Early Morning, Casting Line Sect, Male Dormitory

  Orien woke up due to the brightness in his room, not the usual chirping and sun in his face that he was used to at home. Being the overthinker that he was, he continued to think about all sorts of things last night until he dreamt about them.

  ‘If I had to guess, this sect shouldn't have more than a few hundred disciples at any given time. Very few people got recruited, after all,’ He thought.

  He carefully considered how much strength he would need to break into the top. He wanted to secure himself a good position in the tournament. The goal was to travel outside the sect in two years after receiving some rewards from the tournament. Huuuuuu... Orien exhaled slowly.

  A thought suddenly blossomed in his mind, ‘The tournament is not just a chance to prove myself, it is also a gate,’ he pondered deeply before continuing along the train of thought he had formed, ‘A gate to the outside world, and also to answers I do not yet know that I need, including how to get a body for Wisp.’

  Two years sounded long, but in cultivation time, it was frighteningly short.

  ‘I wonder how many disciples before me must have believed they would make it, only to fall short when it truly mattered,’ He thought once more.

  His fingers subconsciously brushed trailed his robe, nearing the space where he kept Grandpa Geno’s spiritual medicine. He knew how valuable it was, especially early on, to get ahead of his peers and to seize early opportunities. He was also on the cusp of a breakthrough, and he could do it anytime. Cultivation, he was learning, was not only about strength, but timing and planning as well.

  Orien’s thoughts landed on his cultivation, ‘According to Wisp, I'm not at stage one of the Mortal Path yet, which is normal, considering I shouldn't even know how to cultivate yet. My physical body is on the verge of Mortal Body stage one as well. I should be able to break into both within a short time.’

  Thinking about him, Wisp had said little since last night, but Orien could feel his presence, quiet and watchful.

  He knew the old spirit was placing his hopes on him, perhaps more than he let on.

  The weight of that expectation pressed on Orien’s chest, not unpleasant, but instead motivating.

  ‘I refuse to be someone who Wisp regrets choosing. Just like my parents and my brother, my friends and Mila, I’ll be aiming to make him proud too,’ he thought as various faces flashed inside of his mind.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  He looked out of the dewy window at the beautiful, orange-purple morning sky.

  ‘Only later in the year does the sky look this pretty,’ he thought.

  It was early October, and he thought back to the events that transpired these past months. He chuckled, remembering he even won his first fight against Lars, a lanky loser who would annoy him on Geno’s behalf for a long time.

  ‘My birthday is on the 24th... I wonder if I'll be able to see my family,’ his thoughts suddenly shifted, ‘Wait, if the tournament happens every two years, that means it should be going on right now, if it didn’t happen last year, no? Maybe I could learn something from it!’

  He swiftly got out of bed and began to freshen up. There was a slight smile on his face as he adjusted his hair, thinking he may see Mila today for the first time in a month.

  “Big sister Ling Yun told me that she could contact me with this little jade ornament she gave me, but how am I supposed to contact her? Maybe I'm not supposed to... but I gotta find out about that tournament... and Mila,” he mumbled, wearing a determined yet warm expression thinking about his childhood crush.

  ‘I wonder how she’s doing... she must have already settled into the new lifestyle in this sect. Surely, she’s thought of me and my wellbeing this past month too,’ he quickly shook his head to regain focus. Not only would Wisp laugh at him if he continued that train of thought but if he wanted to make her his woman in the future, wishes alone would not be enough.

  Orien left his room and began to make his way back to the lounge area. He figured that here, he may be able to ask the Residence Director for some help.

  As he passed through the quiet halls this morning, Orien realized how distant his school days had already felt.

  The classrooms, the teachers, the bunch of classmates that hadn’t made the cut, they all seemed to be getting replaced with new memories, people and sceneries. This place was his second step in the right direction. The first? To Orien, that was Alnilam Peak, where the training lived on within his mind. It would not end there, either.

  ‘I’m only just getting started!’ He thought.

  After waiting a short while, he spotted the Residence Director, already looking busy this early in the morning.

  Orien quickly went over to him before he escaped from sight and began to speak, "Excuse me, sir. Is the tournament happening right now? Can you please tell me where I can go to watch?"

  Maybe Orien was fortunate that the Residence Director was a good-natured person because he responded kindly, "Unfortunately, the viewing of the tournament is not free. It's one spirit stone a day to watch. The tournament usually lasts a few days."

  "A spirit stone? I've only heard of those. How do I get one?" Orien asked, feeling a bit of shame at his own lack of knowledge concerning the cultivation world.

  The patient Residence Director smiled and stated, "One spirit stone is equal to one spirit grass, but easier to carry and deal with as a currency. This is achievable for all disciples, but given that you are new, perhaps take a look at the bulletin board first?"

  Orien bowed, "Thank you very much!"

  He then made his way out of the male dormitory and walked further into the sect, towards the bulletin board that Ling Yun had pointed out to him and his friends previously.

  He didn't know that this would trigger a series of events to come, like knocking over the first of many dominoes.