1. Spirited Away
"Urgh... This sucks."
A girl in tattered clothes swung her hoe into the dirt forcefully, leaving it stuck in the ground.
After glancing around warily, she shoved a handful of seeds from the bag beside her into her pockets and ran off.
She ran across the the fields, past dingy houses and other toiling farmers, through the streets lined with newer houses. And there it was, the well at the centre of the town. She tossed the bucket in and reached for the crank, twisting it as it creaked in protest.
After making sure no one was around, she took the bucket out and began drinking greedily from it.
She sighed in satisfaction and poured the rest of the water back into the well.
Slowly, the pigeons roosting on the rooftops of the nearby buildings flew down and began cooing. She tossed a handful of seeds out from her pockets and watched with a silly grin as they ate.
It was not the first time she had gone through this routine, despite the complaints from the townspeople and her parents.
And it was at that moment when a shadow started to grow bigger and bigger above the flock of pigeons.
"Huh? A giant pigeon?" she had a silly thought for a second.
Amazingly enough, it was not, in fact, a pigeon. An old man in white robes landed gracefully, his long hair and beard flowing in the wind. The pigeons fluttered away in panic.
The girl could have sworn he was trying not to laugh as he turned his face away for a moment.
A cultivator? No way. She wondered if her brain fizzled out from the heat.
"Hello." said the old man.
That was not what she expected to hear from him.
"Uh... hi?"
"It's been a while since I've seen someone so unfazed," he said with a serene smile.
Before she could stop herself, she poked him in the chest to check if he was real. Her finger bounced off as it collided with something invisible.
...
Her face paled.
All kinds of crazy thoughts went through her mind. If she wasn't hallucinating, she just poked a cultivator like that! What if he goes nuts and smites her, a 'filthy mortal' for even daring to touch him?
"...sorry?"
The old man snorted with laughter.
"What do you think I'm going to do? Roast you on a spit for something like that? Sheesh..."
The girl felt a bit of relief but was still cautious.
"So- so uh, what are you here for?"
"Right to the point. I like that." he nodded. "I'm here to look for disciples."
"Eh?"
Excitement began to wrestle with the fear inside of her.
"An- and... uh... you... check my aptitude?"
A pigeon began pecking gently at her feet, annoyed that their feeding session was interrupted. She shooed it away with a backwards kick.
The old man poked her forehead.
"Okay. You pass," he said, with a grin.
"Jus- just like that?"
No, that couldn't be right. From what she had read, checking her aptitude had to be more complicated than that, right?
"Please! Check it for real!"
"Hmm? But you're already accepted." he continued grinning.
What? Without checking her aptitude? No, what if he was some evil cultivator looking for mortals to refine pills and medicine? Or even... an especially horrific thought came to mind...
No! Especially not with an old man like that!
"I... uh... my parents might not agree?"
Laughing, the old man ripped a portal open in the air and pushed her in as she shrieked.
In a huge hall entirely made of seamless white jade, nine people sat on cushions on the floor.
The peasant girl, Mei was one of them.
She had been sitting with them for a few hours, but was too nervous to talk to them. Some of them whispered to each other, but none of them talked much.
Five of them were even children. When they first arrived, they were crying, but all of them were pacified by candy and shining crystals from a young man in white robes, who was now reading on a stool.
Could those be spirit crystals? Using those to pacify children... she felt like her fantasy was being turned upside down.
She thought to herself about how silly children were, being able to be placated by candy. It reminded her about how her parents told her not to be lured off by treats from strangers when she was younger.
But as she stared at the three teens gobbling the scrumptious food placed before them, she felt her will waver.
One of them, who was rather chubby, finished the fastest, licking all the sauce off the plate with his tongue. He stared greedily at the plate before Mei.
"Can I have-"
"No!" she glared at him.
"But you're not eating it!" he complained. "If you don't want it, let me have it!"
Faced with his attitude, the girl felt upset. She stood up and looked down on him, drawing looks from most of the people on the cushion.
"Oh? You're trying to be threatening?" the chubby boy stood up as well.
"In the first place, what the hell are you all thinking? Some... weird old man kidnapped all of us and you just eat the food here? What if he poisoned the food or something?"
"Don't say that about him!" a really skinny boy stood up as well. "He graciously accepted us as disciples and you question his food like that? He gave us the chance to eve-"
The last teenager, a girl stood up as well.
"Oh, I just felt like it would be awkward to be the only one sitting. Don't mind me." she smiled weakly.
"Uh, okay." the peasant girl gave her a strange look. "Haven't you heard of those stories where cultivators kidnap mortals to refine pills with? Or other horrifying things?"
"What?" the chubby boy paled. "Where did you even hear that from?"
The skinny boy was taken aback for a moment but thought of something.
"Well, if that's the case, wouldn't he have kidnapped more people and faster? Why only us?"
The peasant girl paused. He had a point. But she didn't really want to back down.
"But maybe he doesn't need a lot right now, so he only picked us!"
One of the children began to cry. Another kid looked at him and decided to cry as well.
"Heavens!" the young man in the white robes shouted. "You lot were so quiet for the last few hours. Be quiet."
The chubby boy frowned.
"Why should we listen to you?"
"Because," the young man paused. "This."
An immense aura gushed out of him, pushing all of them back onto the cushions. Even the children stopped crying.
Satisfied, he went back to reading.
Chapter 2. Talent Assessment
At last, the old man returned with a boy who looked around seven in extravagant clothing. It was black and had golden lines depicting dragons embroidered on it.
It was a huge contrast to the rest of the candidates, who were either in rags or plain clothing. Even the old man's robe was plainer, with only a large yin-yang symbol as decoration.
The peasant girl immediately realised he must be some sort of noble. That or his parents wasted most of their income on clothes.
"Alright, all the candidates are here!" the old man announced.
He looked around and saw all of them sitting upside, their mouths tightly shut.
"What's with that look on your faces? Li Jie, were you messing with them?"
The young man in white robes harrumphed.
"They were being noisy. And disrespectful, accusing- no, suspecting you were an evil cultivator." he pointed to the peasant girl. "Especially her."
The old man coughed.
"Well... I admit I didn't bring her here in the most welcoming way. In any case, we shall commence with introductions and aptitude testing."
What type of sect even accepts disciples without testing their talent? How weird...
"So, does anyone want to start first? Raise your hand if you want to." said the old man.
Seeing that none of them were stepping up, the noble boy raised his hand with confidence.
"I am Wang Wei! The eighth son of-"
The old man stopped him.
"Names only, please."
The boy grumbled.
"Han Yingyi." the skinny boy said.
"Liu Qiang." continued the chubby boy.
"Xiuying." said the other girl.
One by one, all of them introduced themselves, but the peasant girl didn't pay much attention to the names of the children.
"And you?" the old man asked her.
She realised she was the last one.
"Mei Xiu."
"Good. Now for the aptitude test. Junior, mind doing the honours?"
Wordlessly, Li Jie put down his book and walked over to Wang Wei.
"I will be testing you now."
A pill and a glowing rock suddenly appeared in his right hand. Mei realised he was wearing a ring studded with green jade. That must be one of those storage rings she heard about! Without realising it, she started smiling.
Li Jie then forcefully shoved the pill into Wang Wei's mouth. The smugness from his face instantly turned to shock, then pain.
"The pill will awaken your meridians."
Wang Wei looked horrified as grey mist flowed out of his pores.
"Good. Now try to absorb this." he crushed the rock.
Mei felt something had seeped into the air. Qi?
The boy was quite confused, but after a while, he managed to absorb a good portion of it.
The old man nodded.
"You have a good feel for qi. Most people aren't as fast with that."
Hearing that, Wang Wei regained his smug look.
"This is the final part of the test," said Li Jie as he passed a crystal clear orb to the boy. "Don't resist it."
Wang Wei looked a bit strained as he held it, but eventually, it became green, the character "四" appearing on it.
"Grade 4 talent!" the old man nodded again.
"Is that bad?" the boy looked worried.
"No, it's decent. The higher the grade, the better."
"Haha! I knew it!"
One by one, the candidates were tested.
Han Yingyi, Xiuying and two of the children got "三" as the orb shone blue, indicating grade 3 talent.
Two other children got "二", grade 2, the orb lighting up pale yellow. The last one got "一", grade 1, the orb lighting up white.
Liu Qiang a "四", making him bounce in excitement.
"Don't get too ahead of yourself!" Wang Wei said defensively. "You have a worse feel for qi than me, so I'm still better! And I'm younger!"
"What's your problem? I didn't even say I was better. You think you're so great just because your parents are rich?"
"Hmph! You're just a fatty!"
"Hey!"
"Now now, let's not fight." the old man clapped. "Mei Xiu, you are last."
Nervously, she took the pill.
A horrible nauseating feeling washed over her, making her want to vomit. Luckily, she didn't have anything for breakfast, so there was only dry heaving. She felt like gases were writhing all over in all her pores and about to burst out, making her incredibly itchy.
She collapsed to the ground.
"What happened?" the old man rushed over.
"Urgh," Mei said.
A massive burst of dark gas and liquid spewed out of her pores, almost like a smoke bomb.
"Gross!" Wang Wei yelped.
"Ahhh! It's in my mouth!" Liu Qiang cried out.
The children screamed.
She should have felt horrible after all that, especially since her clothes were drenched with black liquid, but instead, she felt amazing. Her whole body felt as light as a feather now.
The old man hurried waved his hands, condensing all the filth into a ball and putting it into a trash can he took out of his storage ring, then putting it back.
"Unbelievable! I've never seen so many impurities from a mortal!"
Mei felt anxious.
"Does that mean my talent isn't good?"
"No... Quite the reverse, in fact. Mei Xiu, do you do a lot of farming?"
"Uh, yes?"
"Junior, hand her the talent orb."
"We haven't done the absorption test-"
"Just do it!"
Filled with anticipation, Mei took the orb from him. She felt as if a strange force from the orb was trying to peer into her, but she tried not to resist it.
The orb shone purple brilliantly, displaying "六".
Li Jie looked mildly surprised..
"Grade 6 talent. Not bad."
Mei was filled with elation.
"That makes sense." the old man nodded. "I think I know why you have so many impurities."
Wang Wei however, was horrified.
"I thought you said grade 4 was good?" he looked on the verge of crying.
"It is, but can you all keep quiet? I need to explain something. " the old man shooed him aside. "There are quite a lot of spirit plants that rely on qi to grow and most of them expel a small amount of waste qi. Mei must have-"
"Eh? But I do a lot of farming too? Why didn't that happen to me?" Han Yingyi asked.
The old man furrowed his eyebrows. Didn't he just ask them to keep quiet?
"Normally, it isn't an issue," he continued. "But because she has good meridians, she absorbed a lot more waste energy than normal. In fact..."
He placed a hand on her shoulder and focused.
"...it seems she has already attained the first level of body cultivation!"
Mei had a moment of realisation. So that's why she was a lot stronger than normal! It was also why her parents made her do most of the farming.
The old man sighed.
"But it is truly unfortunate..."
"Huh? What's unfortunate?" she asked.
"You see, the waste energy has permanently damaged your meridians and stopped them from developing properly."
"EHHH?!"
"Most likely, you will only actually cultivate at the speed of a grade 2-3 talent. You will also need to spend a lot of time cleansing your meridians, or your cultivation might go berserk."
Wang Wei, who originally looked distraught now had a look of pity on his face. But he also looked relieved. Mei wanted to scream at him that she didn't need his pity but held back.
"Then... then... are there any pills that can restore them?" she asked, desperate.
"Well, I've heard there are some that can help in higher worlds, but they're very expensive. I could spend the entire sect fortune and I still won't have enough money for that, so don't get your hopes up."
Liu Qiang patted her on the shoulder sympathetically. She pushed his hand away.
Chapter 3. Talking to Wang
Mei walked forward, grabbing a book from a shelf. Around her, were rows and rows of bookshelves.
She sighed, thinking back what had just happened.
After the testing and some explanations, she and the other disciples were led to a rather tall building. When she saw it, Mei felt a huge sense of awe. That had to be at least 12 storeys high! She had never seen one so big.
"Eh?! We get to live here?" she recalled exclaiming.
She was a bit disappointed to find that they were just assigned rooms, but that made sense. It was very luxurious compared to her home anyway.
While Mei was more than satisfied with the living conditions, Wang Wei was sulky about it. She half expected him to say something like: "Hey! This is ten times smaller than my room! How do I even live in this?" but he just kept quiet.
Li Jie told them lectures would start the next day and that they could do whatever they wanted for today, but they should all change into the sect's attire.
As she was about to wrap up, she heard a familiar voice.
"I didn't expect to see you here."
She turned around to see Wang Wei. Now that he was dressed in the white-robed attire of the sect, Mei felt like he looked a lot more normal, like a typical boy.
"Oh. Me neither," she said.
She wondered why he was even talking to her.
"You can read?" he asked, looking around the bookshelves.
"Huh? Why wouldn't I be able to?"
She grumbled mentally about 'stupid nobles looking down on peasants'.
"My mother said that peasants don't get to learn to read because they don't need it."
Mei frowned.
"She's speaking nonsense then."
"She wasn't," he grabbed a book from the shelf. "I think most likely, one or both of your parents used to be middle-classed. That would explain why they knew how to read and could teach you."
"Hmm."
She didn't really interact with other people much, so she didn't realise that, but what he said made sense. Her dad who taught her did seem quite knowledgable. She figured he probably didn't talk about it because it would be embarrassing to him. He was that type of person.
Ah. Her parents must be really worried about her right now. She felt guilty for not realising that sooner.
Wang Wei smiled.
"They must really care about you if they spent all that time to teach you that, huh?"
"Why are you even talking to me about this anyway?" she said defensively. "It's none of your business."
Wasn't he just some kind of spoilt brat? She grumbled. Why was he trying to act mature all of a sudden anyway?
"Who knows?" he smirked. "We're fellow sect members now, so let's get along."
"I don't need your pity. I hate it when people pity me," she said.
"It's not that," he said. "Really. I guess I just felt like I could relate."
"Well, if you say so," she said, walking off.
"Oh, and you should do something about your hair and bathe properly!" he said. "You're going to stand out looking like that!"
"Tsk."
She only took the book out to take a closer look at it, but because of Wang Wei, she walked away with it. She really didn't want to head back and put it back since he was still there, but she didn't want to irresponsibly put it on a random shelf or table either.
Oh well. Might as well just borrow it.
What was it about anyway?
[Basic Cultivation For The Disabled]
...Nevermind.
She went to the fiction category and picked another book labelled "The Young Monk's Journey" to place over it, then headed to the counter.
To her surprise, there was just a huge crow standing on it.
"Borrowing?" it asked her.
Mei froze.
"You can talk?"
"Yes. Don't be so surprised. Borrowing?"
"Uh... yes."
She figured it was some kind of spirit beast. Maybe it was cheaper than hiring a person?
Light came from the crow, condensing into some kind of circle with intricate patterns. In the centre of it, a closed book was depicted. It latched onto her hand.
"Eek!"
"As an outer disciple, you need to return the books in 7 days. The seal will be invisible, but if you focus on it, you will know how much time you have left."
Mei realised both of the books lit up with the seals too, but as the crow said, the light quickly faded.
"Oh. Thanks."
Using seals instead of a library pass... She had always enjoyed spending her nights reading cultivation stories after a hard day of farming, but she had never heard of seals being used that way.
Back in her room, she sat on the bed. It was soft and springy. She didn't like that.
"Hard beds are more comfortable." she mused.
She pulled the mattress off the bed in a fell swoop, giving her a bit of a surprise. Right. After the cleansing, she was a lot stronger. She decided to hoist the whole thing over her head for fun, but almost tipped over from the weight. In the end, it was way too bulky.
She sat on the wooden bed frame and started reading the monk novel.
It was rather boring.
She already went through half of it, but there was barely any conflict. The main character spent his days cultivating peacefully and occasionally went around to help mortals. He didn't even train in any combat arts!
Were her days going to be like that? Mei hoped not.
Since she was going to be a cultivator now, she wanted adventure! Combat arts! She thought about how cool it would be to use all kinds of powerful daos.
She started punching and kicking in the air, doing pretend martial arts and making weird sounds.
"Hiya! Hah! Hoo!"
If someone saw that, she would be embarrassed to death. But there wasn't anyone watching her, so she felt free to.
Afterwards, she picked up the disabled cultivation book. That had to be more interesting than the monk novel.
To be a cultivator, one must be willing to persist no matter the hardships.
That is what I believe in.
Heaven is fair, always leaving a path.
Even with disabilities, I don't believe you will be unable to match your peers. I hope this book will aid your path.
-Si Hao
Mei felt like the introduction was a bit pretentious.
Chapter 4. Interacting with Sectmates
Mei Xiu walked to the cafeteria, rubbing her eyes.
"Good morning, Mei Xiu! Did you sleep well?"
She looked around and saw Xiuying waving to her, already sitting at a table. Liu Qiang and Han Yingyi were there too, the chubby boy already starting on his second plate.
"I guess."
In actuality, she was too excited to sleep well yesterday.
She realised something.
"Wang Wei isn't here?"
"Oh, I guess we didn't encounter him. Remember yesterday? I figured we'd all get to know each other better and make friends, but you and he were both gone." Xiuying looked slightly disappointed. "Where did you two go?"
"We went-"
"We don't need him in our group." Liu Qiang harrumphed. "He's just some stuck up noble who's so full of himself."
"I agree." Han Yingyi added.
"He's not actually..." Mei mumbled.
"Not actually that bad..." she finished, mentally, not having the confidence to finish her sentence.
She didn't really have the best impression of him because of how he was nobility, but after yesterday, she figured he might not be that bad. Maybe she was a tiny bit harsh on him. Just a tiny bit.
It was the same for the other three, and it didn't help how he lashed out at Liu Qiang for having the same level of talent previously.
"Now, now!" Xiuying smiled nervously. "Even so, he's still our sectmate."
Yingyi shook his head.
"In the first place, there's no obligation for us all to even team up." he pointed out. "We just happened to be picked together. Look around."
Around them, there were at least a hundred other outer disciples roaming around, chatting and eating. It gave off a cheerful and lively atmosphere.
"It's not like we're the only ones here." he finished.
Xiuying sighed.
"Whatever you say."
Mei felt like Xiuying backed down a bit too easily. She should stand up for herself more!
"I'll go get food," Mei said.
"Grab another plate for me!" Liu Qiang grinned, giving her a thumbs up.
Mei was a bit annoyed, but she decided she might as well do it. It wasn't like it was a big deal.
She headed to where many people were walking away from with trays of food and reached a long table.
The food was all placed in trays on it, with many disciples milling around and picking out the food for themselves. Almost like a buffet, she thought.
"Please do not mix the food in the trays. Thank you." read a sign on the table.
Mei was stunned by the sheer variety of the food. So many different vegetables! There were meat and eggs in some of the trays too, but the amount of vegetables outshone them.
Mei scooped out a bowlful of rice, then got a good amount of vegetables followed by some pork, fish and some weird looking fried eggs with green yolks for herself.
As for Liu Qiang's... hmm...
She scooped up two entire bowls of rice and as much meat and eggs as she could pile on it. As she took the food from the tray, she noticed they refilled themselves a few seconds later. Spatial storage was really useful, huh?
She carefully put both plates on a tray.
"You shouldn't be taking two plates at once! Be more considerate."
She turned around and saw a tall man with a somewhat handsome face.
Well, clearly Liu Qiang didn't follow that rule. She suppressed a grin.
"Oh, I'm just taking a second plate for a friend. He has a big appetite."
"Fine then." he sighed. "But you should tell him gluttony isn't good. And the selection... distasteful..."
"Uh, yeah, thanks."
What a weird guy. What was distasteful about all the meat? Maybe he was just really health-conscious, Mei concluded as she headed back.
"Oh, you're back-" Liu Qiang saw the mountain of food and froze. "Uh... Isn't that a bit much?"
Hmm, she supposed even for him, that was a bit much. After all, he had already polished off two plates of food.
Yingyi laughed when he saw it, giving her a thumbs up.
"Good one, Mei Xiu!"
Xiuying had a weird expression on her face.
Mei and the disciples that were sent along with her headed into the same hall they had arrived in. Except for Liu Qiang, who had not arrived yet.
Around her, around a hundred outer disciples were sitting on cushions.
Finally, Liu Qiang arrived, his face scrunched over as he clutched his stomach.
"Urgh... I really shouldn't have finished all of that." he groaned.
"Are you okay?" Xiuying looked concerned. "You shouldn't force yourself to eat if you're full."
Back in the cafeteria, all of them had finished their food, but Liu Qiang was still eating. She asked him if he needed their help to finish his food, but afraid of losing face, he said he would be fine and that they could head off first.
"You did a good job finishing all of that." Yingyi nodded as if he were impressed, but he was clearly suppressing a laugh.
"I just don't like wasting food." Liu Qiang said.
Mei felt a bit bad about it. Plus, coming from a poor family, she could understand his urge to not leave even a single grain of rice on the plate.
"I'll take less food for you next time."
"No need. I think I'll get food myself next time." Liu Qiang declined hurriedly.
Wang Wei was watching with a smirk the entire time.
"Stop that!" Liu Qiang grimaced. "It's not funny."
At that moment the hall quietened. The old man had entered, walking in with a carefree gait.
All the disciples stood up, bowing to him. Mei and her acquaintances followed suit.
"Sit down, everyone," he said.
The disciples complied.
"Ahem. Good, good." he nodded. "Before the lecture, I would like to introduce some of your new sectmates. I picked them out personally yesterday! Mei Xiu, Xiuying, Wang Wei, Liu Qiang and Yingyi, stand up, please."
The disciples all stood up, making sound echo throughout the hall.
"Everyone, give them a warm welcome!"
Most of the disciples gave half-hearted clapping, though a few people clapped very enthusiastically.
"As customary, I will give a brief introduction of our sect. Our sect is a virtuous sect, following heaven's path. Our sect's name is Virtue, by the way." he said. "Yes, I am a genius at coming up with names, I know."
Wait... was that old man the sect leader or something? He came up with the sect's name? Mei felt a sense of disbelief.
"You're the sect leader?" Wang Wei blurted out. "No way!"
The old man laughed.
"Indeed. Now, back to the introduction," he said. "In this world, there are three main categories when it comes to sect alignment. Virtuous, Neutral and Evil. I know some of you so called 'geniuses' are going to think something about morality being subjective, but this is based on heaven's guidelines."
So kidnapping is okay based on heaven's guidelines?
"Virtuous cultivators should aim to minimise misdoings, helping others if possible. Neutral cultivators don't do heinous things all the time, but they might steal or even murder if they have to. They are the most common type of cultivator in most of the worlds."
"As for evil cultivators, they often practice forbidden cultivation techniques that require taking many lives. Some of the more powerful ones might even kill millions!"
Disgust crept into his expression.
"It's also possible that they practice normal cultivation techniques, but what type of sick person would kill so many innocents if not for the sake of power? Heaven does not take kindly to evil cultivators and will smite them with the most devastating tribulations."
"And as for us, virtuous cultivators." he paused. "Oh, if you don't wish to be one, you can just walk outside of the hall now."
Naturally, Mei and the others didn't head out. Even if they didn't want to be, could they just give up their chance to cultivate like that?
"I was kidding." he said, after realising no one laughed.
Wang Wei raised his hand.
"Yes?"
"In the first place, how do you even know you're picking good people? What if some of the disciples turn out to be evil?"
Mei thought that was a pretty reasonable question. Perhaps he could gauge people by some kind of aura? From xianxia she read, evil people tend to have a lot of 'killing intent'. Maybe there was an equivalent for people who were inherently good?
"Instinct."
Mei was speechless.
"Just like that?" Wang Wei asked. "You're not basing it on anything concrete!"
"Well, sure, we do get a few bad eggs here and there." the sect master shrugged. "But I think I've got a pretty good eye for people in general."
"As for us virtuous cultivators, the heavens will be much lighter with tribulations. If your karma is good enough, you won't even face any tribulations at all. I've heard some of the most virtuous cultivators have even received heavenly gifts after advancing to the next realm.
Mei raised her hand.
"But don't some cultivators use tribulations to temper their bodies?"
"Oh, that's just nonsense from novels mortals write. Tribulations are heaven's punishment, after all. Why would they let cultivators benefit from it?"
Chapter 5. Qiao Shun
After the brief introduction, most of the lecture was just about the basics of cultivation.
Mei was interested at first but started to get bored after a while. Still, she tried her best to focus. Cultivation had always been her dream, after all.
"Alright, you are dismissed. As for the new disciples, meet me outside the hall."
The disciples bowed respectfully and slowly streamed out of the hall. Mei and her group met up with the old man outside.
The old man handed each of them a coin and a pamphlet. The token was made of white metal and had 天 on one side, and a picture of a grandiose building rising out of clouds on the other side.
"I know you might be concerned about going home, but don't worry. I put a few markers where I found you all. In a few days when it's ready, you can head to the teleportation array if you want to visit your parents and friends."
Mei felt a bit of relief.
"As for the pamphlet, there's a list of all the dao courses we offer."
"Ooooo."
Mei and the other disciples showed interest.
"Well, I recommend focusing on a non-combat route. A lot of youngsters think combat is the most important part of cultivation, but that won't make you money unless you're planning to be a bandit or a bodyguard."
"But- but sometimes, there are bad cultivators, right? Don't we still need to learn combat techniques?" Mei asked, a bit concerned. She really didn't want to re-enact the monk novel.
"I didn't say you don't need to learn combat techniques." the sect leader shook his head. "But the main path you focus on shouldn't be combat."
Mei pouted.
"I thought girls don't like fighting and stuff?" Liu Qiang said.
"Maybe she read too much xianxia." Yingyi snickered.
"Shut up," she grumbled.
"Ahem." the old man coughed. "Anyway, tell me which ones you're interested in and I'll give you some insight on it."
Mei looked through the list enthusiastically.
Horticulture, smithing, beasts taming, sewing, cooking... even carpentry.
The list was fairly long, but Mei wasn't really interested in any of them.
As she glossed across the list, the words 'array making' caught her eye. Her eyes lit up.
In some books she read, the main characters fought amazingly with arrays!
"I want to be an array master!" she said.
Wang Wei suddenly looked up, interested as well.
The old man looked exasperated.
"Just so you know, most arrays aren't even used for combat. And unless you're inhumanly good, there's no way you can set up one mid-combat. And because of the difficulty, most people don't advance that far in array making."
But from the look in her eyes, that didn't seem to discourage her at all. Wang Wei, however, seemed to lose interest and went back to looking at the list.
"You also won't get consistent pay because it's not very often someone needs a formation set up for them. Plus, they'd probably hire better people for it. You should probably pick horticulture or alchemy."
"I still want to give it a try." she insisted.
The old man sighed.
In the end, Liu Qiang decided to go with smithing, while Wang Wei and Yingyi decided on alchemy. Xiuying went for horticulture, much to Mei's surprise. Wasn't that basically just a nicer label for 'farming'?
"When you've decided on what dao you want to try out, you can look for a sect elder to teach you. If you don't know where they teach, just flip to the map page."
The disciples waved to each other before heading in different directions, except for Wang Wei and Yingyi.
Mei stood before a surprisingly simple building. It was basically just a white block with windows. Right now, according to the pamphlet, it wasn't class time, so she could talk to the elder, Qiao Shun.
She reached out and pressed the formation on the wall. A little ball of golden flame flew out.
"Hello! What are you here for?" it cheerfully said in a childish voice. "I am Xiao Huo!"
Mei had read in the pamphlet that this would happen, but she was still surprised.
"I'm here to learn how to make arrays! Is Qiao Shun here?"
"Oh! By the way, you should call him master, not by name." the flame flickered. "I'll go fetch him!"
It sank back into the formation.
Shouldn't that be after she actually became his disciple? Well, whatever.
Soon, a man who looked around his thirties came out, which surprised her. Mei figured he was probably actually a few hundred since cultivation slowed ageing. The little flame excitedly spun in circles around him, almost like a hyperactive kid.
"You are here to learn about formations?" he asked.
"Uh... isn't that the same thing as arrays?" she asked. "I mean, yes, master!"
Qiao Shun laughed dryly.
"They're pretty similar, but people usually call bigger formations arrays. You won't be making any formations big enough to be considered arrays as a beginner."
"Oh."
"I'll need to assess your meridians. Give me your hand."
"Uh, okay."
The man grabbed her hand and held it tightly, making her slightly nervous. She felt a strange energy flow throughout her.
"What happened to your meridians?" he asked, frowning.
Mei gave him a brief explanation based on what she remembered the sect leader said. He pondered for a moment.
"Well, it's not something I've heard much of but if the leader says it, it must be true." Qiao Shun said. "In any case, don't think you're going to have an easy time with formations."
"Ehh? Why?"
"Formation masters need a very keen sense of qi flow. And more often than not, they need to have a good balance of elemental affinities to make good formations."
"And?"
"Because your meridians are heavily damaged, it's very unlikely that you can sense or control qi precisely. With so much damage, it's unlikely you'd be able to control all elements precisely either. I don't have a way to test what your control of elemental affinities actually are, but most likely-"
"You don't know then?"
"I don't have a direct way to test it, but what I said is the most likely-"
"I still want to try it then!"
Qiao Shun looked extremely annoyed.
"It's better to know when to quit."
Then, he shut the door. Mei was really angry but she continued to sit outside.
From books she read, sometimes the main characters would do that until they were accepted as a disciple!
Chapter 6. Affinities
How long had it been? An hour?
Mei was bored out of her mind. And of course, she suddenly had the urge to go to the bathroom. Perfect timing. And maybe she was a bit hungry and thirsty.
She would really like to just run off and come back later, but now that she had committed herself to this farce, she forced herself to stick with it.
After all, she was trying to mimic the 'persistent' and 'determined' attitude of the main characters in the books she read! If she just left, that would ruin the impression she was trying to give.
A part of her felt like she was being really, really stupid right now.
From the distance she saw a few disciples approaching, making her put on a poker face immediately. A 'brilliant' idea came to mind.
If she cultivated while sitting here, not only would it be less boring and easier to distract herself from the bathroom problem, maybe the students that were heading in for class would take notice of her 'diligence' and share that with Qiao Shun!
So she started to cultivate for the first time, based on what she was taught in the lecture earlier.
It would make her the last of all the new disciples to start cultivating for the first time.
As this was near an elder's residence, the plentiful qi was made it a lot easier.
Mei started the process of trying to open all her meridians. According to the sect leader, this was a very important first step to cultivation.
With the help of the pill Li Jie forcefully fed to them, some of their meridians had already been forcefully opened. For her case, the ones that had been opened were mostly on her back and abdomen. What she needed to do was to circulate qi within herself and attempt to open the other closed ones.
She slowly absorbed and circulated the energy, feeling very comfortable at first. But she realised that letting the qi flow in certain spots hurt or itched really badly. It was enough to make her wince.
She decided to take a break after a while, finally realising a young boy was drawing a circle around her. She had closed her eyes to focus earlier.
"Um, what are you doing?" she asked.
"Your grunts are very noisy. Master told me to draw a silencing formation around you," he said.
The formation started glowing as he embedded spirit stones in the ground.
Mei felt very embarrassed. She didn't even realise she was making painful sounds.
But at the same she also felt Qiao Shun was the one at fault. If he didn't like noise, why didn't he soundproof the building? If a little boy could make a soundproofing formation, shouldn't he be able to soundproof the entire building himself?
Qiao Shun had in fact only sound-proofed the building to not let sound out, as he didn't want anyone to leech off his lessons. But he set it up in a way so that noise from outside could still be heard, in case anything happened outside.
"Is that all he said about me?" she asked.
The boy put a hand to his left ear.
"Sorry, can't hear you! The formation is already active." he grinned. "Have fun!"
Mei really wanted to smack him.
She thought of going back to cultivating, but she didn't really feel like it anymore.
Eventually, she couldn't take it any longer and hobbled to the nearest bathroom. She drank some water from a nearby drinking fountain of sorts while she was at it. The water was very cool and refreshing, making her feel a lot better.
She returned to sit outside the building again, dejected.
Soon, lessons were dismissed. The students headed out orderly.
"Oh, you came back! I thought you gave up." the same boy said.
His friends laughed.
Mei's urge to smack him grew.
As the disciples disappeared into the distance, finally, Qiao Shun himself came out. He looked at her and sighed.
"You're just wasting your time doing this. Come on, I'll show you how talentless you are at formations."
"Talentless! Talentless!" Xiao Huo repeated enthusiastically.
Ignoring the annoying spirit, Mei was filled with elation. Her (stupid) plan actually worked!
"Thank you, master!" she said.
Granted, it was out of pity rather than him being impressed by her 'determination' as she intended, but results were results.
"I wouldn't have bothered, but since you cultivated a bit, it should now be possible to test your elemental affinities," he said.
He gestured for her to follow.
She was led into a dark room with several orbs embedded in the walls. In the middle, there was a formation that glowed gently, barely enough to grant visibility.
"Focus your qi into each of them. I will give you an energy pill if you run out," he said, handing her a white pill.
She ate the pill and tried her best to insert her qi into each of them. Most of them barely lit up, giving off dim colours, but a blue one and green one lit up brightly.
Qiao Shun nodded.
"Almost no affinity with any element but water and wood. Grade 5 talent in wood, grade 3 in water."
"Water is scary!" Xiao Huo shuddered.
"No big surprise, considering how your meridians were corroded by plants." he continued. "Realistically, you will only be able to make formations for plant growth."
Mei was horrified. Just when she thought she could become a cultivator, the 'curse of farming' had to get her!
For some reason, she imagined an old lady in peasant garbs whispering to her: "Once a peasant, always a peasant.". She imagined swatting the old lady away.
"Oh..." she said.
"It's not that bad." Qiao Shun consoled. "Spirit herb farming is very profitable. Plus, grade 5 elemental affinity is decent. Even if it is wood."
"I don't want to go back to farming... it sucks," she mumbled.
"Up to you. By the way, the pill from earlier isn't free. You owe me 2 jade now. That's the currency our sect uses, by the way."
"Ehh?! But..."
"I don't like to give away things for free. You can return the money to me later when you've earned some."
Stingy bastard, Mei cursed to herself, figuring he probably had enough money to buy millions of those.
She grumpily bid him farewell and left.
Chapter 7. How It Went
"What's wrong, Mei Xiu? You look grumpy today." Xiuying asked.
"Nothing," Mei replied.
Yingyi took a closer look at her. Mei averted her eyes.
"Really? She looks just as grumpy as ever," he said.
Like yesterday, they were at having breakfast at the cafeteria. Liu Qiang ignored them, stuffing his face as usual.
"Oh..." Xiuying said.
In the end, they didn't end up talking much. Eventually, Xiuying tried to say something to break the ice.
"I was a bit nervous yesterday when I looked for the elder, but I was pleasantly surprised. The elder was a nice lady who was very supportive! The other disciples were very nice too and even gave me some spirit fruits as a welcoming gift."
She reached into her bag and took out some strange glowing yellow fruits around the size of apples. They were almost perfectly round and smooth apart from the attached stems.
Yeah, that's nice, Mei grumbled internally. The elder she met was enough of an ass to charge her money for pills, and Xiuying gets awesome free stuff? Maybe she should try horticulture after all.
"Whoaaa! They look awesome!" Liu Qiang exclaimed. "Can-can I have one?"
He turned to Xiuying with puppy eyes.
Mei thought he should have some dignity.
Xiuying laughed nervously. She was slightly weirded out by his reaction.
"Yeah, that was the intention. I bought them here to share with you guys."
"Thanks!" Liu Qiang grabbed a fruit and immediately took a huge bite out of it.
He had a look of bliss on his face.
"So good!"
Seeing the boy ravenously eat the fruit, Yingyi shook his head.
"Liu Qiang, we should have some dignity as cultivators."
"Shut up," grumbled Liu Qiang. "We've barely even started cultivating and you already want to act like a cultivator? And who says cultivators have to be super refined?"
Mei picked up one of the fruits and examined it, not paying much attention to them.
"Well, it doesn't hurt to start now." he shrugged. "Oh, speaking of which, Mei Xiu, you really need to take a shower!"
"Huh?" she snapped out of it.
"Maybe it's fine if you're still a peasant, but you stick out like a sore thumb like that! People are staring at you!"
The busybodies quickly turned away.
"Aren't girls supposed to like to be clean anyway? You stink! And you look bad covered in grime! Men won't like you like this!"
Mei frowned.
"I'm not trying to impress any guys."
Xiuying coughed.
"Well... in any case, it's true that you should clean up. I've wanted to say it for a bit, but I was worried it might be a bit rude. You'll attract attention in a bad way if you don't." she said. "Soap and plumbing is provided for free anyway, so why not?"
"Eh? They have soap?" Mei was shocked.
Wasn't that stuff pretty expensive?
"Did you not go into the toilet or something? Didn't you see those bottles clearly labelled soap?" said Yingyi.
Mei did, in fact, go into the toilet but she was not paying attention. She was busy being impressed by how the toilet was not just a hole in the ground.
"Alright, fine..."
"Oh yeah, how did meeting an elder go for you guys?" Xiuying asked.
Mei tensed up.
Seeing that, Xiuying quickly added, "You don't have to share it if it's not pleasant...".
"I'll start." said Yingyi.
"I went with Wang Wei and met Qian Feng, one of the alchemy elders. He was very strict, but I liked his no-nonsense attitude. He's a really good teacher and I felt like I've learnt a lot listening to him." he said. "But, Wang Wei... he makes me really frustrated."
"What did he do?" Mei asked, curious.
"Apparently, he's crazy talented at alchemy! The elder said he had really good control over his qi, which is very important in alchemy. I would have been fine with it, but of course he had to be super smug about it and kept bragging! Urgh..."
Mei was speechless.
"What about you, Liu Qiang?" Yingyi turned to him.
"Huh? Oh." the chubby boy looked away. "Well... The elder told me I needed to lose weight. He told me I should stop eating normal food and eat fasting pills instead! He even gave me a book on fitness training! How am I supposed to live like that?"
Yingyi roared with laughter, making Liu Qiang glare at him.
Mei knew it was wrong, but she felt a lot better after realising she wasn't the only one rejected.
"That's right, stop eating so much, fatty!"
"Hmph."
"Don't be rude." Xiuying frowned.
"I'm just messing with him." Yingyi grinned.
Finally, they turned to Mei. Reluctantly, she spoke up.
"The elder said I had no talent with formations and charged me money for a pill he made me eat."
"Well, to be fair, the sect leader did say most people aren't good with formations. No surprise there," said Yingyi.
She supposed he was correct but was still annoyed.
"He still didn't have to charge me for that pill. Why is he so stingy as a good sect's elder anyway?"
After a bit more talking, they headed to the hall for their lecture.
"Alright, you are dismissed. Mei Xiu, please meet me outside the hall." the sect leader finished.
Mei was alarmed. Did Qiao Shun say something bad about her?
The disciples bowed as usual and left orderly. Xiuying gave her a reassuring thumbs-up as she walked off.
As she head outside to meet the sect leader, she felt rather nervous.
"Don't worry, you're not here to be punished."
Mei felt relived.
"As long as you didn't do anything wrong, there's no need to be worried about being punished. Unless you actually did?" the old man grinned.
She hurried shook her head.
"Kidding, kidding." he laughed. "Now, serious talk. I'm meeting you today to help you with your meridian issue."
He handed her a notebook with 'Mei Xiu' written neatly on the cover.
"When you tried to cultivate, you had some difficulties, right?"
"Yeah?"
"Back then, I took note of which parts were damaged and spent quite some time coming up with a cultivation method that works for you. Treasure it, alright?" he smiled.
Mei was stunned.
"Oh, thank you..."
She didn't really feel like she did anything to deserve the sect leader spending time to help her come up with a technique. Well, he was a pretty unusual one anyway, spending his time giving lectures to outer disciples.
"Don't worry too much about it. It's not like I have much else to do with my free time anyway since the elders handle most of the sect affairs," he said. "I like to teach anyway, which was why I founded this sect."
For a moment, Mei thought she saw a distant look in his eyes, perhaps with a hint of sadness mixed in. But as quickly as she thought she saw it, it was gone. She figured it was probably her imagination.
Chapter 8. Reaching Qi Gathering
Two days later...
As she circulated her inner qi, finally, she felt her last meridian open. She laid on the ground, exhausted.
The sect leader's technique was effective indeed! She didn't feel any pain in the process. In fact, she could swear her damaged meridians were even starting to heal, somewhat.
"Finally..." she grumbled.
Honestly, though, it was very, very boring. Mei would probably have been able to advance to the Qi Gathering stage by yesterday if she didn't procrastinate so much. Or even on the same day she got the technique if she pulled an all-nighter.
From the looks of the sunrise outside her window, it was probably around 7 in the morning. Just in time to go for breakfast.
Reaching for the comb beside her table, she haphazardly gave her hair a few quick combs.
Yesterday, after she finally showered, Xiuying suggested she should comb her hair every morning too.
She headed down the stairs, through a few corridors and into the cafeteria. Apparently, Liu Qiang wasn't up yet because only Xiuying and Yingyi were there.
"Hey, you're up early today!" Yingyi waved.
"Good morning! You look like you're in a good mood. Had a good sleep?" Xiuying smiled.
"I slept okay." she put on a confident face. "And by the way, I finally reached Qi Gathering today!"
She didn't really think she was the bragging type but she was rather proud of that. She couldn't wait to see the look on their faces.
"Oh. Congrats?" Xiuying looked unsure for some reason.
Yingyi, however, had a cocky look on his face.
"Hah! I already reached Qi Gathering 3 days ago!" he smirked.
"Ehhh?" Mei was stunned.
She came here because she wanted to show off for a bit, not to feel inadequate! And judging on the look on Xiuying's face... no way...
"Xiuying, you too?" she asked weakly.
Xiuying looked slightly panicked, unsure of what to say.
"Uh, well... you don't need to feel bad! It must be hard to cultivate with damaged meridians.
"Oh." Mei's face was blank.
"I heard Wang Wei is already at the peak of Qi Gathering too," Yingyi added.
Xiuying leaned towards his ear and whispered.
"Yingyi, you shouldn't make her feel worse."
Mei made up her mind. After the lecture today, she was going to cultivate diligently for the rest of the day and catch up with them!
So what was she doing reading the Monk novel now, at 1:00 in the afternoon? It wasn't even as if she liked it much.
Mei knew she really shouldn't be procrastinating like that. Ah, why did cultivation have to be so boring? She threw the book across the room then half-heartedly kicked the mattress beside her bed.
As the book flipped through the air, a magical barrier materialised around it and absorbed the impact before letting it hit the ground.
Maybe she could spend this time to finally find an elder to teach her, she thought. But thinking of what happened with Qiao Shun, she decided she'd do that another time.
Hmm... didn't the sect leader say once they reached Qi Gathering, the sect would allow disciples to do tasks for some jade?
Yes! She'll do that instead. She has done enough cultivation for today already, no? Doing some tasks now would be perfect. In fact, she might even be able to buy some pills to help her cultivation with the money she makes!
Having successfully deflected all logical reason to continue cultivating, she triumphantly exited her room and ran off.
Right now, most disciples were cultivating diligently, so there weren't a lot of people walking around. Because of that, she decided to grab an additional snack from the cafeteria before heading off. For someone who mostly ate plain porridge to cut costs, the food here was just heavenly in comparison.
Happily munching on a huge vegetable bun, she headed off to the task pavillon.
There was a really long line of disciples, which was unsurprising, considering it was the main source of income for most of them.
Mei was really glad she bought a snack along.
But just as she was about to get in line, she spotted Wang Wei.
Perfect. Her mom had a habit of getting her to substitute in queues before coming back later to join her spot. Mei apparently picked up on that.
"Wang Wei! You're here?"
"Huh?" he turned around. "Oh, Mei Xiu. You're here for a task too? You can join me if you want."
He stepped back and made room for her. Mei was relieved she didn't have to explain it to him. That would have been really awkward.
As Wang Wei was already fairly close, it didn't take long for their turn to enter the building.
Inside, there were many boards lining the walls, tons of people crowded around them and chatting. There were stairways that led higher to more of those boards too. After looking a bit closer, she realised they were displaying images and words, leaving her amazed. Magic was so convenient!
Honestly, she felt like this might be kind of overkill just for outer disciples. But then again, they provided a lot of amenities that weren't necessary. It was definitely a lot better than the conditions for outer disciples in most novels she had read. Mei couldn't help but wonder how much better the conditions would be for inner and core disciples.
Little spirits were flying around, helping confused people. Seeing them enter, a spirit to flew over to them. It was vibrant blue and floated peacefully in the air. Very different from Xiao Huo, who practically bounced all over the place while flying around.
"Hello, I am Tian Lan. Do you need any help?" it asked.
"I know how to use those things but she might not, so explain it to her." Wang Wei said.
Mei was slightly annoyed by that.
"Alright, follow me to an available interface." the spirit bobbed.
They followed it to an available board, the people who were using it just heading off. Mei saw the screen change to display the outline of a hand.
"Put your hand on the screen," it said.
Well, that was obvious enough. Mei touched it. The smooth wood was cool to the touch.
[Mei Xiu identified]
[Please tap again if there are no other group members.]
"If you are in a group, all members should touch the interface one by one. The sect places identification seals on all disciples." Tian Lan explained.
"Um... on second thought, maybe we don't need your help?" Mei said. "It seems to be obvious enough."
She didn't really feel like she needed someone to explain the obvious. Plus, if she was stumped, Wang Wei should be able to help.
"Suit yourself." the spirit floated away.
Mei wondered if it was a little upset by that.
Chapter 9. Cooking
"What type of task are we going to do?" Mei asked, finishing the rest of her vegetable bun.
Wang Wei clearly had experience, so she figured she'd just do whatever he was planning to.
"Oh, I was planning to do the herb picking one. My master said that picking out the aura of herbs is good for practising identification," he said. "And plus I need herbs for pill making anyway."
As he said that, he scrolled through the list of tasks.
Herb picking... it really did feel like one of those 'classic' starting tasks in those books.
"Huh?" Wang Wei said. "Hey! I need help!"
Mei turned over to see what was the matter but couldn't tell.
A few spirits flew close by and seemed to discuss something for a bit. Finally, the blue one from earlier, Tian Lan floated over.
"The herb picking quest isn't here! Is there some problem with this thing?" Wang Wei looked upset.
Mei felt like he might be overreacting a bit.
The spirit flickered, somehow seeming annoyed.
"The herb task is out because too many people took it. Come back next month."
"What! Next month?" Wang Wei shouted. "It's a mountain! Why is there a limit for people going to pick herbs?"
"The sect has imposed a limit because when too many people take stuff from the mountain, it can damage the ecosystem. Please come back again next month or try a different task."
Wang Wei puffed his cheeks but didn't say anymore.
What the spirit said made a lot of sense though. Mei didn't even consider that could happen.
"I'm going back." Wang Wei stomped away. "Bye."
"Wait, you're not going to do anything else?" Mei asked. "There are still quite a few other tasks.
"No."
Seeing him get further and further away, she was speechless. Oh well.
"Since he's leaving, tap this to remove him from your group." Tian Lan said, guiding her to press a button.
"Uh, thanks?"
After the spirit floated away, she started looking through the board.
Cleaning the hall, sorting the library books, helping the chef chop vegetables... the list went on.
All these were nothing but chores! No wonder Wang Wei left, thought Mei. Nobles were too stuck up to do chores.
Mei really didn't like chores much, but two of them seemed alright to her. Chopping firewood or vegetables. 3 jade every 2 hours for the firewood one and 2 jade every hour for the cooking one for some reason.
She felt a bit of relief. Previously, she was afraid the pill might be expensive, but it seemed like it was just 1 hour of work.
Mei felt a bit of excitement as she tapped the staff door on the kitchen. What sort of crazy ways of cooking would cultivation add?
She headed in.
Rows of cooking equipment were hung on the wall, ingredients put neatly in bamboo baskets. Many disciples were hard at work chopping vegetables at the tables, wearing some kind of weird hat that covered their hair.
"Put on a hat and get to work!" a gruff voice said. "Extra pay if you do good, less if you don't!"
Oh, that must be the chef. Mei looked to the source of the voice. A giant octopus floating in the air?!
He was very busy, each limb tending to various pots, woks and pans. The aroma of delicious food filled the air as he cooked with incredible efficiency.
The chef... was an octopus? She thought he was sweating for a moment, then realised it was just a thin layer of water encasing his mottled grey skin.
For a moment she wondered how he would taste but quickly shook off the thought. Then she wondered if he had ever cooked any dishes with octopus or squid.
"What are you doing dawdling around? Get to work!" the octopus yelled.
Hurriedly, she put on one of those weird hats before looking around for a table. Next to one of the empty ones, she saw Xiuying chopping diligently, surprising her. What were the chances?
Heading over, she grabbed a random leafy vegetable she couldn't recognise and started chopping. The knife was unexpectedly sharp, cutting through the entire thing as if it were made of butter.
"Oh, hi Mei Xiu," Xiuying whispered.
"Hi. What are you doing here?" Mei whispered back.
She thought Xiuying would be diligently cultivating or something.
"Uh, to make some money?" Xiuying said. "Also I guess I was hoping to see how the chef made the food so good, but it's not easy to see from here."
"You like to cook?" Mei asked.
"Somewhat. Back at home, I cook for my family, so I figured it would be nice to surprise them with better cooking."
How considerate. Mei figured she wouldn't care that much if it was her.
Xiuying chopped the vegetables very neatly and quickly, impressing Mei a lot. She was a bit too scared and cut slowly because of how crazy sharp the knife was.
It was almost scary. If she let go of the knife, it would probably cut through even potatoes and carrots from falling alone. She was sure the knife could slice through her fingers as easily.
"When you're done cutting the vegetables, just toss them into the respective trays," Xiuying explained. "I don't know how it works, but apparently it sends them to the chef. Also from time to time, he'll tell us what he wants cut."
"Alright, that's enough for today!" the octopus said.
Mei let out a sigh of relief, putting down the scary knife. It had been 3 hours since she started chopping.
She happily received 8 jade from the octopus and slid them into one of her pockets. They were pretty little white jade coins.
Then she realised Xiuying got 12.
"Why did she get more?" she asked, trying not to grumble.
Didn't she manage to cut a lot more veg? After she got over her fear, she started chopping at a decent speed. It helped that she was a lot stronger after the initial cleansing, so she didn't feel tired at all.
"Xiuying may not have been as fast, but she cut the vegetables very neatly. Most of your cuts were acceptable but a amount was either too big or too small." said the chef. "I would have deducted your pay a little if not for how fast you were."
Mei supposed that made sense.
Come to think of it, why was the octopus paying so much attention to all of them if it was busying cooking with all 8 limbs? Weirdo.
The octopus went to the sink and flipped the pots over before pressing a button on the handle. All the grime fell out.
"Whoa! How does that work?" Xiuying was in awe.
"Of all thing you get impressed by that?" the octopus sounded amused. "There's a thin qi barrier over the metal, so things won't stick."
"Where do I get one?"
Saying goodbye to Xiuying who seemed a bit too interested in the pots and pans, Mei decided to head back first.
10. Axe Buddies?
"Good morning everyone," the sect master said, many students before him in the hall. "I've been paying attention to some of you and I've decided to have a change of pace today."
Hearing that the sect master was paying attention to some of them, Mei was jolted from her daydreams. She tried to put on her best "paying attention" look. Hopefully, he didn't mean the ones being lazy with cultivation, like her.
"Normally, we don't teach students this stuff until they reach the foundational stage, but I think I'll make an exception this time since I've heard a lot of students here are having trouble staying motivated cultivating."
Mei started to get a bit of cold sweat.
"Ahem. I will be getting a few combat instructors to teach you some fighting techniques."
Murmurs of approval passed through the hall, along with one cheer that quickly died off after realising no one else was cheering. Mei was a bit stunned but felt a surge of excitment.
Finally, what she was waiting for!
"Remember, it's still only a side thing though! You still have to cultivate if you want to learn stronger techniques." the sect master shook his head. "I will also be hosting a fighting tournament to help motivate you, disciples. If you cultivate diligently and get a good rank, there will be great prizes!"
The disciples cheered. Mei looked around and saw that Liu Qiang and Yingyi seemed quite excited too. The nerve! Didn't Yingyi make fun of her for "reading too much xianxia"? He was just as excited!
Xiuying and Wang Wei didn't seem as interested, however. Xiuying looked quite reluctant, while Wang Wei seemed a bit nervous. Hah... nobles... too protected to have the guts to fight.
Mei ignored the little voice in her head telling her she had never been in a fight either.
"Haha, this will be fun!" Liu Qiang grinned. "I might not look like it, but I've gotten into a lot of fights when I was younger!"
"Is that really something to brag about?" Yingyi asked.
"I'm not bragging. Just saying." said Liu Qiang.
"Hmph, It won't be that easy!" Wang Wei said, albeit still sounding nervous. "We might have the same talent, but you're not as hardworking so you're still at the late stage of qi gathering!"
Mei: ...
"Hah! If you're good at fighting, I'm sure you can bridge a few stage gaps!" Liu Qiang said confidently. "And I can just cultivate more to catch up!"
"Bring it on!"
Mei didn't understand why Wang Wei was trying to pick a fight despite not actually wanting to fight but figured it was just some of weird noble behaviour.
"Disciples!" said the sect master.
The hall quietened.
"If you've discussed enough, let's head off."
Before her eyes, there was a huge temple of sorts. The tiles that made up its roof were a glossy black, the walls painted red, the pillars and windows jade green. It was very pretty.
What was most eye-catching though was the board with the words 武功 carved neatly into it stuck on it. There were also swords, staffs, spears, axes and other weapons attached beside the board.
Could those secretly be very powerful weapons hidden there? But judging from everything else in the sect thus far, they were most likely just wooden decorations. But that wasn't very fun so Mei decided to just pretend they were real weapons.
"Go to the rooms with the weapons you're interested in and try them out there." the sect master said. "The instructors won't be teaching you yet today, but you can pick one you like and bring it back to your dorms. Have fun!"
Wasn't that kind of dangerous? But then again, most cultivators probably had a few weapons in their storage ring at all times, she supposed.
"What weapon are you going with?" Xiuying asked Mei, to her surprise.
"Hmm? Why did you ask me?" said Mei.
"Well... you're the only girl in our group. And you seemed to know more about fighting so I felt more comfortable seeing what you were picking?"
That was fair. Though she had no combat experience either.
"Hmm..." Mei thought for a bit. "Maybe an axe?"
She did have some experience using an axe for chopping firewood. And she heard they were pretty good weapons.
"Uh... an axe... yeah..." Xiuying seemed taken back. "I don't know, just doesn't feel very lady-like?"
"Well, then what weapon would you consider lady-like?" Mei was a bit annoyed.
"I don't know."
There was a bit of awkward silence.
"We should go catch up with the other guys." Xiuying broke the silence as she saw Wang Wei walk into the temple along with the other two.
Mei nodded before following.
"So what weapon are you guys thinking of picking?" Xiuying asked them.
"Sword."
"Sword."
Yingyi and Wang Wei said that at the same time and looked at each other, surprised.
"You know what? Maybe I'll pick something else." Yingyi sounded quite miffed.
Wang Wei ignored him.
"I think I'm going with the axe. Swords are cool and all, but I heard they're more of side weapons than main weapons in real life." Liu Qiang said.
Huh, really? Mei was a bit surprised. Well, maybe cultivation added some new techniques to make them more powerful?
"I guess I'll try the axe then," Yingyi said.
"Wh-what? I'll go with the axe too then." Wang Wei stuttered.
Yingyi clicked his tongue.
"Ah... Mei wanted to go with the axe too..." Xiuying mumbled. "I was actually thinking of either the sword or the spear, but since all of you are going with the axe... I guess I will too."
"You don't really have to, you know?" Liu Qiang said. "Axes aren't the only practical weapon out there. I heard spears and polearms are really good too."
"It's still nice to have the whole group trying out the same weapon! Axe buddies?" said Xiuying.
They walked over to the room with an axe and the character 斧 over it. Mei couldn't help but reach up and try to touch it to see if it was real.
It was unfortunate she wasn't tall enough.
Chapter 11. Change of Mind
Inside the room, disciples wandered around and stared at the axe racks. A rather buff man, who was most likely the elder sat on a chair near one of the walls.
Mei found the large scar running across one of his cheeks rather cool. She wondered how he got it.
As she turned her attention back to the axes, she was slightly dismayed to find most of them were almost identical to the axe stuck above the door, save for handle length or the size of the blade. Should have been expected considering the axe hanging above the door was rather plain anyway.
Mei grabbed a rather long one and swung it around for a bit. The disciples around her gave her a wide berth.
That didn't feel quite right. Mei put it back and headed to rack filled with shorter axes. She fumbled around for a bit before grabbing one of the heavier ones.
She swung it, grinning slightly as she heard the blade cutting through air. The disciples around her gave her a wider berth.
Yup, that was more like it. That was the power she remembered from cutting firewood!
Meanwhile, Xiuying was nervously heading to the elder.
"Uh... Greetings, master!"
"Yes?" he asked with a surprisingly gentle voice, the look on his face softening.
Xiuying felt her anxiety lessen. Maybe he wasn't as scary as she thought.
"I'm not very experienced with axes... or any weapon in general... so I thought someone as experienced as you might be able to recommend a type of axe," she mumbled.
"I see. That's smart of you." he smiled.
"Eh?"
"A lot of times, disciples just pick a weapon on a whim, not considering if it suits them at all! Not many disciples think of asking an elder for help."
Mei snuck a quick glance over. No way he was talking about her, right?
It wasn't just her eavesdropping either, the conversation somehow managed to get the attention of most of the disciples.
"Being so implusive, they might waste weeks, months or even years pursuing a weapon that doesn't fit them. And in the worst case, they might even go about their whole life with a weapon that doesn't reflect their potential."
Mei started to sweat a bit.
The elder then started giving a long speech about what type of fighting styles each weapon fit.
What Mei mostly gathered was: Axes, hammers and maces excel in dealing brutal damage, though axes aren't as good against armoured foes. Sword related weapons were most suited for speedy attacks and don't get caught as easily in terrain. Spears are good for keeping enemies at a distance, but a halberd might be better if the user is willing to sacrifice some speed for damage.
"Keep in mind this is very simplified though. I grouped together some weapons that have very different fighting styles. But in general, I think spears are the best for most cultivators."
"Oh. Thank you!" said Xiuying.
Seeing Xiuying talk, Wang Wei decided to approach him too.
"Why are the axes so varied? Won't fighting with long and short axes have a lot of difference?" he asked.
The elder coughed.
"The sect master said not to waste too many people teaching basics, so he got each elder to teach various forms of each weapon." he shook his head. "A bit irresponsible."
"Well... maybe it can help inexperienced disciples choose?" Xiuying suggested.
"Maybe."
Mei considered asking if the axe she picked suited her, but then decided against it. She felt like it suited her and that was good enough... probably.
"By the way, to any disciples here, feel free to leave and pick a different weapon. The sect master will pay me the same amount regardless so I don't mind teaching fewer disciples."
Mei: ...
For a few moments, no one left, until one brave soul decided to be the first. Almost immediately, a quarter of the disciples headed out orderly, some bowing in respect to the elder on the way. Despite what he said, Mei felt like the elder seemed a bit sad.
Xiuying let out a nervous laugh.
"Is it a bit rude if I leave to try a different weapon?" she asked her group.
"Nah." Yingyi shrugged. "I'm actually thinking of switching to the halberd."
"I'm switching to the hammer." Liu Qiang said.
"Mei, what about you?" Xiuying asked.
"I'm sticking to the axe," she said adamantly.
"Ah... sorry then."
"You don't need to apologise," said Mei.
In the end, Mei was the only one in her group left. She felt a bit lonely for some reason.
"After you've decided on the weapon you really want to use, head to the dummy room with the labelled "一". You disciples will be testing out your weapons in the same room regardless of what weapon you picked." the elder said, as if he picked up on it.
Mei held her axe tightly and headed out. She looked around for a bit and found the room quickly, heading right in. As she walked in, she was slightly taken aback. The room was so big! Hundreds of humanoid straw dummies stood orderly. The roof seemed to be around 20 metres high, which seemed a bit unnessary. Right now, there weren't many disciples yet. Her group hadn't arrived either.
She considered waiting for them but then thought of something. She could use this as a chance to hone her axe skills a bit! Maybe her friends would be impressed.
She swung at full force at a dummy's neck. The straw was easily pierced, but there was a bit more resistance inside. After a few more hacks, the head fell clean off. Apparently, wood made up some sort of 'skeleton' inside them.
Mei was grinning until she realised she might not be supposed to do that.
As she tried to walk off quietly, the dummy bent down and picked up its head, easily putting it back on after a few twists, as if screwing it back on.
Mei was stunned.
She quickly ran back and pushed apart the straw to check on the wood. Where there should have been axe marks was pristine wood without a single scratch.
Inside the spear room, a slender and youthful man with long hair sat. He was the elder in charge of teaching the art of spears and halberds.
He gritted his teeth at the sight before him.
The room was almost completely packed with disciples! They were chattering as well, ruining the quiet atmosphere earlier.
"Those bastards!" he thought to himself. "They must have pushed most of the disciples to me!"
Chapter 12. "Heaven Defying" Dummy
Was the dummy actually sentient, or was that just repair magic?
Fueled by her curiosity, she hacked at the same dummy again. This time, the head went off much faster.
As it bent down to grab its head, Mei snatched off the head and ran off. In the distance, a few disciples watched in amusement.
The dummy chased, but it wasn't very fast. Mei could easily outrun it with her first level body cultivation.
Suddenly, Mei got another idea. She went to work and lopped off the head of another dummy.
Just as it reached down, Mei handed it the head of the other dummy. The dummy accepted it and screwed the head onto its neck, returning to its position.
Moments later, the chasing dummy caught up grabbed the other head and screwed it back on too before leisurely walking back.
So they didn't actually care whose head it was. Staring at the two dummies, she couldn't help but feel like something was wrong for some reason. She continued to stare at the 2nd dummy until something clicked.
Its neck was so short it almost had no neck! Mei had no idea how it took her a few seconds to notice, but now that she realised, she found it rather funny.
Running back, she confirmed the first dummy now had a doubly long neck.
She held back a giggle, looking back and forth at the two altered dummies.
Carefully, she chopped off the head of the first dummy again, this time making sure to leave no neck. The moment the head fell, she rolled it across the room and attacked a different dummy, cutting as close to the base of its neck as possible.
...
There was now a dummy with a towering neck almost half the length of its body. Around it were many dummies with no necks. Mei kept laughing as she stared at them.
"Hey!" someone yelled.
Mei froze, afraid that she was going to be scolded for her mischief. She turned over and saw it came from a group of approaching disciples. Most of them were disciples that had come here earlier than her and were watching, but a few were disciples that had come in while she was having her fun.
"Let us help you!"
Mei's anxiety faded, replaced by a grin.
As Xiuying and the rest of the group came in, they were instantly struck by a majestic sight. A single dummy, looking to pierce the heavens!
The neck was at least 10 metres tall, making the dummy extremely wobbly. As it tried to balance itself, it spun in circles, as if dizzy.
"What...?" she mumbled.
Mei was right at the forefront of it, aiming her axe carefully. The king fell, the head hitting the ground with a thud.
At the side, another disciple held down a headless dummy with a neck. Mei bestowed the 'crown' to it. The dummy accepted it eagerly, screwing the neck on. It put its hands to the ground, disciples helping it up. Somehow, it looked rather proud.
"What... what the heck are you guys doing!" shouted Xiuying. "Don't damage the sect property!"
While Yiying and Liu Qiang laughed uncontrollably, Wang Wei looked flabbergasted.
"Um..." Mei started to sweat.
"I'm sure they can fix this easily!" shouted back the disciple who held back the dummy earlier. "Besides, the dummies are cooperative!"
Xiuying was about to argue when she realised that what he said was true. The stubby dummies were crowding around the 'king' dummy. But as a normal dummy approached from a distance approached by itself, they parted ways for it. They even seemed more enthusiastic than the disciples.
"But still..." she mumbled.
She didn't expect Mei to be so mischievous.
To be honest, Mei felt like it was getting too much at some point and was getting a bit nervous. Her arms were getting sore too. But with so many disciples joining in, she felt pressured to continue. Plus, the blame would probably be divided with so many of them.
"Yang Fei. Don't you thinking it's a bit strange?" the axe elder asked.
The spear elder, a youthful man with long hair looked over.
"Maybe."
He picked up the cup before him and took a sip. It was a small teacup without a handle, only enough to hold two mouthfuls of tea.
Right now, the weapon elders were sitting around a table, drinking tea. From the teapot, steam flowed gently, filling the air with the aroma of spirit tea. As they didn't need to teach today, they decided to all relax.
Near the table was a round bamboo window, looking out towards the square before the temple. Usually, the disciples would have had their fun and start to return to their dorms by now.
Oddly, very few disciples had left, and the ones that did seemed to be in a bit of a hurry. Even stranger was how loud thuds and cheers were coming from the dummy room.
But none of them wanted to be the one to check on the disciples.
"As the youngest elder, maybe you can have a look for us?" the axe elder said with a grin.
"Huh? Why me?"
Yang Fei really didn't want his relaxing tea time interrupted.
"Now now, Xuefang. Why don't we give him some face and have a fair vote instead?" said an elegant woman who looked in her twenties.
Despite her slender frame, she had some muscle to her. She was the elder in charge of swords.
The youthful man let out a sigh of relief.
Reaching into their bags, the elders too out slips of papers and wrote something on them before piling them neatly at the centre of the table.
Glowing characters floated off the page.
"Yang Fei." it read.
The bastards! Of course it would be him.
"So what was the point of that?" he grumbled. "You guys always make me do the work..."
Xuefang laughed.
"It's because we trust you." he got up, patting Yang Fei on the shoulder. "Not everyone can do such good work, let alone at your age."
"I'm 220."
"Yes, very young."
Refilling his teacup, Yang Fei got up. He knew Xuefang wasn't lying about them being impressed by his work, but still, he wished he didn't get pushed around to do more work as the youngest. Other than that, they were very nice though. He thought back about when he was in his first sect, still a young child and shuddered.
Even though it was a neutral sect, the cruelty was unbearable. Disciples would secretly fight over limited resources and the elders didn't care much if the weaker ones died. Over here, the most danger to one's life was probably getting scolded. Ignoring cultivation and spell mishaps.
Immersed in his thoughts, Yang Fei finally reached the room. He drank the rest of his tea and entered.
And immediately spat it out.
"What in the world are you disciples doing?" he shouted. "And you spirits, you should know better!"
The dummies all seemed to panic. Strange glows came from them as they fell apart. Hundreds of little green spirits came out and began disassembling the 'king' dummy whose head almost touched the ceiling. The 'king' seemed to be very against it and struggled.
As she watched the dummies slowly return to normal and go back into position, Mei felt a strong sense of loss. But at the same time, she was relieved. She could barely feel her arms anymore!
Yang Fei sighed.
"Disciples, you may continue testing your weapons, but please refrain from causing trouble. If you've had your fun, return to your dorms."