The month-long trip from Setria 9 to Dou Can was spent cultivating almost non-stop. Being only at the foundation establishment realm, I was still beholden to my human needs like eating and drinking, but when I wasn’t tending to those needs, I was cultivating. I managed to reach the middle stage of the foundation establishment realm before arriving at Dou Can.
"Attention all passengers, we’ll be landing in Cheng Lian city soon. Thank you again for joining us on this trip and we hope you enjoy the sights and scenery this beautiful city has to offer." The captain said over the intercom.
I prepared my belongings and spent the remainder of the trip in my room imagining what the new city would be like. I looked out the window and found a sprawling city spreading out for miles in each direction. Most buildings in the city were one or two stories tall with the occasional larger building dotting the landscape.
The ship landed in a small port and the passengers all filed out. I walked out onto the gangplank and took in Cheng Lian city for the first time. I walked past the squat buildings and warehouses of the port, the smell of the nearby river and fishmongers assaulting my nose. The smells and sights of the city were so starkly different from those of Setria 9 that I couldn’t help but be in awe.
I wasn’t watching where I was going and accidentally bumped into someone on the street.
"Watch it bumpkin!" The thuggish looking man said to me.
"Watch it yourself baldie!" I shot back at him. He scoffed and continued walking down the road. I walked into a nearby restaurant to get out of the throngs of the street.
"Welcome, welcome!" The cheery voice of a young lady called out from deeper within the restaurant. The smell of cooked meats, vegetables, and fish flooded my nostrils and nearly made me drool.
"Just you today, miss?" A brunette young woman asked, her attire marking her as a serving girl in the restaurant.
I nodded, not able to shake off my stupor from the various sounds and smells of the restaurant. The young girl chuckled and led me to a solitary table in the corner of the room where I was able to escape from the hustle and bustle of the main room of the restaurant.
I looked over the menu quickly and ordered a few dishes from it, the serving girl patiently waiting on me. After I gave my order, I took some time to get a feel of the culture of the city. Most of the guests of the restaurant wore robes of various colors and designs. Some were clearly more expensive than others, but I was glad to see representation from various social strata of the city in the restaurant.
The cacophony of restaurant goers made hearing anything in particular difficult, but my enhanced hearing picked out a particular conversation that piqued my interest and I listened in.
"Are you going to try out for the Blooming Violet Sect again this year?" One man asked his friend.
"I’m not sure, after failing three years in a row, I’m feeling dejected, but this might be my year!" His friend animatedly answered.
"I heard they’re only letting in fifty applicants this year, and the competition is going to be fierce. I’ve heard that even Lian Jia may not be guaranteed to get a spot this year." the first man stated.
The second man, astonished, could barely reply.
"That cultivation genius? The city lord’s daughter may not be guaranteed a spot? That’s unbelievable, what kinds of geniuses are converging on this year’s sect admission competition?" He asked.
"I’ve heard that the forbidden valley’s young master Fuan Ji will be making an appearance as well as ghost valley’s Heng Jian, and the Fire Fist family's ancestor’s grandchild Ban Li. There’s a whole group of young geniuses coming to Cheng Lian city for the Blooming Violet sect entrance test." The first man said.
So, there was a sect entrance test happening soon. I guess that might be fun to join in on. I walked over to the men’s table and sat down next to them. I turned my charm on overdrive and batted my eyelashes at the two men as I spoke.
"Hello gentlemen, I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. Can you tell me more about this Blooming Violet sect and its admission test?" I smiled wide at the pair of them, and I could tell by the looks on their faces I had them hooked.
"Uh... um yeah." the second man said.
"The Blooming Violet Sect has a test every year to accept new applicants into the outer sect. Typically they accept around two hundred applicants each year, but this year, for some reason they’re only accepting fifty applicants."
"What type of tests are there during the admissions test? And what exactly is the Blooming Violet Sect" I asked. The men looked at me confused for a few seconds, so I smiled widely at them which prompted the first man to speak.
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"The Blooming Violet Sect is one of the largest and most prolific sects on this continent. The sect contains many strong cultivators and joining the sect essentially guarantees you have a strong future in the cultivation world on Dou Can. Additionally, those in the sect have access to cultivation areas and resources that normal cultivators can only dream of obtaining. As for the tests, firstly they test the applicant’s spirit root, and they get points based on the level of their spirit root. Next is generally a strength test where the applicant’s physical strength is tested. Next is a treasure hunt where the remaining contestants are ranked based on their ability to find treasures and their luck. The last test is always different each year, but generally involves showing off a technique to display your power." The man said.
"Well that was informative", I thought to myself.
"Thanks boys!" I told the men, giving them a wave as I walked back to my table where my food was waiting for me. I ate with renewed gusto as I pondered my chances of making it into the Blooming Violet Sect. Did I even want to join a sect? The promise of resources and cultivation areas certainly piqued my interest, but being tied down to a sect might not be what I truly want.
I continued walking through the city as I pondered what I truly wanted at the moment. It might be nice to be part of a bigger whole for once. I’ve been alone for a while now after all. It sounded nice, that sense of camaraderie. I was managing to talk myself into joining a sect, wasn’t I?
By the time I had decided to sign up for the sect admission competition I came upon a large crowd of people waiting in line. Everyone was talking animatedly in the line, and I couldn’t help but walk over and ask what was going on.
"Don’t you know?!" The middle-aged man I talked to asked me.
"This is the signup line for the Blooming Violet Sect entrance examination!" he exclaimed.
I looked up the line that seemed to go on for miles and shrugged, I figured since I was here already, I might as well sign up. I made small talk with my neighbors in line for the hour or so it took to reach the front of the line and I managed to sign up for a modest fee. The person accepting the admissions gave me a spiel about only the worthy being accepted but i mostly tuned him out. I was ready to get out of the line and get to an inn to freshen up.
I headed away from the admissions sign up area and made my way through the city to find a suitable inn. Most of the inns I checked along the way didn’t have any available rooms. I made my way to the less affluent section of the city and managed to find a quaint little inn. I walked into the inn and wasn’t surprised to find a bustling tavern filled to the brim with patrons.
As I walked in, a commotion brought my attention to a table not too far from the entrance. The table was small and currently housed a well-dressed young man and what looked to be his entourage, a group of similarly dressed servants. The young man was currently accosting one of the serving girls of the inn.
"You should come to my room tonight woman, I’m going to be a blooming violet sect outer disciple soon after all." He told her with a look in his eyes I remembered all too well from my time in Setria 9.
"I’m sorry, young master, I’m very busy and won’t be able to, good luck with the sect admission competition." The waitress said as she tried to escape from the situation.
One of the attendants to the young man stood up and made his way behind the young waitress, grabbing her by the shoulders.
"I wasn’t asking, young lady." The young man said. I shivered upon hearing that and looked around to the other patrons of the inn. They all seemed to be studiously ignoring what was happening. The proprietor of the inn, a portly man, was cleaning glasses behind the counter, but I could tell from his body language that he was furious.
I sighed and resigned myself to my fate. I walked behind the attendant and grabbed him by the shoulders, using my enhanced body to throw him onto the table from a standing position. All sounds except the crashing and thrashing of the man stopped at that moment. The young man and his attendants were gaping at me.
"Yo-you! Do you have any idea who I am?!" The young man called out from where he now stood, his chair making a loud scraping noise as he stood up quickly.
"No, and I don’t really care. If you’re a cultivator, you should be protecting the weak, not abusing your power." I told him, hands on my hips.
"I’ll have you know, you gorilla-like woman, that I’m the eldest son of the Cian family, Cian Lu. My father will certainly hear about this and have you killed. I’m also going to be accepted into the Blooming Violet Sect soon, so you’ll rue the day you chose to mess with me." Without any further preamble he launched himself at me, wind qi coating his hands. I got into a quick fighting position and deftly guided his thrown punch to the side, punching out without any qi infusing my fist. I hit him in the stomach, and he doubled over, the wind knocked out of him.
I pushed him over onto his side and looked over to the attendants, gauging their relative will to fight. None of them seemed eager to come to the aid of their young master. They seemed content with simply gaping at the exchange in shock.
I motioned to them, and they came over to pick up the young man and dragged him out of the building. The large attendant I had thrown onto the table sneered at me and yelled out from behind them.
"You haven’t heard the last of young master Lu!"
"Okay!" I called back to them. When the group had finally left the building the murmurs of conversation resumed, and I heard some light clapping coming from the young waitress whom I had saved. I blushed at the attention and walked up to the proprietor of the inn.
"Do you happen to have any rooms available sir?" I asked him. He smiled brightly at me and clasped me on the shoulder from over the bar.
"For you, lass, I would shut down the whole dang place and let you stay in it for free." He exclaimed, punctuated by a full-on belly laugh. Some of the other patrons of the inn looked uncomfortable at his words and he waved his hand at them in a dismissive gesture.
"Oh calm down you scaredy cats, I’m not being serious. Yes lass, we have a room available, and I won’t hear nothing about taking your coin." He told me. I smiled at the man and graciously took the proffered room key. I went up to my room and flopped down onto the bed. I felt good about saving the waitress, that’s how cultivators should act in my opinion. My parents always told me stories about brave heroes who protected the weak and obstructed the strong and I yearned to be like them. I fell asleep remembering the stories from my childhood.