The next week after Uncle Vernon had beaten him passed quickly. After they realized that nothing they did hurt him anymore they went the exact opposite and completely ignored Harry. This was both a blessing and a curse for him. He was no longer expected to get up in the morning and cook nor was he expected to do any chores but this also meant that any food cooked was cooked exactly for 3 people and any other food was quickly thrown away before he could even get to it.
While Uncle Vernon had at first told him he couldn't go to the library the rule wasn't enforced. As such Harry spent the next week solely at the library. When he asked about the book that was missing pages the Librarians told him that since the book was seemingly missing so much they had thrown it out. Harry was hoping that something had appeared in the book after he had reached as far as he had.
Any further attempts made to spread his power through his body was useless though. It seemed that he had to little left in his body to advance any further. This left Harry feeling depressed but even if he couldn't go any further the fact that he had gone as far as he did cheered him up.
Today was a bit different from his normal routine though. Uncle Vernon had gotten an all expense paid trip to China recently from Grunnings so he could visit one of the suppliers and as a bonus the company had given Vernon an extra two weeks off as well as tickets for his whole family so they could take a vacation. This would every other time mean that Harry would be left with one of the old ladies that normally babysat him. Mrs. Figg from down the drive was the go to in most cases. This time though Harry was told that no one could watch him and that his Family was forced to take him.
He was given specific instructions that as long as they were there in China he was to stay out of the hotel room for as long as possible and only show up before it got dark. Since he didn't have much that he could pack his small bag consisted of just a few changes of underclothes and two or three set of Dudley's old cloths. That was also something strange Dudley normally whined when Harry got to do anything with the rest of his Relatives but this time Dudley remained abnormally quiet.
Harry's final day before the vacation started was quiet. 5:30 AM rolled around quickly the next morning and everyone was ushered into the SUV that Vernon used as his daily driver. The drive to the London Airport passed in silence and by 7 the plane to China was on its way. The Dursleys had splurged a bit and gotten three first class seats but for Harry they put him into economy. Really the trip was the most relaxing trip Harry had ever been on with his relatives. Eleven hours later the plane had touched down.
The Airport they had landed in was the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport as it was the closest to the main office for the supplier. It would be a day before Vernon needed to head to the head office so in what Harry thought was a rare show of kindness, Vernon loaded up the Family including Harry and headed west into the mountains to a fairly remote town that Vernon told Harry was a hot spot for tourism.
Three hours later the ride was over and Uncle Vernon told Harry to get away from them while they went and enjoyed the hospitality. This was of coarse fine by Harry as after being in a car with Dudley for a few hours had almost driven him crazy. Thus Harry enjoyed his day in the small mountain town. While he didn't speak Chinese the fact he could read it helped him a lot. So the day passed. Two hours before dusk while Harry was walking toward the hot springs where the Dursleys had gone he spotted the car driving toward him on the street. Waving his arms and trying to get their attention seemed to fail for a brief moment before he spotted a massive grin on his Uncle's Face and as it sped passed Harry could see Dudley sticking his tongue out at him as they drove off into the distance. They had left him.
Surprising himself Harry just couldn't bring himself to care. Thoughts of all that they had done to him went through his head and Harry just didn't care what they did. If they wanted him to stay in this remote village in China he would. After all it couldn't be that much worse than being shoved into a small location every night to sleep in. Looking forward Harry could see a set of stairs heading up a nearby mountainside and with nothing else to do Harry moved forward.
As he approached the stairs he noticed two statues on either side. At first he thought it was a Eastern Chinese Dragon but upon closer inspection he could tell it lacked any arms or other appendages that would mark it as such. Instead it appeared to be a long snake with the head of a dragon. Below the statues embedded in the stone lay a plaque with the words "Trial of the Dragon Viper". With nothing else to do other than his curiosity Harry began his climb.
As he climbed he began to count the steps. He wasn't sure what pushed him to climb but with nothing else he could do but explore the village he pushed himself up the first few. The first few hundred passed quickly and with his new stamina he didn't get tired like before. By two thousand though Harry was starting to feel the strain on his young body. Sweat slowly started to appear and as he climbed it felt like a weight started pressing down upon him. Finally after what he counted was the Ten Thousandth step he reached the top. The top of the mountain, for that is exactly what it was, was flat almost like it had been sheared off at the top to leave just a perfectly circle plateau. Around the plateau in what Harry would later find out was the four cardinal directions were much larger statues of the snakes he saw at the bottom.
At the exact center of the platform a small temple could be seen. It looked to be just around five meters by five meters in size. A small set of red doors were resting closed upon the front of the structure. While on each side of the door two stained glass windows rested each one depicting the same snake one could see depicted in stone.
Approaching the door Harry felt an odd desire to instead of knocking to just enter the building and finding he had no reason to deny the thought that's exactly what he began to do. As he approached the building closer he could make out that while it was definitely an older building it looked to still be in good repair and this was reinforced when he reached out and pulled on the door. While the door seemed to be extremely heavy and almost impossible for him to move, the door opened silently as though it had been recently oiled. The opening to the building was pitch black due to the sun setting off to his left not illuminating the building insides at all. With seemingly no thought Harry entered the small structure.
Within moments of his body passing the doors border a small but bright flash temporarily blinded Harry leaving him clearing spots from his vision. What he was left staring at was another door just like the one he just passed through with another two window on either side just as before, but this time he was peering at the door and windows from seemingly inside. Turning around Harry found himself staring at a blank section of wall as though the door he had just entered through had vanished. The rest of the inside of the building though was bare and only a wooden floor beneath him even marked it as a well kept building.
Stepping forward the next door opened much easier at his touch. The weight he felt from the previous one seemingly no where to be found. As the door swung open Harry's jaw dropped. Before he had been on the peak of a single mountain with no other mountains within several miles of his location. When he came out this had been replaced by what looked to be three additional mountain peaks in front of him. The round platform he stood on before was gone as well and the shrine he exited from rested on the side of a fourth slightly shorter mountain peak than the other three in front of him. What really caught his eye though was the structures built upon the three peaks. Large monasteries rested upon the top of each peak with smaller houses wrapped around the mountainsides of each peak. Paths also wound from one monastery to the next with one central one coming from his location to each of the others before him.
"Amazing view isn't it?" A voice from beside Harry spoke.
Harry was so amazed by the view the fact someone was speaking with him didn't even surprise him and he replied. "It really is an amazing view." It only took a moment more before Harry jumped and turned to the voice. Sitting cross legged upon a cushion under one of the windows an old man with white hair and a short beard rested. He was staring at Harry from the corner of his vision.
"What brings you, young man to our wonderful sect this evening young one?" The man asked as his head turned toward the young child.
At the word sect Harry perked up just a bit. "I'm sorry for intruding like this but I didn't really have anywhere to go and as I was standing at the bottom of the stairs leading up the mountainside I just felt drawn to climb them." The man perked up at hearing the explanation.
"Ah you must be a new initiate then though you seem to only be part way through the first realm. What drew you to our sect before you finished the Body Tempering Realm?" This confused Harry. While he had followed along with the little book he found he didn't expect that what it was describing to be actual cultivation but the man spoke as if that was a real concept. Also the man seemed like he could tell just how far Harry had gone with it before making it to the sect. Questions raced through his mind and before he could even try and get his mouth in order to ask them they just spilled forth.
"Wait cultivation is real? You can tell what my cultivation is at?" A different question popped into his mind as well. "How can I understand you? I know your speaking Chinese and while I can read it I can't speak it." The old man just chuckled at the young 7 year old.
"Ah you must have found one of the manuals the sects send out. Am I right? It a small around 120 page orange book with how to go through the Body Tempering realm of cultivation." Harry only blinked at that information. "As for your last question Qi is linked to all living things. I just used my Qi to interpret the words your speaking and to also make sure you understand the words I speak. Once you have reached a level of understanding with your Qi you can do it as well."
With that question answered Harry answered the old mans question. "Um, yes sir I did find a small book just like the one your talking about but the one I found seemed to be missing a good section of it. Anything past the first 25 to 30 pages was missing. All I was able to do was the first exercise before I didn't know how to proceed."
The old man looked closely at the young boy in front of him taking in all the details he could about the child before speaking. "You talk as if you are much older than you seem but I can tell you are no older than 7 or 8 years of age. I have no idea what you must have gone through to force you to grow up as you have but I will tell you this. If you wish we will accept you here at the sect as a member for as long as you wish. You passed the test and made it to the top of the stairs." Harry couldn't help but let a few tears fall for the first time in many years. He had only learned crying would lead to worse beatings. "Now then you missed a large section of the Cultivation Manual the sects sent out. It sounds like you missed the section on how to cultivate further after you have finished all the Qi your body holds. You also missed what each step of Body Tempering does as well as what to do once you reach past the level the manual explains. Come let us go visit the Sect Master, he enjoys meeting all the new initiates that make their way here from the trials."
The man rose quickly and smoothly despite what looked to be an advanced age. Harry not wanting to be left behind followed behind as the old man smoothly followed the path through the sect proper. The walk took about 30 minutes but Harry was so engrossed in seeing everything going on around him the time slipped by quickly. The old man took him toward the highest peak and upon reaching the door they were greeted by an even older gentleman. Where as the man who guided him looked to be in his 70s the new man looked to be closer to 90 or 100. The new mans white beard hung just short of a foot from the ground while his hair was pinned up in a bun on top of his head. Wrinkles could be seen on the mans face yet his deep blue eyes displayed a energy Harry hadn't seen in anyone before.
"Greetings Sect Master." The old man guiding Harry exclaimed to the new man while bowing deeply. "I bring a new Initiate that recently completed the trial. Though how he even got to the trial is a bit of a mystery as his manual was missing pages. He shows great promise from what I can sense. He has been able to reach the 3rd Stage of Body Tempering while only using his internal Qi."
The Sect Master looked down at the old man guiding Harry before turning to look at Harry himself. "Thank you Elder Won for leading the young man here. I welcome you young one to the Dragon Viper Sect. Have you had much experience before with the cultivation world?"
Harry not quite knowing how to respond could only bow slightly before replying. "Um, No sir. I actually am from England and only got to the village at the bottom of the Mountain recently with my relatives..." Harry couldn't help but frown as he said the word relatives. Unknown to him the Sect Master picked up on his feelings but didn't probe. " I was walking around after they...ummm..." He mumbled the next part but the two older men could hear his words clearly. "after they left me there." His voice picked up a bit after that. "and I found the stairs up the mountainside. I wasn't sure what caused it but I just felt pulled to climb them and found myself here."
The Sect Master and Elder Won looked at Harry for a moment before the Sect Master spoke to him. "That is fine. The stairs is a Trial. As you ascend the stairs your Qi is tested. As long as you possess any use able Qi you will find yourself able to pass it and find yourself drawn to it. Its one of the ways we draw in new Initiates. As such as Elder Won has no doubt told you, You will be accepted here as long as you like. There are rules of coarse but none I believe you would have any issues with. May I have your name to add you to the roster of our sect?" Harry did so before the Sect Master began to turn to Elder Won. "Elder Won please take him to the Initiate dwellings and see about getting him into some new cloths. His looks to... well worn. Also since he is not from our location a brief explanation on our customs would not be a bad idea."
Shortly after Harry and Elder Won were moving away from what was explained to Harry was the Elder's Peak. Elder Won explained as they moved that the three peaks were broken up into three sections based on how far you had reached in your cultivation. For the new members the ones who were Body Tempering and second Core Foundation Realm, they were called the Initiates. For the next group those above Core Foundation, which Elder Won did not name, were called the Disciples. The last group was the Elders, of which Elder Won was, they were the leaders of the sect and there were only five Elders as well as the one Master.
Elder Won went on to explain the wording that should be used when interacting with people from the sect. Anyone who was an Initiate along side Harry could be addressed as Brother or Sister. If Harry interacted with a Disciple Harry was to address them as Elder Brother or Elder Sister. Finally if he interacted with an Elder or the Sect Master he was to address them as such. Elder Won also explained that when greeting anyone he was to bow as he had seen Elder Won do to the Sect Master. When Harry asked about meeting anyone else such as any workers in the sect the Elder explained that there were no people from outside the sect so only these rules needed to be followed while here.
After reaching the lowest peak where the Initiates stayed Elder Won gave Harry a brief tour by showing him where he could get something to eat as well as where he would be sleeping while he was part of the sect. He also showed Harry where the Initiates library was before he took him to the supply room and had him fitted with his new cloths. After everything that had happened both before reaching the sect and after Harry was left exhausted and the Elder could tell. Before the Elder left him for the night Harry was given brief instructions on what would happen further.
"Tonight I will give the Elder over the Initiates your information so he can send someone to gather you tomorrow. You will after breakfast be taken to the area with the other newly arrived Initiates and those that have just started Cultivating. At that time whoever is in charge of watching over your class will explain how to further your cultivation. Have a good night Initiate Potter." Harry couldn't keep a grin of his face as Elder Won turned away. Even being as excited as he was couldn't keep the young boy awake much longer. As he slipped into his bed Harry couldn't help but be excited about what was coming for him in the morning.
A/N: For anyone wondering I don't have a Beta Reader and just make sure I run a spell check as well as re reading the story before I post. Trying to get at least 1 chapter out a week on my off days.