The next few days Ren followed his self-determined schedule. He would try and memorize the rules listed in the jade, followed by preparing and then sowing his half plot with the assorted vegetable seeds. His young body bounced back easily from the hard labor each day. Ren suspected the mountain air had higher quantities of qi, which helped recovery. After his plot needed no further attention, Ren chose to spend his morning practicing his family’s sword forms with a branch he’d cut from one of the trees.

  With two days left, he decided to go greet his fellow new disciples. Just because one of his neighbors was rude didn’t mean they all were. Word had spread about the first class and also about the market, but most had missed their opportunity for the week. The market was much smaller other than on market day.

  Ren walked the mountains and went about meeting others and trying to learn something from their experiences so far. He didn’t gain much but didn’t mind their gratitude when he shared some tips he’d learned from the jade. He also remembered his promise and promoted the grain merchant he had encountered.

  “Returning a favor is just good manners.” He nodded sagely to himself.

  One of the new disciples, a girl called Mei Ling, had done the same as him and bought spirit vegetable seeds to plant. In talking with her, Ren found out he had completely messed up his own garden. Mei Ling was from a merchant family that grew their spiritual herbs. She pointed out to him that each vegetable had its own needs of sunlight and water and the quality of soil.

  When Ren admitted his lack of knowledge in this, she didn’t laugh too much and gave him some tips on how to improve the situation and how to better prepare for his next attempt. Her bright and easygoing personality made it easy to feel encouraged. He thanked her sincerely as he left.

  On the last night before the class, Ren lay awake in excitement for what the next day would bring. He would finally begin cultivating. Growing up hearing his elders talk about the magical sensation of qi had always made him impatient to experience it as well. In all his eagerness, the burden of expectation suddenly made an appearance after having slipped his mind the entire week.

  Yet this time, something was different. The burden didn’t feel so heavy. Maybe what he had needed was distance from his family. Then he felt guilty for even thinking that since they had given him all the resources they could lavish.

  “Tomorrow is a new day. Let’s just focus on becoming a cultivator first!” he said and lightly slapped his cheeks.

  The next morning Ren woke and meditated till sunrise. Then rushed to prepare for class and found Hua outside just as he was leaving. They made their way to the Hall of Learning together. As they approached the hall, more and more disciples joined them until it was a stream of young people all heading in the same direction. The jade directed him to a large open area with stone platforms where many of the new disciples had already arrived. Ren spotted some familiar faces, like Mei Ling, and also his rude neighbor, who was seated at the front. There were also a lot more unfamiliar faces.

  The position of the teacher was occupied by an ancient-looking man who had a huge white beard, bright as silver. He wore the sect robes and what looked like rosary beads around his neck. Somewhere a bell rang to mark time, and the teacher began speaking without hesitation.

  “Greetings, young ones, to the Heavenly Sword Sect. I hope you all have gotten accustomed. I know those who arrived at the sect early were eager to begin, and those who just made it in time before the sect gates closed for the year will still be finding their feet. I hope you used your time well; cultivation waits for no one.”

  “Today you will practice sensing qi and gathering it. It is the very first step of cultivation and the first step on your journeys. The length of your journey is up to your talent and effort. Once you have sensed qi, you may go to the Hall of Scriptures to select a cultivation method. Our sect's main cultivation method is the Heavenly Sword Scripture. It uses the meditative trance of swordplay to attract qi into your spirit roots.”

  “These spirit roots will only absorb qi of their own attribute, and once you gather enough, you will purify your bodies and meridians to an extent. This is called a breakthrough. Go through 9 such breakthroughs and you will reach the peak of the Qi Gathering realm. Breaking through to the foundation realm will be left for later. Now, begin meditating on these platforms while I activate the formation that pushes qi towards you. It will help you sense it.”

  Once everyone had taken the correct posture, glowing lines appeared around each platform, and Ren suddenly felt a pressure surrounding him evenly. He began meditating and focused on his dantian, the area around his bellybutton, as his tutors had taught him in preparation for this moment.

  Eventually, he felt the pressure there grow into a tingling sensation until all of a sudden he could sense something.

  “It must be Qi!” he thought. “Finally! I should make the most of this opportunity and familiarize myself with this feeling.”

  The tingling sensation seemed to pulse in step with his heartbeat. Ren lost himself in that feeling. He felt different sensations, which he knew were what different attributes of qi were supposed to feel like.

  “So these are earth, metal, and wood qi. I wonder when I’ll be able to direct them as I please.” He knew that generally, those with earth qi are supposed to be good at formations, those with wood qi at growing herbs and plants, and those with metal qi at forging tools and weapons.

  He also knew that fire qi was used for making talismans and water qi for healing arts. This wasn’t a rule, and to cultivate was to defy the heavens, much less the general trends. This was just the profession side of things. Qi could be used for all sorts of offensive and defensive moves as well. But having all 5 spirit roots spelled doom for cultivating. It was better to focus on something instead of failing at everything.

  When the pressure surrounding him faded, he opened his eyes. Immediately he became aware of the thin layer of blank gunk covering his body. The formation had helpfully blocked the smell and was rapidly vanishing the rest of the gunk. Ren looked around and saw around 20 to 30 of the nearly 150 students had successfully broken through the first layer of qi gathering.

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  The teacher addressed the class, “Congratulations to those who broke through. The impurities covering you are the accumulation of a lifetime of being touched by the Red Dust of mortal life. Every breakthrough slightly increases your lifespan. Breaking through to the next realm will bring a large increase, almost doubling your natural lifespan to around 150 years. You may now select a cultivation method and practice on your own. Return to class after a month and don’t rest on your laurels. I will reward the one who progresses the most.”

  “As for the rest of you, don’t be disheartened. Cultivation is a journey, and progress must be made methodically. Those who rise rapidly may stumble first. You will get your chance. Exercise your bodies and continue attempting to sense qi on your own. See you next month.”

  As he said those words, another bell rang. Ren was impressed with the teacher’s efficiency as he got up and looked for his friend. Hua looked a bit dejected but quickly gathered up his determination again, saying he’ll catch up soon. Amongst those who had broken through was Mei Ling. She also told him the rude boy’s name was Jian Feng, the one with the best spirit roots of this batch, with dual roots of fire and metal.

  The boy was also from a famed sword cultivator family and was sure to be a terror to fight with. Ren, of course, had no intention of facing him in battle. He was only decent at duels. He thought back to his childhood friend and suppressed a shudder at remembering the devastating strength of true geniuses.

  Ren and Mei Ling made their way together to the Hall of Scriptures along with many others. It was a huge pagoda with 7 floors and lavishly decorated with statues and lanterns. They took turns presenting their jade to the elder at the desk of the hall, and he told them,

  “Cultivation is a matter of fate and luck. Be wise in your choice; only the first scripture is free, and that is limited to the first floor. The rest must be purchased with contribution points. The higher floors are reserved for higher cultivation realms. Now shoo!”

  At that, the eager new cultivators split and descended on the vast hall of the first floor, which was lined with seemingly countless scrolls and books and jades in row after row of shelves.

  Ren was familiar with the cultivator legends. Finding some lost or forgotten cultivation method that allowed one to break through their limits and achieve immortality. Or finding ancient pendants or rings that held wisps of supreme cultivators that guided you and provided a path to greatness only to turn and try to steal it all from you. Despite knowing that such things were highly improbable, he couldn't help but hope he would find something incredible to change his fate.

  Ren looked and looked, but there were simply too many choices. The shelves also had no discernable order and were all mixed together. It would be ages before he found something appropriate. Deciding to ask for advice, he approached someone he knew wasn’t in their batch and was probably a senior and asked,

  “Senior, if I may, how did you choose your first cultivation method?”

  The senior replied, “You shouldn’t ask me; I made a mess of things. Fortunately I managed to change my cultivation method in the third layer and have now made it to the 6th layer. I’m just here to find a movement technique. Try asking the elder at the desk.”

  Ren thanked him sincerely and approached the desk. The elder didn’t even look up from his book.

  “Greetings, senior. Can you suggest a cultivation manual suited for me?”

  Still not looking up, the elder slowly replied, “Why should I help you? If I guide you well, I get nothing, and if I guide you poorly, I am cursed at for misleading the youth. Make your own choice and leave.”

  Ren got the impression that he could still convince the elder to help, so he said, “Please, senior, I just want some advice and will not hold it against you if I choose poorly.”

  The elder looked him up and down and said brusquely, “3 spirit stones since I know you won’t have any contribution points yet.”

  Ren was taken aback. That was almost all he had! He still needed to survive till the class next month. Clearly an elder didn’t need such meager wealth?! But despite his reluctance, he knew the way of the world and tried to not let it show on his face as he handed over 3 spirit stones with only a slightly stiff smile. Now he would need to find a way to earn a living urgently.

  “Good, good. That’s decisiveness.” The elder grasped his wrist for a moment and then said, “For your spirit roots, I would recommend the Grass Blade Manual. It is a variation of the Heavenly Sword Scripture. It has a good mix of the 3 elements and has some offensive sword stances as well.”

  Ren agreed that was as good a method as any when comparing it with advice from his family and tutors and decided to accept. The elder gave him directions to the manual and proceeded to ignore him. Ren found the jade slip and scoured its description. It was a method that was a mix of growing a particular plant called the sword grass and then refining it to use for sword stances.

  The right mix of the three qi would have to go into growing the sword grass, which would harden into a sword at maturity. Then by breathing in a specific way while following those stances, he would attract qi and absorb it using his spirit roots. There were other parts of it that would help him better sense and move the qi he gathered, but it was most effective when paired with the grass sword.

  He registered it as his one free cultivation manual and was given a copy. He almost started heading back before realizing that without the sword grass, it was useless. Even though it wasn’t market day yet, he decided to try his luck. The smaller market was made of the larger stalls that were permanently open. Some enterprising senior disciples, possibly from the inner sect, hired outer sect members to man the stall for them. “Must be nice,” Ren thought, “to just sit back and watch the money roll in. Though they probably spent a lot at the start.”

  Ren found a spirit plant merchant who had the sword grass seeds he needed, but with his last spirit stone, he would only get 2 seeds. These magical herbs needed only 10 days to grow but needed careful monitoring and specific conditions. Ren had to weigh his options. If these 2 attempts failed, then he would be left to earn contribution as a first-layer qi-gathering realm initiate. The stipend would only be given next month, and it barely paid enough to eat and cultivate a little. It would waste valuable time.

  Ren remembered the teacher's words about how cultivation waits for no one and decided to take the gamble. He paid out his last spirit stone and carefully put the two oblong, sword-shaped seeds into his pouch. On his way back, he decided to stop by Mei Ling’s house and ask for her advice before he gambled with his fortune. She said she wasn’t familiar with this particular plant but still gave him general tips about how it needed qi-rich fertilizer and infusions of earth, wood, and metal qi.

  Though how Ren could provide it, she wasn’t sure. She did warn him to be careful because most novice herb growers failed for one reason or another. He took her warning seriously because, though it was well known to him, she meant well.

  Ren asked about the cultivation method she had selected since she was a 3rd-order spirit root like him with earth, wood, and water spirit roots. She said she’d gone for something called the Black Lotus Manual. Like him, she too had to grow certain plants and meditate using them, but hers was more defensive or even neutral in stance. Ren wished her luck and promised to return the favor someday before heading out.

  It was almost nightfall, and Ren decided to wait until he could research a bit more to improve his chances. He knew the sect library had a lot of common information about a myriad of topics that he could learn from before he gambled his two chances as a novice spirit herb farmer.