Life at the sect

Wu Zhi started his day by going to the cafeteria.

When he got there he decided to go with some glazed duck, white rice, black tea, and as usual, a water to go with it.

"Hey Wu Zhi, guess what technique I got" said Shen Zhi.

"Let's see, probably a water technique with some mobility to it".

"Correct! It's called the shifting tides art, I'm excited to see how well I do compared to my peers".

"Me too. let's see who makes it to the first level of qi refining first."

"I won't make it easy" he said as he had a huge grin on his face.

After lunch, Wu Zhi decided to head towards the library, he needed to pick up the sect rule handbook that he forgot to get as well study a bit more about cultivation.

When he got there it was pretty crowded, he got his book from the librarian and started to read it, at a table he could find.

Rule 1: no unauthorized use of violence. Unsanctioned fights are not allowed - failure to comply will be met with crippling your cultivation or imprisonment.

Rule 2: All sexual related crimes that exist in the country of Yangoo are enforceable in the Sect. Punishments match the punishments listed by Yangoo.

Rule 3: By no means are you allowed to cheat or falsify your cultivation level or spiritual root test. failure to comply will result in fines and public shaming.

Rule 4: No stealing. failure to comply will be met with flogging.

Rule 5: You are to treat your betters with the respect they deserve. failure to comply will be met with admonishment.

The list went on and on. 'Pretty normal stuff' he thought. There was also a rule stating you can't force someone to be your dual cultivation partner and you have to wait until your 18 to practice it in the sect. The rules can be boiled down to don't be an idiot, and you'll be fine. If you exercised the minimum level of common sense then you would have no problem getting in trouble.

After that, he went on to read a bit more about the fundamentals of cultivation from his textbook that he brought with him. It described some unique things like a sudden enlightenment and what that would feel like. Problems that may occur such as heart demons, qi deviation, unsteady foundation and so on. It seemed as long as you followed the techniques you'd be fine. Any sudden inspirations about how to improve your cultivation, should be met with care and caution. It seemed the people before him, the ancestors of cultivation so to speak, had a bad time finding out what to do and what not to do. And he was going to take their advice. Only an idiot would only learn from his mistakes, a genius - or rather someone with a brain - would learn from the mistakes of others as well.

There really wasn't much more to the book, just a list of tips and advice to getting started. There was also a chart that noted the increase of lifespan per major realm. foundation establishment increased your lifespan by 100 years. Core formation increased your lifespan by 400 years, Finally for nascent soul it was 1600 years. 'No wonder the sect is patient with us, I bet they only expect results when were 20, like they said for the missions. I also bet 20 years isn't that much time for someone in core formation or nascent soul. Their total lifespan should be 2000 years, 20 years is 1% of that. That said, he was going to ask around to see about the places people could cultivate. His guide had mentioned there were other - potentially better - places to cultivate in. So he was going to ask the librarian if they knew any such places.

"My guide mentioned good places to cultivate in, where would those places be"?

"There are lots of places like that you'd have to be more specific. There are places that require contribution points, places popular for dual cultivation, places with a scenic view, places for secluded meditation, and places for gaining inspiration or enlightenment". 'Wow that's a lot more places than he thought'. "How bout places for secluded meditation and places with a scenic view with no requirement for contribution points". "For seclusion I recommend the hollow caves, for long periods of time or the underground hall for a short time. For places with a scenic view, I recommend the cliff of peace in the day and the waterfall of tranquility at night." "Thanks for the information I appreciate it" he said.

The librarian gave him a nod and he went to go look at some maps of the sect which were posted all around the sect.

'Hollow caves is a bit to the north and then east from there.' So he went on his way to the hollow caves.

When he made it he was standing just outside of a cave where a receptionist was sitting. He went up to her and said "I would like to enter secluded cultivation please." She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "the minimum amount of time you have to spend in a cave is one month. Is that ok?" "Yes!" he responded. "okay... there are food pills and drinkable water flowing through the caves, just pick up a cup to drink some. As for toiletries there is a disposable bag for that in the room, make sure you dispose of it using the trash chute. We will prepare you a room wait a moment while we get your food pills ready and other necessities for your one month secluded cultivation session".

The reason why Wu Zhi was doing this was simple. He was already a learned man, for the most part at least. In all honesty he thought he would be bored with class, so he might as well use that time doing something he likes more... cultivate. He was excited to see how much progress he could achieve with one month of secluded meditation. After all, this is one of his specialties.