The Heavenly Blossom Sect sat on a hill in Luoyang City on its south side, where the concentric walls met the Great Xue Shan Mountain Range. Before Aurel, the gate of the Heavenly Blossom Sect wore a single petal that stretched over the wooden signboard, as well as a language Aurel did not recognize painted on its surface.
Stone steps stretched high through the sky, straight and unmarked, meeting a distant mist high up the mountains. He could see, just above the white murkiness, the distant tiles of a building stretching high above the mountains. Already, a few souls were climbing the stairs up to the sect.
Aurel began up the steps.
As he climbed, he mostly passed young men and women the same age as he. Only a few were old, ancient elders, who, despite their appearance, did not seem to struggle on the stairs. Most were likely cultivators. There was no commotion or chaos. There was silence and calm as all those walked up the stairs alone. There was no fighting, no hurried steps, no angry young masters, and merely the cultivators climbed up the stairs. There was steadiness, an age to everyone before Aurel—perhaps that was a result of their age and otherworldly status.
When he reached the top of the stairs and burst through the white mist, he was greeted by an array of buildings lining a single, main street, with the mountain peaks visible in a straight line in the distance. They resembled those of Luoyang city, although most were taller and more refined. He could also see small holes within the mountains. The people were similar as well, wearing robes only distinct from the Blossom on their backs.
A bald man, wearing plain black robes, greeted those before him by the second gate. He wore a great smile as he held a simple, wooden stick within his hand. He bowed before each cultivator from the line that had formed in front of him. But Aurel could feel the concentrated strength within this man. He seemed to be on a similar level to those Elders, a Nascent level.
When Aurel's turn was reached, the man bowed the same.
"Congratulations," he said. "Welcome to the Heavenly Blossom Sect."
Aurel bowed in turn. He was becoming more comfortable with it, though it still left him with a bad taste in his mouth.
"I am Elder Xi Lin. May I see your wooden token?"
Aurel extended the token that he had been given on the day's past.
As Elder Xi Lin inspected the coin, he nodded.
"All is well. You may register at the White Training Hall over there." He motioned with his hand.
Aurel paused, and Elder Xi Lin noticed. He gave another smile.
"Do not worry. There is no test."
Aurel nodded as the elder bowed behind him before walking to the White Training Hall. It was a simple building with various tables, a single counter at which a line was formed, and a vast wall on which various colored paper slips were attached, flowing as though a giant painting.
The process was similar, and equally as simple. Aurel waited in line before reaching the counter. A woman sat smiling with a quill and paper in hand.
"Token?" she asked.
Aurel handed her the token.
"Name?" She looked up.
"Shen Tian," Aurel said.
She nodded and wrote it down on her paper. The ink melted into the page, fading.
"Cultivation Level?"
"Foundation stage."
"Could I have a mark of your qi?" She raised the paper to the counter, holding it before him.
It could have been a test, but Aurel had seen those before him go through the same process. He extended his arm, making a wisp of natural energy flow into the paper. Almost like ink, the qi materialized and spread into a fanning, black pattern, before disappearing. The woman nodded. She handed him another bronze token, marked with his name.
"That is your identification mark. Thank you. You may go to the orientation hall now."
"Is there no test?" Aurel asked.
"Test?" The woman shook her head. "There is no test."
Aurel did not question the woman further.
The Orientation Hall was a round, wide pavilion attached to a line of buildings. Cultivators stood mostly alone, though some seemed to be gathering. But most kept to themselves.
It was then that the familiar Elder Xi Lin entered the Orientation Hall. Arms clasped behind his back, he stood in the middle of the circle. Aurel did not stand out, neither standing too close nor too far.
"Welcome to the Heavenly Blossom Sect," Elder Xi Lin said. "I bid you thanks for joining." He bowed, clasping his hands in front of himself.
"I know most already know the situation of this world under the heavens. We were taken from our own timelines, and placed here." He motioned toward himself. "I am part of the reincarnation faction. We reside in the third peak of the Sect. I was fortunate to be transported late in my reincarnation cycle, and thus have become an elder. There is no test to join the Heavenly Blossom Sect. We have seen arts and secret techniques from the multiverse—we know that hidden monsters exist that are able to hide even their cultivation level. Perhaps that is you. Our Sect is based on the nature of strength and order. Those are the two factors of our existence. There are no rules, so long as you keep order within the sect. Your position here is decided by your strength above all. If you wonder—the sect leader is a Half-step Immortal. He was one of the first to be transported to this world, and created the sect to organize chaos."
Xi Lin pointed in the distance, toward a distant tiered building.
"That is the cultivation hall. There, you can use sect points awarded from either achieving missions that you might have seen in the White Training Hall, or turning in your own techniques to our sect. These points can be traded for other techniques, equipment, and resources. Do you have any questions?"
None had any questions.
"There is freedom in the Heavenly Blossom Sect," he said. "Do not mistake this sect for those of your old worlds. We are merely here to organize those who cultivate, not be oppressed by the others. Our sect, and others, exist as safe havens for those who cultivate. But do not step deeper into the east or the west. You were fortunate enough not to be transported there. There are the mages, the knights, of the west, and in the east, system users. As we do here, if they find you are not of their power system, you will be executed. Is that understood? And final warning—" Xi Lin motioned toward the crowd around him. "—respect is utmost in this sect. Those beside you may not be as weak as they seem. Those who are unable to adapt to this new world are often the first to go. Perhaps there is another world after this. But that is for the heavens to decide. You may go now, outer disciples of the Heavenly Blossom Sect."
As Aurel stepped out of the hall, he saw many cultivators walk to the cultivation hall in the distance. Others walked to the White Training Hall.
He began toward the cultivation hall.
Just as at the front of the sect, a person greeted all those who entered. Inside, large bookshelves lined the floor, with various cultivators standing before the old paper slips and books. On the sign, Aurel saw that the hall was divided into distinct areas, each for cultivation techniques, resources, equipment, and miscellaneous items.
Aurel walked through the bookshelves.
It seemed these cultivation techniques were specialized methods of using qi. Like the ones Li Fan, the cultivator he had underestimated, used. Resources were most likely for cultivating. Browsing the shelves, Aurel looked at one.
Five Fire Sword Arts
Sword Art with five forms, each producing levels of fire enhancement. At Perfection, achieves large bursts of flames from the sword that are expelled toward opponents. Grade: Mortal. Creator: Zhao Yun. Points: 20.
All the arts besides these seemed the same. Around the floor, there were weapon arts, core cultivation techniques, footwork, and mystic techniques that seemed not to have a distinct category. Separated into three floors, each was separated by their grades of mortal, earth, and heaven.
On the fourth floor were the resources. Just as before, shelves of lined resources filled his vision. There were pills, unique plants and herbs, and various talismans scattered around. The most basic pill, it seemed, was the qi-condensing pill. Costing one sect point, it seemed to be the basic unit of pills for these cultivators.
As Aurel left the cultivation hall, however, he had one last piece of information he had yet to find. It was about himself and his kin, the natives of this world.
The question had weighed on him as he continued to live in this city, and he had seen this sect. It seemed there were thousands of these cultivators, all Otherworlders, who spent their lives in the city as though normal. Why was there a need to keep these natives, people like him, in far away towns, when it was clear that they despised them? What is the reason, Aurel thought, that we are kept here? Just like livestock? Ants beneath their feet that they don't even see?
Aurel continued to roam the Sect. There were three peaks that spread off from the main Sect mountain, the resting places. It seemed the cultivators divided themselves into their method of reincarnation. He even saw those flying on swords, high above the cloud-covered mountain peaks, robes flowing in the wind. Truly—why would these otherworlders keep them here, suffering, killing?
It was the back of the mountains, off on a small, dirt path, that he found the answer.
A large, unmarked complex of buildings sat within the shadow of the peaks, facing the northern winds. A few cultivators were walking out. Behind them, cowering men and women trudged, faces cloaked in shadow, following as though chained to the cultivators.
Natives. Aurel couldn't sense a hint of energy or power from them.
Aurel approached a man, with three natives following behind him.
"Fellow cultivator," Aurel said. "What is this place?"
The man looked up. He seemed to be weaker than Aurel, judging from his aura.
"Are you new?" he asked.
Aurel nodded.
"This is the servant district. No need to worry—these livestock are not cultivators. They're just natives of this world. Use them as servants, subjects for arts, training—it doesn't matter. This cult is not a demonic sect, nor a righteous one, if those terms are familiar to you. Whatever art or sacrifice you must do—" he shrugged his shoulders "—as long as you keep order and help the sect, all is well."
As he began to walk off, Aurel stopped the man by catching his shoulder.
"Where do they come from?" he asked.
"Outside Luoyang City. Towns kept alive so we always have fresh blood. They breed like anything, these natives. Useless, really. Some of the missions, long-term ones as well, are to keep control of their population. Check the White Training Hall"
And then he walked off, the three natives trudging behind him.
Aurel could do nothing as he watched the three being taken away. He could not free them now, for he was not powerful enough to deal with the consequences. The Sect Leader was a Half-Step immortal. Whatever that power level meant, Aurel knew he was still well beneath that.
He knew now why Lin Xua, the first cultivator, a regressor, had come to Whiteriver. A mission from the White Hall to keep control of the town. He remembered those who had disappeared. All for good reason, but without any traces—hunting accidents, disasters, runaways. But those had been common, and thus Aurel had never thought more of them. After all, the world was dangerous.
Aurel could see now that they had most likely been taken. Taken by these Otherworlders for their dark purposes.