Capítulo 4: 4.Formations and artificers hall
The chambers given to the outer sect disciples contained 4 disciples each. The food was sold by the sect, using the "contribution points" created by the sect to pay for the work done for the sect. Outer sect disciples were given jade pieces that were capable of recording "contribution points". The same jade piece is also a sect barrier key.
For those who approached and interacted attentively with their environment like Yao Lei, this system was suspicious. Contribution points could only be earned in the sect and could only be used in the sect. The disciples were thus bound to the sect. They would lose most of their "wealth", which isn't any real wealth to begin with, If they decided to walk away, they would put their cultivation in jeopardy due to the sudden lack of resources.
"What an insidious way to keep people loyal."
Yao Lei decided not to interact with the in-sect market too much. He decided to spend his contribution points as soon as he got them. That way, he would have a physical object instead of made-up numbers.
His roommates woke him up by the crack of dawn.
"Wake up, we have to swear our oaths."
Yao Lei knitted his brows.
"Our oaths?"
The fat boy got impatient like he was talking to someone stupid. Yao Lea hurriedly put his sect robes on and stood in line.
"WE ARE OF NAMJIN!
WE ARE RIGHTEOUS AND HARD WORKING.
MY PRINCIPLES ARE:
TO PROTECT OUR JUNIORS AND RESPECT OUR ELDERS!
MAY MY EXISTENCE BE A GIFT TO NAMJIN!
OH, HOW HAPPY IS THE ONE THAT COULD CALL HIMSELF A MEMBER OF THE NAMJIN MOUNTAIN SECT!"
Yao Lei did as everyone else did. Even though a bit resentful, he "swore" the oath. Madam Ming, acting as nice as she could, led Yao Lei by hand to the scriptures pavilion.
"Do you know how to read?" Madam Ming asked. Unlike the other floors, the first floor of the scriptures pavilion was free for everyone. that was because it only had introductions to concepts and beginning parts of the cultivation methods. Such parts were element-specific and they were pretty much identical to each other. Madam Ming took a book called "Introduction to Yin Cultivation" and handed it to Yao Lei. Similarly, she picked up an "Introduction to Water Element Cultivation" and gave it to Xiao An.
For the first time, he came here Yao Lei felt like he gained something. Unlike people, reality never betrayed him. He jumped at the opportunity to learn about what is and what is not.
The manual said taking in qi during the cold moonlit nights for a Yin cultivator was better. That way, Yin spiritual root wouldn't have to work so hard to convert the Qi into a type the practitioner could use. Converting the Yin spiritual energy to Yin Qi was far easier.
Yao Lei lifted his head to survey other books.
"Introduction to formations, Introduction to alchemy, Introduction to swordsmanship."
While doing that, he locked eyes with the Pavilion Master Jin. Pavillion master Jin smiled and waved. Normally, when brats showed up in his pavilion they would screech and be obnoxious as most children do. These kids were a breath of fresh air. They were just too calm. They just obediently read their scriptures.
Yao Lei decided to spend all his free time either cultivating or reading books in this pavilion.
Yao Lei thanked his friend Hao Shun repeatedly in his little heart for teaching him how to read. Thanks to that he now had something to depend on. Unlike the false oath he had made for the sect before he swore an oath to have his friends back now and forever.
He glanced at Madam Ming reading Xiao An the Water spiritual root cultivation. Xiao An will not always be able to come here and study without learning to read herself. It's a roadblock for her at the beginning of her life.
After finishing his book, Yao Lei got up. Madam Ming glanced at Yao Lei as he put the book back and picked another. Did this kid learn the contents of that book this fast?
She asked Xiao An to wait a little and stopped Yao Lei from picking up a book on formations.
"Halt boy, demonstrate what you learned for me." Madam Ming was fully expecting Yao LEi to fumble. According to her imagination, this boy just got bored of"Introduction to Yin cultivation and tried to read something else.
Yao Lei knitted his brows.
"It's neither nighttime nor are we in a cold environment. If I start cultivating now it will be uncomfortable for me." Madam Ming's face beamed with joy. The kid had learned his stuff.
She led Xiao An and Yao Lei by hand to the shade of the scripture pavilion. She took a stick and drew a basic formation on the ground. She then brought out a dimly glowing silver and placed it at the core of the formation.
"I've created an environment that's full of yin spiritual energy for you. Now try it."
She was barely holding herself back from grinning ear to ear. The reason was simple. Being a good learner is great for someone who is going to study formations.
Yao Lei sat in the lotus position and started taking the spiritual energy. Madam Ming performed a technique to see the path the spiritual energy took. It crudely followed the path laid out in the manual and found its way to Yao Lei's spiritual root. It got sucked in and got spat out as Yin Qi.
Yao Lei didn't know at that time but he had just ingested the contents of a middle-grade spirit stone. Suddenly a flood of Yin Qi started rushing through his meridians. With it, came the chill.
Madam Ming smirked. She wanted to see how the boy would handle an emergency. The Introduction to Yin Cultivation didn't mention anything about this situation. It, however, said that, when someone cultivates for the first time, he has to do it in front of an instructor so they could interfere when something goes wrong.
Yao Lei glanced at Madam Ming. She was grinning and doing nothing. Yao Lei cursed inwardly and skipped to the most Qi-wasting part of the yin cultivation process. He oscillated the nature of his qi near the impurities in his meridians. The impurities got cold and hot and cold and hot at an increasing rate. As Yao Lei did, the melted and frozen impurities crumbled into smaller and smaller particles.
The impurities got pushed out from his pores and his breath.
It wasn't enough. Yao Lei concentrated harder and repeated the process at three different spots. The impurities got destroyed there too. Since he was doing this way too fast, he felt as if he was choking on the turbid Qi. His skin started to hurt trying to expel things.
Madam Ming stared at Yao Lei as if he were a rare gem. Consequently, she was of no help.
Eventually, the crisis came to pass. Yao Lei had survived it with just a bit of chill and a splitting headache.
Madam Ming, on the other hand, was impressed. Not only did this boy correctly identify the problem as an abundance of qi, but he also stepped out of what he knew and found a solution to his problem. It was a tale as old as cultivation. People would encounter a bottleneck in their cultivation from which they would never get out of because they never tried anything new and never stepped out of what the manual in their hands says.
This boy had a different kind of potential than a high-quality spiritual root.
Yao Lei got ticked off by Madam Ming's callous attitude. This woman had said nothing at all when he was in pain. He devised a small revenge.
*Hic* *Hic*
"Uwaaaaa!"
Tears streamed down Yao Lei's face.
"That's right you wrinkly old hack, you've failed as an adult." he thought to himself.
He cried in the middle of the road as loud and obnoxious as he could. People stuck their heads out of windows to figure out what was going on.
Madam Ming panicked and put Yao Lei on her shoulder. She picked up Xiao An too. She had successfully escaped the bad reputation that might stem from making a child cry.
"Wash yourself and report to the formations hall. Soak in warm water so your Yin Qi will come down. The bathhouses in the sect are good for you. Quickly, go in. Seeing that his crying failed to distress Madam Ming further, Yao Lei immediately stopped crying.
Yao Lei's ability to immediately stop crying and calm himself was far more annoying for Madam Ming than crying itself. The brat had done what he did deliberately to annoy her. It was all a ruse. She got angry, yes, but a bit of respect for the brat had started to form in her heart.
She watched his little back wobble into the bathhouse. She returned to the scriptures pavilion to keep teaching Xiao An.
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder