Cultivation Classes
Days passed with Bingwen's memory slowly but surely getting better. But Jinghua had no progress helping him. But the days became normal again. Tallies were drawn for the ceremony and the clans that won were announced. First place, The Ning clan, second place, the Yusheng clan, third place, the Mei clan, fourth place, the Wing clan, and fifth place, the Hung clan. After that, kin disciples were sent to study cultivation in the valleys of the Mei clan temple. The Mei clan was known for their cultivation skills using butterflies. The madam of the Mei clan would be teaching the class. She was a kind woman but serious when it came to cultivation. She was the best female cultivator, followed by her daughter. Tables labeled for kin and clan disciples were spread out in a room made for teaching. At each table in the front were for the kin disciples and the tables behind them were for the clan disciples. It was a lecture sesion set up early in the morning. The female kin disciples and clan disciples were put in a separate class than the males. Madam Mei stood in front of the disciples, a scroll in her hands. She cleared her throat. "Good morning all of you." She spoke. "Now that you have all come of age, even though the ceremony was a failure, you all are adults now. Meaning you'll be learning cultivation skills. For some it will probably be easier and for others, not so much. Now I'm sure you all have been on hunts. Wild spirits, Dire animal spirits, ghosts, demons, evil deities, the undead. You'll be hunting those as well as cultivating them. You have an upcoming hunt in a day so today, we will study the basics."
Mostly everyone in the room sighed or grunted. Madam Mei rolled her eyes. She again cleared her throat and continued.
"Please take out your brushes and write the correct wording your peers answer." She said, Bingwen was ready. He had finally regained some memory, including the coming-of-age ceremony. Almost everything besides Jinghua. "While in the middle of the night you have gone on a hunt with a few disciples. But somehow, you have been split up. You're left on your own with only your weak training sword, a cultivation pouch for collecting souls, and a flimsy silver spirit capturing lasso. You are surrounded by ghosts and angry Dire animal spirits. What do you use?" She asked the disciples. Wing Shen raised his hand. "Use the sword as well as your Chi." He answered.
"Incorrect." Madam Mei said. Many other disciples raised their hands. Bingwen, who was daydreaming, was called on. "Young master Yusheng." Madam Mei asked him. "Do you know the answer?"
Bingwen stuttered. Before he could even say anything though, Jinghua spoke up. "If the disciple is smart, he should have a firework on him. Either that or use the cultivation pouch. In it should be spirit powder that keeps the spirits and ghosts from attacking." Everyone was astounded. Of course the Ning kin disciple, Jinghua, would know. "Correct. Nicely done, Young master Ning." Madam Mei said. Jinghua glanced at Bingwen. Ever since they had had a moment together, Bingwen hadn't made any eye contact with Jinghua, which was pissing him off.
After what seemed like hours of lecture and questioning and teaching, the disciples were sent out to the training field of the Mei palace. Which were actual fields. A long time before the Mei clan kin disciples were born, the palace was attacked. The field of what used to be tall grass and flowers had been set on fire. Now there was a field of dead grass. It was a maze. And in that maze were wild spirits just roaming about. Wild spirits are the mindless spirits of the undead. But in a ghostly form.
"You will be placed together as teams. The other team is your enemy. Please be careful in these fields for there are traps that lead to an underground tunnel system. They're used to trap the spirits. You are not allowed to fly over the grass." Madam Mei continued. "I shall now announce the teams. Wing Shen plus the Wing clan disciples will be with Mei Ming and the Mei clan disciples. Ning Cheng and the Ning disciples will be with Yusheng Jin and the Yusheng disciples. And the Hung clan disciples will be by themselves. Please be cautious of your surroundings. This is not a test."
She finished as the disciples were all sent in different ways into the maze. Bingwen wasn't too happy with his team, he was trying to avoid Jinghua anyway. "If Madam Mei said that the other teams are our enemies, then doesn't that mean they'll want to fight us?" Jinghua commented. But right as he said that, the team ran into the Hung clan disciple team. "Well if it isn't the boy who lost his mind because of a silly little arrow! Funny how you two are paired up when you're the one who practically killed him, Ning Cheng!" Hung Liang teased. The Hung disciples laughed. Bingwen turned to Jinghua in disbelief. "I-Is that true, Ning Cheng?" He asked. Jinghua gulped, too nervous to answer. "There's no denying that he's guilty. Ning Cheng, you do understand that if someone lives after being poisoned with deadly nightshade, their Chi won't work right! Yusheng Jin is practically crippled!" Hung Liang finished, laughing hysterically. Jinghua was furious. So furious he raised his hand and slapped Hung Liang as hard as possible. So hard that Hung Liang fell to the ground. "You shut the hell up!" Jinghua said, clenching his teeth. Hung Liang, on the ground, smirked. "You're just mad because Yusheng Jin forgot you existed!"
"Stop it!!" Bingwen commanded, pulling out his sword and pointing it at Hung Liang. "You shut your trap about Ning Cheng and myself. I swear I will-" Bingwen was interrupted by a rumbling of the ground. Suddenly, it opened up and they all fell into a collapsed tunnel only leaving some disciples behind.