He walked up to me and held out his hand for a firm handshake. “I’m Chen WuJing, floor manager of this branch of the Blue Wind Pavilion. I’m glad you came to visit.”
“Thank you,” I said, returning his handshake. “My name is Su Fang.”
WuJing led me to the armchairs at the side of his office, and we sat down for a conversation.
Even though I knew this was an act, and he was just following Mei’s instructions, it felt genuine. I had to wonder how long the two of them had been working together to have such a fluid working relationship.
“How can I help you today?” asked WuJing. “I heard you were looking at pills and herbs. Are you an alchemist?”
“Yes,” I said, “and I am hoping to explore cooperation with the Pavilion if you are interested.”
“Wonderful, what type of cooperation are you looking for?”
I paused for a moment. I had thought about what to say, but I still wasn’t completely sure. The fact was, the people in this building had incredibly powerful social blessings, and I almost certainly couldn’t bluff my way through things. Also, I was presenting myself as a young master this time. I should be direct and honest with my goals and allow the chips to fall where they may.
I looked WuJing directly in the eyes as I spoke. “I am an alchemist, and I need to improve to the level of Pill King, possibly even Pill Emperor, as soon as possible. To do that, I have to make a true ascension to at least Martial King. I want to partner with you to achieve this goal.”
WuJing looked at me in shock. “Do you know what that involves?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have a place to do it?”
“Not yet, but it will need to be in the Brilliant Sun Empire in the south.”
WuJing looked at me and considered for a long while. He looked at Mei, and she only nodded her head. Any other place, I, a Martial Disciple in the Wastes who hadn’t even begun cultivating, would have been laughed out of the room for proclaiming I would ascend to Martial King. These two were different though.
“Alright,” WuJing finally said, “what’s your plan?”
I laughed a bit sardonically, “I don’t have one yet. I don’t know how to get the empire to give me a city, let alone a kingdom, but I know it is possible, and I know it needs to be done.”
WuJing tapped his fingers on his armrest as he thought. “Does it have to be an imperial kingdom? There are ways for the Pavilion to help you ascend.”
“No,” I said, “I just need to form a close relationship with their ruling family. I was thinking becoming an honored court alchemist may accomplish that while also allowing me to claim a kingdom.”
“It’s possible,” said WuJing, “but there are other ways. A Pill King is unheard of in the south. The best alchemists down there are usually just experienced Pill Lords. If you can become a Pill King the imperial family will be falling over themselves to win your favor, so you don’t need to worry about that, but that’s assuming you’re already a Pill King.”
WuJing poured himself a glass of amber-colored liquid before beginning again. “When you reach Grandmaster Alchemist you will need to be in a position to ascend to Martial Lord, and as a Pill Lord, you need to be able to ascend to Martial King. That will be extremely difficult to accomplish in Brilliant Sun. I don’t know much about that specific empire, but every empire is notoriously tightfisted with its lands, so you would have to be both exceptional and viewed as extremely loyal to get a city from them, and I don’t see that happening in a short timeframe, no matter how good you are.”
“So, I can’t go ascend through the empire,” I said. “Any suggestions?”
“Of course,” WuJing smiled. “You’re already here, so why not work directly with us? As long as you are a member of the Pavilion, and your contributions have been great enough, you can purchase an ascension all the way to Emperor if you want.”
“The Blue Wind Pavilion sells empire for contribution points?” I asked. “That’s absurd.”
“No,” laughed WuJing, “not at all. First, we don’t use contribution points here. This isn’t a sect. It’s a business. Everything is handled in cash. Money isn’t the problem here though. To purchase a chance at ascension, you need the approval of the higher-ups, and they will look closely at what you contributed to decide if they want to sell you that chance. And second, you aren’t buying the empire, just the chance to ascend.
The Pavilion’s leader also controls a peripheral empire. After the purchase, you will be crowned emperor for a year. During that year, the karmic energy of the empire will flow to you, and you can use it to ascend, but you will have no actual authority.”
“Can… Can you actually do that? You can just rent an empire for a bit and it’s enough to ascend?” I sat there dumbfounded that such a thing would be possible.
“Yes,” said WuJing with a smile, “and you never even have to step foot inside its borders. Whatever forces control the world don’t care. It’s just a matter of where the energy is directed. Instead of going to the true ruler, you become the nominal ruler for a period of time, and it gets sent to you.”
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By the ‘the forces that control the world,’ I knew who he was talking about. I could understand that from that being’s point of view, the details weren’t important. An empire improved, a cultivator advanced. It didn’t care who.
“Let’s do that, then,” I decided. “I’ll plan to advance to Martial King through the Pavilion. How do we get started?”
“Excellent!” WuJing smiled. “First, we need to get you set up as a full member of the Pavilion. This will involve disclosing your blessing and, if at all possible, providing proof that your claims are true. Since you are looking to become a Pill King, I will assume you currently have some alchemy ability. Once you are accepted, you can start making pills for the Pavilion, earning money and contribution.”
“How will I get to Brilliant Sun?” I asked.
“Getting there is easy, just earn enough money for a ride in our carriages. You don’t want to just go there, though. You need to get promoted there. Otherwise, it will be much more difficult to establish a firm foothold in an imperial capital.”
“So, how do I get promoted there?”
“For me, as a manager, earning contribution to get promoted out of the Wastes is difficult, but for you, as an alchemist, it’s simple. Just make good enough pills that they can’t be sold locally. Then, instead of constantly shipping them out of here, you’ll get promoted up.”
“So, just make excellent pills and I can get sent to Brilliant Sun?”
“Eh, maybe, but you’ll probably get sent to a smaller kingdom somewhere, possibly even just a city. We just need to make it so we are sent somewhere down south, then, when you become too good for that place, we can aim to be sent to Brilliant Sun.”
“We? You’re going with me?”
“Your contribution is alchemy,” laughed WuJing, “but my contribution is you. I’m going to take shade under your tall tree for as long as possible. As long as you become an incredible enough Grandmaster Alchemist, I should be able to use it to get promoted to branch manager of a kingdom and take you with me. That will allow me to advance to Martial Lord. Then, the farther you go, the farther I go. If you get me promoted to branch manager of Brilliant Sun, I will be able to advance to Martial King.”
I smiled and nodded. A harmonious exchange of opportunities was what I needed. Pies didn’t fall from the sky, and I wasn’t going to get a chance to ascend without giving something back in return. I hoped this relationship would bear fruit because the only other real idea I had for advancing to Martial King was spending a long time learning martial arts and carving out a kingdom for myself through blood. I much preferred the mercantile route.
“On a related topic,” I said, “will the Pavilion provide cultivation techniques?”
WuJing gave me a scrutinizing look. “You haven’t cultivated at all yet, right? Is it because you don’t have a proper technique?”
“No,” I said honestly, “I have a technique I plan to use. It has its drawbacks, but it’s sufficient. I just wanted to see if the Pavilion could provide me something better.”
WuJing swirled the liquid in his glass as he thought. “We can certainly look at that. What rank is your current technique?”
“Mid-Profound.”
He sucked in a breath through his teeth. “That’s difficult. Very difficult. If we were at the main branch, it wouldn’t be a problem, but there’s nothing better here. The best I can authorize is a Low-Profound technique, and the Pavilion Master can only get you a Mid-Profound one. To do better, we would need to request it be delivered here from the main branch. The Pavilion Master has the clout to do that, but it would put you deep in her debt, and I wouldn’t recommend it if you want to keep a firm control of your future.”
He could be playing me a bit here. His words stunk of internal politics, keeping me to himself instead of sharing with the Pavilion Master. His reasoning may be skewed, but I was certain there was also truth behind what he said. I didn’t want to put myself into someone’s debt this early in life, so I accepted his recommendation.
“I’ll use the technique I have, then,” I said. “But I will be able to purchase access to any of the techniques here eventually, including that Mid-Profound one, right?”
“Yes,” he responded, “though Profound techniques require requisite contributions.”
“Understood. Before I can do much alchemy, I need to cultivate for a while. Should I do that now, or do we need to deal with membership first?”
“Let’s handle the membership first,” decided WuJing, “If we get that taken care of, you can stay in the Pavilion to cultivate, which will be much easier.”
WuJing and Mei brought me up to the eighth floor of the pagoda, the top floor.
At the top of the stairs was an expertly carved dark wooden double door that had been inlaid with silver and gold. In the design, golden snow-peaked mountains stood proudly as silver streamers of wind blew around them. WuJing opened the door, and we walked inside.
This room was simple, yet elegant. There were no paintings or artwork, but the walls themselves served as decoration. Wood slats had been arranged in geometric patterns encircling the entire room. Large windows were deftly worked into the pattern along two walls. A lone man was working behind a desk that was set to the side of another door with the same design as the first.
“Secretary Jiang,” said WuJing, “This is Su Fang, he wishes to become a member of the Pavilion. I came to arrange everything.”
“A Martial Disciple 1?” said the man behind the desk. “Interesting that he caught your eye. Very well.”
The man pulled out a large book from a drawer and opened it to somewhere near the middle.
“Your name is Su Fang, correct? What is your age?”
“Sixteen,” I said.
The man nodded. It would be expected since I hadn’t cultivated.
“Affinities?” he asked.
This was trickier, and I hadn’t completely decided how to proceed, but I felt I needed to be able to make Perfect Rank 3 pills. That would only be possible by pushing to peak seven-star in everything. I wouldn’t be able to push everything to six-star, but I could do it for a couple of affinities if needed. Still, this wasn’t the time to make the big plans.
“Peak seven-star in all five basic elements,” I said confidently.
Everyone looked at me in shock. It seemed even WuJing hadn’t expected that answer. However, it could also be that he expected me to have something better in store. Should a future Martial King have five-star affinities?
“Multiple affinities are difficult to test,” said Secretary Jiang, “Manager Chen, are you willing to vouch for the truth of this?”
After a short hesitation, WuJing responded, “Yes, I will.”
“Acceptable. Blessing?” Jiang asked.
“It is a comprehensive alchemy blessing. It granted me significant knowledge up to the level of Grandmaster Alchemist, a spirit fire, and various improvements to qi control. I also suspect my affinities are a result of this blessing.”
“What are the herbs needed to concoct a Rank 3 Fire Qi Expulsion Pill?”
I quickly recited them from memory.
“What is needed for a Rank 2 Creeping Death Pill?”
Again, I answered quickly.
“I will accept that as tentative proof, however practical demonstrations over time will be necessary. Su Fang,” he said as he wrote, “you are now an official member of the Pavilion under the recommendation of Manager Chen WuJing.” After writing down a bit more in the book he closed it and looked up at WuJing. “Manager Chen, he is your recruit so you can get him settled.” Then he looked at me. “Welcome to the Blue Wind Pavilion.”