4/25/26 A/N: A big thank you for all the kind comments on book 5. I was a bit trepidatious at how readers would like it. I'm focusing a lot on new characters early, which I'm not sure is ideal, but don't worry. All your old friends feature prominently in this book. I just wanted to show the impacts to the villages, and I couldn't justify having a bunch of now senior sect leaders heading up what should be so routine. Anyway, I'm super stoked that y'all are liking it so far!
Writeathon Status: 32 Chapters, 68,129 Words
The stories that Lei Lanfen heard about the new building that literally appeared out of nowhere the previous day were so absurd that she didn’t believe a word. Despite her disbelief, she was still headed there, calling herself ten kinds of a fool for doing so. But it wasn’t like she had a choice. Her mother was so sick that she’d been unable to get out of bed for a month, and none of them were getting enough to eat.
At thirteen, Lei Lanfen was tough enough to survive on what few small meals she obtained over the course a week, but every time her five year old brother, Lei Xiaobo, experienced hunger pangs, it nearly broke her heart.
When she arrived at the village square, she was surprised to see that the blue building and the arch that was on everyone’s lips actually existed. Her hopes rose. If one wild story was true, maybe others were.
Rumors said they had work available in the blue building. She’d also heard some other nonsense about free healing and pills that took away starvation.
The latter was obviously impossible, but she held out a smidge of hope that the former could be true. What a cultivator would need a mere mortal to do was in question, but even if they wanted her to dig latrines or empty chamber pots, she’d do it as long as she earned something for her efforts. Enough money for a single loaf of bread might be the difference between life and death.
Before approaching the blue building, though, she hesitated, her heart thumping hard and fast in her chest. She’d read many stories about cultivators. In almost all of the tales, any mortal interacting with a cultivator either met a bad end or suffered greatly before rising to challenge the heavens themselves.
Lei Lanfen wanted neither, just a few bits. She didn’t even put earning a full tael in her eyes.
Even though she was scared, there was no decision to be made. She’d already walked nearly a half mile just to get there. Considering the energy required to make it so far, she was that much more in the hole regarding how much food she needed. She either found money or a meal here or…
Lei Lanfen didn’t even want to think the “or” part.
Still, she hesitated. She wasn’t even sure the building was open. The front door was closed, and no one entered or left in the minute or so that she watched. A few adult villagers had passed by the outskirts of the square, but they’d all quite obviously avoided even glancing at the building. The only ones giving it any notice were a group of children who had probably been told not to go near it on pain of being whipped.
That advice sounded more and more wise the longer she delayed.
Waiting gained her nothing, though. She had no choice but to go in, so that was what she would do. As she took a single step, however, something weird and amazing happened. A woman appeared from thin air near the stone arch.
She wore blue cultivator robes accented with silver and carried a toddler. The short, slim woman didn’t appear to be any older than Lei Lanfen, so probably a junior sect member tasked with babysitting.
Yeah. That made sense.
A junior member who performed menial chores certainly seemed a whole lot less scary than whoever waited in the building, so before fear could once again overwhelm Lei Lanfen, she rushed toward the young woman, who marched quickly toward the building.
“Pardon, Esteemed Cultivator.” Lei Lanfen yelled from slightly behind, nearly out of breath from the effort of catching up.
The woman stopped and turned. “Yes?”
There was nothing particularly welcoming about the address, but it wasn’t harsh, either. Lei Lanfen could deal with neutral.
“Apologies, Esteemed Cultivator, but this lowly one was … I mean…”
The woman’s face softened. “You need to go inside but found it a bit intimidating? I can relate.”
Lei Lanfen would have preferred not to have her reluctance called out quite so clearly, but she respected the attempt at kindness. She cupped her hands. “Gratitude, Esteemed Cultivator.”
“I’m Zou Ai and this little one is Yun’er. Say hi, Yun’er.”
The boy hunched his shoulders and looked away.
“Sorry about that,” Zou Ai said. “He can be a bit shy sometimes. Picked that up from his mother.”
Lei Lanfen didn’t know how to respond to a real cultivator apologizing to her, so she hastily introduced herself.
“Well met, Lei Lanfen,” Zou Ai said. “Would you allow me the pleasure of escorting you into the outpost? I promise no one will be mean to you.”
Lei Lanfen swallowed hard. That result had been exactly what she wanted, but the building was still so scary. But she had no choice, so she cupped her hands. “Gratitude, Esteemed Cultivator.”
They weren’t far from the entrance at that point, and before she knew it, the cultivator was opening the door and ushering Lei Lanfen inside.
The first thing that caught her eye was a massive man wearing the same robes of Zou Ai but with a sword hanging from his waist. He had to be at least a foot taller than either of the women. Though he didn’t scowl or make any aggressive moves as she entered the doorway, just his appearance was enough to make Lei Lanfen want to turn around and run screaming.
She couldn’t, though. For one thing, Zou Ai was right behind. More importantly, Lei Lanfen needed a job.
Someone shoved her gently, and she took that as a cue to move out of the doorway, keeping a watchful eye on the massive young man as she did.
Instead of seeming mad at a mortal for entering his space, the cultivator gave her a brief, respectful nod. She cupped her hands.
The oddest thing happened, though, when Zou Ai entered.
The young man bowed low and cupped his hands. “Greetings, Senior Sister.”
Lei Lanfen narrowed her eyes. He was either teasing the obviously junior young woman or, more probably, bullying her.
To her credit, Zou Ai pretended not to notice and simply said, “This is Lei Lanfen, a mortal from this village. Can Lin Tao get her registered?”
“Yes, Senior Sister.”
Lei Lanfen frowned. Still with the bullying. She was neither brave enough or suicidal enough to say anything, though.
“Good. Please make sure that is taken care of and then bring her to me in the alchemy area… I can never remember what they ended up calling it.”
“Alchemist’s Distribution Area, the ADA, Senior Sister,” the muscular young man said. “This lowly one will do as instructed.”
Lei Lanfen couldn’t help but grow more and more angry as the teasing, the bullying, continued, especially since she was forced to hold her tongue.
Zou Ai turned to her. “Unfortunately, we can’t help you until you’re registered, but I promise that it’s a completely painless, noninvasive process. Should only take a minute or so. And it’s completely free.”
Lei Lanfen nodded.
“Li Bo here will make sure you get to the right place and then bring you to me. Is that okay?”
Lie Lanfen cupped her hands. “Of course, Esteemed Cultivator. Gratitude.”
The woman smiled and left down the hallway, leaving Lei Lanfen behind with the scary and rude cultivator.
The man let out a breath, and his tense muscles loosened. “Sorry about that. I didn’t know she would be here today. Took me by surprise.”
Was that the excuse he used to justify his bullying? She wasn’t impressed. At all.
He walked to the other side of the foyer and pressed a button on the wall next to a large window. Ding. A moment later, the window slid open, and a young woman appeared.
“I’ve got someone who needs to be registered,” Li Bo said, “but Lin Tao needs to do it.”
“That’s my job.”
“Zou Ai is here for some reason, and she specifically indicated that Lin Tao should get the young lady registered.”
“Really? Any idea why?”
Bo Li shrugged.
“Fine. I’ll get him.”
Lei Lanfen had no idea what was happening. First, the man teased Zou Ai. Then, he abided by her wishes so closely?
A picture began to form in Lei Lanfen’s mind that fit the facts. Zou Ai must be the scion of some important person. She was still made to do menial chores and was bullied by everyone who resented her for her advantages, but they couldn’t push their disrespect too far.
Soon, a young man appeared at the window, and he focused his attention fully on Lei Lanfen. He cupped his hands. “Greetings, Honored Villager. This one is Lin Tao, the leader of this outpost. If it pleases you, I’ll personally conduct your registration.”
Heavens! All she’d wanted was a menial job that paid enough to buy some food, and she’d somehow stepped into a mess of sect politics, gaining the attention of the leader of the entire building. The stories had been absolutely right. It was best to stay far, far away from cultivators.
Not being a complete idiot, she didn’t let any of her dismay show on her face. She cupped her hands. “Gratitude, Esteemed Cultivator. This lowly one is at your service."
Contrary to her fears and in line with what Zou Ai had said, the process took less than a minute. Lin Tao tapped the surface of a flat, rectangular metal sheet, pointed that metal at her, and then tapped the surface a few more times.
“May this one ask your age?” he said.
Lei Lanfen told him.
“Ah. Your spiritual roots haven’t quite finished growing, so I’m unable to get a reading. Without a reading, I can’t register you.”
Zou Ai’s words came flooding back. “Unfortunately, we can’t help you until you’re registered.”
Lei Lanfen felt her eyes moisten. They couldn’t register her. Therefore, they couldn’t help her.
“It’s okay,” Lin Tao said hastily. “We can give you a temporary registration that’s just as good. It just means that you have to renew it every six months until your spiritual roots finish growing. Once they do, we’ll give you a permanent one. It’s just a minor inconvenience.”
“Truly?” She barely dared hope that what he said was true.
He beamed a big smile at her. “Truly. In fact, you’re all set. For the next six months, you can use the outpost and IDTA portal all you want.”
After the extreme low followed by the emotional high of her registration process, she had a hard time forming coherent thoughts. She responded, hopefully in a respectful manner, to the outpost leader and followed the big jerk, Li Bo, down the hallway, where he opened a door and shooed her inside.
“Any trouble with the process?” Zou Ai said.
Lei Lanfen shook her head, not knowing what to say and not wanted to cause any trouble.
Zou Ai introduced a young man who was in the room with her, but Lei Lanfen was too shook up to remember the name. She did manage to cup her hands and stammer out a greetings, though.
“This room is for my area of expertise, Alchemy,” Zou Ai said. “Unfortunately, we only have two pills we’re allowed to give mortals.”
“Allowed?” Lei Lanfen said before she could stop herself.
“It was decided that the healers would give out the healing pills, which, frankly, I’m still a little annoyed at.” Zou Ai sighed. “On the other hand, it makes sense to give those out after an examination, and they are the experts at performing those.” She smiled. “Anyway, the two we can give you are quite useful.”
Lei Lanfen turned her attention to two small buckets, each filled to the brim with hundreds, maybe thousands of pills.
Zou Ai pointed to the one on the right. “These red ones are vitamin pills. Bodies require many, many different kinds of nutrients, and a lot of villagers consume diets that are lacking in some areas. Taking one of these pills daily really helps make up the difference.”
She pointed to the bucket on the left. “The green ones are fasting pills. Each one fulfills all the food requirements for one person for one day. Simply take one and you’ll both feel full and be full for about twenty-four hours.”
Both sounded amazing. Too good to be true, actually.
“What’s the price?”
“Completely free.”
She could apparently see the skepticism written all over Lei Lanfen’s face.
“Here. Try one.”
“I’m not hungry.” Her stomach chose that exact moment to growl. Traitorous tummy!
Zou Ai picked up one the red pills and dry swallowed it. “See, perfectly safe. I’d do a green one, but I’ve already had breakfast.”
The moment of truth. Lei Lanfen had to decide if she trusted these people. She supposed that, if they wanted to harm her, there were easier ways for them to go about it.
She couldn’t swallow it nearly as easily, needing water and several attempts, but she eventually got it down. And immediately, she started feeling better. The consistent gnawing hunger reduced greatly, and she felt more energetic.
Her eyes went wide. If she could somehow obtain more of those miraculous pills, her family would be saved. Could she steal them and run out without getting caught?
An image of that muscular young man stationed at, as far as she knew, the only exit dissuaded her.
Lei Lanfen looked at the bucket of pills with greed in her eyes and larceny in her heart. She needed them, whatever it took. There had to be a way to get some.
But how?