Immortal Connections - Chapter 36 preview

Chapter 36 - Fa Yuan

Fa Yuan stared down from the third floor of her mansion at the party that hummed beneath her feet. A small smile played across her face, one that was genuinely self-satisfied. Even now, hours after the start of the party, she knew she was being watched, her numerous admirers and even more numerous competitors paying attention to everything that she did. On the other hand, it also gave her a chance to watch all of them.

The woman smiled at the attendant who stepped up to her, presenting a cup of wine at the smallest gesture. She took the cup, raised it to her lips and drank from the wide brimmed vessel, her eyes drifting over the various players below, letting her vision pick out the fine details that her spiritual sense missed still.

One day, perhaps, she could just rely on that ability alone; but for now, the minor details her eyes could pick out was important. Such as the slip of jade passed between the pair of Elders from disparate sects, one in teal and true blue and the other, in yellow sandstorm and honey colored robes. She made no exterior indication she spotted the pass off between the pair of supposedly combative sects, the ongoing dispute over a Yang Clarifying Hot Springs being the spark points. 

It seemed that finally, her overtures to both parties were blossoming and a peace agreement might have been reached.

There, a pair of Elders from the Verdant Green Waters spoke. Both young - barely a half decade into their ascension - and the rising stars of the sect. They looked a little stunned by the opulence and myriad luminaries drifting around the party, though the way they tracked the movement of Fairy Ren was rather telling. 

Another upcoming cultivator, a muscular beauty whose exploits along the border and the western border of the Shen kingdom was growing with each retelling. A Commander in the Shen kingdom army, a cultivator gifted her very own troops by an enamored Prince who had driven back the predations of an entire pack of demonic wolves, ones corrupted by a demonic infestation. In the end, it had taken the addition of a combined force of Elders to purge and cleanse the forest, a wide swath of land that was - even now - being carefully swept for traces of lingering infection.

That would be the work of inner sect cultivators all across the kingdom, a well paying job that was financed by the kingdom itself. The King had opened his treasury in this instance, supplementing the sect's various rewards, ensuring that a constant flood of enterprising cultivators arrived. Including wandering cultivators and other, more ambitious sects through the kingdom who had uprooted some of their most promising students to deal with the matter.

Any other time, the Verdant Green Waters would have spearheaded the efforts. However, their attention was turned to the east, to the new alliance with the Wei kingdom, to the new mystic realm that had formed on the border between their ally and the fractured Cai kingdom. Many of their most promising students and Elders were roaming through the newly reopened Wei kingdom, aiding their sects and establishing new ties.

Of course there were clashes, of course there were jealousies and tournaments that were unfairly organised and tilted to ensure that the Wei cultivators would be the winners. Yet, it was the arrogance of a cultivator to believe that they could overcome all such odds, to become the one in a thousand victor and amass the wealth and secrets of their once enemies. 

In so doing, learn a new art, a new cultivation form that would not only progress them on their cultivation path but also, upon their return, provide a surplus of contribution points and a competitive advantage over the plodders, the unadventurous members of the sect who stayed behind and followed the orthodox paths.

Nevermind the numerous martial cultivators who were stationed at the Eight Trigram Pavilion, guarding the Shen and Verdant Green Waters interest in the new mystic realm. 

Already, the first major expedition led by Elder Pai had returned. With them, came riches in an abundance of powerful spirit cores and more bountiful, untouched and rare spirit herbs. A bounty that the sect, lacking their Head of Wandering Gatherers, was now sorely missing.

Her eyes drifted over to the Head of Apothecary, Elder Wei. She was seated, as was her wont these days - her great age catching up to her. Even cultivation could only push back the ravages of time, extend ones life but not remove the toll in its entirety. The Elder had been old when she had been but a young Elder and multiple decades had passed since. Though she might have a few more decades of life yet, it was clear that she was content to pass on her post to her most promising student, Elder Fei.

Pretty, though most cultivators were pretty. The process of cultivation refined features, such that what had once been a too harsh nose and an elongated and pointy chin had softened, to make her striking. Her bearing was straight, though a slight curve to the spine and neck showed an unfortunate habit of hunching forward over apothecarist braziers for multiple hours, and even from here, the entire corner of the mansion smelled of various spiritual herbs and pills. The medicinal funk clung to them, even after numerous applications of pristine and expensive soaps.

Yet, they were part and parcel of the strength of the Verdant Green Waters, an advantage that the former Head of Wandering Gatherers had intensified. Where other sects might have been able to provide one or two major Core Formation pills a decade, theirs had produced one or two a year. Such riches had been even more pronounced at the lower levels among the Energy Storage and Body Cleansing cultivators whose ranks had swelled.

Now, though, many had stalled. The desperate need for the herbs - and high quality ones - had forced a period of consolidation among the Elders, a hoarding as one replete riches had faded. It was funny, that in only a few years such sweeping changes had occurred, returning the sect to a more conservative mentality.

She did not blame them, nor did she fail to note how the trio who had taken on her martial brother's station hunkered in one corner, making deals and weathering the questions of various sect Elders and Heads. While neither one of them was as powerful or skilled as their predecessor, together they had - somewhat - managed to continue to train and provide the much in demand spirit herbs. Unfortunately, their lack of cultivation progress themselves hampered their ability to acquire the most powerful herbs, the most pristine of objects necessary for Elder Wei and her apprentice to produce the pills necessary to push forward.

In that weakness, the various Sect Heads, their Elders and Guardians drifted, taking nibbles out of the various Verdant Green Water sect Elders who were present, testing them. Where they had once been ascendant, now they might be waning. None of the parties were willing to test them - yet.

It was her job, and the goal of this party - among many social conventions and efforts - to showcase the ongoing strength of the sect. To reassure allies, to mollify the impatient and to gently reprimand their enemies.

After all, they were all friends here.

"Guardian Yan," she turned swiftly, a smile on her lips. "How fares the Sacred Thorn Beetle? Does your sect's namesake still slumber?"

"It does, Fairy Yang," the aforementioned Elder replied smoothly, offering her a deep bow. As he did so, he flashed her the bald spot in the center of his lustrous and long hair, though Guardian Yan seemed not to mind. Behind him, holding a small terrarium, another member of his sect stood, dressed in robes of green and pink as befitted the Thorn Beetle. "A small gift, for the Elder."

"Are those thorn beetles?" she said, bending forward to stare within at the leaves and branches. Small pink and green beetles lay hidden in the branches and leaves of the terrarium, only minor movement highlighting their existence. 

“Yes, descendants of our Sect’s guardian.” 

“We are honored. I shall ensure they are well taken care of.” She was too well trained to mention the multiple such terrariums the sect contained, all replete with such creatures. A traditional gift from their sect, a purposeful spreading of the beetles. Many believed the beetles to be spies, though Fairy Yang wondered how such might be possible with such small creatures.

Still, no sect was willing to chance it, and so the terrariums stayed sealed, their contents carefully watched.

“Your parties are, as always, a pleasure to visit. Though, I miss Master (??? Poem Elder)’s regular rants and your smaller gatherings.”

“We do still hold such gatherings, but I fear they are – by necessity – more infrequent and more intimate. The Master is much fatigued these days, his focus turned to his magnum opus. He has little time for the fickle and unlearned.”

“Still, I would be honored to be invited again.” A small smile. “The Sacred Thorn Beetle has always thrived under the eaves of the towering Verdant Green Waters. When the storm comes, knowing ones place and protectors is all the more important, do you not think so?”

“I’ll make sure that an invitation is extended.” Fa Yuan offered the man a bright smile as she made a note of the professed support. She drifted on after a few more meaningless words, her guest stepping aside to allow her to continue her duties as host.

It did not take long before she was involved in another.

“Fairy Yang, a small token of my appreciation.” The speaker stressed the second last word in his sentence, smiling all the while. Fa Yuan could not help but note the tiny gap between his two front teeth when he spoke, a tiny flaw in an otherwise elegant disposition. Unlike others, he held the basket in his own hand, offering the gift to her and forcing her to take it herself directly.

Hefting the basket, her eyes drifted across the contents, noting the simple red packet propped in the center and the large number of mandarins within. A quick perusal gave her a count of eighty eight, a fortuitous number along with the mandarins which denoted wealth. All in all, a slightly extravagant gift, though…

“Are these spirit fruit, Cultivator Tsu?” she asked, curiously.

“From my family’s orchards in the south,” Tsu of the mandarin oranges said, bowing his head. “Taken from the private reserve. You’ll find that they are replete with chi, and can progress even one such as yourself’s cultivation if consumed regularly.” He waited a beat before adding. “I have made arrangements for a delivery a month.”

“You are much too generous,” Fa Yuan replied, not bothering to correct him about his assumption of what it could do for her own cultivation. After all, she had servants – which she handed the basket off to – and other proteges she supported. They would be more than grateful for a regular delivery – if nothing more than a change from consuming spirit pills regularly.

“Not at all. Might I take a turn around the gardens with you later?” 

“Mmm,” Fa Yuan turned, met the gaze of her social secretary and gestured her forward. “My attendant will find a spot for you. Perhaps in a week or two, I believe will be viable.” Enough time for her spies to discern more of the cultivator from the south, what his goals were and to drain him of coin and spirit cores if all he intended was to court her.

“I look forward to it!”

Fa Yuan drifted on, knowing the rest of her evenings would be much the same. Minor conversations, all weaving together into a tapestry, all the while as she laid her presence on the scale of life and events. Adjusting them to suit the Verdant Green Waters and herself.

Now, if only the hints that she had garnered so far were not so concerning.