I was correct in believing that the Rift on my land would quickly be abandoned as cultivators rushed to explore this new world. It took barely a week before even those guarding the Rift to be recalled and stationed around Four Element's lake.

The event the Sect had hosted quickly frayed as visiting individuals heard the whispering of Sect members and went to explore the world under the lake for themselves. The Patriarch would have to figure out how to restrict access and gain profit from a world filled with a Qi density multiple times higher than found on Shijie quickly.

With only my people remaining, the Rift closed, and the Mystic Realm opened without fanfare a month later. The communication tokens worked as expected, and I was informed of strange fluctuations in the area early enough for me to arrive before the Qi coalesced into a singularity and I could enter the Mystic Realm.

I deployed the series of defensive and obscuring arrays I had purchased, the strongest the Sect offered to protect the newly formed gate. An Array Grandmaster in the Immortal Realm created these arrays. They would protect and hide the mystic realm from all but Profound Immortal and Immortal Venerable cultivators. These cultivators were so powerful someone could barely approach them as they submerged themselves in the reflection of their Dao.

Before the world under the lake had been discovered, I thought the arrays I had purchased would be strong enough to hide and protect it from anyone on Delph Island. I wasn't so sure now. The new world would gain the attention of some of the most influential people around. I only hoped they were so focused on reaching and exploring that new world that they wouldn't bother exploring the area around Four Element Sect offered.

I had contacted the Patriarch's aid once the array was in place, letting them know the Rift had closed. The Patriarch had sent a token team to investigate, one that had roamed around the area for an hour at most before agreeing the Rift had closed.

The aide informed me that any infrastructure left in the area was mine to claim. That amounted to the guardhouse that had been constructed and a small warehouse that stored perishables, nothing of much import.

The Sect had embraced the communication tokens, and it seemed every member was now sporting one. We had decided to call them C.T. for short and had embossed them with a stylistic emblem that stamped the letters into the jade along with the crest of my Fief.

I had set the price at one spirit stone in Contribution Hall. I knew that price was too high for the typical Elf. The servants would need a year to save that amount, even with the generous wages the Sect offered, but I intended to maximize profit as long as possible.

Most of the funds Outer Sect members and staff gained were earmarked for resources that would help them increase their cultivation or professions, so a spirit stone was beyond reach unless they chose to stall their cultivation progress. It would keep the demand for C.T. devices low enough to give me time to ramp up production.

Patriarch Umbra decided the devices were necessary. The Sect purchased five thousand to distribute to Elders, select Inner Sect Members, and those staff and servants vital for the day-to-day functions required to organize and run the Sect. Most of the Sect members would have to find the device cost themselves.

I had stocked the Contribution Hall well enough that the visiting dignitaries were able to purchase a few. Nothing significant but enough to carry the devices back to the mainland and try to reverse engineer them. Hundreds of dignitaries clamored to get the communication tokens, but the first few thousand sold out in days.

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We were already working on the next version of the devices, one that would integrate illusion arrays and allow for face-to-face communication. Once those were ready for release, I planned to lower the cost of the first edition to one beast core, putting the cost of the devices within reach of almost everyone.

Zui was inundated with orders from throughout the Empire once people had returned home and began distributing them. Even at the price of one spirit stone, the cost was negligible for cultivators, and the orders had soared.

Zui had increased production until we were producing thousands daily. Even at that, the demand far outstripped our current capacity, and new factories were being built, and new people were being trained in subsidiary towns as fast as possible.

The influx of spirit stones and the need for additional workers was a boon to my territory's economy. I instructed Gwen to have each town within my Fief build a factory and employ citizens to mass-produce the devices.

I wasn't worried about over-stock. There were billions of people living in the Empire alone. Once the next edition was ready for distribution, any stock we might have would go quickly as prices were reduced.

Those concerns were at the forefront of my mind as I readied to step into the Mystic Realm. I had faith in Gwen and Zui to handle things in my absence and was confident they could rise to meet any problem that might occur.

They knew my family would be arriving within the next few months. I had a home and shop built for them, a place that was furnished and just waiting on their arrival. I had informed each woman of my intents, and I had tasked them with greeting my family if I was still within the Mystic realm when they arrived.

I had selected a piece of land for them on the far end of the town's pier. The home and building faced one of the roads frequently traveled by people transporting and doing business at the dock and were suitably located to do business.

The land behind ranged from sand to fertile. I'd purchased a sequence of arrays that any herbalist would have been happy to use to allow the land to be divided into different elemental aspects. It would take time to reproduce anything as robust as the Sects managed, but my father could recreate the gardens he had grown on a much larger scale than the one he grew before.

I had already posted requests for hunter/gatherers to collect live samples of naturally sourced spirit plants with the Adventurers Hall. The Hall I had created in Xiwang had already proven its worth. I had changed the name from Contribution Hall. It had caused too much confusion when I'd opened it using that name.

The average Elf had thought the Hall was related to cultivation and had ignored the new building's opportunities and quests. All it took was a simple name change and a visit to Hunter's Hall to nudge them into action. They were quick to collect the quests I'd posted, and word of mouth had spread the function of the newly named Adventurers Hall.

With Zui and Gwen in charge and orders on how to proceed concerning government matters and the Dojo, I was free to explore. There was no way to tell how time would pass once I entered, so it was impossible to guess how long I would be out of communication. I hoped I didn't enter to find a month inside was equivalent to a year on the outside.

I had done everything I could to prepare and trusted the people I had running the towns in my Fief, but accidents happened. Emergencies occurred. And it would be better for me not to spend years away from my people and responsibilities.

But I had prepared as well as I could have. I had contingency plans in place. Detailed schedules and organizational flow charts explained what needed to happen and when concerning the Dojo and the factories.

Storm had entered my inner ocean so that we wouldn't be parted. She was content, even happy to know that we would be spending more time together. Without the pressures of Sect, Government, business, or Dojo to manage, we could spend time working as a team and deepening our bond.

We had trained together, tirelessly at times. But that wasn't the same as just spending time together. Not because we needed to train, not because we were called upon to fight, but simply to be.

I hoped this new Mystic realm wouldn't require us to fight our way every step forward. I wasn't so naïve to think there would be no dangers. Even fighting seemed inevitable. I just hoped there would be enough quiet moments that we could enjoy each other. Reflect on our bond and enjoy the simple moments of peace that might be found without the weight of my responsibility and duty intruding.