Molting the Mortal Coil

Having spent so many years doing little more than traveling, Sage reflected upon his decisions. I was so worried and afraid that I did nothing but run for years. I ran so much it has become all that I know.

Sage shook his head, just like in his first life it was far too easy for him to slip into a rut. Slipping into his spiritual sea, Sage started to contemplate. Pondering on what he was doing with his life. Both before and now. He had already figured out long ago that he needed to be strong to have the freedom to do what he wished. In his previous life one needed to make money. With enough money you could have anything you wanted and the freedom to do whatever you wished. They were both forms of power, but money did not seem to work as well in this world. Sage had heard more than a few stories of wealthy powerful families getting completely destroyed by high ranking cultivators they had offended.

Strength is what matters here, not money. He used to have a great job with quite high pay and he was free to do whatever he wanted. Even so, he still died in that carefree life. If he got strong enough to live another carefree live, was that all he wanted? Would it be enough?

Simply being strong and carefree is not enough. Would anyone even miss me if I was gone again?

Sage realized what he needed. He needed a place to belong.

Living the lonely life of a traveler for his teenage years, Sage had felt himself turning into some sort of desperate wounded beast. He trusted no one, was guarded in everything he did, and focused only on moving. Always moving. If he stayed in one place too long, people might grow closer to him. In those years the ones who wanted to get close to him all had ill intentions. He hadn’t had a real conversation with someone in years. What is wrong with me? How did I get so disconnected? Is this shellshock?

He remembered the term as he thought of his condition. It wasn’t exactly the same as what he’d been facing but it was similar. The many life and death circumstances along with the repeated betrayals… it was quite similar to a soldier heading to war and then returning to peace again. Every time he escaped death and found himself in a comparatively peaceful city he could only stay for a few weeks before he started to get anxious. Turning away from those feelings he’d set out on the road again to forget it all and step back into the fire.

He needed to be part of something and he needed to get stronger. It was time to find a martial sect. If he could join a sect there would be many other disciples to socialize with. From what he’d heard as long as he joined a righteous sect the only infighting was competitive in nature, the chances of him being betrayed again were much smaller. It would also be a good place to be protected and have better training resources.

Now I know what I’m looking for. I wonder which sect I should pick?

Sage was depressed. He had already passed the prime ages to join a sect. They all wished to recruit high status children or highly talented teenagers. The former could increase their status and get treasures to raise their power. The latter would become experts that would improve their overall power. Nobody wanted a twenty year old with middling talent. A few of the lower sects were happy to take him in as a servant, but that was about it. The servants in a sect would train on their own and if they performed their duties well they could take tests and enter as outer disciples. It was like a waiting list for fanboys of a sect. Most of them would never become strong enough to become disciples and could only spend their lives cooking, cleaning and transporting goods and messages for the real disciples.

Sage applied at more than a dozen different sects, trying a couple highly ranked ones before lowering his standards. After he only made the grade for the servants of lower ranked sects he grew discouraged and nearly gave up his search.

At the Holy Flame sect, Sage was turned away just like he’d expected. The Holy Flame Sect was a highly ranked sect, not because of their combat power but because of their professions. As the story was told, the Sect’s Founder captured the Holy Flame and used it to rise to fame. The Holy Flame was a type of heavenly flame that was very good at purification. The Sect Founder used it to become a master Alchemist and Blacksmith. With such a great refining flame he had quite the advantage, especially when combined with his natural talent the Holy Flame Sect rose to prominence.

Sage had taken to trying to join every sect he came across, hoping that someday he’d run into a sect that could reveal a hidden talent he possessed and would pick him up. He didn’t hold much hope, but in the meantime things weren’t much different than before. He took escort jobs between cities and then tried to join all the nearby sects before taking a job and heading to the next city. It was quite a bit slower, since he’d have to wait for recruitment events but the many cities seemed to coordinate as neighboring cities had events on different months. They must have timed it out so their children wouldn’t have to wait years to join sects in towns further away.

When he was about to turn and leave the recruitment, Sage noticed that the badge of one of the recruiting elders was glimmering from within. It was like the red crystal badge was a lantern with a flame flickering inside it. Intrigued, Sage extended his spiritual sense towards it. The Seed of Life had slowly nurtured his spirit power and over these years Sage had learned how to use spiritual sense to observe the world around him. Sage didn’t realize that most people would not only consider it rude, but downright offensive, to examine someone else’s possessions. That recruiting elder frowned and suddenly Sage felt his spiritual sense get battered against and the sudden stress caused him to stumble backwards. Falling down to a knee with a bewildered look on his face. What was that!?

The elder was also surprised, able to track the spiritual sense back to its source now that he’d broke it. Astounded that this no-talent Fifth Stage Qi Condensation Cultivator could use spiritual sense. Spirit Power was only useful for combat at the higher ranks or with special mental attacks. As such, most sects didn’t bother to test it, especially when nearly everyone at lower ranks was exactly the same. The Holy Flame Sect on the other hand was very focused on their professions to which Spirit Power is very useful. Higher spirit power let them have greater control over their refining flames and practicing the professions also served to temper and train spirit power. While useless for lower ranked combat power, spirit power was actually quite useful at the higher ranks and most cultivators would train in secondary professions to build their spirit power.

When Sage was found to already have spiritual sense, the Elder recovered from his shock and the rude gesture. Calling Sage over and immediately offering him an outer disciple position. His cultivation talent was limited and his other abilities were unknown so making an inner court disciple was a bit too much. If he could prove himself, just like every other outer disciple, there was the possibility of promotion to the inner court or even to become the direct disciple of an elder in the sect.

Sage was overjoyed, he’d finally found a place to belong! He knew he was only making it in because he found the Seed of Life many years ago, but that was good enough for him. If he couldn’t become a powerful fighter he could try and learn a profession. A Grandmaster Alchemist or Blacksmith was well respected by all and nobody would wish to offend them and all others of their profession. Who would risk losing a source of magic tools and weapons? Who would want to get blacklisted by all Alchemists?