The Dragon Gate. When a carp is strong enough and swims against the current with all its might, it has a chance to climb a waterfall and jump over the Dragon Gate. If it achieves this legendary feat, it will transform into a true dragon.

In the Wastes, everyone, cultivator and mortal alike, was nothing more than a lowly carp. Cultivators would fight with all their might to swim against the current, ascend the waterfall, and jump into the wider world, but almost all were destined for failure.

The four great powers of the Wastes–the Twin Mountains Sect, the Verdant Fields Sect, the Su Clan, and the Blue Wind Pavilion–all had paths that could allow their most promising members to smoothly walk out of this small corner of the world, but entry into these forces was extremely difficult, and ascending out of them was even harder.

Take the Twin Mountains Sect, for instance. Each year, thousands attempt to enter, but only a mere handful become outer sect disciples. Of those, only a fraction reach the inner sect, and only a fraction of that fraction ascend to the outside world.

Even with everything working against them, cultivators still join these sects en masse, hoping to be the one chosen to advance. The odds were against them, but if they didn’t play, they didn’t have any chance at all.

However, there was another way to join one of the outside powers.

The forces outside the Wastes may have been mighty, and they did disdain the people who lived here, but they were not willing to allow good seedlings to rot if they could be taken away and nurtured. Most cultivators with a promising future would enter the sects, but for various reasons, a few would be left behind. The powerful forces outside the Wastes wanted to rope in anyone with potential, even if they hadn’t joined a feeder sect. Thus, the Dragon Gate Festival was created.

Once every ten years, the three great forces surrounding the Wastes–the Rising Sun Empire, the Verdant Forest Sect, and the Flowing Mountain Sect–would send representatives to Dragon Gate City. Cultivators could display any talents they possessed, and if they were skilled or powerful enough, they would be directly recruited by one of these factions. This was an opportunity to jump the Dragon Gate and soar into the sky.

I had originally learned about this event through Bao’s investigations, and I had considered trying to use this as a path of advancement myself, but I had decided to pursue a path through the Blue Wind Pavilion instead. However, while my commitments might lie with the Pavilion, others were a bit more flexible.

SuYin wanted to learn herbalism, and the Pavilion wasn’t a great place to do this. It didn’t have the techniques, the teachers, or the space that learning herbalism would require. There were ways around this, and through WuJing, I learned that things would change once we moved to a larger city. But even then, the Pavilion wasn’t the ideal place for an herbalist. If SuYin wanted to focus on herbs, then the place she needed to go was the Verdant Forest Sect.

SuYin, Mei, and I sat together around my apartment’s dining table. After telling SuYin everything I knew about the Festival and the sects, I left the decision in her hands.

“This is your choice, but I’ve taught you all I can. If you want to continue to grow, you need to chart a new path.”

I would go with WuJing to the Eight Flower Kingdom, and I wanted Mei to go with us to help guide us through the deep waters there, but SuYin didn’t have much of a place there. We could bring her along, but it wouldn’t do her or us much good.

She stared at the table as her body trembled. “Master, I don’t think I can do it… They only want true prodigies. I’m nothing.”

“SuYin.” I forced her to look at me, and a tone of command entered my voice. “Do not say that. You are a Grandmaster now, and you are the equal of anyone in the Wastes. There will be people of greater power in the sect—there is always someone better—but you can hold your own.”

I could see she wanted to believe me, but she didn’t. She wasn’t much different than I had been in the Twin Mountains Sect. She had lived by my side for too long, and she hadn’t experienced anything to demonstrate the growth of her power. She didn’t notice how different she had become from when we had first met. She needed to see for herself how far she had advanced.

“I know you feel the urge to leave and explore. You’ve done your best to form a solid foundation, but your technique wants you to explore and find new places. You aren’t doing that here. Go, venture out into the wilderness, learn, and when you have reached your limit, come and find us. Share your experiences with Mei and me.”

“You’ve given me so much.” Her eyes began to well with tears. “I haven’t given you anything in return. I can’t just leave.”

“If you truly feel you owe me, then the best form of repayment would be to improve yourself. Go to the sect and learn all you can. Then, you can come and share it with me. I taught you, so you can teach me.”

Did I feel bad for pushing this on her? Yes, a little, but I soothed myself with the knowledge that this would have been the right choice for her, even if I gained nothing from it. I was taking advantage of the situation, but I wasn’t doing so heartlessly… I hoped.

I placed a hand on her shoulder. “One hundred years. In one hundred years, let’s meet in the capital of the Brilliant Sun Empire and share what we’ve learned. At that time, I expect us both to be Martial Kings with a wealth of knowledge and a long future ahead of us.”

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SuYin looked down at the ground. “Okay, I’ll do it. I’ll do my best.”

Mei, SuYin, and I walked through the city as a group.

The entire place was in a festive mood. Red lanterns were hung from every building, and large, colorful papier-mâché dragons decorated nearly every street.

On the side of the roads, vendors were selling candied hawthorn, dragon beard candy, and fried sticky rice. However, more than anything else, they were selling zongzi, sticky rice stuffed with a variety of fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves.

I was focused on my mission, getting SuYin accepted as a disciple of the Verdant Forest Sect, but Mei had a different mission in mind.

She pulled a sullen SuYin around to the various stalls and forced her to eat candy and watch the performers. Before long, the two of them were enraptured by the noises and activities surrounding us. They kept trying to get me to eat the sweets, and I kept declining, but after a constant stream of pressure, I conceded and ate a single zongzi. It was stuffed with a red date and had a nice flavor, but I couldn’t think too much about it.

Near the center of the city, in a large square located halfway between the Su Clan’s palace complex and the Blue Wind Pavilion, a large fighting stage had been erected. It was surrounded by bleacher-style seating, but there were far more people interested in watching than there were seats. So, people perched on rooftops around the entire area to get a view of the fights.

When we approached, two disciples had just begun their bout. They both had solid foundations, for rogue cultivators in the Wastes, at least, and put on a decent showing. They had learned Yellow-Rank fighting techniques, which weren’t exactly powerful, but they had a decent understanding of how to employ them in various situations.

I looked at Mei. “What’s the prize for winning?”

She had been more interested in learning about the various competitions than I had been, so I expected that she would know.

She grinned excitedly. “It’s pretty great. The winners of the Disciple and Master competitions will receive enough resources to push them to the next realm. They might not use them, since a Disciple capable of winning will be able to reach Master anyway, but they can sell them easily enough. Aside from that, they will get a suitable cultivation technique for their next realm and access to a Profound-Rank fighting technique, but they won’t get to keep the manual for it.”

Access to a Profound-Rank fighting technique would be nice, but I already had a couple for each of the basic elements, for Ranks 1 and 2 at least. If I could use this competition to get Rank 3 Profound techniques, I might want to join, but I doubted my martial skills were good enough to defeat any of the real competitors.

“Anything for the runner-ups?”

“Yeah, but it’s not as good. Less resources, worse techniques. But the top ten all get something.”

I nodded at her explanation. “What about Grandmasters?”

“The winner is guaranteed a spot in the Rising Sun Empire’s Guard Corps. It’s not a great prize, but it is an official position. The Grandmasters aren’t fighting for prizes, though. They’re competing to impress the factions’ observers. No matter where they place, as long as they’re impressive enough, they may get recruited. It’s unlikely, though. Usually, only a handful of people will be chosen during the entire festival.”

As I watched the Disciples fight, I thought about plans for the future. This festival was held once every 10 years, so it had also been held back when I was only 19. How fast could I rush my cultivation and have it still be stable? Would it be possible to reach Grandmaster before I hit 19 and escape the Wastes early?

“Do they ever recruit Disciples and Masters, or is it only Grandmasters?”

Mei pondered for a bit before replying. “They do, but it’s more difficult. What kind of genius haven’t these sects seen? A genius Disciple is potential, but there are a thousand ways that potential can be destroyed before it’s ever realized. They prefer to focus on established cultivators, but there are exceptions.”

I watched patiently as another two bouts between Disciples took place before looking at Mei.

“When is the event that SuYin needs to take part in?”

We didn’t plan for her to compete in combat, since there was no way she could defeat seasoned Grandmasters. Her only hope was for one of the factions to take an interest in someone who had such an advanced cultivation base at such a young age.

Mei smiled. “The Disciple tournament will take another three days, then there is a day for Master-level non-fighters to display their achievements, then three days for the Master tournament. After that will be when the Grandmaster-level non-fighters will display their talents. That’s what we’re waiting for.”

I looked at her, confused. “If SuYin can’t do anything for another week, why are we here?”

She patted my shoulder. “Because this is a festival, and you need to relax. You’ve been working nonstop for as long as I’ve known you, and you can’t keep it up. Everyone needs a break, and this is yours.”

I froze. Her words hit me more powerfully than I had expected. It wasn’t just the last ten years that I had been pushing myself—it was centuries. Ever since I had come to this world, I hadn’t been in a position to relax. I had rested, sure, but I had never allowed myself to truly step away from the grind. Even with enhancements from cultivation and the effects that my resets had on my memory… Maybe I did need to take some time off.

Mei smiled, hooked her arm through mine, and pulled me away from the arena as I turned off the mental circuits that had kept me focused.

“What is this?” Mei had taken us to a restaurant, and I was staring at the large orange mass that the waiter had set on our table. “It looks like a fish exploded on the plate.”

Mei shook her head in annoyance. “It’s squirrel fish. Eat. It’s good.”

Tentatively, I reached out with my chopsticks, grabbed a bit of meat that was sticking out of the fish’s body, and carefully peeled it off. After placing it in my mouth, I was shocked at how good it was. The sweet and sour sauce was a perfect complement to the fried fish.

Mei gave me a knowing smile. “Good?”

“Yes, why haven’t I had this before?”

“It’s rare around here, since it’s hard to get the right kind of fish. They import a bunch for the festival, but don’t expect to see any more for the next decade, unless you’re willing to pay an outrageous price.”

I sighed. “That’s a shame. Maybe it’ll be more common in Eight Flower.”

We chatted about inconsequential things for a while before I looked at SuYin. She had been somewhat quiet throughout the meal.

“SuYin.” I closed my eyes and braced myself. “I know I’ve been pushing you to join the Verdant Forest Sect, and I do think it’s what’s best for you, but if you want to join us in Eight Flower, you’re welcome to. I’m sorry for forcing things too much.”

“Thank you.” She gave me a small smile, and tears welled up in her eyes. “I don’t want to leave you… but… I know it’s the right thing to do.”

She pressed her lips together firmly, resolve spreading across her face, and looked up to me. “Don’t worry. I’ll see the two of you in a hundred years. We’re going to live for centuries, after all.”

Mei and I both stood to give her a short hug.

“One hundred years. It’s a promise.”