Ch 9 - Cultivating

A lavish pavillon stood in the middle of a small lake, surrounded by quiet wildlife and vibrant foliage.

Beyond the horizon, the view dropped off into the breathtaking scene of the hundreds of mountains around, giving a sheer sense of scale.

On the pavillon, a young lady could be seen sitting on a comfortable chair, drinking wine and eating fruits in leisure. On her exact opposite, another charming lady sat while meditating in a lotus position, while a strange hum floated through the air.

The young lady opened her mouth lazily and said, "Comprehension Frog, that's enough. You can head off now."

The strange hum stopped as the source of the hum croaked with a sound of approval and headed off.

The charming young lady opened her eyes and said, "Hey, sister Bingyue, why did you stop? I was just a hair's breath away from comprehending the fourth layer of this scripture!"

The lady named Bingyue chuckled and said, "That's what you told me the previous 7 times, Mei Ji. You simply don't learn."

Mei Ji simply humped and said, "Well, what's the matter? Is someone coming?"

Bingyue simply nodded her head lazily and said, "Come in, dear boy. Don't just stand there."

Hearing this, Mei Ji looked at the young boy, perhaps only about 8 or 9 years old, and wondered why he had come.

Xu Ming nervously entered and bowed, "Greetings, Peak Leader Bingyue. I've come on the instructions of Sect Leader Kun."

Peak Leader Bingyue nodded and said in her pleasant voice, "Welcome to the Longevity Peak. We're not particular about your talent or your affairs, but you must remember not to go out of the Peak too often and cause trouble for us. We're all people that enjoy peace and serenity, and like to take our time cultivating."

"Can you agree with that?"

Xu Ming nodded and said, "I understand, Peak Leader."

The lady simply yawned and said, "Well, it's good if you understand. Mei Ji, take your junior brother to his cave abode and give him the basic cultivation materials. I won't see you off."

Mei Ji angrily stood up and said, "You're the Peak Leader, not me. Why do you always relegate your tasks to me?"

The Peak Leader seemed to have dozed off into sleep and didn't reply, causing Mei Ji to stamp her feet and curse at her.

"Little brother, come with me.", Mei Ji smiled and said in a pleasant voice again as if her anger was just for show.

"Her mood really changes quick, wow.", Xu Ming secretly thought.

However, Xu Ming didn't reveal his thoughts on his face as he followed his Senior Sister to the Peak Hall, and got his registered White Cultivation Robe.

There weren't many people around in the Peak Hall, only about a couple dozen from what he'd seen.

As if understanding what he was thinking, Mei Ji said, "The disciples of Longevity Peak usually cultivate inside their abodes and don't come out much. The rest of them are outside doing missions."

From what he gathered, the white cultivation robe represented the outer sect disciples, and the purple robe represented the inner sect. There was a golden robe too, but that was reserved for the brightest of talents in the sect, the core disciples. It was rare to see them, as most of them were usually on missions or under the tutelage of the elders.

Mei Ji looked at Xu Ming, and warned, "Junior Brother Xu Ming, remember to put on the robe when you go out for official business or roam around the sect. It's fine when you're in the Peak or in your cave abode, but you'll be fined if you're caught without your cultivation robe."

Xu Ming nodded at Mei Ji and assured her.

After that, Mei Ji grabbed a bundle of extra clothes and materials and made them disappear into a ring.

"You'll be able to use this spatial ring soon enough. It's not very big - the size of a tiny room, but it should be big enough for everyday usage.", Mei Ji spoke as she handed the ring over to Xu Ming, who accepted it.

"The people of our Longevity Peak only cultivate one type of cultivation method - The Eternal Script.", Mei Ji's face turned serious as she looked in Xu Ming's eyes.

Xu Ming nodded and indicated for her to continue.

"The Eternal Script isn't the most potent in the way of attacking, or defending, or cultivation. However, it has one peak redeeming quality to it. It can improve a cultivator's lifespan by about 2 times. When normal Body Refining cultivators only live up to 150 years, we can live up to 300 years."

"That's also part of the reason why our longevity peak has the highest number of cultivators, and the largest number of cultivation abodes. However, your cultivation speed and attacking prowess won't nearly be quite efficient as other cultivation methods."

"Therefore, Junior Brother, I'll give you your options. You can choose between cultivating this script or other scripts. Don't worry, you'll still be a member of the Longevity Peak. It's just that you must choose while you still haven't stepped into the path of cultivation yet.", Mei Ji explained all in one breath.

Xu Ming didn't take long to make his decision as he spoke, "Senior Sister, I've decided to cultivate this script."

Mei Ji smiled and said, "That's great! I'd hoped you'd say that. I'll let you in on a secret. Our first sect founder exchanged this art with the Imperial Palace with his War Merits. It can actually be classified as a Purple Cultivation Method."

Xu Ming looked confused, and then Mei Ji took the initiative to say, "Oh right, you don't know. Cultivation Methods are divided into 6 categories - Grey, Blue, Purple, Red, Gold and White. Most Third Ranked forces only have a Blue ranked cultivation method as their core legacy. Therefore, I think you can see how priceless this script is."

"Right, close your eyes.", Mei Ji spoke as she took out a jade pendant from a box in the storage.

Xu Ming did as she said and closed his eyes, when suddenly, he felt a cooling sensation on his forehead.

Strange hymns seemed to play in his ear, and his eyes closed tighter as information flowed smoothly throughout his head. Though his mind was being stimulated, it wasn't exhausting. The cooling sensation seemed to counteract the migraine that was building in the back of his mind, and Xu Ming involuntarily chanted a few phrases.

Mei Ji, seeing this, retrieved the pendant and lit a few incenses, and waited until Xu Ming eventually regained his senses.

Half of the incense stick had already been finished, and Xu Ming finally stopped chanting and opened his eyes, staring brightly at Mei Ji.

"So, Junior Brother, you're finally awake, huh? How do you feel?"

Xu Ming answered, "I feel okay. I seem to have a lot of extra knowlege in my mind about this script."

Mei Ji nodded and simply said, "That's normal. Don't think too much of it. As you progress in your realm, you'll gradually find that the content becomes clearer. No need to waste energy thinking out it at this time."

Standing up with a yawn, she cutely covered her mouth and spoke, "Right, let's head to your cave abode. You'll be staying there until your promotion to an inner sect disciple. Follow me."

Mei Ji took Xu Ming down the mountain to the bottom of the back of the Peak, to a small abode carved out on the side of the mountain. The floor surrounding the abode was made of a dark oak type, and there were some leisure furniture strewn on the outside of the cave. Looking around, there was a small wooden door that lead into the cave abode.

"It's nothing much, but this is one of the nicer abodes in the entire sect. You should see the rascals in the Military Peak.", Mei Ji was speaking when she covered her mouth and giggled to herself.

"They actually have 5 people living in a tiny cave, and they share all their items and materials. If someone dares to fart, it lasts for a whole day in there. They're actually quite tragic.", Mei Ji sniggered as she recalled.

Xu Ming laughed along and entered the abode. It was fairly well lit for being a cave, and it looked very neat and cozy. There was a single wooden bed with clean cotton bedsheets, a green meditation rug on the ground, some furniture, a chest and some paintings. It looked better than his own room back in his hometown.

"So? What do you think?", Mei Ji asked.

"It's more than I could ever want.", Xu Ming softly spoke.

"Wait till you see this.", Mei Ji pulled over the rug, revealing a red diagram on the floor, which seemed to be releasing some type of formless gas in the air.

"This is a level 1 Qi-Gathering array. The Peak Master set it up herself. Only the Longevity Peak has benefits like these. It can substantially aid you in cultivation, and unlike other cultivators, you don't need to spend much on spirit stones and spirit purifiers to supplement your cultivation. It also has the added bonus of helping you gather more Qi when you cultivate."

"How about it? Not bad, huh?", Mei Ji seemed proud as she puffed out her chest.

Xu Ming thought to himself, "This is actually quite nice. I didn't expect this Peak to have so many benefits."

Mei Ji sat on the bed, as she let out a long sigh.

"You're new, so you won't really understand how nice this is. I know, I'll help you get started on the path on cultivation. Sit on the green rug, Junior Brother Xu Ming."

Xu Ming did as he was told and sat down on the rug, making himself comfortable.

Mei Ji took Xu Ming's palm in hand, and started to inject Qi into his body.

"Circulate this Qi according to The Eternal Script. You should have an idea of how to circulate it, and don't forget to visualise the image you saw when you received the script."

Xu Ming seriously concentrated and visualised the image of a giant, ten thousand metre long black tortoise holding up the heavens, spewing out cold Qi into the vast oceans. Xu Ming followed the instructions of the script, circulating his Qi slowly towards his various meridians, in a strange rhythm.

Time passed slowly, and Xu Ming seemed to feel the presence of a thin strand of Qi forming, and taking place in his Dantian. It magnified, from a single indistinguishable strand, to a standard strand of Qi, to a group of them. Circulating his own Qi slowly, he familiarised himself with the application of Qi in his body.

After a while, Mei Ji got up with a huff.

"Junior Brother Xu Ming, now you have officially stepped into the path of cultivation, congrats!", Mei Ji clapped as she joyfully spoke.

Xu Ming was also overjoyed, and stood up and hugged Mei Ji before slightly bowing to her, "Thank you, Senior Sister!"

Mei Ji merely smiled back and said, "This is also your own hard work. You took around 35 minutes to complete one cycle of The Eternal Script, which is about the standard. You should continue working hard, and you can make it big one day!"

Mei Ji said, "The first level of Cultivation is the realm of Qi Sensing, you should aim to cultivate as many strands as you can. You can try sending it into your spatial ring when you have the time, later. I have to go back to my abode too, so I will see you later, Junior Brother."

Mei Ji then turned out suddenly and said, "Oh, also, Please come to the Peak Hall tomorrow at 10 AM sharp. You can choose your yearly responsibility there."

Sending off Mei Ji, Xu Ming went back into the lonely cave abode, shut the door, and immediately got into cultivating.