Chapter 1: The Ash-Picker
The rain on Mount Cinnabar smelled of wet slate and crushed pine needles. It did nothing to wash the ash from Li Mu's hands. He was an "Ash-Picker," a polite term for the lowest cast of servants in the Azure Sect—those who shoveled the remnants of the cultivation furnace fires every dawn. It was a life without dignity and, more importantly, without Qi. Qi, the vital energy of the heavens and earth, flowed through everyone in the cultivation world. To cultivate was to harness and refine it, to achieve immortality, to split mountains with a single sword stroke. Li Mu, however, was a void. Born in the remote villages of the Jade Coast, his meridians, the channels through which Qi flowed, were blocked, stagnant. A cultivator had once called him a "spirit-deadened husk."The furnace room was stifling, even in the mountain rain. Master Hong, the furnace keeper, a bulky man whose cultivation had plateaued at the third stage of Qi Condensation years ago, stood over him."Faster, boy," Hong barked, kicking a bucket that sloshed grey water onto the floor. "The Elders demand hot tea made from the first embers. Today is the Proving of Inner Disciples."Li Mu said nothing. He only gripped his iron shovel tighter and worked faster. He was accustomed to the abuse. In the Azure Sect, the weak were stepping stones for the strong. Once his chore was done, he carried the last bucket of coarse, spent ashes to the disposal chute outside the main courtyard. The chute opened into a chasm that led to the "Lower Earth," the realm of mortals. He paused by the marble balustrade, listening. The sounds of the Proving drifted from the grand hall: the whoosh of Qi-imbued palms meeting granite, the sharp clash of training swords, and the excited shouts of the promising young disciples. His own younger sister, Li Qin, was competing today. She had a rare Sea-Spirit constitution and was a favorite to become a core disciple. He was proud of her, but the noise was a painful reminder of the chasm between their destinies. He turned to the chute, ready to empty his bucket, when he noticed something shimmering within the cold ashes. A flicker of deep emerald light. He reached in, his heart pounding a strange rhythm against his ribs. He pulled out a small, smooth stone, the size of a pigeon's egg. It was jade, but unlike any jade he had ever seen. It felt cold as glacier ice in his ash-caked hands. As his fingers brushed the surface, a sudden, sharp jolt, like a tiny lightning strike, shot up his arm. It wasn't painful, but startling. He almost dropped the stone down the chute. He hid the jade in his ragged tunic just as Master Hong reappeared, scowling. "Daydreaming again, you worthless worm? Back to the barracks!"Li Mu bowed low, his heart thrumming, the cold stone pressed against his chest. For the first time in his life, he didn't feel the crushing weight of emptiness. He felt a flicker of something.