When Ren Huang finally released them from the day’s training, there was precious little time for them to get to the other side of the outer sect area for Elder Wen’s cultivation lecture. The lecture was held in a plaza similar to the one they’d just left, only smaller. Elder Wen Xi stood like a stone pillar at one end of the plaza, surveying the arriving disciples with an impassive eye. He was dressed in a black and white robe, and looked to be in his late sixties. Once the last of the disciples took their seats, a slight spiritual pressure pressed down on He Yu. Judging by the shifting of the disciples around him where they sat, they’d felt it as well. Then, Elder Wen spoke.
“The Second Realm is called the Foundation stage because it is just that—a foundation for all your future cultivation. Many of you have already begun to cultivate the White Mountain technique. Many of you have not. Whether this is out of sheer laziness or because you possess your own cultivation technique, it matters little.
“My aim is not to tell you how or what to cultivate. My aim is to explain the why. To give you an understanding of the deeper spiritual principles behind all cultivation. If you take to your lesson well, you will make appropriate decisions for yourself. That said, the sect cultivation technique is the foundation of the two principal arts of the Shrouded Peaks Sect. If you find yourself unable to discern your own Way after my instruction, the two White Mountain arts will serve you well.”
From there, Elder Wen launched into a fast-paced lecture covering the basics of cultivation. He Yu found it all fascinating. The appeal of cultivation had always been in the stories of the great heroes and their deeds, but the act itself had been something that captured his interest like nothing else ever had. He listened to Elder Wen’s explanations with rapt attention, wishing he’d thought to bring a calligraphy set to take notes with.
Many of his fellow disciples seemed bored or distracted. This was fine with him. Elder Wen announced that there would be rewards for those students who performed up to his expectations. Those expectations seemed to center around advancing cultivation quickly and with a high degree of stability. At the end of each week, Elder Wen would choose five disciples. This week’s winners would receive a Five Phases Refinement Pill. Based on the reactions of those disciples still paying attention, it was a suitably impressive prize.
Elder Wen spent the rest of the lecture discussing various aspects of qi. At the opening of this discussion, he repeated something Zhang Lifen had said. Cultivation was an imposition of the spirit upon the world. One key way this manifested was through the aspects of a cultivator’s qi. There were many different aspects qi could take, with the five phases—water, wood, fire, earth, and metal—already familiar to He Yu. It was only then that he realized what the Five Phases Refinement Pill was. He swallowed his embarrassment at taking so long to figure it out as best he could.
After a handful of examples of how a cultivator’s qi manifested in the world around them, He Yu realized this was why he’d thought Zhang Lifen was a true spirit at first. The sensations that accompanied her, the fluid grace with which she moved, and even the color and shifting patterns of her eyes—they were all outward manifestations of her water-aspected qi. Elder Wen stressed throughout his lecture that as cultivators advanced, they became ever more like true spirits. That certainly seemed to be true for Zhang Lifen.
The remainder of Elder Wen’s lecture covered the various aspects of qi. Special emphasis was placed on the aspects that were most common on the sect mountain. The waterfalls and mists provided abundant sources of water-aligned qi, while the mountain itself provided a source of mountain qi. He Yu had initially thought that mountains would be earth-aspected, but Elder Wen explained that subtypes of the five phases existed, and were often cultivated along with the phases themselves. Lake and ice were two subtypes of water qi, while mountain was a common subtype that combined earth and metal.
All this only increased He Yu’s excitement for his future. Once he could cultivate the White Mountain arts, he would become unstoppable. By the time Elder Wen released them from their lecture, his imagination had gotten well and truly away from him.
On the way back to their home, Li Heng said, “We’ll have to make sure you get one of those pills Elder Wen is handing out at the end of the week.”
That took He Yu by surprise, but he wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity. “I’d have thought you’d want it,” he said.
“I can get one on my own. Besides, I’m already at the middle Foundation stage, and my qi is beginning to take on the aspects of my cultivation. It would be a benefit without a doubt, but it would do far more for you.” With a laugh, he added, “Of course, there’s five spots. No reason we can’t both get one.”
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Although both Ren Huang and Elder Wen had stressed that the outer disciples were in competition with one another, he was grateful that he didn’t have to compete with Li Heng. At least not for the time being. The noble was clearly far above him in both his cultivation base and his knowledge of the theory behind it.
“He Yu!” called a familiar voice from behind him. He Yu turned and gave a quick salute to Chen Fei as she approached. The other young woman he’d seen her with earlier was a few steps behind.
“I tried to catch you after the physical training, but you left so fast. How did you manage to finish the run so quickly?” Then, to his embarrassment, she added, “You could barely make it up the mountain just a day ago. Don’t tell me you’ve broken into the Second Realm already.”
He could tell it wasn’t meant to, but it stung just the same. Doubly so coming from her, for reasons he was not particularly keen on examining just then. “I didn’t finish,” he admitted. “Ren Huang brought me back to the plaza and told me to cultivate.”
“Oh, that makes more sense,” she said. There was a sort of oblivious innocence to the observation that dulled the edge of the shame he felt.
“Are you going to introduce me to your friends, Sister Chen?” asked the young woman from behind Chen Fei. She had an accent that He Yu couldn’t quite place, and her voice was surprisingly husky, with just a little bit of a creak beneath it. As she spoke she gave a slight—almost imperceptible—smirk.
“That’s right, Tan Xiaoling, this is my friend He Yu. We met in Xu Xiang and came up the mountain together.” Chen Fei hesitated for a moment, then said to He Yu in an embarrassed half-whisper, “I don’t know who your friend is.”
Li Heng saluted and bowed to Tan Xiaoling deeply. “Princess Tan, please forgive me for not recognizing you sooner. I am Li Heng, heir to the Western Passage.” He Yu looked to Li Heng, who held his bow for a moment longer, and then back to Chen Fei and Tan Xiaoling. Chen Fei was staring intently at a spot on the ground she was scrubbing with her toe, and Tan Xiaoling simply looked amused.
Tan Xiaoling was the picture of poise and beauty, with fair skin, and hair that shimmered in the light. Her clothes were an approximation of the sect uniform but clearly of staggeringly higher quality, even compared to Li Heng’s. Despite her refined appearance, there was a sense of danger that clung to her.
The princess inclined her head to Li Heng. “No forgiveness necessary, as we are not yet acquainted. I had heard the son of the peerless General Li had joined the sect, and I am pleased that we can meet through mutual friends. It eases somewhat the burdens of formality, does it not?”
“It does,” Li Heng answered.
Tan Xiaoling’s smile grew fractionally. “I’m glad you agree.”
“General Li?” Chen Fei asked, turning to Tan Xiaoling.
“Our new friend comes from a rather important family,” Tan Xiaoling said. Then turning to He Yu, she added, “I am not familiar with you, I’m afraid.”
“Oh, I’m not anyone important,” He Yu said as he bowed over a salute, suddenly feeling very inadequate.
“No? Little Sister Chen seems to think otherwise.”
Chen Fei’s eyes doubled in size and she turned the color of a sunset. “I think that’s enough,” she said, grabbing Tan Xiaoling’s hand and pulling her toward the women’s residences. “Nice meeting you Li Heng. We have places to be. Sect points to earn. Bye!”
As the two disappeared it was clear that Chen Fei was just as embarrassed as He Yu was. Which made him feel a little bit better about that whole interaction. He didn’t have time to wallow in it, though. As soon as the other two were out of earshot, Li Heng clapped him on the shoulder.
“I don’t know if I should curse you or offer incense to all of my ancestors for my good fortune. Sect Sister Chen, was her name? Whoever she is, she’s made friends with someone very powerful. She seems to have taken a liking to you, too. How a commoner with no cultivation could have won such powerful allies so soon is beyond me. I almost feel inadequate.”
“Chen Fei,” he said, then added, “Would you stop calling me that?” He knew that Li Heng was teasing him, but he couldn’t help but still feel a bit bruised about it.
“Calling you what?” Li Heng asked in a tone that suggested he knew exactly what He Yu meant.
“A commoner with no cultivation.”
“Am I incorrect?”
“No,” He Yu admitted.
“There’s an easy solution to that, you know,” Li Heng said.
“And what’s that?”
“You just need to advance.”
He Yu looked up. Any trace of teasing or mockery was absent from Li Heng’s features. “You’re serious, aren’t you?” he asked.
“Of course I am. I meant what I said this morning. Your dedication speaks volumes. I had already considered you an ally worth investing in once I saw that. Coming with a princess attached is just a bonus.”
He wasn’t sure that he actually came with a princess attached, but he wasn’t about to argue. Whatever their relationship, Chen Fei and Tan Xiaoling seemed to have grown rather close in a very short time. And Chen Fei seemed at least open to the idea of a friendship with He Yu. A part of him, however, felt that he should be at least a bit upset about how Li Heng was talking—that his interest in He Yu was one merely of utility. Instead, he found the honesty refreshing.
He Yu pulled himself out of his thoughts, forced a smile, and found it came far more easily—and honestly—than he’d expected. “Well, I suppose we’ll just have to start working on that lack of cultivation problem then, won’t we?”