The Dragon Gate. When a carp is strong enough and swims against the current with all its might, it has a chance to climb a waterfall and jump over the Dragon Gate. If it achieves this legendary feat, it will transform into a true dragon.
In the Wastes, everyone, cultivator and mortal alike, was nothing more than a lowly carp. Cultivators would fight with all their might to swim against the current, ascend the waterfall, and jump into the wider world, but almost all were destined for failure.
The four great powers of the Wastes, the Twin Mountains Sect, the Verdant Fields Sect, the Su Clan, and the Blue Wind Pavilion had paths that could allow their most promising members to smoothly walk out of this small corner of the world, but entry into these forces was extremely difficult, and ascending out of them was even harder.
Take the Twin Mountains Sect, for instance. Each year thousands attempt to enter, but only a mere handful become outer sect disciples. Of those, only a fraction reach the inner sect, and only a fraction of that fraction ascend to the outside world.
Even with everything working against them, cultivators still join these sects en masse, hoping to be the one chosen to advance. The odds were against you, but if you didn’t play, you had no chance at all.
However, there was another way to join one of the outside powers.
The forces outside the Wastes may have been mighty, and they did disdain the people who lived here, but they were not willing to allow good seedlings to rot if they could be taken away and nurtured. Most cultivators with a promising future would enter the sects, but for various reasons, a few would be left behind. The powerful forces outside still wanted to rope in anyone with potential, even if they hadn’t joined a feeder sect. Thus, the Dragon Gate Festival was created.
Once every ten years, the three great forces surrounding the Wastes, the Rising Sun Empire, the Verdant Forests Sect, and the Flowing Mountain Sect, would send representatives to Dragon Gate City. Cultivators could display any talents they possessed, and if they were powerful enough, they would be directly recruited by one of these factions. This was an opportunity to jump the Dragon Gate and soar.
I originally learned about this event through Bao’s investigations, and I had considered trying to use this as a path of advancement myself, but I finally decided to pursue a path through the Pavilion first. After living here for years, though, I found access to technique manuals much more limited than it had been in the Twin Mountains Sect.
This could have just been because of the location of this branch of the Pavilion, but I got the sense that sects were more inclined to hoard random assortments of unused techniques. The Twin Mountains Sect had literal mountains of space to store anything they wanted, but the Pavilion only had this single building, so it was more selective and only kept what was deemed to have value. If I wanted a variety of techniques, I needed to go through a sect. If I wanted to learn herbalism, I should go through the Verdant Forests Sect.
I had already committed to the Blue Wind Pavilion this life, but that didn’t mean that I couldn’t get the knowledge I wanted out of the sect.
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“This is your choice,” I told SuYin, “but I have taught you all I can. If you want to continue to grow, you need to chart a new path.”
I would go with WuJing to the Eight Flower Kingdom, and I wanted Mei to go with us to help guide us through the deep waters there, but SuYin could scout out other paths.
“Master,” her voice trembled with nerves, “I don’t think I can do it… They only want true prodigies. I’m nothing.”
“SuYin,” I said, I looked her in the eyes and a tone of command entered my voice. “Do not say that. You are a Grandmaster now, and you are the equal of anyone in the Wastes. There will be people of greater power in the sect, but you can hold your own.”
I could see she wanted to believe me, but she didn’t. She wasn’t much different than I had been in the Twin Mountains Sect. She had lived by my side for so long, and she hadn’t experienced anything to demonstrate the growth of her power, so she didn’t notice how different she had become from when we first met. She needed to see for herself how far she had advanced.
“I know you feel the urge to leave and explore. You’ve done your best in cultivating, but your technique wants you to explore and find new places. You aren’t doing that here. Go, venture out into the wilderness, learn, and when you have reached your limit, come and find us. Share your experiences with Mei and me.”
“You’ve given me so much,” her eyes began to well with tears, “I haven’t given you anything in return. I can’t just leave.”
“If you truly feel you owe me, the best form of repayment would be to improve yourself. Go to the sect and learn all you can, then you can come and share it with me. I taught you, so you can teach me.”
Did I feel bad for pushing this on her? Yes, a little, but I soothed myself with the knowledge that this would have been the right choice for her even if I gained nothing. I was taking advantage of the situation, but I wasn’t doing so heartlessly, I hoped.
I placed a hand on her shoulder. “One hundred years,” I said, “In one hundred years, let’s meet in the capital of the Brilliant Sun Empire and share what we’ve learned. At that time, I expect us both to be Martial Kings with a wealth of knowledge and a long future ahead of us.”
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SuYin looked down at the ground. “Okay, I’ll do it. I’ll do my best.”
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Mei, SuYin, and I walked through the city as a group.
The entire place was in a festive mood. Red lanterns were hung from every building and large colorful papier-mâché dragons decorated nearly every street.
On the side of the roads, vendors were selling candied hawthorn, dragon beard candy, and fried sticky rice. However, more than anything else, they were selling zongzi, sticky rice stuffed with a variety of fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves.
I was focused on the mission, get SuYin accepted as a disciple of the Verdant Forests Sect, but Mei led SuYin to run around to the various stalls. They had become enraptured by the noise and activities surrounding us, buying an assortment of treats and small handicrafts. While they kept trying to get me to eat the sweets, I declined, but after constant pressure, I conceded to eat a single zongzi. It was stuffed with a red date and had a nice flavor, but I couldn’t think too much about it.
Near the center of the city, in a large square located halfway between the Su Clan’s palace complex and the Blue Wind Pavilion, a large fighting stage had been erected. It was surrounded by bleacher-style seating, but there were far more people interested in watching than there were seats. People were perched on rooftops around the entire area to get a view of the fights.
When we approached, two disciples had just begun their bout. They both had solid foundations, for rogue cultivators in the Wastes at least, and put on a decent showing. They had learned Yellow Rank fighting techniques, which weren’t powerful, but they had a decent understanding of how to employ them in various situations.
“What’s the prize for winning?” I asked Mei. She had been more interested in learning about the various competitions than I had been, so I left her to it.
“It’s pretty great,” she said with enthusiasm. “The winners of the Disciple and Master competitions will receive enough resources to push them to the next realm. They might not use them, since a Disciple capable of winning will be able to reach Master anyway, but they can sell them easily enough. Aside from that, they will get a suitable cultivation technique for their next realm and access to a Profound Rank fighting technique, though they won’t get to keep the manual.”
Access to a Profound Rank fighting technique would be nice, but I already had a couple for each of the basic elements, for Rank 1 and 2 at least. If I could use this competition to get Rank 3 Profound techniques, I might want to join, but I doubted I could defeat any of the real competitors.
“Anything for the runner-ups?”
“Yeah, but it’s not as good, of course. Less resources, worse techniques. The top ten all get something at least.”
I nodded at her explanation. “What about Grandmasters?”
“The winner is guaranteed a spot in the Rising Sun Empire’s Guard Corps. It’s not a great prize, but it is an official position. The Grandmasters aren’t fighting for prizes, though. They’re competing to impress the faction observers. No matter where they place, as long as they’re impressive enough, they may get recruited. It’s unlikely, though. Usually, only a handful of people will be chosen during the entire festival.”
As I watched the Disciples fight, I thought about my future plans. I had the idea to use this festival to join a major power when I was only nineteen, but how far could I push my cultivation that early and have it still be stable?
“Do they ever recruit Disciples and Masters, or is it only Grandmasters?”
Mei pondered for a bit before replying. “They do, but it’s more difficult. What kind of genius haven’t these sects seen? A genius Disciple is potential, but there are a thousand ways that potential can be destroyed before it’s ever realized. They prefer to focus on established cultivators, but there are exceptions.”
I watched patiently as another two bouts between Disciples took place before looking at Mei.
“When is the event SuYin needs to take part in?” I asked. We didn’t plan for her to compete in combat since there was no way she could defeat seasoned Grandmasters. Her route to the sect was through displaying her advanced cultivation at an incredibly young age.
Mei smiled. “The Disciple tournament will take another three days, then there is a day for Master level non-fighters to display their achievements, then three days for the Master tournament. After that will be when the Grandmaster level non-fighters will display their talents. That’s what we’re waiting for.”
I looked at her confused. “If SuYin can’t do anything for another week, why are we here?”
“Because,” she said, patting my shoulder, “this is a festival, and you need to relax. You’ve been working nonstop for as long as I’ve known you, and you can’t keep it up. Everyone needs a break, and this is yours.”
I froze. Her words hit me more powerfully than I expected. It wasn’t just the last ten years I had been pushing myself, it was centuries. Ever since I had come to this world, I hadn’t been in a position to relax. I had rested, sure, but I never allowed myself to truly step away from the grind. Even with enhancements from cultivation and the effects a reset had on my memory, maybe I did need to take some time off.
Mei smiled, hooked her arm through mine, and pulled me away from the arena as I turned off the mental circuits that had kept me focused.
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“What is this?” I asked, staring at the large orange mass in front of me. “It looks like a fish exploded on the plate.”
Mei shook her head at me. “It’s squirrel fish. Eat. It’s good.”
Tentatively, I reached out with my chopsticks and grabbed a bit of meat that was sticking out of the fish’s body, carefully peeling it off. After placing it in my mouth, I was shocked at how good it was. The sweet and sour sauce was a perfect complement to the fried fish.
“Good?” Mei asked with a smile.
“Yes, why haven’t I had this before?”
“It’s rare around here since it’s hard to get the right kind of fish. They import a bunch for the festival, but don’t expect to see any more for the next decade unless you are willing to pay an outrageous price.”
“That’s a shame,” I sighed, “maybe it’ll be more common in Eight Flower.”
We chatted about inconsequential things for a while before I looked at SuYin. She had been somewhat quiet throughout the meal, and I knew why.
“SuYin,” I said, bracing myself, “I know I’ve been pushing you to join Verdant Forests, and I do think it’s what’s best for you, but if you want to join us in Eight Flower, you’re welcome to. I’m sorry for forcing things too much.”
“Thank you,” she said with a small smile, tears welling in her eyes. “I don’t want to leave you… but… I know it’s the right thing to do.” She pressed her lips together firmly, resolve spreading across her face, and looked up to me. “Don’t worry. I’ll see you in a hundred years. We’re going to live for centuries after all.”
Mei and I both stood to give her a short hug.
“One hundred years,” I said, “it’s a promise.”