Youths all across the Sacred Empire harbored a burning ambition to excel at cultivation and become respected martial experts. This ambition was even grander in the youth of Hundred Fragrance City, a small border city nestled in a far-flung region of the empire. The recently renowned “Firesword” Su Yan was reputed to have been born in Hundred Fragrance City, and this information had stoked the fervor of the cities’ youth towards martial arts.
Sixteen year old Lu Chang was not immune to the enthusiasm, but currently the flames of excitement in him were smothered by a heavy blanket of anxiety. He, along with all the others that had recently turned sixteen, were gathered in the city square, awaiting the chance to awaken their martial spirit and truly become martial artists.
Before one could step on the path of martial arts and start cultivating spiritual energy, a martial spirit was required. For the vast majority this meant waiting until age sixteen when the body was developed enough to support a martial spirit. Lu Chang had heard that the richer clans, and those with inherited spirits, had some way to force the awakening at an earlier age. He had no idea if it were true.
He fidgeted in his place in line, mind spinning with the possibilities. If he awakened a high-tier martial spirit like Su Yan’s Firesword, his future prospects would be limitless. On the other hand, he could awaken a trash-tier spirit and forever be stalled at the lower levels of cultivation. The disparity made him nauseous.
Lu Chang looked up at the Spirit Mosaic in the middle of the plaza. It was currently placid, awaiting the next aspiring martial artist to activate it. Its shimmering tiles portrayed the image of the first Sacred Emperor, but when activated in the awakening ceremony it would break into a kaleidoscope of colors, then settle in an image of the martial spirit of the aspirant.
The next youth walked forward. It was a familiar, if unsightly, figure, Wei Bolin. The boy was the ringleader of the local silkpants, who had nothing better to do than waste their parents’ money and lord their status over those less fortunate. He was staring at the Spirit Mosaic as the shapes and colors whirled hypnotically. Any moment now the mosaic would show a representation of his martial spirit, and the sage on duty, Sage Liu this year, would announce the name and tier of the spirit.
Over the millennia of the empire’s existence, it had seen nearly every martial spirit under the heavens. A copy of the compendium could be found in every city, even those rural villages which had few cultivators.
Lu Chang was shaken from his musing as Wei Bolin’s spirit was revealed. The mosaic shone brilliantly as it settled on the form of a golden python seemingly made of lightning. Sage Liu flipped through his tome, then called out the name of the spirit.
“Lesser Electrifying Python martial spirit. Affinity: Lightning. Tier: Medial Grade Profound Rank.”
The sage’s words caused a storm of whispering and even cheering amongst the crowd, though Lu Chang winced. A medial grade profound rank martial spirit was nearly unheard of in Hundred Fragrance City and Wei Bolin was sure to be even more insufferable now.
Truth be told, even Lu Chang felt the stirrings of envy in him as he watched the boy strut away like a fat peacock. Most of the aspiring martial artists here could only awaken the lowest rank inferior grade mortal rank spirit, or perhaps if they were lucky, a medium or superior grade mortal rank. Profound rank spirits were as rare as precious gems, and the even higher earth and heaven rank spirits were as far from their reach as the heavens themselves. Su Yan’s martial spirit was reputed to be earth rank now.
Beyond the rank of the spirit, the affinity it held was no less important. A martial cultivator would only be able to gather and use spiritual energy of the same affinity as their martial spirit. There were as many affinities as there were types of spiritual energy, that is to say, a nearly endless amount.
Practically though, seven affinities made up the majority of cultivators: the five basic elements of fire, wood, earth, water, and metal, and the two immaterial elements of lightning and wind. The majority of cultivators had one of these affinities. Even among cultivators of the same affinity, there would be differences in their spiritual energy based on the aspects of their martial spirit.
Lu Chang was drawn from his thoughts as he realized it was his turn now. The kind eyes of Sage Liu beckoned him forward until he stood before the Spirit Mosaic. He’d seen it many times, of course, but being in front of it like this gave Lu Chang a much different feeling than before, one heavy in anxiety. The old sage gave him some encouraging words and he nodded in thanks at the man.
“Place your hand on the indent there, young man.”
He knew how to activate the mosaic after having seen so many people do it, but the old sage’s instructions helped calm his nerves. Lu Chang laid his hand in the indent at the bottom of the mosaic, wincing in surprise as the mosaic exploded in color.
The swirling colors and shapes were as hypnotic as ever, and he felt the spiritual energy in his body churning violently. It wasn’t painful outside of a small pinching feeling at the beginning, but the feeling was heady, like the first time his father had allowed him to drink wine with him. He looked down curiously as he could feel the energy collect right below his stomach, in the dantian.
The mosaic started to calm as he looked up. He was entranced as the image of his martial spirit was revealed. It depicted a vast storm of swirling winds and ominous clouds. The image drew him in. Lu Chang felt the violent winds all around him and heard the rumbling of the storm. Standing there gazing at the heart of the storm, he felt as if there were something in there staring back, judging him. He knew not what was doing the judging, but he held the gaze, refusing to fail whatever test it held.
The trance ended abruptly as he heard Sage Liu mumbling while he rifled through his tome. A long moment passed while the old sage turned page after page.
“Is everything alright, Sage Liu?” he chanced a question.
“Hmm? Oh, well, it should be fine. I just can’t find your specific spirit just yet. Not to worry, it is quite a large book after all.”
The old sage chuckled, but Lu Chang was perturbed. The sage had found nearly everyone’s spirit entry in but a moment. People were starting to mutter in the crowd as the waiting stretched on. Eventually the old sage closed the book, a strange look on his face, and announced the words Lu Chang had been waiting to hear.
“Fierce Tempest.. Variant. Affinity: Wind. Tier: Superior Grade Mortal Rank.”
Lu Chang nearly collapsed in relief. Superior grade mortal rank wasn’t as good as he’d hoped, but it was far, far better than he’d feared. He was confused about what a variant was, but quickly put it out of mind. Just as he was about to run home to share the news with his parents, though, Sage Liu stopped him.
“Stay for a moment while I finish up here, young man. I’d like to speak to afterwards.”
He was caught off-guard, but nodded at the old sage. He stepped to the side and impatiently watched the rest of the ceremony, anxious to see what the sage wanted. Eventually, the last aspiring martial artist awakened their spirit and the crowd slowly dispersed. He could hear the old sage sigh heavily in relief as they left. The man put away his tome and beckoned to Lu Chang with a wry smile.
“Well, that’s finally over. Help an old man carry his things back home and we’ll have our discussion over some nice, hot tea, hmm?”
Lu Chang stared blankly at the shameless sage before letting out a sigh and picking up the heavy pack. He followed quickly behind Sage Liu as the man walked to his home in the upper district. Shrugging off the pack outside the door, Lu Chang followed the sage inside. The old man busied himself with making a pot of tea and gestured to a nearby table and chairs.
“Sit, child.”
He rolled his light-green eyes at being called a child, but sat nonetheless. Sage Liu was an important business partner of his father’s, so there was no point in upsetting the man. Lu Chang would feel bad having done so anyway as the old sage had always been kind to him.
He grew fidgety again, waiting for the man to finish brewing the tea. Finally, Sage Liu sat across from him and gently placed the teapot in the middle. Lu Chang was quick to pick up on his intentions and stood up to pour the tea for the both of them. The old sage smiled through his thick beard.
“Ah, it’s always nice to see young people like yourself having good manners.”
Lu Chang nearly snorted, covering the slip up with a long sip of the tea. He didn’t think he was successful, though, as the sage raised an eyebrow at him.
Sage Liu seemed content to sit there and enjoy his tea, while Lu Chang was growing restless. After a long moment, the sage sighed and put the tea aside.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Always so restless Lu Chang, I see you’ve not learned the benefits of patience yet.”
Lu Chang colored in embarrassment as Sage Liu clicked his teeth in disapproval.
“Perhaps we can attribute it to your newly discovered wind affinity. The wind has never been stagnant after all, always blowing.”
The old sage mused. Lu Chang was glad for an excuse this time; Sage Liu’s lectures were fiercer than any martial art.
“That isn’t the reason I asked to speak to you though, Lu Chang. First of all, I have the tome your father wanted my opinions on.”
He handed an ancient tome to Lu Chang, along with a new scroll.
“I’ve included my thoughts in that scroll. It was quite an interesting tome. Thank your father for me.”
Lu Chang nodded and said that he would.
“The other thing I wanted to mention was your martial spirit. I’m sure you noticed that it was difficult for me to find in the compendium. I, in fact, could not find it in the end. Not one that matched all the phenomena displayed by the mosaic at least. I could only find the closest match and declare it a variant martial spirit. What do you know of variant spirits?”
“Nothing, sir.”
Lu Chang admitted his ignorance and the old sage nodded knowingly.
“I thought as much. They are quite rare; I can only remember seeing one other in person before, though the compendium is updated with a new one every few decades. Truth be told, there is no such thing as a variant spirit. They’re just new spirits, but the empire doesn’t like to admit they’ve not seen every spirit under the heavens. Therefore, they become variant spirits.
It’s not much of a secret to learned people, though. All this is to say that I have no idea of the true characteristics of your spirit. It likely won’t be truly comparable to the Fierce Tempest spirit that I labelled it.”
Lu Chang was taken aback. His martial spirit was never seen before? He could scarcely believe it.
“So, what does this mean, Sage Liu?”
“Well, I suppose it doesn’t really mean anything. I’ll send off a report of your spirit to the court, and it will be recorded in the compendium as a variant of the Fierce Tempest spirit. I’d like you to tell me anything you discover about it, though. I’m quite interested in recording a new martial spirit.”
There was another long silence as they drank their tea, and Lu Chang pondered the revelations. He decided that Sage Liu was right, it didn’t really change anything. Seeing that there wasn’t anything left to say, he stood up and excused himself. Sage Liu waved him off, but stopped him just before he walked out the door.
“One last thing, Lu Chang. Of all the ‘variant’ spirits recorded by the empire in the last thousand years, none of them have been tested to be mortal rank in the end. Just something to think on. Go on now. I’m sure your family is waiting.”
Lu Chang walked aimlessly out of the upper district, still contemplating what he’d heard. None of the variant spirits recorded in the last thousand years had been mortal rank. Did that mean his spirit was profound rank? Or higher? His mind was awhirl with the possibilities. Perhaps his father might have some insight.
His feet took him to their home in the lower district. He opened the door to the familiar sight of dozens of scrolls and books scattered about the table where his father, Lu Chen, sat, poring over the documents. His mother, Lu Dongmei, sat just behind his father, playing a soothing melody on her zither.
Lu Chang turned his gaze to the documents his father was scrutinizing. His father was a self-described ‘archeologist.’ He took expeditions to ancient ruins in the search of knowledge from the bygone cultivators. This was common among martial cultivators already, as ancient techniques and scriptures were an incredible boon to any martial artist. His father focused not on those primordial techniques, though, but more on the history of ancient cultivators. He avoided making any enemies that way.
His mother, on the other hand, was an accomplished musician who was always in demand with the richer merchants in the city who wanted to pretend to be cultured.
Lu Chang’s entrance went unnoticed with his parents as immune to the outside world as they always were. He decided to announce his return by dropping the book from Sage Liu in front of his father. The loud bang startled both of his parents from their fugue. Seeing the warmth in their expressions dispelled any irritation he could harbor for the two of them. Despite their tendency to get wrapped up in their passions, they did love him dearly.
His mother stood up to hug him and wipe some sweat from his face.
“Chang’er! Welcome back, how did it go?”
His father grinned up at him from his seat, as if to tell him ‘out with it.’ Lu Chang smiled wryly as he thought about how to explain what happened.
“It went fine. I awakened my spirit, a vast storm, with a wind affinity of course.”
His father had already pulled out his own copy of the empire’s compendium of martial spirits and spoke up.
“Don’t leave us in suspense now. What’s it called, and what rank is it?”
“Well that’s the thing, dad, I don’t know.”
His father looked up from the book in confusion.
“What do you mean you don’t know? Was Sage Liu not there to categorize the spirits?”
Lu Chang cleared his throat.
“No, he was. He, uh, couldn’t find my spirit, though. Called it a variant of the Fierce Tempest.”
The chair clattered to the floor as his father stood up suddenly, his eyes wide in surprise.
“A variant spirit? Do you know what that means?”
Lu Chang and his mother shared a confused look.
“I think so? Sage Liu explained that it isn’t really a variant, but a new spirit.”
“Exactly!” his father exclaimed.
“What a wonderful research opportunity. You must describe in detail what your spirit looks like to me. Oh, if only I had been there to see the mosaic myself. Secondhand details can only be so precise. I suppose it would be too much to ask the mayor to activate the mosaic again so I could get a look?”
His father descended into muttering as he looked through his scrolls and notes. His mother gave him an embarrassed smile.
“Don’t mind your father, Chang’er. You know how he gets. How do you feel about your spirit?”
She led him into the kitchen and busied herself preparing some snacks as they chatted.
“I suppose I really haven’t had enough time to come to grips with it. It’s exciting, though. Sage Liu said there’s a good chance it’s at least profound rank.”
“That’s amazing, Chang’er! I’m happy for you. You’ll do quite well in the younger generation martial tournament this year, then.”
He smiled at the implied faith in his skills before sinking into thought. The tournament would be held in a few months for the newly awakened martial artists of the city. He did have hopes of placing highly in the tournament, but he knew he wasn’t as passionate about martial arts as some of the city’s youth.
He had always professed an interest in cultivating, mostly because his parents had their own passions and he wanted the same. Lu Chang had no idea of his true ambitions, but he did know that they didn’t involve spending the rest of his life in Hundred Fragrance City like his parents.
Shaking himself from his thoughts, he thanked his mother for the food and went to practice his martial arts. He stepped outside and started to drill his stances. He, like most of the other aspiring martial artists in the city, trained from a young age to be ready for his martial spirit awakening. He learned most of what he knew from his father, who was one of the strongest experts in the city with his third realm cultivation. Few other cultivators in the city could boast a similar cultivation.
As he went through the stances, he started to feel his spiritual energy flow through his meridians. When he had a good enough feel for the energy, he sat down to meditate, hoping to feel out the locations of his twelve blocked meridians.
Each new martial cultivator started with the same twelve meridians that were blocked by the impurities of the body. The first realm of martial cultivation, Meridian Opening, was focused on opening these blocked meridians. Each opened meridian increased the spiritual energy available to the cultivator. Only once all twelve of the meridians had been opened could the martial cultivator advance to the next realm of Sea Formation.
The process of opening a blocked meridian was arduous, and painful. The most basic method was to gather the internal spiritual energy and slam it into the blocked meridian, eventually clearing the blockage. Needless to say, each impact could cause internal injuries, so most new cultivators took the opening slowly by necessity. There were rare herbs and elixirs that could assist in opening meridians, and medicine could help prevent and heal the injuries involved, but Lu Chang had access to none of those.
He sat cross-legged, turning his gaze inward to his dantian as he peered at his martial spirit. The storm was more lifelike in his dantian than even the mosaic could display. The galeforce winds blew in many directions, more violent than he had imagined. It reminded him of descriptions of the apocalyptic hurricanes common to the vast seas on the eastern border. As before, he felt something was watching him from inside the storm. After a while of staring at his martial spirit, he withdrew his gaze from his dantian in favor of becoming more familiar with his spiritual energy.
With his wind affinity, the spiritual energy present in his body would slowly convert to solely wind energy over the course of the next week or so. His father had always advised him to wait until this process was done before attempting to use his spiritual energy, so he would wait. His father had never steered him wrong before in the matters of cultivation.
With nothing else to do but wait patiently, he decided to turn in for the night. That is, after his father interrogated him long into the evening about his martial spirit.