“Ah, that was good,” sighed Daniel as he put his bowl and chopsticks down beside him. He was thankful for all the cheap takeout his mom had gotten over the years that forced him to learn how to use the utensil.

The sun had drifted away from its apex, mellowing out the harness of its light over the stone courtyard Daniel and his two new friends found themselves in.

“This disciple does not see your concern,” said Shao Ming. “You do not appear arrogant at all, especially if you find such enjoyment in a simple meal.”

“That’ll come later when I actually have something to be arrogant about. In the meantime, I’m going to be enjoying the isekai dream! So, now what? Do we get back to training after this?”

“Disciples are allowed to act as they please after lunch.”

“Sweet, free time! So what do you usually do? Play some games or read a book?”

“Games?” asked Xiao Ming. “No, only the freshly awakened outer disciples and young children do that. Inner disciples such as ourselves continue to cultivate however they see fit.”

“Hold on, awakened? Inner? What are those?”

“This disciple apologizes, he thought you already knew. The world has many people, but not everyone is a cultivator. One must come into their power by awakening their chi core first, and this starting level of power is known as Awakened. Inner refers to one of the three sub-levels of cultivation, above outer but below core.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. Wait, you said cultivators have to awaken their chi core first?”

“Yes. We have all awakened, these disciples are some of the youngest to have done so, in fact! You too back home, have you not?”

“Uh…”

Xiao quickly placed a hand on Daniel’s chest and closed his eyes, pulling away before Daniel could ask what was going on.

“You have not undergone your awakening yet.” He sounded concerned.

“No wonder you had such a hard time today!” laughed Shao. “You do not even know how to control your chi yet!”

“Maybe I’m not the one who has to worry about turning into an arrogant young master?” Daniel whispered as his shoulders sagged. He wasn’t wholly gripped by defeat, and clung to the very last word out of Xaio’s mouth. “Hold on, you said ‘yet’. So how do I awaken my chi core?”

“There are two ways this disciple knows of,” began Shao. “The first would be through deep meditation.”

“And the second is to consume a potent spiritual herb or pill to force your chi out,” interjected Xiao. “However, those items are only reserved for higher ranked cultivators, Jade and above. These disciples will be lucky to ever see one as we are! The sect’s alchemist is very strict about dispensing them.”

“Well, I guess I know where to start then.”

“Hey, is this the meditation circle?” asked Daniel.

None of the disciples sitting around the flat space replied. They sat with their legs crossed in several neat rows, eyes closed and too focused on something else to react.

“I guess I’ll take that as a yes?” Daniel slowly took a seat behind the back row and tried his best to copy the others.

With his eyes closed, he didn’t know whether he should try to fall asleep or just let his mind wander to something else. For example, with something simple like rice and fish for lunch, what would be for dinner? What was everyone else thinking about right now? They must’ve been at it for hours, so it should’ve been something fun.

It took twenty minutes before Daniel had enough and was forced to his feet through sheer boredom. With a loud groan, he stormed away from the others.

“Alright, meditation’s not going to work. Time to try my luck with the alchemist.”

“No.”

Daniel stood at the doorstep of a stone building surrounded by a wide, open space. On the other side of the open door was a wrinkled woman, the sect’s resident alchemist, who didn’t look all too happy with the interruption.

“I really don’t want to play this card, but I’m apparently the ’chosen hero’ according to Elder Lang Tao, but I can’t help the sect if I haven’t even unlocked my chi core. You would be doing a huge favor for him if you gave me something to help me out.”

“I have disciples much more powerful and respectful than you demanding herbs and pills from me on a daily basis! So unless you are bleeding to death or I hear it directly from the Elder’s lips, you will get nothing from me.”

“Then can I earn it from you? I know a bit about basic biology and chemistry from high school, so I could help you out!”

“Hmm, what do you get when you drink a mixture of gooseberries and cinnabar?”

“Oh hey, I know what those are! Cinnabar’s mercury sulfide!” Truth be told, he didn’t learn that from school, he had a man named Greg to thank for that knowledge. “You’d get mercury poisoning!”

The woman slammed the door on his face.

“Maybe I’m just too smart for them?” Daniel mirthlessly chuckled. His empty laughter soon collapsed into a frown as he slowly made his way down the stairs and waywardly back towards the main courtyard. Before he could make it far, he was snapped out of his fugue by a harsh whisper.

“Hey, you there! You said you needed a pill?”

Daniel looked over to see a young man wearing a gi several sizes too large for him leaning on the side wall of the alchemist’s shack.

“Quickly, this one does not have all day.”

Seeing nobody else the man could’ve been talking to, Daniel quickly walked over to him.

“So what are you looking for, kid?”

“Something to get my chi awakened.”

“This one has just the herb for that. It will give you power to sail over the heavens, you will be high above your peers with just a single leaf!”

“Wait… are you trying to sell me drugs?”

“Of course, to unlock your chi. Only a medicinal herb or pill will have such an effect. What did you expect, some kind of spice?”

“No, I mean like drug drugs. You know, like weed?”

“My goods are not weeds!” huffed the man, dropping the hint of formality in his voice.

“No no, I mean weed. Like marijuana, ganja-”

“Oh, ganja! I have heard of such a plant used in the Southern lands, but only recreationally. I only stock medicines I can sell in small doses for a good profit.”

“Wait, profit? Shit, I don’t have any money on me. Unless you’ll take ten dollars?”

“This one has no clue what a dollar is, but there is a rumor going around that you are from far away. Unlike our sect’s alchemist, I can appreciate the value of a potential customer, no matter how poor they are at the moment. So how about this? When you make the money needed to afford your chi core awakening pill, I will be here to sell it to you.”

“Sure, thanks.” Daniel gave him a warm smile. “How much do I need?”

“Three strings of iron ought to do it, or three silver if you come across any all the way out here.”

“Uh… how much is that, exactly? Sorry, I really am from far away.”

“This one figured those rumors had weight,” replied the man, the hint of formality returning to his voice. “So remember this lesson as a favor from Cai Fu! The coins go in order of value, as copper, iron, silver, gold, and platinum. One must be a local lord or emperor to be wealthy enough to even see the last one! And a string of coins is ten of them, which is equivalent to one coin of the next material. There is also a mace, which is ten strings, and a tael, which is ten maces.”

Daniel nodded as the knowledge bounced around his brain and mostly took root. “That makes sense. Any idea where I can start earning?”

“For a disciple who has not even awakened yet, you will have to work for your seniors, performing menial tasks they find themselves too busy for.”

“So like a butler?”

“Correct! Though nothing as fancy as that, you will just be a manservant, and treated as such.”

“Whoopee.” Daniel rolled his eyes. “Do they at least pay decently?”

“You will get a string of copper a week.”

“So that’s ten copper a week…”

Cai Fu nodded with a smile.

“And three strings of iron is thirty iron which is three hundred copper…”

Another nod.

“Divided by ten copper per week means… thirty weeks. That’s over half a year!”

“This one is a patient man,” said Cai Fu with a gleam in his eyes. “And is willing to wait that long for his payout!”

“Am I supposed to get my ass kicked for half a year in training for the chance of catching up?”

“Training will not be the only place you will be kicked there. If you get unlucky with an arrogant senior disciple, they will do the same if they are in a bad mood. Which is quite likely to happen, knowing the current class of Grand cultivators.”

“Oh god, what am I going to do?!”

“If it makes you feel any better, this is what many of the servants here go through. They will act as a senior’s footstool for just the chance at becoming a cultivator! Usually they require the favor of the senior and sect’s elders to advance if they are unable to awaken their chi cores themselves, and if not, they come to me. This is my service to the sect, whether anyone appreciates it or not.”

“Yeah, thanks.” Daniel let out a sigh and began to drag himself towards his hut in a series of slow shuffles. His entire body had taken on a depressive weight that took all of his willpower to move. If he wanted to, he could’ve fallen to the ground there itself, but he didn’t want to burden Cai Fu after his show of kindness.

The day was beginning to wrap up, and the other disciples made their way into a large, ornate building. A wonderful smell wafted from within, but Daniel’s stomach made no noise in response, his tongue did not water. He didn’t have it in him to go with the others to eat dinner, even if it would give him an opportunity to ask Shao and Xiao more about this place. He didn’t want to risk being given rotten leftovers instead of whatever was making that smell because he wasn’t part of the right clique or hadn’t achieved cultivation level omega bimbo yet. He just wanted to head back to his hut and sleep the rest of the day away.

Daniel pushed his feet past the doorway, and after sliding the screen door closed, promptly collapsed onto his straw mat. He forgot it wasn’t a proper mattress and groaned in pain as the padding failed to absorb most of the force of his fall. Yup, a final ‘fuck you’ from today.

“Elder Lang Tao, this one has bad news about the newest disciple.” Daniel’s teacher fell to the floor in a kowtow before the sect’s leader and a group of older men and women.

“What is it? Answer!” exclaimed the elder. “Has he chosen to leave the sect? To join a rival sect?! Swear vengeance against us for forcing unwanted glory upon him?!”

“N-no, Elder Lang Tao.” The teacher rose to his knees. “He has not awakened his chi core. He was unable to perform even the most basic of forms and lost his sparring match after receiving a single punch.”

“Did you not punish him enough to drive him?”

“This one used his stick only twice, as you had instructed.”

“Hmm, this can potentially turn troublesome.” The elder tried stroking his beard, but only managed to scratch the black stubble coating the tip of his chin. “If Daniel continues to harbor such feelings, he will be likely to grow cold with our sect and soon try to leave. We need a way to tie him down to the sect such that he will feel obligated to stay here no matter what happens.”

“Er, that is a very wise decision, elder. Though what can be done about Daniel’s lack of experience? Perhaps spare him an awakening pill?”

“No, no. We have few of those and they must be saved for the nobility’s children who join us. I have a much better idea. A situation such as this calls for a more delicate and well thought-out approach. Call over Li Feng, it is time to put her background to use.”