Mage's Cultivation Journey 35

When I went out, I found Elder Kai sitting near the pond, watching the fish dance in the clear water. Su Mi must have invited him to sit, but even then, he had been careful enough to sit in the farthest part of the pond. His intention to avoid even looking like he had been trying to spy on what was going on was apparent.

“Elder Kai, welcome to our temporary abode,” I greeted him. My voice wasn’t particularly welcoming, but despite that, I caught a hint of a smile on his face.

Well, from his perspective, it counted as progress. “It’s my great honor to be greeted by you, Lord Steward. But, I hope I haven’t interrupted your work. I have just visited to invite a young master to another sparring session. Our students had benefited greatly from his presence.”

I sighed as I sat across from him. “Unfortunately, that won’t be possible for a few days. He’s in the midst of a breakthrough.”

“It’s unfortunate. Then, I should leave. The young master could send me the news once he inevitably succeeds.”

He made a motion to stand, but I decided to keep him around. I had a perfect excuse. “Stay. I’m getting bored dealing with snot-nosed brats,” I said.

Elder Kai nodded. “It would be my honor, Lord Steward,” he replied. “But, if it isn’t too forward, may I ask how long the young master would stay out of commission? A month —”

I snorted, cutting him off. “If he takes a month, I will feed him to the dogs,” I declared. “Master would probably applaud. No, he can have a sparring session in five days.”

His eyes widened. He tried to hide his shock, but failed. “Five days for a breakthrough. What a fascinating talent.”

“Taking five days to reach Skin Refinement would be a disgrace for his bloodline,” I responded, acting like the mere idea of his limited success affronted me deeply, playing the loyal servant of a big expert perfectly. “It’ll take three days at most. The other two days are for him to learn a few techniques so as not to shame him.”

“Techniques? From Furious Wind Style?” he prompted hesitantly.

“Yes. It’s a bit of a disgrace, but the inheritance rules are clear. Even the current situation is pushing the limits a bit. But, the family techniques cannot be taught before his admission … and, it’s not advisable to return before he can defend himself. His half-brothers will not be very happy about him.” As I explained, I let my frustration bubble to the surface, acting like I was caught up in the chance to act out.

His eyes widened. “I understand, Lord Steward. Family politics could be difficult at times.”

I sighed. “They certainly are.” Then, I paused, wondering if my next move would pay off or backfire. It was a bluff based on my limited understanding of martial arts. “At least this Furious Wind style has a good compatibility with one of the styles that will be a part of his inheritance, so all that effort won’t be a waste.”

I kept my eye on the pool, like I was watching the fish, but I observed his reflection, curious whether I would find confusion or elation. I found the latter, with a good dash of greed, which implied that my theory of replacing martial arts with stronger ones of similar nature was a viable path. And, I just gave him a clue.

“Actually, it might be possible to get your hands on the next chapters of Furious Wind style, Lord Steward,” he said. “There’s a large gang that’s growing around the Western Passage. Reports indicated that they have several Bone Forging experts. They must have the follow-up chapters.”

“Just Bone Forging peons,” I responded, doing my best to sound dismissive.

“We are not sure, Lord Steward,” he replied. “Several scouts have reported the suspected presence of Organ Refinement experts, but nothing confirmed.”

“That’s more like it,” I replied, my tone carrying an arrogance I did not feel. I could deal with Bone Forging experts if I were prepared, but even that relied on a lot of assumptions. I had no real understanding of what an Organ Refinement realm fighter was capable of.

But, I couldn’t tell that without ruining the whole ploy. I sighed deeply. “Too bad I can’t bring the kid there, and I can’t leave him alone. Not until he’s strong enough to defend himself. Skin Refinement is still too weak. I might be more confident if he were at the Bone Forging Realm, with a few techniques to protect himself, but…”

His eyes widened at my mention. After all, I was implying that, if I had a complete manual, I could help him break through. It was even more impressive than the healing capabilities I had displayed.

“By the way. Were you the one who arranged the library?” I asked.

He nodded. “This lowly one had taken a small part in the selection,” he replied, trying to sound modest, but not at the point of giving up the credit.

“Good selection,” I said as I pulled the diary to show him. “This one in particular has been very eye-opening. Enough that, if you have others like that, I will be open to purchase,” I said.

His eyes widened at the declaration, which was to be expected. Since the moment they had learned about me, they had been trying to find an angle to ask for my help.

I gave them the method openly, for one principal reason. It made sense for my current role. After all, the whole point of my role was to show that I was far superior to them, which was further helped by taking down a Bone Forging martial artist in one attack.

And, with that superiority, showing confidence in requesting something that truly piqued my interest was only natural.

While he checked the book, only to get baffled by the content of the rambling diary, and what caught my attention, I glanced around the garden, enjoying the peace.

I had to admit, the garden was beautiful enough to count as a work of art, particularly with afternoon sun adding sharp shadows to enhance the texture. The flowers smelled amazing, lotus and koi fish dancing in the depths of the lake.

For a time, neither of us spoke. I watched the garden while he read the book, trying to get a sense of what caught my attention. He also didn’t dare to ask.

I found myself facing another challenge. Patience.

It wasn’t to say that a mage couldn’t be patient, but back home, patience was a different thing. A mage had to have the patience to let his experiments mature, which included a lot of waiting. However, any half-decent mage would have at least ten projects he was running concurrently, with even more in the design phase. A mage’s patience was a busy affair.

However, from what I had seen, martial artists preferred to sit for long periods of time and ponder, especially once they started to get older and stronger, enough to be called an expert. My recent discoveries about the internal energy transformation showed me that it was not just tradition that drove them.

It didn’t make it any less frustrating to try to immerse myself in the movement of a few fish trying to nibble on water plants. Instead, I split my attention, and started pondering on the other techniques I had found, and tried to pick a direction for Su Mi.

As my healing abilities grew, I was more confident saving her in case of an emergency.

“Dongxi has changed,” Elder Kai suddenly said, pulling me away from my pondering. “I wish you could have seen it before all those troubles started. It was a beautiful city.”

“I’m sure it was. Bandits and politics are a devastating combination,” I replied, giving him the opportunity to ask for my help.

He preferred lingering. “True, Lord Steward. The refugees are growing restless, especially under the appeasement of some parties.” I raised an eyebrow but said nothing. I didn’t know what to say. I had assumed that he would have goaded me to act on the Azure Blade union, but the mention of refugees pushed the situation in a different direction.

I wondered if he was trying to push me to act against the Liao family, or just testing my stance. I didn’t know, nor did I know which was the better option for me. So, I stayed silent.

“The land acquisitions are going in full force. I can’t help but ask who’s benefiting the most.”

Alright, that was clear. He was trying to goad me to act on the Liao family. As for why, I had no idea. “A novel way to look for it. But sometimes, one might see the fish swallow the bait, and draw conclusions.”

To my surprise, his eyes widened. “Lord Steward? Are you saying the true fisherman is yet to show itself?”

“It’s hard to see when the water is muddy, yet fish can’t survive in clear water,” I replied, throwing another ambiguous statement that he could stretch based on his perception.

“I … how wise, Lord Steward,” he said, looking thoroughly convinced. I barely held back my sigh. I would have blamed the martial artists for being easily impressed, but it had been a prevalent issue for the mages as well.

Many mages would take the declarations of Lord Mages as gospel, attributing great wisdom … often to their own detriment. Just because one was strong didn’t mean every judgment they had was accurate.

Too bad I couldn’t just clarify that to Elder Kai. He stood up and bowed. “I have abused your hospitality for too long, Lord Steward,” he said, bowed and left, bringing the diary with him.

I watched him disappear at the gate, hoping that he would return with similar books. Ideally, on elemental theory, but to be fair, I wouldn’t say no to anything about cultivators.

It was time I started to understand the true power that ruled this dimension.