"Make way! Make way for the honourable inspector! Have all the younglings lined up for the talent inspection! If any of you make trouble for the inspector you will lose your chance at entering the prestigious Myriad Formations sect!" The village chief yelled to all of his fellow peasants in the square, he had gathered every family for the quindeccenial talent inspection, he was obviously hoping to curry some favour if one of us happened to succeed, the 'us' of course being the children born from one of the families gathered.
The inspection happened each 15 years, the time inbetween each inspection was used to cultivate any talents that might pop up, before they were too old to gain any significant advantage.
Well, that's what the chieftan told us, the chances of someone having any talent in this rundown village of ours was miniscule, I had already accepted that I probably won't have any significant talent. Having your expectations not meet reality would lead to despair more often than not, it was better in the end to just not have any expectations. Ferdinand's Expectations was an excellent book that taught such wisdom, although it was rather dissapointing that the old man who owned the book didn't have more than three books for that series.
Now, why exactly would a peasant of all things be educated or have any knowledge about books? The answer to that is that the village elders had noticed my "Sharp mind" and had decided to help cultivate it, bah what do they know! I just used commons sense! It wasnt all that hard! The village had somehow convinced a retiring scholar to lend me some books to me.
*Next!" Oh is it my turn already? Looking up and around me I saw that nobody was in front of me, bugger, so I guess it was my turn to be examined. Sitting on the designated mat I awaited for the inspector to send me off like previous examinees but his shout never came, instead his hands continued roaming my back, pushing points I didn't know I had and causing tingly, fuzzy sensations to run through my torso. I quickly turned my head behind me to see a suprised inspector? No he seemed elated? Yes, elated, happy at the fact that he could continue running hands across my back?
"Young man, I congratulate you at being born with Heavens gift, the talent to cultivate. Go say your goodbyes to your family and await me at the village gate" He patted me on the back and sent me stumbling further away, talent huh, that's… a welcome suprise? I guess so, and the murmurs have begun! Ah yes, now that's the village I remember!
Going back to my family standing together with others was as underwhelming as I anticipated it, I got hugged a bunch, kissed a bunch and my father patted my shoulder but otherwise nothing special happened. I guess I should be more emotional, more expressive towards the fact that I'll probably never see them again but then again the shock from having talent numbed that emotional part of me.
To think I of all people had talent! That I had the chance to extend my lifespan and become a completely new lifeform! Even the weakest of cultivators had the strength of seven (mortal) men! The sect that I had the chance of joining taught cultivators the way of spiritual arrays, arrays that could produce an infinite number of effects!
I spent a while waiting at the gate, but eventually the inspector finished with the talent inspection, he hadn't found anyone else with the talent to cultivate and I won't lie, it was somewhat disheartening knowing that nobody I knew would be coming with me.
After finishing up the inspector lead me to his carriage, overlooked by 4 guards, there he explained to me the hierarchy, not to anger the top disciples or elders and that my talent was above the average. Everything about cultivating was locked to me until we got to the sect.
It took us around a month to get to the sects location, we had passed several mountain villages on the way and picked up 3 more disciples, all three with talent around and below average.
Anxiety and contained excitement was radiating off me and my fellow disciples, we would be arriving at the sect tomorrow, our home for the future, The Myriad Formation Sect.
The sect was located between two mountains, in a forested valley laden with rivers and greenery, it was teeming with abundant life, from animals twice the size of normal to plentiful amounts of rare herbs worth half of my past life, the environment just felt larger than life, more real and ethereal, something out of legend and myth.
The caravan rolled down a road of fused stone, I could barely feel the vehicle even shake.
We strolled through the valley for several days, the journey seemed never ending, until one day I spotted white buildings piercing the sky, many ascending higher than even the mountains, they were in shaped in spike like form, the less learned would call them towers of white stone, and those in the know spires of marble, but the greatest mystery would be the fusion of stone, it's as if the whole sect was made from one whole rock, even the walls we're seamless in construction.
I got out of the carriage for the last leg of the journey, noticing how along the road alien wording repeating in a never ending sentence across the trek, it branched off in to various other routes and outpost, my focus was directed at them, for they never repeat in the design, always in slight variations of a character eliciting a whole other purpose, but after my attention wanders, I wouldn't remember a single thing, wiped from memory as the inspector says.
The gates made out of blue metal were open, welcoming other carriage trains, we parked in a wide white clearing filled with clumps of multiple variations of people, yellow, black, green and blue skinned peoples were aplenty, but I still became a loner when my fellow travel buddies wandered off in wonder, or something else, it couldn't have been because I would probably annoy them by fixing their mistakes, or the glares I would give them whenever they tried to start a conversation, I'm completely innocent of all involvement.
My loneliness was interrupted when an old man in a yellow robe told us to gather around.
"Welcome little lambs to the Myriad Formation Sect, in which we practice the art of cultivation and sublime natural order to our own rules, you are disciples, a learner for 4 years, where you will only practice cultivation of the mind and body, and if you do finish those 4 years, that is when you will truly embark on your journey for immortality." The Elder said while glaring at every person in front, he nodded and continued, "I will guide you to the Cultivation Library, where you will choose a guide or book to teach you a specific cultivation technique to pave your path, these techniques vary into infinity, some make you an embodiment of a natural effect, and others reinforce human traits, so take your time until you find the most fitting of techniques for yourself, do choose one that fits you best."
We entered the library so immense I couldn't see the end of it, it had several floors packed with shelves, and those themselves packed with rows of books, I was befuddled, where do I even start? I was answered when people who the Elder called librarians attended each of us, I got a middle-aged burly man, he guided me through the library, asking me questions about my life and education (which I didn't have), he traversed the labyrinth with complete confidence, every once in a while he would take a book out of the shelves, when we finally sat down, he had accumulated 5 books, each different in size and material, he put the books down and told me to chose one.
The first was called Basic Qi Gathering, seemed to be a non specialized technique providing an overall upgrade and not focusing on anything.
The second was called Earth Qi Gathering, supposedly it would give you an affinity and foundation for anything related to earth, from persuasion to manipulation to creation of earth, although it does lack in strength just on the sole reason of its broadness.
The third was called Intricate Qi Manipulation, more control over qi, good for combat focus formation experts.
The fourth was called Speed Qi Gathering, apparently one of the most popular techniques used by the sect just because the sect master used it in brilliant effect, him being the fastest cultivator in this side of the world.
And the last is called Savant's Technique, I myself actually chose this one, the librarian told me it would grant me lesser effects to my body essentially handicapping me to anything fighting but the other side of the coin is huge benefits to my mind, from thought acceleration to enhanced creativity to faster skill learning.
I of course thought over this for several hours, not really, Savant's Technique just seemed so perfect for me, smart ass supreme, huh, I wonder if I can make that my immortal nickname.
I followed the librarian to my new home for the next 4 years, a white two-story boxy building, all of it is owned by me, till the day I die or get exiled from the sect.
It took little time for me to settle down, and by the end the sun had set, under the shade of the red moon, I contemplated my future and what it may have in store for me.
