Wei Zian had a bad feeling about this... "And this elder is?"
"Elder Xu Yan."
Wei Zian groaned and buried his face in his hands. Of all the elders in the sect, Xu Yan was universally acknowledged as the worst guiding elder any disciple could possibly get. It just had to be him.
"It's not that bad," Yun Xia tried to reassure him. "The rumors are mostly exaggerated, spread by lazy disciples who didn't want to do the work Elder Xu requires. I'm sure a talented, hardworking disciple like you will have no problems with him."
Wei Zian snorted. "There's no chance of transferring to another elder, is there?"
"Not really. We had a lot of disciples advance last year, and all the elders are overloaded with students. Elder Xu is the least busy of all the available elders."
"I wonder why," Wei Zian mumbled. "Fine. What about cultivation paths?"
Yun Xia handed him another scroll, this one unsealed, containing a list of all the cultivation paths offered by the sect. The list was long. Very long. You could choose almost anything, even subjects not strictly related to cultivation: advanced formation theory, classical literature interpretation, and architectural principles. This wasn't surprising, since the orthodox cultivation tradition had always been connected to scholarly pursuits.
"You can choose up to five, but no fewer than three cultivation paths this season. It would be easier for us if you decided now, so we can finalize the meditation hall schedules before classes start next week. Don't worry too much about the length of the list. Even if you choose something you don't like, you can switch to a different path during the first month."
Wei Zian frowned. There were so many paths, and he wasn't sure which ones he wanted to take. He'd already gotten the worst guiding elder possible, so he really couldn't afford to make a mistake here. This would take some time.
"Please don't take this the wrong way, Senior Sister Yun, but could we take a short break before continuing?"
"Of course," she said. "Is something wrong?"
"Not at all," Wei Zian assured her. "It's just that I really need to use the washroom."
Not the best first impression to make on an Inner Disciple. Qin Ling was definitely going to pay for putting him in this situation.
⋆⋆⋆
Wei Zian walked behind his family in silence as they entered the city's caravan station, ignoring Wei Fu's loud greetings to his "friends." He scanned the crowd for any familiar faces but, as expected, found none. He didn't know many people in his hometown, as his parents loved to remind him. He felt his mother watching him as he unsuccessfully looked for an empty bench, but refused to meet her gaze, she'd take that as permission to start talking to him, and he already knew what she'd say.
'Why don't you join Wei Fu and his friends, Wei Zian?'
Because they're immature idiots, just like Wei Fu, that's why.
He sighed, staring at the empty staging area with annoyance. The caravan was late. He didn't mind waiting itself, but waiting in crowds was pure torture. His family would never understand, but Wei Zian hated crowds. It wasn't anything specific, it was more like large groups of people gave off some kind of pressure that weighed on him constantly. Most of the time it was just annoying, though it did have its uses, his parents stopped making him go to temple ceremonies when they realized that putting him in a small hall packed with people made him dizzy and faint within minutes. Luckily, the caravan station wasn't crowded enough right now to cause such intense effects, but Wei Zian knew staying here too long would take its toll. He hoped the caravan wouldn't be too late, because he didn't want to spend the rest of the day with a qi deviation headache.
Wei Fu's loud laughter broke through his thoughts. His older brother didn't have such problems, that's for sure. As always, he was cheerful, social, and had a smile that could light up a room. The people around him were clearly charmed, and he stood out among them immediately, despite having the same thin build as Wei Zian. He just had that kind of presence. He was like Wei Dai that way, except Wei Dai actually had skills to back up his charm.
He scoffed and shook his head. Wei Zian didn't know for sure how Wei Fu had gotten accepted into the supposedly elite Celestial Peak Sect, but he strongly suspected Father had given out some spirit stones to get Wei Fu in. It wasn't that Wei Fu was stupid, exactly, but he was lazy and completely unable to focus on anything, no matter how important. Not that most people knew that, of course, the boy was charming as hell, and very good at hiding his flaws.
His father always joked that Wei Fu and Wei Zian each got half of Wei Dai in them: Wei Fu got his charm, and Wei Zian his competence.
Wei Zian had never liked his father's sense of humor.
A horn sounded, and the caravan entered the station with creaking wheels and the clopping of hooves. The old caravans were simple horse-drawn wagons that left dust trails wherever they went and needed frequent stops to rest the animals, but this one used the newer formation-powered carriages that ran on spirit stones instead. Cleaner, cheaper, and needed less maintenance. Wei Zian could actually feel the spiritual energy coming from the carriage as he approached, though his spiritual sense was too weak to tell him any details. He had always wanted to examine the formation arrays inside one of these carriages but could never figure out a good way to ask the caravan masters.
That was a thought for another time, though. He said a quick goodbye to Mother and Qin Ling and boarded the carriage to find a seat. He deliberately chose an empty compartment, which was surprisingly easy to find. Apparently, despite the crowd at the station, not many people were taking this particular caravan.
Five minutes later, the caravan master blew another horn blast, and the long journey to Celestial Peak