The two of them were quiet for a while after, silently observing the raging battles around them.
Feng’s thoughts were troubled. The disciples' ferocity was disquieting. The Sect did not allow for cultivators to shy away from violence — if anything, the Beheaded Phoenix Sect pushed for its disciples to engage in duels more often than the other three Sects on the mountains — but neither did it encourage such fanatical levels of bloodlust.
The disciples within those battlegrounds appear utterly lost in the throes of frenzy, only ceasing their rage-fuelled carnage when their bodies neared complete destruction.
Some manner of order was still present. Acolytes of the Medical Pavilion attended to the bodies that were thrown off the higher platforms, and the practitioners of the Apothecary had created a makeshift infirmary in one of the sheltered alcoves of the Sparring Halls.
Off to the side, a few Core Disciples stood watch, ready to swoop in if a Junior found themselves in genuine life-threatening danger, namely when their heads became at risk of being destroyed.
Overall, however, the anarchical state of the Sparring Halls was unacceptable, even by their Sect’s looser standards. How did things devolve into such chaos? What in the world was Elder Jun doing?
Feng took the time to assess Lingyu’s safety. While she was no fragile flower, a stray hit from a Core Disciple’s projectile would still hurt her. There was scant reason to be found for leaving her within the Sparring Hall in its current riotous state.
Were she to be hurt outside of a spar, there would be political ramifications for the Sect to suffer. The Young Master would have insisted on her leaving, regardless of her protests.
That was, if not for the two foreign disciples watching them from a short distance away.
The pair were no mere bystanders, nor were they of the Beheaded Phoenix Sect by any measure. Females and jade beauties both, even with the raging conflict within the building, more than a few disciples still risked a glance at the two whenever the opportunity arose.
It was not every day that one got to see a Core Disciple of the Split-headed Carnivores, after all. With two around, respectful discretion became an impossible demand.
Their sleek signature cloaks, which indicated them as Core Disciples, were not simply for show. Their qi density was substantial. One of them was within the Second Step of the Tempering Realm, the same as Feng. The other, however, was at a monstrous Eight Step of the same venerated Realm, just a hair away from the honoured Nascent Realm. Feng did not recognise the pair, but they were likely there to oversee their Young Miss’s safety.
While strong for her age, Lingyu was not yet at a level where she could comfortably walk around a foreign Sect without an escort, unlike her older sister. The younger daughter of the Chen Clan stood at the first step of the Shaping Realm. It was not a rank to be ashamed of at her age — even the talented disciples amongst the Four Mountain Sects Group rarely achieved the Second Realm before reaching adulthood, and Lingyu was only thirteen years old.
But the current frenzied occupants of the Sparring Hall were all in the Shaping Realm, with most being in Steps past the midpoint Fifth. There were even a few Tempering Realm disciples as well in the upper floors, engaged in far more brutal fighting than even the horrid bloodletting seen below.
The most dangerous matter at hand, however, was that none of the duellists were in any state to pay attention to the innocent bystanders in the building. The aftermath of ranged pyrotechnics smashed against the walls and background of the sparring hall, raining embers and otherwise endangering everyone in the building. It would have been far more prudent to move the Young Miss out of the halls.
Yet there was no need for him to have worried at all. She was already far better guarded than by whatever measure his presence could provide.
A stray fireball was launched in the general direction of the Young Miss by an errant disciple; a missed technique made in the heat of battle. Before Feng could intercept the speeding projectile with his own ranged technique, one of the Carnivore’s Core Disciple — the stronger one, he noted — braced her legs and lazily pointed her arm at it.
To a bystander, it would have appeared as if the fireball just poofed out of existence, leaving nothing but smoke and a strange, plant-like residue falling from the air. Even Feng, with his senses enhanced thanks to his cultivation enhancements, barely caught what happened.
The disciple’s arm had furled apart like a flower in bloom, flesh unravelling to reveal an infernal hollowed tube made of pulsating flesh and lined with vein-strewn teeth. Something blew forth from the opening, moving with such speed and accuracy that Feng’s eyes were barely able to catch what it was: a seed pod, its shape tapered and streamlined, with fins sprouting from the rear.
The projectile flew silently, leaving vapour trails in its wake as it adjusted its trajectory mid-flight. Upon the seed’s collision with the fireball, it burst into a mess of hooked tendrils, sprouting horrific mouths on every end. Somehow, the creature ate the flames, swallowing and devouring heat and light with ravenous bites. Once it finished, it shrivelled into a dried, organic mass, rapidly disintegrating in the air.
All of that occurred in the span of an eye blink.
The Young Master snapped out of his reverie, turning to see the female cultivator responsible for that spectacle looking at him. She gave him a lazy wink, before turning her bored focus back to the arena.
Feng looked down beside him. Lingyu had not noticed a thing. The Young Miss was more well-protected than even she realised.
“I had thought you would still be in at the guest estate, recovering from your breakthrough,” Feng said after he took a second to compose himself. “From what Lianshi told me, you managed the feat merely a week ago, and barely a few days after, you joined the delegation for their trip to the Beheaded Phoenix Sect. The journey alone must have been taxing on your body.”
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“You need not worry about me. The Elders have already decided I've rested enough and should resume my training. I came here partially just to escape from them.” Lingyu huffed, before a flicker of guilt passed her eyes. “But… much as I hate their constant comparison of me to my more successful sister, they are not wrong that I have a duty as Young Miss to at least try and improve myself. I figured it might be more productive to observe your sparring halls rather than remain stuck, unable to perform the transformation technique they taught me.”
“You have only recently just broken through to the Shaping Realm. Surely there's no need to push yourself?” he asked, concerned. “I understand you are no fragile princess to be coddled, but a little caution would not be amiss.”
The Shaping Realm was when cultivators first learned the intricacy of manipulating qi to further enhance their techniques and movements. An abundance of time and spiritual exercises were needed for them to get used to their newfound control and prevent any accidental injuries. For her Elders to press her to learn their Sect’s complicated transformation technique so soon was unnecessarily reckless.
Lingyu looked pleased at his remark, but pressed on regardless. “Sitting in one place meditating for hours on end ill suits me, Brother-in-law. A proper cultivator should not be afraid to get blood on their hands. Or shed it, in the event they prove lacking.”
“Your sister would not approve of such an action. Had you not talked to her about it?”
Something flashed through Lingyu’s eyes at the mention of that, but it passed quickly. “And where is my dear elder sister now?”
The sudden change in questioning caught him off guard, but the Young Master recovered quickly.
“She’s with our Sect Elders to discuss the finer details of our engagement,” he answered. “I suppose you should be glad that your father still thought you too young to be exposed to the horrors that are sect politics.”
“Lucky me.” Her smile did not reach her eyes. The Young Miss looked around. “It appears I am in a bit of a conundrum, my dear Brother-in-law.”
The inflexion in her tone was far too familiar for him not to be instantly on guard. He blamed his Fiancée for that. He raised his eyebrow and tried to appear nonchalant. “Oh?”
“I am in the venerated Sparring Halls of the revered Beheaded Phoenix Sect, which by all accounts is a sacred place for learning and cultivating techniques.”
Another body fell as she said that, spraying super-heated blood everywhere. One of the medical acolytes who had rushed to help caught some in his eyes. The disciple screamed as his eyeballs melted in their sockets. A senior acolyte soon came over and dragged the injured junior away along with the fallen body, carrying an exasperated look on her tired face.
“Sacred is not the word I would use, but do continue,” Feng replied with a straight face.
Lingyu glared at him, but did not comment on his remark. “And yet, despite the place's reputation as a haven of brutal education and sparring, it seems I'm lacking an opponent.”
He could see where this was going…
“Seeing as elder brother is here, no doubt for the same reasons to spar as everyone else, but is yet lacking an opponent as well, it seems reasonable for me to request that you spar with me.”
One of the foreign Core Disciple guards stiffened, while the other began to chuckle.
Feng considered her words for a moment. “I suppose I would be a poor host if I failed to entertain the Sect’s esteemed guests.”
The moment he finished, one of her bodyguards took a leap and landed over beside them.
“My Lady, this is a bad idea.” The panicking guard interrupted — the weaker one, he noticed. “If it is an opponent you wish and neither I nor Senior Sister Shao suffice, surely I can find one more suited for you.”
“I’m sure my Brother-in-law would more than suffice.” Lingyu stared at the Young Master, as if daring him to argue. “After all, he already entertained my voracious older sister today. Compared to my meagre appetite, I’m sure he will manage.”
The Young Miss took a few steps away from him and shifted into a stance. Hei Feng did the same. Looking at her determined glare, he couldn’t help but let out a grin. “You Chen sisters are all the same.”
The Young Miss’s amber eyes narrowed as her arms flexed with primal might. The rush of savage Yin qi warped around her frame. “Is that right?”
“You are. But your stubborn attitude to try and differentiate yourself from her… I don’t think you should be bothered too much by such a thing.” Before Lingyu could argue against that remark, Feng continued. “Because all the same, I like this side of you as well.”
It is not wrong, he thought fondly as he readied his qi. To acknowledge a shadow over your life. That you would try to surpass it rather than simply learn to live within it is something I could not do.
You are already stronger than you think, Lingyu.
“You–!” Lingyu flushed, before taking a breath to calm herself. “You are just trying to distract me…”
Feng chuckled. “A little. This Young Master greets the Younger Miss. Shall we begin?”
Lingyu's eyes blazed. “Gladly!”
Cultivators of the Outer Provinces
The Outer Province is home to the largest population of citizens within the Flesh-Grafted Empire. It is also home to the weakest population of cultivators. As the lands are scarce of ambient qi, Spiritual resources, or Divine flesh, the people of the Outer Provinces are lacking in cultivation standing compared to the rest of the Empire. On average, the level of advancement for villagers and Sect cultivators is as follows:
Non-Sect affiliated citizenry: Mortal; Null Cultivation
Outer Disciples: 1st Realm, Foundation
Inner Disciples: 2nd Realm, Shaping
Core Disciples: 3rd Realm, Tempering
Elders: 4th Realm, Nascent
Patriarchs: 5th Realm, Spirit
The above categories are more of a broad average rather than a fixed rule. As with all things, variation and abnormalities will exist at all levels of cultivator society throughout the Empire.
On the outskirts, one may encounter villagers who exist in the Foundation Realm, forced to languish in mortal society as they were unable to join a Sect for any myriad of reasons, chiefly those of old age or lack of talent. There are also Patriarchs/Matriarchs who led their Sects from the Nascent Realm instead of the Spirit Realm, possibly due to the machinations of Sect politics or a lack of stronger claimants challenging their title.
The lower Steps of the Spirit Realm are often considered the highest feasible Realm a cultivator may achieve in the Outer Provinces. Past that, the lacklustre qi and resources available make even the advancement of a single step the work of lifetimes. It is unheard of for an individual to achieve the higher Steps of the Spirit Realm within the Outer Provinces, let alone ascend to the ranks of a Jade Realm Cultivator. Should such a thing occur, the Sixth Realm cultivator would be bleeding Spiritual Energy constantly into their qi-deficient environment, rather than passively gaining from it.
As a final note, very few Yaoguai, often also referred to as ‘Beastfolk’, exist within the Outer Provinces. With the ambient qi being so poor, any long-term residences would be incredibly unsustainable for them. Although a few do roam the borderlands — namely, prospective merchants or particularly desperate smugglers — such ventures would require exceptionally careful consideration and a vast stockpile of qi supplies.
– Excerpt from A Citizen’s Guide to the Flesh-Grafted Empire
