Cultivating A Failure

Many reporters and students filled the auditorium"s countless chairs. Reporters from big-name news outlets such as Cultivator Weekly and Immortal News took the best seats in the front. The students from City A High School were sitting somewhere in the middle. Apparently, these students got wind of an interesting piece of gossip that had them buzzing.

"I heard that Falling Star nearly killed some idiot earlier this week that was in her way," one random student said.

"You mean the guy actually survived?" another asked.

"I"m sure he did," a third said. "If not wouldn"t we have known about it already?"

"What I heard is that idiot had his nose stuck in a book the whole time. He didn"t even know what hit him. Supposedly, Falling Star just sat on him after crashing into him until he turned into a fountain of blood. Not that I"m jealous or anything, but those legs…" A rather plump student shuddered as he related a story that was terrifyingly close to the truth.

"Grow up Ang," the grade 12 cla.s.s president cut in. "All you ever think about are lewd situations. If you spent half as much time on doing your school work as you do fantasizing about women, you might even rival Yu Chang in the cla.s.s standings." The cla.s.s president blushed, everyone in grade 12 knew that she had her sights set on capturing Yu Chang for herself. Being the daughter of Peak Master Fang from the Twin Peaks sect, she wasn"t here as an applicant; she came as a representative of the school to keep the other students in line.

"Speaking of, where is the president"s pet anyways?" Ang asked. "He hasn"t been to cla.s.s all week… Wait, it"s not possible that Yu Chang was the idiot demolished by Falling Star is it?"

"Of course not," president Fang said. "I would know if something happened to Yu Chang."

"Right, those so-called strings of fate you keep blabbering about… more like ap.r.o.n strings if you ask me." This came from the cla.s.s "rich boy" Ma Xiong. "Even my maids weren"t as much of a mother hen as you are towards Yu Chang. Has Yu Chang even acknowledged your existence once? Might as well mark it up to another failure for the Twin Peaks sect. You failed to recruit Falling Star, and you"re failing to s.n.a.t.c.h away Yu Chang now."

"Shut it Ma, with a name like Ma Xiong; I can"t tell if I"m talking to a person or a walking game."

"Oh, so original. Anyways pipe down pres it"s about to start. Maybe you don"t care about what Falling Star has to say, but the rest of us here do."

A plainly dressed announcer could be seen walking to the podium. The announcer stepped up to the mic and tapped it a few times to make sure it was working. "Ahem, thank you everyone for joining me on this special occasion to welcome a very special guest to City A. As you all know this guest is an unparalleled superstar in the world of cultivation, so without further ado, I wish to welcome Lady Falling Star to the stage."

Thunderous applause filled the auditorium. Amidst that applause were several shouts of "Falling Star" or "G.o.ddess." There were even one or two "Marry me!" shouts, after all, it must be said that Falling Star was extremely popular with men.

During the uproar, a graceful figure crossed the stage. This tall woman with waist length black hair wore a bright red dress with a golden phoenix embroidered on the right side. The left side had a slit that ran to the top of the thigh exposing a pearl-white leg. Everything about the woman on the stage reflected perfection. It is no wonder that her most avid fans were men. To men, she was a heavenly immortal that descended to earth. As she reached the podium, she shook hands with the announcer who nearly melted to the floor with just the contact of their hands. This announcer will be able to brag for generations that he shook the hand of the number one beauty in the world, Falling Star. After exchanging a few pleasantries with the announcer, Falling Star turned to face the audience. She casually raised a flawless hand decorated with black fingernails and the auditorium went silent.

"As many of you are aware, I grew up in City A. I"ve been on a journey this past year searching for a disciple. I"ve been to countless cities and inspected numerous candidates, not one of whom met with my standards. Now I have come to City A for the same reason… Well that"s why I initially came here. It is true that this conference was designed so that I could see the best and brightest of City A, however I regret to inform you that I am no longer in search of a disciple. Even the best laid plans can"t match up against fate. Earlier this week I had a fortuitous encounter with a young man and decided that he was the best fit to be my disciple. I would just like to apologize to the many of you here this morning who had hoped to become my disciple. However, since my search is finally over, I would like to announce that I plan to remain in my home town for some time. I"ve even inquired about taking up a position in the community, which will be announced officially at a later time. Due to the unforeseen changes, that concludes what I have to say at this time. Since my presentation ended up being rather short, I decided I would open up the floor to a few questions before I depart."

Immediately upon hearing that Falling Star would accept questions countless hands went up in the audience. All of these hands were about two seconds slower than a young woman from the middle of the arena that stood up so that she would be seen better. At this time Falling Star signaled for a mic to be taken to the young woman.

After receiving the mic, the young woman wasted no time in asking her question. "Senior Falling Star, as a representative from the Twin Peaks sect, I was hoping you could fill us in on your plans regarding sects. Have you made any plans to join a sect or will you continue as before?" The young woman was actually City A High School"s grade 12 cla.s.s president.

The corners of Falling Star"s mouth rose. "Little Fang I presume? That"s a rather straightforward question that deserves an honest response. As it stands, since I have a disciple to consider, I have made no plans to join a sect. That being said, I am not against joining the right sect if an opportunity arises. Also, Little Fang, if you would, send my regards to Peak Master Fang, let him know I will consider Twin Peaks" offer from before as well."

President Fang bowed her head slightly in acceptance of Falling Star"s response. Then she sat down with a smile.

"Alright, next question," Falling Star called out. She then signaled to a reporter from Immortal News.

A mic was brought to the reporter who stood to ask his question. "Senior Star, it has been brought to the attention of many news outlets that there was a mishap this past Sunday. From what I"ve been able to gather, there was indeed an accident. However, the young man involved was reportedly released from the hospital last night with a clean bill of health. Could you elaborate on what happened, and is this young man the one you agreed to take on as your disciple?"

"News travels rather fast these days it seems. Yes, there was a slight mishap on Sunday. In a moment of carelessness, I ran into a young man, as you"ve gathered the young man is completely healthy. For your second question, yes this is the young man I"ve decided to take on. I have time for one more question." Falling Star signaled to a reporter from Cultivator Weekly.

As the mic was pa.s.sed to him, he stood up. "Since a fellow colleague has asked the question that everybody wanted to know, I will follow up with a simple question. Can you reveal the name of this young man?"

"Not at this time." Falling Star smiled deeply. "Besides, you will all hear about him soon enough."