Mo Shen traveled down the long road from the forest, where she traveled every day in order to gather what she needed to survive. Usually that meant wild foods or herbs, but recently she had arranged to work for the local tavern, a deal which paid well enough that she could eat proper food consistently.
Soon she would reenter the village, carrying a large basket of wood on her back. As an orphan she had no parents to support her, so she had to take on jobs in the village in order to support herself. This specific job required her to bring as much firewood as she could to the tavern. The first basket got her a bowl of leftover stew before they threw it out to the pigs. The second allowed her to sleep on the floor of the tavern’s storage room that night. This was her third trip, which would earn her a single copper coin. That would be enough to buy her a proper bowl of porridge in the morning, though she would probably save it in case it was needed later. Money was much more difficult to get than food, after all, and could be used for far more purposes.
None of the other orphans could do the same, however. The forest was an hour’s walk from the village, and the only wood that was acceptable was that which was already dry. This meant either traveling through parts of the forest where other’s hadn’t been for months in hopes of finding branches or small trees that had fallen down and dried enough, and because of their size you would have to gather more than a tree worth of wood to fill the basket. Or, you could do what she did and carry a hatchet to cut down large trees, cut them into logs, split the logs, then stack them under an outcropping or inside a cave so that they could dry.
One might assume that a ten year old girl could not manage to chop trees down, or carry a basket full of wood, and that would be true for most ten year olds, but in her case she had an advantage. Before he died, her father had taught her the basics of cultivation. He was only a hunter, and therefore only had the basic cultivation technique of the town militia, but he had also read her too many stories about cultivators. That’s why, at the age of five, she had wanted to be a cultivator so badly that she kept begging him until he taught her the basics. Those basics, however, only amounted to how to circulate the body’s chi in order to remove toxins. For the last four and a half years she had practiced that technique every night. The progress she made meant that she had cleared almost all of the toxins from her body which could restrict the flow of chi, granting her five to six times the strength and stamina she would have without cultivation.
Now she approached the town with a basket half her weight on her back. Thankfully, the snow had stopped falling ten days ago, on the first day of spring, and had mostly melted off of the road, letting her move more quickly and easily. This allowed her to gather three baskets of wood from the nearby woods instead of the one or two per day which she gathered in the winter. She had also checked the traps she had set, one of the few hunter skills her father had taught her, but she hadn’t caught anything today, and so couldn’t give a rabbit or squirrel to the other orphans for their own evening meal.
The first grass shoots were starting to poke out from the soil. Most of the grass was mundane, but occasionally one could find a tuft of spirit grass, which could be harvested and sold to traveling cultivators for one silver per bundle. She had searched the sides of the road as she traveled, hoping that she could find one to sell to the group that would be arriving from the Jade Dragon sect tomorrow, but had no luck. It would probably be another two or three weeks before there were enough that she could find one near the road which hadn’t been harvested already.
The masters from the sect came to the village every two or three years to recruit any children in the village who had proper cultivation talent. Such talent was rare, though. The village had over ten thousand people, and all of them were of either Cleansing or Gathering potential. The chances of there being more than a few children with greater potential than that between eight and ten years old was slim.
She had been a bit too young to be tested when they came through last time. Then, six months later, her father, a mid Collection hunter had left the village with the other hunters to deal with a monster and all seven of them had been killed. The Jade Dragon sect had been contacted using a messaging relic they provided the town master, and they sent someone to exterminate the monster, but it didn’t bring her father back. The sect master that had come informed them that it was a middle Foundation level monster, so the hunters had little chance against it. If only he had been stronger, though, she believed he might have stood a chance. At the peak of the Collection phase he would have had more strength and stamina, improving his odds, but raising her and spending time with his friends had distracted him from his cultivation.
Mo Shen was determined not to let her own cultivation fall behind. Old Lady Teng, a local alchemist, had allowed many orphans to sleep in her house over the winter, and had allowed them to read what books she had. Most of the children, if they could read and wanted to, had looked at the story books. Mo Shen had found an old Militia cultivation manual, a former belonging of her dead husband, and read it. It wasn’t the best cultivation manual available, but it was easy to understand and only required neutral chi to cultivate, so was much faster than the five elements technique the Jade Dragon sect used. From that she had learned to Restrict her chi to expand her dantian, and therefore increase her chi reserves, and to Release her chi for a burst of strength, as well as how to break through to the next stage by constructing a shell around her dantian to solidify it’s status.
Unfortunately, Lady Teng had died in the middle of winter when her house got too cold during a snow storm, along with one of the children. The man who inherited her house and shop, her oldest son, was not as kind to the orphans as her and kicked the children out into the snow the next day.
Shen had been forced to search for work since then, which had greatly limited how much time she could spend cultivating. Still, through cleansing meditation she was able to remain at the peak of the cleansing phase while the other orphans were in the middle or the bottom of that phase due to the toxins inherent in the food that the poor could get, and despite the fact that she made sure all of them knew the Cleansing technique. She even invited all of them to join her in cultivating, but few of them chose to do so.
She entered the tavern and walked behind the counter, where she began to stack the fire wood. The sun would be setting soon, so she doubted she would be able to get another load of firewood before it set completely. There were techniques available to let one see in the dark, but the scroll to learn them were expensive. Once she had finished stacking the wood, she stood and walked to the woman behind the counter. “That makes three, correct?” the woman asked.
Shen nodded and the woman took a copper coin from the money box and handed it to her.
“Are you going for another load after this?” the woman asked, and Shen shook her head.
“I don’t think I would make it back before sunset.” she said.
“Oh, that’s right. You haven’t learned a light technique yet, and can’t afford a torch. I forgot.” The woman knelt down and pulled a scroll from under the counter. “This is the Torch Palm Technique. It makes your hand glow, and can be used even in the Cleansing phase. I know you like to cultivate, so I’ll loan you this for the night.”
“I can’t accept this.” Shen said. “It is too valuable.”
“Nonsense, it’s just a loan, and only worth one silver at that. Just read it and return it to me before you go to sleep. Who knows? Tomorrow you may be able to bring in an extra load, and pay me back.”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Shen cupped her hands a bowed. “Thank you, Sister Pon.”
“Now, there’s no need for that ‘sister’ stuff. We aren’t cultivators.” she shooed the girl into the back with a wave of her hand.
Around ten at night the woman entered the room and put a bowl of stew in front of Shen, who was busy practicing the technique. Occasionally her palm would flicker slightly with a dull light, but never properly glow. She walked towards the store room door and Shen jumped up. “Wait, miss.” she said, and rolled up the scroll before handing it back to Pon. “Thank you once again.” Pon nodded and left. The stew was overcooked and there were small burnt bits in the bottom, from the scrapings at the bottom of the pot, but that didn’t matter to Shen. Burnt stew didn’t contain any more toxins than the normal stew, so it didn’t set back her cultivation. It just tasted worse.
The next morning Shen got up and cleaned up the blankets she had slept on, folding them and placing them in the corner. Today the Jade Dragon masters should arrive around noon, so she would have to hurry if she wanted to bring in a load of firewood before they arrived.
She quickly ran to the creek beside the village, to the women’s bathing area, and washed off. Ideally, she would perform a few minutes of Cleansing meditation while standing in the water to wash away yesterday’s toxins, but she was in a hurry. After washing what dirt she could from her waist length red hair without soap she got out of the creek, wiped herself down with a drying cloth, and got dressed. She then put her basket on her back and left for the woods.
As she approached the village three hours later she saw a group of adults in fine robes entering the village, followed by seven children around her own age. This had to be the Sect Masters, being unable to fly because they had to bring the children with them. She ran into the village and through the door of the tavern, throwing her basket and tools on the floor behind the counter. “Sorry miss Pon.” she said to the woman behind the counter. “The masters are here.” Pon nodded, but Shen didn’t see it as she ran out the door.
She ran into the town center, where the masters were setting up in front of the Green Bronze Dragon statue that marked this as a village under their protection. “I don’t know what you’re so excited for.” said a twelve year old boy behind her. “It’s not like a parentless freak will ever be picked.”
“Not even worthy of being a concubine.” said a thirteen year old beside him. “Her mother couldn’t give birth to more than one child before dying. I’m sure she’ll be the same.” It was true. Shen’s mother had died when she was three, giving birth to her younger brother, taking her brother back into the Cycle with her.
She was considering saying something when a nine year old beside them spoke up. “Well, I think she’s really pretty.” Gin Ponma had always been a nice boy, and had even played with the orphans occasionally.
The twelve year old laughed. “Then I tell you what, little brother. When you become a man in three or four years I’ll pay for you to visit her at the brothel, since a whore is the best she can hope to be.”
Shen was about to speak up when the master whistled. “Ok, children, listen up. I want everyone that is at least eight years old and hasn’t been tested before to form three lines in front of the three pillars. One at a time you are to step forward, say your name and age and touch the stone. We will then write down the color and brightness level of all of you. In order to join the sect you will need to have at least Foundation potential. This means that the stone will glow green. If it glows anything other than red or yellow, you will step to the side with the other children we brought to the village. Any questions?”
There were none, so the children lined up. The twelve and thirteen year old had been tested last time, so they couldn’t participate, but Ponma could. He entered the line beside Shen and, when everyone had lined up, they started calling children forward.
Most of the children made the stone glow red. They had Cleansing phase potential and, without a massive effort, would never go beyond that in their cultivation. Around ten percent made it glow Yellow. They had Gathering phase potential. They would be eligible to become city guards and militia. Then Mo Shen stepped forward. “Mo Shen. Age 10.” she said, and reached out to touch the stone. A bright blue light came from it.
“Nascent talent.” gasped the master. “Chi multiplier 17.” The twelve and thirteen year old looked surprised, but Shen just gave them a smile of superiority and stepped over to where the other recruits were. She knew that, as much as they hated the fact that she had higher potential than them, they would do nothing to challenge the Masters, who now protected her.
A minute passed, during which time two of the other orphans were assessed but failed, before the boy from before stepped up. “Gin Ponma. Age 9.” the boy said. He touched the stone and it glowed a dull green.
“Foundation talent.” said the Master. “Chi multiplier 3.” Ponma happily took his place with the other recruits. From the crowd he saw his parents smiling.
Once the assessment was over, the Master in charge addressed the crowd. “This concludes the assessment. Those that tested well will go with us to the sect town where they will be raised as cultivators. Those of you that failed, do not think less of yourself. Some are simply born with more talent. What matters is how you use your talent. Train well, and you may one day even surpass these recruits.” They all knew that it was next to impossible to do that. Even someone with Collection potential would have to go through a tribulation to become Foundation level, something which challenged who they were at a fundamental level. And they could only do that if they managed to reach the limit through cultivation, which few of them would ever do. The fact that those that were recruited were at least Foundation potential meant that they would therefore reach the Foundation rank without having to go through that life altering challenge.
Once the masters cleaned up what they had set up, they removed a basket of dumplings from their rings and passed them to the children. The children would need to have a full stomach if they were to walk back to the sect village. Thankfully, the masters had brought plenty of food with them. To Shen, it tasted heavenly. It was made of spirit rice and vegetables, not the mundane rice and vegetables that normal food was made of, and made expertly. This meant that it had no toxins in it which could interfere with her cultivation. She ate it quickly and was even given a second by the master.
When everyone had finished, they stood up and left the town. Shen’s village was the third on the journey, and they would need to visit another ten towns before they returned to the sect. This meant that they would be traveling by foot for at least one more month.
Over the next month the masters made camp every night, then taught the children the basics of cultivation. As they were already technically members of the sect they could be taught the basics already, but none of the secrets techniques. Shen already knew most of what they taught, as she had read the Militia Manual, but there were still a few things that the manual didn’t cover, tricks that the Sect taught to their members but not to outsiders. This included a variation of the cleansing meditation which worked faster when the levels of toxins were low, but the toxins were of a type that was difficult to remove and a method for exercising the chi pathways, like lifting weights but for chi. Neither were dangerous if they got out into the public, as neither would do much to help the people outside of rare conditions caused by stubborn toxin buildup, but they would help the rival sects improve further without similarly benefiting the Jade Dragon Sect.
Soon they were only two days away from the sect village, and the group of children had grown to thirty seven. The six masters were barely able to control so many, so they had taken to telling the children stories of the monsters in the mountains to keep them from wandering off. Apparently monsters could be stronger than the masters and have the ability to control the elements. From what Shen had read, some of them were like this, but most were simply wild animals that had some bonuses from their own cultivation which animals seemed to be able to do instinctively.
The next morning they broke camp and started the long trek up the mountain. The climb was harder than any the children had done before, but the masters didn’t seem affected by it. This was likely because of the excess stamina granted to them by their cultivation. A week ago Shen had managed to break through to the Gathering phase, so she was getting tired much slower than the others, even given the fact that the children had also been cultivating during the journey, as the masters instructed. More than once she had to slow down to help Ponma climb the path.
They took a break around noon. They would reach a village at the bottom of the real mountain by nightfall, the masters said, and the Sect Town was less than a day’s travel from there up the mountain road. They wouldn’t be gathering recruits from this village, however, as it was so close to the sect that they had already been tested and those that qualified were taken up the mountain weeks ago.
The masters started handing out food, and all of the children were happy for the food and the break. The masters also handed out recovery pills so that the children could recover from the uphill climb. The land they had walked through before this had possessed small hills at best, so they weren’t used to such a steep climb.
Halfway through the meal, though, one of the masters stood up suddenly from where he was sitting on a rock. The other masters noticed and stood up as well. There was silence for a few seconds as the children didn’t know what to do, then a hole appeared in the standing master’s chest, blood leaking from the wound as he collapsed to the ground. “Ambush” another master yelled, and a bolt of lightning flew towards the woods from the palm of his hand.
A confusing battle followed with magic flying in different directions. Shen and Ponma huddled together in the group of students, trying to hide from the attacks. It became obvious that the masters were outnumbered as they started dying quickly from the numerous attacks directed at them. Soon the spells stopped flying and several people in snake masks came over to the children, stepping over the bodies of the Jade Dragons. “Rejoice, children, for your lives will now have meaning.” the leader of the snakes said in a distorted voice.
The snake masked people quickly took everything of value from the Jade Masters and the children had their hands tied together so that one could not run without taking the others with them. The snake masks then lead the children down a side path.
Just as the sun was setting they reached a castle, its stone walls towering over the snake masked people. The two snake masked guards at the gate laughed. “The master will be pleased.” one of them said, and opened the gate.
The children were lead into the dungeons under the castle, where they were untied and given a bowl of gruel. “Eat well, children, for only the strongest of you have any value to us.” With that, the man that fed them left, leaving the children split into four cells.