“Release!”

The familiar ball of flame shot from her hands, straight towards Ma Xiulan and Song Yi.

Song Yi braced himself. Because of the way he’d positioned himself, he wouldn’t take the brunt of the blast. Still, this would hurt.

Ma Xiulan squirmed in his arms, trying to escape, but he held tighter.

Were there more time, she may be able to execute an art to extricate herself, but in this situation…

Slam!

Slam!

Slam!

They heard the sounds of gates opening, and all the youths felt an intense pressure bear down on them. While it couldn’t compare to the pressure from the final trial, it was still something far beyond their capabilities.

The ball of flame dissipated fully before it could reach Ma Xiulan or Song Yi.

“You all…” she looked at them with praise. “You forced me to unseal my cultivation base. Congratulations. This can be considered your win.”

She said as much, but Song Yi knew otherwise. He had felt it while restraining her. Had she wanted to, she could’ve forced him to take the fireball. Of course, to do such a thing would severely injure, if not kill him. For his sake, she’d conceded.

“The stronger you become, the fewer people like this you’ll meet. Treasure them,” Emperor Wang said.

With a deep bow towards Big Sis Xiulan, Song Yi walked over to where Su Bai was passed out, lifting her up in a piggyback.

Taking out her scroll, Ma Xiulan wrote down some more things.

After handing each disciple a scroll with their assignment information, Ma Xiulan spoke.

“Before dismissing you, there is one last important thing,” she said. “As I’m sure you’re aware, those who fail to pass the entrance examination lose their memories of this place. This is to ensure secrecy. Of course, we can’t do the same with sect members, who often have to leave the sect on missions.”

“We understand. None of us will speak a word,” Zhang Bo said.

“You’re right, you won’t.” Ma Xiulan took out five talismans with the word “Seal” written on them. One by one, she placed them on the disciples foreheads. The moment they touched skin, they disappeared.

“These will prevent you from communicating about the sect to any mortals outside sect borders. Now you’re dismissed.”

After bowing, the newest members of the Blue Moon Sect took their leave.

~~~~~~~~~~

Five hours later.

Song Yi sat up against a wall, watching the dancing flames of the cabin’s fireplace.

It had been a long day. The long walk to the final trial, the final trial itself, the shock that happened afterwards, seeing the incredible sect for the first time, witnessing the strength of other novitiates and finally the aptitude testing.

After it all, he’d carried Su Bai to the place her scroll had designated, and placed her in her bed. The area she’d been sent to was deep within the forest, in a small village of around two dozen cabins. The other three had all gone different directions, but Song Yi figured they were likely in similar areas.

After bringing her, though, he remained in the room, despite the fact that his assignment was further away. He knew that in the state she was in, if something happened, she wouldn’t even be able to wake up. This was still an unfamiliar environment, after all, and Song Yi was a cautious person.

He was exhausted from the day’s activities, but to keep alert, he meditated, trying to sense qi.

This time, though, he couldn’t see the world of colour that had appeared to him previously. When he asked Wang Anzhou about this, the monarch explained.

“When you tried to connect to the Qi today, I used my soul to help. My soul is severely weakened, but even so, it’s more than capable of attracting lesser Qi.”

Now Song Yi understood. But there was another issue that had been bugging him.

“Why did you seem surprised when I found the Qi earlier?”

“Even with my soul to attract the Qi, if you don’t have enough talent, you’d only be able to see the most basic Qi types — Red, Blue, White and Brown. If you had no talent, you might not even be able to see those.”

“So, basically, I’m not so untalented after all?”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, brat. You’ve got a long way to go.”

“Sorry, I can’t hear you over all this talent.”

“You want to be like that, rascal? Try me! See if I help you again!”

Song Yi grinned mischievously, but soon became tranquil again, trying to sense Qi on his own.

Now, when he closed his eyes and focused, he found himself in a vast expanse of gray. His form was incorporeal but, with some effort, he found he could still move. As for his senses, he only had one. It was like sight, and also like feeling. But at the same time, it was like neither. He couldn’t quite understand it. In any case, it took some getting used to.

This sense allowed him to search for Qi in this world of grey. Song Yi moved around for what felt like hours, encountering a few pockets of it along his journey. They weren’t as vibrant as the colours from before, but they were like threads that stretched out from the ground.

Most of these threads were of the four basic colours that Emperor Wang mentioned prior, though some had extra tints to them. Whenever he came across them, he added them to his collection. After accumulating what he felt was a good amount, he prepared to exit the meditative state.

Right before he could, though, he came across a strange type of Qi. It was almost imperceptible. Rather than being like the threads he’d seen before, this was like a wisp of smoke.

As for its colour, it was pitch black.

The monarch hadn’t mentioned black Qi, but Song Yi didn’t ask him about this one. In fact, he couldn’t while he was in this realm. At the same time, to exit could potentially lose him this chance, as well. Without hesitation, he reached out to grasp the essence.

And with that, the connection was made.

Now, finally satisfied, Song Yi snapped back to reality.

“How many threads did you find?” the monarch asked.

“A couple dozen.”

“Not bad, for the time you spent.” By now, Song Yi understood that the monarch saying “not bad” actually meant he was pleased or impressed. “I’ll teach you more tomorrow. Get some rest now. Your friend should wake up soon.”

Song Yi complied with the instructions, falling asleep on the floor almost instantly.

In his dreams, he saw the grey world from when he tried to sense Qi. Surrounding him were bright motes of multi-coloured light that danced around, chattering with each other in some unknown language. They had no distinct features, only looking like glowing spheres.

Song Yi was unable to interact with them or even move around. All he could do was watch the cute creatures bounce around in the air.

Suddenly, a mote of pure black appeared from behind the group.

The other sprites all made high pitched noises and ran away as the black ball slowly moved towards Song Yi. Soon, no other colours could be seen. They’d all fled.

The mote hovered right in front of Song Yi when it suddenly sprouted a long eye.

“A whelp like this made contact with me? Interesting.”

“Big Bro Yi! Big Bro Yi!”

Song Yi was roused from the dream to find Su Bai crouched next to him.

“Jeez, you’ve been asleep all day. You’ve missed so much.”

He sat up, realizing there was a blanket on top of him.

“Thanks, Bai’er. I’ll get going to my assignment now.”

He stood up and turned to exit, only to be thrown off balance by another body slamming into his from behind.

Su Bai had wrapped her arms around him.

“Our villages are far away, but come visit, okay?”

Song Yi smiled, though she couldn’t see it.

“Of course.”

When Song Yi finally made it to his own village, he saw a group of people organized into spaced-out lines in the courtyard. They all stood at attention. In front of them was a disciple with a crescent moon on the back of his robe. The man looked incredibly bored.

Just as Song Yi spotted him, Song Yi himself was spotted.

“You there! You’re hours late. Since you have the audacity to be so late to this month’s muster, you will be first to go.”

Song Yi’s face paled.

“Senior, I-”

“No excuses. To the front, now!”

Song Yi rushed over.

“Today I’m looking at the strength of your Qi. You will fight against an opponent.” The instructor picked out another novitiate, a big fellow who snickered when chosen. “There will be no kill strikes,” he said, eyeing the bulky novitiate, who barely acknowledged by craning his stubby neck.

“For you, latecomer…” Song Yi handed him his assignment scroll. “Song Yi, let this serve as a lesson.”

With a wave of his hand, the instructor began the match.

The hulking teenager wasted no time in accumulating Qi in his fists, charging at Song Yi.

“Of course a gorilla like this would only be able to use basic earth essence Qi. How predictable. Still, you’re in a forested area. Don’t get hit brat.”

Song Yi immediately activated the Blazing Desert Minor Art, using a spinning kick to send out his own Qi.

When he did so, a wave of thin fire whizzed through the air towards the big man, who blocked it with his fists. Unfortunately, the man’s Qi control was nowhere near as good as Song Yi’s, and each of his hands suffered deep cuts. The wounds were immediately cauterized, but the skin around the afflicted area was also burned.

“Aaaaaaahhhh!” the man cried out in pain, falling to his knees and nursing his hands.

Song Yi was shocked. He hadn’t expected this single attack to have such an effect. He even had to awkwardly cancel another he’d been about to send.

Previously, when using the Blazing Desert Minor Art, the Qi had been almost invisible unless someone was watching closely, but this time there was a weak but visible flame along the edge.

“Looks like you picked up some fire essence Qi earlier. Well, I thought that might’ve happened, but even I couldn’t have known this big oaf was so weak," the monarch said.

The other novitiate was on the floor crying. It was pathetic.

Song Yi attempted to take things in stride, bowing to the instructor.

“Apologies, senior. I didn’t expect that attack to be so dangerous.”

The instructor glared at him.

“Get in line. As for you,” he said, prodding the other man with his foot, “stop whimpering and go to the medical ward.”

When Song Yi entered the line, some of the other novitiates looked at him with nervous glances, shying away. They had been cowed by his brutality.

Song Yi was confused by this. On the way through the sect, he had seen much more dangerous people fighting much more viciously. Furthermore, the other four who he’d passed the examination with were all scarier than him. Especially after seeing Zhang Bo’s fight with Li Bolin, he had expected better from other novitiates. Even if some were weak, surely that instructor would've sent better to punish him.

His confusion didn't last for long, though. Once the rest of the simple checkup was complete, the group was dismissed. The moment that happened, a wiry looking boy walked up to Song Yi.

“Hey there,” he said. “You just joined the sect, right?”

Song Yi looked at him warily, but nodded.

“I can help you get oriented if you like!”

Song Yi’s brow furrowed. “What’s in it for you?”

The boy rubbed his hands together. “How wise of you, so very wise. Senior Brother is truly astute to notice such a thing. I ask for only one thing, just a simple-”

“Cut to the point,” Song Yi said. He had seen fawning, rat-like people similar to this boy before. Often times they were retainers for rich, egocentric young masters. Perhaps they suited those vain scions, but Song Yi held no favour towards them.

“Yes, of course,” the boy kowtowed. “It is protection I seek. Protection.”

Was that all? Song Yi sighed.

“Very well. I’ll accept your help.”

With that, the boy showed Song Yi to his cabin and began to explain various things. From his nattering, Song Yi did find out some useful information.

The currency used in the Blue Moon Sect was not the standard coin used in the mortal world, but rather sect credits. There were many ways to obtain sect credits. They could be traded between disciples in exchange for services, goods or bets.

Other than a 50 credit allowance given the first time a disciple joined the sect, the only way for new currency to enter the system was through sect-requested missions. These missions were important to the sect, and listings could be found in nearby Spires. The harder the mission, of course, the more credits were given as a reward.

This was the first important point Song Yi learned. The second was that the sect was stratified into a hierarchy. This would be visible from the moon on one's robe.

At the top was the Sect Leader, whom Song Yi surmised to be the white-eyed man who’d saved their lives after the final trial. His robe bore a blue moon.

Beneath him were the twelve Sect Elders, each of whom ruled over a different land mass. On their backs were regular full moons.

Under Sect Elders were the Zenith, a group of disciples that were the peak. There were 26 Zenith in total, a man and woman from each land mass. Any new disciple joining their ranks was a huge event within the sect. They wore gibbous moons.

Finally, in order, were the Inner Sect, Outer Sect and Novitiates. Naturally, they had half, crescent and dark moons respectively.

This was the second important thing he’d learned. But there was one more.

“Everyone in this village has joined the sect within the last three months,” the boy said. “They try to place new disciples in the same villages so that the power difference isn’t too great. In this village, you’re probably in the top five in terms of strength.”

For the first time in Song Yi’s life, he was at the top of the food chain. At least, in this isolated community that was the case.

Growing impatient, Song Yi made to dismiss the boy. But before he did, he asked his name.

“Junior is named Chen Hu,” the boy said before taking his leave with a bow.

Song Yi flopped down onto his bed. Even with the sleep he’d gotten in Su Bai’s cabin, the type of exhaustion he’d experienced over the last two days was one that seeped into your bones. It wasn’t so easy to get rid of.

Before he could fall asleep, though, he asked the monarch about the black thread he’d discovered the night prior, as well as the dream he had.

“This…” the monarch hesitated. “Even I can’t tell you much about the dream, I’m afraid. In my time, we called them ‘Keepers.’ You’ll find they appear occasionally when you make contact with Qi. I've always felt uneasy around them, so I wouldn't recommend doing anything untoward."

He gave Song Yi a moment to absorb the information.

“As for the black wisp of Qi, it’s a shadow essence Qi thread. A weak one, based on your description, but still something you should utilize. Since you’ve come this far, it seems I should explain some things.”

“Can it wait until the morning?”

“No. Now pay attention.”

Song Yi’s sigh was ignored.

“Qi is the underlying force of life. When you see a forest, it is Qi that makes the trees grow. A desert storm could not happen without Qi. Even the act of childbirth has an underlying Qi.

“Then, a river flowing through a plain?”

“Yes, there is a water essence Qi for that. But that Qi will be distinct from ocean waves, a waterfall, or even a similar river that is flowing through mountainous terrain. They are all water essence, but they have traces of other essences as well.”

Song Yi felt this made sense, but there was something the old geezer hadn’t mentioned yet.

“Before, when I was fighting that salamander, you mentioned that the obsidian axe stole ‘Vital Qi’ when I used it to kill those monsters. What’s that?”

“So you do know how to pay attention! Yes, Vital Qi is different. Vital Qi is something unique to living beings, a wellspring of vitality that can be nourished or depleted. If you use too much, you die. Likewise, if you continue to nourish it, you can live forever. When you bleed or grow old, you lose Vital Qi. Back in my day, this was common knowledge, but for whatever reason, your sect has decided to keep this hidden from the mortals below these lands.”

The monarch no longer sounded like the foul-mouthed old geezer he usually did. He had launched into full-on education mode. Even though Song Yi was still exhausted, he paid rapt attention to every word, his previous reticence gone.

“When you connect with a thread of Qi, you begin to form a link between yourself and it. By strengthening this link, you can bring out more power from that Qi’s essence. You will also be stronger in areas where that Qi is denser. Furthermore, you can attune your Vital Qi to an essence you’ve connected to, and use that in place of stored Qi of that essence.”

“Then, could I use Vital Qi to fill a cup with water?” Song Yi asked excitedly.

“Are you really an idiot, after all? What do you think we cultivators are, common street magicians?!” the monarch let out a pained sigh, forcing out his words. “Yes, I suppose if you decided for some reckless, moronic reason to waste Vital Qi on something so paltry, you could earn a copper in your hat on the streets of some mortal city.”

Song Yi’s face flushed in embarrassment. He’d been thinking too narrow-mindedly. Emperor Wang continued.

“However, despite the fact that your Vital Qi can take on the properties of various essences, it is not essenceless itself. From birth, humans are constantly intaking Qi. From breathing, from touching things, from eating, even from feeling emotion. It all absorbs Qi. Therefore, you will have more affinity towards certain types of Qi than others. It is no coincidence that that little prince was so easily able to use Qi of a tier two essence — ice. If I had to bet, I’d say that little empire of his is in a cold climate.”

“Tier-two essence?”

“Yes, essences are organized into tiers. The higher the tier, the rarer the essence, and usually the stronger.”

“What tier is shadow essence?” Song Yi was excited to the max by the myriad possibilities of Qi. But by now, his eyes were beginning to droop.

The monarch hesitated for a moment before saying, “It's a third-tier essence. But don’t get a big head, rascal! When I was your age I could sense even fourth-tier essences.” Seeing the state Song Yi was in, he relented. “Alright kid, get some sleep.”

Wang Anzhou didn’t have to say anything to that effect, however, as Song Yi was already drifting off with thoughts of how amazing fourth-tier essence Qi must be.