Chương 89: Chapter 88: Banquet Part 1

The ground floor had grown louder since they entered, the steady arrival of more disciples compressing the available space and pushing the noise upward. Ye Xuan leaned toward him.

"We should go up. It will only get more crowded down here as more and more fellow disciples arrive." Yang looked toward the main entrance, where another group in white robes was already coming through.

"Agreed." They made their way to the stairs and emerged onto the second floor to find it considerably calmer, most of the tables occupied, but the space itself still breathable. Yang took a moment to scan the room. The embroidery on the sleeve edges confirmed what he had already suspected from the general bearing of the people around them. Nine in ten were inner sect disciples. Senior Brother Zhang Linghe was seated near the railing with a group of five and raised a hand when he spotted them.

They crossed to the table and Senior Brother Zhang Linghe introduced them without ceremony.

"My junior brothers from the outer sect. Ye Xuan and Chen Yang." Yang and Ye Xuan bowed together. The five at the table returned it easily. They introduced themselves in turn. Senior Brother Xu Kai, broad-shouldered, with a rather cool blank expression, a bit similar to Senior Brother Zhang Linghe in bearing. Senior Brother Lin Yi, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed, nodding along as each person spoke. Senior Brother Liu Te, on the quieter side, not unfriendly but not going out of his way either.

Senior Sister Shen Yue, sharp-eyed, but with a kind smile on her face and Senior Sister Xing Fei, the youngest-looking of the group, with a small smile that hadn't fully left her face since they sat down. They settled into their seats and the conversation returned to the topic before Yang and Ye Xuan interrupted them. Apparently, Senior Brother Xu Kai had reached late stage Foundation Establishment, the closest of their group to following Senior Brother Jiang Zhen Hao into Golden Core.

The other four were at mid-stage. They had all entered the sect in the same batch, through the entrance trial rather than recruitment, and had built their friendships across the years since. Senior Brother Jiang Zhen Hao was the first of their group to reach Golden Core, and the table discussed it with genuine pride alongside the confidence of people who intended to follow eventually. What struck Yang was the ages. Despite looking only a few years older than him, Senior Sister Shen Yue was thirty-eight.

Senior Brother Xu Kai and Senior Brother Lin Yi were in their mid-forties. Senior Brother Liu Te and Senior Sister Xing Fei somewhere between. He had known that cultivation slowed aging, but sitting across from people who looked his age and were nearly twice it made that abstract knowledge concrete. He thought briefly of Senior Brother Bo Yu, who had recently achieved his seventh stage breakthrough, and understood something about that patience he had not fully understood before.

The conversation then moved to Senior Brother Zhang Linghe's cultivation.

"Still at late-stage Qi Condensation," Senior Brother Zhang Linghe said, without any embarrassment about it.

"I am planning to spend another year or two before I attempt Foundation Establishment. The foundation needs to be solid first."

"That is the right call," Senior Brother Xu Kai nodded.

"No point rushing it." Senior Brother Lin Yi agreed.

"A few extra years on the foundation is nothing against the rest of your lifespan."

"And the pills?" Senior Sister Shen Yue asked.

"I will apply for them when the time comes. The sect will provide them." Senior Brother Zhang Linghe shrugged slightly.

"No need to go looking for them beforehand." The others agreed with that too, but Senior Sister Shen Yue interrupted, "Make sure to apply for them at least a few months before. Sometimes it can take a bit longer than intended for the outer sect hall to assign them to the disciples." Senior Brother Zhang Linghe agreed, saying he will make sure to do so a few weeks in advance. A server appeared at Senior Brother Zhang Linghe's shoulder and spoke quietly.

His expression did not change but the tips of his ears went red as the table caught the content. Senior Sister Xing Fei immediately sat forward with a laugh.

"Zhen Hao's been looking for his baby cousin for over an hour." Laughter moved around the table. Senior Brother Liu Te pressed his lips together. Senior Brother Lin Yi looked at the ceiling. Senior Brother Xu Kai said "enough" but his own composure had slipped noticeably, and the others took this as permission to let theirs slip further before he said it again with more conviction. Senior Brother Zhang Linghe stood and excused himself with the dignity of a man who had definitively not heard any of it, and departed.

The five remaining turned their attention to Ye Xuan and Yang. Senior Sister Xing Fei looked at them both with a mischievous smile.

"Junior brothers, no need to look so tense. We are not going to eat you now that Junior Brother Zhang has left. Tell me how you are enjoying the sect life so far?" Ye Xuan relaxed immediately, which Yang had noticed was simply how Ye Xuan operated. Within a few exchanges, he had communicated his enthusiasm for sect life, his opinions on the better food stalls and restaurants in White Cloud City, and his enjoyment of the banquet so far.

Yang contributed less and listened more, which suited him and did not seem to bother the other occupants of the table. The conversation turned to alchemy when Senior Brother Lin Yi and Senior Brother Liu Te fell into a discussion about the latter's recent alchemy efforts. A flame Senior Brother Liu Te's master had gifted him, passed down from his own master before that, being applied to refine a specific pill.

Yang did not have the technical vocabulary to follow all of it, but the discussion held his attention, and Senior Brother Lin Yi noticed.

"You are interested in alchemy, Junior Brother Yang?"

"Since I first learned about cultivation," Yang said.

"Though I have not studied it yet. A senior advised me to concentrate on my foundation for now, given the investment alchemy requires." Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

"Whoever guided you was right," Senior Brother Lin Yi said.

"Even Brother Liu Te here, who comes from a wealthy cultivation family, did not begin serious alchemy study until he reached the inner sect. Neither did I, and both of us come from families that could have afforded it. But it would have cost a fortune as an outer sect disciple, whereas here the sect grows almost everything we need, or has access to it through sect-held areas. Far easier and cheaper to wait and get the required points to buy herbs from the sect."

"The foundation is everything," Senior Brother Liu Te said.

"I am glad I waited."

"Senior Brother Liu Te was accepted by the direct disciple of the Yunhuo Peak elder," Senior Brother Lin Yi added.

"Yunhuo Peak is the sect's main alchemy peak. Having a master there makes a considerable difference." Yang asked something he had noticed during their discussion and asked why they had referred to alchemy as Senior Brother Liu Te's path specifically, rather than his profession, when Senior Brother Lin Yi also practiced it. The table exchanged looks and a few smiles.

"Ah," Senior Brother Lin Yi said.

"This is something even we wondered when we were new to cultivation." He paused.

"Do not spread this around. The sect prefers to keep it quiet, because the elders know most young cultivators can be idiots when it comes to this kind of knowledge." Senior Brother Xu Kai let out a short scoff.

"Just like we were when we joined."

"Exactly like we were," Senior Brother Lin Yi agreed without hesitation.

"The cultivation path is not simply the road every cultivator walks by advancing their realm. For some cultivators, a particular discipline becomes tied to their advancement in a way nothing else does. For Senior Brother Liu Te, that is alchemy. His alchemy and his cultivation reinforce each other directly. The more his alchemy improves, the further his cultivation advances. The further his cultivation advances, the more his alchemy can achieve. A loop, once it establishes itself, accelerates both.

Whereas I practice alchemy as a profession. I am good at it, I enjoy it, but it is not my path, and therefore, while my alchemy improves as my cultivation advances, my alchemy advancement doesn't help improve my cultivation itself. It does not advance my cultivation the way it moves Li Te's." Yang asked if this was common or unusual among cultivators their age.

"Among everyone we know," Senior Brother Xu Kai said, "Senior Brother Liu Te is the only one our age who has found his path. It was not something he chose consciously, " Senior Brother Lin Yi added.

"It became apparent over time."

"And even on Yunhuo Peak itself, which has the highest concentration of alchemy practitioners in the sect, there are only a handful who walk the alchemy path. The rest are just passionate about the profession. Even an alchemy sect would only have a few that walk the alchemy path, we're actually the only non-alchemy sect with so many that walk the alchemy path." Senior Sister Shen Yue had been listening and now looked at Yang directly.

"Junior Brother Yang, what we have told you is the concept, nothing more. It is not an invitation to decide what your path is. I have watched disciples hear about the cultivation path and immediately declare themselves for the sword path because it sounds glorious, or the alchemy path because it promises wealth, and spend years forcing themselves toward something that was never theirs. They achieve nothing and damage what could have developed naturally." She held his gaze.

"Your path will become apparent in its own time. You cannot choose it consciously any more than you can choose which direction the wind favors. Do not try."

"I will keep it in mind, Senior Sister," Yang said. Her expression eased slightly at him being sensible about it.

"Junior Brother, do not think I am being too strict with you. Think about what happens if a naive cultivator decides he is meant for the sword path because it is glamorized in stories, and dedicates himself to it with no real connection to it, achieving no advancement, no success, ruining his own chance at cultivation. The sect does not want its young disciples destroying their futures out of youthful naivety. That is why the elders are careful." Yang nodded.

Ye Xuan did too, both of them keeping what she had said in mind. Yang thought briefly about talismans, about the genuine pleasure he had always taken in inscription work and his interest in alchemy. But he did not think that either of them would be his path. He just let the thought go. What was to be would be apparent in its own time. There was no use forcing it. The table split back into separate conversations. Senior Brother Lin Yi turned to Yang again.

"Since you are interested in alchemy, Junior Brother, I would advise you to start learning about cultivating herbs yourself. It is good experience and the knowledge is invaluable. Alchemy is not simply putting herbs into a cauldron. Knowing which herbs work best for what purpose, how to grow them, what conditions they need, what stage of development gives the best results, all of that will serve you enormously when you actually begin to practice. And it is cheaper to grow your own." Senior Brother Liu Te nodded.

"On Yunhuo Peak each alchemist tends their own herb garden. I grow some of my own herbs and also help take care of a portion of my master's. You learn things from growing them that no book gives you."

"I already have some experience," Yang said.

"I took a task tending to a Senior Brother's spirit herb garden. Blue Jade herbs mostly." Senior Brother Lin Yi and Senior Brother Liu Te both looked pleased at this.

"Blue Jade is not the easiest," Senior Brother Liu Te said.

"You have a better starting point than most, you should try growing your own herbs."

"Where would I get seeds?" Yang asked.

"And which herbs would you recommend for someone starting out?"

"You can buy seeds from the outer sect hall," Senior Brother Lin Yi said, "but there is no need. I will send some seeds to you along with basic herb cultivation manuals. A good starting range that will give you broad beginner skills." Yang shook his head.

"Senior Brother, I appreciate the offer, but I do not want to take advantage. I will buy from the outer sect hall."

"Junior Brother." Senior Brother Lin Yi's tone was patient but clear.

"Being self-reliant is admirable. But seniors and elders are there to help. There is a difference between demanding favours and accepting something offered freely. What I am offering costs me nothing. I can see your interest is genuine, and I have no doubt you will work hard at it." He paused.

"One day you yourself will be a senior brother, and then perhaps an elder. Would you deny a helping hand to your own junior brothers and sisters when it is easy for you to give? Where would we be as a sect if we could not help a junior with something this small?" Yang bowed his head.

"I was wrong to refuse. Thank you, Senior Brother."

"No need to thank me." Senior Brother Lin Yi waved it aside.

"I will say this, Junior Brother, and take it to heart, for I come from a cultivation family and I know it well. Once you are in the sect, the sect is your main family, sometimes your only family. What kind of person does not take care of the juniors in their own family?" Yang was grateful in a way that went beyond the seeds and the manuals. He had spent almost seventeen years in a world where every offer came attached to something, where generosity was a negotiating position and help was an investment.

To sit at a table where a senior brother offered freely and meant it was something he had not known he missed until it was in front of him again. The three of them continued talking about alchemy, Senior Brother Lin Yi and Senior Brother Liu Te drawing Yang in even where his knowledge was thin, explaining what he did not know so he did not feel left out of it.

Across the table, Ye Xuan and Senior Sister Xing Fei had found a shared appetite for sect gossip that Senior Brother Xu Kai and Senior Sister Shen Yue monitored with the half-attention of people who mildly disapproved but still wanted to know what was being said. Senior Sister Shen Yue corrected what appeared to be factual errors in Senior Sister Xing Fei's account twice. Senior Brother Xu Kai interjected once and immediately winced at demonstrating knowledge of the current gossip going on in the sect.

Then a side door opened, and servers began to emerge carrying dishes. The smell reached the table before they did. Nothing like ordinary cooking. It carried a warmth that had nothing to do with temperature, something that settled in the chest as much as the nose, Qi. He had been waiting for this since Ye Xuan first described the restaurant on the walk here. The dishes came to the table.