There was a sharp crackling sound, followed by a formation bell ringing.
"Now stopping in Kunshan City," a disembodied voice announced through a communication talisman. Another crackling sound. "I repeat, now stopping in Kunshan City. Thank you."
The talisman crackled one last time, then went silent.
Wei Zian sighed irritably and opened his eyes. He hated caravan travel. The boredom, the heat, and the rhythmic rocking motion all made him sleepy, but every time he finally started to meditate, he was rudely awakened by the caravan announcer. That was the announcer's job, to wake up passengers who might miss their destination, but it was still annoying.
He looked out the window and saw a caravan station identical to all the others they'd stopped at. In fact, it looked exactly like the previous five stations, down to the blue-bordered sign saying 'Kunshan City.' Apparently the Imperial Construction Guild used the same blueprint for all their stations these days. Looking at the platform where they were stopping, he saw a large crowd waiting to board the caravan. Kunshan was a major trading hub, and many newly rich merchant families lived here, sending their children to Celestial Peak Sect to become cultivators and mingle with children from other powerful families. Wei Zian hoped none of his fellow disciples would join him in his compartment, but he knew that was wishful thinking, there were too many of them, and his compartment was completely empty except for him. He shifted in his seat and closed his eyes again.
The first person to join him was a plump girl wearing green robes and jade spectacles. She gave him a quick glance and started reading a jade slip in silence. Wei Zian would have been happy with such a quiet traveling companion, but soon a group of four other girls came in and took the remaining seats. The newcomers were very loud and kept giggling, and Wei Zian was tempted to get up and find another compartment. He spent the rest of the trip alternating between looking out the window at the endless fields they were passing and exchanging annoyed glances with the green-robed girl, who seemed just as irritated by the other girls' behavior.
He knew they were getting close to Celestial Peak Sect when he saw spirit trees on the horizon. There was only one city on this route that was this close to the Great Northern Spirit Forest, and the caravans usually avoided going near such a dangerous place. Wei Zian picked up his qiankun bag and went to stand by the exit. The idea was to be among the first to get off, and thus avoid the usual crowding that always happened when they reached the sect, but he was too late, there was already a crowd at the exit when he got there. He leaned against a nearby window and waited, listening to three first-year disciples talking excitedly about how they were going to start learning cultivation techniques. They were going to be so disappointed, the first year was all theory, meditation exercises, and learning how to consistently access your qi.
"Hey, you! You're one of the senior disciples, aren't you?"
Wei Zian looked at the girl talking to him and suppressed a groan. He so did not want to talk to these people. He'd been traveling since early morning, Mother had lectured him because he hadn't offered Yun Xia tea, and he was in no mood for conversation.
"I guess you could call me that," he said cautiously.
"Can you show us some cultivation technique?" she asked eagerly.
"No," said Wei Zian flatly. He wasn't even lying. "The carriage has disruption formations that block qi manipulation. They had problems with disciples starting fires and damaging the compartments."
"Oh," the girl said, clearly disappointed. She frowned, like she was trying to figure something out. "Qi manipulation?" she asked carefully.
Wei Zian raised an eyebrow. "You don't know what qi is?" She was a first-year, sure, but this was basic knowledge. Anyone who went through elementary instruction should know at least this much.
"Magic?" she tried weakly.
"Ugh," grunted Wei Zian. "The elders would fail you for that answer. No, it's not magic. It's the energy that powers cultivation techniques, the power that a cultivator shapes into supernatural effects. You'll learn about it in lectures, I guess. The point is: no qi, no techniques. And I can't use qi right now."
This wasn't completely true, but whatever. There was no way he was explaining things to some random person, especially when she should already know this stuff.
"Um, okay. Sorry to bother you then."
With a lot of creaking and formation energy release, the caravan stopped at Celestial Peak Sect's arrival pavilion, and Wei Zian got off as quickly as possible, pushing past the awestruck first-years staring at the sight before them.
Celestial Peak Sect's arrival pavilion was huge, enclosed like a massive spirit cave rather than a building. Actually, the whole arrival area was even larger, because there were four more "spirit caves" like this one, plus all the support facilities. There was nothing like it anywhere else, and almost everyone was amazed the first time they saw it. Wei Zian was too, when he first arrived here. The feeling of awe was made stronger by the sheer number of people moving through this terminal, whether they were passengers arriving and departing, workers inspecting the carriages and unloading luggage, message runners shouting news, or beggars asking for spirit stones. As far as Wei Zian knew, this constant flow of people never really stopped, even at night, and today was especially busy.
He checked the time on the large formation clock hanging from the ceiling and, seeing he had plenty of time, bought a steamed bun filled with spirit herbs from a nearby vendor. He then headed toward the sect's central plaza, planning to eat his food while sitting by the spirit spring there. It was a nice place to relax.
Celestial Peak Sect was an unusual place. It was one of the most developed and largest cultivation centers in the world, which seemed strange at first, since the sect was dangerously close to spirit beast-infested wilderness and wasn't in a good location for trade. What really made it famous was the massive circular spirit vein on the west side of the sect, probably the most obvious spiritual wellspring ever discovered and the only ninth-grade spirit vein known to exist. The incredibly massive amounts of spiritual energy flowing out from the earth had made this spot irresistible to cultivators. The presence of so many cultivators made Celestial Peak Sect unlike any other place on the continent, both in the culture of the people living there and, more obviously, in the architecture of the sect itself. Many structures that would be impractical to build elsewhere were common here, creating an impressive sight if you could find a good spot to view the sect from.