Second Patriarch: Rise Of The Liu Clan

The center of Border City was paved completely in stone and extremely well-organized, which stood in stark contrast to the chaotic outer edges. A couple streets away from the city center was a wide, two-floor building made of reddish bricks. A sign on the front read "NW Job Agency", and cultivators of all sorts steadily flowed in and out of the building. Inside was a clean, well-decorated lobby where several receptionists at Blood and Viscera Tempering stood, helping cultivators find work. Liu Zhu was currently standing in the second line, looking at several pieces of paper the receptionist had handed him.

Liu Zhu had been asked to state his name, age, cultivation, and battle strength to help find appropriate work. Liu Zhu came up with a fake name on the spot, Zuo Shi, and to draw less attention to himself he lied and said he was 15. The rest of the information given was accurate. The receptionist didn't question him further, simply jotting down the information and briefing him on several jobs they thought were appropriate. So far Liu Zhu had turned down a job helping take down a pack of mutated wolves where he'd be the second strongest cultivator, and a job helping gather medicinal ingredients for an apprentice apothecary in some dangerous forest the better part of a week away. The latter job interested him a bit since it was a chance to learn about plants unique to the Northern Wastes, but in the end he decided against it, forcing the receptionist to continue pitching jobs to him.

Luckily, the next job hit the mark. Apparently a village four days march away was seeking any and all assistance regarding an incoming beast horde. Pay was proportional to cultivation and how much one contributed during the beast horde. When Liu Zhu heard about this job he quickly accepted. This was an opportunity to fight in a massive group combat situation somewhat similar to a war, and he'd even be able to see cultivators above his level fight en masse. What else could he ask for?

Liu Zhu was told to leave go to the Western Gate shortly after dawn the next morning in order to meet up with a group of cultivators leaving for the same job. Besides that he was given a few other minor bits of information, but nothing much. After leaving Liu Zhu went to shop for a bit, aiming to purchase some books over the Northern Wastes' flora and fauna before he left Border City. Besides Liu Zhu's waxing interest in plants and animals and the long period of time he'd be spending in the Northern Wastes, there was another reason he made this purchase immediately. The settlements throughout most of the Northern Wastes wasn't as large as Border City, so logically he'd find the most completely information here.

Shopping for books and a few maps more specific than the ones Zhu Chao gave him took up a good portion of the afternoon, and so it almost evening by the time Liu Zhu was done. Since he was interested in the city's nightlife, he found a room at a decent-looking inn, got some food, and then read for the rest of the night. The books he bought weren't going to read themselves, and he had nothing better to do.

The next morning Liu Zhu woke up extremely early and got a quick meal before heading to the West Gate. In front of the gate were quite a few groups of people, many of them merchant caravans preparing to set out. Among these groups of people was a large group around 40 or 50 people in size, made up of only cultivators. Liu Zhu joined them after checking that they were the correct group, and was told they'd be leaving in half an hour. Liu Zhu was planning on striking up a conversation with one of the other cultivators in the meantime, but no one seemed particularly talkative. He figured that it was early in the morning and everyone was busy with their own arrangements and decided that he'd try again after they set out.

Unfortunately, Liu Zhu's efforts were blocked at every turn. The rest of the cultivators were at the very least 18, and many of them were far older than that. Besides that, quite a few either lone wolves, or veterans of the Northern Wastes who already had friends who they were speaking to. As a result, it was difficult for him to speak to anyone. Just when he was ready to give up, a lanky cultivator at Late Blood and Viscera Tempering approached him, introducing himself as Feng Jun. He was in his early 20s and stood out from most of the group, as he didn't have any battle scars yet.

Feng Jun was amiable enough, and after learning that Liu Zhu was new to the area was happy to just speak on while Liu Zhu listened. "I've been here nearly 10 years now, so I recognize most of the veterans in the group. Over there is 'Rockhead', he's a stubborn son of a bitch, but he can put a lot of force behind his hammer. Besides that there's..." Feng Jun introduced some of the members of the group he recognized, focusing on the ones who had already reached Meridian Opening. There was also a hunchbacked old woman at Qi Refinement travelling with them, but all Feng Jun had to say about about her was to leave her alone no matter what.

According to Feng Jun most of the group kept to themselves, but a few of them loosened up once they had a couple of drinks at night, so Liu Zhu would have better luck then. The two continued to make small talk on and off for a couple of hours, but eventually Feng Jun wandered off and spoke to someone else he had business with. Liu Zhu turned his focus to seeing if he could recognize any of the plants they passed by from his reading the night before after that, although he occasionally threw glances over to Feng Jun. Interesting enough, he always seemed to be talking to someone, and occasionally multiple people. This led Liu Zhu to idly wonder if a cultivator could get a sore throat from talking too much, but he figured that was a question only Feng Jun would know the answer to.

When night was about to fall the cultivators stopped, and a few of the cultivators at Meridian Opening assigned duties. Liu Zhu was sent to gather wood, and so he dutifully did so. After returning he saw that the camp was set up and a pot of some sort of soup was cooking. Thinking back to his previous conversation Liu Zhu approached someone with a relatively low cultivation and bought a bottle of alcohol off of them at twice the normal price, planning to give it to a Late Meridian Opening cultivator Feng Jun mentioned liked the brand to break the ice.

Once everyone had begun eating Liu Zhu approached the man, alcohol in hand, in an attempt to make conversation. Since the man had just run out of booze Liu Zhu's gift ended up being like charcoal in winter, and the 40-something cultivator immediately acted buddy-buddy with him.

The two sat next to each other, part of a large circle of cultivators sitting around a fire and eating. The man hurriedly scooped spoons of soup into his mouth as he spoke, occasionally stopping to take a swig of wine. "Mm, so how old you say you were?" "15." "Damn, that's pretty young for Bone and Marrow Tempering. I think you'd be better off doing something other than busy work here, but f.u.c.k, what do I know. We're all just trying to make some cash, eh?" Liu Zhu nodded and as the two carried on their conversation a couple of other cultivators joined, giving Liu Zhu a chance to acquaint himself with them. He wasn't a part of their group yet, but as he grew to know people things would only grow easier. He needed to thank Feng Jun for his earlier info when he had the chance, as without it a teenager like him would've had no chance breaking the ice with a bunch like this.