The flying boat glided above the clouds like a leaf on water.The selection had gone by quickly, and by noon they were already on their way to the sect. The accompanying teacher had said that by evening they would arrive.
The landscape below changed fast.
No more village paths and wild mountains, but stairways carved into rock, bridges between peaks, fields of alchemical herbs. Here and there, people flashed past on flying artifacts; some were riding their own swords as transport. There were stranger means as well — flying beasts, and once Lin Yu even saw a man riding a gigantic paper crane.
Below them spread a lake.
Huge as a sea, its surface dark and almost mirror–smooth.
On its shores stood four palaces:
To the north — a strict palace with blade–like towers: the warriors.To the south — wrapped in vines, with smelting furnaces on the roofs: the creators.To the west — covered in scrolls and mirrors of knowledge: the scholars.And on the eastern shore, in the center of the city, the tallest of all, with a tower vanishing into the clouds: the heart of the sect, the place of elders and decisions. Around it, in the light of the setting sun, the city was alive with people.
The sun was already halfway behind the mountain.
"You have arrived at the Black Lake Sect!" the escort shouted.
The boat landed at a pier on the Eastern shore. Several identical boats were already there — almost like twins. Ten teenagers came out of each.
A hundred people in total. All with tags at their belts, tense but proud: new disciples of the sect.And him — in a simple tunic, with no insignia, no shoes, his feet wet with dew.
They were led up marble steps to the newcomers' hall — spacious but austere. They were handed small pamphlets with information about the sect. Each received a room for the night. But first, everyone was taken to eat in the common dining hall.
Someone whispered into a neighbor's ear, someone sharpened a sword, someone just stared into their bowl as if looking for their future there. Others traded quiet jokes, shaking off their nerves.
Lin Yu ate in silence.
Outside, a light drizzle began — soft and fine, as always when he grew tired. No one paid attention. Only one girl with a predatory gaze by the window raised an eyebrow, looked at the sky — then at him.
That night he did not sleep. He sat at the window, watching the lights of the flying boats slide over the lake, the black–clad guards patrolling the bridges, the clouds curling around the tower of the Eastern palace.
In the morning, he woke to a knock on the door.Not loud. Precise.
"Ready?"
Outside stood a man of about forty, in a robe the color of azure. His face was calm, his eyes those of someone who had long since stopped being surprised, but had not lost his sharp attention.
"I'm Xiao-ge, your master's second disciple. Let's go."
He didn't ask where — he simply followed.
They boarded another boat — smaller, unmarked. As they flew through the air, Xiao-ge said,
"You didn't take the entrance examination. But you were personally chosen by Pure Blade. That's already decided."
"Why?" Lin Yu asked.
"I don't know. And I think it's strange to accept someone like…" He gave him a disapproving look but didn't finish the sentence; apparently, his master's decisions were absolute to him.
The boat floated above the buildings. Below, people bustled about their morning business. In short remarks, Xiao-ge introduced his new junior brother to the sect. Lin Yu clutched the pamphlet with pictures of towers and incomprehensible captions in an unfamiliar script. They flew past one of the four great towers — the Scholars' tower. Xiao-ge mentioned that Lin Yu was now their master's fourth disciple, and that the master herself was the sect leader's niece and, at the same time, the second Grand Elder.
Soon they reached a quieter part of the lake. The forest here was all maple trees. Between the trunks, not far from the shore, a building came into view.
A manor stood before them.
A stone wall. White pebbles in the courtyard. A pavilion beneath an old maple.
Everything was new, yet not cold. As if it had been built just for him.
"This is your home," Xiao-ge said with a nod. "Yesterday, by Master's order, it was built by the head of the Artifact Hall himself — Elder Crooked Eye. He's good with feng shui. Rest. In a day they'll bring you proper clothes."
"My clothes are proper…"
Xiao-ge didn't answer and left without looking back.
Lin Yu went inside. He walked barefoot over the wooden floor.
The house was breathing.
Not literally — but it felt that way. The wooden shutters creaked in the wind like lungs. The floor under his feet was warm, as if it had soaked up the day's sun. In the courtyard stood a stone pavilion with a low table inside; there were traces of tea on it, but no trace of a person.
He walked through the rooms.
The bedroom held a mattress on the floor and a silk pillow. On the wall hung a scroll with the character for "Peace." He couldn't read it, but he felt: this was a place where it would be easy to think.
The training room was empty, except for a wooden dummy and a mirror.
In the kitchen, a little table; on it, a clay teapot already filled with water.
He didn't know who had prepared all this, but nothing felt foreign. Someone had recreated the very idea of "comfort." This was his new place — home.
For the first time in a long while, Lin Yu didn't feel like a stranger. Only a quiet sense of expectation moved inside him.
The next day he went down to the lake. He sat on the pier, looking into the water.
Suddenly, an old man in a straw hat appeared beside him, holding a fishing rod. Lin Yu sat on the edge, silently.
Time passed.
"So you're my junior brother… khm… Such a weakling… The path of cultivation is long… and you don't even hurry," the old man grumbled.
"Hello, Senior Brother."
"I'm Senior Lu, our master's first disciple. I'll give you some advice." The old man fixed his gaze on Lin Yu. "Cultivation is the right to hold a place in this world. So hurry up and become stronger."
"I think, whether I want it or not, I'm already on the path of cultivation, Senior."
The old man raised an eyebrow.
"Khm… The world really does take you close. Born under a lucky star, were you… or maybe you saved a country in your past life…"
"I don't know," Lin Yu said, briefly thinking of the strange things with the weather.
The old man looked at the water.
"You're already standing further along the Dao than many… But that's dangerous too. Become stronger, and quickly… khm…"
For a while they sat in silence.
"You might not believe it, but once every hundred years a turtle surfaces in this lake. There's a Fifth Palace on its shell. That palace is extremely dangerous… If you see it, run."
"I don't see any turtles, Senior."
"Yeah. Everyone says that… Many disappeared there. But one man did come back… Better if he hadn't."
Silence settled again.
Then the fishing rod jerked sharply.
A carp broke the surface. For a moment its scales flashed gold.
"Take it. Eat. Qi isn't in the head, it's in the belly. If you don't eat, you won't have strength, even if the whole world is on your side," the old man said, poking the fish at him.
"Uh… my clothes…"
The old man muttered something about soft youngsters and briefly laid his palm on Lin Yu's shoulder.
"Once you eat it, you'll feel strength. Let it sink down through your lower belly; that's where the dantian is — the center of our power."
A moment later, Senior Lu was gone. Lin Yu could only stare with his mouth slightly open.
That evening, as the old man had said, Lin Yu cooked the fish in a cauldron he found in the kitchen.
He ate it. Sleep hit him at once.
In his dream there was a downpour.Not over the lake — inside him. Water poured into his chest, filling the emptiness beneath his ribs, settling like sand at the bottom of a cup.
In the morning came lightness. And a strange sensation: if he took a deeper breath, a warm knot responded in his lower belly. He guessed this was the first stage of qi condensation.
Outside, a fine drizzle was falling. Lin Yu thought in surprise,
"Now I can see the drops as they fall. This lightness in my body…"
He went out into the courtyard and sat in the pavilion. He watched the wind play with the maple leaves. The drops fell slowly, as if they were waiting for him to raise his face. The steady tapping on the leaves and the pavilion roof soothed him, and Lin Yu fell asleep right there on the table.
Around noon, someone woke him. She appeared.
"Hey! You're our new junior brother?"
A girl of about eighteen, in a second–rank robe, with small braids and eyes full of light.
"I'm Min Xiao! Third Sister! Second Brother Xiao-ge says you're strange. First Brother, Senior Lu, says you're weak. And I say — so what? We've got a junior brother now!"
He tried to stand, but she was faster.
"Sit!" She plopped down beside him and looked him over like a rare little animal. "Oh, what a sleepyhead! And barefoot! Are you a forest spirit?"
Without waiting for an answer, she tugged his cheek.
"Soft! So you're human. Well, almost."
He didn't know what to say. She didn't need him to.
"Listen, don't worry about them. Xiao-ge's a grumbler, but he's kind. Senior Lu's like a ghost, but if he tells you to do something, just do it. And Master…" She lowered her voice. "Master is strict. Hits rarely. But if she does — you'll meet your ancestors."
He frowned.
"And you? Do you cultivate? Oh, already at the first stage! And Xiao-ge said you hadn't even started yet. Hee-hee."
"I don't know."
"Well, you'll find out soon! We all cultivate! Even I cultivate — though honestly, I like drinking tea and chatting more…"
She pulled a bundle out of her bag.
"Here! Clothes! I brought them myself!"
He didn't resist as she practically pulled black trousers, a robe and a belt with a name tag onto him, along with thin boots. But as soon as she turned away, he took off the shoes, leaving only the trousers and the azure–colored robe.
"Hey!"
"I don't need shoes."
"Fine…" She smiled. "Keep the robe. There are threads of qi woven into it. It'll protect you. And… it looks good on you. Hee-hee."
"Thank you," was all he said.
She laughed — openly, like water in a stream.
"Now you really look like our junior brother!"
A week passed like a single breath.
He lived in a rhythm: morning — pavilion, day — lake, evening — sleep under the open sky. The world around the house became as familiar as his own palm. He didn't seek anyone out, but neither did he hide.
On the seventh day, he carved a fishing rod from a maple branch — smooth as bone. He sat on the same pier where he had first met Senior Lu. The water was calm. Only leaves fell — one after another, like the ticking of a clock.
Suddenly, there was the splash of oars. A boat slid past — elegant, with the character "Word" carved on its side. In it sat a boy of about fifteen, in a third–rank robe, with a fresh sect newspaper on his knees. He read, mumbling to himself, but then looked up — and froze.
"H–hey!" he shouted, leaning over the side. "You live here now? On the Red Shore? I haven't seen you before!"
Lin Yu stayed silent. He simply waved.
The boy didn't back off. He brought the boat to the pier and jumped onto the shore with a snake–like quickness.
"You're Pure Blade's disciple, right? The paper says, 'Special admission — Min Xiao's junior brother.' But you're in a second–rank uniform! How come? You didn't take the exams? Or… are you from the capital?"
Lin Yu glanced at the newspaper. The paper was thin, almost transparent, the characters embossed not with ink but with dragon-pearl dust — so it couldn't be forged.
"What does it say?" he asked.
The boy unfolded the sheet.
"Well, rankings, of course! The top ten — as always, the same people. But look…" He pointed at the "Potential" column and read aloud:
"Disciple of Pure Blade.Rank: 126.Evaluation: —Note: 'Special admission — Min Xiao's junior brother.'"
"Everyone says it's a mistake. But I think it's you. Because… well, who else would live on the Red Shore?"
Lin Yu was silent for a moment. Then, for the first time, he asked a question:
"Who are the top ten?"
The boy smirked — not maliciously, but with genuine curiosity.
"You're definitely not from this sect…"
He folded the paper and leaned closer.
"Look. Everyone has a personal ranking. It's not 'who swings a sword harder,' it's 'who weighs more.' They mix three scales: warrior, creator, scholar. Every month the Council argues about the coefficients — who should get more 'importance.'"
He bent his fingers one by one.
"The top ten — they're not the ones who 'study by the book,' they're the ones who write it. They don't just train, they have a trajectory. The ranks go like this:top ten — First Rank,top one hundred — Second Rank,top five hundred — Third Rank,everyone else — outer disciples.But if you ever make it into the top five hundred, you're an inner disciple forever. The privileges stay even if you fall out of the list later."
He shook the newspaper.
"Number one is a swordsman, the Sect Head's grandson — they rewrite dueling rules for him.Number two is an alchemist — she grew a flower from bones; they argued for a month whether it counted as 'life.'Number three is a scholar who talks to spirits — better if he convinced them to subscribe to the paper."
The boy snickered, then tapped a column with emblems.
"And the colors — that's clans. Their ranking is the sum of all members' points. Once a month the paper paints them with color labels: red — Clan No.1, orange — No.2, yellow — No.3… This month one clan is red, next month another."
He smiled with one corner of his mouth.
"Basically, top-30 disciples can start their own clans — small ones with fancy emblems. Swordsmen love birds, creators — veins and little hammers, scholars — anything with lots of dots. Fun, sure. But what really matters isn't the emblem, it's the leader: the higher his rank, the more people come to him."
He paused, eyes sharp but not hostile.
"And you… you're the disciple of a Grand Elder. You can manage without a clan," he sighed.
Lin Yu listened.
He didn't try to memorize names — he was feeling the structure.
The sect wasn't chaos. It was like a living organism.
When the boy stood to leave, he turned back.
"My name's Fan Rui. If you see anything else strange — tell me. I write everything down."
Lin Yu nodded.
"Thank you."
Fan Rui left. His boat vanished into the mist above the lake. Lin Yu remained alone — and for the first time, he didn't feel lonely. He sensed: the world had begun to notice him.
The sun was setting over the lake.And in his chest, the small knot of qi pulsed like a heart.