Second Patriarch: Rise Of The Liu Clan

"That old missus runs the fruit stall over there. Always has the best apples. Oh, that stall over there, I used to buy wood from there. Good, sturdy planks- not that termite-eaten crap you'll find near the gates. Not that I'm much of a carpenter, I've just made a few pieces of furniture. Do you see that statue over there? Do you know who that statue is modeled after?" As Liu Zhu followed Cai Fang through the city, he noticed that he was very... talkative to say the least, as if he would share every single detail about Border City if someone let him. Liu Zhu, not too bothered by this, just shut up and let him talk until they got to their destination, a small restaurant in a sleepy corner of Border City.

Liu Zhu left ordering the food to Cai Fang, as he knew the menu front to back and promised that "everything here is delicious". As Cai Fang decided on what to order, Liu Zhu made small talk. This small talk was focused on Cai Fang initially, as Liu Zhu wasn't eager to talk about himself given the whole assassination incident and would rather not hear even more about Border City. As Liu Zhu had expected, Cai Fang was local to Border City. Like many young youths, had dreamed about becoming the City Lord, but at some point these dreams faded and were replaced with those of becoming a skilled blacksmith. This dream led him to become a blacksmith's apprentice, then a proper blacksmith, and then at some point he started cultivating and switched to refining. Liu Zhu wasn't sure how exactly this happened given that Cai Fang was from a normal family and shouldn't have had the funds to do either, but given that they had just met he wasn't about to inquire into it. It might seem rude even if it didn't turn out to be a big deal in the end.

After speaking about himself for a while Cai Fang asked Liu Zhu about himself. Liu Zhu mainly spoke in broad, vague strokes to avoid specifying too much about his family or what area he was from. It was unlikely that Cai Fang would let anything slip to anyone that mattered, but it was better to be safe than sorry when it came to life and death matters. Fortunately the food came before Liu Zhu ran out of nonspecific things to say and he used the interruption to shift the conversation over to refining. Cai Fang gave Liu Zhu many practical pointers, while Liu Zhu talked more about obscure facts and theory. One was lacking in knowledge while the other was lacking in skill, so they were a good match.

This conversation went on for quite a few hours as both of them were extremely interested in the subject, evidenced by the fact that they had poured several years of their life into refining by this point. Fortunately they remembered when Refiner Long would be announcing the results for his test and cut their conversation off before then, returning to the mansion to hear how the final test had went and which people would become disciples.

On the way back to Refiner Long's mansion, Liu Zhu asked a question he'd been wondering about for a while. "Did you just approach me because we happened to take the test at the same time? It'd be more useful to get acquainted with the juniors from the Five Families." Cai Fang seemed surprised upon hearing this question, but readily answered. "It may be more 'useful' to speak with people from the Five Families, but I'm just a commoner. I don't understand what goes on with them and am afraid of accidentally offending them. You're wearing cheaper clothes than all of them and scored higher on the second test than the first one, so I thought we might be similar. You're from some decent background, but you're sure as hell a lot closer to my standing than the rest of them are." Liu Zhu hadn't thought about this before, but in hindsight it did make some sense. He'd been wearing cheaper clothes in The Northern Wastes as to not stand out, but once the refiners left were almost all from the Five Families they had had the opposite effect.

The two returned to Refiner Long's mansion, where the servants recognized them and led them to Refiner Long. He nodded at the two as they entered. "Good timing. The last two will be out in a few minutes. They took a seat, quietly drinking tea and awkwardly glancing around at the room's decorations and the other juniors scattered about. Five minutes later Refiner Long returned with two of the competitors in tow, staring at the rings they'd made. He continued examining the rings for a couple minutes until putting them both down and turning his attention to the eight juniors before him.

Instead of announcing the results to the final test, Refiner Long just spoke to Cai Fang. "I need to speak to you for a moment, follow me." The two left the room, leaving the others to sit there in awkward silence. At this point everyone more or less knew that they hadn't won the competition but stayed anyways. After all, Refiner Long never said that he'd only be taking one disciple in- there could be positions left for others.

Refiner Long returned after a mercifully short wait to announce the results. "I've taken at look at all of your work and am ready to announce the results. Not as many people came as I expected, but there were a few interesting talents. Maybe it will be a good age for refiners in Yutian Country." The room was filled with a tense atmosphere as Refiner Long cleared his throat and began announcing the results. "1st, Cai Fang, 91 points. 2nd, Kin Wei, 81 points. 3rd, Hi Min, 80 points. 4th, Ki Xinya, 72 points. 5th, Ki Cai, 68 points. 6th, Hi Qinyue, 65 points. 7th, Liu Zhu, 59 points. 8th, Kin Yun, 58 points. Cai Fang is the most talented refiner in attendance and will be my next direct disciple. I would also like speak with Kin Wei, Hi Min, and Liu Zhu. Everyone else may leave now."

After Refiner Long finished speaking a servant opened the door behind them, gesturing for those not named to leave. Liu Zhu got up as he saw this, but paused after he realized that Refiner Long said he could stay. He silently wondered why Refiner Long would have business with him when he placed lower than most of the people he had told to leave, but he decided to just hold any questions for now and sit down. His confusion would probably be cleared up in a moment.

Once the other juniors were gone Refiner Long addressed those left. "None of you are talented enough to become my direct disciple, but I am interested in your futures. Kin Wei, Hi Min, both of you are good all-around talents. You may not be talented enough to get your family's attention, but your skills are appreciated here. You're free to become a normal disciple of mine and receive my teachings while you're in Border City. Liu Zhu, to be frank, you don't meet the requirements to become a disciple of mine. I normally wouldn't pay attention to you given your level of skill, but you possess an extraordinary level of strength and endurance for your cultivation. These are important traits for refiners, and I'm curious what you'd achieve if you were able to gain enough knowledge and skill. For the time being I'll just call you a 'probationary disciple'. I'll treat you the same as a normal disciple, but if I realize that you're not going to meet my expectations then I'll just end our relationship on amicable terms."

After thinking for a moment, Refiner Long wrapped up what he was saying. "That's about it. As normal disciples you won't learn any of my core skills or techniques, but besides that I'll do my best to teach you when I have time. You'll also allowed to use the facilities here and lent materials when needed. What do the three of you think about this offer?" Kin Wei immediately responded and accepted the offer. Liu Zhu took a bit longer to respond as he honestly hadn't expected to be offered any sort of position, but accepted after a few seconds. He'd be leaving the city in a few days, but he'd have to return to Border City sometime before he returned home, and he could take advantage of this chance then. There weren't any refiners this skilled under the Liu Clan and accepting didn't cost him anything, so it'd be a waste to turn down the offer.

Hi Min was the only one not to respond immediately, saying that he'd have to think about it for a while. He was probably be prepared to accept if he won and became a direct disciple, but given that Border City and the Hi family's headquarters were separated by nearly a month of travel his hesitance was understandable. Refiner Long said Hi Min could have a few days to work things out and turned to the three left. ""Alright then, from this point on Cai Fang is my direct disciple, Kin Wei is a normal disciple, and Liu Zhu is a probationary disciple. My full name is Long Shi, but you can just refer to me as Teacher Long. Some people prefer 'master' but they're generally blowhards, I really don't care much. There are around a dozen others I've taught, so if you run into them show them respect. That's unless they've forgotten to take care of their juniors, in which case you have the freedom to be as rude as you'd like."

After going over a few other things Refiner Long handed Liu Zhu and Kin Wei a small emblem. Apparently a few forces in The Northern Wastes would recognize it and he could use it to show that he was Refiner Long's disciple if he really needed to. Refiner Long threw in a note that if it was used for any acts of 'evil or arrogance' then he'd directly kick them out whether they were probationary or not. Refiner Long gave another, more intricately carved, emblem to Cai Fang. Liu Zhu curiously asked why the emblems for normal and probationary disciples were the same when the one for direct disciples was different, and Refiner Long replied that it was because he didn't have special emblems for positions he made up half an hour ago to fit his needs. There wasn't much to deal with after this so Liu Zhu congratulated Cai Fang for winning and introduced himself to Senior Apprentice Sister Kin Wei before returning to his inn.