“I’ll do as instructed,” Cha Ming said.
“Good,” Prince Shen said. “Grandmaster Pai Xiao, you are dismissed for now. I have further things to discuss with Tian Zhi and Director Yong. Please report to Bastion Wall as soon as possible. You may bring whatever possessions you like, but only one spatial treasure.”
Cha Ming bowed and left. He walked down the hallway, down the stairs, and passed a group of gloomy blood masters with his head bowed. He didn’t go back to his quarters, for he always carried his important possessions with him. Instead, he went directly to the large wall behind the palace.
Beyond the wall lay the dreaded Shattered Lands, the place where most of the ore in Bastion was harvested. He’d originally wondered how he’d find the time to come here, and in the end, he’d just had to kill a fifth of the Bastion blood monastery. The Shattered Lands were the densest source of gold element energy on the Ling Nan Plane. If Gold Source Marrow existed on this plane, that was where he would find it.
Chapter 20: Impossible
In the Icy Heart Pavilion, thirty or so young women trained in the snow. Hong Xin and Bai Ling watched them from an alcove above the courtyard where they trained, with nothing but cold to keep them company. An icy stream flowed through their training area. Many of the women sat in its frigid waters, cultivating despite the ice that formed around their wet robes. Some of their skins were white, while others were blue. As they risked death with their brutal training regimen, experienced figures watched them secretly from the shadows, ready to dive in if any reached their limits.
“So very different,” Hong Xin murmured. “So very painful. I could hardly imagine cultivating in freezing water as a qi-condensation cultivator.”
Bai Ling nodded in agreement. When they’d started their training, they were foundation-establishment experts. Even at that level, they wouldn’t have dared do such a thing.
A blue-robed woman walked up beside them. It was Ling Fei, vice head of the Icy Heart Pavilion. She looked down at those in the courtyard indifferently. “This is only the most basic training area. The qi harvested from training in this environment gains a frigid quality, we’ve discovered, which complements the Icy Heart Sutra. There are also side benefits.”
“Such as?” Hong Xin asked.
“The process is painful,” Ling Fei answered. “And numbing. By shutting out the pain, denying its existence, or at least ignoring it, it is easier to learn the essence of a frozen heart. Our goal is for new trainees to reach the first level of the Icy Heart Sutra within one year. Most make it, if sufficiently talented.”
“That’s just as fast as in the Red Dust Pavilion,” Hong Xin said.
“It’s faster, actually,” said Headmistress Lan, who was also with them. “Just like you’ve modified the old training program, we’ve had to as well. You chose to promote a lax learning atmosphere, and only those driven can succeed. Those who aren’t are encouraged to leave.
“It’s the same here too. We’ve chosen a painful method of teaching, and those who do not wish to continue don’t have to. They can quit at any time. To succeed, one has to numb the pain and dull the heart. And unlike the Red Dust Pavilion, we don’t only want undesirables and naïve women with false hopes, women we entrap into servitude. Here, we just want the best. There are no servants here, just well-treated pavilion members.”
This second visit to the Icy Heart Pavilion, just a half day after they’d visited their own headquarters, was an eye-opening experience. They’d expected prisoners and torture. Instead, they saw painful dedication. “What of the members who insist on continuing?” Bai Ling asked.
“Our generosity is limited,” Headmistress Lan said. “Those who come from rich families can pay to stay as a visiting member, but only insofar as we have the capacity to accept them. That capacity is dwindling as we speak. Our priority is nurturing productive members.
“That being said, anyone who achieves the first level of the Icy Heart Sutra before foundation establishment becomes an outer member. Anyone who reaches the third level of the Icy Heart Sutra before middle foundation establishment becomes an inner member. Finally, anyone who achieves the fifth level of the Icy Heart Sutra is promoted to a core member. Our core members are supplied with the best resources to form a frozen core and quickly improve their strength, so they can become top-earning members.
“By the end of five years, the training ends. Whatever anyone accomplishes after that is up to their own hard work. They can fund their cultivation with their wages and bonuses; there is work for anyone who has achieved any level of the Icy Heart Sutra, though those who’ve reached the first level only qualify as attendants. Only the untalented are content to stay in such a role. The others simply aren’t suited to our cultivation method. They leave, discard their cultivation, and start on a different path.”
“I see,” Hong Xin said, shivering slightly from the cold wind that blew out from the courtyard below. It was much colder down there than even the coldest winter on the continent, yet no one wore anything more than a thin cultivation robe. “Why don’t we move on?”
Headmistress Lan nodded. Ling Fei led the way down a corridor that led to the east side of the complex. There, they saw several students attending a lecture. They were outer members, and just like those in the courtyard outside, none of them smiled. It was a lesson in emotional dousing, the goal being to calm oneself or others. Off to the side, a senior student played a soothing song to assist the students as they learned.
The system their opposing pavilion had devised
