"Oh, right. Su Tingxue also told me how the cultivation realms are divided."
At those words Chu Xiaoyao grew interested. She even scraped her chair a few centimeters closer with a series of clunks. "Tell me. What are the realms of this world like?"
Zhou You counted on his fingers. "There are five realms: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Creation, and Ascension."
He tried hard to recall the heap of adjectives Su Tingxue had used for the Qi Refining stage, but the words were too unfamiliar, and he had remembered only a few. "Qi Refining stage... splits walls."
"Foundation Establishment... topples buildings."
"Golden Core stage... blows up a street."
"As for the Creation stage and the Ascension stage, she didn't say."
After hearing this, Chu Xiaoyao was silent for a long time. She felt it hardly mattered whether Su Tingxue explained the later realms or not. "Is this how immortal cultivators of the present age describe the realms?"
Maybe I should still think of a way back to Hongmeng Continent. At least over there they show the divisions of the realms some respect.
Zhou You scratched his head in embarrassment. "It's not like that. Mainly, I just didn't remember."
Chu Xiaoyao went on being silent.
Seeing that the mood had grown a little awkward, Zhou You hurried to change the subject. "Oh, right, right. Su Tingxue also told me the way we founded our sect wasn't proper."
"Not proper?" Chu Xiaoyao thought it over. Where had they gone wrong? Did they need to hold an opening celebration and invite the thousand or so people in the whole grade to eat in the cafeteria?
The cost of founding a sect was a bit steep. The sect's funds probably wouldn't cover it.
Or she could buy a bag of sunflower seeds and split them among the classes. If each person got one seed, two bags would be enough.
"She said we have to put it in a newspaper and announce it to the world. I figured we're a small sect, so posting it in the Chang'an Daily's notice section would do."
Chu Xiaoyao understood at once. "We really should announce it to the world. I didn't think it through."
Still, she hesitated a little, unsure how to go about it. She had never done this sort of thing before. "For the Chang'an Daily, a phone call should be enough, right? Look up a number on their official site?"
Zhou You had thought it through in more detail. "How about sending an email? It's hard to explain clearly over the phone."
"That makes sense."
Zhao Zhuo, who had been eavesdropping from the desk in front, could not help cutting in to supply a bit of common knowledge. "Putting a notice in a daily's notice section costs money. Five thousand yuan at the least. Go to a major paper, and the price can run past ten thousand."
"Five thousand?"
"That expensive?"
Zhou You and Chu Xiaoyao cried out together. Even a bowl of shaved ice at two yuan fifty outside the school gate was something they had to pool their money to buy. Five thousand yuan was an astronomical sum to the two of them. Only by skipping one meal a day and scrimping for a year could they save that much.
"Will a student ID get a discount?"
"Probably not."
Zhou You let his gaze drift toward Zhao Zhuo, who had butted in. "Would you consider joining our Carefree Sect?"
Chu Xiaoyao chimed in beside him. "If you join now, a donation of five thousand yuan gets you the seat of Great Elder."
Zhao Zhuo said, "...Do I look that much like a sucker to you?"
"Not really."
Zhou You and Chu Xiaoyao sank into thought again. The sect had only just been founded, and already it faced a fiscal-deficit crisis. Publishing in a daily was clearly not going to work.
"Did Su Tingxue mention any other method?"
Zhou You looked troubled. "There is another method. It's just a bit difficult."
Chu Xiaoyao brightened. She did not fear difficulty, only having no way at all. "What method?"
"Rebellion."
Zhao Zhuo whipped his head around, shock and fear on his face. Why were they suddenly talking about this? Was this something he was allowed to hear?!
There was no need to discuss it. The second method was rejected as well, and the two fell silent again.
Zhou You offered a tentative suggestion. "Any newspaper should do, right? Then... how about the school newspaper?"
"Hey, great idea!" Chu Xiaoyao's eyes lit up. So long as it was a newspaper, that was enough. Who cared whether it was a daily or the school paper? What mattered was the ceremony.
With the school newspaper, the problem would be much easier to solve. The president of the school newspaper club was in Zhou You's class.
"Fatty Wei!"
Wei Hang, who was sneaking a snack, saw Zhou You and Chu Xiaoyao come for him together and looked like a startled marmot.
The two of them braced their arms on the desk and stared at him with predatory intensity, like a pair of door gods.
Wei Hang was president of the school newspaper club at No. 2 High. Because he weighed two hundred twenty jin, his nickname was Fatty.
At the sight of them, Wei Hang felt terribly guilty. Could the news he had brought back to class—that Su Tingxue had knelt to Zhou You—have reached Zhou You, and now the truth was out?
He gritted his teeth, wrestled with himself, and then made up his mind. He took out his snacks. "Hands out. Three potato chips each."
"We didn't come for potato chips."
"A few potato chips would be fine too."
The two of them spoke at the same time, though what they said differed slightly.
"How can an immortal cultivator chase the desires of the belly!" the Carefree Empress scolded.
"I didn't eat this evening. I only had two bites of shaved ice. I'm hungry," the Qi Refining cultivator quibbled.
Hearing that Zhou You had not eaten, Wei Hang gritted his teeth again, steeled himself, and shoved the remaining third of the bag of potato chips into Zhou You's hands. "This is all I've got."
Zhou You gave two dry coughs, drew out two chips, and handed the rest back. He was hungry, but not so hungry that he would take all of Wei Hang's snacks.
Besides, if he took all the chips, he would be too embarrassed to ask a favor.
"What did you two come for?"
"To publish in the school newspaper."
"Did you lose something?" Wei Hang was surprised. Since when had these two wanted to put something in the school paper?
"The two of us founded a sect. We're announcing it to the world through the school newspaper!"
Chu Xiaoyao picked up the triangular identity plaques from the desk and showed them to Wei Hang. Written on them were "Carefree Sect Grand Elder" and "Carefree Sect sect master."
Wei Hang thought it over and agreed. The school paper was nothing but boring stuff anyway, and it was always hard to fill. Every time he fretted over what to write. A bit of something new would do just fine. "All right. How do you two want it written?"
As for founding a sect, he had known Chu Xiaoyao for two years. Never mind a sect. Even if Chu Xiaoyao said she was founding the United Nations, he would not be surprised.
"Just write: the Carefree Sect is founded this day. Grand Elder Chu Xiaoyao, sect master Zhou You, deputy sect master Nuomi."
Wei Hang paused. "Who's Nuomi?"
"Our class air conditioner."
"Huh?"
"I misspoke. Someone from outside the school."
"Oh."
Chu Xiaoyao thought it over and felt the introduction was too plain to be proper. "Since what we're founding is an immortal cultivation sect, with only a dry introduction like that, who will know we cultivate immortality?"
Zhou You had thought of this too. "But saying outright that I'm an immortal cultivator doesn't seem good either. According to Su Tingxue, immortal cultivators nowadays all stay hidden. They don't appear in the open."
Wei Hang ate potato chips while listening to the two of them in the grip of chuunibyou, and the chips somehow tasted better than before.
"Then write some traits of an immortal cultivator?"
"That works. Just write that I can now do a one-handed bottle-cap twist."
"A one-handed bottle-cap twist?" It was the first time Chu Xiaoyao had heard of the idea, and it was quite unfamiliar. Zhou You looked very proud, and she could not quite make sense of it.
"This is a mark of advancing to the Qi Refining stage. It shows great strength." Zhou You explained with a touch of smugness. When he had twisted the cap off that evening, he had been happy for quite a while.
"Wasn't it something like the strength of one ox?"
"They say that was the old mark. You rarely see oxen in big cities now, so it was changed to twisting bottle caps." Zhou You quite approved of the change. Immortal cultivation had to keep up with the times too.
Chu Xiaoyao was a stickler for the established rules, and she felt that "the strength of one ox" had real flair. "Can we write the strength of one ox as well?"
Zhou You thought about it, decided there was no problem, and passed the request on to Wei Hang.
"Sure." Wei Hang agreed readily.
"Thanks. I'll treat you to shrimp sticks tomorrow."
"Ah, it's such a small thing. We're classmates." Wei Hang waved a hand, unconcerned.
The next day the school newspaper came out fresh off the press. Wei Hang really gave them face. Using his authority as president, he worked through the night and put the news of the Carefree Sect's founding in the front-page headline. Any student who got a copy was drawn to it.
"Congratulations to Class Three of the third year of our school on founding the Carefree Sect. Grand Elder Chu Xiaoyao, sect master Zhou You, deputy sect master Nuomi."
"Of them, sect master Zhou You has the strength of an ox and can do a one-handed bottle-cap twist."
Su Tingxue set down the school newspaper, her brows faintly knit, thoroughly baffled.
"Did they found an acrobatics troupe?"
Chapter 14