Finding a place to sit and begin meditation was easy. The few students who had made it this far were few, not enough to significantly crowd the area and claim the mats that had been provided. I wasn't the last to arrive, but the few that followed would not make a noticeable impact on crowd size. There was a noticeable dearth of acolytes gathered, which meant that most of those that had been tested failed to form a Spirit Root or didn’t mean the minimum standards the Sect had established.

Folding into a lotus position came easy to me. It was something they had taught me to do. An evening oblation that the entire family shared and practiced daily. Not as worship or praise for any deity, more than a means to center and reflect on the day's events. Once I began taking lessons at the nearby school, this time helped me immensely process the day's teachings. Sometimes the stillness helped me solve a problem that had confounded me while I was studying or doing homework.

Meditation was the bedrock they built cultivation on, and no matter the social position of a family, the teaching of meditation was something that was stressed. No person, even those in society who had not awakened an unranked Spirit Root would skimp on this method.

Testing and awakening happened for every child in their eighteenth year, but it was only the very lucky ones that had even managed an Iron Grade Spirit root. Because so few people could become true cultivators, a good foundation was even more vital. Meditation allowed people to control the negligible amounts of Qi that they absorbed naturally.

The importance could not be stressed enough, and even details like the clothing I was wearing was designed with meditation and the lotus position in mind. The daily clothing, the Hanfu, was tailored to allow easy access and range of motion, designed with martial techniques in mind, the traditional outfit proffered comfort for those that would never enter combat, but would meditate.

We were all dressed almost identically, shades of green the only actual difference. Billowing pants that allowed for ease of movement, a tight jerkin that offered support to the back, and a poncho-style tunic, slit high on both sides, belted at the waist, and embroidered with a house, clan, or Sect insignia.

My parents weren't poor, but they weren't members of a clan either. My mother was a journeyman healer, my father a journeyman herbalist. Their professions melded well, and together they had opened and ran a respectable healing clinic that catered to those other families that were clan-less. Their jobs garnered them both respect and income that allowed us to live comfortably.

I could tell at a glance at my fellow inductees that most of them came from real wealth. Their clothing, while the same in shape and conformity, was made with better materials. Even the stitch-work was of finer detail than any the middle class could afford.

There had always existed a division between classes. The poor and working-class doing more with less. Those from Clans or Families would have access to better resources, more money, and a better craftsman. Awakening was the one playing field that could level and elevate the poor. Those who had high functioning Spirit Roots would be encouraged, sponsored, and poached. And the lucky few, those individuals that met Sect standards would immediately raise the social caste of themselves and their families.

I found a meditation mat that was far enough away from those who were obvious from wealthy families for no better reason than shyness and unfamiliarity. I doubted that they would make an issue out of my participation, at least not in front of the Sect Elders, but it was better to be safe for now. At least until I had a better understanding of what they expected and considered normal.

Social interactions had never been one of my strengths, I'd always been more of a loner. Living my life reading my favorite books. I had gone through a gaming phase for a while in my past life, bouncing from one MMORPG to the next, but even those endeavors had found me leveling classes that allowed me to solo play.

The Hunter with her pet. The Warlock with her demon. I much preferred to rely on NPC's that I could control. It was much easier than trying to communicate with people that may have conflicting goals or personalities.

What I found interesting about my fellow aspirants was the number of wealthy taking part in this induction testing cycle. The Sect was rigorous about scheduling their testing and enrollment offers by caste. Those from the middle class and poor where only allowed to test and identify their spirit roots once yearly. On the last day of Summer.

Why these rich junior masters tested at this time was a mystery, it made no sense. Unless they had tested once already and failed. And they were hoping they lowered the admission standards for those from the poor and middle class. If that were the case, I would disappoint them. Standards were higher not lower during this testing phase.

But they had passed the minimum qualifications for Spirit Roots. So maybe they had found some treasure or resource that allowed them to increase the rank of their roots. I would imagine that there was some way to strengthen, even if the cost of that evolution was prohibitive.

Although with only a third of my fellow hopefuls wearing clothing made of luxurious fabric, perhaps not that difficult to raise the rank for Spirit Roots. Or maybe they had all missed the deadline because of age or circumstance and they preferred chancing induction now rather than wait for next year's cycle.

Sitting in lotus, I tried to clear my mind. These distractions would not be helpful in finding the aspect I resonated with. I knew that this was the last test, if I could do this, I would become a member of Flowing Water Sect.

Lamentably, I did not understand what I was doing. Or how to even begin. Searching through the memories they had gifted me; this body didn’t have a clue either. I experimented, to test if my new meridians and Dantian would allow my perceptions to increase enough to isolate whatever was available in the ether that had been concentrated in this place.

A few fumbling starts were greeted with complaints when I mistakenly connected with the auras of those that were also inexpertly attempting to establish harmony with the esoteric. I inferred that the first step would require serenity, to quiet the soul, and ignore anything that might disturb that peace.

I could finally eliminate the background noise and bright fluctuations of Qi from those around me, concentrating on my breathing and my heartbeat. As I did so, I began examining the Qi that I had gathered into my Dantian hoping to understand more fully exactly what Qi was. Viewing my inner self and the world that came in contact with my body through the lens of that Qi, tasting, smelling, touching, and hearing.

And as I did so, I noticed two phenomena. The first, a whisper in the wind. A gentle murmuring of encouragement, a playfulness with an undertone of restrained power. The second, the smell of sea-foam, that essence of salt and brine that could only be found near Ocean waters. I wasn’t sure if this would help, but it was the only clue I had so far, and so I intensified my concentration. Straining my hearing and sense of smell as I worked to quantify exactly what it was, I was noticing.

The more I concentrated and strained to identify what I was hearing and smelling the more tantalizing and out of reach of those things I was detecting became. Realizing that forcing the situation was counterproductive, I instead relaxed, centering myself and allowing the whispers in the wind and smells of brine to flow as they would. I stopped trying to gather and control them, instead, attempting to just enjoy the experience.

The connections I had established, the meridian network that I had formed when my Spirit Root woke, flexed. Each beat of my heart enhancing the experience. Particles of blue and white began condensing, flowing to my Dantian, creating a pressure that was noticeable. Not uncomfortable, more a fullness.

“Good,” the Elder Zorac said, her thoughts connecting with mine as she began the process of harmonizing her Qi and mine. I’m not sure how long it took, but it seemed she instantly regulated the Qi absorption technique I had fumbled into place.

“The sounds you are hearing and the brine you are smelling are the way you interpret Wind and Water aspects. You are a duel aspect Cultivator. The combination of those two affinities will mesh well together allowing you to learn Lightning techniques as well.”

“What you are doing, absorbing those blue and white particles, was the first step to refining and gathering those affinities within your Dantian. You need to make them a part of the Qi that has collected there in order to control those aspects.

“Watch what I do, carefully, I will show you how to fuse the affinities with your Qi. Linking the air and water particles you have absorbed.”

“As you continue absorbing, we will begin to circulate your Qi to control the stored energies and begin spinning and cycling those energies that have gathered in your core. If you can spin the core energy in a counter-revolution to the Qi meridian channels, your core will be stronger. Your foundation more advanced than cycling and compacting those energies in the same direction.

“I will get the revolutions of your core started. Once I have completed the first revolution, you will need to take over. You need to both cycle and continue gathering Qi until your first stage core has coalesced.

“Don’t be startled if you experience pain at this point. Your body is changing, the growth of a core requires some adjustment. The pain is fleeting, a second of time that allows you to take the next step on the path of cultivation. Core formation will allow you to breakthrough into the first realm of Body Refinement.

As part of the process, your body will begin expelling impurities. Each time your core advances the more refined your body will become. Until it has been tempered by Qi to the point of perfection that allows you to subsist solely on the World’s energies far in the future at the Celestial Realm.”

I narrowed the focus of my awareness further looking only inward, watching as she casually spun my core energies.

The first cycle stuttering and stopping as Elder Zorac coaxed the energies to move counterclockwise. The energies slowly bent to her will until finally, picking up speed until a vortex formed. The centrifugal force was enough to begin merging the affinities, and Qi that had accumulated. An eerily familiar Ying/Yang core-forming as the two disparate energies gravitated to their own area of influence.

Elder Zorac left me on my own once she was sure I had control of the process and could continue cycling the energies. Her departure so subtle, my concentration so absolute, I failed to notice when she withdrew her Qi.

It enthralled me, watching the marble-like construct form; the energies forming a spiral as I became familiar with the technique and increased both the number of aspect energies I was collecting and the speed the core was forming. The Ying/Yang symbol had only lasted for the briefest of seconds before the circular movement of energies spun quickly enough to merge.

Although Elder Zorac had warned me, there would be some pain, the amount of pain I’d imagined had been negligible. A mosquito bite, something of no consequence that could be easily ignored. The truth of the matter was decidedly different.

The pain was agony so profound I almost lost concentration and allowed my newly formed core to shatter. The feeling of red-hot needles stabbing into every pore of your skin. And as the discomfort of inserted needles multiplied, each new pinprick began digging in, blasting out a stream of fire to widen pathways and to allow the impurities my body had accumulated to escape.

And the smell. The black oozing gunk forming a miasma of odoriferous toxic waste so vile that I couldn't believe it could ever be washed away. It was the type of smell that was so strong you could taste it. And there was no escaping it, I had to endure until I formed my core and I achieved a breakthrough.