“I believe your talents lie elsewhere, young master.” Tundra didn’t hesitate to state the facts, from what he has seen, it’s not impossible for the young man to pick up alchemy, but he would find it quite challenging to be actually good at it. Tundra estimated that he would need to spend 7 years for what someone like Julia would only need no more than 1 year on.

  He calculated this based on the speed the young master memorized the various materials and how quickly he managed to pick up certain basic alchemy processes, and contrasted it to how Julia did.

  There were many others after her that were much more talented, and became fellow alchemists of the Verdant Snow Sect.

  “Is that meant to dissuade me from pursuing this?” The young master asked.

  “Partly. The time you spend mastering alchemy will be far longer than others.” Tundra answered.

  “Then tell me something else.” The young master had grown quite comfortable with Tundra’s presence. They met once a week, though each session lasted two to three days. “What should I do to let my father properly pass the Southern Huan’s legacy to me?”

  Tundra blinked. That wasn’t something the man should say, and he was probably a little too trusting. “You should ask your father, young master. I do not know the details of the Southern Huan’s legacy.”

  “You don’t? That is strange. Wait. Is this one of his tests?”

  “If it is, I am not aware of it.” Tundra said to the young master. “But a legacy, from what I know, is often not so easily passed down, and not to someone who’s still in the fifth realm.”

  That made the young master blink. “And how and why would you know?”

  Tundra laughed. “It is common knowledge.”

  “Legacies are not common knowledge.”

  “What I just said sounds sensible enough that even a well educated cultivator can deduce. If you still do not believe me, then let’s consider that I have fairly interesting and well informed friends.” Tundra cut it off. “Now, I must go report to the patriarch-”

  A man ran into the room. “Young master! There’s a secret realm, we’ve discovered it at the Ancient Stonewalls. The Patriarch asks that you head there immediately, and meet the other Elders there.”

  The young master turned to face Tundra. “Well, it seems that I have another test to attend to.”

  Tundra nodded and watched the young master leave. He remembered that feeling when he too, chased after secret realms. But after a while he realized what he really wanted from the secret realms were really just knowledge.

  Raw materials did make a difference, of course, and old secret realms from a time from long ago certainly contained unique treasures. But the realization he attained when he reached the 10th realm was simply all of those stuff is helpful and certainly does give a helpful edge, in the larger scheme of things, it is not that important.

  The cultivator’s ability to manipulate their spiritual realm increases with each realm. As the realms increase, the shapes and structures permissable within the spirit realm increases, along with the degree of control over their own physical form. In the sixth and seventh realm, as Tundra is now, his level of control of his physical form allowed him to alter his physical features with a reasonable amount of effort. At the eighth, one’s gender and physical age is also malleable, though it is not often attempted unless it was a deep-seated belief at the core of their existence.

  This is simply because a cultivator seeks a harmonious, mutually multiplicative effect between their physical form and their soul, and if there exists a contradiction, that contradiction creates friction between the spirit and the body, and thus weakens them.

  The body shapes the soul, and the soul shapes the body. In both, harmony, and mutual assistance. A clear, well formed mind, creates a structured, optimized spiritual realm, which properly takes in energies of the world, and then, with the right techniques and methods, feeds a strong, powerful body.

  At higher levels, like in the tenth realm, the unique properties of certain plants, herbs or creatures can all be replicated in some way or form through spiritual structures within the spirit realm. It is why the tenth realm cultivators are seen as gods.

  ***

  The Golden Fists are home to many, many restaurants and dining establishments. The food variety in the ‘cultivator’ focused establishments are laughably pathetic, but, if a cultivator actually tries and ventures into the multitudes of mortal establishments, there is a tremendous amount of creative skill and ability.

  Every city generally had a mortal segment, and a cultivator segment. Like most cities, the population of mortals far exceeded that of it’s cultivators. In the city of the Golden Fists, which is home to two million individuals, the number of cultivators did not exceed 30,000.

  This holds true even in the Verdant Leaf Town, there were only about a hundred cultivators from the Verdant Leaf itself, and an additional one to two hundred more cultivators who found careers in trade and industry. A small number, but the town itself was home to 50,000 to 60,000 mortals.

  Such ratios ware normal in almost all cities, though some cities, like the cities of the Imperial family, have a larger percentage of cultivators.

  In some places, the presence of powerful cultivation energies made it quite difficult for regular mortals to live in, and those who could adapt to such powerful cultivation energies often found themselves forcefully elevated to the first realm.

  The streets of the Golden Fist were fairly safe. The presence of the Ancient Titan’s branch sect meant few dared to make trouble here.

  Marin walked out on the streets alone, and found herself feeling lost.

  Tundra’s words lingered in her mind, and her heart wavered.

  As a 4th realm cultivator, she now could live till about 1,500 to 1,600 years old. Plenty of time.

  “Are you truly so eager to leave it all behind?” Tundra asked. “If it wasn’t me, it would’ve been another family or sect elder of similar stature. I ask you to think about it for a moment, what truly is the cause of the pain you suffer.”

  Marin felt lost. She walked without really knowing where she wanted to go. Just that she needed to walk.

  Did her husband mistreat her? In a way, what he did was par for the course. Few cultivation couples truly treat each other as partners, most were just glorified breeding and resource arrangements.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Yet in the past two-ish years, her husband did try to make it better, and her treatment now is indeed better than most consorts could ever claim to receive.

  Her mind was a mess. Tundra wasn’t her enemy, even if she didn’t want a future with him. Their interests aligned, and rather than watch her fail, her husband told her before she made the mistake.

  A failed breakthrough was dangerous. She knew that. Her heart spun

  She walked, and walked, until she felt hungry. No. She wasn’t hungry, but it was something her mind imagined herself to be. Maybe the hunger was just a welcome reprieve from her restless confusion.

  The heavily decorated restaurant had the faint scent of braised meat, and herbs. Herbal broth and braised meat was their main delicacy. She sat, and ordered whatever the shop served.

  It was cheap. It was priced for mortals, not cultivators. The waiters could tell Marin wasn’t a mortal, but they wouldn’t dare chase her out.

  Yet strangely, as she sat down by a wonderful window seat with a view of the busy mortal markets down below, a well dressed servant approached her.

  “Oh, what a coincidence, Lady Marin Eastheart. It seems you are eating alone. Would you like to join my mistress for a meal?”

  “Oh?” Marin turned to look around. She couldn’t see anyone. The man was too well dressed to be just a regular servant, so Marin had enough political sense to figure out it was likely one of the larger families of the Golden Fist. The fact that they knew her name means there was someone looking into her. “If it is a lady that is inviting me, sure.”

  The servant nodded. “Let me guide you to her.”

  She was escorted to a private room on the highest floor of that restaurant, and when the door opened, there were two ladies there waiting for her.

  Marin wondered whether this was a coincidence. She just happened to walk into this restaurant that is clearly owned by mortals, and here she met two ladies who were clearly cultivators of her level of strength.

  “Lady Eastheart, I’d like to introduce her lady Surizen of the Southern Huan, and lady Milliette Goldrish.”

  Marin blinked for a second. This was likely a setup, and probably an engineered coincidence. She clasped her hands together, “Ah, greetings Lady Surizen of the Southern Huan and Lady Milliette Goldrish. This one was merely wandering about and was not prepared for a meeting with the two esteemed ladies of the Golden Fist.”

  “It is no big matter, we’ve heard that there were visitors from afar, and I’ve been keen to meet our guests.” Surizen was the first to answer. She was a beautiful woman with long golden hair that went all the way to her waist and impeccably fair skin, and eyes that were equally golden in color. Her features were still fairly young, and it seemed her mortal form looked like someone in her early 30s.

  “Ah.” Marin knew it wasn’t a coincidence. Someone was keeping an eye on her and made the arrangements.

  “Come, sit and join us for tea. Tell us about the place you’ve come from.”

  Marin sat at the surprisingly small table with a deep maroon tablecloth, right next to Lady Milliette. Lady Milliette was a petite woman with medium length black hair that curled around her shoulders. She was physically younger than lady Surizen, and her dark brown eyes stared into Marin as if trying to understand her.

  Once she sat down, the two women were incredibly friendly, but she quickly sensed they were trying to figure out their goals. They were sent to gather information on Tundra’s goals.

  Marin was thus on the edge. There were outsiders that wanted insight into their family and their goals, and this evoked a rare defensive reaction from her.

  “It is so rare for a sect master and his two wives to travel so far. Is there something we can do to help you? Perhaps, a hidden treasure and good fortune you’re looking for? The Goldrish family would do our best to assist you.” Milliette said, but Marin realized it was probably a trap. Even if there was such a hidden treasure, the Goldrish family would grab it for themselves.

  Surizen tapped Miliette on the things. “Ah, Milliette is merely joking. Don’t think of it that way.”

  Marin felt a little guilty for revealing Tundra’s intention, but then again, she had to give them something. She suspected there was likely a high level cultivator nearby and she wouldn’t be allowed to leave. So, she gave a watered down version of Tundra’s intentions. Something that most people already knew because of Tundra’s meeting with the Patriarch of the Southern Huan. “No, not at all. If anything, we are here to seek the Ancient Titan’s help. My husband would like to forge closer relations with the Ancient Titans.”

  That seemed to shift the conversation slightly, as Milliette looked at Surizen. “So it’s about the succession struggle.”

  Surizen didn’t seem to buy it all that much. “Really? All the way here just for the Ancient Titans, instead of the nearer Flaming Phoenix or the slightly further Bright Depths?”

  “Ah, I do not know exactly what my husband’s thoughts are.”

  “I see, I see.” The two women were of similar strength as Marin, and were also 4th realm cultivators. Surizen was one of the Patriarch’s many consorts, while Milliette was one of the Southern Goldrush’s many daughters. As it so turned out, the two families were fairly intertwined and there were multiple marriages between the two families over the centuries, so Miliette was somehow Surizen’s distant cousin-in-law.

  The food was tasty, but the two local ladies were clearly not interested in eating.

  “Your husband stepped into the seventh realm recently. Was there a treasure of some sort that aided him?”

  “I am not sure of the details, but he did have some help.” Marin answered and tried to redirect it to something else. Something that her husband would want to know, and since lady Surizen is a consort of the Patriarch, it was worth trying to redirect the topic in that direction. She decided to learn from the sycophants and be one herself. “But it’s amazing that the two powerful families have such great descendants and members. Is there some secret, Lady Surizen?”

  That made lady Surizen beam in joy, a reaction that told Marin that the woman was vulnerable to compliments. “Ah of course!” Lady Surizen wasn’t the patriarch’s main consort, that honor went to another woman, but Lady Surizen was second or third. “The Southern Huan feeds our children with a diet rich with energy, and we expose them to strong spiritual energies from a young age.”

  “Ah!” Marin went on the attack. It wasn’t nice to be constantly on the defensive, and decided to attack with compliments. “The Southern Huan must be truly wealthy to feed their children with that kind of diet! What sort of legendary spiritual beasts do you use?”

  The angle of conversation worked, as Lady Surizen went on to narrate how the Southern Huan used an incredible amount of resources to hunt and locate hundreds of high realm spiritual beasts. Some of these were killed, some of these spirit beasts were brought back to the Ancient Titans sect where they are cared for by the spirit beast taming branch.

  Lady Milliette clearly noticed Marin’s redirection of the conversation, but didn’t seem bothered to intervene.

  But as Lady Surizen of the Southern Huan kept talking, she eventually accidentally spilled the beans. “Ah- you must know it takes so much effort to extract the marrow of the Wildstone Eight-winged giant birds! Elder Yumen of the Southern Huan is a master of blood transplant and I say he is even the best in the entire Ancient Titans in the art of the blood transplants!”

  That made Marin blink, but she faked it and tried her best to keep the conversation going. “Really? If he is the first, who would be the second?”

  Lady Surizen seemed chatty enough, but that made her think. “Perhaps Venerable Elder Kamin Earthant, or his son, Julian Earthant.”

  “That is incredible, then what does this Blood Transplant do? Is it some secret technique of the Ancient Titan?” Marin tried her luck, but sadly, this was when both Lady Surizen and Lady Milliette realized they had spoken too much, and Lady Surizen blushed.

  “Ah. I can’t say I know the details.” She sheepishly answered, as she realized she misspoke.

  But knowing the masters of blood transplant would be a step forward, and Marin wondered whether she could bargain with Tundra with this information for more assistance. Something to help her overcome her own challenges with cultivation. Marin sensed her reluctance to explain further, so changed the topic to other stuff such as the mortal food choices in the Golden Fists.

  The mundane topics about mortal foods helped ease the silence, and the matter was soon forgotten.

  Marin merely nodded, and noticed her food’s finished. “Ah, it seems I’ve taken up too much of your time. It was a pleasure to meet you two, it’s time for me to return, my husband should be worried.” Marin made an excuse to leave, even if she didn’t mean it. A part of her realized how useful it was to have a respected husband as an excuse.

  The two locals merely nodded. “Then we will see you again, Lady Eastheart.”

  Marin left, thankfully uninterrupted by the agents watching in the shadows.