Alice

In the end, they let Feiyan catch up with them near the entrance to the sect. It was clear that she’d only recently awakened, because she was still huffing and puffing as she arrived.

There came a sound like a clarion in the distance - sharp and bright, high and tonal. It carried with it a few Stories - some wise and old, some young and bold. The sound distracted Alice from her undying hatred of Zhu Feiyan.

As it grew louder and closer, it sounded more like an airplane taking off from one of the many airports near her city. And then it changed again - into a sound she'd heard a few times since she'd met the Lightning - the sharp whine of a blade dragged over an anvil. A trio of men and a woman appeared in the air between the sect and the trio of Alice, David and Feiyan.

The men were wearing sect robes similar to David's, but ink black rather than light grey. They were supernaturally attractive, as Alice had come to expect of every cultivator she met. The three of them stood on swords that had skidded to a full halt.

The last member of their party was a woman dressed in robes cut closer to the ones Alice wore - but in a different color, a stark white. A more conservative length, too, but not by much. She was not standing on a flying sword - instead, she hung in the air. Despite this, more of the sword qi had come from her than from the three swords behind her combined.

There was a harsh boom, and a wave of palpable force which pressed on Alice hard. She bent her knees slightly to resist it, but it was gone as quickly as it had come. David's hand found hers, warm and comforting and strong.

"You two must really come from the middle of nowhere if that's your reaction to a cultivator flying over," said Feiyan, who looked at David with shock and then Alice with derision.

But she ignored Feiyan because the woman was turning and Alice had caught a glimpse of her face. The woman was beautiful - incredibly beautiful, going by the way David’s breath caught. The woman didn't look a day older than twenty, but there was the promise of age in the graceful, deliberate way she moved. This was a woman who was tired of doing anything that was unnecessary.

In an instant, her qi blanketed the city and Alice suddenly understood one of the names that had been given to principle - the First Promise. It was the sort of principle that cycled through Alice's mind as she tried to find the word that fit it best - sword-blade-cut-sever-excise-cleave-split- Sword.

Alice didn't know what the woman had done in her life, when or where she did these things - but Alice knew why. And she could guess as to who the woman was.

"Most beautiful woman in the world, huh?" said David, who was still staring unabashedly.

Fairy was a polite way to describe a woman who cultivated, and now Alice knew why. If magical powers and honest-to-goodness immortality weren't good enough reasons to cultivate, seeing this woman would have convinced her.

"That's Fairy Guan. She's one of the crown jewels of our dynasty," said Feiyan, who liked to take credit for things completely unrelated to her. "I wonder why she's in mourning clothes."

"The Widow of Tianbei Valley recently passed away," said David. His eyes hadn't left the woman, who was now receiving bows from the sect disciples who accompanied her. They left for entrances cut into the various peaks one after another.

"What?" said Feiyan, sharp and demanding. "Who told you that?"

David snapped his attention back to Feiyan, undoubtedly realizing that he'd said too much. "Didn't you see the lightning over Tianbei Valley?" As usual, he recovered admirably.

"Older brother, you're so mean. Every time you convince Feiyan you have no idea what's going on, you remind me that you're actually a genius. That must have been what that lightning was!"

Alice hated the way the girl called David her older brother almost as much as she hated how she sometimes referred to herself in the third person. "That's a pretty low bar for genius," she said.

Feiyan glared at her. "It doesn't hurt to give people compliments."

"If you say so."

David shrugged awkwardly, and then took deliberate steps towards the entrance of the Earth Peak.

There was a little bit of a commotion as they arrived.

The doors to the Earth Peak were against a sheer cliff in the mountain, and made of heavy stone that didn't open inwards or outwards, but rather slid apart. Behind the doors was a sect disciple wearing the black robes of the Ascending Sky. In front of them were a group of five or six families, each crowded around their children.

"If your child is allowed to join the Ascending Sky, they will be allowed to say goodbye to you. If not, they will be returned to you," said the sect disciple with a gruff impatience. It was a practiced line, delivered with the kind of exaggerated inflection of someone who'd repeated it a hundred times. It was clear that he didn't want to be there.

The children in question were mostly as old as Feiyan - fourteen, by Alice's estimation. There were some who were younger, a few who were David and Alice's age, and all of whom were irritated with their families.

The buzz of reassurance - "I'll be okay, mom", "Yes, I have everything with me" and "It's fine, it's fine," rose like a wave around them as David pulled Alice past the worried families. Most of the parents of the children were not cultivators and the ones who were seemed to be barely awakened. They were young and old, rich and poor, but all of them shared a common hope - that their child would be able to join the most celebrated sect in the continent.

Alice put on the voice she used to talk to teachers as they approached the gates. "Excuse me, senior brother?"

The disciple guarding the sect saw the robes she wore and Alice felt the brush of his qi against her. He immediately stood straighter. "Business with other sects is handled at Sword Peak, Young Miss. Would you like me to have someone direct you there?"

Alice shook her head. "I'm not from another sect. I just wanted directions to the admissions office."

The man studied Alice and her companions. He didn't seem to be anything special, but his eyes shone with a casual intelligence and Alice could feel his core pulsing out qi. The man had a wide face and too-bushy eyebrows, but he wasn't unattractive - few cultivators were.

"I see," he said, a little too carefully to have nothing but good news. He took a deep breath. "We generally don't recruit amongst the pool of candidates who've received instructions elsewhere, but exceptions can always be made for outstanding circumstances. Where are you from?"

"My companion and I are from the Southern Continent," said Alice, pointing at David. "We met her on the road here from Bei'an."

Feiyan needed no prompting from the man to introduce herself. "I'm from Xijing, from the main house of Zhu."

The man sucked in his breath, then bowed to Feiyan. "My apologies for not recognizing you, Honored Daughter. I take it you are the Emperor's youngest?"

Feiyan nodded happily. "May father reign and reign."

"May he reign and reign," the man replied. He then turned back to Alice. "You and your companion appear to be in the early stages of Core Formation. To my knowledge, that is the upper limit of a prospective disciple we will still accept. You said you were from the Southern Continent?"

Alice nodded.

The man sighed. "It is good that you've made it out, unharmed. Physically, at least," he amended. "I take it you are from one of the many kingdoms that the Cult’s put to the torch. We have disciples from all over the world, and one of my dearest friends lost his parents recently."

"We'll be fine," said Alice, a touch aggressively. It wouldn't do for him to ask inconvenient questions - like which of those kingdoms they were from.

The man nodded morosely. "It is not my place to ask questions of your past. Fear not! The Skybound Scripture says these words - if you should look up at the stars and sever, the concerns of the earth are merely that. Walk straight until you reach the main hall. The admissions office is the first room on the left."

With that, Alice and David took their first steps into the Ascending Sky.

The first thing Alice noted was that the floor was made, presumably, of the stone of the mountain - but it was slick rather than roughly hewn. The walls were of the same dull, smooth stone with sconces burning along them. They were made of glass and the fire within them held no heat, and needed neither fuel nor air.

“Yin Fire,” said Feiyan, when she noticed both Alice and David staring. “They will burn for as long as there is qi in the world. Those torches are expensive, I’ve only ever seen them in the Lotus Palace. The secret to making them has been lost.” In the pale white torchlight, the pearls in Feiyan’s hair were iridescent.

Alice took a closer look at one of the Yin Fire lamps. A filament of some sort hung within it, suspended in the solution contained within the lamp. It moved very slightly in every direction.

“It’s not burning qi,” said David, who was looking at it with her. “It’s burning the idea of its own motion. And it’s using the energy from that to continue moving.”

“A perpetual motion machine that makes light as a byproduct,” whispered Alice. “These are amazing.”

“It’s really hard to have respect for technology after seeing stuff like this,” David said, grinning.

“What are you two blabbering about? You can’t stop every time you see something you haven’t.” Feiyan didn’t like it when she wasn’t the center of attention. Alice had to admit that the girl was really very pretty, but it was completely ruined by her personality.

“We most certainly can,” said David, who sounded as annoyed as Alice felt, but they began walking again.

The distance between the entrance to Earth Peak and the main hall was half a block’s length of corridor. There were some doors along the wall. Only some had handles and even fewer were labelled. They were all firmly closed, which was incentive enough for Alice to want to go through them.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“I wonder what goes on in Conversion Room Eighty Two,” said Alice. There were no other numbered conversion rooms. Most of the other labels were just notices to report to different names for access.

“Please don’t get us killed for trespassing,” whined Feiyan, ahead of them. The corridor opened into the main hall abruptly and Alice couldn’t help but feel a shred of excitement.

The main hall was enormous and crowded. The ceiling must have been four hundred feet high. The entirety of the hall was lit by an enormous yin fire lamp which hung from the ceiling like a celestial object.

Conversation, which could not be heard as they walked towards the hall, hit them in a wave of sound. Black-robed disciples sat on benches by the score. They were drinking tea and playing go on boards set up on little tables all along the walls.

Three of the walls had many, many doors cut into them, some a hundred feet off the ground. Only some had roughly hewn stairs leading to them. And there were hundreds of doors.

The last wall had stalls and stands of all sorts, run by black robed disciples who sat on stools behind them. Some of them sold tea in little stone cups, others sold swords.

The most popular stall was known as ‘Cultivation Supplies’. Disciples bargained with one another beside it. Only one disciple was sitting at the stall, the rest stood. Alice realized after a few moments that the stall wasn’t actually selling anything - it was simply a designated location for disciples to exchange said supplies with one another. The sitting disciple was just supervising. In a mere minute, Alice counted four pouches changing hands.

Alice wondered if one of them had her saber.

“Hello, are you applicants?”

A group of five or six black robed disciples, all men, had walked up to them. The one who led them, a man with hair that reached his waist, had greeted them.

Alice nodded.

“Welcome to our humble home,” he said, giving her a bow.

“It’s nice to meet you,” said David. The man ignored him.

“You look rather lost. I bet old Shu’s working the gate again, he can’t give directions to save his life.” The man gave Alice a conspiratorial smile as he drew closer. He then took her hand. “May I have your name?”

Alice took a step back, slipping out of his grasp. “Perhaps, if I end up joining your sect,” she said.

There was a chorus of jeers and boos from the other disciples. The man looked rather put out for just a moment, before he found another smile. “Well, you’re right to be worried about admissions. We are quite an exclusive sect. The most exclusive, some would say.”

“I haven’t decided if this is the place for me yet,” Alice said primly, not giving him an inch. David looked rather pleased at this, which Alice found a little hypocritical. He was okay with having Feiyan drooping over him, after all.

“Well, it’s always nice to see new faces. Good luck with your trial, you’ll need it,” the man said, his lips twisting angrily. He pointed at a door to their left. “Admissions is that way, juniors.” Without another word, the group walked off, muttering.

Feiyan was rather affronted. “I can’t believe they didn’t say a word to me,” she whispered, incensed.

Alice gave her a pat on the head. “Aren’t you a little young to be accosted by strange men?”

Feiyan looked at her with a fury that brought warmth to Alice’s heart. In the distance, the man with long hair looked up from the table he was sitting at and glared at her. That made it feel even warmer.

They made their way towards the admissions office without further interruption. David placed a hand on the handle of the door, which was marked with a little silver plaque, and pulled. It didn’t budge.

“Who knocks before the Gates of Heaven?” came a voice from within, soft and ethereal and melodic.

David and Alice looked at one another. Was this a test?

“Shut up, Shi. Why’d you lock the door again? It wasn’t even funny the first time,” said another voice.

There was the sound of shuffling and a little click. The door opened inward into a small but brightly lit room. A man with a thick mustache and beard stood on the other side.

“Hello, Path Friends, and welcome to the Ascending Sky. My apologies for the locked door. My senior sister has a strange sense of humor. Please come in.”

The trio walked in. The room was split in half.

On one side, there was a counter that looked like a library’s reference desk with scrolls haphazardly piled across it. A woman, who Alice could only describe as delicate, had a series of bamboo sticks joined by string spread out in front of her that she was studiously ignoring. Her hair was braided into an intricate ponytail.

The other half of the room was a polished iron table with a lamp hanging directly over it.

The man continued to speak as he walked over to the desk. “I’m Daoist Hao and this is Daoist Shi. We’re inner disciples. She’s from Sky Peak, I’m from Earth Peak. The Ascending Sky works differently to most sects - we don’t promote our disciples on whim. Upon the successful formation of a core, you will be promoted to Inner Disciple. The peak you study at will be the choice of the elders. Upon opening your first meridian you’ll be promoted to Core Disciple, at which point a specific elder might give you guidance if you’re fortunate. There are no exceptions. Any questions?”

The three of them shook their heads. Daoist Hao looked relieved.

“Good, good. I’ve had to repeat that twenty times every day for the last month.”

He went behind the desk and pulled out a carved signpost which said ‘admissions in progress, please form a line here’, and dragged it out of the room, where he planted it firmly in front of the door, and then closed it.

“Thankfully, after the last few trials, I won’t have to do this for another century or two. Did you see anyone outside the sect who might be applying?”

Alice nodded. “There were a few at the gate with their families.”

“Well, they’d better come quickly. When the sun goes down, this room will be closed until next year. And some other idiot can handle their application.”

Alice smirked at Feiyan.

“Who’s up first?” said Daoist Shi behind the desk. The bamboo sticks had been replaced with a pair of books as long as her arms and many times as thick.

David and Alice looked at one another.

“You,” said Daoist Shi, pointing at Feiyan. “You’re first.”

“Me?” Feiyan asked, looking around, hoping that someone else was standing where she was.

“Name?”

“Me?” Feiyan repeated.

“Yes, you,” said Shi, sounding amused. “Unless you aren’t who you claim to be.”

“What?” Feiyan looked confused.

“Alas, are any of us who we claim to be? What does it mean? To be. Or not to be. That is the question.”

Alice exchanged a glance with David.

Daoist Hao glared at the woman behind the desk. “Stop messing with the applicants.” He turned to Feiyan. “Please give her your name, so she can add it to the list of applicants.”

“Why do you need to make a list of applicants?” David asked, in the tone of someone who didn’t want to sign up for the free newsletter.

“To stop people from applying more than once, officially. But for us, it’s to prove that we’ve been doing our job,” said Hao, who looked amused.

“This one’s given name is Feiyan, of the main house of Zhu, the eleventh of her father’s line, may he reign and-”

“Yes, yes, long live the emperor, and such,” said Shi. “I’m putting you down as Zhu Feiyan, is that fine?”

She tilted the book towards the girl.

“It’s Fei as in flying and Yan as in swallow, not lung disease!” Feiyan screeched.

“Are you sure? Your voice sounds a little raspy,” said Shi, the picture of concern. Alice liked her already. The woman dipped her brush into her inkwell and blotted the name out, then wrote Feiyan’s name properly.

“So what exactly is the sect trial?” Alice asked.

“It’s just a test for the quality of your spirit root. If we like what we see, you pass. If you pass, you’ll be initiated during the autumn festival,” said Daoist Hao. “If you don’t, we must part ways.”

“How many people pass?” asked David.

Daoist Hao looked at Shi. “How many have we passed this year? Seven? Eight? It’s a good year. Usually the number’s one or two. Sometimes zero. We’ve had a lot more successful applicants this past century, to be honest.”

“The tide rises and the water thickens,” said Shi, softly. “When I formed my core, the Skyforge would glow red like the sunset. Today, it burns the color of high noon. These are interesting times.”

There was a bit of silence after that.

“So,” said Alice, “are you going to make us hold our hands over a qi stone and watch it change colors while muttering ‘good seed, good seed, this junior shows promise’?”

Daoist Hao stared at her.

“What? Isn’t that what’s supposed to happen? A cultivator goes around from town to town looking for disciples, testing the potential of the children?”

Shi’s voice immediately lost its dreamy, ethereal quality. “Has someone been going around your town, testing the potential of children?” She was on the edge of her chair suddenly, angry and insistent.

“Uh,” Alice said. The tone in the room had changed entirely.

“You must tell us. Those are not good people,” Hao said. “Are you from the Middle Continent? We can send someone to investigate immediately.”

Alice looked around, then settled on a pained whisper. “We’re from the Southern Continent.”

“What’s the big deal?” David asked, wary.

Hao’s face was grim. “Some cultivators with unorthodox scriptures place high value on the primordial yin and yang of children who awaken early,” he said. “That is, in fact, what we are testing here today. But they aren’t there to pass on their cultivation techniques. They’re there to harvest the qi of unsuspecting commoners.”

Hao sighed, losing his steam. “I have no doubt the worst of it happens in the Southern Continent. Even this far north, we feel the effects of the Cult. We’ve had another refugee come in earlier, from the Kingdom of Yi. He was one of the few who passed. I suppose the strong prey on the weak. Those locusts will eat the south.”

“That may be true,” said Daoist Shi, “but you’ll find no friends of the Yellow Demon Cult here. They have enemies amongst all nine of the Great Sects. Even if you do not pass your trial, Tianbei has many resources for those who have met with calamity.”

“Thank you,” said Alice.

Shi turned back to Feiyan. “Alright, princess. Get on the table and lay flat. Your clothing can stay on.”

“Aren’t you going to buy her dinner first?” Alice asked, unable to help herself.

Feiyan gulped. “I’m still chaste, please don’t-”

“You’re all unbelievable!” Hao shouted. “This is not an invasive procedure.”

Feiyan drew up her hanfu and walked over to the table, then sat down.

Daoist Hao slipped a long, thin needle out of his robe, then flipped it into the air like a coin. As it spiralled upwards, he dropped into a crouch and flattened his hands, with his palms over his knees. His fingers were pointed together. His qi roared.

“Lay down,” said Shi, pointedly to Feiyan. The needle continued to spin in the air.

“To cleanse and purify - this is a story of fire,” Alice muttered. “He’s sterilizing the needle.”

Feiyan finally put her chin against the iron, but she was still watching Daoist Hao fearfully.

Hao caught the needle with his right hand, between two fingers, then flicked it at Feiyan. It flew through the air so fast Alice could only catch a glint and buried itself into Feiyan’s lower back.

She screamed, long and loud, then stopped. “It doesn’t hurt,” she said, sounding confused.

Hao rolled his eyes in contempt, then walked over and pulled the needle from her. It slid out of Feiyan without a sound. He looked at it thoughtfully.

He passed the needle to Shi, who also examined it.

“Bone age?” Hao asked Feiyan, still looking at the needle.

“Fourteen!” Feiyan said. “Fifteen in a month, by the way.” She tried to catch David’s eye, but his attention stayed on the flows of qi in the air.

Shi tilted her head from side to side, then nodded reluctantly. “Average,” she said. “But good enough. That’s a pass.”

“Average!?”

“Below average,” Shi corrected, silencing the girl with a glare. She deliberately wrote the girl’s name into the second book, which was thinner than the first. “Hao, you know where to go.”

“Congratulations!” Alice said, as Daoist Hao led Feiyan away. Shi took his place next to the operating table.

As the door closed behind them, Daoist Shi spoke. “So, why do you hate that girl so much?”

Alice smiled furiously. “Reasons.”

Shi looked from Alice to David and then back. The woman understood. Shi gave David a coy smile, with half lidded eyes. “You’re next, little brother.”

Alice didn’t like Shi as much as she thought.