Three weeks after regression
The pills took less time than he expected, and he was now certain he didn’t lose his touch. Relieved, it was time for his next session of the day.
Lessons for family.
His family took his cultivation lessons as well as he expected. Many of them struggled to comprehend what he thought were simple concepts.
His wives had the fundamentals hammered into them by their family. In fact, the reason why their families even dared to offer them as marriage partners was because they had some talent.
If their wives had no talent whatsoever, most mid-tier and prominent families wouldn’t even bother looking for marriage partners. So, it felt like he was making progress with his wives.
Even if the relationships with them still remained cordial, despite the frosty undercurrents, their cultivation improved.
But with his descendants, he was reminded of the old saying, that one could bring a horse to water, but could not make the horse drink. And the ones who were willing to drink, were those lacking in talent.
It was easy to spot who was eager to listen. They sat in front. They asked questions. They asked a lot of questions, trying to clarify their understanding.
But it was also easy to spot how sorely they lacked in talent. Their questions made no sense. And some of them repeated themselves.
Last time, as Sect master, he would ignore this group. In this life, he decided he’ll try the impossible. To make diamonds out of dirt. Elder Jon was right, if there was anyone worth trying, it would be family.
So he focused on the few in the crowd.
He looked at Anna, and could feel her spirit growing a little faster than it used to. She’ll be fine, and he’ll get to her later.
He looked at the eldest male child. Edison.
Despite his earlier resistance and fondness for beautiful women, which Tundra now suspects originated from himself, Edison wasn’t totally a lost cause. His son was fairly interested in cultivating, though it’s clear he didn’t have much talent. What he achieved so far could be said to be a miracle already, especially with his low-grade Metal Spirit roots.
Edison had low-grade Metal Spirit Roots, and Tundra immediately realized that may be an underlying cause of his son’s resistance and need to flaunt. An inferiority complex. He heard from the elders how Edison flaunted his wealth everywhere he went. Insecure about his low-grade spirit roots, he wanted to impress others that he was the proper male heir of his family.
The first son of the oldest living wife, although not the oldest son.
Tundra glanced at his descendants in the room. It was properly a crowd. Almost 20 people and it would be hard for him to control the ambient energies for so many people. Not with his current level in the 6th realm. But he could at least make something for at least four or five of them.
He’d have to increase his own strength as well, but for now, his children’s needs come first.
“Anna. Edison. Adelia. Lashwin. Four of you stay back. The rest of you may leave.” The four children, Anna from his 2nd wife, Edison, Elly’s first son, Adelia, Marin’s daughter, and Lashwin, Tundra’s 4th child, born from his deceased 3rd wife.
He’d decided to rotate those who had the honor of spending time with him each day. The rest of the descendants left, but the four that remained wondered briefly whether it was a reward, or a punishment.
“Sit in a circle.” Tundra declared and the four quickly went into position. Once more, he replicated what he did for his wives. “I’m fairly pleased with the interest you’ve all shown for today’s class, and would like to offer all of you a rare opportunity.”
He had to work harder this time. Edison’s spirit root was only low grade, that meant the size of his spiritual door was small. The energies he collected and gathered needed to be processed a lot more.
Tundra mentally made a note to find some materials suited to help upgrade his spirit roots. Improving his spirit roots from low grade to medium grade was a doable task, though the Verdant Snow Sect currently lacked the resources necessary for the procedure.
The four were immediately surprised.
Tundra was known to be a calculating man, and was rarely known to be generous. In his first life, he tried to optimize his resources for his sect, to expand and to win allies.
He gave to his family, but it was a matter of rumbling discontent that what he gave wasn’t much. It was partly why his family distanced himself, after all, sucking up to their father didn’t seem to result in more resources. Tundra then focused on growing the sect. That took up most of the resources. The family got what he could spare. His wives, back then, had to demand their share.
This time, if the Verdant Snow Sect didn’t have to expand as much, and with his superior alchemical talents, he should be able to balance both family and sect. At least, he hoped so.
Reality has a tendency of deviating from expectations.
Tundra’s consciousness and thoughts were brought back to the present when he noticed one of his daughter’s struggling with what he provided.
She seemed to grunt and choke.
He noticed Adelia struggling, even though he already made it so easy. The energies were already there around her.
Tundra observed the other three present. Anna, the strongest of her generation, greedily absorbed the energy. She knew what this was, and knew she would have questions. But that would wait.
Lashwin seemed to have made progress, and looked like he gained enough energy to break one minor stage.
Edison similarly gained enough energy to increase his cultivation by a step. In time, it’s possible to get him to the third realm.
He spent four hours with them that day. Adelia was first to take a break. She was exhausted, cultivation was hard for her, even though she seemed to really want to be a good cultivator. It’s just her mind seemed hazy, and it was hard for her to understand the concepts, even after Tundra tried to explain repeatedly.
There was a certain type of pill made in the far north meant to improve one’s mental abilities. He’d have to find ways to get hold of it, and hoped it would help.
Then, he noticed his daughter, Anna, glaring at him. She benefited the most from this moment of energy. After the meridian cleansing pill, and now with the dense energies, her cultivation increased by a full step at the third realm.
“Father, were you always able to do this?” Edison asked, his hands trembling. Tundra looked at him and could guess the question in his mind. Had Tundra been holding back on the real good stuff? It was a mix of anger, and betrayal.
Sometimes, even giving them a gift did not earn gratitude.
Children. They take. These children are adults. But gratitude? That was rare.
Tundra shook his head. “I learned to do this in my dreams, my children. If I knew to do this long ago, we wouldn’t be here today, in this state. That’s all for today.”
They left.
***
Anna and Edison stood outside of the room, and Edison immediately stomped his feet.
“Father knew how to help us all this while and never did it.” Edison said.
Anna frowned. “Edison. You heard father. He learned it in a dream.”
“You believe that bullshit, Anna? That father learned it in a dream? If I tell my friends or others, they’d think my father’s lost his mind and gone senile. They will say that the Verdant Snow Sect is done for.”
The first daughter nodded. She understood Edison’s frustration. “I don’t know what to believe, actually. I feel like our father’s a different person, and- and I’m not sure whether I want him to be. It’s easier when I just hate him for not being there.”
Edison spat on the ground. “Father’s a liar. He could help me all this time and did nothing!”
“But he did today. You benefited and gained a minor stage.” Anna countered.
“If that’s how he wants to win over us, I’m not buying it. I feel it’s a plot. There must be something we’re not seeing. Father never does things like this without an objective. There is a goal that he’s not telling us.”
Anna couldn’t disagree. His father, in his pre-dream days, was a manipulative, focused, and serious man. Ridiculously talented in alchemy and cultivation, but he moved with purpose. Everything he did had a purpose, and the fact that he directed his attention to them, must have its own purpose.
They were chess pieces, and she didn’t feel like playing the game.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
The first daughter looked at Adelia. Adelia struggled today, and all this while, Anna suspected it was due to the limitations of her mind. Adelia just wasn’t a bright person, even if she had interest. Lashwin, well, Lashwin was so thoroughly ordinary that Anna hardly noticed him.
“Why would father plot against us?” But Anna didn’t buy the plot. In her heart, it still didn’t make sense. She looked at her half brother, and asked. “What does he gain from this? All I feel is- Maybe he really realizes he didn’t care about us before this?”
“And that changes your mind, Anna? That’s not how it works. He changes his mind, and he expects us to change ours?” Edison complained. He would never say such things to their father. But between half siblings, there really was no holding back.
“Yes. I’m still hurt. But if he wants to help us gain strength, I’ll take it for now. We still don’t know what his purpose is. If we don’t know what father is plotting, we can’t counter it. If he wants an act, I’ll show him an act.”
Edison glared at the older woman. He hated to acknowledge his older half sister had a point. So, for now, he stomped away.
***
Four weeks after regression
Tundra stared and felt his own cultivation increase by a minor stage. Sixth realm, Sixth stage. Four more stages to the Seventh realm.
With his current level of resources, he’d be able to reach it by the end of the year if he pushed hard. But for now, his schedule was fairly packed.
Two days of alchemy, two days of lectures for his children, two days of sect affairs, and one day dedicated to his own cultivation and rest. He’d call his wives over for cultivation at night, if the sect affairs or the alchemy didn’t take up his nighttime as well.
“Tundra, Husband.” Celestia spoke as she came into his room for the day’s cultivation. His two other wives were not here yet. “Can we speak for a moment?”
He nodded, and led her to the tea table. There was a hot pot of tea, and she immediately poured two cups.
“There’s something on our mind. It’s about your ability-”
Tundra nodded. “Oh? What about it.”
“It’s a little like a cultivation chamber, isn’t it?” Celestia was trying to beat around the bush before getting to the point.
“In a way. Most cultivation chambers are designed and constructed using formations and energy stones, they either absorb and then apply some kind of effect on the ambient energies, or, they release stored compressed energies in the energy stones.”
Celestia nodded, pleased that Tundra was elaborating more about what’s happening. “You know quite a bit about them?”
Tundra sort of understood the angle when his wife asked that question. “I did study them for quite some time, but I wouldn’t claim to be an expert.”
“Would you be able to build it?”
He chuckled. “No. The formations needed for cultivation chambers require the skilled masterwork of someone at least in the 8th realm formation master.”
Just because a cultivator understands how a cultivation chamber works, does not mean a cultivator could then build it. Details matter, and it is the difference between a chamber that works, and a chamber that doesn’t.
“And cultivation chambers usually require the presence of some kind of energy vein.”
Celestia nodded, but he could tell she seemed disappointed.
“Construction of a cultivation chamber is a highly time consuming activity. Even a basic chamber would take five years, powerful ones would take decades, if not centuries. A true cultivation chamber is a formation expert’s most technically difficult piece of work.”
“I see. But-”
“What I’m doing is similar, but not the same. The trouble, of course, is that my time is very limited, unlike cultivation chambers which are autonomous.”
Tundra remembered that there were a few formation experts who were highly sought after for their skills, but even they considered the art of constructing cultivation chambers to be one of the highest arts.
Most cultivation chambers that exist today are actually not true cultivation chambers, but instead ‘energy-trapping formations’. They capture the energy released from some dragon’s veins, and focus them into the secure chamber. This creates a room that is super dense in energy, but with downtime. Once the energy within the room is ‘used’, the room needs some time to rebuild its energy density.
Unlike true cultivation chambers that should not have downtime, as they possess the right type of compression, amplification and filtration formations that create high quality, dense motes of energy constantly.
It was a distinction he didn’t know, until he truly investigated the matter and figured out how the different types of cultivation chambers worked.
Though the end result is quite similar, and lesser cultivators often confuse the variants, details mattered at the high realms.
Tundra looked at his 6th wife gently, and asked. “Is there a need for a cultivation chamber?”
“Lady Mistburn and Lady Eastheart hoped that you could build a cultivation chamber in their home cities.”
Tundra nodded. “I see. That is not something I can do. It would be easier for me to visit them and supply them with higher quality pills.”
Celestia sighed, but knew that was the end of that chain of questions. “Do other masters know how to do what you do for us, too?”
“Yes. Those who reached the 8th or 9th realms would naturally master the arts of manipulating the energies in their surroundings. It’s quite similar to how our cultivation works, in essence. This is energy manipulation at its core. Anyone who can extend their soul out of their bodies can do it, it just takes centuries of practice.”
Celestia stared at her husband, wondering whether that was supposed to be normal. In the fourth realm, she certainly never tried to consciously manipulate her soul.
But to the old monster, it was trivial.
His two wives came in later, and both Elly and Marin experienced a minor breakthrough that night, and went up a single stage.
***
“He said no.” Celestia repeated the conversation to her fellow step-wives. She sometimes referred to them as sisters, though it didn’t seem appropriate, especially with how tense their relationship was.
“That’s a shame.” Elly said. “But did he say what pills he wants to make? My family really could use some help with the incursions. If it gets worse, it won’t be long before my family summons me back home to escort the trading caravans.”
Marin countered. “Your father wouldn’t do that. You are the wife of the Verdant Snow Sect, it’ll be spitting in Tundra’s face and offend the sect.”
Celestia agreed. “If it concerns you so much, it would be wise to ask him for help. Directly. I think he knows, but is just preparing for it.”
Marin and Elly both glanced at the 6th wife. Elly thought about it for a moment, and wondered what Tundra’s reaction would be. She had never requested aid from him directly, though she did notice Tundra giving more pills in the past, when she hinted that their family was in trouble. Marin frowned. “If he knows, then why isn’t he doing anything?”
“Maybe he can’t?” Celestia thought aloud. She was not sure either.
Elly sighed. “Celestia’s right. This has been going on for too long, and Tundra’s not doing anything about it. I’ll ask him. I should do it, since this is my family matter.”
The 5th wife scratched her chin. In her mind, if Elly asked, Marin would also try to ride on her coattails and talk about the issue back home.
***
A few days later.
“Elly, please stay back. I’d like to talk to you.” They were done with the cultivation for the day, and both Celestia and Marin looked at Elly.
She shifted uncomfortably, she herself didn’t seem to be ready for the conversation. Not yet. But they left, and the door closed gently as the other two wives exited the room.
It was just the two of them, and Tundra walked over to one of the day beds. “Would you sit with me?”
Elly looked around and gulped. The mood in the room felt strange to her, and then, she looked at her husband. Her husband seemed to be thinking. She shook her head. This was her husband, she could fake her affections in public, why wouldn’t she be able to put on a show here? So she called on her acting skills, and sat next to him.
“Husband,” She said, her voice soft and sultry, “What is it?”
Tundra nodded. He’s been thinking about the family issues for a while, and realized it might be a good idea to actually speak to his in-laws. His own parents were dead, and he had no known relatives to call on.
“Elly. I’m thinking of visiting your father.”
Elly paused, as her hands trembled slightly. She’s been thinking about how to breach the subject for a while, and was a little relieved that Tundra took the lead instead. “Really?”
“Yes. I’ve heard of the issues from Jon, and realized it would be a good time to visit your father and your family.”
The 4th wife nodded.
“But I’ll need a few weeks to be ready. Can you tell me more about your father’s cultivation?”
“My father’s cultivation?”
“Yes. I’d like to help him, and concoct a pill to give him more strength. But I can’t seem to recall much about your father’s powers, and gathering the materials would also take some time.”
His wife’s eyes met his, and he could feel her mind thinking about it. She gulped, and then nodded. “You don’t intend to scheme or plot against him?”
“Why would I plot against my father-in-law?” Tundra wondered. At his current pace, and his unique cultivation spirit roots, he’d reach seventh realm by end of the year. If he told his wives that, they’d probably be shocked that he achieved the seventh realm in less than thirty years since his ascension to the sixth realm.
Elly hesitated, but ultimately, agreed. “I see. I thought you would- you would want to absorb my family into the sect.”
“I thought of that before, but it’s not in our plans.” Tundra admitted. “The sect can grow in other ways. The sect can grow the normal way, by taking in disciples, and exploring secret realms.”
He wondered about the ways of growing his sect into a great sect again, but without the conflicts. All that conflict eventually brought wars back to him, and his family.
The less conflicts he participated in, the less enemies his family had. In fact, he’d have to start making reparations for some of the enemies, especially those that his children offended.
If he could achieve peace, somehow, that would be great.
His wife naturally noticed his thoughtful look, and rested a lot closer. She adjusted her robe slightly, loosening it to flaunt her body. “Husband, before I tell you about my father, what happened to me in your dream?”
Tundra turned and their eyes locked. After a while, he sighed. It embarrassed him that his memory of Elly was so sparse.
He was a terrible husband. He wondered whether he was afraid of building relationships back then. He might have been. The old him wanted a family, but didn’t want to deal with actually building a family.
“You died of old age. You didn’t break through the 4th realm.”
Elly sighed as she lamented her fate. “My talents were limited, after all.”
But Tundra thought differently. Now that he knew the context of Elly’s family struggles, he wondered whether she had shot herself in the foot by redirecting her own resources back to her family.
If she took all the resources herself, maybe she wouldn’t have died so soon. His arm leaned over, and wrapped around her waist. “I won’t let you die, this time.”
The wife didn’t know how to react to that. Elly thought about what Celestia said. Their husband genuinely wanted their company.
The old Tundra Fox was serious and cold. Their marriage was a marriage of duty, and her act to make children was entirely out of her sense of responsibility as a wife. Her family pressured her. Because the more children she had, the Sect Master would give her more resources. And those resources could then help her family back home.
Their eyes locked again, and the words in her heart that she didn’t want to say, came out. “You never loved me.”
Tundra sighed, and pulled her closer. He had to think about how to respond.
Elly couldn’t believe herself, but now that she said it, there was no turning back. She felt her own heart pound, as she waited for his response.
Would an apology help at this time? Tundra realized he had to answer with actions. Not more promises. “I know. When we return to your family home, you’ll come with me.” Tundra said gently, his arms around her slender waist.
She squirmed. She wasn’t used to her husband trying to show affection. She was the one acting and showing fake affection. She wasn’t the one receiving it.
Tundra sensed it, and sighed. He only has himself to blame.