Felix shifted languidly in his bed.

Wow, I feel good.

His mind felt energetic and every part of his body felt refreshed. Felix couldn’t help smacking his lips in satisfaction as his mind began assembling to full wakefulness.

Oh ya, I am back in Elder Rong’s Guest Room. I’ll probably be sent back to my own housing soon. Xue said she had things to do after dropping me off- Oh ya, the chase. The bodies...

Felix paused in the middle of another stretch. The events of yesterday played out in his mind. With a sigh, he slunk out of bed.

That’s right. There was the chase, and the fight, and the killings.

Unbidden, the smell of burnt flesh and the sound of breaking bones came to him. An all too familiar feeling of nausea graced his throat as images of frozen blood and crushed flesh began to flash through his head. Felix swallowed a little bit of throwup.

Well shit. So much for a nice morning. At least sleeping has seemed to give it all a little distance.

Yet that distance did little. Slick in dark emotions, the memories slithered through his fractured mindscape. Vivid in their repulsiveness they stood in stark contrast to the myriad of other emotions that always seemed to play through his mind.

Those men were our enemies. It seems naive to think yesterday could have gone any differently. Well, without things being much worse. I better get used to such things… or at least not let them swallow me.

With a shudder, Felix wrenched himself away to more practical matters. He walked over to a bare wall and then sat down. In just his undergarment, he leaned his back against the wood. He closed his eyes, he let his mind and body relax. With a bit of effort, he brought his focus inward to his dantian. Felix found himself in a vast space.

With no physical form, he floated in that space. Before him, a haze of brown tinted spiritual energy hovered. From his current perspective, the haze seemed to cover quite an area. Little bits of the energy floated off in the dark to disappear. He followed it with his mind’s eyes to see that the energy followed the path of his cultivation technique. The pace was so slow compared to when he actively cultivated, that it might as well not have been happening.

Mmm, I wonder if passive cultivation occurs in all cultivation methods? Not that it seems to accomplish much. I will have to ask Xue later.

He mentally reached out to that haze. With his entire will behind the process, he forced the small stream to become a river. Feeling the rush of spiritual energy, he went through the whole cultivation cycle several times. Every twist and turn in the myriad paths were observed until Felix was sure that everything was in order. With a smile, he withdrew from the process and snapped his eyes open, getting to his feet.

Great, everything seems to be in order. Cultivation is so weird but refreshing. Now I just need to figure out how to do it better!

With a contented smile still on his face, he got dressed and wandered out of Elder Rong’s house.

Let’s see. Senior Sister Xue said I would be taking my first class today with the new recruits. Something about the elders not wanting me to have any holes in my lessons. If these classes were deemed necessary by the elders for all disciples, surely, I would hurt myself by rushing forward without them. Wasting time and KE points. Now, she said to go…

He looked at the various paths until he saw one next to an odd-shaped bush.

Ah yes, that was it.

He wandered along the path, taking his time to admire the Sect again. The winter portion of the Sect’s formation was in view today, blanketed in white snow. The uniform white made it hard to tell much beyond the presence of trees below. During his inspection, he ignored the disciples who walked past.

I haven’t seen anyone I’ve recognized either, so it's not like I am being rude. Ya, definitely not rude to avoid eye contact. Huh, is that clump of snow down there moving? Maybe it was my imagination...

The path twisted and curved around a third of the mountain before he started to ascend again. Felix had begun humming, thinking about armies of killer snowmen when he suddenly blinked in surprise, looking behind to find a girl walking silently a few steps back.

How long has she been there?

The girl walked with her head down, her lips pursed in a thin line. Though covered in the sect’s robs, Felix could see what kind of shape her body was in from the power of her stride and the small amount of skin that was exposed. Lost in thoughts of her own, the brunette strode with the surety of one who knows the path.

What kind of level of tone is this? Yet her skin is almost weirdly white, I would think someone with such musculature would be all twiggy. She still looks pretty, uh, womanly even with those muscles... Thought Felix, feeling his eyes wander a bit.

The thing is, she just looks so familiar, yet I am sure she wasn’t one of the disciples Xue introduced me to…. I think? I am pretty sure if I met someone this distinct I would have remembered? Maybe? Well, with that kind of obvious physicality, I do not want to fuck with her.

Felix suddenly felt a gaze during his inspection and brought his eyes up, seeing the girl's warm brown eyes meeting his own. Eyes filled with hot hate.

Fuck!

The girl's expression was so fierce that Felix actually took a step back, a mix of emotions rushing through him.

“You bastards just don’t let up, do you?” said a voice like boiling honey. “You insult me openly and now you are also taking advantage of me? Where are your morals? You would do this to your fellow Thousand Sect Member?”

She took a step forward to match his step back.

Shit, shit. I don’t know about her cultivation, but she could probably rip my limbs off and beat me with it. Um, right. What did I learn with Xue?

“Well,” she said through clenched teeth. “ I am not going to stand for it anymore.”

The popping of knuckles and the many engorged veins on the girl’s forearms gave Felix motivation.

Felix stood tall, put a peaceful look on his face, and brought his hands together.

“Excuse any perceived slight fellow disciple. I didn't mean to seem to be taking advantage of your beauty. You just seem familiar and I was having a hard time placing you. My eye was of one seeing that which is familiar yet strange, not an attempt to sate dirty thoughts.”

The girl paused midstep and stared at him. Her face blanked and then scrunched up in rage and anger once more.

Oh my god, are her eyes tearing up! What did I do?

“Alright, why do you guys have it out for me.” She said. Felix could now see that those were indeed tears forming at the corner of her eyes. “Can’t you guys just give me a break? At least until I recover?”

Holy shit, why are you crying? On a deserted path with crying Olympian! Don’t you dare make me feel both guilty and afraid. This is bullshit!

Felix raised his hands up in a placating gesture, taking a tentative step forward.

“Whoa, whoa, I did mean anything by it. Look, I am not sure who you meant by ‘you guys’ but I really just didn’t recognize you. Is this about saying you are beautiful?”

She seemed to deflate, just giving Felix a confused and almost skittish look.

“Wait, really?” she said tentatively. She now seemed to really look at him and then her face bloomed in a full face blushed. “I um- sorry. I just realize that I don’t even recognize you. I just thought- never mind.”

Felix put an easy-going smile on, feeling like he was coaxing a wounded animal.

“Hey now, no harm is done. To be honest, I lost some of my memories after the recent attack. So, I really don’t know who you are.”

Her eyes opened wide in surprise.

“Oh. I heard about you. You had that really bad soul damage.” She said, shame filling her face

“That's right, I’m that disciple,” said Felix with a wry smile. “You didn’t see me that day?”

Her face became even more shame filled.

Seriously! Is she going to cry again!

“I-I- was a little occupied myself,” she said.

Oh, now I remember. She was the one with the vacant stare that day!

“I’m sorry,” said Felix. “I didn’t mean to remind you.”

She took a deep breath, some self-assurance coming back onto her face.

“No, it's fine. Normally I am not this emotional but ever since that day, it has been hard not to get frustrated or angry. There were little, uh, names and stuff that some people call me. I never let it bother me before. The combination though...”

Felix felt a little at a loss as he watched her pull herself together.

Well, at least I have that to be grateful for. My emotions are sometimes off or random, or all messed up… but at least they aren’t the all-consuming mood swings she has. Well… at least not all the time. Alright, let’s do this.

Felix forcefully brought his easy-going smile back.

“How about we start over?” He smoothly brought his hands together again. “This one that stands before you is the humble Felix. Oh, beautiful senior sister, please grace this lowly one your name, so I may truly be blessed above all others.”

The shocked look she gave him nearly made his facade crumble. Then she laughed, full and bright. After she finally stopped, she matched his smile with an even bigger grin. Trying and failing to bring her grin into a respectful expression, she brought her own hands together.

“Well meet disciple Felix. This one is disciple Yang Mei.” She responded.

The two continued their walk down the path. Felix was happy to see Mei’s good cheer was still going.

Is this what she is normally like? I kind of want to know what those guys were saying but I better hold off. I am simply happy she isn’t crying anymore.

“So, brother Felix,” Said Mei. “Where are you headed?”

“Cultivation Basics, the first lesson. I believe elder Jackie is lecturing.” He responded, rubbing his head. “I really need to go over the basics again to make sure I don’t have any holes. What about you?”

Mei let out her boisterous laugh, slapping Felix on the shoulder.

“What do you know? I am going to the same class.”

Felix gave her a surprised look while massaging his shoulder.

“Wait, it should be the first lesson. Why are you going? Did you forget things too?”

I know I shouldn’t be happy that she forgot stuff, but it’s kind of nice to not be the only one.

Mei shook her head. “No, I didn’t lose any memories. However, I never really did normal dantian cultivation. Just body cultivation.”

Felix frowned. “That seems unusual. You really didn’t do any kind of basic qi gathering?”

“It was on elder Jackie’s advice.” Said Mei. Seeing Felix’s nonplussed look, she continued. “Even if you focus on body cultivation, most people do some kind of qi gathering to at least support it. However, elder Jackie offered to supplement me with enough medicine to reach the essence condensing equivalent for body cultivation, on the stipulation I held off on all qi gathering. With so much wealth supporting me, it shouldn’t have slowed me down at all.”

“Oh wow, so that's why you are taking the class now?”

Mei’s smile got a little strained and she rubbed her left arm. “No, I am at the body cultivation equivalent of peak essence gathering, on the cusps of a breakthrough. Unfortunately, Elder Jackie thinks I would have recovered more quickly from my soul damage if I were also practicing a dantian method. He’s not sure but I think he feels guilty.”

Felix mulled over that as a companionable silence filled the air. Finally, the two came upon the lesson’s location. A wide plateau, halfway up the mountain, jutted out from the side, creating a massive overhang. The flat area was bare of anything except patterned tiles, a stage against a cliff wall, and about forty mats. A few disciples wandered around chatting or sat in quiet contemplation on a mat.

Sort of seems like a lot of people here for the first lesson. Maybe they have similar circumstances to Mei? Oh, it looks like the recruits are already here.

Felix walked toward the three recruits who were nervously talking amongst themselves. He raised his eyebrows when he saw that Everglade was with them. Felix finally reached them and gave the trio a wink.

“Well, it is good to see you three again. How are you guys settling in?”

The three exchanged looks before Chu stepped forward.

“Thank you for asking senior disciple Felix.” Said Chu. He nervously looked at Everglade who was now talking with disciple Mei. Felix was surprised by the respect he saw in Mei’s expression. “It has been… enlightening. If you pardon my asking Senior Felix, why are you at this class? Shouldn’t it only be for beginners?” Chu looked around and saw a few other disciples there as well. “In fact, aren’t we three the only recruits right now?”

Disciple everglade paused in her discussion with Mei and turned to face them. She had that motherly smile on that Felix remembered seeing last night.

“Junior Chu, there are five basic classes that every disciple has to attend. These are Cultivation Theory, Body Cultivation, Shameless class, Morals, and Lore. These classes are to give disciples the foundation to succeed no matter their cultivation future. Many disciples will go and attend lessons on subjects that they feel they don’t have a good grasp of.”

The three nodded, considering her responses. Everglade seemed happy to let them. Felix took this time to get a better look at Everglade. He realized that she was surprisingly short, despite how large her presence felt. Despite her diminutive stature, she was quite curvaceous.

“Yes, is that why Felix is here?” Said Chu.

Everglade’s green eyes scrutinized Felix as if she wasn’t sure how to answer.

“...yes, most likely. Though you will have to ask him yourself.

The three nodded and Felix let out an internal sigh relieved.

She didn’t really answer them about why I am attending this class myself. I am not sure why she did that, but I am thankful. Even if nearly everyone knows about my, uh, issues to some extent, I really want to avoid being judged for it. It would be sad to lose the respect of those three so soon.

He gave Everglade an appreciative nod behind the kids back and she returned a casual dismissive gesture. She then turned to leave.

“Disciple Everglade,” Said Felix. “Would it then be worth your time to join us and listen to the lecture as well?”

Turning back, she let out a quiet trilling laugh.

“I have attended this specific lesson a few times, so no, I think I will not stay. I am also at the peak of Essence Condensing and therefore have to focus on my breakthrough to core Cultivation.”

“That is quite impressive, you must have worked hard to get there.”

Everglade now gave a smug smile. “Well, it wasn’t easy. Maybe your senior sister can give you advice.”

The three new disciples' eyes opened wide at hearing her cultivation level. The two behind Chu, exchanging looks of awe. Then the one on the left spoke up.

“Wow, so that means your nearly a Core cultivator just like Senior Disciple Xue?”

Everglade's smile froze and her right eye twitched. The kid took a step back but then her expression was once more a motherly smile.

“Ah.. yes... Just like Senior Sister Xue.” Said Everglade.

Felix looked with pity at the recruit who obviously realized he said something he should not. Though some part of him felt schadenfreude for some reason.

Better you than me kid.

Shaking off that emotion, he searched for some way to distract Everglade.

“Well, I am sure the Senior Sister has been terribly busy with perfecting her skills to simply rush through the cultivation levels. One shouldn’t rush and ruin one’s foundation.”

“Yes,” said Everglade, her smile becoming more genuine once more. “I’ve been focused on the growing of rare herbs. Our sect does really need to take advantage of our sect’s formation’s unique environment.”

Felix nodded. “Wow, that’s pretty awesome. I would really appreciate it if you could teach me about it sometime. I am sure your time is valuable but even a little direction would be good.”

A hint of smug satisfaction crept into Everglade’s smile and the poor recruit gave a sigh of relief, happy to no longer be the focus of her attention.

“Well, I suppose I can make time for that. It is the duty of senior disciples to help out their juniors. Now, I really should be going.”

Both Mei, and Felix gave their goodbyes. Felix watched her retreating figure, a slight smell of vanilla disappearing with her. Felix sighed as the recently saved recruit gave him a look of worship

I am not sure I should have done that. She can probably be immensely helpful, but I have no idea what her history with Xue is. I do not want to deal with whatever drama that is. Though that look of admiration is quite pleasing.

Shaking his head, he found himself an empty mat to sit down on, Mei and the new disciples sitting nearby. A few minutes later, a chime was heard and the spindly figure of Elder Jin suddenly appeared on stage. Murmurs of surprise sweeping through the seated disciple

“Good morning everyone. For those new disciples, I am Elder Jin and I will be conducting today’s lecture. I see that we have some new disciples today and I welcome you to our fine Sect.”

A disciple sitting near the back raised his hand and Elder Jin waved him down.

“I know Elder Jackie was scheduled to give today's lecture; however, he is… indisposed at the moment. So, I will be conducting today’s lecture. If any of you were hoping to hear his take on lesson 1 of cultivation basics, you are free to leave. I will not view it as an insult.’

A few disciples shifted but none got up to leave. Elder Jin gave a smile with oddly sharp teeth.

“Well, I hope you all believed me and aren’t listening to a lecture you don’t need. Now, let-”

A whooshing sound filled the air and Felix whipped his head around to see Elder Kang riding a sword and descending from the sky. The sword was riddled with cracks that gave off a slight red glow. Felix was taken aback by how weary the opulent elder was in comparison to his chipper mood last night.

Finally, Felix’s gaze moved from the elder’s haggard face to the little boy that Elder Kang held by the scruff of the neck.

Touching off on a bit behind and to the left of Felix, the elder unceremoniously dropped the kid on the ground. The kid didn’t seem to mind however as he just gazed off vacantly, indifferent to the world.

What the heck is a child that young doing here? He can’t even be eight yet. That doesn’t seem to match the Sect’s policy…

“Excuse the intrusion, Elder Jin.” Said, Elder Kang. “I just grabbed our newest young protege here, after, uh, asking him some questions. You will definitely want to come to the Hall of Meeting after you are done.”

Elder Jin gave a bitter smile but nodded. “Well, I am sure it will be interesting.” Elder Kang nodded and then disappeared. Elder Jin watched the now empty space for a moment and then clapped his large hands together. “Everyone, this is young Edward and due to unfortunate circumstances, he will be joining our Sect a little early. I ask you to look out for him. Now, where were we?”

Elder Jin snapped his fingers.

“Ah yes, we should start at the very beginning. What is cultivation?”

The elder beamed on as he looked over the students and a few in the back raised his hand. Elder Jin waved them down.

“Oh come now, let's not have those who have taken this class answer the question. Where is the fun in that?” Said the Elder. His weirdly long arm shot forward, pointing to the right of Felix. “How about you?”

Felix turned to see the elder was pointing at Chu. A now panicking Chu. He looked around as if to find a place to hide and then stared at Felix for help.

Elder Jin smiled. “Come now, young Chu. Just give a suggestion if you do not know. Even if you are wrong, we may all learn something and why you are wrong.”

Chu fidgeted but seemed to gather himself.

“Honorable Elder,” said Chu. “I mean Sect Elder, um, it means to cultivate?”

A few chuckles were heard from the older disciples and even Elder Jin let out a small wheezing laugh. “A little on the nose I suppose. However, can you use a different word?”

Chu seemed stumped but then spoke up again “To grow?”

“Yes, yes, much better but still incomplete.” Said elder Jin. “How about you disciple Felix. Can you build on what Chu said?”

Felix didn’t answer immediately but thought about it even as people around him grew impatient. He ignored the pointed stares.

“Cultivation… isn’t just growth. I think. I am pretty sure cultivation is the foster of growth. You cultivate something and then the growth occurs.”

Elder Jin grinned, another loud finger snap sounding out. “Exactly. Cultivation is the fostering of growth. This can be confusing as cultivation can refer to both the result and the practice leading to that result, but your definition covers the practice part for the most part. For example, if I say his cultivation is at low Core Level, then I am referring to the result. However, I can also say he is cultivating which is referring to the practice of encouraging specific types of growth.”

Felix thought about that but couldn’t help but raise his hand. The elder waved him on

“While it is interesting that cultivation is both the active process and the result, why does that distinction matter? Not that it isn’t fascinating, Elder, but shouldn’t we focus first on how to cultivate first?”

“Why my boy, it makes all the difference in the world. That is if I want all of you to truly understand what you are doing.”

Elder Jin began pacing back forth across the stage as he waved his hands animatedly with every word he spoke. The man’s arm length was so wide that he seemed to take up the whole stage with every gesture.

“A nice mundane way of describing cultivating is the fostering growth of oneself. This is important because you know what you are doing. With this knowledge, you can better envision your goal in cultivating and how to do it. Now, some insanely gifted beings and creatures can just cultivate instinctively, enabling them to go far along the path of cultivation without going about it in this way. However, when we cultivate the self, whether body, dantian, or something else, we are inspiring growth in ourselves. The question is, what is that growth doing? You are changing yourself fundamentally, so one should understand that before they start cultivating willy nilly.”

Elder Jin gave them a few moments for that to sink in. Then he smiled that oddly sharp smile,

“Well, I will let you stew on that. Now, let's focus on the first step in cultivation, essence gathering. What do all cultivation methods of the first step have in common?”

An older disciple in the back raised his hand and after none of the new disciples raised their hand, Elder Jin pointed towards him.

“They all require spiritual energy.” said the disciple

Elder Jin’s face fell “No, no, no. Close yet incomplete. They all require something to begin the process of cultivation. Just like how fostering plants requires the gathering of resources to begin growing, so do our bodies require substances as the base of cultivation. Now for most of the cultivation methods you are all familiar with, spiritual energy is what is used. However, this is not the only substance that can be used as the basis of one’s cultivating method. Therefore, the first step of cultivation is called essence gathering, not qi gathering. Oh sure, it may be called qi gathering in some common vernacular but that is misleading. Now, you likely won’t encounter many such methods for obvious reasons, but we teach you this so that you do not limit your thinking down the road.”

Elder Jin paused here, seeming to try and grasp where he wanted to go with the topic. Felix couldn’t help but notice how the elder's four fingers nearly always stayed together, despite his arm’s excess movement.

“So cultivating is this foster process to obtain our cultivation. The nutrients of the fostering are typically spiritual energy. Then the other half of the method of cultivating. How we cycle the energy. When? Under what conditions? Do you do it naked? Do you need to steal, kill, jump up and down? This is the method or cultivation method.”

Many of the other disciples' eyes had begun to glaze over despite their best efforts. Felix found he had no such issues.

“Now we will talk about the second part of cultivation, the noun. The thing you are trying to grow. We will specifically focus on dantian based cultivation but I will generalize it so you understand other methods. There is a surprising amount of overlap. Now, what exactly does it mean to be at essence gathering cultivation level one?"

This feels like one of those answers that are either so simple that you’ll overthink it or so counterintuitive you would never realize the truth of the matter.

Seeing no raised hands, Elder Jin winked at them.

“Neither do we. Well, not truly.” Said Elder Jin. They just stared at him. “The truth of the matter is-"

Jin’s smile was gone and the elder’s hand was suddenly pointed horizontally toward the crowd, four fingers together and thumb splayed. The hand seemed to grow large in all the disciples' eyes and most winced as a vision of being crushed between thumb and index finger filled their mind. Then a cool breeze ruffled all the disciples at once and the stage was empty.

The disciples looked around in confusion with Felix being no exception. He found the elder standing to his left over the young kid Elder Kang had dropped off. With the tips of his index and thumb, Elder Jin lightly grasped the tip of a blade that the child held pointed toward his own throat. The specifics of the situation were clear to all as even now, the young child’s arms strained against pushed the blade past the elder’s immovable grip. Yet despite this, the kid's eye still seemed dead. Hopeless.

What is wrong with that kid? Did Elder Kang do something to him?

Tension filled the air as Elder Jin stared down at Edward. His giant frame in stark contrast to the small child.

“Well,” Said Elder Jin dryly, “I suppose that ends our lecture. Please feel free to find me later for questions pertaining to today’s lecture.”

He plucked the small dagger out of the kid’s hands. Then Elder Jin’s other hand came down, easily scooping him up with his massive hand. Jin turned, leaping high into the air while cradling the unresponsive Edward. The elder smoothly loped away, small clouds appeared on his feet until he disappearing from their view.