Finlay just arrived at the training hall where everybody else was asked to gather early in the morning this day. As he entered, his eyes searched for familiar faces.
“Brother Lei, over here!” a distant shout.
Finlay’s eyes finally found the duo of Wang Doshan waiting in a corner of the hall. Finlay walked over to join their company.
“Brother Wang, you looking a little tired this morning?”
“Ah, that is related to our new Alchemy study…”
“Yeah we’ve been practising the past few days without sleep. Our master said we will have to continue this till he’s satisfied.”
*sigh*
“It’s tiring, but we should be happy to have the privilege of having such an excellent master teaching us with such diligence.”
“Yeah true, true. Anyways, brothers, do you perhaps know why exactly we were asked to gather here?”
“Well, we don’t either, but I overheard someone saying this is about the test we have tomorrow, the end of the first month and the end of our etiquette classes.”
“Oh! That’s nice! These boring etiquette classes have caused no small amount of brain rot for me.”
“Haha! Brother Lei, your words and how well you do in class don’t seem to match.”
“Hmph! Doesn’t change the fact that I–”
Before they could continue the conversation, there was a loud sound of someone clearing their throat. It was strange that such a simple sound could cut through the commotion of the 120 or so noisy disciples. As they turned to face the direction of the sound, it became apparent why.
“Ahem! So, the past month, you’ve been taught both the necessary etiquette and social hierarchy of the cultivators world. You started with various levels of knowledge on the subject but by now, you should all be well informed and trained in what’s the most appropriate behaviour in each situation…SO, TELL ME EXACTLY WHY YOU IMBECILES ARE STANDING AROUND LIKE PIGS?!”
The disciples who were somewhat distracted, listening to the man speak suddenly, were jolted awake by the sheer volume of the cultivator’s shout. They instantly straightened their backs and stood in a manner, as was dictated to be the appropriate behaviour in such a setting.
“Good! Now you look a bit like cultivators. Tomorrow there will be a written exam on what you’ve learned so far. Both on History and etiquette. I really wish for your own sake that everyone passes. There are even some idiots who had failed in the previous term,” he eyed a few characters who promptly found the floor to be the most captivating thing to look at.
“Once the exam is done, you can be considered cultured enough to be identified as official cultivators belonging to our esteemed sect. Naturally, the sect mandates and emphasises the need for each cultivator to be educated to a degree and you will continue your education right here, but you will have certain freedoms from then on.”
That last part drew out some excitement out of those listening. Being confined to a single mountain and a few tiny stores and a modest restaurant at the foot of it was truly stifling. Especially the rich young master types are the ones looking forward to it the most.
“Before that, this afternoon, there will be a practical demonstration of your new found education right outside the square, at the entrance to the academy. You will all be welcoming your returning elders and seniors from their vacation time. I hope you don’t slack off, if I see one making a tiny mistake, I will immediately fail them and make them repeat the course in the next term.”
The crowd was simply too excited from the previous words and not much attention was paid to the last words, except for the few seniors who aren’t here for their first term. They exchanged nervous glances and refrained from smiling like the others.
----------------------------------------
It wasn’t long before all the 100 plus students assembled on either side of the entrance archway. A large crowd was slowly making their way up the path before them. The crowd at first glance was composed of only slightly older youngsters both male and female, but there were a few amongst them with powerful presences of a mixed ages and appearances. Clearly, they are the returning staff. Whilst the youngsters are their so called seniors.
As the crowd approached the entrance, the youngsters naturally and respectfully allowed their elders to walk in front. Before the group walked through the entrance, a loud shout came from behind the assembled newbies.
“Your Elders and seniors are returning to their duties. Pay your respects as the juniors of the sect.”
As the shout was heard, everyone tightened their assembled formation and took their respectful posture by bowing with hands cupped in front of them.
“THE JUNIORS PAY THEIR HEARTFELT RESPECTS TO THE ESTEEMED ELDERS!!”
Everyone in unison shouted loudly without missing a beat.
*chuckle*
“Haha, it seems brother Dong has once again done an excellent job with his teachings.”
“Hmm hmm! There seems to be lots of promising juniors this time.”
“Hehe, I’m sure there are a lot of hidden gems for us to polish.”
The various elders made such appreciative comments as they passed the newbies who held their respectful posture. Everyone put serious effort into it since they knew these people at the front are surely to be powerful experts of the sect and will also be in charge of teaching them in the future.
Once the Elders passed by, the rest of the crowd hanging behind them also moved towards the entrance. The Bowing juniors raised themselves up and made a less deferential, yet polite salute to greet their seniors.
“THE JUNIORS GREET THE SENIORS!”
Everyone greeted me in unison. The seniors were quite pleased with the welcome and made some polite remarks looking at their juniors. Unexpectedly, there were a significant portion of them who directed sharp eyes towards their juniors. Almost like predators scouting their prey.
Unlike the Elders before, the younger seniors were quite large in number. At a glance, there were about 500 of them in total. Naturally, it took some time for them to crossover. Some of the newbies also started eyeing their seniors with curiosity as time went by.
One of the lackeys of a young master spotted something and couldn’t help but have his eyes light up. He carefully called over to his young master to discreetly discuss something.
“Young master, look over there! That is the famous young miss of the renowned Rain clan. She is an amazing beauty worthy of the rumours.”
The young master also cast discreet glances towards the direction pointed. His eyes couldn’t help but light up with a single glance.
“Wow! Such a beauty! I should definitely think of a way to get close to her and make friends in the future.”
As they were lost in their infatuation, they discussed in wispheres. Although they were trying to be discreet, how can such a thing escape the notice of the Middle aged elder who was watching over them all along. He immediately appeared between the 2 and delivered a swift punch to each of their heads, making them both kiss the ground.
“You shit stains on the goddess’ ass!! Uncultured swine like you don’t deserve to be called cultivators. Go and stand over there.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Everybody shuddered at the sudden scene. Even some of the ‘seniors’ paused or took a step back. Finlay was very glad he maintained his best etiquette throughout this period. He felt something was off from the way the elder had said those warnings and the few repeating seniors’ expressions. Sure enough, there was more to the story.
The middle aged man didn’t stop there. He promptly pointed out a few more from amongst the newbies who also were asked to stand aside. Fortunately, apart from the first 2, nobody else was stupid enough to talk, so their treatment was much better.
In total, there were 6 members who were separated. Of course nobody else who witnessed this dared to slipup. Everyone else maintained their perfect stance without even blinking. Soon the seniors all passed and they were allowed to raise.
“Tsk tsk, it seems this time’s juniors are much smarter than the last time. Only 6…”
There were several of the passing seniors pointing and discussing the 6 newbies who screwed up.
The elder watching over asked them to relax and called them over to the side.
“Hmm, those remaining before me have all proven that they understand what it means to behave as a cultivator who doesn’t bring shame to the name of the mighty sect. You all deserve to be called cultivators of the sect. But of course, you still need to get through the written test tomorrow. You are dismissed for today.”
He then turned around and faced the 6, “You lot on the other hand, you either completely disregarded the proper etiquette and exhibited shameful behaviour. You will all reflect on your actions. We will meet tomorrow evening after your written test. I will decide on who amongst you are worthy enough to pass.
“You two on the other hand, you will definitely repeat the course next term. You still need to get through the test though. If you fail even in that, you will regret your very birth. Be careful!”
With that, everyone was dismissed. Originally, many of the 100 were somewhat relaxed about the written test. As cultivators, it’s relatively trivial to memorise things and as far as they are aware, the score of the written test will never be published, only whether they pass or fail. But after witnessing the events today, they dare not take it as lightly anymore. If they somehow fail and had to repeat the course, they could imagine the wrath of the teacher before them.
So, everybody went back to their places to diligently prepare for their exam.
The returning seniors on the other hand could be seen everywhere, cheerfully talking to their peers as they carried their luggage to their respective dwellings. Originally, the majority of the housing for the students were empty fully or partially, but now everything was quickly filled up. Interestingly enough, the distribution of the students was a bit peculiar. Relatively speaking, the majority of the newbies actually stayed at or above the level of where their classes were. On the other hand, more than half of the seniors actually stayed at the lower level dwellings.
Finlay and the others were a bit perplexed by this since they already understood from their experiences that the higher the dwelling, the fancier and more comfortable the residents. But upon further thought, they understood. The seniors who are returning are the ones who couldn’t graduate in the previous term. Although one is expected to take multiple terms to graduate, over time, the exceptional students leave more often than the mediocre ones, resulting in an accumulation of the underperforming students.
----------------------------------------
Finlay and Wang Doshan group were exiting the exam hall the next day.
“Ah with that, we have earned our freedom! It’s a nice coincidence that we both have also earned a breather from our Alchemy training.”
“Hohoho! I can’t wait to finally visit the fancy places I’ve been hearing about.”
“Brothers, we need to have a good time this evening. I also need to purchase a new formations book.”
“Brother Lei, you are a little too diligent. You’re thinking about such things even on a day like this?!”
“He he he, sorry about that. You’re right, I’ll do my book shopping another day.”
“I almost forgot to tell you. , I heard that one of your good friends from the valley will be joining us here tomorrow,” Wang Doshan paused as he suddenly remembered something.
“Ohh? Who might that be?”
Finlay couldn’t help but grow curious at that. Usually, barring unusual circumstances, new students join only at the beginning of the term, a month earlier. And they are also friends with him?
“It’s that fellow called Dokgo Xu and a couple of his subordinates. I heard that he also found a special sponsorship from a reputed Elder.”
“Oh, that fellow? Wow, it’s amazing that he found such a backing.”
The three walked as they discussed Dokgo Xu. They agreed to meet up later in the evening to go out and have a good time.
Finlay wanted to spend some time reading about formations, practising his Alchemy, his movement technique and the sword but after a brief practise with his sword, he grew bored and decided to meet up early with his friends. He quickly grabbed his money pouch and his backpack.
And as soon as he reached Wang Doshan’s place, he felt like coming here early was a good idea as he could immediately tell something was off, his friends grovelling on the floor outside their place, frantically trying to collect what appeared to be Alchemy ingredients and books & papers carelessly thrown onto the floor was a clear sign if nothing else. Wang Doshan in particular was bleeding from a puncture wound on his right hand.
Finlay immediately rushed towards them.
“Guys, what happened??! Why are you hurt??”
The 2 on the ground froze and turned towards their concerned friend.
“Bro-brother Lei, no need to worry about this. Everything’s fine. We’ll explain in a bit.”
‘Everything’s fine my ass! Many things clearly aren’t fine here. But what could possibly have happened? We’re right in the middle of the sect.’
Before Finlay could sternly enquire about the matter, there was a loud bag from the previously shut door as it swung hard against the wall. A muscular figure with a ponytail casually walked out and threw another chest full of things onto the floor carelessly.
“Brats, stop looking so angry. Consider this a lesson taught by me, Hou Liu to you juniors. You should be grateful that I took time out of my schedule for you. Anyways, that should be everything valuable now scram!”
“B-but there are many expensive utensils and my cauldron-”
Before Wang Doshan could finish his sentence or the dumbfounded Finlay could recover, the door was shut and locked.
“Wh-what is going on??! Brothers, who is that guy??”
Finlay’s exclamation brought the 2 out of their daze and this time, they explained what happened properly. Their previously suppressed anger was clear now. Apparently, the valuable stuff inside was very expensive and the missing cauldron, a gift from their master.
The gist of the matter is that the man from just now is one of the seniors whom they welcomed the previous day. Soon after they returned, this man knocked on the door politely and there were introductions between them and as soon as he verified their clan was inferior to his own backing, he declared a supposed challenge with their dwelling as a wager which the shocked Wang Doshan duo promptly tried to decline. But the crazy man simply loudly declared that they had accepted a honour challenge out in the street and before the 2 could refute, they were beaten up and the ‘winner’ seized the key.
“Bastard! How is something like this even allowed? This is blatant goon behaviour right in the middle of the sect.”
*sigh*
“About that, it has something to do with the ‘honour challenge’ the goddess’ fart shouted about. The sect has a provision where if someone had their honour besmirched upon by others, they have the right to issue a challenge anywhere as long as both the parties do not inflict fatal injuries and if you do want the challenge to go that far, it will have to be an officially scheduled one in an arena. Ofcourse, normally the other party has to agree to it in both cases.
“To prevent our current situation, there will be a review upon the matter later on, likely tomorrow. But this guy is our senior who should be more aware of this than us and still did this so blatantly? I suspect he has enough influence on the review committee or perhaps there are other factors for him to not be worried about consequences.”
Finlay was growing more and more agitated as he heard of the situation.
“Bastard! Even if we were to raise a complaint, would it take till tomorrow? Then why not just do the same and beat him up ourselves? I didn’t pay enough attention just then to sense his cultivation but I’m fairly confident in being able to beat him up with my strength. Brothers, do you have the spare key? He locked himself up.”
The 2 bruised fellows looked at each other before shaking their heads.
“I’m sorry brother Lei, he took both our key talismans. Besides, although we’re confident in your strength, he is still a senior to us. We can’t be reckless and assume he’s weaker than you.
“I think for now, it’s best we log a complaint and wait till tomorrow to see the situation. I mean just because he thinks he can get away with it doesn’t mean that that’s how it will go.”
“I-I agreed as well brother lei. Let’s be patient first. Besides, it seems we aren’t the only victims here. I spoke to several students of our batch who were also beaten up and had their keys snatched,” the injured Wang Doshan also added his support for the wait and see approach.
FInlay calmed down after hearing their opinion. He simply helped them collect the scattered things.
“Brother Doshan, we should go to heal your wound first. It’s your dominant hand and if some permanent injury remains, you might have trouble with your Alchemy pursuits.”
After Finlay’s suggestion, they went straight to the infirmary which was relatively crowded with similar victims. They briefly exchanged information regarding everyone’s situation and got the injured hand treated before taking the luggage to Finlay’s place to drop it off.
“It’s best for you 2 to stay at my place for now. There is enough space here.”
The 2 did not decline the offer and simply nodded in agreement. They then proceed down the mountain, resuming their original plans of going out. They couldn’t help but have wry smiles at the contrast to how enthusiastic they were when making plans to how miserable they are feeling currently.
They tried to cheer themselves up a bit by having a good time but the mood was still a bit off and they returned early that night.
To be continued