“The major realms of cultivation include the opening realm, which is what most of you are.” The man's voice was nasally and grating to Bai Xiu’s ears. He waved a hand towards the group of outer disciples while lecturing.

“Then once they have unlocked use of their spiritual power they can be considered the initiated realm.” He was an elder lecturer of the Fallen Mountain Sect that was highly respected by most. However Bai Xiu had trouble keeping her eyes open whenever he spoke.

“Once an individual has mastered externalizing that power they are considered spiritual realm cultivators, The spiritual realm allows one to use a flying sword and is where most of the elders and teachers are in their own cultivation. To reach the upper spiritual realm requires a once in a generation genius to study their entire lives.” He seemed proud saying that. Well, as a lower spiritual realm cultivator he was entitled to being a bit prideful. Bai did her best to hold back a yawn.

“Oh?” The elder’s eyes narrowed.

“Perhaps Ms. Bai would like to tell the class about the upper realms of cultivation since my lectures are so stifling.” he swished the sleeves of his silk robes while he spoke.

“Uh-I-uh, I don’t know…” She blushed slightly. Of course she wouldn’t know about the upper realms, she had just turned 11 this year.

“Hmph, then perhaps you should be paying attention to lectures instead of dozing off.” He spun around and waved his fan at the sky beyond the open air lecture hall.

“The first of the upper realms is the earth realm. An earth realm cultivator is able to call upon the natural elements as they will. They can cleave a river with a wave of their hand or summon fire from their internal energies without the aid of specialized skills.” he kept looking away. If the kids could see his face they might have noticed the single tear rolling down his cheek.

Ting De was coming up on his hundredth year. While he looked no older than thirty he still was unlikely to be able to reach the earth realm in his lifetime. He hadn't even been able to find a proper flying sword like the other elders.

“Beyond the earth realm, is the heavenly realm.” He spun back around.

“No one knows the true extent of the heavenly realm. It is said that a heavenly cultivator is capable of changing the entire world single handedly. Though honesty the few heavenly cultivators that exist don't usually concern themselves with the rest of the world." He finally sat down after the lecture.

"Now, Each of you is to study your techniques that you have been provided and return to me writings on your meditations.” He sent away the children as quickly as he could after class. He didn’t like being in the outer sect especially when dealing with the children's classes, however he was the lead lecturer on general cultivation. It would be bad if the children were taught improperly.

Bai Xiu began to head towards the eastern wall. She checked to make sure no one was following her. Once she arrived she ducked between the bushes and found the little hole that let her get outside this boring sect. With a laugh that would have put any evil witch’s cackle to shame she slipped past the walls.

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Xue was still hesitant around me but at least I hadn’t been hit by the explosive sound of her screaming lately. If it had kept up I might have ended up deaf.

While she wouldn’t talk to me directly she still sent me a new outfit as part of the payment for her needles. I honestly began to cry. Not in the manly way either, looking into the sunset with a single tear falling down. No, these were big, sloppy, slobbering, sniffling, tears. The old man just sighed. I had been almost naked for over three months now so he seemed to understand. Thankfully the climate here seemed to be consistent year round. The clothes were a simple affair, dull brown but soft. The shirt ended up being a bit too tight around the chest for me to keep it closed properly, but still, I had a shirt!

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Ever since Long Fa spoke to Mrs. Wang, her son had been staying with old Long and I. It seemed that his family was okay with him becoming an apprentice. He took the chance to do morning workouts with me the past few days before we started to work. The kid was surprisingly resilient. He couldn’t do many push ups but I was still impressed. Especially the stretching. Yeah I do yoga but I can’t do the splits or anything. I can barely touch my toes. This kid could fold himself like some sort of performer.

“Why do you breathe like that?” Hu was probably the most curious kid I had ever met. He reminded me of Calvin from the comic strip. However he seemed to have a bit more of a penchant for pranks. Seriously, I almost got hit by a tripwire coming outside.

“It helps me keep calm.” There’s no harm in answering easy questions. Especially since it’s not like I could tell the kid to search online if I didn’t want to answer.

“But you’re never calm.” Sometimes the simplest remark from a child can be the most painful thing to hear.

“Now I know why the old man is always throwing his sandals.” I sighed as I finished stretching.

We weren’t busy today so Hu and I made a larger meal than usual for dinner. Or rather, I did, but he’s good moral support. We had fresh vegetables from a few different people and boar meat from Hu’s dad. We took our time with it making a spread worthy of a restaurant back home. It was a good thing I had made myself a few pots and pans over the past few weeks. The old man barely had the necessities.

“Alright, I’ll be teaching you two properly from now on.” Long Fa started speaking once we were all seated for dinner.

“That means no pranks in the forge.” He looked pointedly at Hu.

“And no magic trances.” He pointed a finger at me to punctuate his statement. It’s not like I had control over the magic trances!

Once Hu had fallen asleep for the night, old Long pulled out a jar of wine.

“I want you to make sure he doesn’t pick up any more bad habits when he works out with you!” Long Fa made it sound like I had already corrupted the kid.

“What are you talking about?” I poured us each a drink while asking.

“I don’t know what you’re doing to the boy but he’s already building those weird channels like you have.” That didn’t make any sense. Yeah he had been following along for my morning workout but these xianxia guys were supposed to take years to develop that kind of crap.

“Channels?” I had no idea what he was talking about.

“Most cultivators build a sort of lake in their dantian in order to collect spiritual power. We use our spiritual channels to pull in that power.” He gesticulated in a ridiculous fashion while explaining.

“You, on the other hand, have built more of a river through your meridians that overflows those channels. It allows a lot of external energy to flow through, but you can't hold any of it for yourself.” He shrugged.

“It’s too bad. You might have been half as good of a prospect as Hu.” He shook his head sadly.

“Is he that good?” Old masters like this could always see a kid's potential right? Or did they have to have some sort of relic for that power to come into play?

“Ha, best I’ve ever seen. That’s part of the reason I’m letting him work out with you. If I can help him build a proper core, whatever freakish body cultivation you do would only be beneficial in the long run.” It wasn’t even freakish. It was like maybe, 100 squats, 100 sit-ups…

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Elder Zhang had taken much longer to return to Iron Falls City than he had anticipated. While he was called elder he was only 30 years old. Even if he did already have salt and pepper hair. Sometimes it felt like a bit of an insult.

What had started as some minor ‘arrive and observe’ report quickly started multiplying the moment he left that nameless little village. More and more foreigners were appearing in the middle of the woods. The reports only lasted a week or so but it took several for him to check each report.

Zhang was simply happy to be home. To see his beautiful wife once again. To be away from the tedious work of his office. He skipped for a step as he made his way down the cobbled street.

Maybe soon he could get a vacation? These were the sort of thoughts that plagued him while a shadow crept along behind. It kept it's distance as he entered his house before returning to the darkness.