Sometime later, I felt a prodding in the leg.

I opened my eyes – what I could open anyway – realizing I had lost consciousness again.

A short, dark-haired guy loomed over me. I was still hazy, and it took me a few seconds to understand where I was.

“Come on, get up and follow me," he said, not showing any sign that he wanted to help me move.

I got up, moaning all the while. He rolled his eyes.

“Oh, come on, quit whining and hurry up,” he walked away and moved into a room where I slowly followed him.

“I am h-hurt here,” I said as I saw him waiting inside.

He just gave me a sideways glance. "I see all your limb still attached, and in the right angles too. You don't have holes anywhere and aren't poisoned. Moreover, your internal organs are still mostly fine. You just got some bruise. Man up, and stop wasting my time."

I was left dumbfounded.

"Here," he said, giving me a pill, "eat that and sit there cross-legged, then absorb the medicinal properties while you circulate. I will watch to see if there are any complications."

He then moved to a corner of the room and sat down, reading a book.

I just dumbly followed what I was told to do. There wasn’t anything else I could do, and I couldn’t get more shocked anyway.

This was my first time taking a pill made by an alchemist, and I wasn't prepared. In most cases, after absorbing all the medicinal properties of this kind of pill, a person would probably heal completely. But, right here, my handicap showed its ugly head again.

I tried hard to absorb the pill, but its potency was released too fast for me. I was able to make use of just a portion of the cure, and thus, when it stopped, I still had not completely healed.

I opened my eyes and saw Senior Brother Ma looking at me with a perplexed gaze.

We stared at each other for a few moments before he asked, “so, why are you still looking like that?”

I had gotten visibly better, but I was still a sad sight.

I resigned myself and explained. “My meridians are abnormally small and fragile, so much so that they told me I wouldn’t be able to enter the Qi Gathering Realm.”

"Just now, the pill was releasing its potency too fast for me to absorb everything," I said, exasperated.

He looked at me curiously and took my wrist without asking.

"You should have told me before taking the pill," he said with a frown, but before I could protest, he continued, "though, I suppose, it's also partly my fault, for not checking thoroughly.”

He was talking with an annoyed voice as if it was a great failure on his part to have missed it. "You are lucky that the medicine I gave you was of the gentle variety, and the excess was just dispersed."

“What would have happened if it hadn’t been?” I asked nervously.

"Mn? Oh well, that varies from the medicines. From mild damage to the meridians to body explosion, and everything in between," he said nonchalantly.

“Oh, don’t worry,” said Senior Brother, after he saw my horrified face, “we usually don’t give anything without a thorough check.”

“Yours is quite the unique case, among cultivators. Normally that potency would not get even close to the capacity of even a normal person. I suppose I learned my lesson – never take anything for granted,” he said, nodding.

“Well, returning to the matter at hand, you have two choices: take more medicines or leave like that. I’d say you need at least three before you’re healed, so two more to go.”

He handed me the bottles. "Oh, I nearly forgot, if you can't pay, you can get credit, though it's a ten percent interest each month."

“Ten percent?!” I said, appalled.

“Yes, and each pill costs 100 credits,” he said.

If I had eaten the pill, I would have to spit it right there.

A day of work at the farm was ten credits, and, among the lower paying jobs, it was one that had better pay.

I still took them, though. I had just landed a job at the smithy, and I got fifty credits for the previous day's work. I would make it back, but I needed my body to be in top shape to work.

I ate the pills and I went home, after thanking Senior Brother Ma.

I didn't think that Li Chu would attack me again so soon, but I was careful anyway as I walked down the streets. There were still a few hours before dawn, and I wanted to take a nap.

I was dead tired when I hit the sack, but I still couldn't close my eyes.

As soon as I had nothing else to do, my thoughts went back to the beating I received, I was angry, sure, but I was also scared. That had been my most painful experience by far, and I still hadn't completely recovered from it.

There was also what Senior Brother Ma told me before I left the Medical Pavilion that bothered me.

I had asked about how my injuries were so easily dismissed by him and his Senior Brother.

I couldn’t help but get the chills every time I remembered that.

"Why you ask?" said Senior Brother Ma, looking baffled. "Well, because they weren't serious, of course. I already told you that.”

Seeing my confusion, it seems he finally understood the issue. "You must have entered the Sect recently, so maybe you haven't seen much, but those injuries are nothing for a cultivator. You were already healing when I found you, though slowly. The more your cultivation advance, the faster your healing speed. The medicine I gave you, just sped up the process, but in a few weeks to a month you probably wouldn't have had any sign on you of this beating.

“When you entered the Pavilion, I had been reattaching the arms of a man. Senior Brother Lu had to put back the insides of another today. Those are common injuries when you fight with sharp weapons. Also, blunt weapon damage is far harder to deal with in most cases.

“And those are among the easier ones to heal. You can’t imagine what damage qi or some poisons can do.

“Cultivation is not an easy path, and the sect won’t bother to act unless someone is permanently crippled, killed, or breaks a rule inside its grounds.”

I had been horrified when I heard that.

I had heard of the dangers cultivators faced, and I also heard from my uncle that the fights inside the Sect could get quite vicious, but I hadn't really understood the weight of the matter until that point.

While I knew lethal danger was something a cultivator had to deal with more than a farmer, I thought staying inside the Sect's grounds would have been reasonably safe. It seems those had just been delusions brought by my lack of understanding.

Should I stay in the Wudang Sect?

That was the thought that kept plaguing my mind.

I was sure that that would not be the last time I would see Li Chu, he had told me himself that he would return, and I couldn’t be sure someone else wouldn’t try to find trouble with me.

I could also just give in and give him the credits he asked for, but I was sure that the demands would escalate with time.

The Sect wouldn't help, other people thought it was a small thing, and I couldn't find Cousin Guixin.

Not that I would bring him inside this mess. He may have been a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but using qi in the sect grounds was forbidden, so his advantage was limited. I also didn't know Li Chu backing. He must have known my cousin was here, but he didn't seem to mind.

It also wasn’t his problem to deal with. I couldn’t depend on others all my life.

Like that, my thoughts circled around until dawn, and I didn't get a wink of sleep. It would be a tough day at the smithy.

As I walked, I kept jumping at shadows. The trauma was still a bit too fresh.

I tried to work as I did the previous day, but the mental and physical fatigue made things harder. It at least took my mind off the problems I had.

“So, what’s the problem? Are two days of work too hard on you?” asked Senior Brother Cui at lunch.

I thought I hid it well, but it seems I was just deluding myself.

"No, Senior Brother, I am used to hard work," I said with a sigh. "What I am not used to is being beaten into unconsciousness as I walk home. Also, between going to the medical hall and worrying over the issue, I didn't have a wink of sleep."

He didn’t seem too surprised by my revelation.

“I see… well, that happens. If it has such an impact on your ability to work, though, you should have stayed at home. I dislike dealing with people who don't put all their attention on the job. And if you get injured because you are too distracted, I won't waste my time to accompany you to the Medical Pavilion," he said indifferently.

Then he sharpened his gaze. "Also, I would be quite cross if I ruined a work because of that.”

“Of course, Senior Brother Cui! My apologies! I didn’t mean to cause you trouble,” I said, getting up and bowing to him.

“It's fine if you remember that from now on," he said, waving his hand, "also, take the afternoon off. You clearly can't work today."

“Yes, Senior Brother, thank you,” I said, sitting down to finish my meal.

We ate in silence for a while before I asked a question. “Has this ever happened to you, Senior Brother?”

He paused his chopsticks for a moment before he answered. “Yes, a few times.”

“And how did you deal with it?” I asked, looking for advice.

"I just fought back as much as I could. I ended up spending a lot on medicines, but I also made them lose some credits. After some time, they just stopped. Unless someone had a grudge against you, he wouldn't keep pestering if he kept losing credits for nothing. Plus, after they saw how quickly I cultivated, they also wanted me to forget them, probably," he said.

"Sigh… I don't think it will go so easily for me," I said dejectedly.

I was also reluctant to get beat up like that often.

“In that case, just try to avoid him as much as you can and train in the meantime. Getting stronger will resolve your problems. I advise you to take some of the courses on fighting offered by the Sect if you have the credits – they are taught by long-time Elders, so most of them should be good," said Senior Brother.

Maybe they could be useful, I thought. But I wouldn't know how much until I participated in one.

"I see. Thanks for your advice, Senior Brother Cui," I said with a nod of my head.

After I finished my meal, I left for the Assignment Hall – I wanted to get a look at the kinds of courses offered.