Ren Xiuxing
There were seven roads that led to the Azure Sect.
On the third road, the one that came from the Zhou Dynasty, a boy walked. His footsteps were slow and ginger, echoing of pain hidden beneath a curtain of will and constant promises that--
"It doesn't hurt," Ren Xiuxing muttered to himself. "I've had worse."
And so he kept walking. And walking. And walking. Never mind the blisters on his feet that popped and wept with blood and worse. Never mind the agony and burning pain that tore through his body with each step. Never mind the wounds that stained his tattered clothes red with spilled lifeblood. Never mind the hunger whose pangs set his legs trembling and his hands shaking.
Someone had once told him he was an idiot. That he should just do his best to make a living as a farmer, or as a merchant, or as a teacher... as a nobody.
She was gone now, off on her road to greatness. And...
He wasn't willing. Not willing to be no one, not willing to be dust. Better to burn bright and seek opportunities where they came, better to face the inevitable with a smile than with regret. No matter if that inevitable came early.
Ren Xiuxing kept walking.
He had been to the acceptance ceremonies of eight sects already; none had taken him in. One by one, they had given their excuses--or their lack of them.
"You have no talent," the elder had said bluntly. Not to him, of course, He wasn't special enough for that. No, the elder had been speaking to the entire group of disciples.
Ren Xiuxing had heard that, or some variation of it, a thousand times over in his life. You're not worthy. You're not enough. Just you? Pathetic.
But still, he carried on, through the storm of words and abuse and pain. Stoically. Silently. As he always had.
And, eventually, the gate of the Sect came into sight.
It was open.
[---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------]
The venue was nearly full.
The Azure mountain range and the Sect that called them home were far from civilization, through several hundreds of li of dangerous terrain, but... it was still one of the Ten Great Sects of the Eastern Domain. Perhaps a few dozen would die to demonic beasts, spirits, or more mundane threats on the road to the Sect, but, well, the world of cultivation was dangerous.
Flags filled the large courtyard, each emblazoned with a single character, proclaiming clan names and allegiances. The cultivator clans of the Eastern Domain spared no effort in finding places for their talented disciples to enter the Great Sects.
Liu Luoyang yawned. The last time she'd been to the sect's disciple-accepting ceremony was... a long time ago. And it had been just as boring. Speeches, the occasional illusion to dazzle the crowd, etc, etc.
She was sitting in the elders' section, overlooking the dusty ground of the test.
Soon the gate of the Sect would close, and... Liu Luoyang yawned again, struggling to keep her eyes open. The warm spring air and pleasant sunshine were making her sleepy. She hardly bothered looking up at the crowd; the System would alert her of any potential talents.
It had already identified three children in the crowd.
[Lan Bingyue]
[Aptitude: 43]
[Unique Properties: Yin Heart, Sword Constitution]
[Lin Fan]
[Aptitude: 39]
[Unique Properties: Divine Emperor's Bone]
[Teng Li]
[Aptitude: 36]
[Unique Properties: Earth Affinity]
The highest aptitude Liu Luoyang had ever seen the System record was an aptitude of 60, which meant that these few children were quite talented, especially considering their 'unique properties,' which was the System's way of classifying innate talents and abilities, lesser or incomplete versions of the so-called divine physiques.
Occasionally a few divine physiques would appear throughout the Realms; these physiques drew upon the aspects of Heaven and Earth, granting the holder blessings and powers unreachable by any other. The path of cultivation for them would be smooth as paved stone, easy and plain to walk upon.
The person she'd seen with an aptitude of 60 had had the Immortal Star Physique. The Heavens themself granted him power and came to his aid. Fate walked by his side; treasures lay bare upon the land for him to take. All things and all lands were entitled to the Lord of the Stars.
Power, to them, came easy. And that was rarely a good thing.
Liu Luoyang had drowned him in his legacy--oceans of blood and mountains of corpses.
The faint grinding sound of stone sweeping over rocky dirt reached her ears; the doors had begun to close. She sat up and stretched, popping a few joints. The doors closed--and just before they slammed shut with a heavy, echoing boom, a boy stumbled through the Sect gate.
And he promptly collapsed onto the ground. One of the Inner Sect disciples responsible for taking care of the contestants rushed over to administer aid.
[Ren Xiuxing]
[Aptitude: 3/47]
[Unique Properties: Banished Immortal Physique (Sealed).]
Liu Luoyang noted him down. Why was his physique sealed? She recognized the spell—the famed Five Elements Shackle of the Daoist Path of cultivation. Was someone afraid of his potential?
A breeze came again, and this time it smelled of earthly rain, of heavenly snow, of the crackle of lightning and booming of thunder.
If someone had truly sealed him out of fear... well, they would have much more to fear in these coming years.
She glanced up to the azure sky, speckled with pale clouds drifting overhead; the snowy sheep of the heavens, shepherded across the firmament by the hounding wind. The changes were subtle and soft, but they were there.
This was not just an age of heroes and talents... after all, the spring wind heralded not talent, but change. Heralded not stories or tales... but legends and myths.
"Have you decided on one, Elder Liu?"
Qin Liuxian stood beside her, dressed in a long, purple tunic that fell to his knees, embroidered with silver mountains and rivers, lustrous clouds and shimmering stars. He was carrying a plate of candied dates, occasionally popping one in his mouth as he watched the venue.
"No," Liu Luoyang muttered, reaching up and stealing one off his plate.
"Really?" He sounded surprised.
"Yes, really," she grumbled. "I think I'll just pick one up after the other Elders are done choosing their disciples."
She reached out one hand to her side and pulled a paper fan through an imperceptible gap in reality. It's fabric shone crisp, snowy white, engraved with flowing patterns of dark shadow like an ink-wash painting. The darkness seemed to shift and move, forming mountains and rivers, clouds and trees.
Liu Luoyang didn't swing the fan, only held it up to test the wind.
A faint breeze circulated around the venue, cooling the air.
Beside her, Qin Liuxian shrugged and popped another candied date into his mouth.
[---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------]
Ren Xiuxing opened his eyes to see a girl, hovering fussily over him.
For a single moment, he thought to push her away. Then he saw the uniform she bore, blue with silver landscapes embroidered into the fabric.
"How are you feeling?" the girl asked, casually picking him up with one hand as if he weighed no more than a feather and moving him to a relatively empty corner.
Ren Xiuxing grimaced, ignoring the pain, and sat up slowly. "Fine," he said bluntly.
"Mmm-hmm." The girl glanced around, then reached into her pocket and pulled out a rough-shapen ball of yellowed-white. "Eat."
Ren Xiuxing looked at her suspiciously and opened his mouth to tell her off—
She stuffed it down his throat.
Abruptly he reeled back, coughing and gagging, trying to spit it out. But there was nothing to spit out, for the pill had already dissolved.
He stared at her angrily. "What did you—"
And abruptly his words broke off, for he could feel a warm current flowing through his body. More importantly though, he could feel his wounds beginning to close. The weeping claw wound on his right arm, the cut of a bandit's sword on his side; all began to fade.
The pill didn't heal him fully. The warm current of energy faded before all his wounds faded, but they were far better than before. Shiny, pink skin stretched over cuts and scars, and he looked up at the girl in astonishment.
She gave a 'hmph!' and a deathly glare in response to his gaze. "If I wanted to kill you, I could have done it a hundred times over," she said bluntly. "And nobody would have blinked an eye."
Ren Xiuxing blushed red with embarrassment as he recalled his suspicions.
"I... thank you," he whispered, looking down at his feet.
The girl shook her head and walked away.
"Wait!" he called after her. "What's your name?"
She looked at him oddly. "Why do you want to know?"
"So I can repay you," he said firmly. His father had always taught him that, as a man, one must repay their debts.
"You?" she looked him up and down, then giggled. "Just you?"
Ren Xiuxing winced. "Just... tell me your name."
She looked him in the eye for a long moment, then finally shrugged and said, "My name is Cai Hong. Although I'm not sure it'll matter—how do you expect to pass any Sect's entrance trial with no cultivation at all?"
The boy bit his lip and fell silent.
The girl shook her head and walked away.
And as she did, the resounding echo of a bell rumbled through the sect. All eyes in the testing grounds turned towards the front of the venue.
A man stood there, dressed in a purple tunic embroidered with mountains and rivers, clouds and seas and stars. His voice was magnetic as he spoke, reverberating through the crowd, suppressing all others.
"The test begins."