The Qi sect is one of the largest sects on the continent. It is so large in fact that most think of it more as an independent nation rather than a sect, as its territory is on par with that of some empires. Though its main headquarters is situated on the edge of the Equestrian Mountain range that lies on the border between the sect and its northern neighbor, the Ryu empire. It is split into 10 territories, each marked by a mountain dedicated to one of the leading figures of the sect. Aside from the main branch on the Qi Mountain, each mountain belongs to a branch sect of a different element that is responsible for protecting and maintaining the surrounding villages and towns in their area. Each branch sect's leader is picked from among the strongest of the sect's cultivators belonging to one of the nine elements.
Once every three years, every elder or representative disciple will gather at the main headquarters to assess and distribute resources, while judging the new applicants for the sect. Each elder is a cultivator who specializes in a different element. Hence, it is usually pretty cut and dry who gets which disciples. Since most applicants are already in the qi refinements stage and have already decided on an element, there is rarely any dispute over who goes where. Though there are cases of people still in the body refinement stage entering the sect, they usually are young children who got in through a referral to a specific faction. Hence, the elders whom they are referred to usually get to pick first before deciding whether or not to send them to one of the other branch sects.
"Name: Chi Ken. Age: 16. Cultivation stage: Body refinement! Aptitude: Mediocre in all elements. Character: Cheerful and excessively energetic!" The servant said as he reported on the assessment of this year's applicants.
"Body refinement? Not qi refinement?" The gray-haired elder with a scruffy mustache asked.
"That is correct sir!" The servant replied.
"Let's just send him away!" The elder with a scar over his right eye said.
"Wait, one moment! He may be in body refinement, and he may be talentless, but he is still rather young! Why don't we give him a chance?" The gray eyed elder said.
"What are you suggesting?" The middle-aged sect leader sporting a dirty and unkempt beard asked.
"Among us here there is one who hasn't taken in any disciples in quite some time now! Since he has no talent for any element, why not send him there? We wouldn't want our precious Fire-peak to be left without any disciples now, would we?" The bald elder said sarcastically, while pointing at the drunk red-haired lady sitting slumped over the table, while the disciple escort behind her, looked down on her with disgust.
"Splendid idea! I was worried that the pressure of being an elder was too much for my senior sister! I am sure she would appreciate your kind gesture elder Ming!" The sect leader said with a malicious grin on his face.
As suppressed chuckles filled the room it became rather apparent that the majority of the elders had a rather low opinion of the fire element elder. The remainder of the meeting passed without a hitch as the youngest-looking elder in that room remained asleep.
...
A few weeks later.
"So, this is the Fire peak, huh!" The brown-haired young man Chi Ken said as he arrived at his new home for the foreseeable future.
After begging the guards and evaluators to give him a chance. He was eventually accepted as an outer disciple at the branch sect on the Fire Peak Mountain. Since he was still in the body refinement stage he had to walk on foot to the southwestern side of the territory where it was located.
Compared to the well-kempt village at the foot of the main headquarters, the one at the foot of the fire peak looked like a ghost town. Most buildings were destroyed or run down, while many of the people here seemed starved or ill.
"Your food! Give it!" A little boy in rags so thin you could see his bones through his skin threatened, whilst shakily grasping the rusty blade he was pointing towards Chi Ken.
"You're holding it wrong." Chi Ken said as he looked at the malnourished child.
"Shut up! And hand it over!" The boy said, while he shakily waved the blade at him.
However, Chi Ken just grabbed the blade and pulled it out of the poor boy's hand.
"Look kid! If you don't have the energy to even point it straight, then you're supposed to relax your arms a bit while holding it out like this! That way you save some energy, while showing you're armed!" Chi Ken said, while giving the boy an unwanted lesson on how to rob someone.
"Just shut up! And give me your food!" The boy cried, as tears started forming in his eyes.
"Oh, good! You still have the energy to cry! You should start with that next time! Might trick them into letting down their guard! Anyways, here you go!" He said as he dropped a small bag of some gross smelling rations, along with the rusty blade.
After that he headed towards the withered gates leading to the fire peak. He had no trouble getting through the gates as there was no one standing guard this time.
After walking halfway up the mountain, Chi Ken looked for someone to give him directions when he heard a sound coming from one of the huts. After knocking on the door to ask whoever was inside for directions, a red-faced disciple came out to greet him.
"Excuse me senior! Could I get dire-*Pow*"
Before he could even finish asking, the guy punched him in the face, sending him tumbling down the stairs, much to his amusement as the drunkard started laughing at the sight of him rolling all the way down the mountain.
A while later, Chi Ken had walked all the way back up to knock on the door again, only to be punched down again. This repeated a third time and a fourth. Eventually all the disciples who were previously inside had come out to laugh at him tumbling down the mountain stairs, until it started getting kind of sad as they started to lose count of how many times he had fallen. It wasn't until the next day that they stopped when they saw his head started spurting out blood from a pebble that got lodged in his face.
"You sure you don't want to bandage that first? You're kind of bleeding a lot!" One of the concerned seniors asked as the energetic new disciple rushed up the stairs to go get his uniform.
"I'm fine! I've walked off worse! Thank you for helping! Bye!" The new outer disciple said as he ran up the stairs with a cheerful expression despite his ruffed-up appearance.
"OUTER DISCIPLE CHI KEN REPORTING FOR DUTY!" he yelled as he reached the unofficial manager of the fire peak, inner disciple Feng.
"OH MY GOD! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Inner disciple Feng yelled as he was not expecting the new disciple to suddenly pop up out of nowhere screaming his lungs out with his face covered in blood.
"You are the outer disciple junior Chi, right?" The senior confirmed while he was regaining his calm.
"Yes sir! This outer disciple junior greets the inner disciple senior Feng." He said with a concerning amount of excitement in his eyes.
"Uh! Yeah! Did you get attacked by bandits on your way here?"
"No! Sir!"
"Uhm, okay then! Your uniform should be in your living quarters in that hut near the foot of the mountain. You should find some bandages at the infirmary to stop the bleeding over there. When you're done, I'd like you to clean the sparring grounds! Can you do that?"
"Yes! Sir!" Chi Ken said, before rushing back down the mountain to get started.
*sigh*
"Poor kid! If only he was sent anywhere else!" Inner disciple Feng muttered to himself as he watched the young man trip and fall down the stairs once again.