Of Hunters and Immortals

Lian stood near the back of the gathering chamber, arms folded, trying not to look like she was counting heads.

The passing aspirants could broadly be divided into two categories. The first were those who had never doubted, whether due to simple arrogance or the fact that their families had greased the right palms. They were all the same – smug expressions, relaxed shoulders. That air of too much confidence, even among those trying to pretend they weren't gloating. A handful looked shocked, like they'd expected rejection and hadn't yet figured out what to do with the opposite. Sons or the occasional daughter of merchant families, for the most part – higher in status than she was, undoubtedly, but not so high as to guarantee their acceptance. Most of those were already gravitating toward the wealthier aspirants – the ones with tailored robes, clan tokens, and old names. She didn't blame them.

It might be unpleasant, but it was the smart move. She'd done the same thing. Just because you managed to get into the Sect didn't make you the equal of the other disciples – and if you couldn't stand up to those with power, you bowed before them and hoped to gain their favour.

Her mother had taught her that lesson young, and it had never failed her. She'd made her choice early in the exams - stuck close to aspirants with resources, ones that had come prepared. It had felt like the smart thing to do. Maybe it was. Trying to scrounge contribution points with the other village-born kids would have been a losing game, even with her talent. And what good would it do anyone if she failed along with them?

Still, her eyes kept sliding toward the door.

Wei had been clumsy, but kind. Shen had been sharper than he let on, and more loyal than he should have been. She'd liked them, which was the problem. But as harsh as it was to say, they weren't cut out to be cultivators – and as time passed, and more aspirants were accepted, her decision was increasingly vindicated. Of the forty-something aspirants who had passed so far, she was the only one of lower birth – and she'd been the only one to see the writing on the wall early enough for it to make a difference.

As for that Jiang guy… well, she'd had high hopes, at first. He'd arrived late, personally escorted by an Elder – who'd then come to pull him away after the tour for a private chat. That was the sort of connection that didn't come around every day.

Unfortunately, it hadn't gone anywhere. Lian still wasn't sure what the guy's story was or how he'd gotten the attention of an Elder, but even though she was terrible at Qi sensing, even she could sense he was weaker than… well, than everyone, really. Then he'd gone and outright refused a challenge. After that, associating with him was social suicide – and it looked like he'd managed to annoy the Elder who had initially taken an interest in him. Everyone knew he was being punished by only being allowed to take the tasks usually handled by the servants.

It was odd – he'd seemed rather young to be a cultivator anyway.

She shook her head, dismissing the thoughts.

It's not like she would ever see him again.

— — —

Jiang exited the large hall where the Elders had just informed him he had been accepted into the Azure Sky Sect.

Seeing Yiaolin sitting up there with the rest of the elders had been a surprise, but she had never seemed to care about his manners during the many times he'd visited the halls of healing over the last few days, so he figured it should be fine.

Of the other Elders, most had looked either bored or vaguely curious at him. There had been something like two hundred aspirants, so he wasn't terribly shocked that they weren't paying him too much attention. Elder Lu had seemed as amused as ever, and he'd also noticed Elder Yan staring at him… intently.

Jiang shivered, a random chill crawling up his spine.

If he ever interacted with Elder Yan in the future, he was going to be extra careful about his manners. Somehow he doubted the man would be as forgiving of his little slip-ups as Elders Lu or Yiaolin were.

He followed a waiting servant down a broad corridor, the stone cool beneath his boots. They passed a series of wide archways, each opening into practice yards, study halls, or what looked like small gardens set into the side of the mountain.

He still wasn't really used to the architecture here – it was a long way from the comfortingly rustic style of his village.

Eventually, they reached a set of wide double doors. The disciple pushed one open and gestured him inside without speaking.

The room beyond was large, clearly built to impress. Polished floors. High ceiling. Dozens of carved wooden panels lined the walls, each bearing a different sect emblem or proverb. Light filtered in through a series of narrow windows near the top of the chamber, throwing pale gold lines across the floor. Low benches were spaced at irregular intervals, already occupied by clusters of aspirants talking in quiet tones.

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All of them stopped when Jiang stepped inside.

The silence wasn't complete, but it was sharp. Conversations didn't resume. Nobody said anything directly. But their eyes lingered. Jiang could feel them measuring him, weighing him against whatever image they'd already formed.

He ignored them.

He walked to one of the empty benches near the wall and sat, back straight, hands resting loosely on his knees.

No one joined him.

He caught sight of Lian a moment later. She was standing near a group of merchant-born aspirants, not quite part of the circle but close enough to benefit from proximity. Her expression didn't change when she saw him, but her posture did—shoulders stiffening, weight shifting subtly like someone bracing for a blow that didn't come.

He hadn't had much to do with her – especially once tensions started to rise in their once-shared dormitories – but it was nice to see a somewhat familiar face. Jiang met her gaze and gave a slight nod of acknowledgment.

She broke their gaze, shrinking in on herself for some reason.

He didn't think about it too much. Probably just stressed or nervous or something.

More aspirants trickled in as time passed, one or two at a time. Most looked quietly relieved. A few were surprised to see him, but no one said anything. Jiang sat still, content to watch. It took nearly two hours before the final aspirant arrived, the doors closing behind him with a quiet thunk.

A few moments later, they opened again.

An Elder stepped inside—one Jiang recognised from the chamber where they told him he'd passed. The man was tall, with narrow eyes and a perfectly groomed beard, his robes trimmed with a deep green that caught the light when he moved. He carried a jade tablet in one hand and walked with the slow confidence of someone used to being listened to.

"My name is Elder Han," the Elder said, voice smooth and carrying easily across the room. "You are the few who have earned the right to step through the threshold. Of nearly two hundred hopefuls, you are the only ones to be accepted. This is not a coincidence, nor a mistake. The Azure Sky Sect accepts only those who are worthy—those favoured by the Heavens, by destiny, or by sheer will."

Jiang resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow. That was… rather dramatic.

"Make no mistake," the Elder continued, "cultivation is not a gift freely given. You will earn every step of the path. But you should also understand that today marks a change in your place within the world. You are no longer aspirants. You are disciples of the Azure Sky Sect. You carry its name now, and its reputation rises and falls with your actions."

He let the silence sit before continuing.

"As Outer Disciples, you will each be given a private room. Small, to begin with. Spartan. But yours. In addition, you will no longer be able to select your own tasks from the job hall. Each of you will be assigned one task per day, tailored to your current capabilities. The entrance exam included an excess of tasks, many of which were created solely to test the breadth of your abilities under pressure. That level of volume will not continue. Most of the tasks you receive moving forward will be practical in nature—maintenance, resource gathering, basic patrols, and so on. You are expected to complete them without complaint."

Someone near the back made a faint noise of protest. The Elder ignored it.

"You will also attend morning lessons each day. These are no longer optional. They begin at second bell, and you will be expected to arrive on time and remain until dismissed."

Jiang blinked.

Morning lessons.

He'd… sort of forgotten about them completely. Particularly after he was 'punished' and informed that he would only be allowed to take on the menial tasks, he'd always been busy during the morning while the lessons were held. He suspected this wasn't a coincidence – it made sense that the servants would want to complete as many tasks as possible while the cultivators were all busy and wouldn't get underfoot. He suspected they might not use those exact words, though.

Well, it was rather unlikely that he was going to be able to miss them now. It wasn't the end of the world, but combined with the assigned tasks – depending on what exactly they entailed – it would take up a decent chunk of his day. Time he could be spending on more productive things.

Which… actually, he needed to figure out exactly what 'productive things' really meant.

His grand plan for finding and saving his family had basically consisted of 'Become a cultivator', 'Join the Sect', something, something, rescue his family?

Well. He'd successfully joined a Sect, so now he just needed to figure out where to go from here. At least his situation was much improved from when he'd first made the plan – no matter what his next steps were going to be, starting them from the position of being an Outer Disciple of the Azure Sky Sect was only ever going to be an advantage.

So, logically, in order to extract the maximum benefit from having joined the Sect, the question then became, 'What can I get from the Sect that I can't get elsewhere?'

Knowledge.

Above all else, he could get knowledge from the Sect – in various forms. Before he could take any tangible steps in rescuing his family, he had to first find them, and the Azure Sky Sect had connections all over the province. That was a significant part of why he'd come here in the first place.

But just because the Sect had those connections didn't mean that he could access them. If he tried going up to a random Elder – or, realistically, even Elder Lu – to ask about tracking down the Hollow Fangs, they'd probably just pat him on the head and tell him that it was being handled. He needed a way to make sure they didn't just dismiss him, and considering the rest of the Sect seemed to run off contribution points, odds were good that this would, too.

So. Step one was to gather contribution points and trade them in for information on the Hollow Fang. Jiang had plenty of experience tracking, so as long as he could figure out a general area, he'd be able to narrow it down himself.

But he'd already tracked the Hollow Fangs once and been forced to run for help. That meant step two was to gain strength himself, to make sure he never had to leave his family's fate in someone else's hands again. He could do that by cultivating, of course, but as the various duels over the last week had drilled into his head, being faster and stronger was useless if he didn't know how to fight.

Considering how much everyone seemed to love duels, finding a combat instructor in the Sect should be reasonably straightforward – except, of course, it would probably cost contribution points to get them to teach him.

Jiang sighed in irritation. It looked like he was going to be stuck doing tasks for the foreseeable future, then.

Still, that wasn't new. He'd done worse for less.

And he'd do worse still if it meant he accomplished his goals.