Travis slipped the thick stack of paperwork out of its folder and carefully examined each page. A week of meetings, reports, and endless forms had finally cumulated in the final pages in front of him.

It had been an exhausting time on top of his usual workload, but it had paid off.

Kevin’s tuition payments were now approved for a full year. Most sects gave their new disciples that long to prove they were worth keeping, and the OIM had a similar philosophy.

If they managed to pass the sect’s own trials, then it should be within their ability to pay the full fee to remain. That, or make it into an inner sect position that no longer required such things.

Travis could only hope that Kevin would be one of the successful ones who managed it in time. The process for soliciting further loan extensions made his last week look like a vacation. Though, it might be a little easier to manage with how frugal Kevin had been so far.

Given the man’s dedication and common sense, it didn’t seem likely that he’d fail. Once he knew the deadline, Kevin would no doubt push himself to make it.

All that remained was responding to the letter. It would also be nice to send his congratulations; he’d been holding off until he got the final approval. Smiling, Travis reached for a fresh piece of paper.

Only to freeze and spin around when he sensed movement.

Assistant Director Warner was stepping into position behind him with a slight look of surprise. A nondescript man in plain cultivator robes stood by him, a visitor badge pinned to his chest.

The situation was like a strange mirror of that fated day months ago when he’d received a surprise promotion. Except this time, he’d noticed the assistant director arriving. Even Susan hadn’t managed; the extra training he’d been packing into his schedule was paying off.

“A moment of your time, Agent Baldwin,” Warner said, his surprise vanishing as fast as it arrived. “We have a visitor from the Sect Oversight Committee. Agent Jonson here wants to ask you a few questions.”

“Just a follow-up on how those sect briefings we provided went,” Jonson chuckled. Striding forward, the man held a hand out to clasp, “It’s good to meet you in person, Agent Baldwin.”

Travis fought to keep the concern from showing on his face as he matched the other agent’s greeting. Why would the assistant director show up for a simple interdepartmental meeting? Such meetings were commonplace, and he’d never seen Warner attend unless they were feuding with the other department.

He was sure their relationship with the SOC was rock solid. They’d provided him with every briefing he’d requested and even answered his questions. Without that aid, he might never have found the Twisted Path for Kevin.

Then there was the agent himself. With his styled brown hair, tailored silk robes, and half a dozen enchanted items, the man screamed ‘regular government bureaucrat.’ Except… no one was that normal, not without putting work into it.

And despite the man’s words, Travis was confident he’d never exchanged any communication with him. Just what was going on here?

“Anything to help our friends at the SOC,” Travis responded, affecting a cheerful grin. “The briefings your colleagues provided were most helpful.”

There, a hint he knew the man was trying to suggest friendliness. Just enough to let Warner know he’d cottoned on to the odd situation. It was always best to show the best you were on top of things.

“Glad to hear it,” Agent Jonson chuckled again. Even the man’s tone lacked any distinguishing accent as if he’d worked to remove any hint of his origins.

“I understand that our briefing on the Twisted Path was the most useful. One of your outsiders just joined, in fact.”

Travis couldn’t keep his eyebrows from rising at that, and he glanced at Warner for confirmation. The OIM put a decent amount of effort into obfuscating the location of its outsiders, so the agent must have done his homework.

Either he’d talked to some of Kevin’s friends in Ostale, or he had a spy in the sect.

Warner nodded slightly, his face otherwise blank as he stood there. Taking that as confirmation, Travis responded. “Indeed, they seemed like a good match, and there weren’t any red flags in the briefing.”

“Indeed, they’re one of the cleanest sects we have on record,” Agent Jonson responded with a genial node. “They go above and beyond in sharing information with us, too. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”

Travis raised an eyebrow but didn’t rise to the leading question.

For a brief second, the other agent faltered at the shift off-script before rallying. “Wonder what they’re hiding, I mean,” Jonson cleared his throat. “It’s easy to see that opening their records was a ruse to obfuscate something else.”

Travis’ tone was dry as he responded. “Or they want to get by with the minimum level of bureaucratic nonsense. If they give you everything you want upfront, they don’t have to fight you off later. Seems like a solid choice if they have nothing to hide.”

He was the last person to ignore how shady some sects were, but labeling all of them the same way went a little too far. This agent would no doubt be touting his suspicions if the sect was dragging its feet as well; some people were never happy.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Agent Jonson nodded, accepting the point with ease. “It’s always possible. But if they have nothing to hide, I’m sure they wouldn’t begrudge us a little information gathering. Now that the OIM has a fresh source in the sect, we’d appreciate it if you passed anything interesting along.”

Travis narrowed his eyes as he stared at the man. “Our outsider is hardly a source, just an individual looking for his place in our fine country.”

“And you are responsible for his safety, so it would only make sense to ask a few questions about his time in the sect. How safe is it? Have you heard any concerning rumors? Any worries about how stable the sect is? That kind of thing.”

Holding his arms wide, Jonson continued. “It would really help to clear up the SOC’s worries. Of course, it would also free up the resources we currently have on the problem. Resources that, I’m afraid, would be too tied up for any prompt responses in the near future.”

Ah, so that was the man’s game. Do a little spying, or find your stream of information drying up. Given Warner’s continued presence, the threat likely also extended to the OIM as a whole.

That was a lot of weight to throw around for a bit of information on one sect. Something deeper was going on here, but he lacked the clues needed to figure it out.

“I’ll see what I can do and get back to you soon,” Travis responded with a straight face. When in doubt delay, it was the bureaucratic way.

The agent must have known what he was doing, but he took it well enough. After staying just long enough for a few more vague threats, the man showed himself.

Warner remained, gesturing to wait as he glanced at the floor. After a tense couple of minutes, the assistant director nodded and turned back to Travis. “Good work, Baldwin. Don’t compromise our integrity, but do what you can to keep Jonson happy for now.”

“A few sect rumors should be enough to show we’re complying without risking our charge. The last thing we need is the sects deciding that we’re sticking spies in their midst.”

“Buy me some time while I find out what’s really going on here,” Warner finished, flickering off without another word.

Leaving Travis scratching his head with a hint of worry fermenting in his stomach. Interdepartmental politics were always a nightmare, but he’d always been able to guess what was going on before.

He’d just have to comply without risking himself or Kevin. If nothing else, his letter just got a lot more complicated.

“That was about three thousand years ago,” Brad scratched his chin as he continued the history lesson. “We don’t have the whole story, but we’ve pieced enough together to be pretty confident.”

“A period of consolidation had just taken place in the area modern Xi'an still occupies. A single man codified the first cultivation styles and used them to form an army of unprecedented power.

“Similar arts had been seen in the region before, but from what we’ve pieced together, they were taught in a master-apprentice style. Much like in our area here. Never before had it been possible to create so many powerful individuals.”

“Having swiftly conquered his homeland, the first emperor was left with an army that had little left to do. With it’s members empowering themselves with looted cultivation resources, it had only grown stronger over time.

“Ah,” Kevin said, nodding along. “And I’m guessing these cultivators weren’t happy going back to being farmers or whatever.”

“Exactly,” Brad said, his tone serious. “Nor was the ambition of the first emperor sated by the Far East. He sought to rule all under heaven, and less than a decade after consolidating his homeland, his arms marched forth.”

“It took centuries for them to reach this far, but cultivators live for a long time. And the disparate city-states here in the western lands were no more prepared to resist than the eastern or central nations.”

“We’d always had spiritual and training practices similar to cultivation,” Brad shrugged, “they form the basis for many of the alternative cultivation styles available today. It’s even said that some of our best were able to fight the invaders on even terms.”

“But what did a few thousand such fighters matter against an army of millions? In the end, we fell just like everyone else. The invaders stationed foreign regents to rule our lands, and the armies halted their advance at the sea.”

“I assume that’s where the prevalence of traditional cultivation came from?” Kevin asked. He’d wondered a little about that, and learning it from an occupying force made sense. That would also explain why some people were touchy about it.

It had to suck that the cultivation you worked so hard at had once been used to conquer your ancestors.

“Well, that happened later, for the most part. Hold on, I’ll get to it,” Brad chuckled, shaking his head. “But first, I want to discuss something that creates a lot of controversy."

"This all happened so long ago that our historians use myth as much as actual records to piece it together. However, there’s a lot of argument over which myths are valid and which are impossible to believe."

“The bits I’ve already mentioned are pretty much agreed on, but this next part isn’t. Did you notice I mentioned the armies stopped at the sea? Yet our country is landlocked; there’s no coast for thousands of miles.”

Kevin gave an embarrassed shrug, scratching the back of his head. “Well, I can’t say I’ve actually looked at a map since arriving.” It had never seemed that important while he was focusing on cultivation.

It wasn’t like he was ready to leave the country, so why would he need to know what it looked like?

Brad snorted, “Alright, just take my word for it. Anyway, it doesn’t align with the suggestion that the Xi’anian armies stopped soon after conquering this area. Many claim it’s just a mistake, while others believe the world used to be very different.”

Licking his lips, the man continued. “One myth says there used to be large landmasses in the distant ocean. And that the difficulty of conquering and managing these separate ‘continents’ was of great concern to the Xi’anian emperor.

“Eventually, that mighty cultivator arrived at a solution. Gathering the massive power he’d gained from gorging on rare resources, the man called all lands upon this world to him.”

“It is said that before the soldier’s eyes, a massive area of land approached from across the western ocean. Crashing into what used to be the coast, it extended what we now call the Mid Western lands and created the Far West.

“Further landmasses moved up from the south here and all the way back towards the far east. And that, the myth says, is how the world became what it is today. Of course, many say that it’s nonsense.

"That such a feat would be impossible even at the greatest heights of cultivation. Instead, these historians claim, the current state of the world is natural and the way it has always been.”

“Huh,” Kevin responded, tilting his head to the side. “So what? There’s only one continent here? Like everything’s squished together and surrounded by a single, massive ocean?”

“Yes, that part isn’t in contention; just whether it’s a natural state.” Brad nodded in response. “A few expeditions have sailed out, but the ones that have returned confirm there’s nothing but more ocean.”

Kevin’s eyebrows shot up. Did that mean this world was something like Pangea? With everything jammed together into one continent?

And there was a chance it wasn’t natural but caused by a cultivator powerful enough to drag tectonic plates around?

Was such a thing even possible?