Vessel of Worlds

Once they had flown some distance and confirmed that the Bai fellow hadn't followed, Jian Xin'er slowed her pace.

Andy grinned. "That Senior Brother Bai definitely didn't come to meet new disciples. If I'm not mistaken, he seems quite interested in you."

Jian Xin'er spat in disgust. "Don't get me started on him. He's insufferable—all politeness and refinement on the surface, but rotten to the core underneath. Brother Wugen, I used you to get rid of him today, and he might hold a grudge over it. Be careful around him from now on."

Andy nodded. "I could tell he was trouble. He's certainly not good enough for our Xin'er. So—what kind of husband are you looking for?"

Jian Xin'er's cheeks flushed. She was quiet for a moment, then said softly: "I haven't really thought about it. There's no rush. I'm fine on my own for now." She quickly changed the subject. "That old man surnamed Ma is back on Xianglu Peak. I'll take you to see him and get you a good assignment."

"Good. It'll take us two or three shichen to fly there—why don't you fill me in on the basics of the Taixu Sect along the way? I'd rather not stumble around blindly as the new person."

"All right. Though I don't know everything myself. Let me start with the various administrative positions…"

With Jian Xin'er's pleasant narration as accompaniment, Andy's understanding of the Taixu Sect deepened considerably.

Below the Sect Master, the Taixu Sect had more than twenty administrators who handled all of the sect's internal and external daily affairs. The old man surnamed Ma they were going to see was one of them, specifically responsible for distributing spirit stones to outer-sect disciples and assigning their duties. All the sect's administrators were Foundation Establishment cultivators, mostly elderly practitioners at the early or middle stage who had given up hope of ever advancing to Core Formation and had chosen instead to manage the sect's operations. The white-bearded old man at the Hall of Inquiry was none other than the Taixu Sect's Sect Master, Xiong Yue—a cultivator at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment who had led the sect for over thirty years. Strictly speaking, even the Sect Master was an administrator—just the head of all administrators.

"That white-bearded old man is Sect Master Xiong?" Andy was taken aback.

"Don't let that drowsy look of his fool you. My senior uncle says he's extremely shrewd. Under his thirty-odd years of leadership, the Taixu Sect has held firm to its position as Jinyan Kingdom's foremost faction." Jian Xin'er went on to explain that the real power behind the sect's rise and fall, and all its major decisions, rested with some twenty-odd Core Formation elders who lived in deep seclusion. But never mind outer-sect disciples like Andy—even the Foundation Establishment administrators rarely got to see a single elder. As for the two Nascent Soul grand elders rumored to exist within the sect—that was something beyond anyone's imagination. According to Jian Xin'er's Senior Uncle Sun, the two Nascent Soul grand elders hadn't been seen within the sect for two or three hundred years. Whether they were still somewhere in Jinyan Kingdom or had gone wandering the wider world, nobody knew.

As for Qi Refinement disciples, they occupied the bottom rung of the Taixu Sect's hierarchy. They could broadly be divided into four categories.

The first were inner-sect disciples—heaven's darlings, born with golden spoons. They either possessed exceptional spirit root aptitude, carried some rare innate constitution or gift, or were the direct descendants of a sect elder. These disciples bore no duties whatsoever and needed only to focus on cultivation. The sect provided them with appropriate pills and spirit stones each month, and once their foundational technique reached the twelfth layer, they were given a Foundation Establishment Pill outright—no competition required. They rarely showed their faces around the sect, and on the rare occasions they did appear, they carried themselves with an air of absolute superiority that outer-sect disciples had no business challenging.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The second category consisted of outer-sect disciples who had already taken a Foundation Establishment Pill but failed to break through. Nearly all of them had cultivated their foundational technique to its peak layer and stood just a hair's breadth from Foundation Establishment. They were the leaders and elite of the outer-sect ranks. If they could pass the trial a second time and obtain another pill, their chances of success would be very high.

The third category—the one Andy belonged to—was ordinary young outer-sect disciples who had not yet received a Foundation Establishment Pill. This group was by far the largest, their desire for the pill the most intense, and the competition among them the fiercest. Each was assigned a duty, and the sect distributed a monthly spirit stone stipend accordingly—generally between five and twenty low-grade spirit stones, depending on the nature of the assignment.

The last category were those who no longer qualified for the Foundation Establishment Trial—either because their cultivation hadn't reached the eleventh layer, or because they had passed the age of forty. A few were disciples who had received two Foundation Establishment Pills and failed both times, and were barred from a third attempt. Having lost any chance at the trial, most of these cultivators had long since given up on advancing and remained in the Taixu Sect handling miscellaneous duties, simply living out their days.

Hearing all this, Andy was briefly at a loss for words. If not for stumbling upon the Heaven and Earth Bowl and its miraculous powers, he would almost certainly have ended up among this last, drifting category.

Jian Xin'er had no idea what he was thinking. She continued with a touch of excitement in her voice: "Once you reach Foundation Establishment, though, there's no more inner-sect or outer-sect distinction. Every Foundation Establishment cultivator in the sect is free to choose their own private cave dwelling anywhere in the Kuanglu Mountains. They have no duties to speak of, and receive generous annual allotments of spirit stones and rare materials. The only obligation is that when the sect faces a crisis, they must step forward to defend it without question. But the Taixu Sect hasn't faced a serious threat in over a thousand years, so Foundation Establishment cultivators are essentially supported by the sect with nothing asked in return. If only we could reach Foundation Establishment someday—the lifespan alone is double that of a Qi Refinement cultivator. Only at Foundation Establishment does one truly leave the mortal realm behind and truly enter the ranks of cultivators. Compared to that, Qi Refinement cultivators are really just apprentices."

"You're absolutely right," Andy agreed wholeheartedly, then added encouragingly: "Your aptitude is strong, Xin'er. Push yourself even harder these next two years and fight for a spot at the top of the Foundation Establishment Trial. I believe that with a Foundation Establishment Pill, you'll break through without a doubt."

"Aptitude matters, but fortune matters just as much. There are plenty of senior brothers and sisters with far better aptitude than mine who still haven't managed to reach Foundation Establishment. All I can do is give it everything I have and leave the rest to fate." Her bright eyes grew distant, and she seemed to waver slightly in her confidence.

Andy smiled. "We cultivators seek the path of immortality—defiance of the natural order is what we do. How can we leave our fate in heaven's hands? As long as there's even a sliver of hope, we give it everything we've got. Even if the odds are nine deaths for every chance of survival, the only thing to do is charge in."

"Brother Wugen is right. Everyone says your aptitude is terrible, but I've always thought that among all the disciples in the Jian clan, your resolve to walk the path was the strongest. No wonder you've come this far." She smiled, her shallow dimples appearing again, adding a captivating charm to her already striking features—like a bud about to bloom, radiating a quiet fragrance. Even Andy found himself staring for a moment.

This little girl is getting more dangerously beautiful by the year, he thought. No wonder she's attracted this much trouble, at the Jian clan and now here at the Taixu Sect. I just hope it doesn't become an obstacle on her path.

Jian Xin'er noticed him staring, and a delicate blush crept across her fair cheeks. She turned away and looked elsewhere.

Talking the whole way, they finally reached Xianglu Peak after a little over two shichen. Several Taoist temples stood on the peak, each burning sandalwood incense day and night, filling the air with a permanent, drifting fragrance that gave the peak its name.

The Administration Hall was one of these temples, currently serving as the venue where the administrator surnamed Ma handled the affairs of the Taixu Sect's outer-sect disciples.