Chương 33: Tailor

The signs outside the main lecture hall led them to a relatively small building close to the wall of the outer sect. A line had formed ahead of them, and it progressed only slowly. Jianyi observed with a certain degree of detachment how most of the youths around him were in constant conversation with each other, how existing relationships played out, and new ones were formed.

Despite standing together with the cousins, he did not feel like he was a part of the group, and he wondered whether that was because of his poor upbringing or a feeling deeply rooted in his personality. He had to admit that it was probably the latter. He shrugged mentally and instead focused on his dantian, where he directed two tiny streams of qi to twirl and intertwine.

He felt that it was good practice, and if he were to be able to do this almost unconsciously, he would have made great progress on his journey as a cultivator. It took almost half an hour until he finally stepped into the building. There was no large and ornate reception hall, as most other buildings he had visited so far had; instead, he stood in a large workshop with a long counter just a few paces from the entrance.

The workshop held half a dozen workstations, but only two women and one man stood at the counter in discussions with the outer disciples ahead of them in the line, otherwise the room was empty. Three mannequins stood close to the right wall, all holding complete sect robes, as indicated by the fivefold spear emblem being stitched into the left lapel of the outer robes themselves.

The first one in the dark blue that outer disciples wore, the second one had the same base color, but the sash that held the robes together was in a lighter blue, and it featured embroidery in the same color on the sleeves. Finally, the third robe was one that Jianyi had seen rarely so far, the outfit of core disciples. The base color was unchanged, but the sash was the color of white jade, and the embroidery on the sleeves and the lapels glowed in the same color.

Jianyi ended up talking to the sole man behind the counter. He was well beyond middle age and looked like a mortal, with stooped shoulders but sure and practiced movements.

"Your sect medallion, please," he said, holding his hand open, his eyes briefly glancing over Jianyi's clothes. Jianyi was prepared based on what he had observed and handed it over right away.

"Step on the metal plate, please," the old man pointed to the gray shimmering plate that was set in the floor in front of the counter. A slight tingle flowed through his body as he did as he was told. The man looked at a jade token he held in his hand and quickly pulled a number of items from under the counter. With a practiced speech, the tailor explained the clothes he unrolled for Jianyi.

"The sect uniform comprises four core elements. Only in special circumstances may you deviate from them while on sect business—and on sect grounds, your very existence counts as sect business.

"The first element is the inner shirt." He tapped a simple cross-fold garment. It was a silk-cotton mix and held together by three laces: the first just below the throat, the last tucked almost beneath the right arm. The sleeves reached his wrists and were wider than what a merchant would wear, but still an easy fit beneath robes.

"Second, your trousers. They are cut extra wide to provide a full range of motion when fighting. You could, of course, choose a skirt as well, few men do…" The man looked at Jianyi for a reaction to a joke he must have made thousands of times, and Jianyi chuckled obligingly. Satisfied, the tailor returned to his explanation.

"Next, the main element, the outer robes, pure silk, knee length. The color and our emblem will help identify you when interacting with other sects and on the battlefield—though…" he paused with a sigh "…these days lower-ranked disciples rarely wear robes on the battlefield anymore." That was news to Jianyi.

"May I ask why that is the case, senior?" The tailor raised an eyebrow at the title but shrugged.

"It is easier to make a sturdy leather breastplate than to imbue well-made robes with the essence needed to make them resistant to demon beasts. Given the… throughput… of fighters on the frontlines, it was decided to focus on more basic mortal armor." That was not what the stories of old had talked about; in those, the heroes always wore flowing silk robes.

"But the more senior cultivators still wear robes?"

"Yes, they do. For one, their bodies resist more than any basic leather armor could ever provide, and two, they wear fine robes that often have multitudes of effects beyond pure protection from a beast's claws." If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Jianyi nodded, and the tailor continued.

"Finally, your sash, to be worn above the robes on navel height, and lastly your shoes, made from sturdy cotton and hemp for the soles.

"Any questions?" the tailor asked, waving over the uniform that was laid out in front of Jianyi on the counter. He felt goosebumps on his arms. This was to become his uniform, the most visible indicator that he truly was a cultivator. He remembered the many times that he had seen disciples in the city wearing exactly these clothes and how he had dreamed of one day being one of them. His hands followed the stitching on the robes.

"These are perfectly executed hidden-stitch seams on the robes and very robust backstitch binding on the trousers. Thank you so much!" The tailor looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you a tailor yourself?"

"No, not really. My mother is, though, and she taught me a few things. It would likely have been my path if I hadn't unlocked my core card."

"Mhh, if you are ever in need of contribution points…" the old man waved towards the back of the room.

"In the past, tailoring was a profession in the alchemy branch of crafting as respected as weapon smiths, but these days we are lacking in disciples interested in the art, and us mortals can only do the uniforms for the disciples, not for the elders." A disciple behind Jianyi in the line cleared his throat quite loudly as he had already spent more time at the counter than any of the others. He nodded his head deeply to the old man.

"Thank you, that is a very gracious offer. I will need to understand how much time my schedule allows, but should it be possible, I could very well imagine doing that."

"Good. My name is Tian Ruo. You can find me here." With a couple of practiced movements, the tailor put together three complete uniforms, rolled them up, and put them in a hemp sack for Jianyi to take away. Never had it occurred to Jianyi that he might take up his mother's trade while being a cultivator. He would have to think about it some more, but building on a capability that he already had felt almost comfortable, compared to everything else that he had to learn from scratch.

He was sure it would make his mother happy.

Rise. Advance. Close. Retreat. Piercing Fang, the most basic of attacks in the Fivefold Spear Art. A simple thrust. Yet, invaluable in any fight. The moment he had used it on the demon cult members in the city briefly flashed in his mind. Back in the starting position, the Rooted Stance, he looked at Minghao.

"Not bad. You have come quite far. But you need to continue to work on the form. The spear tip wavers as you advance, which not only makes it less likely for you to hit, but it also prevents you from exerting all your power into the thrust. Do you understand?" Jianyi stopped himself from just nodding out of politeness. Step by step, he went through the form he had just executed in his head. There. He had found the issue.

Instead of moving his arms forward in parallel with his leading leg, he hesitated, which brought disharmony into the form that led to the shaking spear. Opening his eyes, he nodded to Minghao.

"I understand. Let me do it again." The retainer nodded.

"Once more, then a brief break before we spar for a few moments." Jianyi smiled. He had hoped for a spar before the assessment the next day. A few minutes later, he went through a few stretches.

"Minghao, I went to the sect tailor today." The older man wiggled his eyebrows and stared at Jianyi's new robes.

"I do have eyes to see." They both laughed.

"Well, the tailor said that they have trouble finding disciples working there because the sect focuses on leather armor for the junior ranks. What do you know about that?"

"First of all, it wasn't just the Fivefold Spear Sect that made that decision; it was something widespread across the Empire. Before the Celestial Confrontation, cultivators would mostly fight spirit beasts of a similar cultivation realm. A combination of the natural strengthening of the body that any cultivator experiences, whether focused on spirit or body cultivation, and a well-made robe, was considered appropriate attire.

"On a battlefield, that is very different, as you will regularly face enemies a cultivation realm above yours. It is absolutely possible to make robes to at least provide some protection against the demons, but it is quite expensive, and the number of essences is limited. So, it became increasingly common to provide leather armor instead. It provides less protection than a well-made robe, but it is a lot cheaper." That echoed what the tailor had told him.

It was shocking to Jianyi that money—and he slowly came to understand that essences were, in a way, the money of the cultivation world—was the deciding factor for decisions like these. Despite the incredible wealth that the sects and cultivators had compared to the mortal world, it was still never enough.

"But to come back to the tailor… What is popular comes and goes in waves. If an ambitious elder pushes a specific topic, disciples are drawn to it. If I recall correctly, the elder responsible for the craft went into closed-door cultivation a few years ago, and that has probably had a bigger impact than whether Qi Condensation cultivators wear robes or leather," Minghao said with a laugh.

"The one thing I can guarantee you, though, is that essences are always needed. You can follow in Elder Sun's footsteps and focus on essence generation only, or you can branch out; as long as you spend some of your time on essence generation, you should be fine.

"Enough stalling. Let's fight!" A few hours later, Jianyi lay in bed, struggling to fall asleep. In some ways, he was more nervous about the assessment than the test. The test had certainly been more important, but he hadn't known what to expect. This was different. There could be no excuses; either you were good enough to beat your opponent, or you weren't.

Of course, the sons and daughters of nobles or rich merchants likely had a better start than he had with their private lessons and experienced tutors from an early age. But… a demonic beast would not take that as an excuse. Either you beat it, or you didn't. Fortunately, the stakes wouldn't be quite as high, but for a moment, he felt a tinge of regret for being in such a bad physical state. But then he caught himself.

He would give it his all and then behave with dignity, no matter the result of the assessment the next morning.