Disclaimer!
Besides my original characters, the other characters do not belong to me (I'll name them when they appear). I am not making any money off this story, and am merely writing Fan Fiction.
I hope you enjoy Soul Land: Generation Talents Journey :)
"Calm down, a senior and a junior shouldn't be arguing like this," Cao Li Yang said, stepping between his student and who he still considered his friend. "Xi Yuan," He asked. "Are you going to stay here?"
With this question, all the former fighting spirit died down and Zhuang Xi Yuan dejectedly shook his head. "I always wanted to be great, but now I already know my time is up. If I'm going to die, then I want to do it back at home where everyone else is. Go with what that nincompoop said. Change the name,"
"Any suggestions?"
"Well, I would say Amazing Wonder or Great Xi Yuan," Zhuang Yi Xuan said, already setting off. "but since my last wish is for our little village. How about we just call it Little Village Academy,"
"You have no style," Gu Yan Ling mumbled.
Cao Li Yang smiled. "Then Little Village Academy it is,"
"The money I raised is in a little chest in one of the houses," Zhuang Yi Xuan continued, tossing back a key. "Here's the key. One last thing, there is one more spirit master academy in this Ping Ling kingdom. They might fight you for the spot, don't let me be disappointed!" He gave a cheery chuckle, then continued on his way. Watching Zhuang Yi Xuan's departing figure, Cao Li Yang gave a firm nod. "I'll definitely make a name,"
"Don't worry, Teacher," Qi Long said. "Although, I never was fond of that old man—I mean Mister Zhuang, your dream is our dream, we'll definitely help you accomplish this."
"Yes!" Lan Jing Hua said. "We'll definitely assist!"
They headed into the small area of the academy, touring around a bit before gathering back at the entrance once again. "There seems to be only 3 small houses," Qi Long noted. "They are completely empty other than bathrooms and such. Teacher Cao, one can be for the females, the other for males, and the last for you - just like back at the village,"
Cao Li Yang nodded. "I brought along the money, and put it in a storing tool," Storing tools was one of the most common devices used by those who could afford them. They would each house a certain amount of space where you could freely put and take things using it. They weren't cheap, but depending on the quality some less wealthy families could afford them. Cao Li Yang's had two from his earlier years as a spirit master. Both were messenger bags that, like other storing tools, could house a lot more than what it looked like it could. "We'll first go and hunt spirit beasts after we rest today. Organize yourselves among each other, and try not to fight too much. I'll be leaving briefly for replenishing supplies, so stay at the academy. Qi Long, I trust you to look after the others," Qi Long gave a firm nod of his head, letting Cao Li Yang leave them with some ease. Still, his footsteps were hurried. Despite their mature mindsets, and responsible attitudes, the eldest among them was still only 12. He would try shopping as fast as possible.
After Cao Li Yang left, the group of 7 naturally first followed his instructions separating themselves into two groups of males and females going to the houses. Qi Long, Ning Tian Cheng and Bai Shu headed to one house, while Gu Yan Ling, Zu Que, Dan Guo, and Lan Jing Hua headed to the other. "Come!" Gu Yan Ling said, already running across the empty field in the centre of the academy. If one were to describe the geography of it, it would be a giant circle. To the north was the house where Cao Li Yang found the money and would stay in, while to the east was where the boys were staying, the west housing where the girls would stay and at the south of the entrance where the sign stood. In between these 4 spots was just a large empty field for practising.
Gu Yan Ling had soon entered the house with the other 3 girls reaching it after a short time. The house was only one floor, and rectangular shaped. To one side of the door once entering there were two bunk beds, each of their frames pressed against the right wall. In between these two beds was an old rug on the floor and a window on the wall. On the other side, there was a kitchen and a small rectangular table in the space next to it. The bathroom was on the same side as the beds, a wall separating the two, while the bathroom door facing the space where the rectangular table.
Gu Yan Ling had already claimed one of the bunk beds, choosing the top bunk of the bed closest to the door. Immediately upon entering, Dan Guo chose the lower bunk of this bed, while Zu Que ran to the top of the other bunk. "Ah," Gu Yan Ling sighed, her legs swaying as she looked down at everyone. "How unfortunate, Xiao Jing has to get the spot closest to the bathroom. Sister Dan, how about you switch with her?"
"Eh?" Zu Que, one of the only ones who often decided to try and compete in some of Gu Yan Ling often suggested competitions, said. "Yan Ling, how about you switch with her?"
"Ah? No, that won't be good. She doesn't want to be in such a high place, right Xiao Jing? Listen to your Sister Gu, Dan Guo's spot is the best,"
"It doesn't matter," Dan Guo said, picking Lan Jing Hua up and putting her on the bed. "Here, sister lets you have this spot."
Lan Jing Hua smiled and gave her a hug, saying a thank you before sitting back down on the mattress. Suddenly both Gu Yan Ling and Zu Que climbed off of their bunks. "What's wrong?" Lan Jing Hua asked.
"This is truly bad quality," Zu Que said. "This bed is creaking a lot, and there aren't even chairs in this house. I'm afraid it won't last a night of us sleeping on it,"
"Just as expected," Gu Yan Ling said about to knock on one of the bunk bed's posts but didn't dare to in case it collapsed if she used too much strength. "Do you think we can try fixing this thing?" Back in the village, at the beginning there hadn't been any houses. The buildings were later constructed by Cao Li Yang who let them offer some assistance.
"Probably not," Zu Que said. "But check on the boys, see their living conditions. I need to use the bathroom," She hadn't left for a minute before coming back out, her face scrunched in disgust. "Never mind, I'll hold it," She said, lightly shuddering. "The bathroom's floor tiles, which is the only place that actually has floor tiles, are all covered in mold," Hearing this the expression of the other's immediately soured. "Forget old man Zhuang's teachings being too expensive," Gu Yan Ling remarked. "I would come to live in such a shabby house if someone gave me that much money. Let's sleep outside on the ground like the other nights, the beds might not hold,"
When Cao Li Yang came back the other implored that they first get their spirit rings then come back, rather first starting then rest and wait in the village. "I found a group of cockroaches under one of the mattresses," Bai Shu explained. The boy's house was the same styling as the girls, but since there were only three of them, there was naturally an extra bed. Hearing some faint sounds, Bai Shu flipped over the mattress of this last bed and found at least 15 cockroaches at first sight.
"Tian Cheng screamed really loudly when he saw that," Qi Long laughed, giving a teasing pat on Ning Tian Cheng's back.
"Haha," The latter responded, smiling as he gave a light slap on Qi Long's hand. "Wait until I find a cockroach and put it in your bed,"
"We'll go hunting spirit beasts first then." Cao Li Yang said. "After, we can review some material then start renovating the academy. Although it's an academy, I only want to teach you 7. I rather not hire more teachers because Xi Yuan wanted our village to be known, so I want to keep it to the people from our village, and that includes you 7," He gave a smile. "You all are my family after all, and that's considered a part of the original village,"
"Teacher Cao," Dan Guo said. "We have a lot of past cultivation that is going to be released after we get a spirit ring, do you think some of us might need to get our second as well?"
"Of course," Cao Li Yang answered. "Does anyone remember what a domain is?"
"Oh!" Gu Yan Ling said. "I remember this! I'll answer! A domain is an ability that can adjust the conditions within the area it stretches to. Domains are very rare, and not many spirit masters have them,"
"It can be given by a spirit ring, a spirit bone, or more," Lan Jing Hua continued. "But the rarest and most exceptional case is a domain from within, an innate domain,"
"Both correct," Cao Li Yang said, a small sense of pride in his heart. "I have an innate domain, one of its effects is that I can tell the spirit, how high the spirit power is and what colour spirit rings the people inside my domain have. Depending on the spiritual sense also known as the mental sense of the person, I can also tell some of their spirit ring abilities. However, as for you all, it is most definite that you will have to hunt several spirit rings. Let's take Qi Long for an example. Innately, his spirit power would have to be over 10 like all of you, and his spirit, the Azure Dragon, is naturally one that has a very fast cultivation pace compared to other spirits. Qi Long, you are 12 which means 6 years of continuous cultivation. Although the pace of cultivation will slow the more spirit power you have, the Azure Dragon spirit also slows this down - so your spirit power should be over 40."
Truthfully, these weren't the only factors, but just the only ones he could tell them at the moment. Cao Li Yang remembered that many years ago, he was thirsting for more knowledge, power, and new experiences. One day he had opened a long ago locked away prison of sorts. There, several evil creatures were locked there along with several good energies that were to be there to suppress them forever. When he opened it, both good and bad were let out. The good energies, he wasn't too certain what happened, but he knew there was a special kind of spirit that came every hundred thousand of years or so. These good energies, some of them automatically infused themselves with random people, most likely giving talents and more ideal conditions when cultivating. Others granted the rest of that group of special spirit to others. If this was a normal spirit master, no matter how gifted, reaching over rank 40 at age 12 was impossible. If not for those good energies fusing already with all them, it would have probably taken them each up until at least a few more years at best to reach the rank, after all, their innate talent was originally already pretty good. As for the evil creatures...that was something to worry about for the future. Right now, Cao Li Yang knew he had to concentrate on properly training the 7.
How is everyone doing today?
I know it seems like everyone in this group is some sort of incomparable genius and that I'll be writing a boring story where they succeed at every turn, but I assure you all that I do have background information that I plan to slowly introduce through the chapters along with other adventures and hardships!
Have a beautiful day!