New Disciples

When Yulong and the others caught sight of the Iron-Claw Bear, they readied their treasured swords.

“Yulong on the left, Dapin on the right, Minfu and I in front.”

The oldest one, Zurui, began giving instructions. These four got along strangely well, and they seemed to coordinate with each other reasonably well.

The Iron-Claw Bear’s body length was about the same as a tall adult human’s, but its muscle mass was many times greater. If it attacked with those claws, it would probably tear through muscle as well.

With a roar, the Iron-Claw Bear attacked Zurui. Zurui and Minfu jumped backward to dodge it. It should have been a chance for Yulong and Dapin, who were on the left and right, but the two of them could not move. Were they simply not used to fighting?

An Iron-Claw Bear was stronger than a Piercing Wolf, but weaker than an Armored Boar. Even though they were Elder Shanshi’s direct disciples, they were unbelievably bad at fighting.

About two minutes had passed when Zurui slashed the Iron-Claw Bear’s face with his treasured sword, and the pain from the wound made it start rampaging. Now that the yōma’s attention was focused on Zurui, it should have been Yulong’s chance, since he was waiting in a good position. Yulong stepped in and slashed the Iron-Claw Bear’s flank with his treasured sword.

“What is he even doing? Why would he use Floating Yang Qi instead of Heavy Yin Qi when attacking?”

I muttered without thinking. Was Yulong just bad at switching between Floating Yang Qi and Heavy Yin Qi? Or was he panicking in real combat?

Even so, it had still been a slash using Floating Yang Qi, and the Iron-Claw Bear had taken a blow from a treasured sword. The Iron-Claw Bear suffered a deep wound. However, if he had used Heavy Yin Qi, he would have finished it off. After that, Yulong and the others fought with the advantage and killed the Iron-Claw Bear.

“Kou, skin the Iron-Claw Bear.”

It seemed that was the reason they had invited me along. It felt like things would get troublesome if I resisted, so I quickly skinned it.

“Alright, let’s go back.”

Since Zurui said that, I checked.

“Huh? Aren’t you taking the bear meat back?”

“Hmph, bear meat reeks like a beast, so we don’t want it.”

Most parts of an Iron-Claw Bear’s meat smelled strongly of wild beast. However, they apparently did not know that the loin alone had very little of that smell and was easy to eat. Since they said they did not want it, I cut out the loin and the bear gall.

That day, we returned after hunting only one Iron-Claw Bear. Since bear gall could be used as medicine, I sold it to the apothecary, and while the bear meat was still fresh, I ate it with Zengu, Ashin, and the others.

A few days later, Gyorei Cave held its entrance exam. It seemed that this year, seven inner disciples and three outer disciples had passed. I had thought it had nothing to do with me, but Elder Tsuen summoned me and told me to come to the hall. Elder Tsuen had been removed from his role as supervisor of the outer disciples, but he was still entrusted with supervising the entrance exam and managing the library.

Seven young inner disciples gathered in the hall. Yulong was among them. Elder Tsuen and Elder Shanshi appeared in the hall and stood before the inner disciples.

“The reason you have been gathered here is because you will serve as assistant instructors for the new disciples who passed the inner disciple exam.”

An assistant instructor was someone whose role was to teach the newly admitted disciples the various detailed rules of Gyorei Cave. The formal instructors were chosen from the older inner disciples, and the assistant instructors who helped them were apparently chosen from among those who had been in the sect for around three years.

Hearing that made me uneasy. That was because I could already guess that the new disciples were probably older than I was. The average age of new disciples was about fifteen, so twelve-year-old me would be younger.

“Then I will announce the assignments. First, Zurui will take sixteen-year-old Yuhan, Yulong will take fifteen-year-old Seiran, Mion will take fourteen-year-old Meimei, Kou will take eighteen-year-old Haoxuen…”

Eighteen years old… you’ve got to be kidding me. He was six years older than I was. Wasn’t this some kind of mistake?

“Elder Tsuen, is it not a mistake that the new disciple I am assigned is eighteen years old?”

Hearing that, Elder Tsuen shot me a sharp glare.

“It is not a mistake. I chose properly with compatibility in mind.”

Hearing that, Elder Shanshi nodded.

“The new disciple named Haoxuen is apparently the third son of a small shop, just like Kou. The others are children of large shops or of officials.”

I see. So the poor were being left to the poor. Literacy in this country was low, and most farmers and craftsmen could not read at all. Among those likely to take the entrance exam, the poorest class would be the children of small shopkeepers.

According to Elder Shanshi’s explanation, it was difficult for wealthy inner disciples to instruct poor new disciples. There were parts of that that I could not quite accept, but if those were the circumstances, then it could not be helped.

After that, we were brought together with the new disciples we were assigned to.

My name was Haoxuen. After struggling to learn about immortal arts, I had finally passed the entrance exam for Gyorei Cave. Most of my fellow entrants seemed to be younger than me, and on top of that, they all looked like rich children.

“Hey, Instructor Johnrin-shixiong looked like a pretty strict person, didn’t he?”

Seiran, who looked about four years younger than me, asked that. This boy named Seiran seemed to have an outgoing personality.

“Wouldn’t it be better if he were a little strict? Otherwise, you won’t grow as a Taoist practitioner.”

“Haoxuen, you’re so grown-up.”

Seiran called me grown-up, but this was Gyorei Cave, where Taoist practitioners lived. The elders were probably well over a hundred years old, so someone like me was still within the range of being a child.

“More importantly, I heard the assistant instructor matters more than the instructor.”

Talking like that, we headed toward the hall in the Main Hall. There, two elders and seven Taoist practitioners who seemed to be inner disciples were waiting. But one of them stood out as an odd one out, or rather as a distinctive presence. He was an inner disciple who looked five or six years younger than I was.

Elder Tsuen introduced us. After that, the inner disciples who would become assistant instructors were to be announced.

“Haoxuen’s assistant instructor will be Kou. He is young, but he is a talented inner disciple. Make sure to learn well.”

Seriously, an inner disciple this young was going to be my assistant instructor? Had they assigned me a dud, maybe? I stared at the inner disciple named Kou as if sizing him up. Even though he was young, he stood there with a calm air about him. I should at least greet him.

“Kou-shixiong, I look forward to working with you.”

“Yeah, likewise. It’ll be hard, but I want you to do your best.”

“Yes, I’ll do my best.”

After that, the two of us assistant instructor and disciple were supposed to talk, and so we went to the training grounds. It was because Kou-shixiong said he wanted to know what my abilities were like.

“Haoxuen, what are you best at?”

“The spear.”

“That’s a problem. I’m not particularly good with the spear, but that’s fine. Let’s have a mock battle and check your ability.”