When the Princess finally allowed him to leave the palace, the night almost ended and glimmers of the morning sun peeked through the distant hills.

  Tundra’s return home would be troubled, there was to be an announcement to his family about Hana’s adoption, but on a larger level, Tundra knew this was the right thing to do. The resources granted by the Princess would allow them to prepare them for more threats. Yet a part of him still loathed the conversation he would need to have with his family. Has he gotten a little fearful of what thoughts they had?

  No.

  He steeled his heart, he knew this decision was necessary, and so he would see it through.

  A female attendant brought the young girl to the room where Tundra waited. He could hear them approach as their footsteps approached, even if his cultivation senses were muffled by the protective formations of the palace.

  “The Princess finally found a family for you, Hana.” The carved wooden door opened, Tundra was greeted by a young ten year old girl. Her black hair was short, with a healthy sheen, her hairstyle was a common cut for young children. Her eyes were large, which suitably accentuated the chubby cuteness of her features. She was an adorable little girl.

  At first glance, there was nothing about her at all. She felt like a perfectly ordinary child of her age, with no cultivation whatsoever. The attendant thus announced, as if prompting the stunned young girl. “Greet your Father, Hana. He’s a very powerful man, the Sect Master of the Verdant Snow Sect, Lord Tundra Fox!”

  Hana bowed politely. “Pleased to meet you-” She seemed to hesitate at the last word, as if thinking about whether she should call him father. Instead, she settled on, “-Master Fox.”

  Tundra looked at the young girl, and wondered whether she knew the responsibilities he now carried, and what transpired in the back. But in those innocent eyes, he knew she didn’t. They wouldn’t tell her.

  But like all foster parents, he would have to prepare her for that conversation, some day.

  The female attendant bowed, as stepped back to allow the newly acquainted father and daughter to speak to each other. As she stepped back, for some reason, she saw it necessary to add a sentence. “Treat your father well, you lucky girl.”

  Hana said nothing, but did not raise her head. Tundra rubbed his head, but then looked at the girl. He thought about what to say, but then, she is still a child. He wasn’t very good at dealing with children. “Little Hana, I’ll be your adopted father. Come, tell me everything about yourself, and from this day on, you may call me father.”

  Hana paused, and tried the words. It rolled off her tongue strangely, uncomfortable. “Father.”

  She said, and it felt weird for both of them. Tundra tapped her head. “So tell me about yourself.”

  The father and daughter sat on a long bench in the visiting hall, and she shared her tale.

  She believed that her parents died, that her parents were close friends and servants of the Princess, and so she was in the Princess’s care until she found a suitable family for little Hana. This move had to be accelerated because of the recent tensions in the royal family, as it was safer for her to be cared for by one of the Princess’s allies.

  She was taught how to read, write, and all that, but has yet to start cultivation. Her spiritual roots were still in flux, and had not yet matured. But she was in no rush, because her deceased father once wished that she only began to cultivate once she turned thirteen cycles.

  Lies. Of course.

  The Princess told him the truth.

  At that point, the elder that would join them emerged. “Greetings, Lord Fox. Pardon my delay, I had to pack my things for our journey.” But there was an unspoken portion, transmitted through little bits of energy via a thread of spiritual connection. “I am Grayne Fallows, a personal elder of the Princess, I am a Sixth Realm Cultivator with a focus on defensive combat, communications and travel, and I will now be in your service, though my duties first and foremost is the protection of little Hana, and the protection of her secret. If necessary, I will also bring news to the Princess.”

  Tundra clasped his hand to greet the man. The man was loyal as long as Tundra was useful to the Princess, and in a way, he represented a closer bond to the Princess than he liked. “Greetings, Lord Fallows. You will travel with us and bring young Hana to her new home?”

  “Yes.” Grayne answered, as he walked closer to Hana and ruffled her hair. The two were clearly close.

  Hana smiled radiantly, both her lips and eyes curved cutely. “Uncle Gray is coming? That’s great!”

  Grayne returned her joy. “Yes. I wouldn’t leave you, little Hana. This man is your father now, have you addressed him properly?”

  Hana gulped, and bowed once more. Awkwardly, she tried once more. “-Father.”

  Now, it was Tundra’s turn. He gently tapped her shoulder. “Good, my daughter. Hana, from today forth, you are my daughter, and so you will address yourself as Hana Fox. Now, let’s take you to meet your elder siblings, and your two stepmothers. There’s a third stepmother but she is not here today.”

  ***

  Meanwhile, back in the guest mansion.

  “Are you alright?” Anna approached Edison after the dinner party. The young master of the Fox family, Edison, didn’t join the festivities, and so Anna felt worried for him. As if a part of her heart feared something would happen. “Did anything happen?”

  Edison still looked blankly at the window. The sun now hung midway on it’s path up to the heavens, the darkness of the night long gone. And yet, for Edison, it was as if he was in a long, tired rest, he had not changed out of his comfortable robes, and was still in his guestroom resting.

  There was a fairly strong stench of alcohol in the room, and a freshly brewed pot of tea. Anna insisted, and so repeated her question. “We’re worried. Did anything happen?’

  Edison answered with a single word. “Nothing.”

  Anna wanted to say more, but the young master had shut her out, and she wasn’t so thick-skinned to continue. She turned, even as her instincts told her something happened. But as their relationship wasn’t that great, she didn’t prod further. “Very well, see you later.”

  She walked away.

  The young master continued to stare in the direction of the market streets of Luharlia.

  ***

  Tundra summoned his family later that day once he returned to the guest mansion. He briefly introduced Hana, explained the abbreviated official background, and the official version of Hana’s life story.

  “Princess Luharl wants me to raise Hana, as Hana is a close family friend of the princess, but has unfortunately lost her parents. So, the Fox family will now be her new family, and so she will be Hana Fox.”

  Anna and Larian looked happy, while Edison seemed as if he’d rather be in his room.

  Hana bowed to Anna, Edison and Larian, each of them one by one. “Greetings, elder brother Edison. Greetings, elder sister Anna. Greetings, elder brother Larian.”

  Edison looked blankly, as if he was still trying to process it. Anna looked at her father, blinked briefly.

  She was the same age as Tundra’s grandchildren and Anna’s half-nephews and half-nieces. Larian seemed perfectly fine with it, and smiled warmly. She was even younger than Anna’s own daughter. But as she looked at her father, and back at her child, she decided this was one of those royal duties.

  Not uncommon, and so, Anna took it positively. “Welcome to the family, Hana. You will now be my youngest sister.”

  Hana bowed to her elders. This was their first meeting, it is only normal that they wouldn’t say much.

  Tundra then introduced the older man. “Elder Grayne will be her caretaker and watcher.”

  They probably had many questions in their mind. Such as, why them? Why didn’t the old man be the young girl’s caretaker? Questions that will all need to be answered at a later date. It was time to leave Luharlia and return home.

  The next thing on their plans would be the tournament invitation by the White Tiger Temple. Something that’s soon, only a few more years down the road.

  ***

  “So, what’s changed?” Tundra asked as Anna sat in a meditating position. She was the only one of his three children to have made it, and in a way, she got lucky that she picked the easiest opponent during that final step.

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  “I feel a kind of steel-like presence throughout my body, and my spiritual roots feels- bigger.”

  “That is the physique enhancement from the pool. Its effects will last until your physique outgrows it’s blessings, but that’s at least one to two realms away.” Tundra nodded, as he had a look at the weapon she took from the Treasure Realm. It was a superb piece of work, and he would grade it as something in the fifth realm. She would need some time before she could fully take advantage of the treasure. “This is a fine piece of work. You should see Elder Jashen after we return, he’s fairly proficient with this sort of weapon, and can give you some good tips and recommend the right combat arts.”

  “I see.” Anna nodded, as her cultivation energies flowed throughout her body. Tundra could feel the minute improvements and with her new gifts, she gained a small advantage over her peers.

  The regressor, however, examined his daughter’s expression and then asked. “Did you enjoy it?”

  “Enjoy it?”

  “The treasure realm. Was it fun?” Tundra used to find joy in conquering sects.

  He was a bloodthirsty warmonger, and he felt that played a part in why he did well. The sense of achievement was something that drove him on. He enjoyed winning, and winning was fun. For a thousand years or two.

  Anna seemed to stumble at the question. She looked back at him, their eyes met briefly. He felt her search for an answer on his face, as if trying to figure out there was an answer he expected.

  He hoped she found it fun.

  She shook her head. “It was alright. I did enjoy figuring out that the puzzle’s answer was written on the walls. But not much else.”

  “Do not miss the forest for the trees. When one’s eye is on the prize, one must still pay attention to the path.” Tundra smiled, but a part of it wasn’t genuine.

  She didn’t really enjoy the treasure realm that much. But he’ll take what he can get, so he redirected the topic towards cultivation insights. It was a fairly common learning point. “Cultivators who obsess with a particular topic or idea often lose sight of the bigger picture.”

  “Ah. So that was what it was trying to say.” Anna’s eyes widened in realization. Though she did see the solution, the message was still a little lost on her. She would learn in time. “Then what was the point of the third challenge? Why did Edison get a different challenge?”

  “The path every cultivator takes is different. Why should all challenges be the same? The fortune on one’s path is a fact of the world.”

  Anna suddenly felt quiet. As if she stumbled upon a reality of the world that she now had to reconcile with the imagination of her mind.

  Tundra sat with her, but he waited. A master cultivator and teacher must often give their student the space and emptiness to fill in the blanks. A teacher that gives the answer robs the student of the ability to figure it out. It is especially so when they are deep in thought.

  He remembered an old friend, and a master teacher who once said. “Learn not to interrupt a student’s thoughts and ruminations. It is a key skill of a good master. Wonder how many epiphanies are lost because a master said a word too early. Learn to be comfortable with silence, silence in the real world forces the mind to work. It is why in a quiet room, even the rustling of the wind feels loud.”

  Anna wasn’t comfortable with silence.

  Not yet, he hoped.

  Not the way he was. She shifted, and whispered some chants. Tundra could feel the fluctuations in her energy. Her mind was in thought.

  After a while, she looked at her father. She wanted to ask something, but chose to keep quiet.

  Her father stood, and walked to the windows of their flying ship. It was a small window, nothing fancy, but it still allowed for a great view of the vast lands beneath them.

  Anna decided maybe she should leave. “I’ll leave first, father.”

  Tundra watched her daughter leave, and he took the moment to focus on his own cultivation.

  ***

  Elly pulled Edison aside for a talk, just for two, once they returned. If he wasn’t wrong, it’s likely one of the Core Disciples was bribed to send word of their performance back, so they knew about it before they returned.

  Tundra allowed everyone to have their moment of rest, and he’ll announce Hana’s adoption at a later dinner when everyone’s rested.

  Edison and Anna were both fourth realm. By most measures, that qualifies them as Core Disciples of the Sect, even if there were qualitative differences in their strength. As it is, Edison would lose to Anna in a straight fight most of the time. He would also like to announce the separation of the role of Fox family’s heir, and the Verdant Snow Sect’s successor.

  Rightfully, Elder Severian, should be the named successor of the Sect. That was how it should be, in his eyes, and to solidify his position, Tundra would like to name him as the Deputy Sect Master.

  And so, while he refined pills in his workshop, he also summoned his elders for a meeting. His elders knew something was up when there was a protective formation in the room, and Tundra immediately went for the heart of the matter.

  “There are a few matters that I want to work on, and so I’ll get to the first matter. Hana, my new adopted child, is royalty. This should not be spoken of, ever.”

  That made the six elders stare at each other as they scrambled to comprehend the consequences. Severian looked nervous, and he scratched his chin a few times trying to digest the facts. In the end, he looked at their Sect Master. “Things are that bad?”

  “Contingencies.” Tundra continued work on his pills. “I ask that we care for her, and train her well. Her talents are impressive, even I can tell that much. Her caretaker, Grayne, will join us as well, but for now, I intend for his presence to be hidden from the public.”

  The six agreed.

  “Second, I intend to name Severian as deputy Sect Master and you will act as Sect Master during my absence.”

  It caught them by surprise, but Severian nodded.

  “Third. I believe we need to start getting a sense of how bad things are. I initially believed that the Zuja’s plague was a bigger problem a few thousand years from now, but it seemed my understanding was incorrect.”

  “If my memory is right, these forces love to tempt those who are weak, those who failed, the neglected, the abandoned children of cultivator families. The Zuja and the demons will then empower these neglected ones to take over their families, and thus, allow them to exert influence indirectly on the various sects of the world. We need to start building a list of those who had unusual rises in power.”

  Yavin blinked. “But that’s the tale of so many cultivators.”

  “It is, and that’s why it’s so hard to find. Zuja can provide power through resources, not only through straight corruption. They can bribe or entice those more likely to support wars, and suppress those who prefer more peaceful interactions. So far, I’ve not seen much of the Zuja in the weaker tier sects, so it’s likely they mainly target the stronger sects. But even so, we have a disadvantage. We cannot fight them in the light. We can’t even see them coming. We also cannot move freely without eyes on us every step of the way, and we have a home base that leaves us vulnerable to retaliation from those supported by the Zuja.”

  “Do you intend for us to go dark?” Severian asked.

  “No. The Verdant Snow Sect will remain in the light. But, I want to start a shadow sect.”

  Jashen looked at Tundra and blinked. “Do you have a person in mind?”

  “That is one part of the challenge. To create a powerful shadow sect, their breakthroughs need to be hidden. I have some limited knowledge on how to build such formations, but it is not strong enough. I also need a person with the talent, someone that we can forge into our blade in the dark. As of now, I have not seen that talent in our midst.”

  “We will organize a recruitment drive.” Jon and Jashen said. “We can set up smaller branch sects in Blackshore and on our other holdings. With our current reputation we should be able to get talent. But the breakthrough suppression artifact-”

  Tundra shook his head, as he pulled out a pill from the furnace. It was perfectly formed. “I will need to talk to a few more folks, and maybe, visit some places. There may be some old acquaintances that I should reconnect with.”

  ***

  The announcement of Hana’s adoption went surprisingly well. The wives understood, and in hindsight, he was concerned for nothing.

  It wasn’t the first time such things happened. For cultivator families, it is common for a father or for parents to die in a battle or expedition, and so their children are often adopted by their close friends or relatives, if they are still too young.

  Even Tundra himself was pretty much adopted by the previous sect master.

  So, for a Princess to ask Tundra to do so is an act of trust and honor. For cultivators who lived for hundreds or thousands of years, the actual ‘taking care’ or ‘raising’ of a child for a few decades isn’t a long affair, just twenty years till such a child reaches adulthood.

  A blink of an eye for many cultivators in the 4th realm and above, though in cultivator families, it is also very normal for members of the family to stick around for some time.

  But since the matter was accepted fairly easily, he could keep the secret, a secret. Tundra didn’t know whether he needed to reveal the truth, but as of now, he would keep it contained with the elders.

  ***

  “Was it that bad?” Elly asked Tundra when they were finally alone. It’s been a few days since they returned, and everyone was mostly back to their own routines. “Edison still looks blankly out of the window, and I heard the servants say he sometimes screams in the middle of the night. I went and checked, and found him shivering in his bedroom.”

  “Yes.” Tundra said. That look of emptiness in Edison hadn’t quite left him. He may be a fourth realm, but to fail so spectacularly must have crushed his self confidence. It was not the end, Tundra had heard of cultivators that rose from much greater failures, even those who managed to rebuild their power after losing it all.

  But to do so, one must have heart. One must have the will of a cultivator. It is the will to power that is the seed. Nothing grows without it.

  Elly looked sad.

  “What can we do with our son? How can we help him?”

  Tundra answered out of sheer instinct. The habits of a 10,000 year old cultivator. “Nothing. There are some challenges he must do himself. The opportunities were given, and if he failed to rise to the moment, it is for him to realize it. I will not rob him of that epiphany and personal growth. He is in the maze now, he must find the way out himself. He would not learn if every time he stumbled, someone was there to lend him a ladder to get out.”

  His wife didn’t like that answer, as much as it fit the mold of the typical cultivator. Cultivators defied the heavens, resources were given, naturally, families expected a return on their investment. “Really?”

  The past century, even Elly too languished and let go, and somehow, in the past two years she was caught up in his changed ways. But, this sudden inaction was not at all strange if compared to how Tundra was before. “Yes. I will make a set of announcements soon, one of them involves Edison’s place.”

  That made Elly look at Tundra sternly.

  “I will split the role of the Fox family heir, and the role of the Verdant Snow Sect’s named successor. The tradition of the sect master’s son or adopted son as the next sect master is a tradition, but it can be changed.” Tundra said.

  Elly blinked. She couldn’t muster a response at this point. She would give one on a later date, after she spoke with her own side of the family. In some ways, Edison got his position by the weight of his maternal family, and so this affected their interests too. So, she tried to buy time. “Can you wait for a few months before you make the announcement?”

  Tundra thought it as something pointless. What difference did it make? In fact, he’ll even give him a few years. “Very well. I won’t announce it until a few years later.”

  That was more time than he deserved.

  ***