Su Liang had a downcast expression on his face, bags the colour of the night sky adorning his eyes. He trundled along the road that led from Celestial Jade City towards the south of the empire.

"Those damnable bastards! I revolutionised the field of management, turned an ocean of lazy, corrupt clerks and ministers into an army of bureaucratic excellence! And what was my reward? Transferred to some backwater city on the border of two no-name sects… If I ever see that snivelling twit Du Bing again…"

This stream of cursing complaints was one of many that Su Liang had unleashed on his unfortunate travelling companions over the past week. The windstrider foal, for its troubles, simply trod along the road while staring ahead. The bald monk sat beside the former minister of internal affairs with a serene expression, as though the tirade of complaints didn't bother him one bit.

"What was it even called again?" Su Liang spat.

"Twisting Ridge City, I believe," the monk said, not even opening his eyes.

Su Liang snorted. "I hope this Twisting Ridge City has some civility at least. If I have to spend the next few decades in a backwater, it won't be without a few luxuries."

At that moment, a shadow fell over the ornate carriage the pair of men was travelling on. It passed, making them both look towards the sky.

"What in the heavens' name is that!?" Su Liang exclaimed.

The monk, seemingly unbothered by the stream of interruptions, had only opened a single eye to stare. "It seems to be a falling meteor."

When the meteor was about to hit the ground, they heard a sudden scream. "Motherfuuu–"

It struck the earth, sending up a huge cloud of dust and dirt. An instant later, the earth trembled. The windstrider foal winnied and reared up on its hind legs, the carriage coming to a halt and shaking as the tremors passed them by.

They survived without much damage, but then the shockwave struck. The monk let it blow by, the only damage he suffered was some dirt on his kasaya. Su Liang meanwhile, was knocked onto his backside.

"Minister, to think all I needed to bring peace to this journey was to call upon a falling star," the monk said, face expressionless save for a slight curl on one side of his mouth.

"You–! Damned drunken monk. You were banished along with me, you know," Su Liang retorted as he clambered upright.

"The will of the world is not for us mere mortals to comprehend. I only do as I am bid. Amitabha."

The dust had cleared now. The foal recovered and after some gentle coaxing from Su Liang it resumed the journey. The road, surprisingly, hadn't suffered any damage from the impact.

As they reached the area where the meteor had fallen, they realised it had missed the road and struck a clearing to one side. "A shame. If it damaged the road, I might have an excuse to return to the capital for a few more weeks," Su Liang muttered.

"One should not wish misfortune on others for personal gain," the monk said.

"Oh, because–" Su Liang never got to finish his retort, because at that moment a figure in a green robe crawled over the edge of the crater left by the meteor, stumbling towards their carriage.

"Is that… a person?" Su Liang said in surprise.

"Unless what constitutes a person has changed in the last five minutes, then yes," the monk retorted.

At that moment, the man in the green robe, which was spotless despite the destruction he'd emerged from, reached the carriage. The foal came to a halt without being ordered, the man smiling at the beast.

"Aren't you a beauty," he purred, stroking the awakened beast as if it were a harmless puppy. Then he turned to Su Liang and the monk. "Excuse me, I was wondering if you might be able to tell me where we are?"

Su Liang was no warrior, but he had cultivated to the middle stage of the Qi Gathering Realm during his time as a low level bureaucrat and then eventually minister of internal affairs. Thus, he was able to tell that the man in front of him was a Foundation Building expert. Even with the damnable monk by his side, he suddenly felt quite nervous.

"Amitabha. Benefactor finds himself in the lands of the Soaring Sword Sect. If you are lost, perhaps you should travel with us. The roads are plagued with bandits and other dangers," the monk replied.

"Soaring Sword Sect? I see. Thank you," the green robed cultivator replied. Then he began muttering to himself. "That tiger bastard sent me this far with one kick!? Almost scared the life out of me when the bubble vanished, only for it to give me such a delicate landing."

Su Liang gulped. He wasn't sure he was supposed to hear any of that. Causing such a huge dust cloud and tremor was a delicate landing? Cultivators truly lived in a different world.

"Sorry for the trouble, but would you mind telling me which direction Million Flowers Celestial Peak is?" the cultivator asked. Then, seeing our blank faces, he sighed and rubbed his temple. "I see. What about Twisting Ridge City?"

"Benefactor must possess great karma. It so happens that we are travelling to Twisting Ridge City, why don't you join us?" the monk offered with a smile.

Su Liang smiled and nodded alongside him, but internally he was cursing the damnable bastard. What idiot in their right mind would invite disaster into the fold?

The cultivator remained silent for a moment, chin resting in the crook of his fingers. Then he nodded. "Thank you for your generosity," he replied as he hopped from the ground and into the carriage in a single step.

So it was that Su Liang found himself squashed between a drunken, vengeful monk and a cultivator who could squash him like a bug while on his way to his new post. He only hoped he would arrive in one piece.

****

I made my way through Twisting Ridge City towards the city lord's palace. I had hitched a ride with a friendly monk and some fellow named Su Liang for the final stretch of the journey.

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The White Demon Tiger King's kick had sent me most of the way back from the capital, both impressing and terrifying me simultaneously. At first I had considered giving the Li Clan a visit, but they might think something fishy was going on if they learned I returned from the Blossoming Heavens so quickly.

I had learned they were associated with the Soaring Sword Sect, so it made me approach them with a lot more caution than before. Instead, I planned to visit the city lord.

Before our departure, the city guard had begun the process of dismantling the Azure Tigers and I wanted to know how it had gone. Also, I hadn't had the opportunity to meet the man himself last time, having to settle for his guard captain.

Now that I was in the city, I figured it was as good a time as any. There was an endless list of tasks I needed to work on, but with all the chaotic events in the world finished for now, I would have plenty of time once I returned to the sect.

When I arrived at the gates of the city lord's palace, a guard strode out with an outstretched palm. "Halt! No one is to enter the palace at this time," he barked.

"Would you tell him that Zhao Dan of the Grasping Life Sect is here?" I replied calmly.

The guard's face twisted in confusion, then settled on annoyance. "I said, no-" a familiar man appeared, placing a firm hand on the guard's shoulder. "Captain! This-" the guard exclaimed before being silenced by a fierce glare.

I recognised the new person. It was Captain Wang, the fellow I'd met last time I tried to see the city lord. "Captain Wang, is it truly not possible to see the city lord at this time?" I pushed, wondering if something odd was happening in this city. I hoped not—I didn't need another hassle like in Three River City.

To his credit, Captain Wang looked a little embarrassed as he stepped forward. "Sect Leader Zhao, you truly have bad luck. The new city lord only arrived in the city today and needs a few days to settle in before he is able to hold meetings. If you return then, perhaps…"

New city lord? "What happened to the last city lord?" I exclaimed, eyebrows raised.

The captain and the guard both took on downcast expressions. "We… aren't sure. One day he was healthy and the next… he just dropped dead. The palace alchemist said it was an unexplainable mystery," the captain replied.

"Damn charlatan, is what he is," the guard muttered.

"Enough. Master Pei has served the palace for decades without issue. Don't disparage him, Guard Dong," the captain scolded him.

Right. Sudden, unexplainable death. That wasn't ominous at all… "If I might ask, was the city lord the only one who died in this manner?"

The guard shifted on the spot, gaze fixed to his feet. Captain Wang straightened up and met my gaze. "Not that we are aware of, Sect Leader Zhao," he told me.

I had no reason to doubt him, but my instincts told me there was more to this. Right now, however, I couldn't be bothered to look further. I had better things to do than meddle in the city's politics.

"In that case, I won't waste more of your time. Give the new city lord my regards," I said with a martial salute. "Good day, Captain Wang."

Before leaving the city I left a message for Manager Zheng asking her to visit the Million Flowers Celestial Peak when she had the time. There were two reasons for this. The first was that I wished to get the treasures I'd obtained in the Blossoming Heavens appraised.

The second reason was that I wished to set up the foundations for a permanent supply contract with the consortium and the sect, as well as discuss the future of my spirit stone business.

Once that was done, I left the city and made my way back to the sect. I made sure to avoid anyone wearing the robes of the Li Clan. It was best not to take any unnecessary risks.

The journey didn't take long. My speed had increased yet again with the increases to my cultivation, meaning the short distance between the city and the mountain took me less than an hour to cover.

During that hour I figured out the order in which I was going to tackle all my problems. It was well past the time my sect should have a proper foundation.

The administrative basics had already been handled by Wang Ren and to a lesser extent, Yu Chun. However, setting up a contribution system for my disciples and finally creating a set of functional healing arts for any sufficiently talented cultivators was necessary.

With the Spring and Autumn Sage's reward, the ancient tome supposedly containing esoteric healing mysteries, I might be able to take the first step towards that. I already had ideas for those disciples in the Body Tempering Realm, but for anyone beyond that I would need more than my patchwork of knowledge.

Everything I'd learned in the Blossoming Heavens was informing my decisions. Discovering that the qi healing technique only worked through a technicality actually helped me understand a lot that hadn't made sense before.

Beyond that, I needed to spend some time developing my alchemy and experimenting with all the natural treasures I'd brought back. Finally, there was the matter of my Fivefold Medicine Forge Physique.

I had almost completed the first layer. All that remained was to finish refining my brain, the fifth and final organ. I had reached a soft limit to how many natural treasures I could absorb back in that corridor illusion, but after my journey home I felt that would no longer be an issue.

My own strength was somewhat secondary for now. I had advanced in great leaps and bounds during my time away from the sect. It was time to truly nurture my first generation of disciples and change this brutal world for the better.

As the gate bearing my carving came into view, I felt the final worries lifting from my shoulders. I knew it wasn't entirely safe here, but it was home.

I inhaled deeply as I made my way up the mountainside. The endless flowers which littered the peak released sweet floral scents into the air, a pleasant dizzying feeling accompanying it.

As I crested the peak of the mountain, I wasn't sure what I expected to find. However, the scene which greeted me was definitely not it.

Two crowds of people, all wearing the robes I had designed for the disciples, were facing off against each other in front of the Grasping Life Palace. One group was led by Xiao Cui, with the leaders of this group seeming to consist of my rambunctious first disciple along with Teng Sheng and the Yu twins. The other had Feng Mei, Yu Chun, and a wiry man I didn't recognise at its head.

None of them noticed me approaching. The reason for that is they were engaged in a screaming match of epic proportions. It hadn't yet descended into physical violence, but from the volume of the shouts I suspected it wouldn't be long before chaos erupted.

What had happened in my absence for such a rift to form between my disciples!? Where was Guan Jin in all this!?

I slipped into the crowds, avoiding notice. As I drew towards the front of Xiao Cui's group, I listened in to what was being said.

"You witch! How can you dare to say Master Dan's method is wrong!? After he took you into the sect? I won't let you use your foolish treatments on the patient!" Xiao Cui yelled.

Feng Mei grimaced, a conflicted expression on her face. "I'm not saying all of his teachings are wrong, just this one tiny part of one treatment!" she exclaimed in exasperation. "Are you so bullheaded that you'd risk the patient's future just to cling to your master's robe?"

"You dare!?"

I tuned it out after that. I'd heard enough. The rest of the gathered disciples were yelling similar things at each other, either in support of Little Cui or Feng Mei. This couldn't continue.

I stepped out of the crowd into the middle of the two groups. For a moment no one seemed to notice my appearance. Then Xiao Cui and Feng Mei froze, falling silent.

"Master!" Little Cui exclaimed, rushing forwards. "This ungrateful bi-"

I silenced her, raising my hand.

"Sect Leader, I tried to explai-" Feng Mei began, but I silenced her in the same manner.

"Everyone take a deep breath and calm down. You are all supposed to be martial brothers and sisters. This… is disappointing," I said, levelling a stern glare over every single person who was part of this nonsense. "Now, someone explain the situation to me. Calmly."

As the girls as well as the other ringleaders suddenly burst into furious chatter, I sighed and rubbed my temple. This was going to be a long day. At the same time, however, a warmth filled me from within. It was good to be home.

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