David

The outer disciples of the Ascending Sky wore robes that ended between midway up their thighs - like in Alice's case, or near their ankles - like in David's.

There were many in the room - the Ascending Sky was mostly outer disciples. Interspersed amongst them were little groups of Inner Disciples. They were friendly, as the Weis were to David and Alice. It seemed that many of them had picked up friends amongst the outer disciples - everyone mixed openly.

The Inner Disciples were easy to spot because they wore their robes in two pieces. Men and women both wore crisp black shirts with billowing sleeves. They could have been the robes worn by the outer disciples, but they ended right over their stomachs.

Men tucked their shirts into long robes, giving the impression that their robes were no different to the outer disciples. The women tended to wear their lower robes as short skirts. Daoist Wei, who took the appearance of a young girl, tucked her robe into her skirt. Daoist Liang, David remembered, had shown most of her toned midriff.

What differentiated the outer and inner disciples most, however, was the care placed in the jewelry and accessories that the inner disciples wore. Not a single one of them wore the same pin, the same ring, the same necklace as another. Daoists Wei and Wei, who did wear the same earring - wore them in opposite ears.

Maybe it was his imagination, but David thought the Inner Disciples paid just a little more attention to the lecture than their counterparts. Their mannerisms were more sedate - not still as glass like those of the Peak Masters, but it was clear they sought to emulate them in the way they quieted their movement.

Peak Master Feng, by contrast, dressed in the same robes as the Outer Disciples - though they were more sleekly fitted. He wore no jewelry. By the light of the Yin Fire lamp which hung like a globe over the atrium of Earth peak, Peak Master Feng cut a figure which seemed contrary to what he wore and how he presented himself. The soft, almost-natural rays highlighted a youthfulness to his appearance - unblemished skin and lively motion.

"It is, of course, that time of year again - the first lesson I have the pleasure of teaching after the Lantern Lighting," said Feng. He stroked his chin with his horsetail whip. "It would not be an insult for those of you who have been in the sect for a long time to leave now, because you've heard this lecture many, many times."

No one moved.

When it was clear no one would, Feng continued. "Without a doubt, some of you will be able to spit out my various speeches in this lecture word for word. With some talent, you might even mirror my inflections and make similar jokes, tell similar stories. But there's a reason I've given this particular lecture for centuries and centuries. Can any of our new sect members tell us why?"

He stared straight at David, then swept his eyes over Alice and Feiyan and the rest of the new disciples. David caught a glimpse of the twins they'd met during orientation on the far side of the room.

"Because it's the most important lesson?" David said softly, bravely. The silence was so intense his voice echoed across the atrium anyway.

Feng clapped his palms together - the handle of his whip was trapped between a pair of fingers and the horsehair cascaded about it, dancing over his fingertips. "It is, indeed. On a normal day, the lessons taught by the three Peak Masters of the Ascending Sky should be, and are, completely interchangeable. We are Daoists who bring esoteric philosophies to light and delight in amusing questions. Sometimes you might even learn from these questions. But there is good reason this remains my most popular lecture, judging by how many members of our Core Disciples sit amongst you."

David looked around, trying to identify these Core Disciples. Whoever they were, they wore the robes of the inner disciples, blending in perfectly with them.

"That is because this is the lesson forbidden by our forefathers, with the warning that future development might be damaged, with the warnings that should you become immortals, this might come back to haunt you."

David frowned, as did Alice who he shared a glance with. Feng was sounding less like how he imagined a professor might now, and more like a salesman. As he looked around at the enraptured faces, Alice's breath ghosted against his ear. "Immortals hate him," she whispered. "With this one simple trick, succeed in your asc-"

David elbowed her in the ribs lightly. Peak Master Feng was staring straight at them, but he seemed more amused than annoyed.

"Some of you are skeptical. Good!" boomed Feng. "You should always be skeptical when someone offers you something that sounds like a shortcut in cultivation. The road of cultivation is long and hard and fraught with perils unseen and tribulations untold!

"I am here to tell you that when you face the Lightning, should it be your Ignition or your Ascension, you bring the torch of your qi into contest with the Heavens."

The dim roar of the Song, always present whenever cultivators were present, blazed into full force. David heard birds chirping, heard kick drums pounding, heard string instruments that couldn't have existed, as something invasive and powerful resonated between the Peak Master and all the sitting disciples. This was the Skybound Scripture, the promise of unique experiences, of love and support and home and love and loss and death and bad things and-

"Hold onto all the memories of the past, every song and every tear and every breath. Take it all in because tribulation is a contest of time, not of power. Everything you've done, everything you've been is Severed to buy you precious moments against the Lightning."

In the sudden quiet of the atrium, David heard the sound of thunder echo in the distance - it almost sounded like the rumbling of a train passing through a subway station.

And then there was silence. The challenge of the Peak Master's song faded and the cacophony, the symphony, of resounding Songs now seemed muted and mundane.

Feng's lecture continued onwards after that, full of wit and aphorisms collected from his thousands of years of life, but it was mostly about the nature of the Skybound Scripture, from which most disciples had or would form their foundations. Though Alice looked to be paying a lot of attention, David's mind stayed on that first five minutes.

The lecture ended somewhat abruptly, with the Peak Master striding across the room and towards his offices. "I will see returning students in three weeks," he said cheerfully. "Office hours begin when I open my doors and will last until the sun goes down." Feng closed his door gently.

About a quarter of the students stood up and immediately made a beeline for the door, forming a queue. It was in this scenario where David found himself able to figure out who the core disciples of the sect were. They were the disciples who were at the front of the line, of course.

Inner disciples, who jostled and fought lightly for spots in line, gave way to those core disciples with slight bows and big smiles.

"Come on, let's get in line," said Alice, pulling David to his feet.

David looked at the groups of disciples stretched in front of Feng's door and felt incredibly tired.

He was rescued by Daoist Wei, who once more had Daoist Wei sitting on his shoulder. "If Daoist Ji doesn't have a specific question for the Peak Master, it's best if you go alone," he said. He pointed to the crowd of outer disciples, who far outnumbered the inner disciples. "Most of them are going to make a horrible impression." He paused. "You do have something pertinent to ask Peak Master Feng, don't you?"

Alice pouted and nodded slowly. She turned to David. “Well, I guess I’ll get on line now. Alone.”

David held in a sigh.

“Don’t you start,” said Daoist Wei. She folded her arms, looking down from her perch.

“Fine,” Alice grumbled. She flounced away, into the crowd of outer disciples.

“We should go, before she reels you back in,” said Daoist Wei. His chuckle was deep.

They walked towards the exit tunnel.

“Look,” said David. “It is getting beyond confusing referring to the both of you as Wei. How should I address the two of you when-”

“Big Wei and Small Wei,” said Small Wei. “That’s how all our friends speak to us. It’s always funny to watch you outer disciples flounder for a while. By all accounts, the Ascending Sky is a very impolite sect - part of it comes from the reputation of our Peak Masters, but part of it comes from the familiar way we deal with one another.”

David thought of Chan Changshou and the relationship the man had with other members of his sect as they passed into the tunnel with the many doors. There were more people along the corridor than David had seen before and their conversation echoed throughout. Snatches of dialogue could be heard. There were people discussing their cultivation, discussing the finer points of the Skybound Scripture, discussing one another.

They all seemed to have a goal, an objective, a way forward.

“Do you cultivate the Skybound Scripture? Either of you?” David finally asked, not knowing how to put his worries into words or even thoughts.

Big and Small Wei exchanged glances - not the secretive sort, just unsure ones.

“We do,” said Big Wei. “You’d find that most people in the Ascending Sky do as well. There are two major paths of cultivation, after all, when it comes to scripture - either you cut out for yourself a thin piece of a Scripture to call your own, to specialize in, or you cultivate a generalist scripture that seeks to cover as many gaps as possible.”

David nodded. This was something he’d observed in action before - from Li and her master, the former who remembered the entirety of the Iron Scripture and the latter who formed his foundations off a single verse.

“Something all the Great Sects of the Middle Continent have in common are their long heritages. Even as a young boy from the Southern Continent,” Small Wei started, with a smile that told David she didn’t quite believe the story, “you should know of, or have heard of, the storied Scriptures of note. The Moon Phases, the Iron, the Dancer Upon the Waves, Letters from Song Mountain, Thoughts of Tang,” she rattled off.

David had, in fact, heard of some of them - from his travels.

“The Skybound Scripture is something that can be cultivated by any member of our sect. We can cut it up, we can read it whole. We can take a part and call it our own, sprinkle our life experiences on it until it’s fully grown.”

“Am I at a disadvantage if I don’t cultivate the Skybound Scripture?” David asked.

There was a long silence as they walked out into the open air. David’s senses were, as usual, assaulted by the myriad Songs of the natural world, of the city, of the sect.

Big Wei finally spoke. “Suppose you spoke a different language,” he said. “There was a time, a long time ago, before the Dun Emperor, when there were very many smaller languages in our continent. This was a time before everyone spoke the Words of the Stars in the Sky. Would any instruction you got in our language be as clear or helpful? So that should answer your question of whether or not you’re at a disadvantage,” he said.

“I am, then.”

Small Wei shook her head. “There are still some universal concepts, universal words,” she said. “At our level of cultivation,” referring to herself and Big Wei, “there are a few things that become specific to the Scripture we follow. Only when we reach the power of the Peak Masters do the differences in Scripture truly, truly matter, from my understanding.”

They began walking up the path towards their dormitories in Earth Peak, surrounded on all sides by other disciples doing the same.

“Spit it out,” said Small Wei. “We can probably help you.”

David felt a little stab of relief. “Okay, so I’ve formed my foundation off of…” he trailed off. “Off of music,” he decided, out of an abundance of caution.

“Music?” asked Big Wei. “What do you mean by-”

Small Wei placed a finger over his lips. “Continue,” she said to David.

“But I have no idea how to form my core,” David said.

The Weis stared at each other, then burst out laughing.

David frowned.

“You’re serious,” said Big Wei. “We can definitely help you with that.”