(Author: Hello everyone. Zhuang Shao has chosen his path and will now stimulate the spirit energy inside him and begin cultivating. He and his fellow recruits will venture into the mountains to complete their initiation into the sect. Enjoy.)

Chapter 3: Music and Beasts

One middle-aged woman accompanied by two girls and a boy Zhuang's age approached the palace in similar azure robes with silver seamed clothing that Zhuang wore. Zhuang guessed they were recruits from other cities as the affinity test in the palace was the last in the nation with many powerful nobles and the imperial family in attendance.

"I am a core disciple of Star Calamity Sect and the one you met yesterday. My name is Cecilia Lao," the woman greeted. "From now on your status is the same as your fellow recruits. I hope you will comply."

"Of course senior," Zhuang said as he bowed slightly in return. "I chose this path instead of the one I was born to. I won't take any offense unless it is intentional."

"Great," the boy said and stepped forward. "I am Jian Guo.I heard of your affinities. Having three is tough. I have two but situation is worse than yours as they are opposite affinities. Fire and ice are polar opposites while lightning and water are polar opposites. Most people confuse them. They all think water and fire are opposites. My qi affinities are earth and wind. If I'm not careful, I'll hurt myself as I cultivate the two opposing elements. I am a commoner from a village near the edge of the Yewan empire. Mind if I ask why you joined Zhuang?"

"Star Calamity Sect has endured since before the Yewan empire was created hundreds of years ago," Zhuang said and shook Jian's hand. "Even if the sect is not powerful or well known, it is because it is a secluded sect."

"I agree," one of the girl's said. She had dark brown hair tied in a braid and bright green eyes. "I joined this sect for the same reason. A powerful sect does not mean you will become powerful. You only become powerful through your own efforts and talents. Glad to see another noble, a prince even, that is not haughty and full of himself. My name is Lily Hua and my qi affinities are light, earth, and wood."

"I am Lingqi Yang," the last member of the group said. She had raven black hair that reached her shoulders and soft brown eyes. She also had her body development start a young age. "I joined because we can learn music and I learned the zither from a young age. My affinities are water and darkness. I heard that a few people develop martial bodies before the affinity test, but I heard it is even rarer to be born with a martial body."

"Now that we all made our introductions and met our monster genius, you must know that the more elements you master, the harder it is to break through to the next qi condensation level. Martial bodies are better than martial spirits as you can defend your body from spirit qi techniques without relying on a unique element. It all depends on how powerful you are," the core disciple began. "We will head toward the ancient mountains to the west. There, you will kill a magical beast and absorb its spirit energy. Whether you consume its demonic core is up to you, but remember the risk of a mutation if your body can't handle it . We will also delve deeper into the mountains as you become stronger. You will bind a magical beast as your pet. Just like how a magus has a familiar, so too, do martial artists have a companion of their own. Now, anyone care to tell me how qi practitioners are categorized?"

"It is said that there are one hundred levels of qi condensation," Lily answered. "People who reach the thirtieth level of condensation become immortals and will ascend to the Immortal Realms when they hear a mysterious calling as they continue their cultivation. From reaching the first level of qi condensation to the twentieth fifth level, they will suffer nine tribulations which will transform their bodies. Those who can't endure the tribulations become loose immortals and will never ascend into the Immortal Realms and continue their training."

"Which is another reason the founder of the Yewan empire created the empire," Senior Cecilia said. "No offense to the royal family, but the founder could not withstand the seventh tribulation and became a loose immortal. As for me, I have survived six tribulations and there are a few martial artists and magus who can hurt me. Now let's get moving. Once you stimulate and awaken your realm of qi, you can begin cultivation. While other sects meditate to cultivate spirit energy, Star Calamity Sect disciples play our zither. Music is universal and so are the many different qi attributes. Let's go."

Zhuang took one last look at the palace before following his fellow sect disciples toward the ancient mountains. One the way, Zhuang learned he needed to kill a magical fire beast, both Jian and Lily need to kill magical wind beasts, and Lingqi needed to kill a magical water beast. These were the beasts for which they had the highest attribute.

"Now that is a magical beast!" Jian grinned as they reached the mountains. "You can feel the energy from them."

"My presence will deter the weakest of magical creatures as we want some a few hundreds of years old," Senior Cecilia said. "Many powerful magical beasts travel in packs as the weak follow the strong. We will skip the strays, no matter how strong they are, as we need to have you cultivate qi and reach the first level of qi condensation. I will injure them and you will strike the killing blow. Wait here while I bring them to you. After you absorb the spirit energy, play the notes in the qi condensation manuals you received upon choosing to join the sect. It will be the first qi circulation technique you will use to cultivate the spirit energy and form your realm of qi."

Senior Cecilia found worthy magical beasts for Jian and Lily which were Screeching Wind Phoenixes of three hundred years. Lingqi absorbed the energy of a five hundred year Mist Eye Alligator. When a five hundred year volcanic wyrm, or lava dragon, was found, Zhuang finished it off and absorbed its spirit energy.

While the others were struggling to absorb the spirit energy, Zhuang's body gorged on it and Zhuang still did not reach the first level of qi condensation. Zhuang believed it was because his body was fused with an evil jade spirit. Zhuang then reached for the demonic core which contained the demonic essence of the magical beast. He sighed and hid away from sight as he withdrew other demonic cores from his storage bag.

"One core for each affinity," Zhuang murmured as he chose demonic cores which contained the same affinities of fire, water, poison, destruction, and death. He really had to thank his imperial lineage. He picked up the volcanic wyrm's demonic essence and ate it. Then, he popped the other four cores he chose into his mouth, sat, and began to follow the notes in the qi condensation manual he received on the same day as he got his uniform.

Zhuang closed his eyes as he tried to feel the spirit energy in his body. Tiny strands of spirit energy circulated in his body, his meridians enlarging as the strands converged and became a stream. Zhuang struggled to continue playing the zither as he felt extreme amounts of pain. Black liquid, impurities of the mortal body, escaped from his pores like sweat and a foul odor became stronger until Zhuang felt a warm feeling between his eyebrows. Zhuang's body felt lighter and was filled with enormous energy. Zhuang stopped playing and panted heavily as he tried stabilizing the spirit energy in his body.

Zhuang could finally sense his realm of qi and he knew he had broken through to the first level of qi condensation. His realm of qi contained a small volcano surrounded with poisonous water with small cracks of space appearing around the smoking volcano. Inside the volcano was a dragon egg as large as a refrigerator surrounded in a deathly aura.

"Ugh, the smell reeks," Zhuang groaned and swiftly ran to a nearby river to wash off the stink and put on new robes. He left his old clothes near the riverbank as they were ruined.

"You finally done Zhuang?" Jian laughed as he and the girls had already broken through to the first level and changed when he arrived. "Dude! Your eyes! Did you eat a demonic core?"

Lingqi drew a mirror from her storage bag and quickly let Zhuang use it. Zhuang only grinned as he looked at his eyes. His eyes still had irises the color of jade but there was weird patterns on the iris with a shade of ash. Zhuang thought he had control of the changes caused by the demonic core, but realized that maybe cores from a fresh corpse was stronger than he could control completely.

"It's not bad. Looks pretty cool actually," Zhuang said as he returned the mirror to Lingqi.

"You're lucky it was just a color mutation on your irises," Senior Cecilia said. "Now that you all broke through to the first level of qi condensation, and changed clothes, we will now head deeper. You should study how magical beasts use qi with similar attributes. Most techniques of martial arts were developed by studying the movements and behaviors of creatures and magical beasts. We will now soul bind magical beasts. Hopefully we find a wyrm egg. Even if it isn't a few hundred years old, wyrm magical beasts are one of the most powerful."

Chapter 2: Affinity Test Main Page Chapter 4: Soul Binding