Chapter 3.0 – Uncertain Beginnings
- Location
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[X] Hold on to it.
Chapter 3.0 – Uncertain Beginnings
Solstice 12, 12053
In the end, it took about a week to travel to the Abyssal Spirit Sect, and they had to stop at inns to sleep each night. The sect was many miles northeast of Four Rivers Province, in the southern section of the Plum Forest Province. The province lived up to its name from what Shaohuo saw via the carriage's window as they travelled. Though the southern end of the province was more populated than its northern frontier, it still had far fewer villages than Four Rivers Province, and the landscape consisted almost entirely of rolling hills thick with green trees. And though the season for plum blossoms was almost over, he did see the occasional tree bearing the signature flowers with broad, white petals and pink tufted stamens.
If he was by himself, Shaohuo would have spent time cultivating his Ghost Eyes along the way, but Xiaoli frequently grew bored and drew him into conversation, chatting about books, the sect, or whatever happened to catch her eye along the journey. Perhaps it was better that way since it was nice to have a break from cultivation for a little while and it would have been difficult to concentrate anyway with the bumps on the road that regularly jolted the carriage wheels.
On the third day of travel, Xiaoli finally chose to interrogate him, most likely having forgotten about it until that point.
"What did the Honored Elder mean when he mentioned the Celestial Lavender? My parents said you were reckless?" Xiaoli asked.
He shrugged, looking away rather than meet her gaze. "I was just collecting some more potent spirit herbs to help me cultivate."
She frowned. "So why didn't you bring me along? And the Honored Elder never told me about it."
For a moment, he struggled to think of a good way to put it, but failing, he decided to just say the truth.
"Well, he said it was a bit risky since there could be spirit-beasts nearby. He said I was supposed to do it alone," he said with another shrug, hoping against reason that it'd come across as not a big deal.
"You're telling me he sent you alone on some suicide mission just to get some herbs?" Xiaoli said, her eyebrows nearly meeting as she scowled. "I'm going to talk to him." The words filled him with a sense of impending doom.
"Wait – he actually advised against it, he just told me about it when I asked him." He said quickly. "I needed to do it, even with the risk. Besides, everything turned out fine in the end. I didn't even come across any dangerous spirit-beasts." It was technically true, anyway.
Xiaoli's anger dissipated, slumping in her seat. She sighed, as if at a loss.
"You idiot. What am I going to do with you?"
"Sorry for making you worry," he said, not sure what else to say.
"Next time, I will be going with you, whatever the Honored Elder says," she said, meeting his gaze. "If you can't do that, then you won't get those herbs at all. And if you do it without telling me…" She brought her palm and her fist together with a threatening smack.
"Alright, I will," Shaohuo said, surrendering. There was no use in fighting about it.
"Good. I'm still mad at you though," she said, but she didn't stop him when he changed the subject. To his relief, before an hour was up there seemed to be no ill will left between them.
Finally they arrived at the seaside town closest to the Abyssal Spirit Sect. It seemed to be a prosperous town with well-maintained stone paved roads and an open market that was bustling with traders. No doubt they did good business being the only town in easy reach of the sect, which was located on the nearby island.
The driver brought them to the town's docks, and introduced them to the sailor who would be taking them to the island, a suntanned man wearing a broad conical hat.
"You two are new students, eh?" The sailor said. He flashed his teeth in a wide grin and pushed off of the shore with his paddle, sending the boat rocking into the waves. "The name's Chow."
Shaohuo blinked, surprised by the man's forwardness. Most commoners would be much more deferential when speaking to nobles, though perhaps the man's work had inured him to it.
"Yup!" Xiaoli said, seemingly unperturbed. "We're from Four Rivers Province."
"That's real good for ya. I woulda loved to travel. Never had the talent to join a sect. But this job ain't so bad. I take students both ways, you know, in case you need to come back in the future. I make trips all day round." Chow said, rowing with slow, strong strokes no doubt improved by his physical cultivation.
For all his talk, he had surprisingly high cultivation for a commoner who'd never been to a sect, with his light green aura streaked with yellow. Shaohuo supposed that physical cultivation was useful for his work, but it was also possible that his talent was just barely too low for him to be recruited.
"Thank you. We'll keep that in mind," Shaohuo said, nodding gratefully. With a little bit more physical cultivation he'd be able to swim across without any difficulty, but he'd rather not get his clothes wet.
They drew close to the island, and Chow began rowing the boat toward the small dock that faced the town. Already Shaohuo could see the rows of small houses with curved roofs along the island's width and extending partway up the mountain until the area of human use ended and forests began. Aside from the western portion of the island that faced the nearby town, none of the rest of the island looked inhabited, at least from this distance.
"We're here," the sailor said as they began pulling into the dock. "I think you two have to head to that building over there," Chow pointed to one of the large buildings in the center of the grounds, probably a meeting hall or such.
"Thanks so much! Come on, Shaohuo!" Xiaoli said, jumping from the boat even before it finished lining up with the dock. The sailor chuckled, and Shaohuo shook his head and rushed to follow after her.
It looked like the ground level buildings were monks' homes and administrative buildings, with the student houses higher up on the mountain that made up at least a quarter of the island's area. As he and Xiaoli walked through the streets, none of the handful of sect elders or monks they passed seemed to pay them any mind, simply continuing on with their business. There were also no signs to tell them where to go. Shaohuo suspected that if Chow hadn't told them, they'd never have known which building to go to without asking around.
The assembly hall was almost full when they got there, with most of the chairs occupied, but the podium at the front was still unattended.
Seeing Suyin, Shaohuo waved to her, and she responded with a small wave back. Her blue aura was now streaked with a mix of orange and yellow – she was probably on the verge of breaking through. By this point she'd had almost a year to cultivate. The seats around her were occupied, and he and Xiaoli ended up sitting near the back of the room. Wang Shen was actually sitting two rows in front of him, but hadn't seemed to notice them.
"How long are we just going to be sitting here?" Xiaoli said, crossing her arms.
He shrugged. "It could be a while. People come here from all over the country so it'd be easy for people to get delayed. They'd have to wait until at least most of us are here."
She pouted. After a moment of silence she lost patience and turned to talk to the person sitting next to her, a blue-haired girl wearing green robes embroidered with golden plum blossom patterns. Her aura was a mixture of pink and orange.
"I love your dress! Where did you get it? I'm Li Xiaoli by the way. I'm from Four River Province."
"Thank you! It was a gift." The girl said, beaming wide enough to show teeth. "My name is Yang Mi. My family governs one of the northern counties."
"This is Li Shaohuo, by the way," Xiaoli said, waving her arm in his direction.
"Hello," he said, nodding.
"Hi."
"I can't believe they're just making us wait here like this!" Xiaoli said.
Shaohuo was quickly forgotten once again and he tuned out of the conversation. Looking around, he saw that there were perhaps fifty or sixty students in their year, and it looked like a little over half were nobles, with the commoners sticking out by their plainer robes and generally quieter demeanor. Already there seemed to be a divide, with commoners sitting together in groups and nobles sitting next to one another in their own groups.
One group of noble girls seemed to have everyone turned to look at a single girl with a gold headpiece set in her snow-white hair, the kind of headpiece only royalty wore. He supposed even princes and princesses might want to train at a sect, but he had thought the royal family would have their own instructors for that. In any case, he would have to be careful around her.
Suddenly the room became quiet as students stopped talking, and sure enough when Shaohuo looked, an old woman with gray hair tied into a bun walked into the room and stepped up to the podium. From her blue level of cultivation, she must have been a sect elder.
"Hello, children. Welcome to the Abyssal Spirit Sect," the woman said, her gaze wandering across the crowd. "You can call me Elder Shishi. We all have more important things to be doing, myself included, so I will try to keep this brief."
Chuckles and snorts spread across the room, and he saw Xiaoli nod her head approvingly.
"Here at the Abyssal Spirit Sect you will all learn to cultivate your qi. Cultivation has many uses. In the past, monks and elders at sects like this cultivated to reach spiritual enlightenment and ascend to the Heavens." Elder Shishi smiled wryly. "Of course, times change. These days cultivation is used for combat, and many of you will be joining the military. For that reason, the Abyssal Spirit Sect encourages conflict, to help students grow. But this is only within certain limits. It would not do for the future generations of cultivators to end their careers before they even begin. The first rule is that killing or causing permanent injury is prohibited. The second rule is that no violence is allowed for the first two weeks, so that those who are new to cultivation can learn the basics."
By this point, there was quite a bit of whispering among the groups of students that Shaohuo had identified as commoners. The brutality of life in the sects was an open secret, but he supposed there were many commoners from out in the sticks who had never learned of it. To be honest, the idea had never appealed to him either, and he didn't believe it was truly necessary, but it was something he would have to put up with in order to become stronger.
"The third rule is that you are to limit yourself so you do not cause excessive property damage. Rebuilding houses is very expensive, and you will bear the cost of any damage you cause." Elder Shishi continued. "For the first few weeks, lessons will be available to teach those new to cultivation. After that, each of you will have to earn lessons by either impressing one of the monks or purchasing lessons with sect points. You can earn sect points by completing assignments, which will be posted on the bulletin boards at the administrative office building. You will also be able to earn sect points by having a high class rank. We will be observing you students and your talent over the next few weeks, and will assign you a class rank at the end of the second week. After that, you can go up the rankings by challenging another student to a trial by combat. Group challenges are also allowed so long as the groups are equal in number."
"Each person can only be challenged to one trial by combat each week, and they must be uninjured at the time of the trial. You are not allowed to wear down the strong through numbers alone." Here Elder Shishi's eyes gleamed, as though she found the idea amusing. "One more thing. There are only so many houses, so each of you will have to room with one other person. I should not have to tell you that living with someone of the opposite gender is not allowed. This is a monastery." She cackled, and Shaohuo wondered how someone like her had ended up working at the sect in the first place. "That is all. You are dismissed."
She strode out the room, and the class erupted in noisy chatter.
"Me and Yang Mi will be living together. You should find someone too, Shaohuo!" Xiaoli said, looping her arm in Yang Mi's.
"We are? I mean, sure, alright." Yang Mi said, looking confused.
"Sorry about her. Try not to take her too seriously," he said, feeling sorry for her. But if anything Yang Mi just looked more confused.
"Ugh, stop telling people that, Shaohuo! Come, Yang Mi, let's choose our house before everyone else takes the good ones!" Xiaoli said, but the quirk of her lips betrayed the faux outrage. She pulled Yang Mi along as they left the building. It was a bit amusing how uninhibited she acted even in public without any adults around to monitor her behavior.
He looked around the room, trying to decide who to room with. The only boy he knew was Wang Shen, who was obviously not an option. He could ask around until he found Zhao Jinhai so he could become friends with him as the Honored Elder suggested, they didn't necessarily need to be roommates for that. Of the boys near him, only a few stood out and obviously hadn't paired off yet.By this point, there was quite a bit of whispering among the groups of students that Shaohuo had identified as commoners. The brutality of life in the sects was an open secret, but he supposed there were many commoners from out in the sticks who had never learned of it. To be honest, the idea had never appealed to him either, and he didn't believe it was truly necessary, but it was something he would have to put up with in order to become stronger.
"The third rule is that you are to limit yourself so you do not cause excessive property damage. Rebuilding houses is very expensive, and you will bear the cost of any damage you cause." Elder Shishi continued. "For the first few weeks, lessons will be available to teach those new to cultivation. After that, each of you will have to earn lessons by either impressing one of the monks or purchasing lessons with sect points. You can earn sect points by completing assignments, which will be posted on the bulletin boards at the administrative office building. You will also be able to earn sect points by having a high class rank. We will be observing you students and your talent over the next few weeks, and will assign you a class rank at the end of the second week. After that, you can go up the rankings by challenging another student to a trial by combat. Group challenges are also allowed so long as the groups are equal in number."
"Each person can only be challenged to one trial by combat each week, and they must be uninjured at the time of the trial. You are not allowed to wear down the strong through numbers alone." Here Elder Shishi's eyes gleamed, as though she found the idea amusing. "One more thing. There are only so many houses, so each of you will have to room with one other person. I should not have to tell you that living with someone of the opposite gender is not allowed. This is a monastery." She cackled, and Shaohuo wondered how someone like her had ended up working at the sect in the first place. "That is all. You are dismissed."
She strode out the room, and the class erupted in noisy chatter.
"Me and Yang Mi will be living together. You should find someone too, Shaohuo!" Xiaoli said, looping her arm in Yang Mi's.
"We are? I mean, sure, alright." Yang Mi said, looking confused.
"Sorry about her. Try not to take her too seriously," he said, feeling sorry for her. But if anything Yang Mi just looked more confused.
"Ugh, stop telling people that, Shaohuo! Come, Yang Mi, let's choose our house before everyone else takes the good ones!" Xiaoli said, but the quirk of her lips betrayed the faux outrage. She pulled Yang Mi along as they left the building. It was a bit amusing how uninhibited she acted even in public without any adults around to monitor her behavior.
One was a noble boy with dark hair and a cold gaze. He seemed a bit standoffish, but at the very least he would probably respect Shaohuo's boundaries, and like Suyin he was close to reaching yellow. The boy sitting next to Shaohuo was also a noble. He was short and had brown hair, and seemed nervous as he looked around the room. He seemed a bit shy and his cultivation was nothing impressive since he was still at red, but he would probably be friendly enough. There was another boy, a commoner by the look of him, who was also sitting by himself. Though it was difficult to tell just from appearance, from the way he leaned back in the chair with relaxed confidence, he was holding back because he was waiting for someone to approach him rather than the other way around. He was at orange, surprising for a commoner, and might make for a helpful ally. In the end, Shaohuo just went with his gut instinct.
Who does Shaohuo approach?
[X] The boy with the cold gaze.
[X] The shy boy.
[X] The commoner.
[X] Ask around for Zhao Jinhai.
