The Magistrate: Chapter 57

Chapter 57

A Drop of Progress

Tobias’s cultivation sessions never lasted longer than a night. And even those sessions were only ever performed for so long to prove that he understood the theory, so going into seclusion for ten days was a new experience. Tobias approached his closed-door session with the focus of a true master. He measured the chi concentration in his cultivation chamber, established how much time he had to cultivate, and then performed the calculations to figure out which cultivation method would be most effective.

Unlike regular cultivation, which replenished depleted energy meridian networks and cores with chi, closed-door cultivation was for cultivating spiritual energy. This was surprisingly straightforward. All a cultivator needed to do was cycle chi through their lower, middle, or upper dantian. The amount of spiritual energy they generated could even be accurately calculated based on the amount of chi that was available to be cycled and their divinity.

This meant the only way to cultivate more efficiently was to cultivate faster. And to do that, you had to practice a cultivation method that accelerated the rate at which you could cycle chi over time. The longer the chi acceleration took, the more stable the chi flow rate was, but using a cultivation method which would allow you to cycle chi a hundred times faster after a decade was useless for someone in the foundation realm.

Tobias had chosen a cultivation method that was initially slower than the one he used to refill his energy meridian network. However, by the second day, it was just as quick. Each day after that, his speed increased until, on the tenth day, he was cycling at eleven times his usual speed.

Chi had poured into his energy meridians, moving through the network before entering his lower dantian to nourish his energy centre and create spiritual energy. This process polluted the chi, which was then expelled from his network and filtered out of his cultivation chamber by various arrays.

Tobias never grew bored despite the time he spent cultivating. All closed-door cultivation methods had an inbuilt mechanism that made cultivators unaware of the passage of time. They existed entirely in the present, adjusting the flow of chi and maintaining their breathing without ever thinking about the world beyond.

The only reason Tobias stopped cultivating was that his lower dantian became so full of spiritual energy that it physically hurt. Otherwise, he would have continued, only stopping when someone disturbed him.

Compared to cultivating, compressing spiritual energy droplets was anything but peaceful.

Sweat dripped from Tobias’s brow as he sat in his cultivation chamber, attempting to compress his first spiritual droplet. His lower dantian had begun to ache on the ninth day of his closed-door cultivation session, indicating that it was full, but he’d kept going. On the last day, the pain had grown so bad that Tobias was forced to end his seclusion early.

The lower dantian was said to govern chi storage and concentration, but its presence near the stomach meridian strengthened the body meridian network when it held more spiritual energy. The middle dantian was said to govern emotions and inner peace, but its proximity to the lung, heart, and pericardium meridians strengthened healing. The upper dantian was said to govern spiritual development, but its presence near the triple burner meridian strengthened consciousness, intuition, and spiritual insight.

However, Tobias’s research showed that strengthening any dantian would produce all these effects, though to varying degrees.

Tobias gritted his teeth as he squeezed. He had decided hours ago that he’d been too optimistic when overfilling his lower dantian. The process of compressing his first droplet of spiritual energy was not an insurmountable mountain, but he’d certainly made it more difficult by filling his dantian so much it hurt. The pain was a constant distraction as he directed his spiritual energy to compress with the assistance of the divine spiritual droplet compression pill that he’d consumed.

He was trying to compress a larger spiritual droplet. Larger spiritual droplets strengthen cultivation more, but not to the same degree that more drops would. However, compressing spiritual energy in the initial stage of the foundation realm was much easier than in the later stages, so Tobias figured this was the optimal route.

He hadn’t been wrong, but he hadn’t realised how painful the experience would be.

Tobias began a new compression cycle, controlling his breathing, and immediately noticed a change. The ball of spiritual energy that he’d been squeezing for hours suddenly changed from a hazy, misty state to one with a single solid dot at the centre. The mist began to swirl around this point, flowing into it, causing it to grow in size. The pressure in his dantian began to ease, and some of the pain went with it.

Tobias didn’t celebrate, finishing the compression cycle before beginning a new one. Over the next several hours, his spiritual energy flowed into the point, eventually forming a single droplet. Tobias didn’t stop until there wasn’t a trace of spiritual energy left in his lower dantian.

Tobias studied his spiritual droplet after his ordeal was over. The small nexus of spiritual energy warped the chi within his energy meridian network, compressing it into a slightly denser form. The droplet he’d created was far from perfect, but it was larger than a droplet any other cultivator with his divinity could create.

When Tobias was certain he’d done everything correctly, he slowly refilled his depleted energy meridian network with chi and returned his attention to the world outside his body. The first thing he noticed was the foul odour he was giving off.  His eye cracked open, exposing the fact that his body was covered in a layer of hardening black mucus.

Tobias covered his skin in a thin layer of chi, prying away the contamination his body had excreted while he formed his spiritual droplet. The muck flowed from him into an empty bucket by the wall of the chamber, causing a new wave of nauseating stench.

Tobias was tired and uncomfortable, but compared to the aftereffects of taking other cultivation pills, this was bliss. He quickly rose to his feet and hurried out of the chamber, walking across the hallway to his cleansing room.

Inside the room sat three bathtubs, managed by one of his more skilled servants. The elder man had two pieces of cloth stuffed in his nostrils. He stayed beside the wall and motioned for Tobias to enter the first of the tubs. The bath smells strongly of chemicals.

Tobias climbed into the tub and grabbed a scrubbing brush. The cleaners used in the tub were so caustic that they would burn a mortal’s skin, but anything weaker wouldn’t remove the toxins he was covered in.

Tobias only experienced a slight tingle as he scrubbed himself down, being careful not to slosh the bath over the sides, which would injure the servant. Despite only feeling a slight tingle, he could sense the damage the chemicals were doing to his hair. It was eating away at it, slowly dissolving and breaking it down.

The moment he was clean, Tobias levitated himself from the first tube and into the second, which was a neutralising agent. Once the first bath had been neutralised, he levitated himself into the third tub, which was just a hot, perfumed bath.

The servant stepped forward and placed a lid on the first two baths before grabbing his box of elixirs to fix Tobias’s hair. Tobias didn’t like other people washing him, but repairing the damage to his hair from the first bath required skill, and he hadn’t had time to learn how to do so himself yet.

Tobias was done cleaning himself long before the old man finished with his hair. He would apply one elixir, then another, combine some, and add more of others. Each action caused Tobias’s hair to respond in a different way, slowly repairing it.

After several hours, the servant was finally satisfied. Tobias thanked him for his assistance, and the man left. Once he was alone, Tobias left the cleansing room and entered a secondary dressing room where his clothes had been laid out. Tobias quickly dressed and headed for the exit.

Majordomo Wo greeted him at the door, bowing in the early morning sun. “Allow me the honour of being the first to congratulate you on taking your first step into the foundation realm, Patriarch.”

Tobias nodded that he had his permission.

“Your limitations make this success a feat worthy of both respect and praise. It is also more proof that much of what I was taught at Cloud Sect is wrong. Your cultivation skill and understanding are without peer, Patriarch.”

Tobias agreed.

Only half of Cloud Sect’s foundation realm disciples successfully compressed their first spiritual droplet. However, these disciples all had a minimum cultivation divinity of seven. To do the same with only a divinity of five was unheard of, even with droplet compression pills.

“Only inform the Great Clans and sects of my success once I’m gone,” Tobias said.

Majordomo Wo nodded. “It will be done, Patriarch. Magistrate Chi arrived with his family while you were cultivating. They have settled into the guest residence and are well rested.”

“Are there any immediate concerns?”

Majordomo Wo nodded. “His wife is in poor health due to advanced age.”

“Do they have a good relationship?”

“Magistrate Chi dotes on her and sees to her care personally.”

“Is she a cultivator?”

“Her stomach meridian has been opened but is not fully cleansed.”

Tobias’s family had been gaining a lot of spirit herbs from Cloud Sect due to all their work, but they were still a year away from being able to produce specific meridian-opening and cleansing pills themselves. General opening and cleansing pills were already being produced and shipped to Field Marshall Kang to reinforce the border.

“Look into acquiring the pills she needs to cleanse her stomach meridian and open and cleanse her heart and lung meridians. Silver pills should be available for purchase. The Great Clans prefer not to give them to soldiers and guards, so they should be available. Approach Disciple Tang to see if he can produce any tonics that will assist her in the meantime.”

Majordomo Wo bowed. “It will be done, Patriarch. However, should I not be able to do so, do I provide the academy’s golden pills to her?”

Tobias shook his head. “I told the Great Clans those pills are being used for the academy, and I will not break my word, but you may approach them on my behalf about purchasing golden pills for her if silver pills are not available.”

“As you wish, Patriarch.”

“Inform Magistrate Chi that I wish to dine with him this evening.”

“He’s said that he’s available anytime you wish.”

“I wish to treat him with the respect he deserves. I need to rest to do so. Have the servants wake me when it’s time for us to meet.”

With that sorted, Tobias headed for bed.

***

Magistrate Chi had grown younger during the decade since they had met. Entering the initiate realm had removed many of his wrinkles and thickened his hair so that he appeared like a man in his fifties. Cultivation could reverse the effects of ageing, but not completely. Tobias had never looked into why, but he assumed this was because the body didn’t view some physical signs of ageing as weaknesses that needed to be removed. Whether you looked like you were in your twenties or fifties didn’t matter if you could run all day and night.

Tobias spent five hours entertaining Magistrate Chi and speaking about their families. He also thanked the man many times for everything he had done for him during their travels together. His assistance was monumental to his success at Cloud Sect, setting him up for everything that came after.

Tobias had sent many letters over the years telling the man this, but Magistrate Chi always wrote back that he was not deserving of such largess. It was only after hours of conversation and the sharing of history that Magistrate Chi understood what his actions had done for Tobias and why Tobias felt the need to treat him like an extended member of his family.

This seemed to relax him.

Magistrate Chi leaned against the table as he sipped spirit wine. “You know…” he slurred. “All these years, I thought you were trying to bribe me for something.”

Tobias chuckled and emptied his cup. “I assumed as much. It’s part of the reason why I never invited you to visit.”

Magistrate Chi threw his arms wide. “Then why am I here now?”

“I need to speak with Peace Master So.”

Magistrate Chi sobered. “My brother won’t introduce you even if I ask. He’s very protective of his master.”

“2nd Patriarch Lee has already supplied me with a letter of introduction. What I need is enough of a connection to Peace Master So that the khans’ men will leave me alone while I’m travelling there.”

Magistrate Chi paused. “There is more to fear than cultivators on the Golden Plains.”

“I can keep us safe.”

Magistrate Chi nodded wobblily, and his gaze tightened. “Your majordomo informed me that you are trying to acquire cultivation resources for my wife. Will those disappear if I say no?”

“No. However, I won’t allow your children and grandchildren to serve me and sit out the war if you don’t.”

Magistrate Chi stared at Tobias while cycling chi to sober himself up. “And what would that service look like. I have two sons who are magistrates and six grandsons.”

“I have no interest in becoming a lower magistrate or gaining political influence, but my cultivation academy needs skilled administrators. Your family does a lot of work as clerks, and I could use their assistance.”

“I’ve heard that the 3rd Emperor wants you dead.”

“He does. But if you knew that before you came here, then you’ve already chosen sides.”

Magistrate Chi nodded.

Tobias refilled their cups.

Magistrate Chi emptied his in one smooth swallow. “Decades ago, my brother and I drank like this. In the early hours of the morning, he taught what The Three Kingdoms were like before the 2nd Emperor’s reign. Since that night, I’ve had no love for the 2nd Emperor or his family. However, I would prefer that you accept my family into your household. Should the Great Clans and sects win, there will be great upheaval in The Three Kingdom’s bureaucracy, and I do not wish to see my family swept away with the outgoing tide.”

Tobias considered the request. Magistrate Chi was asking for a lot, but his presence on this journey could be the difference between success and failure. “You understand that if you swear your family to me, this will be the end of their career growth?”

Magistrate Chi threw his head back and laughed. “I have been a magistrate all my life. I have never been promoted and never will be. This is the beginning and end for my family and I. And you underestimate your influence. A royal magistrate holds the same significance as a middle magistrate. A royal magistrate of a noble clan, even more. My family will no longer be bullied simply because of our association with you.”

Tobias considered the situation from Magistrate Chi’s perspective and had to agree. Bureaucrats hated upsetting the noble clans, mainly because they could afford to kill them if they annoyed them enough. Tobias could pay for the deaths of several magistrates a year without any issues. He didn’t want to, but he could.

Tobias refilled their cups before raising his. “If you wish to swear your entire household to mine for protection, then I will allow it.”

Magistrate Chi inclined his head and drank. “When do you wish to leave?”

“I’ve organised safe passage to the border for tomorrow morning. We will have a guide through the Shatter Kingdoms and most of the Khans’ territory, but not through the Golden Plains. We will return in the summer.”

Tobias was sure Magistrate Chi could be trusted, but he wasn’t sure about the man’s family. They were currently under the watch of his people and the Great Clans, but there were months for them to get a message out, so if they did, he wanted it to be the wrong message.

Magistrate Chi nodded. “I will take my leave then.”