Sky Pride

Brother Tang lived. His body was ruined, but his cultivation was intact. He wouldn’t be leaving the Temple for many years, if he ever left it again. Tian never got the whole story. It was just “Heretics.” And that was that. Tian found himself drifting back into the shadows. His brothers pulled him out again. If he was scared, he should get stronger. If he wanted to get stronger, fight!

Tian decided he was around thirteen a little before the sparring session with the Convent. He might still be twelve. It was hard to say for sure. But he felt thirteen, and who could say he was wrong? He understood from his mandatory reading that most people had a specific birthday, but since nobody he ever spoke to gave the vaguest damn about birthdays for any reason other than divination, he decided he didn’t care either. Two days before the spar, he examined his growth.

He had started growing a little taller. He was covered in lean muscle. He learned a lot. His rope dart moved like it was a part of him. His palm arts had reached a certain standard and fluidity. Good enough to have the Senior Brothers acknowledge them as “Recognizably a palm art.” Tian was confident in saying that he was dangerous as all hell. Then he remembered Brother Tang still had to be fed his meals because he couldn’t use his arms yet. It checked his confidence, but didn’t extinguish it.

Everything was stronger than him in the junkyard and in the jungle. Everything was stronger than him in the Temple too. But he was getting stronger. The things that once threatened him now couldn’t last a single move against him. The heretics would be no different. It would just take time.

His body was pure- free of pill toxins or the residues of strange natural treasures. Aside from the fact that he still smelled faintly of truffle and lotuses, all the evidence of his youthful adventures had completely integrated with his body. His meridians were strong and flexible. He thought his fingers were growing back a little bit, maybe. He was definitely a bit more handsome.

The results of his constant effort were showing, and very satisfactory. Especially since he secretly broke through to Level Five an hour ago.

Level Four had been an utter grind to get through. Almost a full year to complete a single level? Madness. Unendurable! But what could he do? It’s just how things were. Senior Brother Fu kept reassuring him that he was on the fast side of average. Tian hoped he was right.

Other people cultivated many times more quickly than he could in a single cultivation session, but they could only meditate sitting still in a quiet room, and even with everything going perfectly, they might only manage it for a few hours.

Advent of Spring was steady and constant. Others were faster in bursts, but Tian could, and did, go all day.

“I must keep my new level a secret, at least until after I spar with Hong. I should act like a Senior Brother and teach that little menace *cough* that mentally ill Sister how to live like a human. And maybe fix her brain. The “knee to the head” plan doesn’t have many examples in the books, but the idea is good, I’m sure of it.”

Tian wiggled his feet in his soft slip on shoes. They were light, reasonably comfortable, and while they might wear out quickly, they were apparently very cheap to make. On the other hand, they couldn’t keep a single drop of water out.

“They should make sturdier shoes. Maybe out of thicker cloth, or leather or something. The books mention boots but I’ve never seen them.” He shook his head and refocused. “Sneaky sneaky. I’m just an innocent little Level Four Brother. Merely Level Four.”

He carefully controlled his pace and walked out of the dormitory and towards the dining hall. He carefully looked innocent and young.

“Oh, congratulations on making Level Five, Little Tian!”

“Just in time! Good job, Junior!”

“Hey, Old Dong, Check out Little Tian! He grew into a slightly bigger ant overnight!”

“What are you all- Oh, not bad! Level Five eh? You might just be qualified to fight a rabbit now. Not a hare, don’t let your new level go to your head. But a nice little rabbit should be alright.”

“Brother He, shame on you! Don’t feel pressured, Little Tian. You are doing very well, and shouldn’t be at all embarrassed about starting with a mouse.”

“Or a vole!”

“Earthworm?”

“Pill bug.”

“Flea-sized vole.”

“Brother Kang, this isn’t the first time you have brought up voles recently. Is there something…?”

“Haha! Ha. Ha. Yes. God yes. Bring strong wine and I’ll tell you tonight. Better make it two big jars. The endless dark of their bulging eyes haunts me even now.”

Tian felt a cool hand settle on his shoulder. “Your first mistake,” said Senior Brother Fu “was dreaming that you could hide your level in this den of old foxes. Your second mistake was looking like you were trying to hide something, making sure they all scrutinized you extra carefully. Your third mistake was continuing to run your cultivation art like you normally do. The qi draw is dramatically different. You might as well have hung a banner and lit fireworks.”

Tian sighed. So much for his ambush idea.

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“Don’t feel too down. Learning and growing is a good and natural thing, and concealing your level from those at a higher level is actually quite difficult to do without special means. The greater the difference in level, the greater the difficulty. Hiding from a Heavenly Person is flat out impossible.”

“So ambushes are impossible?”

“Certainly not, or at least not within the same realm. I did say there were special means to achieve it, but don’t look in the library, they aren’t in there. Mostly they are bloody, heretical and cruel, and the ones that aren’t require highly complex medicine. Generally not worth the effort. The second way to ambush is to let your true level be deceptive.”

Brother Fu looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Tian thought for a moment, then guessed.

“If you are able to fight above your level?”

“Or imply that your combat ability is weaker than your level suggests, yes. It’s why heretical cultivators can be such a nightmare for orthodox sects. They are used to fighting at a disadvantage and above their level. Their aggression and bloodlust make up for defects in their training methods and arts. They spend considerably more time fighting than we do, so their skills are tested in real combat. Evil cultivators who survive their first few decades are monsters of battle. It’s why we try so hard to kill them young.”

Tian looked around the Temple at the Senior Brothers. Many of them were scarred, all of them seemed ready to fight if a leaf fell the wrong way or if a statue looked at them funny.

“I think our Temple likes fighting too.”

Brother Fu chuckled.

“These kids are just a bit energetic. We are a pretty peaceful bunch. The Convent is the real fighting pit. Those Sisters wake up and choose violence every day. It is their true faith that someone, somewhere, needs a serious beating and the Sisters of the West Town Convent are called to administer that beating. Let me tell you a valuable truth, little Tian, and you would do well to carve this into your heart.”

Brother Fu leaned down and looked Tian directly in the eyes. “Organizations reflect their leaders, and a retainer is the true mirror of their lord. If you want to know how the boss is, don’t study him, study his people. Leaders cultivate reserve and spend a lot of energy concealing their true thoughts and motives. But the organization itself cannot hide, or not nearly so well. And the Senior Sister for the Convent is that old demon Bai.”

Tian nodded firmly, repeating Senior Brother Fu’s words in his head. He also quietly circled the words “peaceful bunch” and connected it to all the missions in the mission hall with orders like “Exterminate all,” or “Suppress the,” or even “Wash the mountain in blood.”

The missions were always displayed, and he was often tempted by the rich rewards promised. He was bluntly told to forget it. Level Nine only. Cute little juniors need not apply.

Tian looked at the amiable Senior Brother Fu and nodded. The organization really did reflect the leader. “Senior, what kind of tea do you like to drink?”

“Hmm? All sorts I suppose. There is no first place in tea or literature, no second place in martial arts. What I want to drink in the spring might not be the same as what I want to drink in the fall, and a rainy day calls for different tea than a dry one. And tea doesn’t come just from tea trees. There are herbal teas, fruit teas, spiced teas, teas made with milk or honey or butter additions. How it’s steeped changes the tea, what water is used changes it, how the water enters and leaves the pot changes it, the shape and material of the cup changes it, even how many times the leaves are brewed. Some leaves can only be brewed once, but others are best in the third brew, or the fifth, or even the tenth. Each sip of tea is meaningful and special, so how could I pick a favorite?”

Tian rocked back, blown away by the sudden burst of enthusiasm.

“Little Tian, did you want to learn about tea?”

“Yes, Senior Brother. I’m already learning about herb gathering and medicine, so it seemed a reasonable thing to study. I already know how to make some medicinal teas.”

“Good, good, good! I always knew Little Tian was a sensible one. Not like that hooligan Hong girl!” Brother Fu stroked his long, wispy beard. “We will start your journey into tea after the sparring session. Speaking of which, are you confident?”

“Yes. Although I am worried.”

“Don’t be. Your percussive theory of brain repair has been tried before, and not without a few successes. However, there have been far more failures. Just keep kicking and be sure to make the next one better than the last. Every minute of every day is a learning experience, Junior Brother, if you have the right mindset.”

They walked into the dining hall, where the Brothers waited in front of big bowls full of rice and vegetables. There was meat too, and sweet freshwater fish simply roasted with salt. But the Brothers favored rice and vegetables in enormous quantities. Flesh was to be battled over and savored as a garnish on your food. All that muscle took energy to drive, after all, and you needed a bit of richness or how could you feel full? In the Earthly Realm, cultivation alone could not suffice. Once Senior Brother Fu sat and picked up his chopsticks, everybody dug in.

No one spoke. After more than a hundred years of brotherhood, what still needed to be said with words? The dining room was filled with happy noises, with people working their chopsticks, snagging a tasty piece off someone else’s bowl, flicking a portion to someone who missed out on their favorite nibble, and generally putting on a show that would make jugglers weep with envy. Tian looked at it and engraved the scene in his heart. When the meal ended, Brother Fu stood but did not dismiss everyone.

“Alright you layabouts! We have the Sisters coming over the day after tomorrow, so I trust that you have all been tidying up. What you didn’t know, however, is that Elder Rui Yanzi is coming to inspect. So I want everything immaculate, and everything that you “just borrowed for a bit” back in place. I’ve never failed an audit, and by Heaven this won’t be the first time!”

“Yes, Senior Brother.” Everyone chorused.

“On a related note, the order came down. It’s what we were all expecting. All missions are canceled. Everyone out in the field is to be recalled to the Temple at once.”

The warm air turned very cold.

“Is the situation on the Southern Border that bad, Senior Brother?” One of the eldest Brothers stood and asked.

“I wasn’t informed. I was simply given the military order to assemble all the Brothers in this temple and stand ready for mobilization. And my West Town Temple shall perfectly comply.”

There was something to the way Brother Fu said ‘military order.’ Tian wasn’t sure what it meant, but he could see faint tremors run through the Senior Brothers. They pulled themselves together quickly, but he still saw it.

“Dismissed. Oh, Tian? Don’t worry too much. I wasn’t speaking nonsense earlier. One thing you will learn is that the worse the situation seems, the more important a good cup of tea becomes. I won’t be able to teach you everything I know about tea, but I can set you on the right track. I will show you the heart of tea in a cup raised with blood soaked hands.”