The next couple of weeks went by in a regimented blur as Xu Long put his nose to the grindstone, throwing himself into more and more crowded situations. He began and ended each day by sitting with Old Wu in the crowded restaurant of the House of Heavenly Respite, of course Xu Long didn’t actually eat anything and Old Wu mostly ‘ate’ spirit liquor but it was a good opportunity for Xu Long to ramp up and then down his crowd immersion and to bookend his rather torturous days in relative comfort and peace.
And torturous they certainly were, from the first day he had dove head first into the deep waters that were the boulevards of the city and then pushed himself onwards from there. First he would head further and further out into the boulevard until, about a week and half into his immersion training, even that was no longer difficult enough for him. That was when he looked towards possibly the most difficult challenge this city had to offer him, the central plaza. The confluence of the four major boulevards and the location of all of the largest stores and auction houses in the city, needless to say that it got crowded in there.
Xu Long was only three days into his foray into the central plaza and he was already feeling frayed at the edges as he sat at a table in the House of Heavenly Respite at the end of a long and grueling day. And apparently it showed on his countenance.
“Maybe you should take the next week off kid”
Awoken from his daze when he heard what Old Wu said, he raised an eyebrow at the old man. “That is all the time I have left and I can barely tolerate the fringes of the plaza at the moment.”
Old Wu chuckled as he shook his head in response and then rubbed the bridge of his nose in exasperation. “First of all kid, even if you gathered all of the students and faculty of the Azure Dragon Academy it would be a fraction of the number of people that can be found in that plaza at any given moment. Second and most importantly, did it ever occur to you that you are only in the second level of the Qi Condensation Realm, what you have achieved for that level of cultivation is already ridiculous and you are clearly running into a wall at the plaza because you have reached the limits of what is possible with your level of cultivation.
“Well, I say that but honestly you reached the limits of what is possible for your level of cultivation quite a while ago…but here we are.”
Xu Long felt like he had just had a bucket of water splashed on his face, he had been so focused, so driven to succeed in this endeavor he had never stopped to ask himself if it was even necessary, or possible at all. He looked over at Old Wu.
“How come you didn’t tell me sooner?”
“Kid, there are few things I could do that would be more damaging to your future than pointing out your mistakes before you make them, you have to live them and their consequences so that you learn from them and that lesson sticks. Ideally I would have let this farce continue on until you figured it out yourself but you are still young and possibly even more stubborn than your mother, which I didn’t think possible, so I came to the conclusion that you weren’t going to figure it out anytime soon. But mostly I told you because it was frustrating to watch.”
Xu Long sighed before getting up out of his chair. “Well in light of my new found free time and the fact that I feel half dead, I am going to call it a night and get some sleep.” He blearily picked up Xu Xing who had been sitting on the table and placed her in the front of his robes.
Old Wu raised his spirit liquor in toast to Xu Long. “Rest well kid. You're probably going to need it, most of your fellow enrollees will be arriving in the coming days and Academy enrollment is always an interesting time of year for this city.”
Xu Long, who was about to turn away and head to their room, stopped and looked at the old man, but then thought better of asking, he was too tired to care. Shaking his head that he wasn’t going to bite he started walking off to his bed and some much needed sleep.
He awoke the next day when he felt Xu Xing climbing onto his chest, after taking a moment to wait for his brain to process what exactly was going on, he realized that it was almost dawn and Xu Xing was turning in for sleep after presumably a night spent cultivating. Xu Long, having slept longer the night before than at any time since his Awakening, was in no mood to lay in bed the rest of the day to accommodate a sleepy spirit fox, so he picked her up and cradled her as he made his way to the balcony.
Considering that she had only just turned in for her sleep and couldn’t possibly have been asleep already, her mild protest rang hollow and was completely ignored by Xu Long, who sat down shirtless in the lotus position with his sword laying on his lap and placed Xu Xing just in front of it. For some reason he had the pressing need to make up the time that he had squandered the last few days on conquering the plaza by focusing on his cultivation more thoroughly. Perhaps it was just how stupid he had felt when Old Wu pointed out to him how obvious it was that he should have stopped a lot sooner, or perhaps it was just the thought that raising his cultivation would allow him to get back to it as soon as possible so that he did not have to admit defeat.
Whatever psychological drive was pushing him forward, the results were the same, and he spent most of the day cultivating on the balcony. He was so focused that it wasn’t until Xu Xing nipped his hand that he snapped out of it and realized that the sun would be setting in a few hours. He looked down at the patiently waiting Xu Xing and smiled.
“Sorry Xiao Xing, that can’t have been a terribly exciting afternoon for you.”
He then quickly set her up with her tea, swallowed his own pill and then went and washed his face and found his robe so that he would look presentable when he went down to the restaurant. Xu Xing must indeed have been quite bored, because she devoured her tea like the Xu Xing of old and was ready to head out as soon as Xui Long was.
They both left the room, Xu Long feeling quite a bit more rested and at ease, Xu XIng in the front of his robe just happy to be out and about. Having made the trip from their room to the table in the restaurant that Old Wu seemed to have claimed as his own everyday over the past couple weeks, they made it there in no time at all and walked through the crowded restaurant to the old man who was, as could be expected, already sitting there sipping on his spirit liquor.
“Welcome back to the land of the living, kid.”
Xu Long smiled and shook his head as he placed Xu Xing on the table and sat next to Old Wu. “It’s good to be back.”
After Xu Long took a seat he finally felt comfortable to take in his surroundings with his full attention. Immediately he noticed something was different this evening.
“I don’t remember this place ever being so packed and lively before.”
Old Wu laughed. “I did try to tell you yesterday that your fellow enrollees would start arriving, well quite a few of them decided to prove me right today. The amount of flying spirit beasts that flew into the city today is more than the city sees in months at any other point in time. Naturally there is a buzz in the air.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Xu Long looked down at his furry companion in understanding. “So you weren’t keen to get out of the room because you were bored, but because you had seen many interesting things while I was cultivating today and wanted to check them out.”
He then looked up at Old Wu. “Do the flying beasts stay in the city somewhere we can go and have a look?”
Shaking his head, Old Wu answered. “No, there is barely enough room for the humans in this city, most of the enrollees will just be dropped off alone or with a guardian who will be picked up again after enrollment. That being said, you don’t have to go out of your way seeking out flying spirit beasts just to view them, how do you imagine you will be traveling to the Academy?”
A rush of excitement went through Xu Long when he heard that, he hadn’t even really thought about it, but now that he did it didn’t make any sense for them to walk all that way. He took a calming breath and looked back at Xu Xing. “Looks like we will just have to be patient Xiao Xing.”
She replied with a slightly disgruntled yip before laying down on the table and looking around the room at the patrons. Seeing her reaction, Xu Long smiled and started to gently pet her as he started to do the same. As he went back to focusing on his surroundings he felt a familiar presence approaching their section of the restaurant, Li Ruolan. She was walking casually through the tables and ended up at the table just across from the one Old Wu and he were occupying. He watched as she approached the occupants and said something very quietly to them which made them promptly stand up and vacate the table.
As he watched her walk off casually, he turned to Old Wu. “What did she tell them to have them give up their table so obediently?”
“This section of the restaurant is the ‘reserved’ section, the more wealthy patrons pay quite a premium to be able to get a table whenever they feel like it. And when their table is not in use, general patrons can sit there and receive quite the discount on their orders on the condition that they have to vacate should the reserver wish for the table.”
“Huh, that is quite clever. So is this your table or are we going to be asked to leave one day?”
Old Wu chuckled at that question. “This is Yaling’s table that she reserves for friends and notable guests who are not locals and thus would not have the need to reserve a table year round.”
As they were talking Li Ruolan returned escorting 5 people, Xu Long could tell they were all of low cultivation, but one stood out in particular, their qi was so placid and orderly and Xu Long could feel a chill run through him when he concentrated on them. It appeared his attention was noticed though as the person looked his way and headed in his direction.
“What a beautiful little spirit fox, can I pet them?”
Xu Long almost laughed at his misconception, they had clearly been drawn here by the cuteness of Xu Xing. He looked down at her and asked. “What do you say?”
Xu Xing let out a happy yip. Xu Long smiled and turned towards what he now knew to be a young woman and conveyed the meaning to her. “That was a resounding yes.”
She let out a small laugh at their antics and Xu Long was momentarily entranced by it, luckily for him he was blindfolded and could ride out the moment with no one the wiser, except apparently for the old man next to him chuckling under his breath. Just as he was about to look in the old man’s direction and hope that his scowl was obvious through his blindfold, the young lady who was now petting a happy little spirit fox asked him a couple of questions.
“What’s their name and how old are they?”
“Her name is Xu Xing, and she is about six years old.”
Sounding a bit hesitant, she followed up. “Are you sure about her age?”
“There are extenuating circumstances with her size, but yes I am sure, she has been with me since she was about a month or two old.”
“I see, I apologize for prying into your circumstances Xu Xing.”
Xu Xing seemed far too enamored with the young lady to care about anything at the moment and merely gave a happy yip in response and hinted that more pets were in order. The young lady laughed and obliged the little fox who seemed to really be pouring on the cuteness.
Xu Long smiled. “I think you have made a friend for life, Miss…sorry I didn’t catch your name.”
“Oh where are my manners, my apologies, I was so surprised to see a spirit fox from the Frozen North here that I completely lost myself. I am Bai Mei.”
“Don’t worry about it, it’s a pleasure to meet you Bai Mei, I am Xu Long.”
Just as Xu Long was about to continue the conversation he felt another member of their group approach the table, Xu Long never really got a good picture of people through what he could feel of their qi, but he would swear that the person was strutting.
Once they arrived they barged straight into the conversation and quickly revealed themselves to be a young man, one who talked a little too loud. “Do you like this beast Miss Bai?”
“Of course, she is the cutest spirit fox I have ever laid eyes on.” Bai Mei replied absentmindedly while still petting Xu Xing.
“Very well, I will procure it for you then. You there, boy, how much for the spirit fox, name your price and it shall be yours?”
Rage washed over Xu Long, he had to take a deep calming breath before he replied to the pompous idiot. He turned his head in his general direction and replied very matter of factly. “She is not some object to be bought and sold, and if you ever speak about her like she is again in front of me, it will not end well for you.”
Silence descended over their particular corner of the restaurant and Xu Long watched as the qi in the idiot started to build by the second, until it was raging, it felt of scorching flames. Once his build up was complete, which felt stretched out due to the silence of everyone around, but can’t have been more than a few moments, he found his voice again.
“Did you just threaten me boy! Do you have any idea who I am! If this beast doesn’t belong to you, then I guess it is fair game for whoever captures it then!”
As he was yelling Xu Long could see the qi that had been building up leak out of his breath as he screamed, like he was some kind of fire breathing creature, then the moment his little tirade ended he lunged at Xu Xing who Bai Mei had stopped petting during the previous silence. Naturally Xu Long, who had been paying far more attention to the qi flows in his body than the nonsense coming out of his mouth, knew that the lunge was coming.
The moment the blowhard's distribution of weight had changed, ready to attack, Xu Long was already moving. In one smooth motion he stood up from his chair and unsheathed his sword, by the time he was standing his opponent had barely taken a step so he took one of his own and carried the momentum into his swing right for the young man’s throat.
Clearly his actions were not anticipated in the slightest as the young man basically continued to lunge into the sword without any opportunity to divert it or himself from their meeting. And meet they did.
As soon as Xu Long’s blade broke the skin of his opponent's neck, they both froze, it was as if time had stopped moving in that localized area. That being said, no one else in their vicinity was moving either, most shocked by how quickly the whole thing had escalated. After a brief moment of them being held in stasis a woman who looked to be in her thirties, but was certainly much older than that appeared next to the two as if out of thin air.
Her dulcet voice rang out in the ears of everyone who was stunned silent watching the ordeal. “Were you really going to let him kill this idiot, Zhong?”
Old Wu chuckled at her question. “No, I figured you would intervene, but I would have let the blade sink in further, so even if you didn’t, my course remained the same.”
The woman let out a long suffering sigh and the two young men were separated and unfrozen in the blink of an eye. Xu Long took a second to orient himself as he felt the position of everything around him shift from one second to the next, after locating Old Wu and Xu Xing right next to him and then feeling a presence not unlike Old Wu himself standing where he had previously thought himself to be, he pieced together what was happening. He flicked his sword and then sheathed it, before standing straight with his hand resting on the hilt of his sword as he waited for what was going to happen to happen.
The young man who was his adversary however just stood there, frozen with his hand on his neck over an incredibly shallow cut that was so shallow it was struggling to produce even a drop of blood. Despite the lack of blood loss however, he was deathly pale after witnessing his life flash before his eyes.