On the desk in front of her, small cut red stones glittered within their jade coffer. Three hundred red spirit stones. Enough to buy a small, tidy manor in the ruling district of Tonghou, the sort of place a high mortal administrator or army officer might live in their retirement. Ling Qi had handed her this amount for the budget of this project without even pausing to think about it.
She herself used four entire stones a month for her own cultivation. Her daughter judged that she might need to increase that to eight within the year, when she reached this 'middle' stage of the red realm.
It did not bother her as much as it once had, but she still felt her hands tremble a little as she gingerly touched the coffer. She knew it was a trivial amount to her daughter, a bare fraction of the amount used to merely buy feed for her daughter's spirit companion.
"Mama! Look!"
Biyu's cheerful exclamation shook her from her thoughts. She looked up to the corner of the room she had set aside in the office for Biyu while she worked. An inexpensive mat spread over the floor, waxy paper pinned to the walls and a little 'table' much like her own desk. Her daughter liked it, as it allowed her to pretend to be 'working' too.
Biyu was smiling brightly at her, holding up the sheet of thin cut parchment she had been given. The top half was smeared with smudgy blue interrupted by splotches of white and a single yellow spot, the bottom half was green, with smudgy blots of color on either side. In the center was a crude figure of black lines, with two messy squiggles attached to its 'head'.
Ling Qingge glanced at her daughter's pigtails. "Ah, did you enjoy playing in the garden yesterday, Biyu?"
"Mm!" her daughter confirmed. Ling Qingge's gaze strayed to the paint smeared brush lying haphazardly on the tabletop, next to a dribbling stream of spilled paint. It was a masterpiece of craftsmanship. Three hundred stones felt like immense wealth. The paints for her daughter were even more frivolous, but a true immortal talisman of such quality… her former clan had sold its members for far less.
But Ling Qi had been insistent that letting Biyu play with it was the best method for cleaning it. She had not… entirely explained that, only that a child's innocence would wash away the memory of its previous owner. She had sworn it was safe though, and Ling Qingge had not the heart to refuse, even if seeing it grasped in her childs pudgy fist made a part of her want to faint.
"That is very good," Ling Qingge said. "You should put it down and let it dry now though, else the paint will run."
"No!" Biyu said, eyes wide, she turned quickly to put her piece back down in a space clear of stains fresh or dry.
Ling Qingge took a deep breath and stood, taking up the coffer full of stones. She could put this off no longer. "Follow me Biyu. Min Hua will take you to the bath."
Biyu frowned, frowned, hurrying after her, the little smock she wore over her gown when playing with paints flapping. "Can I play splash?"
"I am sure that she will let you play if you are good, and do not struggle during the wash," Ling Qingge said calmly as she opened the door of the study.
"That I will, little one. Were you good for your Mother?"
Her friend, Min Hua, and now Biyu's Nanny stepped forward, and to her credit did not grimace much at the paint stained child. "My it seems you were busy."
"I made a pretty picture for Sis-y! I was quiet too, let Mama think!" Biyu chirped happily, nodding her head.
"Well, I've filled your bath for you little Biyu, why don't we go along. Your Mother has to speak with the others now," the elderly woman said, offering her hand.
"Okay, bye Mama!"
"Goodbye, Biyu, I will see you at dinner," Ling Qingge said kindly. She met Min Hua's eyes.
"All the youngsters are ready, Madam cultivator," the elderly woman said, dipping her head.
Ling Qingge straightened her shoulders, and nodded.
Parting from Min Hua and Biyu, she passed down the hall, toward the manor's sitting room. Entering, she looked over those present. Children and young adults ranging from twelve to twenty or so, what she understood to be prime cultivating age. Mostly girls, a few boys, sons and grandsons at the younger end. All dressed in what passed for the livery of the Ling Clan, lined up and kneeling formally at attention. The elders helped the younger manage anyway. There were twelve in total.
"Welcome," Ling Qingge said. She did not allow her voice to quaver, to these children she was the head of household, and soon their instructor, even if she was only passing on her daughters lessons. "All of you here today have been honored, for Baroness Ling has agreed to open the clan coffers and test you for cultivation. Remember her generosity and show loyalty to the clan, whether you succeed or fail, and the Ling clan will treat you well."
Goodness, how strange her own voice sounded to her ears as she shut the door behind her, and strode to the table set in the center of the room. The furnishings had been dragged away, straw mats placed instead in two rows. Apparently there could be some leakage at awakening, expelled impurities, even if the worst came later. She placed the coffer cradled in her arms upon the table with a click that resounded in the silence, and let them all see the glittering contents. "These are red spirit stones. Each one contains qi, the source of cultivation. To become a cultivator, you must be able to extract the energy within and use it to ignite your own. That will be your first task here."
Curiosity or incomprehension from the youngest. Eagerness, and hope and uncertainty in the middle. A certain desperate hunger in the oldest. It was as expected. She did not know how many would be able to do this. She had tried to research the matter, but what little was available to her was too full of inconsistency to draw any conclusions.
"Do not be discouraged if it does not come immediately. Lady Ling is generous, and has made allowances. You will have one month to try. And will each be provided with one stone each week. Those who succeed at awakening, or show signs of nearing it…"
She paused. There was uncertainty there. "You will be given resources to continue on, until Lady Ling decides your proper training regime. Am I understood?"
"Yes Madam Ling!"
The chorus of answers was a little ragged and unsure, but eager all the same.
"Now, I will call each of you up to get a stone, once everyone has theirs, I will begin instruction. There are to be no interruptions while I am speaking. Save any questions for when I am done," Ling Qingge said. "Now, to begin… Min Leidi, please stand take your stone and select a mat."
The first of the prospects, her friend's granddaughter, rose. She was fourteen, a slim, graceful girl, a little too tall, her features a little too square to be called a beauty, her dull brown hair tied back in a braid. Ling Qingge could see a bit of her grandmother's determination in the set of her jaw.
Ling Qingge wished for her fortune. If only for her friend's sake. She wished it to all of them. Whatever madness lay at the higher realms, there was only benefit in awakening.
