but for the newer disciples the rewards are quite a boost, plus most of them either won't have visited the Pavilion more than once at this point and only own the two techniques they're allowed as a newer disciple.
One the news of the tournament spread through the sect a slight sense of interest grew in the disciples, not just from the new ones but from the lower ranked older disciples who hoped to win some points, and the higher ranked ones that were interested in seeing what their new junior disciples had to offer.
The tournament would take place 1 month from now, leading to many starting preparations.
…
Currently inside the Beast Taming Division the sanctuary was going through a rainy cycle, light rain fell from the artificial sky that was filled with images of dark clouds hiding the false sun away as it pitter pattered on to the foliage below, the large trees of varying sizes soaked up the rainwater with their expansive branches and basin like leaves, many other plants seemed to wriggle with joy like thirsty children as the water dripped down their branched and soaked in to the soil below.
Many of the animals were taking shelter from the shower that had been going on for a couple hours now, the birds folded themselves under the branches and cover of leaves while the small beasts and critters hid in bushed and burrows that they had dug, the aquatic animals leaped with joy out of the water like it was a game.
And, deep inside the forest in sheltered clearing one more animal set perfectly still.
Rather, it was a person not an animal, his eyelids shut gently like he was having a peaceful night's sleep, his bronze hair that had grown longer once more now trailing slowly down his back as it was tied behind his head swayed in the wind, a few drops of water made its way through the thick foliage above and landed on his face yet he didn't budge even a millimetre, the water rolled off his face with no disturbance as if he was a statue, perfectly blending in to the environment.
Shu He had recently taken up to leaving his room when cultivating, at first he thought it was fine to cultivate there because it was safe and secure, but the more and more he did so he began to feel claustrophobic, like he was cut off from something he severely needed making him lose concentration when trying to meditate.
He found it odd, since he had been fine in the three years he cultivated in his old house down in Orefine which wasn't particularly nice, nor did he have any problems in Green-gate, but he was now, it was even more pronounced after he made a discovery just over a month ago.
There was a problem he had, which was to do with animals here in the sanctuary; He couldn't get near them or interact with them lest they seemingly go crazy over him and his aura, specifically his golden Qi.
It had annoyed him to no end, since he was now part of this division he needed to be able to interact with them normally! And so he consulted the only elder he had access to at any time – Elder Bai.
"You want to suppress your aura?" Elder Bai stared at him with a pondering expression.
"It's the only way I can think of to solve my problem" He replied.
"Hmm, well I'm a spirit beast so I don't know if I can offer you much advice in this, but your Core Flame and my extension your Qi are part of your will of cultivation, if you will it to supress itself inside you it should do so" Elder Bai explained.
Shu He knew what he was saying was true, for him it also worked, but only for his normal Qi! The problem was he didn't seem to have a proper connection to his golden Qi, it only acted at the utmost desperate of times or when he had a strong enough will.
'No… that's not quite right'.
He realised something, there was one event where he had willed it to do what he wanted, but it resulted in an event that he would remember forever.
Extreme pain followed by an incomprehensible visit by an unknown person, to this day he kept wondering whether it was a mere fever dream as a result of overexertion himself, but then he realised he couldn't get that man's sheer presence out of his mind; It was as the world itself had stopped for him.
But that wasn't what was important here – Since that day he hadn't properly controlled the golden Qi.
He began to sweat slightly, realising the problem he might have.
He was unconsciously preventing himself from using the golden qi inside his body, that is to say he had traumatised himself.
Elder Bai saw his complexion and became worried, but Shu He said he was fine and thanked him before running off.
It was then that he was faced with a trial he knew he had to overcome, he cooped himself up in his room for days on end, trying to control the gold qi, trying to compress it inside of himself.
He couldn't at first, each time he saw that Qi he felt his heart skip a beat and a desire to give up, he could feel his right arm aching like it had that day.
But he didn't move, he forced himself to stay and concentrate- he HAD to do it.
Right now it was just animals in the sanctuary, but outside who knows what kind of beasts he would meet and aggravate, and that's not the only thing; If animals can sense it, maybe there are cultivators out there that can as well, he didn't want to risk that at all.
It took three days until he finally managed to untie part of the knot that he had placed in the back of his mind, he saw the golden Qi that was flowing steadily twitch because of his will which frightened the life out of him making him take a 10-minute break before he tried again.
He was incredibly cautious, moving only a tiny thread of the Qi at a time, steadily it entered his body and joined the rest of the Qi flowing inside of him.
He sighed with relief, it was only a single step, but it was a start, he then kept up doing it, noticing that it was behaving itself and not causing any problems for him.
He then started controlling more threads, the golden Qi that was emanating from the surface of his body began decreasing slowly, and then finally after 4 days of work it was all hidden away just like his other Qi when he supressed it.
He laid back on his stone floor, covered with sweat from nervousness and concentration, he had learned to continually supress the golden Qi in his body at the cost of his sanity.
He didn't know when he might have made a mistake causing him to be stuck in horrendous pain, likely to be left without anyone that can help unlike that day, but now that he had a handle on it, he felt confident, at least when it came to supressing it.
However the problem came after that, he doesn't know if it was because he was compressing his Qi inside of him now, but his sense of claustrophobia when cultivating became far worse, he yearned for a wide-open area.
And so he ended up coming to the sanctuary, the area was wide and while there were animals none of them were very aggressive, as long as he didn't intrude on their territories he wouldn't be bothered, he had gained permission from Elder Bai to cultivate here as well.
And so Shu He began to work hard to increase his cultivation, halfway through the first month he had reached 6 meridians awakened, meaning he would need to work on the 6 yin meridians, ones that were harder for males to unlock.
Of course he went ahead and asked at the Covetous Dragon Pavillion whether there was anything can help, and he got an answer from Li Liling the head of the pavilion, surprisingly since his visit that day she had been on friendly terms with him and willing to answer questions if she was free.
The answer was simply yes, since this was a sect for cultivators they would have obviously been prepared for their needs, especially when it comes to raising their cultivation; There were two items in question that she recommended, one was the Pure Yin Incense, it was a specially made incense created from yin materials that one would burn when cultivating, it would make it easier for a cultivator that was male to awaken their yin meridians and for females it could help steadily strengthen their yin source.
He was interested but he had the problem of currently cultivating outside, in order to use this incense he needed to be in an enclosed space, or it'd be wasted; The cost was a whopping 15 points for 1 stick of incense that would burn for half a day. And that would be on top of the normal Qi puddle pills.
Shu He could see why cultivation was considered expensive already.
He could probably just afford it, but she offered an alternative that she recommended instead.
She showed him a crystal blue droplet that shined with a cold aura, it wasn't a chill from frost, but a chill created from a great source of yin.
It was a Crystallised Yin Amulet, she said having this on when cultivating will have a much greater affect than the incense.
At first he was convinced, but then he asked why people would choose the incense over the amulet normally, she then revealed the price of the amulet.
425 points!
He felt his token becoming lighter in that very moment, if he bought it he would be left with less than 100 points!
She laughed at my expression, but then went on to say it may be expensive, but it will be worth it in the long run, she whispered to me some important information he wasn't aware of.
The next stage of cultivation, Balance Attainment also required men to use an external Yin source!
Shu He was sceptical at first but then decided to trust her and bought it.
Currently, said amulet was letting out a slight glimmer as a droplet ran down its smooth surface, freezing into a small ball before touching the bottom and smashing as its gentle structure touched the ground.
It had been more than a day since Shu He had entered his current cultivation session, so he didn't care about the weather, he was currently immersed more than he ever had been in the world around him and his own mind, focusing on one single objective.
Suddenly, a wave of pressure burst out of his body, the raindrops pausing in the air creating a veil of water, the leaves and trees swayed as the animals jumped in fright.
And then his eyes opened, his sclera and pupils dyed in a brimming gold that flashed for an instant before fading away.
He steadily stood up and held his hand out with his palm facing upwards.
He could feel it, his Qi was actively leaving the confines of his body and he could control it, he formed a ball of Qi in his hands, the sight left him with a sense of sheer joy.
He clasped his hand, and the Qi was dispersed into the environment.
A smile rose on his face.
'Finally, Meridian Awakening!'