Year 658 of the Stable Era,
Fourteenth day of the fourth month
Against Chao Ren’s expectations, their taskmaster of a guide lead them to the storage pagoda rather than the assembly building. It was a good deal smaller than most of the pagodas he’d seen, standing a mere six tiers tall rather than the dozens story monoliths that other sects boasted.
Its curved roofs were tiled with unadorned shingles, a rough red that blended into its tan walls. A nondescript wooden sign with the character ‘five’ hung over the entrance, which didn’t even seem to have a door. The most remarkable thing about it was the lack of the dark teal stone that had seemed ubiquitous with the sect’s architecture.
It contrast, the assembly hall next door was covered with the stuff. From the tall pillars flanking its entranceway to the elaborately carved reliefs on its wall, it seemed designed to show off as much of the sect’s mineral wealth as possible.
Its walls were pale white marble, shot with thin veins of blue crystal, and the sign that announced its purpose was about as tall as Chao Ren was and covered in gold. A small group of disciples was milling about in front of the building, but his group was through the entrance of the pagoda before he could get a good look at what they were doing.
Inside, they were greeted by instructor, flanked on either side by a pair of disciples. His robe, dyed the sect’s signature shade of bright jade teal, was trimmed with white to mark him as a senior instructor and embroidered with thinly lined mountains.
The disciples’ robes, on the other hand, were a dull nephrite green and bereft of any sort of embroidery, though the one on the left had a small jade ring hanging in a tassel on his belt.
Yeung Lin gave the man a respectful bow. “Greetings Senior Instructor.”
“Greetings junior. And welcome applicants!” the instructor announced, a smile creasing the faint wrinkles of his face all the way to his salt and pepper sideburns. He was well built, in the way that many body cultivators were, with wide shoulders, calloused hands and muscles that ridged his robes when he moved his arms. His facial hair was trimmed in a neat goatee, and when he turned to take an object from the disciple behind him, Ren saw that he wore his hair back in a small bun.
“I am Senior Instructor Lan Han. You may refer to me as Senior Instructor, or Senior Instructor Lan. Before you proceed to the assembly and the exam, you will be leaving all personal belongings in the storage pagoda, to prevent any cheating or outside interference. This is a standard testing measure, and one that we enforce every exam.” The last line was accompanied by a sharp look, which silenced any objections in their cribs.
“Behind me you will find changing stalls,” the Senior Instructor gestured at a series of temporary cloth stalls set up in the lobby behind him, “in which you will each find a wooden box.”
“Inside each box is a uniform,” which he tossed out of the box he had taken from his disciple. The clothes fell into shape next to him, as if an invisible person had somehow stepped into them midair. It tied its belt, straightened its sleeves, and stood at attention next to the man.
“You will also find one enchanted wooden lock, and one seal marker.” He produced a square wooden padlock covered in delicate characters, and a similarly decorated wooden slip on a corded necklace. “Once you have changed into your uniform, you will place your other clothing, jewelry, sentimental items, and other possessions into the box and lock it with this lock. Do NOT close the lock while the seal marker is inside of the box. The locks were made to only be unlocked by their corresponding marker, and their creator does not appreciate having to come down from his mountain to deal with your foolishness should you lock yours inside.”
“We do not have any spare boxes should you lock only some of your possessions in the box with your marker, so any other belongings you own will go in the general basket to be claimed at the end of the exam.” At this he gestured to a basket by the back corner of the room, which already seemed to have a few robes and a bracelet in it. “All belongings must be placed into your box before you leave. Any items that you attempt to retain WILL be confiscated.”
“Your box will be returned to you at the end of the exam. Do NOT lose your seal marker. Aside from being the only thing that can open your box, it is also your proof of ownership. You will notice that one corner has an edge to it. This is to draw the blood needed to bind you to the seal. Simply cut the edge of your finger like so, drip a drop of blood into the center symbol, and it will be bound to you and only you.”
He demonstrated the action with the seal in his hands, though rather than place his blood into the seal, he held up his thumb to the applicants as the emerald drop that emerged drew itself back into his flesh before closing the wound behind it.
“The edge is enchanted to only open wounds for a short time, so you do not need to worry about bandaging your cuts. Your markers are NOT, however, enchanted to remain in your possession. So, I repeat: DO NOT LOSE THEM. Once you have secured your box, you will give it to one of my assistants, who will place it in the one of storage pagoda’s vaults until the end of the exam period.”
“We have been informed of any seals, medicine, or cultivation essential supplements ahead of time, so if you have one or more of them, we will need to verify their authenticity with you before you proceed to the exam. Are there any questions?”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
There was silence as Lan Han finished his speech, before the boy to the right of Chao Ren awkwardly raised his hand.
“Instructor Lan Han-” he began, before being swiftly corrected.
“Senior Instructor Lan Han!”
“Apologies, Senior Instructor Lan Han. My ring is of extreme sentimental importance to me and my clan. It my mother gave it to me on her deathbed, and she made me swear that I would never take it off, save to pass it on to my own child. I ca-”
“There are no exceptions to this rule,” the Senior Instructor cut in again. “If you wish to keep your ring on, you may do so at the docks. Are there any other questions.”
“But it’s a part of our bloodline inheritance, and conta-”
“If you want to cultivate your family’s style, do it with your family. If you want to learn the ways of the Teal Mountain Sect, you must follow them. And one of our ways is to follow the rules. If you are worried that someone will steal your family secrets: don’t. The boxes are quite secure, and you hardly have the most interesting family here.” His eyes flicked subtly over at Bailong Shen who, to his credit, seemed to remain nonplussed by the attention.
“If you still insist on keeping your ring, you may leave.”
“B-”
Senior Instructor Lan gestured towards the exit. The youth twisted at his ring, clearly caught between the weights of opposing responsibilities. Finally, after four long moments, he clenched his fist, and without another word, stormed out of the pagoda. Chao Ren heard him cursing faintly under his breath as he stomped from his peers to the piers, as a faint breeze blew out the entrance. Abruptly, there was the sound of tripping, and the cursing briefly grew louder before fading into the distance.
“Now,” Senior Instructor Lan Han said, clapping his hand, “get to it. There are another nine groups after yours, so make it quick.” He passed the box he was holding to the uniform, which promptly handed it to one of the disciples.
Chao Ren felt a wave of warmth suddenly wash over his body, and the sweat from the long run up the mountain suddenly evaporated out from under his armpits. He tingled at the familiar sensation of a cleansing charm, albeit far more thorough than the ones his father used to perform on him. Even the dirt under his nails was gone, and his skin felt sensitive to the touch.
He made his way over to the changing stalls, the assistants and the uniform guiding the applicants along to speed up the process. Closing the curtains behind him, he quickly opened the box and blooded the seal marker before putting it around his neck. That crucial step accomplished, he quickly stripped out of his clothes. Robe, belt, shoes, and undergarments all went into the box.
He hesitated a moment before depositing his lucky red socks. They had gotten him through several difficult situations during the previous sections, but at this stage he couldn’t afford to let them disqualify him. He carefully rolled each of them up before placing them inside the box with a soft apology.
His ring, amber necklace, knife, emergency talisman and brush set followed, each carefully placed atop his clothes so that he would be able to tell if they were missing when he got it back. He trusted the sect, but one could never be too careful.
Satisfied, he quickly dressed himself in the orange test uniform. The cotton undergarments were of a good quality, as they didn’t feel too stuffy, but he was disappointed to find that he had been given straw sandals instead of a pair of socks and shoes. There was also an extra bit of thin white cloth in the box, which he realized was a hair tie after a moment of contemplation. As he wore his hair short, Ren simply shoved it into his pocket before closing the box.
Locking the box turned out to be the hard part, as he realized that he had left at the bottom of the box, under all his carefully stacked clothes. After a few frantic moments digging through them, and a few careful moments refolding them, he had the box locked and gave it to the disciple with the tassel.
After watching to ensure that it was added to the pile of boxes in the back of the room, he made his way back to the entrance, where the rest of the applicants were waiting. A few were making small talk, while the rest chose to stand silently, waiting for the last few to finish changing.
Chao Ren chose to join the silent standing contingent, though he placed himself close to one of the talking groups to overhear what they were discussing.
“I can’t believe that Tang Jin bowed out because of his ring.”
“I know,” Zhao Lan replied, “I can’t imagine what he was thinking.”
“After going through the first three stages of the exam too, no less,” a third applicant added. “Surely his filial piety was misweighed, for him to choose to keep his ring out of diligence towards his mother rather than remove it to honor the sacrifices that the rest of his family made to put him here.”
“Now, now, who are we to speak on another’s private circumstances?” another disciple asked. “After all, it can hardly be said that every one of us paid for our spots just as dearly as our peers.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Zhao Lan hissed.
“I’m sure Min Huan meant no disrespect,” the first speaker broke in, and Chao Ren had to stop himself from doing a double take as he realized that it was Bailong Shen. “He was simply pointing out that there are some among us whose families have simply given more of what they have to be here.”
“Your family might have the largess to let you simply try again another year, but for others it has taken their family years of saving to afford their children that same attempt. I am glad to see that you were able to keep up with us during the run, Min Huan. It would have been a shame if you had gotten lost and missed the exam.”
“I appreciate your concern,” Min Huan laughed back, “I was unable to sleep last night from nerves, and my attempt to calm myself with body cultivation left me far from well rested.”
He pulled back his sleeve as he said this, flexing the thick muscles beneath. “I was able to make good progress in my study of the Boulder Shifting Manual though. The rocks get lighter every day.”
Bailong Shen gave the proffered muscle an appreciative squeeze before nodding back at him. “You certainly are. If we both pass, we should find some time to trade pointers on the subject. I find that a training partner can do wonders for body cultivation. It can be hard to judge your form when you practice alone, and you can sometimes develop bad habits while doing so.”
“I hope that we can,” Min Huan replied, patting Zhao Lan and Bailong Shen on the backs. “It will be great if we can all pass together.”
Zhao Lan winced, brushing the arm away before he received a second pat. “I think I’ll pass on my own, thanks.”
Before he could say something pithy along the lines of body cultivators being muscleheads, the uniform finished placing the last box on top of the pile with a loud clatter.