Druidic Cultivation | Chapter Four

I lied, but I am sleeping in 20 minutes so this is definitly the last chapter. On that note, my new record for words in oen day is 12,852! Eat that, NaNoWriMo!

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The trip to Willow Mountain City took four days and was largely uneventful. Growing up, Feng Jiao mostly interacted with the Feng family back in the town they ruled, called Crouching Grass Town, and even then it was mostly with the male children or his sisters. On the trip over, Feng Jiao met many new faces and names from the other villager children he’d never interacted with before, and few that knew him tagged along as they were all older than him and had already done their awakening. All children, regardless of wealth or upbringing, were invited to come to the awakening ceremony as the matriarch did not want to miss out on hidden talent.

The children were separated into two groups, the newly awakened and the returnees, the first group larger than the second as only talented returnees and sect-hopefuls returned for the marital competition that took place after the ceremony. If they performed well enough, they would be absorbed into various sects for training and given resources and advanced cultivation methods. Many sects even granted the ability to cultivate unique martial skills to their disciples! It was definitely something to aspire to for anybody who wanted to walk the road of martial arts.

During the day, Feng Jiao would walk alongside the caravan absorbing Qi from the plants that grew along the road, not enough to wilt them of course, or would ride along in one of the carriages, usually the one with the girls. He found girls more pleasant to look at and talk to, and they didn’t give him the lewd gazes he often got from other boys. At night, he would also lay his sleeping bag down in the carriage with the female children as he’d been invited to talk through the night by several of them. Nobody, apart from Feng Zhipei, even batted an eye about the sleeping arrangements. Of course, he was the only boy allowed to do this as many assumed his gender and he made no attempt to correct them.

When they finally arrived at Willow Mountain City, Feng Jiao’s eyes widened at the size of it. Just the stone walls that surrounded the city were as tall as the trees he’d seen on the way to the funeral when he was six, and several buildings popped up over the walls and into his eyes. The guards stood outside of a massive gate that was currently open, slowing down merchants to question their wares and inspecting would-be visitors to check for wanted criminals. The Crouching Grass Town entourage was able to pass without too much issue as the guards had been dealing with large groups of children for a week now in preparation for the awakening ceremony. 

Feng Jiao had heard on the way over that not every town attends the city ceremonies, those that were either unable to afford the travel or too distant would just arrange their own and petition sects to accept outstanding talents later, but there were many benefits for attending the large gatherings. If for nothing else, it allows one to gain experience and broaden their horizons. Just observing the martial tourney after the ceremony would awake many of the ‘talented young lords’ to the fact that they were nothing but a frog in a well commenting on the size of the world. You couldn’t truly know anything without experiencing it first. 

Upon arrival, Feng Zhipei and his two elder brothers departed from the group to register their group while a few other parents drove the carriages to a lot that was assigned to the upon entry to the city. For two days, the Feng family clan stayed in a caravan parking area on the outskirts of the city and awaited the start of the ceremony. Feng Jiao spent the days refining all of the Qi he’d absorbed on the way over and chatting up the young girls from his village. He’d even spoken to a few of the older girls that were returning for the tourney. He attended many sleepovers and even a couple makeovers, he was truly broadening his horizons. 

Two days later, the group departed from their caravan area and walked toward the center of the city. It was the first day Feng Jiao was allowed to walk through the city as the awakening children were usually restricted to their inns or carriages in order to reduce foot traffic in the city. Buildings jutted up here and there and were in many odd shapes. Signs announced the profession of the businesses they passed and many more were announced by the scents wafting out of their open windows. 

Feng Jiao couldn’t help but salivate at the various smells that invaded his nostrils, cooking was another skill he wanted to pick up. The memories he carried over from his previous life included digesting raw beasts and blood, something that revolted him now, and for some reason various edible plants and seasoning herbs. There was nothing about preparation of meat or cooking it, why would a tree be born with only knowledge of eating fellow plants!?

After passing by several bewitching food stalls they arrived in a large arena like area at the center of the city. It was already largely filled with children, there were hundreds of not thousands, as well as bleachers filled several stories high. The stage was divided into eighteen substages, hinting to Feng Jiao how they would manage to get through the massive number of kids so quickly, and several overseers stood to the side. The children were split up by social status and gender as well as age, the martial tourney competitors ascended to the bleachers to wait while the young children were moved to one side of the stage and separated into male and female. 

Feng Jiao made his way over to the male section before being shouted down by one of the overseers. It took a moment for Feng Jiao to realize that the overweight man was shouting at him due to the tone of voice and the way the man referred to young Jiao. Honestly, the young lord was unsure if he’d ever been spoken to in that tone before. The man obviously had eyes but could not see Mount Tuathail.

“Little girl, are you blind? You cannot hold your big brothers hand as you wish, get over into the female group! Scram!” The arrogant man left no room for Feng Jiao to refute him and, looking at the gazes he was already getting from the twelve and thirteen year old boys, he didn’t feel the need to argue.

He wandered over to where the girls stood and seamlessly merged with the group. Several young girls came up and started chatting with Feng Jiao, asking for his name and where he was from as they were enamored with his beauty. Some girls also stood to the side and glared at him with open jealousy as boys they liked from their village couldn’t peel their eyes off of him. They believed he’d made a scene on purpose to gather attention from the opposite sex.

After exchanging pleasantries with all the young would-be cultivators, Feng Jiao started to observe the crowd of observers. While he spaced out several girls took small liberties like touching his hands or arms, a common occurrence for young Feng Jiao and one he understood. Every time he saw a bald man he felt the need to run his hands across the surface of his scalp, so how could these young girls not wonder what the smoothest skin they’d ever seen would feel like? He allowed them to do so, so long as they did not go too far, and continued his observations.

Finally he found the group that he was searching for. Part of the bleachers were far less crowded than rest and several powerful looking men and women sat together in groups of three or four, wearing robes of matching colors and intently gazing at various young children. Either they were far too interested in kids, or they were the scouts that sects sent out to recruit various talents ahead of time. They would not recruit most children at when they first awakened as martial spirits did not always correlate to cultivation talent, but they would often invest ahead of time. The various sects would bid against each other, or apply subtle pressure to the sects weaker than them, to call dibs on various disciples. 

If one presented with a rank six or above martial spirit, they would often approach the child and offer them the ability to apply to their sect ahead of time, they would then award the talent a valuable cultivation pill to assist in their growth, which they checked again three years later at the martial tourney, or five years later for the women. It wasn’t until the age of fifteen that most children left their homes to adventure in this world. The sects saw the pill as an investment and it wasn’t much to them, but it could allow for the growth of many talents. 

Of course stronger sects were occasionally surprised by a dark horse, a talent that been sponsored by a smaller sect and was a genius. If the smaller sect was not powerful enough, the large sects would offer them no face and directly attempt to poach the child after their martial tourney, offering greater reputation and cultivation opportunities. Feng Jiao finally found the sect he was looking for, a group of three younger women wearing dull brown colors with the sigil of a tree upon it, God Tree Sect. 

They weren’t a particularly powerful sect but were wealthy, known for their plentiful medicines harvested from their range of spiritual mountains. Mostly Feng Jiao was attracted by the name of the sect as it spoke to him on a spiritual level, figuratively speaking. He fully intended to request their sponsorship, if not now then after the martial tourney. Often times those who were only average talents would have to publicly request sponsorship, risking embarrassment upon denial. Feng Jiao didn’t think he would belong to that group, he only worried that he would perform so outstandingly that a smaller sect wouldn’t dare request his enrollment, which would make it awkward to deny the large sects.

He started paying attention to the groups of children again, the boys were still casting piggish looks over at the group of women, several of which were glued to Feng Jiao. Because of his smooth complexion and feminine facial structure, he was often mistaken as a woman and with his current age, many assumed his flat chest was just a bouquet waiting to blossom. As somebody who had spent a large portion of his existence as a genderless tree, he didn’t get as bothered by it as most would. He was very comfortable with his identity, and all the boys would learn eventually. 

The ceremony finally started, beginning with the nobles regardless of gender, called one at a time so that their awakening would be more of a spectacle. Several went up and had their martial spirits unlocked, projecting powerful beasts that were often hereditary to the crowd and receiving invitations to sects. It all seemed very scripted to Feng Jiao and he had a hard time paying attention. Obviously they knew what their martial spirit would be ahead of time, those sorts of families paired like with like, often marrying someone with a wolf variation to another with a wolf variation in an attempt to purify the martial spirit’s bloodline in their offspring. Even the sects they were invited to were often a familial tradition, making the event nothing more than a poorly done puppet show.

“From the house Huang of Willow Mountain City, please step forward, Young Miss Huang Niao.” The crowd quieted down as a girl stepped down from the bleachers where she’d been sitting with her father. She removed her veil and the sun dimmed, even Feng Jiao was enraptured.