About 600 years ago, a long time by mortal standards, Yu Tian, patriarch of the Yu Clan and founder of the Heavenly Jade Merchant Association, noticed a trend going on.

 

The Five Clans of the Azure Wind Empire didn't like him encroaching on their territory. 

 

If he had been anything else but a merchant they could have found many official ways to get rid of him. But as he was a merchant and as his cultivation barred them from just unofficially killing him, they had to go after his business. 

 

After many years of going back and forth, Yu Tian had enough and used his money to change the status quo.

 

About 200 kilometers west of the capital and nestled between two mountains he founded another legend of his. 

 

The Heavenly Jade Mercenary Institution. 

 

Using his money it became a place of learning the Arts of Fighting, Protection, and many other things. To reduce the number of infiltrators he picked from the unfortunate children and took them in. 

 

He gave them food, clothing, teaching, and an Ideal towards which to strive. 

 

The Ideal of belonging to something and defending it. 

Over time, those children learned and gained strength, and became mercenaries of the highest caliber. With them, he defended his place in the Empire.

 

With time the legend grew and with the teachings being refined to such a degree, that legend only grew. It became the number one place for Body Cultivators. 

 

It continued to grow that way until Yu Qian came of age. 

 

At a young age, he noticed he was outclassed by his younger brother in both merchant skills and cultivation talent. While he could keep up in cultivation if he worked hard, the merchant way just didn't fit him deep down, so he changed his goal to the Mercenaries. 

 

There he found his place and it was there that he convinced his father to let him lead and to improve it. 

 

He thought. ‘ If our training is so effective then why not expand upon it. ‘

 

And that he did. After many years of laying the groundwork, he made an announcement to the whole Empire. 

 

Come to my place if you want to reach the heights of body cultivation. 

 

After some hick-ups early on, Yu Qian made it. His institution accepted those of status in the Empire, to fleece money in return for the best teachings. 

 

Currently, the Jade Mercenaries, as they are called, are constituted of two parts. 

 

Those of the unfortunate children, the Internals, who had been chosen to become part of the Jade Clan, and those who come for external learning, the Externals.

 

The difference? Those destined for the Jade Clan, receive the famous Heavenly Jade Body Mantra. Aside from that, they all receive almost the same training, minus the individuality of different Mantras the Externals practiced.

 

By using them against each other he fostered competition and as such the quality on both sides improved.

 

As such, many have come to call the Institution a Sect unofficially.

 

The unofficially called Sect of Jade receives 20 Internals and 20 Externals every five years. The youngest would be of age 10, the oldest of age 15. Anything above or below that was rejected.

 

Currently, the youngest batch of Internals, which had been received a bit over a year and a half prior, was on one of the larger training grounds. There they practice the Jade fighting arts in synchronicity.

 

HA, they shouted and changed their stance. 

 

HA, they shouted again and changed their stance again.

 

Like that it went for an hour of the grueling basic morning routine. When they were done all of them plonked onto the ground and panted for breath.

 

“ Enjoy your 10-minute break. After that, we run. “ Shouted the instructor to them.

 

“ Is it just me... or has the pace... increased? ” With a huffing expression, asked one of the children.

 

“ Chang Niu, stop saying that. You say that every morning and no it's not. It's the same as every morning before. ” Replied one of them, annoyingly at the slightly fatty child, that somehow, no matter the amount of exercise still retained chubbiness on his face.  

 

“ Yea, it's annoying, stop it. ” Agreed and shouted, the other children.

 

Ignoring them as if he was used to it, the slightly chubby one spoke again. “ It can't be? Mao Zhong, are you sure? I swear... I don't get this, I wasn't this out of breath before. Did I catch a disease? ” Somewhat fearful of the possibility, the slightly chubby Chang Niu sought a reason.

 

With that said, everybody but Mao Zhong ignored him. “ Chang Niu, you're just lazy. You probably slacked off somewhere. ”

 

“ That can't be it. ” Again he denied it. “ I can smell it, something is different. The training is always a smidge harder than before. ”

 

Hearing his excuse, the others began to doubt the routine they did every morning. 

 

‘ Could it be that we didn't notice it because we are not as lazy as Chang Niu? ‘ they thought.

 

It was with that thought that another one spoke. “ Hey, have you guys heard the rumor? ”

 

“ Rumor? ” All of them turned to the one that spoke. “ Yea, you know THAT one came back. ” 

 

Like a bell, the word THAT echoed around them and they all perked at it. 

 

“ No way. ”

 

“ It can't be? ”

 

“ Didn't he go somewhere? I heard he wouldn't be back for quite some time? ”

 

With fear, they all spoke at the same time. One could barely hear over the other. It was only when the one that spoke of the rumor spoke that they stopped. “ Guys, the rumor goes that he brought somebody with him. A young girl around our age and it's said that she's staying at his residence. ”

 

“ Really? ” They all said in doubt. “ Zhen Ling, how confident are you of that info? ” Over everybody else, Mao Zhon asked.

 

“ Very, a friend of mine said he saw them arrive a few days ago. It was only after I pestered him that he told me of what he saw. ” Replied Zhen Ling, now in the center of attention. “ He said that the girl even met with Grand Master Qian. ”

 

“ What, who is stupid enough to send their daughter to HIM? ” Astonished that somebody did it, Chang Niu spoke unconsciously. 

 

“ I don't know. ” Was all Zhen Ling could say before the instructor interrupted them. “ What did I just hear? Someone had just badmouthed one of us? And not just one of us, but the best one? ”

 

Horror struck Chang Niu as he saw the instructor focus on him. “ Go ahead, repeat for me what you said? I want to hear it again. ”

 

“ I, I, Umm, I. ” Nodded the instructor for him to finally say it. “ I, I said that… umm, I said. ”

 

Barely hearing anything coherent, the instructor sighed. “ Disciple Chang, you can stop embarrassing yourself and just close that mouth of yours. You will be doing extra today. ”

 

Still shocked, the slightly chubby boy nodded. “ Now as to your mistake? I won't blame you if you badmouth Senior Gao, I did too, but don't do it loudly and in public. Am I understood? ” Nodded Chang Niu. 

 

“ One more thing. ” Now the instructor addressed all of the children. “ Since a rumor has already crept up on you, I might as well tell you. The rumor is true, Senior Gao returned early. From what I knew he should have gone to the main residence of the Clan and stayed there for some time. Instead, the Lord has sent him back and with him, his daughter and Elder He Shoushan in tow. ”

 

“ Instructor, is it true that the young miss was sick? ” Asked Zhen Ling. 

 

“ Yes, it was but apparently that has changed and now she is here to improve her health under Senior Gao. ” The instructor laid out the identity of the young girl. He looked back at the Chong Niu. “ That being the case. I know you had no idea about the details, but I am saying all this so that you and your fellow disciples do not make the same mistake, of saying things about the Clan Lord. It's in your best interest that I say this. ”

 

Done with that, the instructor went ahead of them and shouted. “ Line up. Break time is over. ” 

 

With the familiar command given, the children stood up and started running after the instructor. Huffing and puffing they went down the familiar route around the land and soon they reached the road leading up the mountain. 

 

Up and up they went. Curve after curve, they treaded up the mountain. When they finally reached their destination, they arrived right on time to see the beautiful view of the mountain tops and the shades the mountains produced as the sun shined on everything.

 

Once they all could take a breath and stabilize their heart to a degree, the instructor turned to them. He singled out a particular boy and spoke again. “ Zhen Ling, since you like to gossip, then tell me this. What happens at the end of the year? ”

 

As if the child already realized what the instructor wanted to talk about he replied. “ The Annual tournament? Sir.”

 

“ Good. Tell me this. What happens at the end of the tournament? ” Asked the instructor again.

 

“ The Internals and the Externals fight for the ranking placement. Sir. ” He replied. But seeing the nod from the instruction Zhang Ling knew he should go on. “ It's the time to determine who has been trying his best and who has not. Those who place on higher rankings earn better rewards and those on the bottom have harsher punishments. ” Gulping as he came to the main point. “ Master Gao will be present during the tournament and should he observe somebody with lacking foundations he will pick them up and personally fix the mistakes? ”

 

With glee he, the instructed gazed at them. “ All of you thought that with him gone, that tradition would be skipped, well it looks like the Heavens have forsaken you on that front. The business will be as usual. Should Senior Gao see anything lacking in your foundations you will be sent to him for some... extra learning, shall we say. You have 4 months to improve as best as you can, otherwise, I can already tell you who will be sent to him. And let me tell you, he will not enjoy it. I know since I had been one of those picked, and it was Senior Gao that set me straight, and now I am here to teach you. ”

 

Gulps overcome the huffing of lungs for once. “ Aside from the lacking foundations that will be examined, you will also be assessed on your fighting skills. Since it was I that trained you, you should be good on both fronts but who knows, fighting for real is very different from practice. After all, if you can't fight for your life, then there is no place here for you. ”

 

“ That said, since you're all second years and have started to practice the Heavenly Jade Body Mantra, it's also the time for you to receive cultivation rewards befitting of such a Mantra. Everybody participating will receive one Pill of Transformation, one Pill of Purification, and one Pill of Jade Essence. ” Stopping there the instruction could already see the greed in the eyes of the children. “ With them, you will be set on the path of a Jade Warrior but if one of you is able to win and reach first place, you will be bestowed with this. ”

 

With a twitch of the right hand, a small stone tablet of dark green jade appeared in it. As it appeared, it set off a very faint ripple through the Qi in the air and it passed over the children. 

 

Immediately the Qi in their bodies responded with desire and greed to swallow the thing it felt. All of them could feel it and for a few seconds, it almost drove them mad before they recognized themselves. 

 

Seeing them behave like that, a set of his memories surfaced, of his first time feeling this small thing in his hand. “ Good now that you have calmed down, let's go on. That pull that you have felt from your roots is from the Mantra you have started practicing. The reason it's behaving like that is that the transformation your roots are going through is not finished. Only after you have taken those three pills I have mentioned will it finish, at least without taking a much longer timeframe than we want. This on the other hand is a Condensed Heavenly Jade Qi tablet. It can only be created by somebody in the Core Creation stage and only if said person is practicing the Spiritual Mantra instead of the Body Mantra. ”

 

“ Now can somebody tell me why this little thing is so precious? ” Asked the instructor as he looked at the children and the innate desire to have it.

 

“ Because only the mainline of the Clan can practice the Spiritual Mantra. ” Guessed one child.

 

“ True, but only partially. ” Replied the instructor. “ Half of the reason is that those practicing the Spiritual Mantra need one of these to kick start their cultivation, otherwise it takes forever the normal way. The other half of the reason is that it's not only the stage of cultivation that hinders its creation but also the time and energy invested in its creation. It takes about half a year or maybe even more with the Spiritual Mantra to condense this little thing. Those practicing the true complete Mantra can do it faster but the stage requirement still stays. ”

 

Seeing their realization pop up, the instruction went on. “ Yes, my little disciples. This thing is very precious. With it, the one with the best foundation and skill that wins will jump many years ahead of the others. Hence only one is given every year during the tournament. The good thing is that the winner will only need one of these and next year another one of you will receive it. ”

 

“ It's a nifty little thing, but as only one is available, personally... I think the punishment is much more lucrative, as, with Senior Gao’s help, you could easily catch up with the winner. Still, the torture one will go through is not for everybody. “ Staring at the slightly chubby boy, the instructor stated, with a smile on his face. “ Isn't it right, Chong Niu? Currently, you're the prime disciple to pay a visit to Senior. ” 

 

“ Eeeek. Noooo, Please I don't want to visit Master Gao. I will do anything, please!!! ” With terror and panic, the boy shouted. 

 

“ Is that so? ” Questioned the instructor with glee in his eyes. Chong Niu vigorously nodded his head. Any harder and he might break the spine holding his head. “ Then I will expect 150% of your effort during these 4 months. Are you fine with that? ”

 

“ Yes, sir. ” With more vigorous nods he agreed. 

 

‘ Bait, hook, line, and sinker delivered. Now it's all up to their efforts to better themselves. I honestly hope, Senior finds somebody interesting in this batch. ‘ Thought the instructor.

 

“ Good, let's start with our descent, we still have a long day ahead of us. ”

 

Saying that he took the first step back down and the disciples followed.