Ming planned to sleep soundly—though briefly—that night in the small but private room allotted to him as a new member of the sect. Elder Qiu Yu had graciously let him know there would be processing and orientation in the morning, and he had found his lodgings without further trouble. In truth, Ming had considered sleeping in his and Hope’s Eclipse world, but ultimately decided that the risk of triggering some sort of alarm was far too grave when Hope would be looking after his body during his rest anyway.

And besides, his rest was incredibly short. Ming found that with his torrential mind cultivation, he could skip sleeping entirely and just be slightly tired. So after taking a short nap to eliminate the potential of even a small amount of fatigue, Ming sat and considered—he had become quite good at this, after all those years floating in the void.

Of course, being a tree, Hope didn’t need to sleep either, so he was a captive audience to Ming’s endless musings on his own cultivation. Simultaneously, Ming played with his ability to summon portals to the Eclipse world—he had discovered, embracing the risk, that just looking hadn’t triggered any alarms. He suspected that going through the portal wouldn’t trigger the alarm either, but he had decided to wait on that.

“I’m currently incapable of doing anything flashy like summoning that fire phoenix that elder on Minglao made,” Ming thought.

Hope stirred carefully. “Such techniques are more effective because the world acknowledges their power. Balanced Strike is an infinitely more efficient technique on a technical level, but it is indeed lacking a certain flair.”

“I know what you’re about to say,” Ming sent, having already gone through this exact line of thought twice over.

“Even ancient trees appear predictable when their interlocutors merely repeat themselves. Tackle this problem tomorrow, Ming. Real wisdom comes in knowing the extent of one's own ignorance.”

“But what if this sect doesn’t have any techniques for eclipse qi?” Ming protested. “I couldn’t find any mention of it in this stupid pamphlet,” he thought, throwing said pamphlet onto the small desk positioned across from his bed. “There are other variant qi types in here, which apparently are themselves extraordinarily rare.”

“Worst case-scenario, you could still learn some mind techniques from this sect, Ming. They seem to study it here.”

Ming mentally nodded his assent to that, and then continued to ponder the issue. There were versions of the five elements aspected by either yin or yang, but those were essentially the same elements at their core unless a cultivator had extraordinarily high yin or yang—like Ming, though he no longer had a normal elemental affinity. What Ming was truly interested in, though, were the truly rare, deviant types—air and astral qi were the two that showed up in the pamphlet, though Ming knew that there had to be more.

Ultimately, after a couple of hours considering the information provided to him and speculating on his future, Ming drifted into a state of meditation that much resembled sleep, but wherein he could consolidate his gains one final time in preparation for the day ahead.

----------------------------------------

Ming’s eyes fluttered open easily when a knock sounded on his door, and he quickly moved out of his seated meditation. “Senior Outer Disciple Yang Bai,” said a voice noticeably deeper than his own. “Please report to reception for your orientation, junior,” the disciple said, sounding annoyed that this duty had been pushed onto him.

Ming was at the door in a moment, already prepared to leave. He opened the door and bowed curtly to the young man standing before him, who appeared to be somewhere in the Qi Gathering Adept stage, as his cultivation was overwhelming but not at all blinding. “Senior Brother Yang Bai, may I trouble you to guide this lowly one?”

Yang Bai gave him a sidelong glance, but upon realizing he was serious, just shrugged and muttered to himself. “Follow me.”

Yang Bai, after fielding a few questions, soon deposited Ming at the reception hall, where a pretty young cultivator was rapidly rifling through a growing pile of papers, stamping the occasional application or something. Ming didn’t really know.

The hall itself was a tiered thing, a pagoda much like the testing center he had previously arrived at, but the first level was unusually tall.

The receptionist looked briefly up from her work and at Ming, grimacing. “Sorry, we’re really busy. What can I do for you?”

Ming approached her. “I was told by Elder Qiu Yu to register here.”

She nodded. “Honored Matriarch Qiu,” she corrected, “occasionally likes to recruit new disciples herself, much to the chagrin of the elders,” she said, smiling, and then tilted her head in a slight bow. “Your test results, please.”

Ming wordlessly handed her the stone describing his potential.

Her expression briefly warped to unadulterated shock before she managed to catch herself, concealing her feelings behind a practiced neutral expression. “These results…” she muttered. “Thank you, honored Li Ming. I’ll prepare your sect identifier immediately, please wait for a short moment as I enter the requisite information…”

Ming tilted his head. “Are you sure, because the… Senior Yang Bai said processing it might take a few days.”

She just waved him off. “Please don’t worry about it, I’ll process this right now.”

Ming took a seat on one of the pillows on the side of the room clearly meant for that and meditated until she finished.

Within a handful of breaths, the young woman managing the reception hall notified him. “Here’s your identification!” she said. “And I managed to procure an elder of the outer sect to show you around, honored junior.”

The elder was a codgy old man who winked at his introduction. “Call me Elder Huo,” he said.

Ming introduced himself once more, then took the identification stone gingerly in hand, noticing that it still shone azure, indicating his potential as measured by the sister-sect of the most powerful sect around.

The elder guided him out of the pagoda before letting him know that the attendant had connected his identifying stone into the sect’s spiritual network, and began to instruct him in its use.

Elder Huo grumbled, “The Jade Stem pagoda charges all the rest of us commission to use these, so it better work properly at the very least. Ming, push a bit of your qi into the stone.”

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Ming sent to Hope. “Think this stone can handle my qi?”

“Well, it’s worth a try.”

So Ming proceeded, sending his qi into the stone. Immediately, and thankfully… a strange menu appeared in his vision, fixed to the area above the stone, but otherwise entirely ephemeral. The stone glowed with an azure sheen.

“Ah, good, you got it to work. Read over your results before we continue,” came Elder Huo. “Only you can see and access them. Now that the stone has been aligned with our sect and bound to you, any changes will be reflected. You should know that the elder that examined you before didn’t see this data, and if he did he would’ve been bound by blood oath regardless, as the Jade Stem pagoda can at least keep that promise.”

Ming nodded, and then took to reading over the assortment of information.

Bound Sect Stone Activated!

Core User Traits:

Affinity: Eclipse

Affinity Perfusion: Perfect

Spirit Root Quality: Heavenly

Spirit Root Length: Lesser Mortal (WARNING: DAMAGED LIFELINE DETECTED! This warning will show only once!)

Spirit Tool “Hope” Quality: Lesser Heavenly

Spirit Tool “Hope” Compatibility: Perfect

Spirit Tool “Hope” Designation: Eclipse World Tree

Spirit:

Realm: Qi Gathering

Subrealm: Middle Initiate

Spirit Stability: Stable

Qi Effusion Prowess: Lesser Horizon

Qi Purity: Horizon

Qi Channel Quality: Horizon

Meridian Quality: Horizon

Meridians Cleansed: 0 of 20

Spirit-Meridian Resonance: None

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Mind:

Realm: Mind Splitting

Subrealm: Peak Master

Mind Stability: Stable

Soul Prowess: Greater Horizon

Soul Channel Quality: Mortal

Dao Insight Quality: Greater Horizon

Dao Fortitude: Horizon

Characters Grasped: 4

Characters:

Mind Like Ice (Horizon)

Mind Like Water (Horizon)

Resolve (Lesser Horizon)

Eclipse (Perfect) (Dormant)

Mind-Meridian Resonance: None

Body:

Realm: Skin Tempering

Subrealm: Early Initiate

Vessel Stability: Stable

Physical Prowess: Mortal

Vessel Aptitude: Greater Mortal

Vessel Durability: Greater Mortal

Bloodline Purity: Lesser Heavenly

Body-Meridian Resonance: None

Techniques:

Unified Cultivation, Combat, Absorption Technique Detected!

(Warning: The presence of qi sublimation was detected in this technique. This warning will show only once.)

Name: One Thousand Steps to Eternity

Quality: Lesser Heavenly

Qi Sheathing Combat Technique Detected!

Name: Balanced Strike

Quality: Lesser Earthly

Other:

Dao-Nature Harmony: Greater Horizon

Li Ming was already sweating, wondering how much that random assessor knew about him, but he finished reading.

Sect:

Name: Starlight Garden Sect

Disciples: 744

User-Sect Standing:

Title: Junior Outer Disciple

Ranking: 744/744

Sect Points: 0

Assignments: None

(Note: These sections will continue to expand as information is uploaded to the Bound Sect Stone.)

Ming inhaled deeply as he reached the bottom, and the text faded from sight along with his focus. There was so much information to process there, all held in that little stone. It was clearly a masterwork of the craft; nothing at all similar could be found on Minglao, as far as he knew.

“Qi effusion? Affinity perfusion? Bloodline purity? Soul channels?” Ming couldn’t help but shake his head. “What does it all mean?”

Hope merely sent a shrug. “Most of my knowledge is limited to spirit fauna and flora progression. The trees know little of this.”

Elder Huo met his gaze. “It can be overwhelming, I know. Try not to concern yourself too deeply with the machinations of the Heavens.”

“I’m sure you saw that our sect uses sect points, as most sects do,” the elder continued. “We’ll visit the sect’s exchange center next, as it is arguably the most important location on our land, excusing reception, where you can take on assignments.”

So it was that they arrived in a pavilion rife with approved merchants selling and buying wares for sect points. They quickly passed through this area, though some of the various items caught Ming’s interest briefly, including a necklace that supposedly allowed the wearer to breathe underwater and a cloak that repelled flame.

Then, after passing through the third-party sellers, they entered the sect’s treasury. The first level of the treasure hall was welcoming and organized, spiraling into varied rooms marked for certain affinity users. Huo bowed to the elder that ran the pagoda, and Ming presented his azure sect stone. After a moment of reserved consideration, the elder handed it back to him.

“Li Ming, given your esteemed potential, you are permitted to select three items from the first level for your use at the sect—two techniques and one artifact. You may additionally select one technique from the second floor. These items will be provided to you free of charge. I suggest you explore the library carefully before selecting your choice, especially for the second floor item. You may return later, though the tokens expire at the end of this week.” The elder presented Ming with three white tokens and one black.

Ming was touched. A strange feeling tickled his heart—the sect was just giving him a few items for free.

Elder Huo winked. “Take a short tour now. I’ll wait at the door until you’re ready to leave, disciple.” With that, Ming was off.

He perused shelf after shelf, soon deducing the structure of the treasure pagoda. On the left were countless scrolls, scriptures, and talismans. On the right were weapons, enchanted fineries, and other such artifacts. The division was clear.

Ming was all-too-aware that the elder was waiting for him, but he couldn’t help himself. He was deep into this now. Each item had a note attached explaining its uses and price in sect points—a price that Ming was exempt from, for now. While the items were certainly treasures, Ming had found only Mortal grade techniques thus far. He suspected this floor was almost entirely dedicated to them, and these techniques were not great for anything but practice.

Ming brushed the dust off the placard.

Name: Imperial Manual (Variant: Breath Inversion)

Price: 1200 Starlight Garden Points

Type: Cultivation Technique

Grade: Greater Mortal

Description: Allows a cultivator to draw ambient qi from their environment into their dantian, recovering qi stores when outside of combat. Breath inversion allows the cultivator to utilize this technique in active combat, once a certain level of proficiency has been reached. See related combat forms. Disclaimer: this technique may have a limiting effect on certain elemental affinities.

Ming’s eidetic memory worked to piece together the price of the technique he was looking at. What he got was that these items were simply too expensive. Earlier, Ming had gathered that ten sect points, or starlight points, as the elders liked to call them, were about equivalent to one mortal spirit stone, and one mortal spirit stone could be purchased for about five gold marks. Five gold marks could be exchanged for one hundred silver. One hundred silver was two thousand copper marks. Ming’s only reference point was the price of a meat skewer, which a street vendor had been hawking for a single copper.

Ming processed this.

A single copper.

The technique he was considering acquiring for free, normally available for twelve-hundred points, was equivalent to about a quarter million meat skewers. Ming stumbled back, almost crashing into the shelf behind him. He had known mortals were poor compared to cultivators, but this… Ming couldn’t help but feel a pang of shame at the unfairness of it all. A shift occurred in Ming’s mind, and suddenly he understood completely why cultivators would buy slaves. It was morally atrocious, but the cost had to be a non-issue. Even this Starlight Garden sect was extraordinarily wealthy in comparison to the nearby mortals.

They were just giving this to him. An ocean of skewers.

Regardless, this was the first breath cultivation technique he had found among the shelves, and nearly the most expensive technique he’d seen so far. It was a boring choice, but Ming felt that if he didn’t acquire the breath technique and the associated combat form, which was eight-hundred points, he would be instantly revealed when forced into a dangerous situation. This way, he had a cover, and could perhaps later look at disguising his flasher Ten Thousand Steps to Eternity with the forms directly while maintaining their power, if that was even possible. For now, though, Ming decided to purchase the first volume of Imperial Breath Inversion and Imperial Steps Inversion, which allowed for a more free-flowing variety of the normally rigid military technique. He doubted they would limit his cultivation, for some reason.

“This is a good choice,” Hope consoled him. Ming’s eyes couldn’t help but wander to the nearby mental techniques. Though they were largely less effective than tapping Mind Like Ice or Mind Like Water anyway, they would’ve let him do different, useful things, and they were unlikely to be so exhausting to use. There were, additionally, some neutrally-aspected techniques for qi projection, enhancement, and other common uses that Ming was dying to acquire. He would be back, he vowed to himself, and he would at least be returning later to get an item from the second floor.

He had navigated the library quickly, only taking a few times the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, as he was able to process information rapidly, so Ming began to peruse the weapons section. The weapons and artifacts were actually much more impressive; many appearing to be more than training tools.

Ming noticed a few stand-outs—a ji that supposedly could temporarily transform into a snake if thrown with sufficient force, a sword that wreathed itself in poison when the user injected qi into the hilt, a resizable notebook magically resistant to the elements and a matching pen that burned the pages with qi instead of using ink, and a dao, or saber, that was self-cleaning and self-sharpening. Something about the dao called to him, some subtle feeling that he couldn’t place.

Name: Lazy Dao

Price: 1800 Starlight Garden Points

Grade: Lesser Earthly

Description: Sect assessment has determined the runic enchantments on this dao can at least be considered of the Lesser Earthly grade, but sadly these runes do little more than absorb ambient qi to sharpen and clean the blade. Therefore, while the dao might technically be considered a Lesser Earthly item, it appears plain in comparison to flashier Mortal-ranked items—an oddity indeed. This lowly examiner wonders whether this item may have once belonged to a noble family unconcerned with cost.

Ming ran his fingers across the dao, realizing that this item was suited to his existing combat form perfectly, although he would likely be unable to use said form at his current level without drawing undue attention. He unsheathed the weapon to reveal a brilliant silver finish completed by a jet-black leather hilt. The weapon was understated but well-crafted.

“It fits you perfectly,” Hope rang out from within his mind.

Ming took his items to the front desk, where the elder gave him a measured look.

“You managed to find a Lesser Earthly item on the first level,” the elder surmised, impressed. “How auspicious.”

The rest of the day was largely uneventful. Ming went from place to place along with Elder Huo until they had seen much of the botanical gardens, the enchanters guild, the alchemists guild, the arena where he could increase his rank with challenges, which apparently is largely how outer disciples rise to become inner or core disciples, and finally back to the reception hall, where he would sign up for lessons. The elder informed him that there was a monthly tuition of 500 Starlight points, and that he would need to take at least one class to remain a member of the sect, but that he could take up to four without special permission. He would also be required to accept ranking challenges every month so long as the challenger was within seventy-five ranks of him, and if he lost twice while at the bottom rank, he would be expelled, though Elder Huo assured him this was unlikely.

Elder Huo had already bid him farewell, and now he was browsing the assortment of classes in an area designated for doing so, past catalogs lining the shelves.

That was, until a boy unsheathed Ming’s dao from behind him. A cultivator with sparkling blue eyes and a twisted expression. Ming’s eyes lit up with gray specks as his soul sense wrapped around the boy, quickly discovering his cultivation was about similar to Ming except in mind cultivation, where he had yet to progress past Base Initiate Thought Quickening, the first stage. He wasn’t at all blinding to look at, though technically he was superior to Ming in spirit cultivation, ever so slightly.

“Nice dao,” the boy said, pointing it at Ming.

Ming squinted. “I’m going to need that back.”