NOVPUBRunning a city was a hell of a lot harder than I figured it would be.
Not that I thought it was going to be easy, but there was a lot more bull shit to deal with than I had anticipated. Although master Hei Dong said I was the one who had to make all the decisions, and I was, it was he who was setting the pace.
Since my first official day in office, he created a timetable of things I had to be doing. From making visits to various sects, performing inspections of city infrastructure, to meeting with imperial staff and then sitting down with the accountants and lawyers to work on budgets and all the legal crap.
And then at the end of the day, Master Hei Dong would have all these ‘decision papers’ written up for me to sign off on and approve. Each paper outlined whatever particular problem the paper was about, including possible options and then a final recommended solution from himself or other imperial staff. Then he’d ask me if I agreed or if I wanted to explore other options.
Nine times out of ten I went with what Master Hei Dong recommended, especially since I didn’t know jack shit about most of it. Like setting trade frequencies between the other provinces and suggested tariffs or trade agreements. Even the stuff I did know about and wanted to change, like lowering taxes and building better housing for the masses, came with their own decision papers that had all kinds of consequences I’d never thought about.
But Master Hei Dong had every angle covered and usually he’d work out a way for me to translate what I wanted into something actually feasible that wouldn’t break the economy.
By the first week I was exhausted both mentally and physically.
And I wasn’t even doing that much, in comparison to my normal line of work.
Being forced to listen to the problems of hundreds of people each day was far more soul draining than resisting the Frenzy of the Cursed Stars. Nevertheless, progress was slowly being made. By the second week I, along with Master Hei Dong had made several significant changes.
We first succeeded in supplanting the Silver Leaf Clan with the Terran Sect as the ruling clan without upsetting the status quo too much. Under a normal regime change, the families of the ruling clan would have been kicked out, or even executed in extreme cases. But with Master Hei Dong as my second, we bartered a peaceful deal that saw the removal of only Lady Silver Tear’s direct family from the Imperial city. A martial tournament was then held amongst the Silver Leaf Clan to select their new leader, with the winning family taking the former warden’s spot.
It kept both the Silver Leaf Clan busy and the ousted families in check while I went about my duties, but secretly I wished Fia herself could have participated. On my weekend jaunts back home to the village in the wild, I would tell her about who was winning and losing and the excitement that filled her eyes told me she would have loved to have competed. But she was dead to the world until I made it safe for her to return, so fanciful talk was all it could ever amount to.
At least for now.
Jian Yi solved the puzzle of integrating the common folk into the imperial city without displacing everyone and causing a huge war between the two classes. She started by first changing laws around citizenship and then granting tax incentives to encourage wealthy families to move from the imperial city and populate the lower city below. Her concept was, if we couldn’t bring the masses to the imperial city, then we would bring the imperial city to them.
Even Master Hei Dong didn’t think it would work at first, but money talked and when people realized they could earn three times as much profit by moving their home and business below, it started a natural trickle of wealthy families populating and restoring the old city naturally.
The days went by, and after a while, I started to get the hang of things and ruling actually became kind of fun, minus the five headaches you’d get from every decision you would make. A month in and we finally reached a point of having the province under a somewhat steady state of existence.
Not everyone was happy, the old regime especially, but the rule of might saw to it that as pissed as they were, they would eventually have to challenge me to see things change. And that was just fine with me. Thankfully those people were few and weak at the moment and the opening of the boarders was like a breath a fresh air to most.
For the day-to-day violence that came from the operation of the Jianghu, Hein saw to controlling most of it by whipping the Enforcers and Imperial Guards into shape. Blue Rose lent a hand, and as a full-fledged Legionnaire with actual martial skills, she had the employment lines overflowing with new recruits eager to gleam something from her.
Tu’lok and Mal’kira assisted Hein more directly with the training of the infantry regiment who would defend the city from demon attacks should they pierce the barrier again. Not that I expected anything more from I’xol’ukz at the moment. Still, I checked on the slimy bastard nightly as I cultivated under the tepid Dark Frenzy of the Bloodmoon, occasionally dipping into the spirit realm to harass I’xan’dra and build my spiritual strength. It wasn’t as consistent or potent as cultivating under the rays of a Cursed Star, but it was, day by day, building my spiritual endurance to tolerate that lower plane of the moon where the Chainmaiden’s lair was hid.
On the flip side, when it came to managing the wilderness itself, I tried to give Lee a higher position in control of all the gates and excursion camps, which was still our main source of income from off world, but true to form, he was well enough and happy where he was managing the Eastern gate alone.
He did help with recruitment of the Terran Sect though and as the ranks grew, I could soon see us encompassing nearly the entire province, with members from all sects joining to earn the special benefits of being part of the ruling clan. It allowed our coffers to grow, and I left it to Jian Yi to manage the expansion of what was once the native housing district.
So much was happening that I had to stop myself at times and remember that I had a heck of a lot more to accomplish than just rebuilding the city. Fia reminded me of that at every visit, and not just for needing to free her from the confines of the wilds, but everyone. Kelsey came and went freely as well, but together we would discuss what it would mean to truly connect our two worlds.
The city wasn’t ready for the dead to come back to life in the form of Native Terrans reappearing just yet and I had to still clear the path for them to do so. And for that I needed to face the dread I had been avoiding week after week.
“So, when are you going to go?”
Master Hei Dong asked the question after one of our council meetings, where we were joined by Hein and Blue Rose. He then tossed the letter he was reading to the side. “I can only hold off the princess and her demands for an audience for so long, you know? I’m running out of excuses for you being busy. If you wish to woo her you must at least see her face to face.”
The idea still made me wretch inside. “Maybe next month?”
“Next month nothing,” Hei Dong said. “You need to go now. You’ve already spent far too much time avoiding her and believe you me, she’s likely already planning a surprise visit as a result. Its perhaps only her schoolgirl infatuation with you and fear of rejection that is keeping her at bay.”
Blue Rose shook her head distastefully. “What a tragic love triangle.”
“There’s no love here,” I said, glowering.
“Dad’s right, Max,” Hein said. “You need to either piss or get off the pot, my friend.”
I sighed deeply.
They were all right of course, but I had other things I needed to accomplish as well. “I haven’t even planned out a proper training regime for this trial or whatever yet.”
Much less my fight with I’xol’ukz, I muttered internally.
“So, what’s stopping you?” Blue Rose asked. “You’ve got us to train with.”
That was true, but… “No offense, Blue, but you guys just aren’t going to push me like I need to. I need to face bigger challenges, more skillful opponents.”
Blue Rose scoffed. “Well, that’s the last time I’ll be offering you any help, asshole.”
“Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“But he’s right though,” Hein said.
Blue Rose glared at him from across the meeting table. “Oh, you want to join him in the doghouse?”
Hein laughed. “Hear me out. I’ve been thinking of who the Su Longs might be putting Max up against. They’ve seen him fight and while they know Max is strong, his skill is nowhere near the same level as most his ranking. They must find someone of same cultivation level, but of diamond ranking now. But in my opinion, Max still fights at a gold level competency.”
“Hey man!” I said, offended. “I got to be at least jade.”
“It’s no slant on you, brother,” he said. “Your tour of the hell worlds has propelled you to a new bracket of superiority, but you got there the fast and hard way. Through struggle and facing the unseeable. Most get there through decades of cultivation and martial skill.”
Again, he was right.
“So where do I go to catch up on my martial skills in only 8 months?”
“You don’t,” Blue rose said. “You just do your best and then pound them into the dust with your Qi like normal.”
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Hein and Blue Rose both laughed, but I wondered if I was eventually going to get caught out using that old trick. Resorting to my Berserker arts was always a means of overcoming my opponents in the ring, but before some High Council upon the core worlds that could get tricky. It’d be no different than when I had to face that weird ‘pedo’ girl from the Twin River Clan who I vomited all over. In front of an audience like that, pulling out my Berserker skills was a total nonstarter.
“You know…” Master Hei Dong said, thoughtfully. “When I was a young artisan back in the core worlds, my master said he used to craft weapons for whom he considered to be the most skilled fighters in the whole empire. And surprisingly, they were not martial cultivators at all.”
All of us paused to look at him.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“My master was from one of the most esteemed artisan clans in the lower courts. The Living Forge Sect who emanated from the fabled Muraboshi Tribe of the ancient core world of Ri Ben. He told me that each weapon produced was tested by masters of each type. Although, as artisans, they were forbidden to fight in tournaments and earn rankings within the martial brackets, they were the most technically skilled practitioners he had ever witnessed. Each master knew every single weapon in and out and no weapon was sold without the approval of one of these grandmasters.”
My eyes widened in wonder.
It reminded me a little bit of old Iron Pot Wong and the Phalanx Crews and how they survived relying not on Qi but their martial skills alone. “These people still exist, Master Hei Dong?”
“They do, but the grand masters of the Muraboshi Tribe remain secluded on the core world of Ri Ben.” He then grinned at me. “It could perhaps take the influence of a princess to grant you access to them.”
His grinning continued and he began to chuckle.
I harrumphed. “Way to bait me in with that one. Still trying to get me to see the damn princess.”
“It is not a jest though,” Master Hei Dong said. “I am no martial master myself, but I know the most skilled cultivators I ever crafted for were masters of not just one weapon but many. And they more they mastered, the more masterful they were in the ring.”
Hein nodded. “I agree. The best way to counter any opponent is to intricately know their weapon style. Use their weaknesses against them.”
I couldn’t argue with that. I’d experienced it for myself. It was my knowledge of the Silver Leaf arts that I had gained through Fia that gave me even a sliver of a chance against Lady Silver Tear. The idea that I could learn from someone who knew every single weapon style had my mind churning with possibilities.
“You really think I could get the princess to grant me access?”
Hei Dong chuckled. “You’ll eventually have to get her to make you a Duke, so you might as well get some practice by asking for something like this first.”
“Shit,” I said. “That’s a damn good reason to meet with the princess.”
Hei Dong slapped the table grinning. “There you go then. I will write back to the princess to let her know that you will pay her a royal visit by week’s end.”
“Wait,” I said.
Hei Dong glared at me.
“What the blazes is it now?” he said exasperated.
Gaining martial skill to win in the trial and hopefully earn my Duke-dome was one thing, but there was the other side to my Path as well. I hadn’t progressed that yet, and if the princess could gain me access to the core worlds, then maybe she could also grand me access to the place I needed to get to the most to save my son.
If I could figure out exactly where it was.
“There’s one more person I need to see before visiting the princess,” I said. “I need to head to the academy.”
“Head where?” Hei Dong said.
“The Academy, I need to see—”
“You are the Warden now,” Hei Dong said, cutting me off. “You do not go to see people. People come to see you. Unless it’s the princess.”
I huffed. “Ugh… alright.”
“Just give me a name,” Hei Dong said, standing from the table. “I will see that they are summoned forthwith.”
* * *
It was late afternoon by the time my special guest arrived.
I was seated behind my desk, feeling a bit out of place as my office doors swung inwards. There, standing in the threshold, and accompanied by a pair of Imperial Guards, were two people I hadn’t seen in ages. Xi Xha and Mu Lin. I expected for them to greet me with huge smiles but instead they both fell to their knees in a kowtow.
“We greet you in the name of the Princess, Marshal Warden,” Xi Xha said, using formal tones. “We are honored that you have summoned us to have an audience.”
I furrowed my brow as I got up from behind my desk. “Xi Xha?”
She still didn’t look up from the floor.
Mu Lin too had her forehead to the ground and inside all I could sense in her was fear.
What the hell?
I waved the two Imperial Guards away and they closed the doors behind them.
“What’s going on with you two?” I said and then dragged both Xi Xha and Mu Lin off the floor by their elbows, eliciting short gasps of panic.
I stared at them perplexed as they literally froze like statues, filled with fear.
“Xi Xha? Mu Lin?”
They shared a quick glance.
“You…you are not displeased with us, Marshal Warden?” Xi Xha said.
“Displease? What are you talking about? And what’s with the Marshal Warden crap? It’s just me. Max.”
I looked to Mu Lin but she avoided eye contact.
Shakily, Xi Xha then handed me a letter. “W-we received this a few hours ago, we apologize for not arriving on time.”
I glanced at the letter and saw it was written in formal script.
To the Lady Xi Xha of the Imperial Academy of Jurin Province:
You are hereby summoned by His Imperial Marshal, Warden of Jurin Province, Max Chun. You are to arrive at the Imperial Palace no later than two hours upon receipt of this letter or face consequences under the penalty of law. Any attempt to avoid this summons will result in your immediate arrest and imprisonment for a term of no less than three months. You are to also bring your understudy, one Mu Lin, for whom the above consequences shall also apply.
By Order of the High Magistrate Yi Xhi Yen
“Holy shit,” I said. “When he said he was going to summon you he wasn’t kidding.”
“Who?”
“Master Hei Dong.”
“The Vice Warden?” Xi Xha asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “Look, I’m really sorry. He gets totally carried away with this protocol stuff. I was just going to come find you at the academy, but he insisted I do things ‘properly’. If I had known he was going to threaten you with jail time, I never would have called for you like this.”
Mu Lin glanced up at me then. “So, you’re not pissed off with us then?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you kidding? I’m thrilled to see you guys. Come here, you!”
I snatched up Mu Lin in a hug before she could move, eliciting another squeal of panic.
“Okay, okay, sheesh!” she said.
I hugged Xi Xha next and the way she melted in my arms and hung onto me, almost had me thinking of old times again.
“Thank the Heavens,” she whispered. “I had feared we had vexed you greatly somehow. Especially when you did not come to see us right away.”
I felt suddenly guilty then.
I couldn’t even say I had meant to. I did have seeing her on my list, but it was to gain information. Not to see her as a friend. It kind of made me feel a bit shitty inside.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’ve… been kind of busy.”
“Understandable,” Xi Xha said graciously, as she finally let go of me, but held onto my hand. “And I’m so sorry about Fia.”
I stared at her blankly for a moment, wondering what she was talking about, until it hit me that she didn’t know the truth.
“Yes, thanks,” I said, stumbling over my words and feeling even more like an asshole. “It’s been… a journey.”
She squeezed my hand. “If you ever need anything, just let me know.”
The way she looked at me and the lemonade in her soul said those needs could be anything I wanted them to be. I responded with a polite smile and just said thanks again. I quickly turned to Mu Lin for a distraction, and she gave me another hug as well.
“Yeah, sorry about Fia, Max. I know it must be difficult.”
More than you know, I thought, dying a little bit inside from lying to them, but the Struggler kept a strong face of [Indifference] to not let it show.
The tone shifted as Mu Lin looked about the office. “Wow, so you’re really a super big shot now. Quite the step up from the handler station, eh?”
She smiled and I laughed, returning instantly to old times.
We conversed more freely then, and I offered them some plumb wine from my office’s private stash as we caught up. It turned out both Xi Xha and Mu Lin had been abroad visiting an academy in the next province during the demon attack that had ‘supposedly’ left Fia dead. They had returned just after my battle with the Warden, which kind of made me feel a bit better about not seeing them right away. I could have even used it as an excuse that I went looking for them and could not find them, but I was feeling bad enough about lying to them as it was. Still, I had to keep the charade going on all fronts. The less people who knew the truth about Fia the better and plus, I wouldn’t want to burden them with that kind of knowledge.
I changed the subject by filling them in on my adventures across the stars, from my time in Du Gok Bhong to my short visit to the core worlds and my eventual marooning on the Hell World of Fhae I’ung. As scholars they were enthralled by everything I said, asking tons of questions, but I was careful to reveal only what their mortal minds could handle.
It made for the perfect segue into what I had truly called them for.
“I want to jog your memory a bit,” I said, looking to Xi Xha. “You remember I came to you a couple years ago asking about the name I’xol’ukz and you found some text where it was mentioned as being a dark god sealed by some Soul Emperor on his ascension day?”
She glanced upwards, clearly perplexed by me recalling such a detail. “Ah… yes, I do.”
“Great! Do you remember which emperor it was and maybe where he sealed it?”
She chuckled. “You ask the strangest of questions.”
“Doesn’t he though?” Mu Lin said grinning. “The great mystery that is Chun.”
I laughed. “Quiet you.”
“Ah…” Xi Xha said as she tapped her fingers together. “That would have been…the Great Soul Emperor Wu Shin Taun. I remember now it being on a scroll from the Second Taun Dynasty and the demon’s name was Ai Zhul Ugh. I recall because you were not sure it was the same name just mentioned. Do you believe it is the same name now?”
“Sort of,” I said. “So, did that scroll say where he sealed the demon?”
“You asked me that already and no it didn’t say. It was just a footnote. The script was about the emperor’s ascension day.”
I thought for a moment.
“Okay it must be recorded where that took place right? To become a soul emperor sounds like a big deal.”
“His ascension day was the day he ascended to the celestial realm, reaching True Deity status, not Soul Emperor. He became a Soul Emperor much later after that, after he killed his uncle who was the ruling monarch of the First Taun Dynasty.”
“Man, those Taun’s sound like pretty big assholes. How long ago was all this?”
“A test for you, Mu Lin.” Xi Xha smiled and looked to her pupil. “You should know.”
Mu Lin squinted here eyes in thought. “Um… like Twenty Thousand years ago?”
“Twenty thousand?!” I shouted. “Holy shit!”
“No, it’s not that much,” Xi Xha said laughing. “That was the start of the First Taun Dynasty. It’s only about sixteen thousand years.”
“What!”
My mind was blown yet again.
“Why are you so shocked?” Xi Xha said. “You do realize we are within the 14th millennia of the Yee dynasty, don’t you?”
“Sorry,” I said. “I’m just a dumbass kid in my twenties. These numbers are kind of blowing my mind.”
“Why is this so important?” Xi Xha asked.
“You know I just like to research.”
“Oh for ‘your friend’?” Mu Lin said, throwing up air quotes and we both laughed at the inside joke.
Xi Xha laughed as well but looked more perplexed than amused.
“Damn,” I said. “That long ago. Are there any records that date back that far?”
“Certainly not here,” Xi Xha said. “The grand archives on the core worlds perhaps, but finding an exact location of such an obscure event would prove difficult. It could take weeks or months.”
I had weeks and months. What I didn’t have was access.
“What if I could get you both into the archives?” I said. “Could you research it for me?”
Both their eyes went wide.
“Max, are you serious?” Mu Lin said. “That would be a dream beyond imagination!”
“Yes, but totally impossible,” Xi Xha added with a frown.
“What do you mean?”
“Only Sage’s and Grand Sages are allowed entry into the great archives.”
“Damn,” Mu Lin said sounding dejected. “We’re both a couple hundred years away from being that rank.”
Shit, I thought. But I wasn’t about to give up. It would be much easier to gain Xi Xha and Mu Lin access than me trying to convince some Grand Sage to let me inside.
“No worries,” I said as a smile spread across my lips. “I might be able to get you access.”
“You might?” Xi Xha said, as lemonade filled her soul. “How?”
I shrugged with a smile. “It would just mean two reasons for me to go see the princess now.”
“Huh?” Mu Lin said, furrowing her brow confused.
“Nevermind,” I said with a laugh. “Go pack your bags, ladies. By the time I get back, you’ll have two tickets to the grand archives of the core worlds.”
