It begins today. From now on, I'll be a cultivator of the Wudang Sect, I thought as I stepped forward and extended my arm to the man in front of me.

One of them came by every six months to inspect the people of the village who wished to join the sect; they didn't accept everyone, though. The only ones that could join were those who entered the Qi Gathering Realm before twenty. And only if they, along with their parents, were born and raised in the sect territory. I also heard that there were other ways to join, but I didn't know what they were.

It didn’t matter to me, though, I was eleven.

I was only at the peak of the Body Tempering Realm, true, but we heard from other people that they made exceptions sometimes, if the kid was talented enough, so I had waited to choose a Cultivation Technique since I was hoping to find a better one at the sect.

I was convinced it wouldn't take me many years to reach the peak of Qi Gathering, but it's better to begin earlier since losing six months was a lot of time wasted in the beginning stages; after all, to move up in the sect hierarchy, you needed to cultivate faster than the others.

"My name is Gongsun Xianyuan, and I reached the peak of body tempering three days ago. I am eleven years old," I said clearly.

I had imagined this moment many times in the past year – ever since it had been clear I would be finished tempering my body before thirteen. It was the hallmark of a genius, after all.

"Oh, not bad, kid," he said smiling, with a gleam in his eyes – as expected.

He took my arm and held it for a few seconds until his brow creased. I was impatient since I wanted to go to the sect as soon as possible. I was fidgeting, but he kept holding my arm with a frown on his face.

What's his problem? I thought, annoyed. It had only taken a few seconds to check the others.

After what felt like hours, but were probably just a few minutes, he let go of my arm.

"Sorry, kid..." he said after staring at me for a few seconds, "... but you can't be a cultivator."

I may have misheard. Did he say something about me not cultivating? He can't have said something like that; it makes no sense. Something about not cultivating like others, maybe? I am embarrassed to ask; he'll think I am stupid. Should I talk?

I was confused.

"I am not joking, kid; you can't cultivate. It's better if you go back to your parents now," he said when he saw I was staying still.

I hadn't misheard. “Why?"

It still didn't make any sense. I was a genius.

The cultivator sighed before answering, "If you really want to know, it's because of your meridians. They are too narrow and fragile; I even had a hard time sensing them.

"Had they been just a bit smaller than usual, I would have just said to try harder in your cultivation. You could have still reached the peak of Qi Gathering with dedication and effort. If you were lucky, you could have even entered the Foundation Establishment Realm. But as you are now... you can't even properly use a cultivation technique.

"It's just not possible for you to be a cultivator."

He then gestured for my parents to come and take me.

"Wait!" I said as I started to panic. "There must be a mistake!"

As I said that, I saw the cultivator's face darken.

"There is no mistake," he said with deliberate slowness, "do you think I can't do something as simple as this?"

At that point, my father reached me.

"I'm sorry, sir, the kid is just distraught," he said, bowing.

"But father..." I said, with a slight whine on my tone.

"Gongsun Xianyuan, apologize," said my father in a stern tone.

I don't want to apologize! The guy is obviously wrong!, I shouted in my mind.

I reached the peak of Body Tempering at eleven years old, and the cultivator couldn't be right. Everyone else that reached the peak of this realm before thirteen was a genius. So I had to be too. The cultivator was wrong.

Or he didn't want me to be a cultivator, maybe he was jealous because he thought I would surpass him?

Either way, I just had to enter the Qi Gathering Realm, and then in six months, I would go to the sect anyway.

Six months is a long time, but I'll do it, and then he'll have to eat his words, I thought as determination filled me.

My father was glaring at me.

"Sorry, sir, I didn't mean that. I was wrong," I squeezed out reluctantly.

The cultivator stared at me for a few moments.

"Fine, I can understand how you'd feel," he conceded in the end.

Relieved my father was about to talk when the cultivator continued.

"Just so you know, there are herbs that could help with your condition, but they are absurdly rare. Those times they end up on the market they sell for so much money that even the sect elders would think twice before buying them," he said, looking magnanimous.

Then he paused for a moment with a thoughtful look. "I have also heard of cultivators of other regions that cultivate the body, but I am unsure of the details. I wouldn't bet on that though, and, besides, they are too far away from here."

As if that would make me give up; he was obviously jealous of my talent. I was sure of it.

"Thank you for your generosity, sir," said my father bowing again.

After that, we left. When we got home, I had to sit through a tongue lashing and got punished.

They also tried to console me, as they knew the weight of what the man said to me, but one should never anger a cultivator. The sect we lived under, treated us mortals fairly, but our lives still didn't weigh as much as a Core Formation cultivator – it was better to tread carefully when dealing with them.

In the end, I had to clean the stable... by myself. We had many animals, and this was a big farm. I knew I had acted harshly before, so I didn't hold it against them.

It took me only a week before my father was satisfied enough to let me off.

I guess he still feels sorry for me, but they'll soon see how wrong the cultivator was.

I had been too tired at night to cultivate while they made me work at the stables, and I also had to borrow the manuals from uncle Ying before I could start.

The sect appointed him as the chief of the village, and, consequently, he was the one that lent the copies of the manuals to those that needed them. They were the most common cultivation methods that the sect distributed in its territory, but they would do.

One could still switch methods with sufficient ease before the Foundation Establishment Realm. There would just be a period where the cultivator couldn't progress, but it wouldn't matter to me.

The day after my punishment ended, I borrowed one of the manuals after he explained their use.

Sitting on the ground of my room, I tried to apply the technique, but, surprisingly, it didn't work.

One of the parts that usually stumped people was sensing qi, but I found that easy.

Another one was locating the dantian, but that too wasn't hard.

The one that blocked my progress was circulating the qi in the meridians following the cultivation technique to refine and guide it to the dantian.

I couldn't even sense them.

I tried for one month without success. Then changed technique.

I did that four times before giving up. The only thing that I achieved in those six months was sensing the meridians, but even then, the qi inside them was in such small quantity and moved so slowly that the cultivation techniques didn't work correctly. I couldn't cultivate.

It shouldn't have been, but it had been a shock. I was so sure; that's why I persevered for four months.

It was all for naught.

It wasn't the end of the world for sure, but I felt so lost. So disappointed.

To be a cultivator had been my dream ever since I learned how to walk. I heard the stories, and I imagined myself in them; I wanted to be that protagonist. To be a hero. What was worse was that the last year I was all but sure I would be one. Who else but me? I was a genius.

In the end, it was all a lie; I was even worse than an average person.

The day I gave up, I cried in my room for the whole day. The next day I just felt so embarrassed I didn't want to come out of my room; just remembering how I had acted, how sure I was in front of everyone, and what I said, made me cringe. My mom had to bring the food to my room.

The third day I felt a bit better, though I just felt so depressed, I decided to take a walk in the forest – just on the edge where the trees were still sparse.

That quickly became my hobby. Going out for a walk in the trees was extremely relaxing and so close to the village it wasn't even that dangerous.

Unless the stories about the murder squirrels were true – but I think it was just my second brother pranking me.

I kept going out in the trees for a week, then one day I just decided to go into the village.

There was a spot that was usually frequented by those near my age. I went there from time to time when I wasn't training.

Since I had more time now, I wanted to come out here more often, so I checked out around evening when I knew most were free. I did indeed find them mucking around. They had also brought a few bottles of wine.

"Oh brother Xianyuan it's been a while!" said one.

"Look who came out of isolation," said another.

A few others greeted me, but I didn't know everyone.

"Hello, guys. Hey brother Gou, did you steal some of your father's wine?" I asked as I went closer.

"No!.. I just took it since it was lying there! Hehe!" he said. It was widely known among us that his father was a drunkard – at least he wasn't a violent drunk, though he was very loud.

"Eh, he's gonna kill you when he finds out," I said as I sat down near him.

"He probably would if he found out, but I doubt it. He never checks, and he got drunk with a friend yesterday, so I think I'm safe. Want to have some?" he asked, extending a bottle.

I had never drunk with them before, so he must have just asked to be polite. But today, I wanted to drink.

"Yes, thanks," I said, surprising him.

I took a sip. It was cheap wine, but at least it was drinkable.

"Shit, what happened? You never drank before! Did the sect leader come to the village?" said Zhi, looking around.

It's not that I never drank; I do drink half a cup at dinner, usually. I just never drank with you, I thought. They had a different lifestyle from mine. I trained in most of my free time. They just drank, played, and wasted their time whenever possible instead. Then got all jealous of the talented guys. What they had never understood, or didn't want to, is that I also put in the effort.

"Haven't you heard?" someone said, "he can't cultivate it seems. He can't go to the sect."

"Really? Damn, I'm sorry man! Just don't finish all the wine please, I want some too," said Gou trying to be funny.

The others laughed; I didn't.

As we drank, and we started feeling the effect of the alcohol, they got progressively rowdier. There was also some verbal needling that came in my direction. I tried to divert the attention whenever possible, even when they were being insistent. I didn't come out here to have a brawl, even if they got me plenty annoyed on more than one occasion.

Still, everything was going fine until he appeared.