When Maxine left, Min finally dropped down and ran over to me. Her tiny comforting body purred as she tried and failed to lick my face.

"Sandpaper tongue, no!"

"I'll get you one of these days, Partner Joe. How was the visit with Frenemy Maxine?"

"Did you just call her a Frenemy?"

"That is the designation that you have closest to the surface. It's difficult for me to parse your thoughts, what with you being a fourth realm cultivator now."

This was true.

"Did she tell you anything else?"

"She left this card on your desk. The squiggles don't mean much to me but I didn't want to ask Cousin Lee to translate."

I rushed over to see a business card. It was written rather then printed, and the calligraphy was exquisite.

---

Resting Bitch Lace

Boutique

Proper Undergarments for the Discerning Lady

Location East of Spirit Hall Level 2

---

"She left my world where she was a bra designer and ... Immediately came here and opened up a lingerie boutique?"

"To be fair, you immediately began to look for ways to get paid as a therapist."

I couldn't argue with that.

"Madame Kang and Ally Egiya have both dropped by since you began your closed door cultivation. Should I fetch them? They would be just waking up now."

I didn't technically need any sleep. Had I addressed my own needs? I needed to get washed and changed, avoid Maxine and have brunch.

Would I have helped her before this week? I didn't exactly know. She was offering some sort of alliance. It made me feel icky to think of us being on the same side for anything. I mean, I wasn't just another cog in the Moon clans hierarchy, we had an understanding, but perhaps I needed to broaden my horizons.

But if she offered? Who was I to say no? She was clearly capable and had been here longer than me. She seemed to know a bit more than she was letting onto. But I was aware of not only what my best was, but also what my team could do. That is assuming we were all in the same page.

She was a woman who had fought against sexism, discrimination, being married to me, and had won handily. Well, winning in this particular part meaning that she got the outcome she wanted-me having custody most of the time so she could travel more often.

For all that I wanted to use her to help me crush the Red Fang, she for some reason hadn't on her own. I hadn't forgotten that I was dealing with monsters now. I had spurned them at every opportunity, putting myself in the unenviable position. The dry taste in my mouth got me moving.

"I'm going to ask them to brunch. You're welcome to tag along."

"Apologies, Partner Joe. This one needs to do it's own version of closed door cultivation," Min said, trying to sound like Moon Xiru.

"Very well."

"But please, one of those jam pastries would do the trick."

It went without saying that both women were up and had been up since the crack of dawn.

Egiya was furiously scribing down things her mother stated. Her Quill pen was moving. She didn't look up when I approached their guest quarters.

Her mother did.

Madame Kang continued speaking a mile a minute, like a podcast at twice the speed. It seemed like it wouldn't go across but neither did anything to get out of what I can only call extreme body doubling flow state.

After a minute they both stopped. Egiya set her pen aside and cleaned her blackened hands. Neither of her inappropriately long sleeves had a drop of ink. Her hair, usually immaculate, was for the first time I had ever seen it, down and untamed.

"Cultivator Joseph Pidge. We are honored to see you again. Perhaps next time, send word that you're on your way," Madame Kang said, her own hands rubbing her glasses with a cleaning cloth.

"Madame Kang. It's good to see you both. I'm glad to see that Egiya is progressing."

"I take this to mean that you have formed a core and ascended to the fourth realm?"

"I have."

Egiya bristled. "Congratulations are in order."

"Yes. Let's see to it that we celebrate. Your own advancement should not be overshadowed by his."

"I'm proud of her. Hey! Did I tell you I'm proud of you? Because I am. I would love to have another spar but first, brunch."

"Yes. Brunch first," Madame Kang said.

"I think that we are going to have to eat in the Moon clan commons though."

I didn't know how to bring up my ex wife just showing up. It would be a bit odd for the Moon clan to just not know but since she was able to fly iron man style, it probably couldn't be helped. There wasn't any aviation administration here to oversee that kind of movement, cool as it was. I would have to ask her for that trick if we followed up on the team up she mentioned.

"Lead the way," the elder woman said, grabbing onto my arm firmly.

We walked and I went over the intricacies of the commons. Having several sub clan units each with it's own kitchen didn't make sense in a society that was a mix of a martial dynasty and a boot camp. Thus, a central location was staffed most of the day by junior members to create food for the family.

It was also a way to screen for leadership early. Fully a third of the people there at any time were school age. I had taken several shifts on each a week helping out and found it to be meditative.

We arrived just as several dishes from the morning were being replaced with more lunch fare. I grabbed plates for myself and Madame Kang and quickly went down the line getting food for both her and myself. We took an open table, sitting down at the knee height marble slab.

Egiya met us at the table, her plate loaded half with eggs, half with a rice that was part of the lunch offerings. The salt and pepper of both made me wish that this world had some ketchup or hot sauce.

We ate in companionable silence as I thought about how to address the ex wife in the room. Part of the reason we hadn't gone out of the Moon clan holdings was that we were definitely being watched. The other part was sheer convenience. The easier I made a task, the more I found myself doing it.

"I suspect that we are being watched," I said softly to the two women,"Don't look around. I don't know who it is. They might be here or they might have an agent inside the Moon clan. I had a visitor."

Only a sharp intake of breath greeted me as both women took a moment.

"You're certain?" The elder woman said.

"Near as certain as I can be. Maxine visited me," I replied, looking to Egiya for confirmation. She might not have gotten the whole story since only Xueyie had met her.

"She is a threat?" Egiya said.

"She wants a truce. She's not happy with her affiliation, or former affiliation. She told me that I have the attention of their Sect Leader."

Egiya pushed her plate away. I quickly explained what we had gone over before Egiya asked to take our plates and then returned with mugs of water.

"If the Sect Leader has you in their sights, there will be nearly nowhere you can hide. A Nascent soul, even one with such exponential advancement as yourself would not be able to take down one so easily. This man will probably stop at nothing to save face for his clan."

"I can't just stay here though."

The elder woman clutched her grey mug.

"A core elder like the Sect Leader should be- that person will be expecting someone without a core and you now have one. That might be your only way to defeat him. Make him gloat. Then-"

Make him monologue? Then hit him where it hurts? I might be able to do that.

"-you have to make him vulnerable somehow. Each martial style has some weakness you can exploit. Even your own, what did you call it?"

"Taiquan. Also goes by Tai Chi but yes it's a bit odd. I never expected to use it for anything except exercise, but here I am."

"Taiquan? That does have a strange ring to it. Joe I want you to know what we have been up to."

"*Mother*!"

"He saw us when he came in, I just wanted him to understand-"

"Understood what?" I asked.

"I was privileged to take the notes from my husband's advancement to the fourth realm, and I was dictating what I thought would be a good path for you to follow. It's not that there's some specific paths but I think if you are going to do your own thing fully, you should own it and develop your own techniques."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Oh-kay, and how do I do that?"

"I had one in mind. You have a sharp tongue and one in particular that I liked for you involved using that as a weapon."

"What like mocking someone and them getting a headache?"

"I see that we are on the same page here," the elder woman said, leaning in,"now I believe that you once told my daughter about some mind goblins?"

I snickered.

"Go right ahead."

___

Back in the dreamscape everything was more granular. Enemies that had been half smoke were now more well defined. All thanks to my skill advancing, most probably.

I had conjured up some goblins to throw against myself. They were adept at pack tactics which was what I expected to fight against when I went after Sect Leader Zhao. If the man tried to take me in a fair fight, I wouldn't last five minutes. Unless I got him with my new mockery technique, but if he didn't get it then I was at a loss.

I had chosen this fight to be an uphill horde battle. I had to move up the hill through a legion of goblins, they had to get me trapped.

I grabbed one goblin, using it's body as a bat.

First one, then several rushing goblins were smashed sideways along the hill. As they had the high ground I spent as much time stopping them from falling on me as I did fighting them.

The goblin I held was all bruised and battered, and I casually tossed it over my shoulder. I had the impulse to turn and watch, but if course another one was in reach just then, and why not grab a second mother fucker to hit a mother fucker with.

All those feelings about Maxine leaving the girls got poured into the attack. I didn't have a choice and I was here and things were probably going to shit back home.

The goblins tender body broke under my repeated blows and I grabbed another.

"Typical."

Had I been holding back this whole time? Save for some of the initial sparring I had gone through the motions but I hadn't really cut loose. Lacking a ranged attack was a glaring hole in my weakness, one that I intended to shore up. If I could solve this conflict by speaking with the Sect Leader then perhaps-but this wasn't a reasonable world.

I raged, because in a perfect world we wouldn't even be butting up against each other. The goblins stopped piling up and just stared as I radiated Qi. In a perfect world we could sort this shit out man to man. Or was it man to demon? I didn't know.

The whole point of society was to make things easier. If this jackass was going to be offended by me turning down an offer then that should be something he could discuss with her therapist.

But he didn't have a therapist because they didn't have the concept, which was how I had been racking up the advancements post intake of the Moon clan initiates.

I was leaking Qi, which was probably good news. Dream Qi has settled as one of the dominant types that I was able to use effectively. It just required dreamers to think about breaking through their own glass barrier, and the aura that generated let me run my dream scape. That, with Mins help had me running danger room type scenarios.

"Anyone else?"

The goblins resumed their futile charge. I was going to have to speak to Min about making them a bit more realistic and willing to run away.

"I think it's time to change this up, Min do you have the supposed floor plan for the Red Fang sect?"

"Yes boss. Loading it up now."

Xiru had gotten a contact either in the Gondoliers or Couriers to requisition an official map of their compound. For whatever good it might be, this was just what the Mandarin had accepted as their building plan. If I was a quasi illegal organization I don't think that I would stick to the floor plan.

Approximate paths opened up in a cartoon cutout of two dimensions meets three where it was clear the distances in play, but not the size of or color of the walls.

Min and Egiya has pored over the map, trying to make sense of it. We of course were trying to find the best way to drop in unannounced, but the place was guarded like the Moon clans holdings by powerful cultivators.

Everything about their plans looked like it was designed by the lowest bidder. I didn't doubt that there was some architecture or construction union that would be the lead for these types of projects. It was probably one of those good old boy clubs, where you had to know somebody to get in, but getting a job there set up someone for life.

Indeed, with a plethora of cultivators to carry heavy stone work around I might have to look into opening my own remodeling business. This is-if I was going to keep smashing Sects that didn't learn to mind their business.

As I strolled through the compound, the first thing I noted was that although they were on a Western island they did not come up against the water in any way. In fact, they were two blocks away from the water. It was also conveniently right next to a bridge. Underneath the bridge, I was told there was a gondolier work/rest site.

This was curious to me as most of the larger sects kept a place next to the canals. The access the waterways was enough to justify the cost. However, perhaps every notable place where one could have a dock was already taken when this was made. If so, they would have to do with using a public dock for shipments from the ocean. This explained their use of airships as somethings came in via regular ship, most notably heavy foods and drinks. Or course the airships required usage of the courier guild instead of the gondolier conglomerate, but it couldn't be helped.

Min had not been able to extend the model to include the surrounding area. Because that wasn't possible or hadn't been done yet. All I had to go out by was a vague sense that the buildings around were three stories tall. That end the general feeling that I got. When I walked around the city myself.

There was only so high that even crazy cultivators were willing to build on a tiny ass island. And they couldn't dig too far into the bedrock either, as that was not only tightly controlled but something that a neighbor with a vested interest in not being waterlogged would take note of. And then probably promptly alert the authorities.

There were two ways in from the ground, a main entrance and a service entrance. I could see that the service entrance looked to be mostly for moving food into the compound as it was wide enough for a cart but that was it. It also didn't make sense for me to sneak in a side passage.

If I was going to fight them it would make sense for me only if they decided to throw their men against me one at a time. That didn't seem like a smart move that a rational enemy would do. It was plausible that the demonic aspect of their path lead to a change in perspective, one alien to the norm, which already like a bridge a fait distance away. Maxine as a co-conspirator helped.

The center of their compound was a single training yard surrounded by a three story barracks on three sides. Besides that the buildings were the mess hall, two other buildings that could be higher ranking quarters and a storehouse. I was beginning to see how packed in they had made themselves. There was a lot of land simply devoted to fighting.

There wasn't a lot of places where one could move in unseen. This was going to take some work.

---

I did an intake that afternoon.

One of the young masters of the moon clan was having trouble relating to his peers. At least that's what the complaint was initially. We sat and chatted on the edge of the mess hall inside of a bubble I created just for the purpose.

In addition to being able to cloak myself or remain unseen, I was able to extend that to one additional person. If someone was looking directly at us then they would see a blurry vision of the two of us unless they were able to pierce the veil. The stronger I got the more people I was able to do that with.

"So when do you notice this was a problem?" I asked him.

Moon Liu wore a loose cultivators robe that he kept drawing in closer and closer. It he could fully pull himself inside of his robes and hide, he probably would. Most cultivators of his age group wore more fitted garments, his showing that he had slimmed down recently and hadn't replaced anything yet.

"Ever since you started training here, and talking to us, it's just like to possibilities seem endless now. I had no idea how much trivial things that didn't matter were taking up my day."

"You're talking about things that disturb your peace? Tell me about them."

"The Sect elders have this notion that we all have to go through these robotic paths that they went through-we are not them. If I want to chart my own path with the foundation they give me, then I should be able to do so."

I nodded, trying to keep my expression as neutral as possible.

"If I want to create a technique that doesn't depend on the eight phases of the moon, or use one that isn't a regular approved path, then I'm the one that is in the wrong. I don't think that it should be that way."

"They want to give you a strong foundation. They also don't want you to fall flat on their face, and that is okay. If things have changed substantially for them or you since they began cultivation, then no wonder you want to advance in your own way."

"But it's the constant little things. Even my brothers in the clan are all about doing what the elders say. I'm tired of it. I have done this loop of training and working the clans holding since I was a young man and now I'm almost old enough to be out on my own and-"

Moon Liu left his words hang there as he straightened his back.

"You know that you can opt to do closed door cultivation and just not do anything, right? No one will fault you for taking time to find yourself. They will probably encourage it. You can cultivate until you find peace or until peace finds you."

"That-that actually helps, thanks."

We sat in companionable silence for a long minute.

"If protecting my peace makes me the villain, then I'll destroy this whole city starting with you," I said, "Say it with me."

"If protecting my peace makes me the villain, then I'll destroy this whole city starting with you."

We recited the mantra together. For the first time in our session, he stopped pulling his robes and fidgeting. I could see him mouth the words a few more times.

"Everyone deserves to be in a place where they can feel safe and heard. You've got to fight for it, so you can make the same space for your brothers. You don't have to do the work for them, but you can set them up for success."

"I can set them up for success. It's just that we are so busy that I-talking about myself feels so novel."

"I encourage you to think about yourself in a new way. Before, you were the old Moon Liu, now you can be whatever new Liu you want to be."

"This has given me much to think about. This humble cultivator is extremely grateful for this time."

"Moon Liu, we can meet again and discuss this more next week if you wish. It doesn't have to end here. Your journey, whichever path you choose is shaped by your will."

Words I had rehearsed as a monologue flew out of me as I tried to make him understand.

"Along your path, you may have to set up boundaries. They are both for you and for those around you. For instance, you might ask someone to not discuss some embarassing incident, and if they decide to bring it up again you can strongly and firmly tell them that you will be taking your leave of them. This is something that they will need to take a price of entry."

"That's a turn of phrase I can get used to. Price of entry, huh?"

We went on a little bit going into detail about boundaries. When he left I could see a little spring in his step.

I spent some time going through my notes. I had several regulars that I wanted to touch base with now that I had advanced, but intakes could go in a lot of different directions. I was seeing a lot of people unsure where their identity was, kinda being absorbed into the whole.

As a community, it was good for them to put the group ahead of their individual desires.

It wasn't good for them to get lost in the groups needs.

There had to be a balance.

I dropped my veil down from the group to just me, pulling from my core to strengthen it. It already felt solid, like a tangible thing I could touch. I was trying to find a path with telekinesis or gravity that I could take notes from. Something that would let me control things. There were no clear analoges that Min or Moon Lee knew.

Once again, in the absence of real cultivators, I began to chart my own technique. Of course I was going to make it as overpowered as possible.

If Maxine was going to be Iron Woman then I sure as heck was going to try to be Superman.

---

"This new technique of yours has you putting your own Qi into making things float?"

The Moon spirit saw me holding a training boulder aloft.

One handed.

"It's not floating. I'm holding it with my Qi."

To tell the truth I had just convinced myself that I was Superman and had left it there. The real trick was turning the boulder into an extension of me. I had always admired the golden ages Superman and his many variations. The metropolitan man was able to leap over tall buildings and take bullets. True I could leap over tall buildings but I was after a janvier technique.

I wanted tactile telekinesis. The ability to catch a plane or a boulder with an outstretched hand. Floating a boulder with Qi was one thing and it would take a ton of gravity or force Qi to make such a thing work. It was something I had worked on.

If, instead I used the power of imagination fused with my dream energy to imagine myself able to grab onto things and control them when it really shouldn't have been possible then yeah, I call that winning. Touching the object to infuse it with my dream of it moving the way I wanted it to-that was how I got to the position I was in now.

"Hey Min! Catch!"

"Oh-not again." The moon spirits Eeyore voice deadpan was on point as it sidestepped my boulder, "Whatever will I do."