Chapter 47:

Chapter 47

~~~~Tai Su~~~~

Victory produces a certain high in you one that is difficult to put into words. It is better than any drug, it pumps through your veins that feel as if they are made out of light and your heart beats with the intensity of the stars and your mind sings a symphony only you can hear.

That high is temporary however, lasting hours at most and only minutes more often than not and leaves behind another feeling depending on the type of victory one felt.

True victories, the ones that come at little to no cost to you and yet they achieve plenty leave behind a good mental state, one that while it does not match the high one felt previously it is still a good feeling to have, while pyrrhic victories leave you spent and tired as you realize that what you lost in the name of victory may not have been worth it.

I have felt the first more than two hours ago, and even the post-victory happiness faded as I awaited to be received by the sect master for a private conversation.

All of us were to have a private conversation with sect master Fu Jian upon being accepted into the sect in what I was told is a tradition of the Blazing Fist Sect and after drawing lots I ended up being the last.

Two hours later even the post-victory fluffy feeling is gone due to a simple reason.

“I’m bored.” I remarked to an empty hallway.

The stone was cut expertly, but it was still an empty gray space with only some black stones to serve as seating.

The last weeks have been a constant flurry of activity. When I didn’t train I was cultivating, when I wasn’t cultivating I was walking and when I was not doing either of those I was keeping the group coherent or re-reading the manuals or something… anything.

Now I can’t do anything. Some men came and took our gear with them to deposit it to our chambers and now as the last one here I had nobody to talk to either. For the first time in weeks I had nothing to do and for the first time in what might be years I had nothing to work towards.

There was no plan yet, nothing to occupy my time, just me and the very annoying feeling of boredom I wanted nothing to do with. I couldn’t even wonder about where the light was coming from, Cheng Lin having explained to me that were were formations hidden beneath the rock that made the air create light out of Qi and makes it seem as if the light comes out of nowhere.

The stone door appeared again, or better said my mind could once again perceive it. Whatever formation the sect leader used to guarantee privacy messed with the perception of anyone trying to listen in.

I took the reappearance of the door as the signal that the sect leader has finished his talk with Ya Xue and so I lifted myself from the black stone bench and went in.

The room in front of me was not bare, but it wasn’t something I was expecting would be used for a sect tradition welcoming new disciples. It was… not oppulent at least by the standards of my past life but it was a near thing and by the standards of my new life it was excessively extravagant.

On each wall there was an illusion showing different things. One wall showed a scorched mountain smoldering in flames as a phoenix burned everything around it and the mountain itself only for itself to rise up into the air faster than it can be melted. Another showed an idyllic scenery of a wide empty plain with a single green tower watching over it, and the ceiling showed a valley surrounded by webs and flames with a single ice pyramid at its center.

These were artistic representations of concepts and things I knew little of, but were surely important, because nobody would have bothered to make something this advanced and not have it mean something.

The furniture around the room was not stone, but a richly colored wood with red cushions, and in the center of the room surrounded by all of that wealth but not partaking into any of it was sect master Fu Jian, standing in an iron circle with a simple pale white wooden table in front of him. On the table was a small stack of blank pages and a single pencil made out of iron.

The entire floor was covered in a red carpet with not a single hint of the original color of the floor present even as it felt like it was made out of wood.

My left hand curled into a fist which met my open hand and I bowed slightly in greeting.

“I greet the Sect Master.” I said.

The man looked at me in amusement.

“None of that young man, I’ve had far too many of those greetings thrown at me in my seven hundred years of life, I certainly don’t need more of them. Come sit in front of me and let me know you a little better.” The sect master said and motioned for me to approach.

I did as he asked and settled down across the small table. If he wants this meeting to be informal then it was better to just do as he wanted than try to inject any sort of formality.

The sect master waited until I was seated before he spoke, and what he said made my blood freeze in my veins.

“Good, before we have our conversation I need to deal with some administrative issues. I know of the fact this is not your first life and please don’t look so surprised, having multiple Nascent Souls looking directly at you for anything wrong tends to leave few things hidden. You are not in trouble, I just need to ask some questions and as long as you tell the truth I’ll be able to get on with out conversation.”

I froze, my body going on auto-pilot and my mouth asked the first thing that came to mind before I could stop it.

“You didn’t tell the others?” I asked fearfully.

The older man shook his head.

“No, if you came here before them and gave me permission I would have. There’s an etiquette to this sort of thing apparently and revealing it to one’s family before the reincarnated individual does so is a quick way to make enemies. I have no intention of harming you Tai Su, these questions are a formality that most likely something nobody will bother to even read but that must still be done.” He answered, his tone gentle as he tried not to startle me.

A thousand thoughts were running through my head as my rational mind was trying to make sense of what was happening. Eventually I sighed in defeat and gave the sect master a light nod.

“Very well, what are the questions?” I asked.

The faster this was over the faster I could stop thinking about it.

“In a few words tell me what you consider the most pertinent parts of your past life.” He replied.

What sort of question is that? It’s too open ended, but I had no choice but to try my best to answer it.

“I was a human, I wasn’t a cultivator, I died young relatively, I have no personal attachments left to any individual in my past life, albeit I have a fondness for certain types of thought.” I answered.

The pencil started to fly as it noted down the question and my response.

“Good, what was the highest cultivator tier you were aware of people in your past life possessing?” He asked again.

That was an easier question to answer.

“Cultivation was considered a myth, something madmen centuries ago tried and ended up poisoning themselves with mercury as they tried to turn themselves into a living cauldron.” I answered promptly.

My confidence was returning slowly, maybe this wouldn’t be that bad?

There were stories of cultivation yes, but anyone actually trying to become cultivators never seemed to develop anything but better control over their bodies assuming they didn’t start thinking mercury would start helping with their Qi or other such nonsense.

“Your opinion on spiders?” He asked.

“In general or about the beast clans?”

“Both.”

I took a bit to think about it.

“The animals are interesting, I am quite fascinated by what it would mean if people could produce silk with ease by farming them the same way people in my past life did with silkworms, but I am otherwise ambivalent to them. As for the clans? I’m not sure if they’re as bad as the stories say, but if they are I’ll probably have nothing against just killing them off to the last. Some things you can’t tolerate and another species looking at yours as cattle means that they’ve lost the right to exist.” I answered.

There were many stories about the spiders, none of them good. Spiders were monsters tat kept human and foxes in farms, that ate us and turned our skin into furniture and clothing and did far worse besides.

I don’t know how true it is, but I certainly won’t mind putting a spear through any spider clan I see if even a tenth of the stories are true. There are some things you just don’t allow, and anyone treating your species like cattle is at the top of that list.

“Whatever stories you heard I can guarantee reality is worse, but this concludes that little formality.” The sect master said sternly and the pencil finished writing.

I decided not to comment anymore on that topic, that was the only time I saw the sect master so much as frown. The other part of his response also caught me flat footed, is that it?

“So fast?” I asked surprised.

He shrugged.

“Your first answer covered a lot of the questions I needed to ask. I don’t care to find out more, nor is your past life important as far as I am concerned. You are now a disciple of the Blazing Fist Sect, I don’t care for anything else beyond confirming that you are willing to give it your all in service of the sect, the empire and the people we’ve sworn to protect.” He answered with a smirk.

“That I can do.” I replied with a nod.

If it meant protecting my family and those I loved then I was perfectly willing to give it my all and as my family were loyal subjects of the empire then that meant protecting the empire as well.

The pencil stopped writing and the sect master gave a soft clap that echoed across the room.

“Good, now that I am done with the annoying paperwork we can get to the actual reason I called you here, our talk about your position. This is an informal talk where I want you to talk as freely to me on things you believe important to you to let me know what position would suit you and what sort of master or senior I can throw you at so you can thrive.” The sect master said.

“How does that work exactly sect master? Do I have have to join some organization within the sect?” I asked.

In the stories of my past life finding a master or a senior was something the disciple had to do, not something that was just given to you. I was curious how that works in the Blazing Fist sect.

The sect master shook his head.

“We have few disciples each year, assuming that any pass, as there have been many years where nobody passed. Due to this we make certain that each disciple is looked after unlike some of the other sects which just put you in a pavilion and tell you to make something of yourself. We assign you a senior to guide you early on and a master once we’re sure about what duties you are best suited for and after that it’s between you and your master as to what will happen next.” He responded.

“What will happen with the others? We’ve formed some close bonds and there are some issues most of us have that we need some help with.”

That earned me a smirk from the sect master.

“I am aware of the issues young couples have, there’s no need to worry. The sect does allow you to have children and raise them while you are deployed to your duties. Your wife did tell me she wants to try her hand at formations and talismans and I already arranged for her to see some of the elders responsible for it to see if she has the aptitude for it. I’ve also talked quite a lot with her on the topic of child rearing in the sect.”

I shook my head at that, those were issues, but they were hardly the only ones. I’ll have to ask Bao what she talked with the sect master, she probably asked far more in-depth questions on this topic than I could think of, it was her primary concern after all.

“Those are issues yes and the children one is the most pressing one of them, but there’s also the issue of Ya Xue and her starting to act strange like old man Yi who was the shaman in our village, Mei Lin’s ice blooded issues and the fact that I have trouble remembering what happened to my and Bao’s slings in town. There’s also how we’ll integrate with our own banner’s fellowship here.”

That made the sect master frown slightly as if he heard something he really didn’t want to hear.

“Your issues with your memory are known to us, it wasn’t us that was responsible, but we are aware of them and they have been apprehended and are awaiting execution, as being a rogue cultivator is illegal in imperial lands. Mei Lin’s status is not an issue we have workarounds for it and if she manages to reach the third tier then she’ll be able to control that issue herself and be cured of it if she reaches Nascent Soul. Also you won’t be separated from your subordinates most likely, but how you deal with the other members of your banner is something you’ll have to talk with them.

Also what’s this about shamans exactly? I thought the old ruling class of these lands were folded into the sect long before my time. There’s some of them still acting in secret?”

“Ruling class? Old Man Yi is not ruling anything, he’s too busy shivering from his visions to do much of anything except give us advanced notice of impending disasters ahead of time, like two years ago when the flooding was averted and he even predicted the cold snap, or five when he predicted that scorching summer.” I explained.

His eyes widened and he started muttering something my mind refused to hear as he looked to the ceiling.

“Ah, I know what is going on here, and that is indeed an issue, if not for the reasons you are aware, tell me are you familiar with physiques?” He asked me.

“No, some of the stories in my past life called them special bodies or remnants of beastly ancestry but I’ve learned not to trust those stories too much, they get the details wrong of what cultivation is about too much to be relied on.” I answered.

Looking over the manuals the sect provided us told me that while some of the stories in my past life got some things right, actual experience in things told me that little beyond the broad strokes was actually useful.

“Physiques are indeed a modification to your body, most specifically a modification of your head Meridians, albeit some physiques do have meridians that are different in your limbs and other organs. Ya Xue holds the physique of the Sky Seer which is primarily found in this prefecture and the Clear Sky Prefecture to the far East where the eastern foxes live. Her condition is easily fixed by her just advancing her dantian to the second tier to match her meridians.” The sect master explained.

“So, these sky seers are shamans?” I asked.

That would explain some things, maybe old man Yi was born with that physique and managed to awaken a long time ago and he’s hearing cultivators? Why is he so frail then?

Also the other holders are near the foxes? Is this a coincidence or is that physique something that appears when one has foxish ancestry?

The sect master shook his head.

“No, shamans refer to the pre-imperial ruling cultivator castes of the south and western prefectures before the Empress united most of the human race. They were usually golden cores with the rare high shamans which were Nascent Souls. That system fell into disuse during the two centuries of spider rule over the lands and the few survivors adopted the northern sect system imposed by the Empress as sects were far more capable of military action and thus managed to survive long enough for the empress to Ascend and start the Wars of the Spider.” The sect master explained.

So, there used to be other cultivator societies here. Were they responsible for the black stone or was that a modern invention? I should probably not waste time asking that question, I don’t know how long this meeting will be and I have more pressing matters to look after.

“But old man Yi is not a cultivator, even if he was born with water meridians or possible even gold ones he should have either died if he tried to cultivate, but his body is so frail I sometimes need to carry him. Also he won’t get into trouble will he? He made sure our villages would not die from the cold.” I asked.

Old man Yi has been nothing but a good man to us, the last thing I want is to get him into trouble.

His eyes softened at that and his next words managed to calm me down somewhat.

“No, he won’t get into trouble. Being a rogue cultivator at most sees the individuals conscripted into the banners for some twenty to fifty years depending on how far along they went and at the end of it if they behave, then they’ll become some of the banner’s elites and will be respected and paid well. It’s also unlikely he’ll even get punished, as this old man Yi was probably born with golden meridians, and they tend to have it rough, so rough we generally speaking don’t let them into the sect, as the trial will just kill them and drive them mad, especially sky seers. We just send them to the Empress in specially crafted carriages and make sure they don’t cultivate. She generally will look after them and make sure they do something useful.” The sect masted answered softly.

“How bad can it get?” I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

“Bad, your friend’s senses were acute and she could hear your Intent when near you once she started cultivating. Gold Meridians can hear an entire Prefecture even when they aren’t cultivators if they focus, but once they do become cultivators though? One of them might be able to get a feeling of what is happening in the capital, and everything in that radius at the same time. It can and will drive them mad and cause them to kill themselves.”

“If he leaves, how will our village and those around us deal with the cold snaps? What even causes them? We’re too south for this sort of thing to hit us, especially as the northern part of the prefecture is not dealing with them.” I asked.

Old man Yi wasn’t long for this world. Becoming a cultivator might help him live a few decades more, but the issue remains that all of the villages nearby counted on his predictions to survive cold winters and strange cultivator related events.

“The cold snaps won’t be an issue anymore, they were the result of tests meant to help create a weapon to destroy the spider fortresses as our Prefecture was chosen as the testing site. We made sure that the tests that would affect the weather are rare and only happen every few decades, but they were imposed on us and we couldn’t say no. Thankfully the last test happened a few weeks before the trials started so the weather should be back to normal in a few years.” The sect master revealed, his expression turning to stone.

My face quickly did the same as the enormity of what I faced hit me.

In my past life super-powers did tests for their weapons of mass destruction in places nobody would look for and those tests would inevitably affect the surrounding area and people. These tests allowed for a world of obscene levels of prosperity I lived in, but they came at the cost of multiple communities that few people cared to remember and care for the suffering of.

Now it seems that I am one of those people.

“I sincerely hope it is worth it.” I said, my voice as cold as the snow that killed far too many people two years ago.

There was nothing I could do about it. The people that were in my situation in my past life had no recourse, and when it comes to superpowers they can and will sacrifice worthless individuals for their mega-projects.

I will be taking revenge regardless once the project is done and the researchers are no longer needed. I could see it in the sect master’s eyes that he noticed it and he gave me a barely perceptible smile. It seems I wasn’t the only one planning revenge.

“I sincerely hope as well, especially as the fools security measures to prevent the spiders from learning what is going on were somehow bypassed by a golden meridian civilian. It saved people yes, but there’s a lot of subterfuge related to this project that not even I am fully aware of and I don’t know if it was intentional or not.”

I sighed.

I hated this sort of subterfuge, the sort where you don’t even know if what you know is true or not, but it was so far above me I decided the best think I could do was not think about it. Instead I decided to let the matter drop and focus on what affected me..

“What assignment will I have?” I asked the sect master.

I could smell approval ooze from the man, the first scent I felt since entering this room, which told me it was intentional.

“What do you believe you would be most suite for?” He asked back.

“I’ve spent most of this life helping my father who is a reservist. We patrolled the area, trained, captured thieves and generally helped around with the duties of a normal bannerman, perhaps something related to it? I would rather not bother with things such as alchemy and long-distance travel, that’s just not who I am, instead I want to focus on a clearly defined perimeter and making sure it’s safe but I am open to doing whatever the sect needs me to otherwise.” I answered simply.

I never liked long travels into the unknown or running useless errands, I liked knowing where I am going, settling into a routine and having a clear territory to look after.

The sect master seemed pleased at my words

“Hmm… the people that like that sort of thing are rare, most people that come here to cultivate want to explore new things, unearth hidden secrets and the like. I have an assignment for you that I am sure that you would like then, tell me are you familiar with a fox called Hao Wen?”

“Yes, she taught me how to read and write so that I could use the Archive in town, but the archive was nearly useless, it’s as if the people writing in it never heard of numbers actually meaning something and they kept adding an order of magnitude to everything.” I grumbled.

The archive was full of false information, like how the rebellion of the Stellar Blade Sect was nearly five hundred years ago when it was something closer to one hundred and other weird inconsistencies like that when it came to numbers. I could believe it meant something like fifty as the pages were a bit aged but still. The archive had little in terms of useful numbers and I couldn’t even trust the actual events they describe there.

“Ah yes, you never know what number system the writers use, sometimes they use base ten, other times eight and they change it with the skill of a drunken oaf. If you want to use multiple number base systems you need to do them right, or at the very least stick to only one like base ten.”

“We use different number systems? I don’t need to use that abomination of base one hundred?” I asked my jaw aghast.

The sect master chuckled.

“Yes, base ten is the most common and is used by commoners, base eight, twelve, twenty-five and thirty-six are used by specialized fields, base sixty-four is used in formations and base one hundred is used in government documents and very lengthy and important scholarly documents. There’s a few other systems used in niche applications, but I can’t be bothered to list or find out about it and some authors like inventing new ones or use them as allegiance to literary genres or schools of thought. Base ten or one hundred are good enough for most everything you could need.” He explained warmly.

“That would have been useful to know two years ago.” I whined as my hands met my face.

Hours, no days wasted trying to learn how to write government notes. Teacher at least taught me well and I can always switch back to base ten for personal notes.

“Yes, but let us go back to your assignment. The Empire and the fox clans have been allies since we decided to join forces and kill of every single spider clan on this world but we’ve had great difficulties working together outside of military matters. This Hao Wen woman and one of her other students managed to find a way that might allow for peaceful coexistence after the spiders are gone and the Foxes and the Empress want her protected, so I would like you to be a part of their protective detail, which considering it would be close to your home is bound to be familiar enough territory.” Sect master Fu Jian explained.

I am not sure if I should be embarrassed or not at this. Of all the things I expected of that paper to do, giving me my own protection detail and putting me in it was not what I expecting.

“I am interested, but it is weird to think that I am meant to be a part of my own protective detail. I wrote the paper detailing how foxes and humans could work together and gave teacher some of my own unredacted thoughts for her own more expansive version of her own. I am not sure if she published it or not yet but last I heard she was prioritizing testing out the assumptions I made before fully finishing it.” I said I was scratching the back of my head.

The sect master looked quite shocked at my admission if his gobsmacked face was anything to go by. I guess it made sense.

It’s not every day that one of the people you are meant to protect presents himself to you asking for things to do after all.

AN: Next chapter has the lewds I promised. I wanted it to be in this chapter but it was getting too long and I couldn't find a proper cutoff point and transition for it.