The night came and went with nothing of note truly happening, the only weird thing being one elderly man with bulging muscles looking into a mirror for longer than usual. The other prodigies were also quite tense. The one girl of their group had a seemingly middle-aged woman fuss over her appearance.
Ren could also tell that Xiao Ai had woken up, but simply chose to lay in bed for a while, which stumped him, 'shouldn't you simply get up if you are awake, Ai?', he thought.
Instead, she rolled around for a bit, groaned, and finally dressed herself. She wore a tightly fitting silver, almost dress like robe with wide sleeves, and her hair was done up in a knot and fixated with a needle, making her look more severe and professional.
As she exited her room, stretching and yawning once more, Ren turned to her. "Good morning. So, when are we going to meet the others, Ai?" Ren greeted her, looking fresh despite only meditating through the night.
Ai tapped her chin, and answered in a considering voice. "We should walk to the centre of the garden, it is where the first elder told all of us to meet." She shrugged. "And I guess that is what we'll do. We are to also eat breakfast together, I think."
"OK, let's go then." Ren stood up from the couch he was sitting on with crossed legs.
As they started walking through the garden, Ren noticed that only the young Adept and the old man of the body division were still missing, while all the others already sat in the middle of the garden inside a pavilion. There were stark contrasts in the behaviour of those already present. The old man, who saw his observations, was standing a little apart, with his back turned, wearing a white, open shirt and black featureless pants.
The boy who sat by the man's side, next to another man in a white robe with the symbol of the sect on his chest, was the first cultivator Ren had ever seen who was wearing glasses. He sat with his eyes closed, and hands folded over each other, as if he was ignoring the surrounding happenings, or meditating.
The girl, Ren observed getting ready and being fussed over by her Master who was trying to fix her attire and hair, sat with a straight back, an ice-cold look in her blue eyes that was framed by black bangs, and a slightly round face. Her attire was entirely black, black robes, boots, and even a black under shirt.
The middle-aged Master next to the girl looked similar in all manners of the word. Black hair, black robe, she even had finger nails painted black, and while the girl's spirit still bubbled in excitement, all that Ren could think when he saw and felt this woman was, emotionless. The contrast to the caring person he observed throughout the morning was staggering.
But the appearance of the last occupant sitting at the table blew Ren's mind. The young Adept, wearing a green robe with tight sleeves, lazy, yellow eyes and his spirit circling about like threads, he was already eating without a care in the world. In fact he ate like no one could even see him, without any table manners or inhibitions, occasionally taking a swing out of a nearby calabash and feasting on pastries that looked like half moons, and some kind of meat with rice.
It was a truly awe-inspiring event, and none of the other occupants even seemed remotely interested in reprimanding the boy. Finally, he burped loudly with a satisfied expression painted on his face, making the boy with glasses grimace in distaste. Looking at Xiao Ai and Ren, the boy began to shout at the man, who had his back still turned. "Old man Cloudgrass, why is Adept Xiao here now, I thought that Darkhaven would move up the mountain?! Honestly, it is bad enough that I have to lead this 'gathering of prodigies'." He made quote signs with his hands and spoke in a silly voice. "I already turned eleven, and how old are these guys, maybe nine at most? Are they even talented at all? I mean, Xiao is hailed as a genius, but she isn't even in the same league of talent as me. And when does this narcissistic idiot deign to move his lazy ass over, huh?" He said it all with a condescending voice, gesturing around wildly.
The now named Cloudgrass slowly turned to face the indignant boy. "Zhi Mu, calm yourself. Though you might be the most talented cultivator that has ever emerged from our humble sect, the talent of the other four is indisputable." He took a step toward the table on put a hand on the shoulder of the glasses wearing boy. "Young Shen Junan for example, he might have a slightly impaired vision due to the specialness of his talent, but when it comes to understanding the formation and dissolution of Illusions I have never come across someone more gifted." He sounded proud and almost even fatherly as he spoke about the boy. Cloudgrass then made a gesture directed at the girl in black. "Xin Jing, already has an understanding of the heart and exceptional command over her spirit, and..."
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Zhi Mu made a dismissive gesture, and rolled his eyes at the man. "Yeah, yeah, it is all fine and dandy if you just go on and on about their qualities, and how bright and talented they are. Bla bla bla. You say this girl can control her spirit and heart? That's a load of shit if I've ever heard one. Just look at her, she is already fuming, and I am only messing with her." He shook his head. "That is just so disappointing. And I heard about your little wonder boy and his oh so precious eyes, wasn't it said that reaching Grandmaster would be almost impossible for him?" He shook his head again.
Ren was quite taken with how the little dispute turned out. Both Xin Jing and Shen Junan were fuming, looking ready to jump the Adept. Shen Junan even looked as if he was going to cry, while Xin Jing just looked angry.
Next to Ren, Ai sighed silently. "I guess we will always have some argument like this, almost no one ever meets Zhi Mu's standards."
Ren simply nodded along with her, but inside he was also thinking how different Zhi Mu was from the stories that Daiyu recounted him, he did not look all that intimidating or even scary, like he expected.
Listening back into the conversation, the man next to Shen Junan was speaking. "Let us first all have some refreshments while we wait for the two Han family men to arrive." He waved his hand and the ring on his index finger flashed. The next moment, an assortment of different drinks and foodstuff appeared on the table. "Please sit with us while we wait, Adept Xiao, Initiate Ren."
Ai saluted the man, with a short bow, and gestured with her eyes for Ren to do the same, which he did. "We humbly thank you, Sect master." She said in a respectful tone. Ren simply imitated her, and made the same motions.
The Sect master just waved his hand as if to wave away the greeting.
For a while all of them just ate politely, but both Shen Junan and Xin Jing, occasionally glanced at him with question marks almost floating around their heads, but as no one else made any comment about his presence, they were too shy to be the first one to ask.
Zhi Mu had no such inhibitions, though. It was only a second ago that he slurped down a serving of noodles, already was he pointing his eating utensils at Ren. "Who is this little guy, by the way? He must clearly be an Initiate, but the quality of his spirit already feels like an Adept's." He looked at Cloudgrass while asking, but Ren felt compelled to answer himself as he was, till now, only a passive participant of this event.
"I am Ren, six years old, and I already have an Intent." Having said this made Ren feel self-conscious. The other children were all looking at him like he said something weird, and Zhi Mu even started laughing.
"Hahahaha, oh man, if you were gonna say something couldn't you at least think a bit before you did? You already have an Intent, and you are six? Don't make me mad, kid." The boy with yellow eyes said, pounding the table once.
"I am almost seven." Ren said, puffing up his chest. "And soon I will be a Novice, just you wait!"
"Incredible, would you just look at this kid? Xiao, when did your division get such a jokester?" He said, before turning more serious. "Listen up, there are people in this world who gain an Intent even before they can walk, but if such a person emerged on this mountain don't you think that we would have been informed beforehand? I'll say it once again. Don't make me mad, kid."
But before anything could escalate and Ren would show his art or Xiao Ai could interject, Cloudgrass responded calmly. "It is true what the boy says, every word. I couldn't believe it myself at first, and only when the Ji clan made inquiries did I even take note of his existence. So, I will also say it once again, calm yourself, Zhi Mu."
Zhi Mu still grumbled a bit, but he did indeed calm down considerably.
"Is it a bad time to make our appearance?" A deep voice asked, as the party of eight could see the last two participants walking leisurely.
"Great, now even old Han Meijiao has to join us. How I have waited." Zhi Mu said sarcastically. "You, Han boy!" The big boy, who towered over Zhi Mu, pointed at himself in question. "Yeah, of course I mean you! Let's get a bit of fresh air, I can't smell these old people any more, and the purpose of this get together is getting to know each other anyway. You too, glasses, emo, and sword boy." He just stood up and with one step his threads of spirit flung him across their heads on top of the green roof tiles.
Ren, and the others looked at each other and the Masters askance, but they simply smiled in unison, as if this reaction was a foregone conclusion, and all four of them tried to catch up to Zhi Mu.
Just as Ren channelled his spirit to fling himself up on the green roof as well, he caught Cloudgrass saying. "I truly hope that they can build bonds in this week, and even more in the coming years. I fear that the peaceful times of our little kingdom might soon come to an end."
Ren paused for a moment, but then simply tried to catch up, as his use of sword-step catapulted him onto the roof tiles. Exhilaration and a sense of adventure coursing through his being.