“Just where did it all go wrong?” Leo said out loud with a sigh.
Currently he was sitting on a top of a tall pine tree on a small hill overlooking the outer sect and stared at the setting sun, feeling nostalgic about the times he was free to come go as he wished.
Three months ago he was ‘rescued’ by the allied forces of several sects led by the Sacred Order and brought here.
At first it all seemed fine. Even though the huge explosion in the sky annihilated half of the people present and another quarter died because of the side effects of corroding acid and toxic poison that for some reason suddenly were discharged from who knows where, Leo was far enough from the epicenter to be harmed. Unfortunately instead of setting him free, he was brought along with the injured back to the Sacred Order.
The guy named Caesar made sure he didn’t take one step away from the procession and guarded him like a loyal dog, and only upon arrival stationed him here.
Leo already guessed that one of his big mistakes was to admit that he had worked at the place that made medicinal baths for others, because the moment he did that Caesar decided his fate and forcefully employed him in a similar position, except this time it was in the Sacred Order. Of course, what pained Leo the most was that in this sect men and women were served separately and the only joy he had in life – passing towels to the wet ladies and sometimes helping them to dry up was ruthlessly taken away.
Obviously it could’ve been much worse. Jack, the few years older colleague, often pointed out that the people working in the spirit stone mines were actual slaves and not payed workers like them. But the last part also didn’t make sense. Once a month instead of gold or silver Leo received a small white stone as a payment, but while he had no clue what to do with it, the others were thrilled.
Leo was too ashamed to ask what the stones were for and hoped to one day eavesdrop and learn about the correct utilization. He was in no rush especially because all his daily needs were taken care of – the food and clothing was free and he was given a relatively decent room to sleep in. Thus he stuffed the three stones he had in a small bag and hid them under the bed in a large wooden box, filled with a bunch of old cloth.
When his thoughts turned to clothing, Leo couldn’t resist, but to let out another sigh again. While clothing in the Sacred Order was mostly similar to what people wore back at home, he really missed the tanned and half naked bodies in the Voodoo sect. But obviously only those of the pretty ladies who shamelessly didn’t cover their upper parts.
Unfortunately the Voodoo sect was no more. From what Leo had heard, the sect master and his father blew the whole thing up killing thousands of people along them and putting the sect master of the Sacred Order in coma. It didn’t seem right since she was supposedly the strongest cultivator in this mortal world, but it was not Leo’s place to judge.
Because of the terrible losses the allied forces suffered during that war, their victorious return to the holy city Avila was not celebrated by a joyous festival, but a three day mourning. The absence of the sect master and death of three Nascent soul stage cultivators was catastrophic, but when the news of an immortal staying in the Sacred Order spread, people could more or less return to their normal lives.
Leo didn’t quite understand what that meant, but according to Jack the immortal was keeping en eye on their mortal ream maintaining something called ‘status quo’. For whatever reason he would stay here to make sure that the other sects would not start battling for supremacy during the next ten years and use the time to recover from their losses.
Obviously it was not that easy to groom new Foundation establishment and Core foundation cultivators, to not speak about those at the Nascent soul stage, but as it turns out all the sects were more or less in a similar situation since they either were already weak or were crippled during the ally attack on the Voodoo sect. Thus the ten year period seemed reasonable or at least acceptable to all sects of the Aurora mortal realm.
Leo gulped down some water from the gourd he had hanging at the belt at all times. He missed the Firewater so much! He longed to be able to cultivate ‘properly’ once again, but the only free time he had was after work and even then he was too tired to do anything. His favorite relaxation became to climb up this pine tree and watch the sunset. At least no one bothered him here, but meanwhile he could observe most of the outer sect.
Of course, he knew it couldn’t go on like this forever otherwise he would fall behind in cultivation, but in order to change anything he needed a plan. Or an opportunity.
Suddenly Leo paled in fright.
Twenty odd flares shot up in the sky from different parts of the sect. Seeing this he half climbed, half fell down the tree and after hitting the ground ignored the pain and squatted near close to the trunk. The last time he saw such flares, several thousand people died and even though the flares back then were red and now green, he didn’t see much difference.
Fortunately the other people did. A breath or two later Leo heard distant cheers and singing and he could swear that the wind even brought over the sounds of music from the distant Avila city.
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Seeing there was no danger, he ran back to his place and on the way heard the big news – the sect master was finally awake!
“Mom!” Etessa completely had lost her heroic bearing as she charged up the stairs in to the lady Evelyn’s bedroom.
Her mother lied in a large bed in the middle of a relatively small room that had large windows at all four sides, almost completely replacing the walls. There were no doors – the only entrance were the stairs leading down.
Her face was slightly gray in color, but there was a thin smile on her lips. The bedding was in her favorite red color, but unfortunately it only accentuated her unhealthy complexion.
Etessa jumped right on to the bed and hugged her mother with tears in her eyes as if she was still a little girl and the sect master of the Sacred Order didn’t mind. There was no one around and her only daughter was the last thing she thought of before loosing consciousness. After waking up she already asked her aide how long was she out and clearly understood how much pressure her daughter was under thus it was fine for them to have this mother-daughter moment.
Unfortunately it couldn’t last forever.
“My dear, tell me how are we doing.” Evelyn said in a weak voice and Etessa immediately understood the meaning.
She quickly dried her eyes and seriously reported while still holding her mothers hands, “You’re the only Nascent soul cultivator left in the Sacred Order. We lost almost thirty Core formation experts and over two hundred Foundation establishment cultivators. Those below their ranks … sigh …”
“How’s Laura?” Evelyn interrupted.
Etessa knew that the sect master of Angelic Dawn has been her mother’s best friend for several decades and in many ways could be considered as close as a sister or even closer therefore it was not easy to bring the news, “She is still unconscious, at least she was three days ago when I got the last message from Elsa. Her condition is much worse than yours and there is not much hope.”
“Ok. I’ll go visit her as soon as I can move around.” Evelyn said, “Bring me up to speed.”
“Are you sure, mom?” Etessa asked not hiding worry in her voice, but seeing the look on the mother’s face she pulled herself together and said, “Since the incident was caused by cultivators of the corrupt path, the Immortal Alliance has announced a ten year long truce between all sects in the Aurora mortal realm. In addition, because of our losses sir Christopher Delian gave us twenty five year credit holidays and he mentioned that there might be a chance to prolong the period to fifty years as well. We’ll have to pay for the construction of our own teleportation platform for six more centuries anyway, so I guess this doesn’t change much.”
“The mine?” Evelyn asked.
Etessa guessed what her mother meant and said, “We had to close one, for now. We simply lack the manpower …”
“My lady! Sir Christopher Delian asks for an audience.” Evelyn’s aide ran up the stairs and reported blushed all over.
For a regular Foundation establishment cultivator like her a close encounter with an immortal was something she would tell her grandchildren for years to come.
“Tell him to come in. It’s not like he couldn’t eavesdrop if he wanted to.” Evelyn said with a sigh and instinctively tried to sit up and adjust her hair.
“I assume this was your idea?” She said the moment she saw the man climb the stairs and pointed at the large windows.
“Indeed. The rays of sun have a slight purifying effect and in your condition every little bit counts.” He seriously said, “I was certain you’ll wake up soon, therefore didn’t prescribe any particular procedures. I knew you would hate that.”
“Mhm.” She nodded, “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me – I’ve done nothing.” He shrugged and stole a glance at Etessa who didn’t know where to put her hands or how to sit, feeling awkward as if she was the third wheel.
“Your sect is in much worse state than you though.” Christopher continued, “But the ten years should be enough to get it back on track.”
“Is that why you arranged the credit holidays?” Lady Evelyn coldly asked.
“Indeed, you’ll need every single spirit stone to operate the teleportation platform.” Christopher nodded and seeing her furrowing brows added, “You’ll have to change your priorities for the next few years.”
“What do you suggest?” Lady Evelyn asked.
“In order to save as many sect members as possible, Etessa ordered to not spare any resources and as the result your alchemy ingredient warehouse is almost empty to not speak about pills or elixirs.” Christopher tried to hide annoyance in his voice, “She barely used any on you …”
“Good!” Lady Evelyn interrupted and threw a proud look at the still blushed Etessa, “I wouldn’t expect anything less from my daughter!”
“Yes, but your condition …” Christopher tried to argue, but this probably was the only person in the mortal realm who could casually ignore his status and not shy off interrupting him as she wished.
“So what?” Lady Evelyn almost barked back, “She obviously knew that I’ll have to expel most of the corrosion myself. Well done, Etessa! In order for our people to grow we need them alive.”
“Sigh, fine!” Christopher Delian gave up, “Let’s put that matter aside. So, since you are out of resources and the lines of your disciples have unprecedentedly thinned – you should focus on these two things first.”
“I … I’m sorry to interrupt, Sir, but currently it’ll be really hard to recruit good seeds.” Etessa gathered courage and said, “All the other sects have gone through a couple of recruitment waves and since we’ve lost three Nascent soul cultivators and mom was in coma, many people lost faith in us and joined other sects. Even the previously mediocre merchant sect Golden Gate has considerably risen in power to not speak about those who could almost compete with us like the Soaring Cloud sect or the Seven Peaks. And everyone is currently battling for resources in the Aurora realm. Of course, there are no open conflicts, but the competition is incredibly intense.”
“Etessa, what our venerable immortal is suggesting is to use our strengths, am I right, Christopher?” Seeing him nod with a smile, lady Evelyn continued, “We have our own teleportation platform and we’ll use it to gather resources from other mortal realms. And regarding the number of disciples you shouldn't worry – in the current situation we’ll concentrate on building tall instead of wide.”
Then she thought for a moment and said, “Alright, my dear daughter. Go and organize three day long festivities to honor the sect master’s full recovery. I’ll show myself to the crowd tomorrow.”