Chapter 14: Life 50, Age 16, Martial Disciple Level 1

As we walked, the young woman began writing some things in a notebook. “So,” she asked happily, “what do you know about cultivation techniques?” “Not much, I guess. I’ve never actually seen one. I’ve only just heard about a couple.” “Oh? Which ones have you heard about?” “Well...” I said stumbling, “I heard of the Earth Heart Mantra. You know, for earth qi.” “Yea! That one is excellent! It’s a best seller. Whenever a new family comes into a bit of money, the Earth Heart Mantra is one of their first purchases!” “What? Really? Doesn’t it make people, like, crazy?” “Crazy? No, definitely not! It’s a great technique. Grade-A.” “It doesn’t affect people’s minds and make them believe they can do anything?” “Eh, not anything. They just think they are invincible warriors. Doesn’t make ‘em crazy though. It’s more, it gives them boundless confidence. ‘I don’t care who you are, I can step on you!’ type thing.” “Why would someone want that? It’s suicidal.” “Yep, that’s why it’s so great. They don’t buy it for themselves of course. It’s a technique passed to guards and the like. If some high-level thug tries to stop you, you need guards that will fight back, even when they are completely outmatched. The Earth Heart Mantra cultivates that mindset!” “Still...” “What other techniques have you heard of?” “The, uh, Guided Flame Mantra?” “Ouch, now that is a nasty one. Slave mantra. We’re willing to sell it, but even we have to be careful with something like that.” We kept walking for a few minutes before finally reaching a set of stairs. “Let’s go,” the woman said, placing her notebook down on a small table. She led me up a couple of flights of stairs and out onto a balcony that overlooked the grand emporium of the pagoda’s main floor. “Don’t worry, they can’t see us up here. A formation blocks their view of the balcony. This place just looks like decorative wall panels from down there. Here, let me show you around.” She took me on a tour around the balcony, pointing out the various counters and discussing what they sold. The tour lasted at least another half hour. Finally, she brought me to a decoratively carved wooden door. “Ah, here we are,” she said, “the boss’s office. Let’s go in.” Without knocking, she pushed open the door and pulled me inside. “Hey boss man, got a kid here. He wants to make a deal with ya!” A man who looked to be in his late twenties stood up from behind his desk and walked over to me. He held out his hand. Without waiting more than a beat, he reached down and grabbed my hand, which was still down at my side, giving it a firm handshake. “Welcome!” he said with a hearty laugh. “My name is Chen WuJing. I’m the floor manager of this branch of the Blue Wind Pavilion. Call me WuJing. What’s your name?” “Um, Su Fang?” Give direct pricing, won’t haggle Use given names with speaking Always act like everyone is equal Behavior should be close to a commoner in a restaurant The writing continued, but I stopped reading. “These are the instructions Mei gave me for dealing with you, what do you think?” he asked. “Why are you telling me this? This feels like something you wouldn’t say to just anyone.” “Ah,” he said, tapping the book, “nearly the first thing she said. Completely open and honest. I trust Mei, so I do my best to follow her instructions. I’m not even concerned how you react to my behavior. Mei told me to act like this, so I am.” He smiled at her then turned back to look at me. “Now,” continued WuJing, “let me tell you about my blessing. It’s nowhere as crystal clear as Mei’s. I only get vague impressions. To put it simply, I get a vague sense of how important people are. Maybe it’s better to say... I get an impression of how much benefit I can get from someone. Mei’s and my blessings complement each other excellently.” He raised both hands and clasped them together meaningfully. “Mei brought you up here because she believed you had a powerful blessing in alchemy. This could, of course, be very valuable to us. When I met you though, my word... Where my Blessing shows most people as a candle, you are a raging bonfire! Working together would be extremely profitable.” A sly grin crossed his face, and I saw a bit of greedy glint in his eye. “So, let’s make a deal. I know nothing about you. Not a clue what your actual goal is. And no, I won’t ask. She told me not to,” he said, gesturing at Mei. “If you want, you can give me some details, and we can work something out, but anticipating your needs, I prepared a few options for you to choose from.” He took me over to a side table. On it were three scrolls and a piece of paper. “This,” he said, pointing at a scroll, “is the Flickering Flame Mantra. It is the weakest Rank 1 fire qi cultivation technique I have ever seen. No warrior would even consider it. However, it can be great for alchemists. The low strength means controlling your energy is easier. We usually sell it for 50 gold. For you, it will be 100 gold since you are going to need to pay with a loan. You will then spend however long it takes concocting pills to pay off this loan. This is a simple transaction with no additional benefits to either side.” I nodded. The price was steep, but if the technique were safe, it wouldn’t be a terrible deal for me. “This,” he said, as he gestured at the second scroll, “is the Bright Candle Mantra. It is a bit better. It’s a Mid-Yellow Rank 1 technique. The normal cost is 100 gold, and I will sell it to you at that price, the same price and payment scheme as the last scroll. The difference is you will become a guest alchemist of our pavilion. You will prioritize us above any other organization, and we will have the right of first refusal for purchasing any of your pills. We can talk through the exact details if you wish, such as minor benefits when buying and selling.” He moved to the third scroll and placed his hand on it carefully. “This is the real beauty of the lot. It is a Low-Profound technique. It is not for sale, and even if it were, I don’t think you would be able to cover the cost. I am willing to give you this scroll for free. No debt needed. However, you will then become a full member of the Blue Wind Pavilion. We can talk about what that means later if you wish. Unfortunately, right now you don’t qualify for this. You would need to tell me exactly what your blessing is and how it will help you in alchemy. We will test it, of course. If we deem it valuable enough, you get the scroll. We can even see about finding you a master to study under. This would be a great option, but I don’t know if you want to tell us what we need to know.” After explaining all of the technique scrolls, he tapped on the lone sheet of paper that remained. “Finally, we have this option. I really don’t want to offer it because I can guess what will happen. This is not a technique. It’s a recruitment notice. The Twin Mountains Sect is located not too far from here. In two months, they will be having their annual recruitment. We will sell you a room, food, and transport to the sect. During this time, you can buy ingredients and concoct pills for us while you wait. We will buy them all at the same prices Mei quoted earlier. Normally, joining a sect would require a decent cultivation level, and you would almost certainly have to give them the same information that you would us. The Twin Mountains Sect, however, has a special recruitment for alchemists. The only criterion is the ability to concoct pills, which you have proven you can do.” WuJing had me pegged as someone with a powerful alchemic blessing. I did not have that, and I could not tell anyone about my blessing, so option three was out. I could try to bluff a blessing, but I doubted I could pass any test they threw at me. One and two were possible. I could take the scroll, cultivate it, and just live my life. The thing was, I didn’t really know much about alchemy. Getting any better on my own would be nearly impossible. I needed techniques, recipes, and ideally a decent teacher. With options one and two, I would be on my own trying to find these things. The other problem was that I had no idea where to go from here. I knew nothing about the world, so taking a technique and leaving with it would leave me lost and adrift. Was everything on the up and up with these deals? Maybe, maybe not, but all I would waste was time. If I followed his advice and found it trustworthy, it could create a foundation for a future partnership. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I gotta go with joining the sect.”