In the end they recruited about eighteen new outer disciples. Tundra was busy studying the old scriptures shared by Lord Saljuk, but he still made it a point to just have a look at those that passed the selection.
Just in case they were Zuja agents. It is likely that the Zuja would target those lower-ranked cultivators, and as far as he remembered, those cultivators who stagnated in their own paths were most vulnerable to the temptations of the Zuja. In some ways, as long as he could supply his friends, family and disciples with sufficient pills and improve their bloodline, they are less likely to succumb to the whispers of the bug god.
They were clean.
He said a few words to them all. “Welcome, you were selected to be one of the Verdant Snow Sect’s new Outer Disciples. We will all watch your progress with interest.”
They were all young, so impressionable. In their eyes, he must’ve been like a living god. He wished them well, and then said his goodbyes. He had other affairs to attend to.
Then, a servant rushed over.
“Sect Master. An urgent message from Elder Severian.”
***
Tundra sat in the flying ship and frowned. The flying ship was fairly empty, the only two traveling with Tundra was Celestia, and the newly promoted Elder Agnia, and right now, it was on a rush flight towards the city of Noria Firefields, a city close to the Crimson Lotus Spire.
They would meet Severian there. Elder Severian has made contact with someone from Prince Gomerl’s faction, and someone highly ranked within that faction now wants to meet them to get a sense of their interest.
It was strange, and honestly, they didn’t have much of a bargaining chip. That was a conundrum he had to think about.
Prince Gomerl, backed by the Flaming Phoenix Sect, was already incredibly powerful, and Prince Gomerl himself was no cultivation slouch either, even if he was supposedly quite dull as a person.
“Have you managed to study the details?” Tundra asked as Agnia was still flipping through a set of reports collected and purchased from informants.
“Not all, and it feels as if these reports don’t contain anything useful.” Agnia complained as she put down the tenth report. Celestia was probably on the roof, enjoying the wind.
Tundra nodded. The overview of the relationship was fairly simple. Prince Gomerl was the first prince, and thus he had the strongest support at the moment. He wasn’t a particularly bright or strong man relative to the power of the Great Sects, but if he remembered correctly, at this point he was close to the peak 7th realm, or the early stages of the 8th realm, though the reports from the informants were not exactly useful.
Powerful Princes have their own agents working the information network and flooded them with quite a fair bit of misinformation.
At this point, he didn’t really have anything he was willing to offer to Prince Gomerl, though he knew that there were probably traitors in his midst. He also didn’t want to let the prince know anything about his alternate future. Severian was wise enough to keep that part of it silent.
In any case, this meeting was likely just a small introduction meeting for the Prince’s advisors to get a sense of their worth.
***
Noria Firefields was a city built at the heart of a massive field of Fireflowers, and so, the entire place thrummed with fire energies. It was one of the Crimson Lotus Spire’s core holdings, probably it’s strongest core holdings, and that made it a strange place to meet.
Standing on top of the city’s walls, one would see a sight as if the horizon itself is burning. The Fireflowers emitted an intense heat that made the area feel as if it’s cooking, it’s leaves sparked and glowed, and many of them together gave the illusion of a fire burning but there was no actual flame. The Fireflowers themselves were immensely fire resistant, and they made for great alchemical ingredients for things related to fire.
“Glad you could come in time.” Severian said, as Tundra was then escorted through the city’s landing area for flying ships into the main area. There was a small receiving party from the local city lord, though the true ruler was the Crimson Lotus Spire, and they had a rather large branch building resembling a burning spire that stood at the heart of the city.
“So, who are we meeting?”
“One of the Prince’s ministers, Minister Zhan. He seemed rather eager to meet us and get a sense of who and what we are.”
Tundra didn’t recall meeting the man. In fact, he didn’t even remember much about the man. “When are we meeting him?”
“Now, if you want. He’ll be leaving the city in two days, so we really don’t have much time to make our case.” If he didn’t come in time, it could even be perceived that their outreach was not sincere, and that would burn their hopes of ever gaining Prince Gomerl’s support.
“How close is he to the prince?”
“From what I hear, very. He’s surprisingly well connected and informed.” Severian said.
Tundra rubbed his chin. “I see. Then let’s cut to it. Let’s go see him immediately. Celestia, I think you can have a rest here. Agnia, come along.”
Agnia nodded. As the elder that would assist Severian with diplomatic duties, this would be learning on the job.
***
The meeting occured in a private dining room located in the most expensive restaurant in the city of Noria. It was gaudy, filled with golden statues and tapestries, exotic dancers and singers, fresh flowers, and a whole lot of wine. Local wines, imported wines, rice wines blended with a hundred types of fruits.
Tundra felt a strange, nagging sensation ever since he arrived in the city, and when he opened the door, he knew for certain.
Minister Zhan was a man well in the fifth realm, and yet, on him, Tundra sensed the strongest of Zuja corruptions. It was well hidden, covered by some kind of aura protection artifact that would’ve deceived many, but he had many, many years of exposure to know exactly what he was dealing with. Minister Zhan’s full Zuja corruption could even be as strong as the peak of the 8th realm, because in him lurked a Zuja core. This was when a minister’s spiritual realm fully integrated with a Zuja bug, and the bug gained full ability to draw from it’s foreign powers.
Tundra gulped. This wasn’t ideal, but at least now he understood how and why Prince Gomerl fell out of favor. Someone so close to him at this level of Zuja Corruption would’ve ensured his entire organization was pretty much filled with Zuja operatives. The Zuja was hedging it’s bets and had agents in most of the royal family members. It didn’t care who wins, as long as the royal family was weakened as a result of the struggle.
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It meant their choice of royalty didn’t matter.
“Greetings, Sect Master Fox. I heard a lot about you.” Minister Zhan said with the brightest of fake smiles. Tundra had no choice but to smile and pretend everything was alright.
“Greetings, Minister Zhan. A pleasure to meet the closest advisor of the Prince.” Tundra said diplomatically, tried his best not to reveal his knowledge and discomfort. “We heard much of the Prince’s ambitions and wish to see whether we could lend a hand.”
Minister Zhan smiled. “Ah, certainly, but you know, the Crown Prince already has many, many supporters and people more than happy to assist him with his needs. He is really well taken care of.”
In truth, there was no named Crown Prince, so Minister Zhan’s statement was incorrect.
A group of dancers came to serve Minister Zhan drinks and refreshments, two of them then sat on his lap to feed him fruits not found in the Noria Firefields’ vicinity. Tundra decided to pause and allow the statement to settle. He happily ate the fruits, and took some time to even feel up the two dancers. Agnia tried not to look.
Tundra tried his best to keep a fake smile, and knew he couldn’t seem desperate. But, he also wanted to get close to Prince Gomerl and get a sense of the Prince’s own knowledge and position. “I see, I see, that is too bad, then. Well, we are really just a small sized sect with a little bit of luck in alchemy, and we really hope to be of service to the royal family, whoever it may be. If it ever so happens that the Crown Prince has a need for alchemical services, I'd certainly be interested to lend a hand.”
“Oh?” Minister Zhan squeezed the dancer’s lap, and she yelped in pain. “As you know, the Prince already has many talented and capable alchemists in his service. Is there anything special that you could do, Sect Master Fox?”
“Ah. This one wouldn’t dare claim to have any special skills in front of the Prince’s highly talented group of alchemists.” Tundra said. He knew if he said something wrong, the Minister could just as easily use his statement and bring him trouble. Perhaps a higher realm alchemist who somehow found Tundra’s claim offensive, that Tundra could do something the higher realm alchemists could not.
MInister Zhan stared at Tundra, and Tundra merely smiled at him.
The dining room was quiet, save for the slight moans and grunts of the dancers as the minister harassed them.
Severian merely sat quietly next to Tundra, while Agnia sat on the other side of the sect master. As the sect master was present, decorum generally dictated that only the most senior person speak, unless specifically instructed to.
“Well, I have heard of your recent service to the Crown Prince’s younger sister. It is most admirable.” Minister Zhan decided to break the silence after his finished chewing a grape-like fruit. The bowls of fruit were empty, and the two dancers hurried off. Two other dancers came in with two full bowls of fruit, and now it was their turn to serve the Minister.
Tundra smiled and answered as diplomatically as he could. “Ah, it was our duty to the royal family. If the imperial family summons, we will do our best to deliver.”
“Admirable. I can see why you suddenly think that a mid-tier sect would even dare to think of offering your services to the Crown Prince.”
Tundra inwardly frowned. This minister was clearly trying to sow conflict, make the entire process more competitive than it had to be. He decided he wouldn’t play ball, but when dealing with the royal family, it is pretty much customary to speak as if one is in a lower position. “Ah, that is not our intention. We merely wish to express our loyalty to the royal family by peddling our meager skills.”
“Then your expression of loyalty is duly noted.” Minister Zhan said with a frown, and then, looked at the two beauties on his lap. “I am tired, and wish to spend the rest of my evening getting a good rest and be properly cared for. You may leave, Sect Master Fox. I will carry your words to the Crown Prince. We will see what he says.” The minister proceeded to touch the dancers in places most inappropriate.
Tundra did his best smile of gratitude, and ignored the minister’s acts. “That would be most appreciated, MInister Zhan. We will not impose on your time any more.”
***
“That went well.” Severian said, with a pretty much long sigh of relief. “As well as it could have.”
Tundra nodded. “Let’s rest somewhere private. I have something to tell you two.”
They decided to return to their flying ship, where they have various formations protecting their chambers. Tundra then spilled the minister’s corruption to the three.
Severian’s eyes immediately widened. “Are you certain, Sect Master?”
“Yes.” Tundra frowned. “It seems the rot has started far earlier than I had knowledge of. This suggests that every Prince likely has some Zuja operatives within their ranks, and getting closer to them is going to be risky.”
“Damned heavens.” Severian cursed, while Agnia sat quietly, thinking.
Agnia then asked. “They clearly want to use the royal family’s upcoming tussle for the throne to weaken all cultivators, regardless of sect. They do not care who wins. If so, sitting out of this only plays into their hands. But the rest of us cannot identify the Zuja, so it makes spotting them so much harder. If these bugs clearly seek to destroy the world, we cannot sit it out and so we have to play this political game, and somehow offset their influence.”
“Or if we somehow manage to get rid of them.” Severian said. “A hard task given their strength.”
Tundra nodded, as he considered the odds of removing the Zuja’s influence from the royal family. To have any degree of success in forcing the Zuja’s agents out of commission, a ninth realm or tenth realm cultivator would be required. Anyone weaker would lead to a long, protracted battle that would expose them to the rest of the Zuja’s network. He didn’t know how many of Zuja’s men were around, and so, what sort of retaliation that sort of thing would entail. Without knowledge of the Zuja’s depths, Tundra did not want to put their own homes at risk.
Unless there is an ally within the royal family that could support them from the shadows. Someone who could allow them to move in and out with cover, and move the corrupted ministers and Zuja officials somewhere that they could be ambushed. But at the moment, he didn’t know who he could trust, and with the tussle for the throne, it was hard to even get in touch with the various royal family members.
“Someone’s approaching our flying ship.” Agnia said, as she noticed a flashing indicator. Tundra and Severian both moved instantly to see who it was.
It was a core disciple of the Crimson Lotus Spire, and Tundra immediately connected that it’s possible that the Zuja’s agent reached into the Crimson Lotus Spire through someone like Minister Zhan, or vice versa. The Zuja were like a bunch of subterranean weeds, they could sprout out all over the place, and it’s hard to even find their heart, if there was one.
Tundra looked at Severian. “Assume nothing. We are, after all, in the Crimson Lotus Spire’s territory. It may just be an invitation.”
And indeed it was. It seemed the Branch leader of the Crimson Lotus Spire had heard of Tundra’s presence in his city and invited him to visit. Since the branch leader sent a core disciple, it was only polite that he see to the formalities and meet the true master of the city.
***
“Greetings, Branch Leader Wilber Blackpetals.” Tundra immediately noticed the similar name. “We apologize for not coming earlier, we had to-”
“I understand, though it does annoy me.” Wilber interjected. He was a tall, lean, handsome man with jet black hair and wore matching black robes, with the red patterns of the Crimson Lotus Spire woven into it. It’s not their standard uniform, but as branch leader, he clearly had some leeway. Tundra felt that he was right at the peak of the 7th realm. “So you’re the man that helped my younger sister.”
Tundra quickly connected the name. “Ah, I did not realize you were Lady Blackpetals’ elder brother.”
“Ah, do we not resemble each other?” Wilber said frankly. “But let’s get down to what matters, did you enjoy meeting with the minister?”
Tundra clasped his hand together respectfully, and answered. “It went right about as well as I hoped.”
Wilber didn’t seem too happy with the fluffy response. Tundra didn’t want to give a truthful answer with someone he didn’t know was worthy of trust or not. “Do you think a man like that deserves the support of the Crimson Lotus Spire?”
“The minister is quite a stern man to work with, but I’d like to believe Prince Gomerl is quite an understanding man.”
“Stern. Understanding.” Wilber Blackpetals scoffed. “To think the Crimson Lotus will be putting our support behind a man who keeps such lousy company.”
Tundra merely smiled, and went with a politically correct answer. “The royal family’s bloodline gifts them with many capable descendants. It is only natural that it is so hard to choose between many highly capable candidates.”
Wilber stared at Tundra, and this time, Tundra stared back. The two’s eyes locked at each other, one suspicious, the other stern but respectful. “I see. So, since you are here, there’s someone else I’d like you to meet. A minister from a different Prince. Maybe he’d sway your mind.”
This truly surprised Tundra. Severian looked panicked briefly, unsure which Prince he was referring to. “You’ll find him in the room behind this door.”