Hong Cao was pretty happy with her life, sure settling into the Inner sect had seemed kind of daunting at first. Especially since she would be even more separated from her best friend, but it was nothing compared to when she first had come to the Sect.
She still remembered sneaking into Yi's room at night in the boys' sections of the Outer sect because she couldn't sleep. He would comfort her and hold her hand until she settled down, really that boy couldn't act his age if he tried. She was the older one so why did she so often feel like a younger sister?
Anyway, she was a bit anxious this morning since Yi had told her his plans over dinner. The Heart Merdian was dangerous, and many waited to open it last. The only one that was worse was the Brain Meridian, and if he had told Cao that his plan was to open that one, she would have beaten him blue and dragged him to an Elder.
She herself had plans to open another Meridian soon, it still burned her pride that he had advanced more than four full months ahead of her. She also suspected, but had no proof, that he could have done it sooner but instead waited until he was sure she could catch up in time to enter the Inner Sect together.
She was right of course, not only did Yi have a Pseudo Earth Root but he only cultivated one Qi type. He could have advanced almost seven months before he did and instead focused on his side projects, like tea and beating things up.
Of course, as much as Hong Cao suspected this Dong Yi would never admit it, that was the dynamic of their relationship. He did in fact think of her as a little sister and would not have left her alone in the outer sect. One must remember that Yi's mentality is a little odd having lived two lives, closer to that of a twenty-year-old than fifteen.
As soon as dawn light shown over the Mountains Cao was in front of the Male dorms of the Inner Sect. Specifically, she was Infront of the Flowering Jade Pavilions Male dorms, and several people were eyeing her with suspicion and annoyance. Not only a woman but one from a different Pavilion? One of the disciples was just getting ready to go up to her when a voice called out from the upper floor balcony.
"Cao?" Called a young man with a slight smile on his face. He leapt from the balcony and landed with ease trotting up to the girl. The Disciple took one look at Yi, snorted and walked away. Other disciples around had similiter reactions, distain and haughty superiority.
By now, many in the Flowering Jade Pavilion had heard of the new Inner Sect Disciple who was bad at alchemy. And for a part of the Sect that practically worshiped the art, being bad it was almost considered a sin in and of itself.
Hong Cao noted the strange behavior of the other Cultivators with some confusion. Yi hadn't bothered to tell her about the other Disciples behavior, knowing she would be enraged on his behalf. And though she had thought it odd that Yi was often alone, it wasn't that odd. The Boy was kind of a cultivation maniac, he acted like at any moment the sect could be attacked by demonic cultivators or something.
The Two left for breakfast after Cao had poked and prodded him enough to determine he hadn't in fact blown his heart up. The path to the Food Hall was winding and even at a brisk jog took about fifteen minutes.
Food in the Sect was heavenly, oh sure there were some who might look down on it, but for peasants it was a gift directly from the heavens. Every meal was well seasoned and had traces of Qi. Sometimes a few decent Spiritual Herbs in the soup, others low Stage Spirit beast meat.
This morning the rice pudding appeared to have been cooked in some Spirit water with a Metal Attribute. This was not really helpful to either Teenagers Cultivation as it did not match their own Attributes. But it did give the Rice a fascinating, almost zingy taste, and made it more energizing than normal.
Yi ate with the rice pudding a drizzle of honey and a spice that was very similar to cinnamon but gave a numbing feeling like Sichuan Pepper. Cao ate hers with savory flavors, soft fried eggs and a few pieces of fatty pork. Yi had his eggs and pork on the side and fended off multiple probing attempts from the girls' chopsticks as they talked.
"How are things going with that Senior Li? Didn't you swear to me you would confess." Yi asked.
"Oh, Senior Li" Cao Sighed dramatically. "A Flower of a man, a gem, a stormy sky a-" Yi reached over and flicked her forehead.
"Stop avoiding my question" he said.
"Fine" The girl stuck her tongue out at him. "If you must know I have not. He is in the Rising Tide Pavilion and Elder Ze doesn't like Elder Zhou, and by extension, his Disciples." She leaned forward conspiratory. "They used to Date you know."
Yi nodded sagely as he batted aside the chopstick that had tried to take advantage of his distraction. He liked juicy gossip, but he liked fatty pork even more.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
They parted ways after their meal, each off to their own responsibilities. Yi went to Elder Tao to report his breakthrough and ended up spending the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon there, Elder Tao loved to talk almost as much as Alchemy. In all fairness though Yi liked to listen to the old man, he always was a font of information, and they had discussed what was the best meridian for him to aim for next. Still by the time he was done he didn't have much day left and so headed straight toward the sparing grounds to test the limits of his new Meridian.
Two hours later sweat poured from his face, and yet he still hadn't reached his limits. The Heart Meridian had almost doubled his stamina, and his Qi flow felt much more stable. Yi alternated between regular exercise and Forest Guardians Fist, by now he had all but mattered the Technique and finding another was on his to do list.
After three hours he felt it was time to stop, he hadn't truly reached his limits but the day after opening a new Meridian wasn't the time to push yourself. Besides, it was almost dinner time and Cao would blast him with water if he was late.
A nice dinner of pork chops and fried greens infused with Wood Qi and Yi was slowly making his was back home. The moons light shone brightly and while the air was warm with summer heat a cool breeze flowed from the mountain peak. A Mouse, small and cute, with green and brown markings ran up to Yi. Bao'er hopped up onto her usual spot upon his shoulder and let out a few Squeeks.
"Three huh?" Yi said to the mouse, petting her tiny nose. He continued forward along the winding path until it curved to meet a small group.
"Disciple Yi Greets the Senior Disciples." Yi said respectfully to the group, bowing no more or less deep than decorum demanded.
"Good, even a Dog knows respect." Said one of the three. He was tall, and from the feeling of his Qi was the strongest, probably the Middle of Meridian Cleansing.
"We're here to give you some pointers tonight Junior" He spat the last word as if it offended him. "It was bad enough that you can't even use Alchemy but to spend all your time with a Disciple from a Different Pavilion? Pathetic."
He went on, and the other two contributed as well but Yi kind of tuned them out. This is a very protagonist like development. He thought to himself, and he began to circulate his Qi. Three shouldn't be too hard, not many martial Cultivators in the Flowering Jade Pavilion, and my Qi is much purer than most in the Sect so I should be able to outlast them. Good thing I opened my heart Meridian, is this fate? The luck of a Protagonist? Well, it looks like they're wrapping up.
"So today this benevolent Senior Cho will teach his Junior the ways of the Raging Wild Mountain Sect." With that the three boys charged.
Yi summoned his Qi gauntlets and calmly took the First stance of the Forest Guardians Fist. He stuck first at the leader; the man having started his Own Qi Technique which seemed to just make his eyes blaze red. Yi was familiar with the Raging Mountains Blaze; it was an Enhancement Technique with an Associated Martial art that was aggressive.
Yi met the charging older Disciple with a blow to his stomach followed up by a throw that sent him farther than most non-Cultivators could manage. Without checking on how he landed Yi switched his focus, a rapid exchange of blows from his next opponent who practiced the same Fire Qi based Technique.
It was a bit hard on the body to be taking such aggressive blows, in a way Yi's own Qi Technique was the opposite of theirs's, sturdy and unyielding to their explosive. However, soon Yi's dedication to the marital path began to show itself. He maneuvered the one boy in a way that the other struggled to find an opening, all the while keeping him from landing any truly difficult blows.
Once he felt like he had the measure of the boy, he executed a precise set of moves, two quick jabs, an elbow and knee and finally another throw had the one boy colliding with the leader who had just gotten up.
Yi did not miss this opportunity and tackled the last one who hadn't had a chance yet. This boy, Yi had noted, was not a fire Qi user like the first two but actually a Water. The basic Water Q Technique most of the Sect users learned first was a kicking one, with water whips at their feet to add distance and power. So, Yi removed the Technique from the equation by closing on the boy.
Fast and hard, Yi rained blows down at him, batting aside any resistance until his opponent went limp. There was a squeak of warning and then a heavy blow caught his side, Yi rolled using the momentum to create distance and stand, his ribs ached.
The leader and the first man were up again and looked pissed. Yi grinned, and his teeth where a stark white in the moonlight. He spat to the side.
"let's continue the lesson, Seniors."
Gao Hu was coming back to the dorms a little late today. He had gotten caught up in a particular Alchemy recipe that was as tricky as it was fascinating. He rounded a bend in the winding path still thinking about the reaction he had recorded from the second batch. Counterclockwise, he should have stirred it counterclockwise after adding the Red Lotus Root.
Smiling at the revelation he looked up and nearly shouted. It was a demon, a demon had killed three Disciples, wait, was the demon also wearing Disciple robes. He blinked eyes weary from the strain of the lab, yes, the demon was wearing Disciple robes, because it was no demon at all but one of the Juniors, junior... Hu didn't remember his name, but he had seen him around. Senior Inner Disciples like Gao Hu tended to focus on Alchemy over all else, they were the ones hoping to break through soon and become core Disciples of Elder Tao.
"Junior what is going on?" Hu Demanded, the demon that was a Junior turned to Hu, his face dripping with blood.
"Just some pointers Senior" the Junior replied casually as he attempted to wipe the blood from his face with an equally bloody arm.
"Junior..." Hu trailed off, he connected the dots. Three older disciples, one battered Junior, a Junior who Hu remembered was struggling with alchemy. He recalled the whispers of others, who in Hus opinion would have been better off focusing on their own studies. Gao Hu Sighed "Just don't kill anyone Junior."
His Junior bowed, as was proper, and Gao Hu walked away, arms behind his back. He began to whistle a tune, as his mind returned to Alchemy. If a few of his Juniors got into a brawl it was hardly his business anyway.