Chương 32: Introduction

The lecture halls were some of the larger buildings in the outer sect. A sign posted outside directed the new disciples to the main hall, which could easily seat hundreds. The seats were arranged in a semi-circle and descended to a large stage at the bottom of the room. The stage was empty but for a desk to the side and a lectern positioned centrally. Jianyi was early, and few other disciples had found their way into the hall yet.

He decided to take a seat in the lower third, just like he had usually done in school. Not too close to the teacher to be called upon needlessly, but also close enough not to be bothered by other students. Exercising the Martial Meridian Art helped him pass the time, and he felt increasingly confident that he would be well prepared for the hopefully final attempt to open his gates. From there, the ability to use his cards was so close he could almost taste it.

He opened his eyes to find Liu Jun and Hong sitting close by. The cousins who had accompanied him on his day through the trials had remained respectfully quiet while he had exercised, but now Jun could no longer hold himself back.

"Good day! Have you recovered? What did you just practice?"

"Jun, Hong," he said, nodding to both of them, but ignoring Jun's questions. The broad-shouldered youth was undeterred.

"The housing is not bad. The people, though… I don't know." His grin seemed to indicate that he was not serious, but Jianyi was not sure about which part. Before he could think of an answer or let the silence stretch uncomfortably, a door at the back of the stage opened, and a person Jianyi had met before entered.

"Welcome, disciples." It was the relatively young female elder from the group who had decided his fate the previous day. She had seemed very skeptical of him, in particular that he used the Martial Meridian Art and not the Imperial Gate Opening Technique.

"My name is Elder Zhang Zixia. I am the Supervising Elder for this intake, meaning that I will coordinate the classes that will be made available to you, and should you truly be incapable of solving an issue on your own, you can approach me," she said with a little scrunch of her small nose. She wore a long, slitted skirt beneath her elegant turquoise robe, its multiple layers of fine silk still leaving her enough room to move freely. Two long white jade earrings completed her outfit.

"Today, we will cover a few organizational topics only. First, after this session, you can go and collect your sect robes at the tailor; there will be signs pointing you in the right direction.

"Second, you will be keen to learn that the spear assessment will be conducted by Elder Fang Baotian himself, tomorrow, one hour past dawn, at the training grounds. You do not want to be late," she emphasized the last point with a pause and a stern glance to the disciples in the room. Jianyi did not know who Elder Fang was. He was more worried about his ability to show all that he could do than who assessed him.

"Third, as Elder Gao said yesterday, the curriculum on offer is not mandatory, however," she paused again and looked around, "if elders of this sect, elders who could be fighting on the frontlines, elders who have hundreds of years of experience, decide to take some of their valuable time to offer classes, I would very, very strongly recommend you attend those classes."

So far, her voice had carried normally through the hall, but towards the end of her last statement, it had taken on the same quality that the Patriarch and Elder Gao had had the day before. There was no doubt that every single disciple had gotten the message loud and clear.

"Having said that, for the next two months, the curriculum is very focused. We are offering some introductory classes on cultivation, but they are intentionally light to give room for all those who have not finished opening their meridians to do so. It is our expectation that in two months from now, you will have completed that step on your cultivation journey." Jianyi did not know whether it was happenstance, but the elder's eyes came to rest on him.

She did not show any negative emotions, but there was certainly no warmth in that gaze, either. Two months was, of course, plenty of time—if he managed to execute his plan and open his final meridians in ten days or so—still, the thought of the procedure made his stomach twist slightly. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

"The core focus of the next two months will be the spear. Whatever you have learned in the past, forget it. We are the Fivefold Spear Sect, and after the assessment tomorrow, you will start to learn what that means." Every word of the elder rang with pride—and Jianyi could relate to some extent. He had still only scratched the surface of the Fivefold Spear Art and was still proud of being part of the sect that had developed this style and fought on the frontlines daily to large effect.

"In addition to those classes, we also offer introductions to the history of the Empire, spirit beasts of the Empire, including their techniques and card drops, natural treasures in the Empire, and a short course on the sect and your place in it. Some might ask why learn about history, why learn about spirit beasts, when all we should do is fight demonic beasts, and it is true, some sects are focusing exclusively on preparing you for the war. But we must not forget that cultivation is a journey of centuries.

A journey that is never really complete. A journey that you can only hope to succeed in if you understand yourself, your path. And how can you understand yourself if you cannot understand the world around you?" While a lot of what the elder had said so far had felt like she had to discharge an unpleasant duty, this had been said with passion, like a core belief. Jianyi didn't know what was right, but he did know that if it was offered, he would attend.

"After the two months, we will go into more detail on cultivation; circles will be formed after the mid-year spear assessment; and professions will be part of the main curriculum in year two, even though you are of course free to explore those earlier as well. In your second year, we will also dedicate significant time to learning about demons, their techniques, and card drops." Circles were the teams of different affinities that were the core fighting units of the sect.

Jianyi assumed that they would be formed based on the progress the disciples made over the next six months and that by then they all had—hopefully—assembled some card decks based on their affinities. As much as he was excited about the prospect of having access to his cards and progressing his spear mastery, he was anxious about the circle.

The last couple of days had reconfirmed in his mind that he was not good with people his age, so he would have to understand how those circles were formed—ideally, he would be part of a group that was competent but not expect too many social interactions, he would be too busy to waste his time on those.

"Very well, you can register for the classes tomorrow after the spear assessment in the Administration Hall." She paused, looking slowly at the disciples before her.

"There is one more thing. While a lot has changed over centuries of war and our tolerance for misbehavior is much reduced… a bit of competition is still useful to motivate those who would not give it their all otherwise. Therefore, you are all being ranked on merit leaderboards for your intake group and all outer disciples. The rewards for those who place well are plentiful, from powerful cards to rare cultivation resources.

There are many ways to gain points; the details will be explained later, but know that the spear assessment is your first opportunity to move ahead. This is all for now." The elder turned without hesitation or giving anybody the chance to ask questions and left the hall through the same door she had entered. The moment she left, loud murmuring started to echo through the hall. Most of the disciples chatted with their neighbors about what they had just learned.

Whether to participate in all of the classes was a topic of interest, only eclipsed by the spear assessment the next day, and of course, the leaderboards. Nothing could stir the imagination as the outlook of winning cards that would allow you to wield powerful techniques.

"Are you experienced with the spear?" Hong, the quieter of the cousins, asked him. Jianyi thought about the answer for a moment. Before he had started to train with Minghao, he would have said yes. He had been proud of the daily training and what he had retained from the movements his father had shown him before his death. Now, he wasn't so sure.

Despite three months of training with his teacher's retainer and all the progress he had made, he was very much aware that he had much farther to go than his path had taken him so far. He had internalized the basic movements but was far from mastery. He felt reasonably comfortable with the forms, but acknowledged that he was still at the first steps of the Fivefold Spear Art. How all of this, in particular in his still weakened state, would compare to his fellow disciples, he did not know.

There was a huge difference between the spars at school back in the city, the friendly, and typically slowed down spars with Minghao, and a true competitive spar, even more to a real-life fight. Briefly, his memory flashed back to the demon worshippers in the city that he had killed, and he had to swallow. But that had been more of an execution than a true fight. He still woke up in cold sweat from nightmares associated with that event.

He jolted slightly, noticing that he had left Hong waiting for a reply for an inappropriate amount of time.

"I am sorry. I struggle to find a satisfactory answer. I have practiced a lot, but only in recent months under a tutelage that allowed me to actually progress more rapidly. It might be fair to say that I have some modest talent, and a lot of excitement for the spear, but neither the physical strength right now nor the experience against opponents my age who have been trained their whole lives." Hong nodded with a smile.

"You will get to see tomorrow, I guess. Neither Jun nor myself have more than the basic training from school, so you will likely have at least two sparring partners that you should be able to beat easily."

"Hah, speak for yourself, cousin. My strength will let me beat all those willowy nobles!" Jun said, with a self-deprecating laugh. Jianyi smiled.

"To be honest, I don't really know what the outcome of the test will be. As long as there will be a trainer to teach me, I will be happy." The other two nodded in agreement, and they slowly made their way out of the hall, the tailor being their next stop.