Xie Yi was a great worker, although Feng Yan soon realized that the little brat was anything other than normal.

For one, every spiritual weapon that he touched turned utterly terrified and withdrawn, causing his shop that was usually humming with the lively chatter of the weapons to turn very quiet. (He checked, though, and the boy wasn’t a demonic beast in human form.)

Another reason was that the child was utterly uninterested in absolutely everything he did. He did what he was tasked to do without a care in the world, like nothing could shake him. Like everything was worthless. 

It wasn’t exactly the kind of behaviour a young child should have.

Lastly, the boy was unnaturally interested in cultivators. It was normal for young men to wish to become cultivators and work towards immortality, but Xie Yi was… behaving interestingly, to say the least.

He would perk up at any sliver of information, holding his breath and listening with wide, expectant eyes. Then he’d deflate, becoming moody and sad for an hour or two. Something about what he heard wasn’t what he wanted yet.

A year passed like that. Feng Yan fed his little worker enough for the child to look a bit more normal, although he was still considerably lifeless.

It couldn’t be helped, Xie Yi thought. He still hadn’t heard anything about the Virtuous Sect.

Of course, it was the most prominent sect of all, so it wouldn’t casually wander around, but still… Couldn’t there be anything?

Seeing his little worker so sad, Feng Yan began to plan. He knew that a huge sect was going to stop by the town soon, after the return of a demonic beast subjugation.

He had heard some good friends mention that this sect would often stop by in towns and stay for a day, treating the townspeople very amicably. It was even possible for some youths to get taken along as secondary disciples, if they caught someone’s interest.

Being a secondary disciple wasn’t worth much compared to primary or even succeeding disciples, but when compared to simple mortals, it was still amazing.

Maybe going over there would cheer Xie Yi up.

Despite being roughly ten years old, Xie Yi was tiny from malnourishment and easily carried around by Feng Yan. The man wasn’t overly nice, just wrapping his arm around Xie Yi’s waist and lifting him up like a puppy, but Xie Yi would always just peacefully dangle in his arm and stare around.

Everything was boring… Anyway, where was Feng Yan taking him? He had even given the task of watching the smithy over to one of his subordinates. To be going out together, what had he planned?

Besides, the town was unusually lively, with a lot of people streaming in the same direction as they were.

Could it be…

His eyes lit up and he became fidgety, causing Feng Yan to laugh good-naturedly.

“Hold still. You won’t be any faster if you take your own stubby legs, so let this old man bring you over. At least you won’t be trampled by anyone else.”

“Okay!”

Cheerful, Xie Yi stared ahead.

Could it be? Could it be a sect? If there was one, then there’d be more information! He could find information about Shi Yue!

“Have you seen the Grandmaster?”, he heard some young women whisper excitedly next to him. “He’s so handsome! He really looks like an Immortal, doesn’t he!”

The women were swooning and squealing as they gripped each others’ hands.

Grandmaster was one of the highest levels a human could reach. The levels of cultivation went from the unnamed first ten stages - categorized into early, mid and late stage - over Master, Grandmaster, Transcendent and then Immortal. Anything beyond stage three was already out of most people’s reach, though, and above level eight was considered very rare. A good cultivator would be stuck at six or seven, and even those were revered everywhere. Grandmasters were rare, incredibly so, and often proud to the point of being arrogant.

Xie Yi turned to listen to their chatter.

“I heard he’s taking a look at some children to take in as secondary disciples. I don’t know, how does he decide? He just looks at them and then says who he will take along and who not.”

Obviously, for a mere mortal, understanding how a cultivator chose their disciples is impossible. There were a lot of things to watch out for aside from the basic level of their spiritual core, which was only one thing hinting at their possible future. There were also factors like innate talent - which couldn’t be measured - or strength of heart.

Xie Yi fidgeted more. His core was just a tiny bit above average, but his talent was astonishing. If only he could get into a sect, he’d surely be able to stand out soon. The faster he got to the peak, the sooner would he be able to find Shi Yue.

“Lemme go”, he said in his high, childish voice. “I want to try!”

Feng Yan looked down at the child in his arms. There was no danger to letting him try and see if he could catch the sect’s interest and Xie Yi was somewhat well-behaved, so he wouldn’t cause any trouble... Probably?

“Don’t annoy them”, he warned the boy. “It might cost your life if you do. Be courteous and listen to what they say.”

“Un”, Xie Yi replied without listening, then hopped to the ground and dashed forward. Through the legs of other people and any kind of gap he could find, he made his way forward to the circular stage where dozens of children tried to get a closer look at the visiting cultivators.

...Being small was kind of advantageous after all.

Gasping, Xie Yi reached the stage and looked up.
He knew the robes of cultivators, knew their styles. They wore purple - in a darker shade, not a gaudy bright one - and their hair grown long. It was a familiar, comforting sight.

One of them, a younger one, saw him try to climb the stage and walked over with calm steps, smiling lightly and stooping down before Xie Yi.

“Little guy, do you want to be a cultivator too?”, he asked, and, without another question, gripped the child’s hand. It was a rude gesture, to do so before Xie Yi consented to be checked, but the youth was full of his superiority and didn’t care.

Xie Yi frowned at feeling the foreign spiritual energy threads invade his body, checking his constitution and core before retreating. The cultivator sighed.

“Little guy, I don’t think you’re suitable. I’m sorry.” That was all he said before he turned away.

Xie Yi sat on the stage, stunned. What? Just like that? That wasn’t how you tested someone for their aptitude.

He threw his head around, seeing other cultivators do an actual examination - talk to the ones they were looking at, giving them tasks. Not disdaining them after such a rough, quick checkup.

Xie Yi clenched his teeth, determined to get over to another cultivator, when a guard stood in his way. Not a cultivator, but a city guard, making sure that the rejected children would stay in line.

“Kid”, the rude man said impatiently. “You were rejected. Go back home.”

“I want an actual test”, Xie Yi demanded, glaring up. The man twitched, then laughed.

“Someone like you, they won’t take. Down with you.”

With a rough movement, much more violent than what Feng Yan always did, Xie Yi was taken by the collar and lifted up. He heard the old man shout from out of the crowd at the heavy-handed treatment. The guard was fully intending to throw him to the ground.

Irritated, Xie Yi twisted his body and wrapped his legs around the man’s arm.

“I demand a test!”, he hissed, digging his small fingers into the gaps between the man’s hand bones, earning a curse.

“Brat!”, the man shouted, catching the attention of others. With a heavy grip, he tore at Xie Yi’s legs and hurled the child away, giving him not even a moment to react.

Xie Yi wasn’t used to being so defenceless. Even after a year, he just wasn’t used to it. It had been too long since he had been at this end of the food chain.

Owl

Chapters won't update as nicely as they do right now, in the future, but right now I've got enough stockpile for it :)