DC 57

“Snake.”  Tai Sai once again expressed her displeasure, knowing what the older boy was going to say, and crossed her arms. After a brief stare-off between the two outer sect disciples, Pye Lee continued.

“So, here is the thing. Most often, disciples don’t show up to the God Tree Grove already at the peak of awakening. People who are already half a step into condensation usually elect to go with a top tier sect, but that isn’t to say it doesn’t happen. 

“Our sect takes large amounts of disciples in semi-annually as the country has a tradition of semi-annual awakening ceremonies. As these large crowds of hopefuls arrive, several outer sect elders, and even a couple inner sect elders, observe the intake and select a couple children to take under their wings. They offer them advice, set up training programs and, most importantly in my opinion, sponsor them for higher-tiered cultivation techniques. Elders still pay to access for the new disciples but they also make a premium back whenever their sponsored disciple does well, be it in production or competitions. It is an investment.

“The volunteers at the Knowledge Hall are allowed to invest too, on the off chance we find someone who wasn’t able to accumulate enough contribution points as a Nominal or didn’t attract the attention of an elder. We don’t earn out merit points back the same way, but we can sell our investments to elders if they take notice of you afterwards.” Pye Lee trailed off, leaving the next part of his offer unspoken.

“Are you offering to invest in me? What is the catch?” Bai Fu could sense that something was off from the reaction of Tai Sai. Even if the smaller girl hadn’t made a fuss, however, Bai Fu still would have been wary of attached strings. There wasn’t a thing such as a truly free lunch in this world or any other world for that matter. 

“I happen to have quite a few contribution points saved up. Not enough to purchase a high tier cultivation technique, but enough to invest in a couple seedlings if they come wandering in. As for the catch, I don’t want much. Just let me take you out to dinner and consider joining my faction. I don’t expect you to join my faction outright as that is a large decision, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least try to recruit you.”

Bai Fu furrowed her brows and bit her lip while staring at the ground, obviously contemplating the pros and cons of the offer. Although neither she nor Feng Jiao knew exactly what a faction consisted off within the sect, just knowing the definition of the word told her that it was a big decision. After a short while she looked up to Tai Sai as if seeking an opinion.

“Sorry, I spend all my contribution points as I earn them to further my art. Even if I did have enough to sponsor you I’d have to get something from it, only Knowledge Hall workers can sell their investments back to elders.” Tai Sai shrugged and frowned, “I haven’t heard of Brother Pye doing anything uncouth beyond the proposition of dinner, if that helps your decision.”

“I resent the thought.” Pye Lee slipped in. “If you don’t like it, you can always leave and wait a month for the elders to do their scouting when the next influx happens. Of course, that is a month with no progress in your cultivation and everyone knows that the farther you get while you’re young, the farther you get in life. I’d hate for such a talent to miss out on the best time to cultivate.” 

As he watched Bai Fu contemplate the merits, Feng Jiao began an internal struggle of his own. Up until this point, he hadn’t had a chance to correct anybody present about his misgendering, at least not in a way that didn’t make him seem like a screaming, petulant child. Now, he was wondering if he should speak up. If he pointed out that he was a man, there was a decent chance that Pye Lee wouldn’t ‘invest’ in him and he’d have to settle for the low grade techniques. Pride or Power, which was more important to Feng Jiao at that moment.

“Ok, but you need to invest in Jiao’er too. Presuming you were also going to invest in Junior Feng as well. They are younger than me, far more talented, and a looker as well. I’m already thirteen but Feng Jiao reached the same step as me a the age of ten and a half! You’d be a fool not to invest in them.” Before Feng Jiao could make a decision, Bai Fu spoke up and even brought his name into the mix as well  as she grabbed his arm and pulled him over to sit closer to her. 

“Of course I was going to offer to invest in Junior Sister Feng as well when the time came, with the same conditions of course.” Pye Lee looked back and forth between the two, trying to figure out their relationship. Two very young, very talented cultivators who both pledged the God Tree Grove without a sponsor already pre-arranged. 

“They accept, but the dinner will be at the same time.” Bai Fu shot back instantly.

“Uh-”

“What is wrong, Elder Brother Pye? If you treat us to dinner at the same time you could save time and Jiao and I would both feel more comfortable. Or were you expecting something more than dinner and a pitch? Were you maybe expecting to court us both, or expecting some sort of instant return on your investment?” Bai Fu started off sounding innocent but slowly narrowed her eyes as she continued, suspicion creeping into her voice. 

Feng Jiao was beginning to understand why it took Bai Fu so long to respond when she was usually so quick about her replies. She was putting on a good play for everyone right now. Jiao also couldn’t help but notice how she avoided calling him, well, him.

“No, it was nothing like that. I just-”

“I don’t mind listening to you pitch your faction or whatever, but if you’re expecting anything more than that you can forget it. We’ve just met and you’re already nursing thoughts like that, with a thirteen year old gi-”

“No, seriously. I wouldn’t even think about something like that!”

“Then I don’t see what the problem is with having dinner with us both at the same time.” Bai Fu started pouting like a little girl, a sharp contrast to the mature demeanor that Feng Jiao had come to know and appreciate over the past half a year. His eyelid started twitching involuntarily as he realized what a good actor the young girl was.

“I suppose I don’t see an issue with it either.” Poor Pye Lee never even stood a chance, Feng Jiao thought to himself. “We can work out the date later, for now let's get this over with. If my math is correct then based on what I was told earlier, the two of you should be the last of the new disciples showing up for cultivation techniques today. It might not seem like much, but supporting this formation for so long is taxing on the mind and soul.

“I can, at most, let you look at the mid-ranked mid tier cultivation techniques. Sister Tai, could you lend me a hand again? I’m afraid I might have a bit of trouble keeping the formation active for an extended period of time, especially with the backlash from it collapsing earlier.”

Tai Sai lightly snorted before resuming her meditation pose. The room slowly darkened again and motes of light came into view once more. The first thing that Feng Jiao noticed was that both Tai Sai and Pye Lee seemed to be under some sort of physical strain while supporting the formation. Apparently, the stronger techniques were stored in a stronger formation, or something like that. 

Looking around, Feng Jiao saw that there were fewer stars in the artificial night sky, but the stars that were present were shining with a vibrancy unlike the weak motes before. They were like bonfires compared to a candle flame. 

Bai Fu once again began scanning through each mote, one at a time, and set a few closer to her as she went through them. Feng Jiao considered reading another one to see the difference between low and mid tier but decided that the associated headache really wasn’t worth the effort. He’d see what a mid tier technique looked like when it was his turn for selection anyways so there wasn’t any reason to go seeking pain.

“This is the one, what do I do now?” Bai Fu called out after having gone through every mote in the room. Although there were fewer motes, Bai Fu spent more time with each one and nearly an hour and a half had elapsed. She was holding onto one of the first ones she’d scanned, much to the chagrin of the now-physically-shaking Pye Lee, and smiling.

“Just hold onto it, I’ll start the next step.” His hands moved around, as if tapping buttons that only he could see, and the other motes began to fade from view. Eventually only the one that Bai Fu was holding remained. Her selection rested in the palm of her hand before splitting, one half fading out of view and the one remaining slowly swoll. 

It expanded in size several times over before stopping at about the size of an infant’s head. The larger ball of light then burst into several streams that sank into Bai Fu’s chest. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell back from her sitting position. Feng Jiao caught her and pulled her toward his lap rather than letting her head smack onto the ground. After a few minutes, her eyes flickered open once more to a room so bright that it further exacerbated her now pounding headache. 

Bai Fu blinked the stream of tears out of her eyes for a few moments as she adjusted her state of mind. Although she’d been sifting through the cultivation summaries for the better part of two hours or so at that point, she hadn’t developed a full blown headache until the entire cultivation technique forced itself into her skull. With her eyes squeezed shut, she took a deep breath to help center herself and couldn’t help but notice the vaguely mascaline scent. Opening her eyes and squinting, she realized that her head was resting on Feng Jiao’s lap as he smiled back down to her and her face went red before she slowly sat up.

“Thank you for the opportunity, Senior Brother Pye. Is there any way that I can help you support the formation while Feng Jiao makes his selection? I figure you could probably use the help after I took so long selecting mine.” 

“Judging from the backlash you just received from the formation after making your selection, I’m going to say that you don’t have enough spiritual energy to support the formation, but I appreciate the offer. You shouldn’t worry about that either, you spiritual energy will grow as you begin to exercise it more often. If you do want to pitch in the minimal effort you can, just meditate and try to connect to the formation you’re sitting on with your spiritual energy.

“In any case, let's take a five minute break and let Junior Feng select. Wood techniques, if I remember correctly.”