Regressor Sect Master

The four were on their way back to the Verdant Snow Sect. What happened back in the Princess city of Luharlia was now out of his control, and partly, he didn’t want to meddle so much. He wasn’t ready, and as far as he was concerned, he already did his part. 

The war with the Zuja would be waged over multiple little battles, and he had to be careful.

He had a suspicion that Zuri Blackpetals did as he expected her to. She didn’t say much, she came over, and told him she would visit the Verdant Snow Sect someday. 

It was enough of a clue that things were in motion. 

It was already a fruitful trip, and it was time to call it quits. 

The Palace saw fit to grant them a lavish gift for Tundra’s performance, so an entire chestful of spiritual resources that Tundra would have to slowly unpack. The princess likely won’t use the pill, instead, it’ll be granted to someone with a similar issue. All in, this was a productive trip. He came relatively empty handed, and now returned with enough resources to lift some of his 5th realm elders to the 6th, and his 4th realm disciples to the 5th. 

“Did you enjoy your trip, son?” Tundra asked. The carriage would take them a few days. 

Edison looked out of the window, and he had to take a moment to gather his thoughts. A moment Tundra gave. They had time. “Not really. Not as much as I thought. I always thought the big city would be more- more fun.” 

The regressor nodded, and the word fun immediately linked to an old memory of his. “Honestly, the most fun I ever had in a big city was when I was still a core disciple of the Verdant Snow. It was after a tournament organized by the Slicing Heavens Tower, and Jon lost after the second qualifying rounds. So, to make him feel better, myself, Jon and Jashen went gambling, drinking and punching each other till myself and Jon were both vomiting by the riverside. Jashen wasn’t too happy with us for a few months after that incident.” 

It was kind of sad he never experienced that amount of joy since he ascended as a sect master. The responsibilities he shouldered were like a chain. He could never be so free ever again, but still, he smiled. 

This was duty, and growing up. There was a time for that amount of fun, and he was still glad he had it. “Who are your closest friends, Edison?” 

That was a question that stumped the young master. He didn’t know how to answer his father, and that was when Tundra realized his son probably didn’t have a close friend. Tundra closed his eyes. This was also one of his failures. 

He knew of other sect masters who kept tabs on who their children talked to, who their friends were. He thought that was a little bit too possessive, even if he understood what they wanted to achieve. But now, as Edison stared out of the carriage window, looking a little bit disinterested in all things, Tundra knew his hands off approach was also incorrect. He went too far to the other end.

He didn’t arrange friends for Edison to meet his peers, partly because Tundra himself was a warmongering expansionist that didn’t have that many friends. He had followers, and many, many enemies. So, his children were all functionally ‘caged’ in the Verdant Snow Sect during the warring years, and by the time the Verdant Snow was a powerful sect, his children were much older, or dead. Children born to his later wives were treated like royalty, and once more, they didn’t have peers. 

Not true ‘peers’. Followers. Sycophants. It was possible to find peers even among those weaker than them. But it wouldn’t be easy. 

He hoped it wouldn’t be too late to reverse it for Edison, but he made a note to ensure his grandchildren were given a chance to mingle with peers. He would need to seek out other sects with young children of similar status, so that they could truly interact with their equals. 

His children didn’t have friends. 

One other way was to send them away to other sects, where they could grow up with other disciples. He would have to select a friendly Great Sect for such a purpose. 

It was one of those things that was so obvious once he noticed. Next to Edison, Julia sat quietly. Julia grew up and matured over the years. Her life here was supported by a group of fellow disciples. Their bonds were like siblings, just as strong, even if it is not one of blood. He could see the genuine care and affection among the core disciples, one not out of jealousy, but genuine desire to push each other up. 

They had each other’s back, partly because they all reported to him personally, and he knew that as a Sect Master, once he set the tone right, that the disciples saw that there was no merit in bringing each other down, it was just natural to help each other up. This was something he fine-tuned to an art over the years as a Sect Master.

Find good, high quality disciples, train them, give them the right motivations and surround them in a competitive, but fair, friendly environment, give them opportunities and promote them when they are ready. It usually produced loyal disciples that rose to be his elders as the Verdant Snow Sect. 

Of course, there would still be arguments and differences in opinion between the elders and disciples, but he, as the Sect Master, was responsible to be the arbitrator and final judge. It was simple in principle, but many Sect Masters fail. 

It was only human to give preferential treatment. 

But that was not the way to treat family, was it?

A disciple came to them willingly, by choice. So their success, as much as it is, was the disciple’s own choice. Family, children, were his responsibility. He had a duty to educate, just as much as the child. 

It was nepotism, and he remembered a time when he frowned on it, but such was the way of the world. 

Tundra too, looked out of the window, just to see what Edison was looking at. Most of the lands between the cities near Luharlia were fertile farmland, grasslands or untamed forests. Farmlands meant they were close to some of the mortal villages. Mortals farmed extensively to support their families. There were herds of milk cows grazing in the distance. 

“What do you think about mortals, son?” 

Edison didn’t answer, at first. He stared out of the carriage, and shook his head. “I don’t think about them, father.”

Tundra closed his eyes. That was normal among cultivator families. It was this reason the Zuja managed to corrupt so many mortals into its thralls. For the powerless, what price would they pay for a chance to get even against their oppressors?

“Should I think about them?”

Tundra shook his head. It was a question he didn’t know the answer to, either. Was the Zuja right, after all? “As cultivators, we rule over them. The mortals of our lands are our subjects, just as we are subjects of the Emperor.” 

Edison didn’t want to continue the subject, because he stopped there. “I’ll get some rest, father.” 

Tundra nodded. “Alright.” 

He hoped some of his words got through to his son. 

***

The carriage back was one where Tundra spent time thinking.

Friends. Companions. He felt ashamed how little he knew of his children and descendants, and realized that his initial idea of sending his children elsewhere, where they could grow without his presence and make new friendships, was highly valuable. 

So how should he go about it?

His mind swirled as he rearranged his priorities. The matter of the Scarlet Thunder Sect, and the matter of the Imperial Summons were over. What’s next was the three descendants of the Blackshore family. Yavin seemed to get along quite well with the two ladies, and from what he knew, the two ladies had their own plans. So, going back to his list, he still had that prisoner, the formation master from one of the enemy sects, and then, to make some pills to buy a Flying Ship.

With the materials he now possessed, trading some good pills for a flying ship should be doable. 

***

Back in Luharlia, The City of the Sixteenth Princess

Zuri Blackpetals did not report her core disciple’s treachery. She burnt the parasite, and torched the evidence. At that moment, she knew she couldn’t trust her core disciple or any of the other disciples that came with her. 

She felt someone approach her guesthouse, and knew it was a person from the palace. She only hoped it was friendly. The servant was a cultivator too, but only in the second realm. Her attire was that of an official, with all the gaudy embroidery of the royal house. 

“Lady Blackpetals. I’m a servant of the Princess, and she sent me for you. Please follow me, the Princess would like to see you.” The servant held a golden seal that represented the Princess’s authority. 

Zuri steeled herself, and bowed. “At once.” 

They were rarely allowed into the Inner Palace of the Sixteenth Princess, and there were guards stationed all over the place. 3rd and 4th realm, and there were also protective statues. The Six Protective Statues were all over the city, but even now, Zuri could feel their presence. 

All the Princess needed to do was activate it. 

They took a small steel door next to the massive golden door that led into the Inner Palace. The massive main door was reserved only for the royal family. Inside, it was immediately a massive garden, filled with water features, statues and decorative paintings.

She knew these were not ordinary objects. They thrummed with spiritual energies, and together, they formed a formation that guided the energies of heaven and earth towards the center, where the Princess stood. 

There was a special pathway for visitors and guests, and the servant seemed to remember the steps perfectly. 

She was brought to a surprisingly small room, but she could tell it was a functional, purposeful place. Even here she could feel the massive energies that was directed into the Princess’s private cultivation chambers right on the other side of the bamboo curtains. The servant stopped, and motioned her to enter. 

She did, unsure what to expect. Was the Princess here already? 

“You look tense, Zuri Blackpetals.” The voice came from the other side. Somehow, the voice carried power and authority. It was as if it spoke directly into her soul. 

Zuri immediately knelt on the floor, her forehead touching the floor. “Your majesty.”

“Sit. Tell me about the pill you’ve made for me.” 

Zuri gulped. “At once, your majesty.” She proceeded to narrate the effects of her pill over the next half hour. The princess listened, but did not interrupt. 

“I see. So the pill seeks harmony between the competing forces within my spirit realm. I see my alchemists’ judgement were not flawed. Well done.”

Zuri knelt once more, her head touched the ground again. “I am humbled by your appreciation, your majesty. We are dutiful servants of the royal family.”

“Curiously, my ministers informed me that there would be a companion pill. Where is it?”

Zuri gulped. She had expected this, but her mind was scrambling since she burnt the pill for an appropriate answer, one that wouldn’t expose the treachery within her ranks. She thought about the other pills, and realized there was one that the Princess could take. “Yes. There was. But during the competition, I realized that the companion pill we prepared was thoroughly inferior to one produced during the competition itself. I had destroyed the companion pill, because it was not fit for your consumption.”

“Oh? You destroyed it?” 

What followed was a surge in the Princess’s presence. It was incredibly powerful, as if the princess wielded the authority of the Golden Dragon itself. Zuri felt her heart pound furiously. 

Was she going to die here? 

Her hands shook.

“Well? So which is the new companion pill you propose?”

Zuri tensed up. “The pill prepared by the Sect Master of the Verdant Snow. The Perfect Elderwood Lavaflower Fusion Pill. Taken with a month’s gap, the structured splitting nature of the Lavaflower Fusion pill should permit a peaceful separation of the differing forces, which would prepare your spirit for the union of energies. It should magnify the effectiveness of my Deeprooted Flame Unity Pill.”

What followed was a long, long silence.

Zuri continued to prostrate herself before the Princess, and her heart pounded furiously. 

“And did you discuss this with him beforehand?” The Princess asked.

“-No.”

“But you think it will work well together.”

“Yes. Far- far better than what my sect prepared.”

“Very well.”

***

The carriage stopped for a break midway, the route from Luharlia back to Verdant Leaf was littered with many smaller towns, most of them nominally under the rule of Her Majesty, the Princess Luharlia.

Sitting in a carriage for days did get tiring, and so, even though the break was no more than half a day, it was enough for both Celestia and Julia to just go out for a walk. 

“I find it hard to imagine our sect master being drunk with friends.” Core Disciple Julia said while they walked around the small town. There were just a few guards from the palace, and they were just in the 2nd or 3rd realm. 

Celestia sniggered slightly. “I’ve seen him drunk a few times. A long time ago. He’s the quiet type.” 

“Ah. That, that sort of makes sense. I’ve never gotten drunk.” Julia said with a defeated sigh. “I have to look after my fellow drunkards all the time. My mother told me a woman cannot let herself be drunk. So, I never drank too much.” 

“My old master said the same thing all the time.” Celestia said. “Maybe, if you are with your family, it’s alright?”

Julia shook her head. “You never know when even family can take advantage of you. The closest persons I can trust are probably Agnia and Yerra.”

Celestia nodded. It was sensible that Julia was closest to her fellow female core disciples. “Agnia- she’s still in Lakeshore?”

“I was told she’d be back for a bit. Elder Jashen and another Core Disciple will go over to take over for a bit.”

“Oh, is Yavin the one going?” Celestia asked. “I wonder how’s his relationship with the two ladies.”

That made Julia stop for a bit. “I’m not sure. But if they chose Yavin, then it would totally make sense. I’m not sure how to feel or what to think about their developing relationship.”

The sixth wife laughed. “It is what it is. Life finds a way. Are you ready to be an elder, Julia?”

Julia paused. “Huh?”

“Tundra mentioned he’d like to push all of you up to be elders. Yavin, especially.”

“Oh. I guess so. Even if I’m not ready, I will have to be. It would be nice to have female elders, for a change.” 

That made Celestia stop as she realized what it meant. “I actually never noticed we didn’t have female elders. I hope you’ll be a good one.”

“No. I hope I’ll be a strong one.” Julia said. “Would you also ascend to the fifth realm? With us?”

Celestia thought for a moment, and shook her head. “A little more to go. The forms of my cultivation can be better.” 

Julia nodded. “Is the gap that big, Lady Gale? That you’d have to hold yourself back to make sure it is right?” 

“I don’t really know for sure. It feels big.” Celestia said. “Would you like to show me?”

The two ladies looked at each other for a moment. The two were of the same spiritual element, both focused on [wood] elemental methods. 

The disciple looked around, and back at the woman. 

“Is- is that a challenge, milady?”

“Well, I would like to trade pointers.” Celestia said. “Frequently, if possible. It is hard to know what we lack, when we don’t have peers to show us the difference between heaven and earth.”

The two ladies looked at each other for a long time, as the gears in the disciple’s mind turned. 

Celestia quickly added. “I don’t mean anything else. It is truly just a cultivation-focused conversation. I hope you won’t see this as an abuse of my position as the Sect Master’s wife.”

“Oh. Not at all. It would be my honor to assist you.” Julia clasped her hands together respectfully. “It’s just that- I might be a little rough around the edges.”

“I look forward to it.”