Chapter 12: Sect Halls

Chapter 12: Sect Halls

There were a few things that I needed to do before I could head outside the sect though. The very first was officially registering Labby as my spirit companion, now that he’d broken through to the first realm.

I’d had to run rounds trying to find out what the procedures were because Lu Jie had never even considered acquiring anything but a pristine spirit beast. Having realised he didn’t have nearly enough luck, or Qi needed to get one, he’d never bothered learning more about the details needed.

Thankfully all I really needed to do was go to one of the administrative halls, and mark him as my spirit. I also planned to ask where I could find more information on spirit rats, or if Labby was just an oddity.

I picked up the list of items I’d set out for checking. The very first was a smaller cauldron. The one the old man gave me was nice, but also, far too large. It wasn’t meant to test and analyse small amounts, but to create batches of pills and elixirs instead.

The second was spirit stones. I’d read of heating arrays in a book, and how some cauldrons made use of those to finely distribute heat across their bodies. It also allowed the Alchemist to control and fine tune the heat permeating.

As can be expected, it was probably going to be expensive. Just how expensive? I had no idea. But I intended to take a look, and buy one, if I could.

The other things that I intended to look at were a thermometer, or the equivalent of one, other alchemy tools, and most importantly, some copper wires. If I wanted to explore Labby’s lightning Qi, and try and see how I could use my handy Rattery then I’d need some wires to form circuits.

The good thing I'd found out was that Labby was quite weak, and just channeling Qi around my skin made me fairly resistant to not just heat, but also lightning. I had some theories on how that worked as well, ranging from an interference in the transfer of energy to the body to simply just forming an additional layer to pass through for the electricity, and the resistivity of the Qi itself being fairly high in its “default” state, which was what I possessed. At least, as far as I knew.

I pocketed the little sheet of parchment in one of my chest sleeves as I cleaned up my table. My progress on tidying up my room and making a centralised note making system was... not good, but there had been progress, and progress made me happy.

“Ready to go Labby?” I turned around and asked, smiling as Labby squeaked jumping in the pouch at my waist on his own.

I had one last look at my room, before I walked out, and off to officially register Labby as my spirit animal.

Squeak!

***

The Cloudy Peaks sect was massive. I had thought this before, but the idea was reinforced all the more strongly as I began my way uphill on the lesser peak where the main sect halls were.

The sect’s administration and main halls were present on small wide hills, with living chambers and sparring quarters spread across the hills eventually spreading out to the forests that surrounded the city.

I walked through the dirt path, grateful that I was in the third realm, and quite close to the peak of the sect. The homes the outer disciples got were simple things, usually containing a few rooms, and a chamber to cultivate in. Even those were separated by realm, with third realm disciples being the closest to the peak, and second realm disciples just below them, and first realm disciples below them.

I felt my Qi shift. Something was right. Something about this felt right. A path of guidance, to take not just myself, but others with me, in the journey to break down the science behind the Dao.

To find the Laws of Cultivation.

I felt Lightning Qi from my pouch, as I snapped out of my daze. I looked around, realising I’d been standing silently in front of the sect halls and felt slightly embarrassed about it. I blamed the overly potent Qi present in the air, too easy to get lost in thoughts with so much of it around.

“Thanks Labby, let’s go now,” I whispered to Labby. The cultivators could probably hear me no matter how quiet I spoke, but such was life among super humans, eavesdropping was just another fact of life.

I entered the main hall. The sect halls were wide, tall buildings made of wood. The eastern architecture was obvious and yet, there were subtle differences present as well. I wasn’t an architect though, and neither did I hold much interest outside of how these buildings were built.

I gathered back my distracting thoughts, looking around the halls to find where I was supposed to go.

I followed the paths, looking around for a while before I eventually found the chamber I needed to go to. I paused for a moment, wondering if knocking was what I was supposed to do. Lu Jie’s memories weren’t much help, as he had no clue about what was to be expected.

I didn’t get to make the choice, in the end, as with the flare of Qi, the door slid open to a chamber stacked full of books lying everywhere. My eyes drifted to the man sitting at a desk, his face hidden behind the stacks of books and paper all around him.

“Greetings, Elder. I need to register my spirit companion,” I spoke out, bowing, when a chill traveled up my spine.

I felt Labby crackle with lightning, as he too felt the sensation. A heavy presence filled the chamber, as an untold number of eyes looked at us, I felt my body freeze under the gaze, unable to move.

Cold and gentle Qi drifted over as a laugh, like the sound of ringing bells was carried through a winter forest, the moon silently watching over me.

“That’s enough play Xin Yue,” the man spoke, as the pressure vanished. “Show me your spirit,” he added and I nodded, gulping as I tried to recover from the strange gaze I'd been under.

I tapped my pocket, gently rubbing Labby to calm him down as I pulled him out. Labby squeaked, climbing onto my hand.

I saw the man freeze as his gaze turned towards Labby. A frown set across his brow as he looked at my face before looking back to Labby a few times.

“What is that? I have little patience for games, disciple. Tell me why have you brought me a pest?” The man asked, annoyance filling his voice.

I was about to explain when I felt Labby stomp his feet, his annoyance leaking out in the form of crackling lightning that spread towards the Elder and I felt my heart stop.

Damn it Labby, not again!