My eyes follow Elder Shangguan as he paces back and forth in front of us.

  After our arrival, the perpetually shirtless man barked orders at us for some minutes until we managed to adopt a passable rank-and-file formation. Panic ensued, and we scrambled around trying to figure out what to do in spite of our ignorance, but it worked out in the end. Only three initiates started crying, one of which is still sniffling somewhere behind me.

  “Good, good, good!” Elder Shangguan rumbles. “Now you look like you’re ready for week two.”

  He claps his hands and several disciples lead a host of servants carrying large, cloth-bound bundles onto the field. The servants array themselves behind Elder Shangguan and kneel so they can place the bundles down and then wait for further instructions.

  “At the end of last week you received your first allowance of spirit stones, and today you shall receive a gift from me: a sword,” he waves his arm over the servants and they unwrap the bundles to reveal numerous matching swords. “You will each receive one to use during your martial training. You might eventually choose a different weapon or tool, but our lessons will begin with these.

  “You learned how to sense qi last week. That is good. It is the first step in a long career of constant growth and development. We will expand upon that in your first daily lesson. However, there is more to your training than qi! Your second lesson will be physical strength and endurance training, and the third will be martial arts. These lessons will make you faster, stronger, and better.”

  He returns to pacing as the servants begin handing out swords. A young boy scurries up to me, bows his head, and reverently holds one out for me. It is a simple thing: a wooden scabbard of black-laquered wood with silvery metallic bands with an elegant jian to match. I accept it and offer my thanks.

  “Your mind and spirit will become stronger, so your body must develop to accommodate them,” Elder Shangguan makes a showing of his fine, chiseled musculature as a means of emphasizing his words. “If it does not, then you will surely fail.”

  “The sword is a necessary thing. They are commonplace in the secular world and in many cases they serve as a symbol of one’s status. There are rules and etiquette surrounding them dating back generations, so let’s get that out of the way first. Emulate me to the best of your ability.”

  “My brain hurts already…”

  I chuckle while Xiuyi groans “I consider myself lucky to have learned a lot of this when I was younger.”

  After an hour of cultural minutiae regarding proper jian etiquette, we were given a short break. Elder Shangguan covered quite a bit in such a short period: how to salute or bow with a jian, how to sit in company of others whether they are friendly or otherwise, how to hand them over to others for show or as a gift, and even how to wear them when traveling.

  “Fancy manners should come easy to a posh girl like you anyway.”

  “I’m not that...” I hesitate when I see her expression change and raise a hand to cover my smirk. “Okay, maybe a bit.”

  “So, do you know how to use a sword?”

  “Eh… Not really. My instructor taught me a bit when I was rather young but I wasn’t the best student back then.”

  Xiuyi casts a glance towards Elder Shangguan who is busy conversing with the inner disciples. “Hopefully you’re better than you were. He doesn’t strike me as the type that shows mercy to the weak.”

  “Hah! I’ll be big and strong like him in no time. Muscles like mountains!”

  Xiuyi looks me over, gently squeezes my upper arm, and then shakes her head. “I’ve eaten noodles sturdier than you. You may want to set a more reasonable goal.”

  “What? I’ll have you know I took my athletic training very seriously and am in peak physical condition! My—”

  I take hold of Xiuyi’s arm like she did to mine and my words catch in my mouth. Her expression is as smug as any I’ve ever seen as I remove my hand, place it on my own arm, and then stare at it in disbelief. She doesn’t look that different from me with her robes on, but there is no comparison. Xiuyi is far stronger than I am.

  I hang my head as she laughs. “I shall temper my expectations…

  “Initiates!” Elder Shangguan bellows at the top of his lungs. We scramble back into our formation. “Good. That took you only half the time. You’re already showing improvement.”

  He gestures to the disciples with him and they step forward. “These inner disciples have volunteered to assist with your training. You will listen to their instructions and treat them as if they were given by me.”

  Elder Shangguan takes a few moments to divide us up into roughly equal groups and then assigns us to one of the inner disciples. I am pleased to be in the same group as Xiuyi and I finally catch a glimpse of Song Ling, but she is on the other end of the formation and in a different group. As disappointing as that is, I can easily catch up with her later.

  “Your training will be arduous and exhausting. Your robes are not ideally suited to these physical activities, so henceforth you have my permission to remove your outer layers during physical training exercises. You will wear your full sect uniform at all other times. Are there any questions before we begin?”

  After a few moments of silence, he nods his head.

  “Then get to it!”

  “I am Lu Zhaoyi,” the young woman in charge of my group bows to us. “It is a pleasure to be working with you.”

  We bow in return.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Lu Zhaoyi is lovely in all senses of the word. Her appearance is refined and dignified, and her voice is soft and sonorous. Her presence is calming and her words are soothing — almost suspiciously so.

  “Every day for the rest of the week, you and I will gather here in the morning for your first lesson. Elder Cai prepared you all by helping you unlock your divine sight and by giving you insight into your meridians. Your task for this week is to refine your control and cleanse the eight extraordinary vessels. To help you in this task, I will teach you a little spell known as qi blast.”

  She smiles and gestures down the field to a host of target dummies. “Qi blast is the simplest spell you can possibly learn, so simple that no one bothered giving it a better name. However, it does exactly what it says…”

  Zhaoyi places her hands together. “First, you collect your qi.”

  She then spaces her hands apart somewhat and shifts her right hand from an open palm and extended fingers into a simple hand seal. “Once you have collected your qi, you prepare it for use by ushering it towards the acupoints you wish to release it from…”

  Zhaoyi then extends her right arm towards the targets and changes her hand seal so that her index and middle finger are extended while the others are curled up. “And then you release it!”

  A wispy blue ball of qi forms at the tips of her fingers and then launches across the field where it strikes one of the targets. The ball of qi explodes harmlessly against the dummy while Zhaoyi turns back to us with her hands on her hips.

  “Not much to it, right?” her smile takes on a more mischievous form. “Qi blast is something you’ll use for this week and then probably never again. To use qi like this, without a proper spell and assigned nature is the height of inefficiency.”

  She purses her lips and blows air out in a thin stream. “A true spell is like that: it focuses your qi and uses it with maximum efficiency. Qi blast is the exact opposite: it is as wasteful as you can be.”

  Zhaoyi opens her mouth and blows a breath again.

  “Just like that. All the air leaves my lungs at once, but if I wanted to blow a leaf from the palm of my hand it wouldn’t be the best option, would it?”

  A number of us shake our heads. A few mutter refutations.

  “A proper qi blast is a good foundation for future techniques and spells, so as a quick example…” Zhaoyi repeats her motions from before in a fraction of the time and the condensed qi blast, barely the size of her finger tip, punches a hole through the target and violently explodes against a tree in the background, shattering bark and removing a portion of its trunk.

  The tree regrows in short order.

  “See the difference?”

  I’m not the only slack-jawed initiate amazed by the first true display of power we’ve had since arriving at the sect. Excitement wells up in my core like an electrical charge and I exchange a quick grin with Xiuyi whose eyes glimmer with anticipation.

  “Now you try!”

  And so we do.

  An hour later, not one of us has hit a target, let alone created the initial qi blast. Lu Zhaoyi makes it look so easy. Collect the qi. Direct it. Release it. Those are the instructions we are given. It turns out there is a lot more going on beneath the surface.

  The motions used by Zhaoyi were not just for show. The various hand seals shape the flow of qi before and during the spell, and without them, it won’t work. However, I never get the chance to see how they influence my qi, because by the time the lesson is over, I haven’t even gotten to that point. I can collect the qi in my dantian, but directing it anywhere in a uniform manner proves difficult.

  “That is enough for today,” Zhaoyi announces suddenly. “I have a feeling that you know what you need to work on before tomorrow, so take advantage of your free time to work on it. It is time for your next lesson.”

  Zhaoyi waits for us to gather around and then gestures to a nearby path. “We’ll be going for a run to build endurance. This path does not have any intersections and will eventually return back to this point so you can’t get lost. We’ll go as a group, but if you fall behind just keep going. Once you’re back here you are dismissed until after lunch.”

  We relocate to the path but before we get started with the run Zhaoyi leans on a nearby fence and pats it with her right hand. “If you want to leave your things here, you may do so. I suggest it since running in those robes gets a bit bothersome.”

  I look down and place a hand to my sash. ‘My inner robes are hardly more than my underwear.’

  My heart flutters and my lips curl up into a grin. ‘I don’t mind showing off a bit, especially without Song Ling around. It might be my time to shine!’

  I look over the others before making up my mind. Some of the men have already hung their robes up and many of my fellow ladies are hesitating, but… my eyes lock on to Ban Xiuyi who has removed her robe with the utmost confidence. With her arms and back revealed it is blatantly obvious why she chided me earlier. We are not the same!

  “You need help or something?” Xiuyi teases when she catches me staring.

  I gulp. “Oh, uh no…”

  I slip out of my robe and hang it over the fence next to Xiuyi’s. Her lean form ripples with impressive musculature that elicits a sense of jealousy from me as it contrasts with my lithe and trim figure. I can’t shake the feeling that we are, in many ways, both at an equal level, even if it manifests so differently on us.

  I sigh. ‘I just can’t win.’

  The only silver lining is that Lu Zhaoyi, the inner disciple who is undoubtedly well beyond either of us, looks like me, or at least close enough. There is hope and a future for a scrawny girl like me!

  I drop to my knees and reach for the fence while heaving.

  “Spirits… save me…”

  “Are you alright?”

  “I think I’m going to throw up…”

  “Aim for the bushes,” Xiuyi grumbles.

  ‘We are not equal,’ I lament my poor performance while looking up at Xiuyi.

  I pushed myself to my limit to complete the run without stopping, something only a handful of people achieved, but it is clear that I can’t go any further. On the other hand, Xiuyi is still fresh. She is breathing heavily, but I’d bet all my spirit stones she could do another lap and still be okay.

  Lu Zhaoyi isn’t even sweating.

  I unleash an agonized groan as I push myself back to my feet in spite of the protests made by every muscle in my wobbly legs and then force a smile. “I’ll be okay.”

  “I am glad to hear it, Initiate!” Zhaoyi chirps. “Today is an easy day. Tomorrow we do another lap and then we do some strength training afterwards.”

  I have nothing to say to that. My eyes just drift towards the ground as I suck in air.

  “Let’s go get lunch.”

  I wince at the slap on my bare shoulder. “Give me a minute — or carry me.”

  “Carry you? Hah!” Xiuyi wipes her hand on my hip. “You’re way too sweaty for that. It’s gross.”

  She plucks her robe from the fence and struts off towards the Hall of Plenty. I watch her go for a moment before grabbing my things and start scrambling after her.

  “Wai-wait for me!” I wheeze.