“Are you two looking for cultivator-meals? If not, would you be alright with some mortal meals? They are a lot more interesting than the standard stuff we have at our usual cultivator restaurants.”
Marin nodded, clearly trying not to make a fuss at this point. “We will be fine with whatever you decide, Lady Surizen.”
The restaurant was located on one of the busier streets and located in the many mortal districts of the Golden Fists. The establishment chosen by the two local ladies was a beautifully decorated store, filled with paintings, fresh flowers, ornate vases made from fine porcelain and stones, polished that they gleamed with a polished granite finish. The use of various special candles and glowing stones gave the hallways and private rooms a luxurious feel, clearly a place well frequented by the elites of the Golden Fists.
They were escorted to a private room, on the highest floor of the restaurant named the Golden Fists’ Flights. It had a large window lined with small pots of pastel colored flowers along the windowsill. Like many parts of the city, they all afforded an interesting view of the various valleys and peaks of the Golden Fists, and the many alleys, streets and stairs that were a feature of the Golden Fists.
“Ah, Lady Gale, can I call you Celestia?” Lady Surizen said, as she sat down. The way the waitresses of the restaurant quickly got to work made Celestia suspect this was one of their investments. “You can call me Surizen too, it’s no matter. The formalities get so tiring after a while, don’t you think so?”
Marin somehow managed to deflect it. “Ah, that is true, Lady Surizen, but formalities exist to ensure that we do not accidentally disrespect our betters. We are but guests to this city, it would be impolite for us to treat those from the great sects so casually.”
Surizen chuckled. “Ah, I didn’t imagine you were quite so uptight about formalities, Marin.”
“We must, Lady Surizen. For us from the small sects, one offense and we bring calamity to our family.”
“We’re not barbarians.” Surizen countered. “We do not destroy entire families just because they cause us offense.”
Celestia knew countless examples to the contrary, but decided it was not worth it to correct her. Marin, just politely answered. “Lady Surizen is certainly far more cultured for that, but for small sects, we must err on the side of caution. No matter how friendly we are with the great sects, in the end, we are small fishes swimming by the side of the whales. One misstep and it is still death.”
Celestia wondered where that same political awareness was when it came to her own personal life. Was she blind to how she would be one misstep away from death if she was alone?
That they were better together?
Or was that a part of her thoughts that she refused to apply to herself. Perhaps, she just could not make the connection. Or refused to. Because acknowledging it pained her.
Surizen chuckled as the woman's eyes returned to look at her. “What about you, Celestia? Are you as uptight as her?”
Celestia did her best to smile and nod, and answered. “I must defer to my senior’s guidance. Marin’s wisdom and familiarity with the various aspects of cultivator etiquette is undoubtedly superior to mine. I am but a country bumpkin, unfamiliar with the ways of cultivator high society, so I must ask that you please forgive me if I cause offense.”
“Ah.” Lady Surizen paused and then laughed. “Well, most people would be country bumpkins when compared to us. We are from the powerful families of the ten great sects, and of the ten, there are perhaps only a small group of fifty or sixty families that we consider to be our peers.”
Lady Milliette, for some weird reason, rolled her eyes.
Marin and Celestia merely accepted the indirect insult silently. It was true, the powerful families of the great sect really didn’t have many peers. Lady Surizen continued. “You know, Marin, I thought our first meeting would be our last. After all, I had my people look into both of you, and I honestly cannot, for the life of me, understand why my husband or the Branch leader, actually care about a small sect on the far side of the continent.”
Lady Milliette looked a little surprised at Lady Surizen’s statement, but again, said nothing.
“We had a pleasant lunch, but in my mind you are just that, a country bumpkin clueless about the true scale of the Great Sects. So, imagine my surprise that he asked that we try to bribe you to work for us.” Lady Surizen of the Southern Huan said.
That made both Celestia and Marin look at each other. The woman wasn’t really doing herself any favors, and it seemed that Marin met them once. Marin, however, was at least enticed. “Bribe, Lady Surizen?”
“Oh yes. Well, you two got lucky and chose a good husband. Talented enough that my husband believes it is worth it to keep an eye on him. But to bribe two country bumpkins? Bah. That’s beneath a great family like the Southern Huan. So let me be blunt with you, I know your marriage is not one of love or loyalty, but one of convenience and mutual benefit. As with many others like it. If it is mutual benefits, we can offer you better. If, of course, you work for us and feed me what I want.”
Marin blinked, and then, after a brief moment, Celestia turned to look at the fifth wife.
She looked around, and then looked at Lady Surizen. Celestia’s heart skipped a beat when Marin suddenly asked. “If it’s a bribe, then what is on offer? The rewards for such a task should be commensurate.”
A part of her wondered why Marin didn’t ask for a private meeting, where she wasn’t there to listen in on the terms, but Celestia realized that may not do Marin any favors, either. Here, Marin could deflect certain matters to Celestia and buy herself some time to think. No, maybe Marin wanted Celestia as a witness, if a deal was made.
“Favorable trade deals with your family. A few of our 4th realm disciples as envoys to your family lands. A decent stipend of resources, materials and cultivation herbs.” Lady Surizen said. “In exchange, we want information on your husband. Everything, reported back to me, because I want to know why my husband cares.”
Celestia saw Marin’s face try her best to hide her feelings. She couldn’t help it, and so she frowned. Yet, she found some bravery in her to ask what’s in her heart. “And is there something for me, personally? I’d like to break through to the fifth, and the sixth realm, so I need something to get me there safely.”
That made Lady Surizen pause. It seemed Marin’s acting was so good that few knew she hardly cared for her family, and Lady Surizen’s spies were not able to glean this insight.
“Oh? You’re interested in cultivation personally?”
Celestia found that question strange, as if it was a surprise to the powerful ladies of the great families.
Was Marin using this conversation as bait? Was Marin really interested in the deal, because as far as Celestia could tell, it seemed like she was. Marin then continued the conversation. “Yes. I mean, I would like to have personal power, as part of the deal.”
“Hmm. To the fifth realm, we can supply a set of pills, but for the sixth realm, that is not something I have access to. I will have to confer with my husband some more.”
“Can you do something about our ‘weight’? The strength of our realms relative to those of our peers?”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Weight?” Lady Surizen asked, as if it was a weird thing. “That is all in your hands, Marin. Pills supply energy, provide some basic forms, but the shapes and patterns in our souls is entirely a cultivator’s own arrangements.”
Marin just kept quiet, as the statement lingered in the air. She was clearly thinking, and then, decided to reject it. “It is a great honor that the Southern Huan family wants to offer some payment in exchange for information, but I must humbly reject it. At the moment, my husband still offers a better deal.”
Celestia breathed a sigh of relief, and Lady Surizen looked fairly surprised that she was rejected.
“However, if the Southern Huan family can offer something better, particularly, in terms of securely elevating my cultivation to the sixth realm, I would be happy to have this discussion again.”
That caused Lady Milliette to lean forward. “You really wish to reach the sixth realm, Marin?”
“Is that unusual?” Marin asked a question that was on Celestia’s heart as well.
“What is the balance of yin and yang energies in your area?” Lady Milliette asked..
“To my knowledge, it’s fairly balanced. Lady MIlliette.”
“Ah.” Milliette nodded, as if she had a moment of clarity. “The Golden Fists and the lands of the Ancient Titans is fairly yang-biased. For us ladies with yin-leaning spiritual roots and meridians, you will find that most of us ladies plateau at the fourth or fifth realm, even with great effort. Most of us don’t bother to step beyond that, and the resources granted to us often dwindle at that point.”
That somehow ticked Marin off. “Then, do the female cultivators move? Surely not everyone will just accept this fate?”
“Some do.” MIlliette said. “We have a sub-sect, the Flowing Fists, that’s led by one of our Venerable Elders, they hold a slightly more yin-biased area and are trying to give those who have such ambitions a chance. But the Ancient Titans is a great sect, with eons of accumulated advantages that favor those who are yang-biased. Those small advantages and differences at every level accumulate and still result in a very biased end result.”
Celestia watched Marin with concern. She seemed to have digested it, and then sighed. “It’s unfair.”
“It is the way things are.” Lady Surizen interjected, as she realized she wouldn’t make much progress with Marin. “What about you, Celestia? I had my people look into you, and we didn’t find much. Is there anything I can offer you, in exchange for the task?”
Celestia shook her head as if it was instinct. “I am afraid I cannot accept, lady Surizen. My loyalty is to my husband.”
“How naive.” Lady Surizen sighed, as if disappointed in Celestia’s answer. “You even believe him wholeheartedly. Truly, country bumpkins are not familiar with the ways of of the world. A word of advice from me. Don’t just trust in blind loyalty, but make sure you are worth it, that he knows what he loses if he betrays you.”
Celestia merely nodded, a little appreciative that the woman didn’t push it. Celestia wondered whether she didn’t quite enjoy bribing people, so decided to just bluntly offer a deal, or maybe she just had an agenda of her own. “I thank Lady Surizen for the wise words.”
“Well, we won’t hold you two any more. I’ll get my people to cover the bills. Eat to your heart’s content.” Lady Surizen stood, and decided to leave just like that. Strangely, Lady Millette didn’t. Not immediately.
Once Lady Surizen walked out, Milliette looked at Marin and just said a short sentence. “Keep it up.”
***
Celestia wasn’t sure what to make of the earlier conversation, so when the stewed beef, cooked in a hot claypot came, she decided it was better to focus on eating. It was a hearty, meaty meal. It was a free meal, and that was probably one of the good things that came out of this conversation.
“You’re not going to ask me about the conversation?” Marin asked, a little surprised how the sixth wife decided to just focus on the food in front of her.
Celestia shook her head. She knew the woman wanted out of their entire affair, that her union with Tundra was a political deal that she had no say in. The fact that she turned it down was already more than Celestia expected. But she would repeat the conversation with their husband. “I decided it’s probably better not to.”
“Good. I can see why Tundra likes you.” Marin said, and then, somehow decided to also take a bite at the meal. After the first two mouths, she ate the rest of the pot like a hungry wolf.
Celestia couldn’t see why Tundra liked Marin, though. Was it really just a political thing?
***
There were many alchemical workshops of the Ancient Titans all over their gigantic compound, but for the past month, the Branch Leader Nord Truehaven relocated him to a workshop on one of their private towers, a place normally reserved for the Ancient Titan’s own senior alchemists.
He worked there for the past month, and the creation of the pills was a little quicker than he expected, a few days short of a month and the pills were ready. The high quality of the materials, the impressive cauldrons, tools and alchemical formations supplied by the Ancient Titans shaved a few days off the time.
Now that it was over, he had some time to look around. It was an honor to be placed here, and it had a beautiful view.
It overlooked the Golden Fists, and here it didn’t take much to make out the shape of the fists carved into the land, the dips and peaks that resembled a fist that punched the ground from above.
The buildings were everywhere, though the valleys were usually wider and flatter, so most of the mortals placed their homes there.
Home.
Tundra thought about home. He closed his eyes and looked out of the city, and saw it bustling. There was a noise canceling formation that blocked off almost all of the chatter and noises of such a crowded place. He stopped and just admired the view. Such a large city was built with the combined efforts of so many people, so many cultivators and mortals all somehow aligned to grow a city to its current size.
One second. Three. Five seconds.
He stared out, and looked at the huge crowds. The streets were always crowded, especially the main commercial streets. His cultivation senses could extend further, but it is usually impolite to do so, not when they are guests in someone else’s city. In the last few hundred years, almost all such large cities were destroyed. The few that remained were infested with corrupted Zuja thralls that none of its original life and vibrant energy remained.
This is peace.
He could feel life. Energy. Passion from these cities.
And it is so fragile.
Tundra shook his head. His mind thought about Lord Saljuk, and Azin. That was his best lead at the moment, to help stave off the Zuja’s advance.
He wondered whether the Bloodline Transfusion techniques could help Azin’s primordial bloodline too, but that was a problem for later. He thought about Celestia and Marin, and wondered whether they were fine. They should be, if the Ancient Titans didn’t raise any alarms.
Their stay here was a little longer than they expected, but it would come to an end soon.
***
“You’re a lot faster than I expected. I was thinking I’d have to wait five months.” Nord Truehaven said, but Tundra knew the man suspected something was up. It was the way he lied.
The man wasn’t much of a liar, even if he was clearly an experienced Branch Leader of the Ancient Titans. “Ah, the tools and formations of the workshop were exceptionally helpful. I once again thank the Ancient Titans for letting me use such high quality tools.”
Tundra felt the man eye him like a hawk, judging, calculating. There was a long silence between the two before he finally said. “Well, then come with me.”
“Certainly, Lord Truehaven.”
Tundra followed the man through the various chambers and halls of the branch sect, and saw so many disciples practicing, learning, meditating, cultivating.
There were probably a thousand, maybe two thousand cultivators just in the few halls listening to lectures, most of them outer or inner disciples. The exact details were not clear, but the Golden Fists should be home to about 7,000 cultivators affiliated or part of the Ancient Titans.
They walked past beautifully decorated hallways, and climbed up stairs made of substances that almost seemed like gold. In the end they stopped at a gigantic golden door, and it opened automatically as the Branch leader stepped close.
In the almost empty room, there was a woman inside, sitting facing the other side of the wall.
“This is Tia Truehaven, an elder of the Ancient Titans, and she will be responsible for the transfer of the 72 Iterations of Bloodline Components. She will also be there to guide you when you attempt your first few attempts to perform bloodline transfusions, and also monitor the use of said techniques for a few years. As you know, this is a secret technique of the Ancient Titans and so we have to take some measures to ensure they are safely used.”
Tundra blinked, and realized this was likely some overreach by the Branch Leader, and also to keep tabs on him
But very well, if this was the game they play, he too, could play some games of his own.
“I thank the Branch Leader for your consideration-”
Tia Truehaven stood and turned, and that was when Tundra realized he met her before.
His hands trembled. They met, as an enemy. She died in his hands. He didn’t know she was from the Truehaven family.
Not just that. He killed her twice, a woman corrupted by the Zuja in the last few thousand years. She was nameless, after all, once they submitted to the Zuja, their names no longer mattered.
