Chapter 47: Life 58, Age 33, Martial Grandmaster 1

The Righteous Defenders of the Twin Mountain, or the Eyes as I called it, was the faction controlled by the Sect Master. Jiao was a member of this faction, so I had assumed that her influence had something to do with the reason I had been recruited, but when I met with Elder Tao the day after the competition, he made everything very clear. “Elder Mu has made significant contributions to the sect over recent years, so he has been recruited for a position within the Flowing Mountain Sect. As he was leaving, he gave you a very high recommendation, so we have decided to invite you to join us as part of the Defenders.” I parsed the message behind his words. Elder Mu’s significant contributions likely involved all the pills I had provided him over the years, and once he accumulated enough to advance, he sold me off. Likely, he believed that the cost of teaching me Rank 3 alchemy wasn’t worth the eventual return when he could sell me now for a quick buck and let others deal with me. It was a cold calculation, but I understood and accepted it. I wouldn’t begrudge him following his own path to advancement. ‘Everyone has their own dreams.’ Instead, I was happy. By selling me off, in my mind, Elder Mu had canceled any debt I may have felt I owed him in future lives. He had taught me, and I had helped provide him with the opportunity he desired. We were now square. “Thank you, Elder Tao,” I said, “I will do my best to contribute.” “I’m sure you will,” he laughed. “Before we discuss how you will contribute, though, we should talk about your current situation. Only then will you be truly motivated to contribute your utmost to the sect.” His words felt slightly ominous, but I didn’t think he was actually threatening me at this point. “You are now a Martial Grandmaster,” he continued, “this is the final realm of what is commonly referred to as the ‘Warrior Tier’ which includes Disciple, Master, and Grandmaster. This tier of cultivation is all about self-improvement. For advancement, you only need to rely on yourself.” Something had slightly bothered me for a while, and with the name ‘Warrior’ I finally had to ask. “Elder Tao, why Warrior? Why Martial? I never understood this. We aren’t fighters, so why are we referred to as Martial Disciples and so on?” He laughed. “Others will tell you that it is because we are all fighting against the Heavens, and even an alchemist joins in this fight. I think this is just a rationalization, though. Cultivation began as an extension of the Martial Dao, and the most advanced cultivators follow that Dao, so they are the ones who got to choose the names.” I nodded. “Returning to the topic, you still have a long way to go within Grandmaster, but this is the final step of the Warrior Tier, and Martial Grandmaster Peak is the end of cultivation for nearly everyone. Only a small percentage are able to advance further.” He gave me a penetrating look. “Are you familiar with the realms above Grandmaster?" "No, elder. I only know that after Martial Grandmaster is Martial Lord." He folded his hands, thinking before speaking. “Disciple, Master, and Grandmaster form the Warrior Tier. After that is the Ruler Tier. The realms are Lord, King, and Emperor,” he said, looking off into the distance. “These are not just names. To become a Martial Lord, you must become a city lord and infuse the karmic energy from that city into your cultivation. As the city prospers, so will its Lord. To become a Martial King, you must rule a kingdom, and Martial Emperors must rule an empire. It is possible to advance to False Lord, where your cultivation base lacks this karmic energy. This will give you additional power, but it will not extend your lifespan, and you will never be able to progress further.” This, I realized, was Chen WuJing’s and Elder Mu’s goal. They were aiming to take control of a city. They said that it was impossible to advance to Lord in the Wastes and they needed to find a way to leave, but they could leave at any time. The goal wasn’t just to leave, it was to leave in such a way that they would gain control of a city. I was still confident that my pills had something to do with Elder Mu’s ‘contribution,’ but if this was true, there was no way any number of Rank 2 pills could buy an advancement to Martial Lord. “So,” I asked, “when you said the Elder Mu was promoted to a position in the Flowing Mountain Sect, you mean that he became a city lord, right?” “Yes. His contributions reached the level where he was granted control of one of their minor cities. If he rules well, he may be able to advance to Martial Lord. His cultivation has already begun to calcify, though, so it will be extremely difficult, but it is still possible.” “When you say you are certain I will contribute to the sect, you also mean that if I contribute enough, I will be granted a city?” Inside was a tidy office space. Light poured through open windows, making everything bright and lively. Where did the windows come from? “Sister Lu,” said Jiao, “Brother Su was just promoted. He needs his new jade.” “Congratulations!” Lu said with a bright smile. “Just give me one second.” After a bit of rummaging around, she produced a new jade with the character 內, for inner, carved into it. I handed her my old jade and attached the new one to my waist. “You’re all set!” said Sister Lu. “Do you need anything else?” “No,” said Jiao, “Elder Tao has already arranged everything for us.” We left the office area and stepped back out onto the side of the mountain. Everything changed. Instead of a mountain with several caves, the area around me turned into a small settlement carved out of the mountain. “It’s the same as last time,” I muttered, “Was Elder Mu’s place like this too? Was everything just an illusion?” “No,” said Jiao. “What you saw there was all real. Only the factions have a place like this. The independent elders don’t have the resources for it.” As she spoke, I looked around, then out across the open vista. My eyes were drawn to the mountain where the Martial Peak was located. Instead of just seeing a wooded mountain, I saw a complex, walled fortress. A tall wall wrapped around the middle of the mountain, and another wrapped around its base. Two more rings circled the mountain from further out. The total encircled area was massive, but only small pockets showed signs of civilization. Most of it was a blasted wasteland where only scrub bushes were growing. “That’s the Martial Peak,” said Jiao. “People from the inner sect can go there, but you have to be careful. If someone doesn’t realize you’re an alchemist, or they just don’t care, you can be attacked at any time. We are supposed to have some protection, and since you are with the Eyes it will be even safer, but safer doesn’t mean safe, you know?” “We can go there?” I asked. “Can we visit their technique halls?” “Sure,” said Jiao, “but they don’t have much that will help you. Everything they have is focused on the Martial Dao, and even their cultivation techniques aren’t of any use to us. The elements are no good for alchemy. I mean, some might be good for us, but we have all those over here anyway.” “But I can study them?” “Yeah, sure, both peaks use the same contribution point system. Again, just be careful though, some of the disciples might not like you poking around their techniques. Mostly, the only reason to go over there is if you want to specially recruit people to go out on a mission for you. Like, if you need a rare ingredient. You can request it from the pill hall, and they will issue a mission to the Martial Peak, but if you want to personally choose people, you have to go there yourself.” “Mission to gather rare ingredients? Can I leave the sect to do that too?” Jiao snorted. “If you want to, I guess you could, but you would probably die out there. There’s going to be serious competition for anything of importance. And what’s the point? Just stay here, earn contribution points, and send others to do the dirty work.” I wasn’t in any hurry to leave, but it seemed like a lot of my restrictions had been removed. The elders and Sect Master expected me to be pumping out pills for them, though, so I doubted I truly had free rein to go wherever I wished, but I at least had the illusion of freedom now.