DDD Chapter 16: South Vale (Patreon)

(Edited by Radriel7)

Several months passed by in the blink of an eye. Autumn, winter, and spring came and went, yet I hardly noticed. Instead, I devoted all my time to training, cultivating, and hunting demon beasts in the nearby nameless forest, working myself to the bone in order to be ready in time for the upcoming entrance exam for the Dawn and Dusk Sect.

In that time, I reached the third small realm of the Qi Condensation realm. A worthy achievement for someone of my aptitude, but not anything special. It certainly wasn’t enough for me to qualify for the entrance exam. However, I wasn’t just a qi refiner. I was also a physical refiner. And, after months of harsh and grueling training, I managed to reach the physical refinement equivalent of late Qi Condensation with about a week to spare.

When this happened, I bounced around like a rabbit, unable to contain my excitement. Astra and Cultivator Raphael found this amusing, and the three of us held a small feast to celebrate. We ate food provided by Cultivator Raphael’s cousin, Amaya White Wing, cooked from demon beasts that I had hunted the month before. The feast also counted as a celebration for my seventeenth birthday.

Unlike my previous birthdays, which I spent in front of my father’s immortal cave after humiliating myself in front of my kin, I spent this birthday with people who loved me and cared about me. It was the best day of my life, and I teared up a bit. Astra and Cultivator Raphael pretended not to notice. For that, I was grateful.

In fact, I was grateful to Astra and Cultivator Raphael for a lot of things. It was thanks to them that I had reached this point within such a short amount of time. Not only did they both teach me and offered me guidance, but they also trained me in body, mind, and soul. Under their tutelage, I progressed at a rapid rate.

Not only that, but the meals cooked by Cultivator Raphael’s cousin increased the speed of my physical refinement. Otherwise, I doubted that I would have reached the physical refinement equivalent of late Qi Condensation within the time limit.

I made a mental note to thank her for her services when I finally met the woman. She played an integral part in my progress, yet she didn’t even know that I existed. According to Cultivator Raphael, the cover story he used was that the meals he had her cook were for Astra. This was to further deflect suspicion away from our true activities.

After the celebration, Astra and Cultivator Raphael presented me with several gifts, both for my birthday and as a reward for making it this far. At first I tried to refuse, since the two of them had already given me so much, but they insisted. After a while, I gave in and accepted their gifts.

Astra gave me a low-grade storage ring, a bottle of medicine pills used to heal injuries, and a high-grade Qi Condensation magic treasure: a pair of fingerless leather gauntlets reinforced with black metal studs. While this magic treasure didn’t have any special abilities, it was perfect for an unarmed combatant such as myself.

Cultivator Raphael also gave me a bottle of medicine pills, ones that served as antidotes for a variety of poisons, as well as another high-grade Qi Condensation magic treasure: a white tortoise shell inscribed with a series of magical symbols. It was a defensive magic treasure that would protect me from harm.

While I knew the Heavenly Shield mystic art, it was almost always better to use defensive magic treasures since they used less qi and provided more protection. The only exception would be if I faced demons, ghosts, or other unholy beings.

Cultivator Raphael also gave me a small bag with ten low-grade spirit stones. Spirit stones were chunks of crystallized qi that cultivators extracted from spirit stone mines. Despite the name, these weren’t actual mines but naturally formed arrays that condensed the ambient qi within the environment into a physical form. These spirit mines were rare and couldn’t be artificially recreated, increasing their value. Entire wars had been fought over ownership of a single spirit stone mine.

Since spirit stones were crystallized qi, cultivators had plenty of uses for them. From advancing one’s cultivation, to restoring one’s inner qi, to powering arrays. Spirit stones were also used as a form of currency, since all cultivators valued spirit stones. Like magic treasures and natural treasures, spirit stones were divided into grades. A spirit stone’s grade depended on the strength and purity of the qi it contained. Low-grade spirit stones were the most common and least valuable kind.

I felt touched by all these gifts, and it took me the rest of the night to regain my composure. After that, the three of us spent the rest of the week preparing to move out of the cave, since we no longer needed it. The days passed by one after the other, and before I knew it the day of the exam had arrived.

***

The Dawn and Dusk Sect occupied a mountain range known as the Dawn and Dusk Mountains, which spanned hundreds of miles. I didn’t know if the sect was named after the mountains, or if the mountains were named after the sect. Not even Astra or Cultivator Raphael knew. To them, it had always been that way and neither one of them had been interested in finding out the truth of the matter.

Regardless, the Dawn and Dusk Mountains occupied the heart of the Whispering Hills province, which had an abundance of natural treasures and other cultivation resources. The Whispering Hills province also bordered the south-eastern edge of the Black Mist Mountains. Astra’s old immortal cave was located near the border between these two, which was how she had been able to fly back and forth with relative ease.

The Whispering Hills province was also on the opposite end of the continent of the Myriad Rivers province, the home of Clan Wind Dance. When Astra took me away from Mt. Wind Dance, she used a teleportation array to cut down on travel time. Otherwise, it would have taken her weeks to reach her old immortal cave from the Myriad Rivers province instead of days.

At first I was amazed that Astra would put in all this effort for me, but then I found out that each of the major cities within the Northern Region were all connected to each other through a network of teleportation arrays, including the ones on the other continents. However, not just anyone could use these teleportation arrays. One either needed to know the right people, or one needed to pay an exorbitant amount of spirit stones. Even so, traveling from one end of the continent to the other was a simple matter for those with either the right connections or a surplus of spirit stones.

Several powerful arrays protected the Dawn and Dusk Mountains, preventing any intruders from sneaking their way in. Only disciples of the Dawn and Dusk Sect could bypass these arrays without issue. Everyone else had to go through South Vale, a large town located in a valley at the southern end of the mountain range.

At dawn on the day of the entrance exam, Astra and Cultivator Raphael dropped me off in South Vale and gave me directions on where to go from there. After that, I was on my own. While they would watch over me during the entrance exam, they wouldn’t interfere in any way. Whether or not I passed would depend entirely on my own abilities and luck.

As I walked through South Vale, I looked around with wide eyed wonder. It had been a while since I saw anything other than gray stone walls, purplish-black mist, and menacing mountains. I drank in all the sights, sounds, and smells that surrounded me. It was also a beautiful summer day, with bright clear skies.

As I looked around, I must have seemed like a country bumpkin visiting a large town for the first time, because that’s exactly what I was. While I had visited the mortal town located near the base of Mt. Wind Dance a few times, South Vale was on a different scale altogether. The town itself was larger, and so were the buildings, but there were also a lot more people. Instead of thousands, there were tens of thousands.

The biggest difference, however, was that South Vale wasn’t a town of mortals, it was a town of cultivators. Everyone I saw was a cultivator. Most were Qi Condensation cultivators, like myself, though I saw a few Foundation Establishment cultivators. I didn’t see any Golden Core cultivators, however, which left me a little disappointed.

Most of the cultivators were dressed in the typical style of the Azure Dragon Empire, robes for the most part, but a few were more…eccentric. I saw one figure whose entire body was covered in feathers, to the point where I couldn’t tell if they were male or female. Another was a man who wore nothing but a loincloth to preserve his modesty. However, tattoos of strange and magical creatures covered him from head to toe. These tattoos moved about, as if they were alive. One, a tattoo of a winged crimson python, noticed me staring at it and winked at me.

There were other differences between South Vale and the one mortal town as well. Like the latter, a number of shops and businesses offered their wares and services to passersby. However, the wares and services offered by the shops and businesses in South Vale would never be found in a mortal town.

I saw one shop that sold talismans; limited use magic treasures whose effects depended on the talisman in question. I saw another shop selling tamed spirit beasts. A third shop sold manuals for all sorts of mystic arts and cultivation techniques. However, given the context, I didn’t think that any of these manuals were rare or powerful.

As I walked through the streets of South Vale, I was tempted to explore the town and browse through the shops. However, I was limited in both time and money. If I didn’t register for the entrance exam in time, I would miss out on this hard-earned opportunity and have to wait five more years for the next one. With some reluctance, I shook my head and quickened my steps.

***

According to Astra and Cultivator Raphael, the Dawn and Dusk Sect had branch offices in every large town and city within the Whispering Hills province, including mortal towns and cities. This was to keep an eye on their territory, which spanned the entire province, as well as for the sake of recruitment. In order to even take the entrance exam, one either needed to pay a hefty fee or a letter of introduction from a manager from one of these branch offices.

The branch office for South Vale, as the one closest to the Dawn and Dusk Sect itself, also served as the sect’s main point of contact with the general public. It reminded me a lot of Clan Wind Dance’s main hall, though the branch office was larger and more opulent.

It stood at three stories tall and took up twice as much land as Clan Wind Dance’s main hall. A chest-high wall surrounded the office, more for decorative purposes than anything. After all, cultivators could jump over such a short wall with ease. However, I noticed that the branch office was protected by a series of arrays.

A large stone courtyard occupied the space between the chest-high wall and the branch office itself. Hundreds had gathered inside this courtyard. They varied in age, cultivation level, and appearance. Some were children as young as twelve or fourteen, while others were well into old age.

The one thing that most of them had in common was that they were in the Qi Condensation realm. Only a few were in the Foundation Establishment realm or above. Based on this, I guessed that the Qi Condensation cultivators were potential recruits hoping to join the Dawn and Dusk Sect, while those in the Foundation Establishment realm and above were their friends and family.

From what Astra and Cultivator Raphael told me, the Dawn and Dusk Sect didn’t recruit anyone above the Qi Condensation realm except by special invite. This was because the sect preferred to nurture its disciples from a young age. The Foundation Establishment realm was the cutoff point because the quality of one’s foundation determined one’s future on the path towards immortality.

Cultivators with weak foundations would never advance beyond the Foundation Establishment realm unless they were extremely lucky, while those with strong foundations had a much higher chance of reaching the Golden Core realm and above. Rather than fix a weak foundation, the Dawn and Dusk Sect wanted its disciples to build strong foundations from the very beginning. Of course, there were always exceptions.

Most of the crowd milled about in the courtyard, while a steady stream entered and exited the branch office itself. I’m guessing the ones milling about had already registered inside. The sound of their chatter washed over me like a wave.

I joined the stream of people entering the branch office and found myself in a large rectangular hall. Two rows of desks lined the long walls, manned by Qi Condensation cultivators wearing simple black and white uniforms. From what I remembered, these were outer disciples of the Dawn and Dusk Sect.

They belonged to no hall in particular and were responsible for handling much of the sect’s menial labor, including administrative work. While the sect’s inner disciples would oversee the entrance exam itself, the sect’s outer disciples handled everything else, such as registration.

I waited for one of the outer disciples to become free, before making my way over to register. The outer disciple, a young woman in her early twenties, raised an eyebrow at me when I approached. Not that I blamed her, given my attire.

Paranoid that Big Sis Sidra might interfere with my registration if she realized who I was, I asked Astra to help me disguise myself. She told me that this was unnecessary, since interfering with the entrance exam was forbidden, but I insisted. In the end, she relented. Rather than my usual outfit of a red vest with red trousers, I now wore a set of simple crimson robes and a plain wooden mask. Simple, but effective.

To avoid unwanted attention, I also hid my aura using the chant of dusk, so people wouldn’t realize that I was a divine qi refiner. Instead, I looked like a regular qi refiner who practiced a Fire-aligned cultivation technique. That way, people wouldn’t realize I was a divine demon.

In addition to the robes and mask, I wore a hair tie with a token at the end. The token depicted the visage of a terrifying black-skinned demon against a red flame. It wasn’t part of the disguise, but a message to the disciples of the Dawn and Dusk Sect, telling them that I had a backer from Flame Fiend Hall.

This wouldn’t make the entrance exam itself any easier for me, but it would ensure that the outer disciples and inner disciples overseeing the exam would treat me with more respect. It also counted as a letter of introduction, meaning that I didn’t need to pay the fee to take the exam.

Additionally, the token served as a warning to the other halls, telling them that I was set to join Flame Fiend Hall if/when I passed the entrance exam. Any attempt to poach me would be considered an insult.

Astra and Cultivator Raphael explained all of this to me last night, when my older sister gave me the token. She said that it was a tradition of the Dawn and Dusk Sect. Sometimes a cultivator with ties to the sect didn’t want to take the easy way in, such as myself, and instead opted to go through the entrance exam.

Cultivator Raphael tried to give me a token depicting a radiant warrior against a white background, but Astra shooed him away. She said it would send mixed signals, and potentially reveal my status as a divine demon. Cultivator Raphael gave her a cheeky grin in response, which just annoyed my sister even more, and the two of them ended up in a mock argument.

When the outer disciple noticed the token hanging from the hair tie, her eyes widened for a brief moment, before her expression turned polite and deferential.

“Greetings fellow cultivator,” the outer disciple said, speaking in a respectful tone. “Welcome to the Dawn and Dusk Sect’s South Vale Branch Office. Are you looking to participate in today’s entrance exam?”

“Yes, I am,” I said.

“In that case, please give me all of your details so that I might register you. Afterwards, I’ll issue you an exam token.” Her eyes flickered to the token hanging from the hair. “Normally you would have to pay a fee or show me a letter of introduction from one of our sect’s branch offices before we can begin, but I see that isn’t necessary for you.”

I nodded, before answering all of the outer disciple’s questions. It was a more involved process than I expected. She wanted to know my name, my province of birth, my cultivation, and so on. It took me a good five minutes to go through it all. After we finished, the outer disciple handed me a jade token with the crest for the Dawn and Dusk Sect carved into it. I took the token, thanked her for her help, before heading back outside.

When I exited the branch office, I looked around for a bit before heading towards a random corner of the courtyard. When I reached my destination, I leaned against a nearby wall and crossed my arms. There were plenty of people around talking amongst each other about a variety of topics, so I settled down to listen in. Perhaps someone would say something useful.

A few minutes later, I regretted my decision. The cultivators around me could be divided into two broad categories. The first were those who bragged about their cultivation and their achievements, claiming that they would pass the exam with ease. The second were those who speculated on the exam and wondered what lay ahead. Their guesses ranged from the mundane, such as a written portion, to the absurd, such as fighting three-headed serpents while blind-folded.

Not that I blamed the latter for speculating. Even I didn’t know what the entrance exam consisted of. I hadn’t asked Astra or Cultivator Raphael for details, and they wouldn’t have told me even if I had asked. I was going into this blind. The only thing I knew for certain was that one needed to either be in late Qi Condensation or the physical refinement equivalent to qualify. Everything else was a mystery to me.

As I stood there, I picked up on one conversation in particular. At first I didn’t pay it much mind, but when I heard a familiar voice, I felt a jolt and turned towards the source of the voice.

I saw a trio of people standing not too far from me; a man and a woman, both in their mid to late thirties, accompanied by a girl about two or so years younger than me. All three wore the familiar blue and silver robes that marked them as members of Clan Wind Dance.

When I first saw the trio, my heart jumped into my throat and I thought that my deepest fears had come true. However, as I listened in on their conversation, I realized that their presence here had nothing to do with me. This allowed me to calm down enough to take a closer look at all of them, though I made sure not to look right at them so they didn’t realize I was eavesdropping on their conversation.

Like all of my kin on my father’s side, the man and the girl were tall and pale, with long blonde hair. They also had the delicate feature typical of scions of Clan Wind Dance. The woman, on the other hand, was shorter with brown hair and much plainer features.

The man was Clemont Wind Dance, an elder of Clan Wind Dance who came from one of the clan’s branch families. Other than that, I didn’t know much about him. Quiet and unobtrusive, Cultivator Clemont never once stood out to me. He remained in the background, never drawing attention to himself.

The only reason I recognized him at all was because he was an elder of Clan Wind Dance and had always been there whenever I had to perform in front of the clan. It was a minor miracle that I even recognized his voice. Based on his aura, I saw that he was a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator. For the elder of a cultivation clan, this was rather low but not that unusual. After all, Clan Wind Dance was a minor clan in the grand scheme of things.

The woman was his wife, Sylvia, a rogue cultivator who married into the clan. That was all I knew about her. Like with her husband, not much stood out about Sylvia in my mind. As a late Foundation Establishment cultivator, she was a little weaker than her husband.

As for the young girl, I didn’t recognize her at all. She was a Wind Dance, that much I could tell, but that was it. From her aura, I saw that she was a late Qi Condensation cultivator. Given her apparent age, it was clear that she was a cultivation prodigy, which made it even stranger that I didn’t recognize her.

“-is of the absolute importance that you pass the entrance exam and join the Dawn and Dusk Sect,” Cultivator Clemont said, looking at the young girl with a concerned expression on his face. “Even becoming an outer disciple will do, as long as you join the sect.”

“Yes, Papa,” the young girl said in a quiet voice. “I promise I won’t let you down.”

Papa? Wait, Clemont Wind Dance and his wife had a daughter? This was my first time hearing about this. Then again, other than Lucius, I rarely mingled with the rest of my kin. My knowledge of the clan’s inner workings was shallow at best. Still, she was a clan elder’s daughter and a cultivation prodigy. Even someone like me should have heard of her, no matter how much my kin had ostracized me, yet I hadn’t.

I should have turned away and stopped eavesdropping, since I wanted nothing to do with Clan Wind Dance anymore, but my curiosity won out in the end. What was Cultivator Clemont doing all the way here? And why did he want his daughter to join the Dawn and Dusk Sect?

We were on the opposite side of the continent from Mt. Wind Dance. It must have taken Cultivator Clemont and his family a lot of time and effort to get here. They either spent weeks traveling from the Myriad Rivers province, or they paid the fees necessary to use the teleportation array network. The Dawn and Dusk Sect was one of the Seven Great Northern Sects, yes, but there were also plenty of reputable sects closer to Mt Wind Dance, including another one of the Seven Great Northern Sects. Why come all the way here? There must have been a reason for it, and I wanted to know what that reason was.

“Oh, my dear, Clarissa,” Cultivator Sylvia said, caressing her daughter’s cheek. “I’m sorry to put such a heavy burden on your shoulders, but it’s the only way to ensure your safety.”

Cultivator Clemont’s expression darkened.

“Yes,” he said. “Acting Clan Head Dominic has become suspicious of us, and it’s growing more and more difficult to hide you from him. If he ever realizes just how talented you are…” He trailed off, before shaking his head. “It doesn’t matter. As long as you join the Dawn and Dusk Sect, Acting Clan Head Dominic won’t be able to touch you.”

“But what about you and Mama?” the young girl, Clarissa, asked. “What will happen to you?”

Cultivator Clemont gave her a strained smile.

“You don’t need to worry about your mother and I,” he said. “As long as we keep our heads down, Acting Clan Head Dominic will leave us alone. We’re no threat to him.”

Based on his expression, he didn’t believe his own words. I had a feeling that neither did his daughter.

“Things were easier when Darian was still around,” Cultivator Sylvia said with a sigh. “The boy’s mere presence was enough to attract all of Acting Clan Head Dominic’s attention. However, after he ran away, Acting Clan Head Dominic turned his eyes to the rest of us.” She let out a derisive scoff. “Paranoid fool. As if we’re any threat to his rule.”

It amazed me that they were having such a candid conversation out in the open like this. Then again, I didn’t think it mattered all that much. Everyone else was too focused on their own affairs, and word was unlikely to travel back to my uncle. Still, their actions seemed unwise to me. Not that I was complaining. Their mistake was to my benefit. I learned a lot just by listening in on them.

So, my kin thought I had run away from Mt. Wind Dance. I suspected as much, but it was always nice to have my suspicions confirmed. However, it was clear that Clan Wind Dance was facing internal strife. It seemed like my uncle was lashing out against anyone he deemed a threat to his authority. This didn’t surprise me at all. If he was willing to humiliate and suppress his own nephew, then he was likely to treat others just as harshly, if not more so.

While I found all of this interesting, it ultimately had nothing to do with me. While I still called myself a Wind Dance in honor of my father, I no longer counted myself a member of Clan Wind Dance. Astra and the others were my family. They were the only ones I considered my kin, with a few exceptions.

Before I could ponder this further, I felt pressure from above. It wasn’t anything harsh or overbearing. Rather, it was more like someone trying to get my attention. From the looks on everyone’s faces, I saw that they felt the same pressure as well. I looked up to find a pair of Foundation Establishment cultivators flying towards our location.

Ah, it looked like the entrance exam was about to begin.