Early morning, a crowd was gathered in the recovery hall. Frequently visited by trainees, today it was filled with Elders. An old man with long white beard, dressed with luxurious green clothes was answering the questions of the others. He was the Fourth Grand Elder. Well known by his sociability, it was often considered the unofficial spokesmen of the Clan.

“Respected Grand Elder, It is true that the first son of the Clan Master has suffered a cultivation deviation while meditating, getting injured?” Asked an Elder with worry, if the genius of the clan had damaged his dantians permanently, it would be a huge loss.

“He has only suffered a small backlash while trying to advance to the next realm, nothing serious. Four of his meridians have been damaged, we had to seal them temporally. For a couple of months he’ll have his cultivation reduced at the second level of the Qi realm, with the Gathering Qi Pill that we are preparing for him, his cultivation shouldn’t suffer any major problem in the future.” The Grand Elder said while stroking his beard.

“Respected Grand Elder, in ten days the young master has to return to the imperial academy. Having his cultivation partially sealed could reduce his reputation among his peers. Should he remain in the Clan property until he is completely recovered?” Said a middle-aged woman, an Elder well known by her spear mastery.

“No, he’ll go to the academy. Moments of adversity are good opportunities for the youth to grow. I’m sure that young Junjie will manage.” The Grand Elder gave a big smile. Enjoying being the center of attention.

Meanwhile the elders were chatting in the recovery hall, Lo Hu was on the way of his first appointment of the day. In one of the gardens near the Sky Jade Pagoda, a dozen of young children where waiting under a giant ginko tree, it’s fallen leaves creating a yellow mantel.

The children were very serious, whispering something. Shen Chenguang was with them, holding a drowsy silvery furred fox. When they saw Lo Hu, they stood proudly – looking fearlessly.

“Who is you representative?” Said Lo Hu with dignity. He frequently made deals with the children of the Clan in small matters. Helping them master the art of negotiation. With the appropriate incentives they learned surprisingly fast, at this point, he had to take them seriously.

“I’m the appointed representative for this transaction, grandpa Hu. What is your request?” Said a twelve year old with shaved hair, son of one the elite guards. The others were behind him in two ordered rows of six, listening carefully.

“Shen Junjie is the target. Create situations to irritate him, I want him in a bad mood. Strong methods are forbidden, only schemes difficult to trace as intentional are allowed. Remember to cover you tracks, if a maid reports any of you for bad behavior, the rewards will be halved.” This was a type of mission very common in the shadow unit, where one destabilized slightly the target composure, who become more prone to commit mistakes and falling for a well planned scheme.

The children made two small circles and started to whisper, when both of the circles reached a conclusion, three representatives of every circle created a new circle to debate again. Finally, having reached a consensus, the representative of the group talked again. “We accept the request. Make an offer.”

“Twenty-four giant dumplings, ninety-six red bean buns. Double of the normal rate, I’m being more that generous.” As children of a powerful clan, they where raised with an strict diet, to strengthen they bodies and facilitate they cultivation. They eagerly sold they services for tasty food.

“No, this is a big mission, the reward is insufficient. We want swords, iron swords!” They normally trained with wooden weapons and occasionally with iron swords. The problem was that the weapons couldn’t leave the training hall, they wanted swords to keep them in one of they hideouts.

The words were firm and he understood that this children knew how to take a loss to win more in the future. If he rejected them, the deal was over. “I can give you two iron swords to you to duel, but the edges will be dulled and you aren’t allowed to sharpen them. This isn’t negotiable.” This kids were strong, and could easily injure each other without the correct supervision, giving them sharpened swords would be a major mistake.

The kid was a little regretful to only obtain two swords but he knew that couldn’t be helped. “The swords and the food, we have a deal.”

“The swords and half the food.” If he gave them all the food it would be too much of a reward. The kid easily accepted it, as he had already expected it. Both parts bowed, formalizing the arrangement. Having reached a favorable conclusion, the demeanor of the kids changed.

“Hehehe, grandpaaa~ look what I found, is a one-horned golden beetle!!!” Said a girl with ponytails.

“This rock is green, it must be the Ancient Jade Shard of the legends. Grandpa, you can take a look, but this is mine!!!” Said a cute six year old.

“Grandpaaa, Misty is being very naughty, she doesn’t want to sleep in the burrow!” Said Shen Chenguang offended.

They laughed and played, trying to receive Lo Hu attention. They showed him insects, plants and rocks. The Elders of the Clan loved to secretly place some small treasures in the compound for the children to find. Officially, it was to promote they curiosity, making them more prone to inspect they surroundings. But, seeing they flushed faces with excitement was enough of a reason.

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“Oh. Look at this... This is indeed a rare treasure. Rainbow Dew Grass, having accumulated the energy of the heavens for hundreds of years, this plant can improve your roots. You are very lucky, give this herb to the alchemy hall and they’ll prepare a pill for you.” Said Lo Hu while ruffing the hair of an exited ten year old, son of an honorary Elder.

The rest of the kids, hearing this, couldn’t avoid to pout heavily. They also wanted to find a treasure!

After playing a little with them, Lo Hu send the children to the the academy hall. Today, they had literature class in the morning and foundational cultivation core establishment in the afternoon, when they learned to gather Qi efficiently. The majority of them will go to the imperial academy in the future, so they needed a strong foundation. The rank that they archived in the academy would impact in the Clan reputation. Educating them properly was of the upmost importance.

Lo Hu walked in the direction to the alchemy hall. Yesterday afternoon, he had requested the Gathering Qi Pill for his young master. If a Clansmen wanted a pill, they usually had to fill a document with the appropriate information and wait for they turn. The services of the alchemist were so demanded that it was common to receive your pill months later. If the materials needed to concoct the pill were common, they could pay with tales. Rare materials had to be provided by the requester.

As the pills were for the son of the Clan Master and successor candidate, this process could be accelerated.

The alchemy hall was one of the economical pillars of the Clan. It’s fame extended beyond the Qilin Empire. It was the sole producer of the Spirit Powder Pill, used to facilitate the advancement to the Spirit Realm, generating and immense revenue. His creator was the First Grand Master, a grandmaster alchemist.

Entering the hall, Lo Hu could smell a characteristic herbal scent. A sweet, sharp smell similar of the fragrance of recently cut grass. The building consisted of a large singular corridor with individual – fully equipped – rooms in it's margins. At the end, the office of the First Grand Master.

“Lo Hu, I was just waiting for you.” Said the First Grand Elder, a short man as old as Lo Hu. “You can’t begin to imagine how loud I laughed when I heard that you were assigned to the Clan Master son.” Both of them were good friends, frequently meeting to drink wine and play go.

“I was also surprised, I expected Aiguo to nominate Shen Da. But, I understand his intentions, it would be a pity to give up such a talent.” He was a little regretful, suspecting that Aiguo had assigned him to his son to get rid of him for a while.

“What have you planned? Yesterday, you were a little aggressive, that isn’t your style.” Shen Honghui, the First Grand Elder, giving a cup of Thousands Fragrances Tea to Lo Hu.

“I had no alternative. The child is blind, he needed to understand that judging an individual by his rank is an easy manner to die. It’s regretful to revel to him a little of my strength, but now he should be a little more cautious.”

“There were betters ways, contracting an individual to take a role. Making him fall for a scheme. Now, you have lost interesting paths to guide him. He’ll be guarded against you.” Taking small sip, Honghui was curious about his friend unusual rash decision.

“Indeed. But, the effect would be small. Sixteen years at his side, he never suspected me as more that a butler. If he is smart, he will reflex in himself. Maybe understanding that his judgment isn’t as flawless as he thinks.” Lo Hu talked taking small sips of tea.

“Hahaha, bullshit. What is the real reason?” The idea to lose a favorable strategic position to give a small moral lesson was laughable.

Lo Hu sighed. “He remembers me at his father. If I don’t play with him it would be a shame.” This was a problem of his. Normally, he was fond to educate the youth with care. But, for some reason that he didn’t exactly understand, he liked to play a little more rough with Aiguo, and now his son.

“It seams that he'll be a strong successor candidate then. I selected Shen Da, I like his firmness.”

“He’s a good option. I also like Shen Bao, her cultivation is a little lacking but her intelligence is frightening. That brat has tested me thousands of time and even finding nothing, she still suspects me. With the new treatment that Junjie will give me, she will surely confirm her suspicions. I take that as a loss.” Lo Hu could only shake his head in defeat.

“I know, she also pestered me in some matters. I heard that she got the Second Grand Elder as a backer for the successor trials. That remains me, you’ll let Junjie tell others that you attacked him?”

Shen Bao had asked him for the recipe of the Spirit Powder Pill, being an important secret of the Clan, he told her that she didn’t need to know. Offended, she started to look around his office, smelling the room as a wolf. When she guessed the ingredients and ratios frighteningly close, he was stupefied. He had to ban her to the alchemy hall in fear that she discovered important secrets.

“Of course not. He should wake up soon, I told the Fourth Grand Master to give him some clues. He’s a smart boy, he’ll maintain his mouth closed.” There was no advantage to let him point out that something was amiss with him.

“Hahaha, good, good. What’s your plan for him?” Honghui was a little curious.

“I won’t tell you the details, I don’t want to spoil the surprise. But, you can be sure that Junjie won’t remain as arrogant as he is.” Lo Hu gave a healthy chuckle. After that, Lo Hu remembered something. “Honghui, could you give me your token? Maybe I’ll need a couple of somethings.”

“Of course, misuse it as much as you want.” The First Grand Elder gave him a Red Phoenix Token, that would give him great authority in the alchemy hall and the alchemist association of the Qilin Empire. Now, Lo Hu had the Jade Deer Token of the Clan Master and the Red Phoenix Token of the First Grand Elder.

“Have you already prepared the Gathering Qi Pill?” This was the original reason for his visit.

“No, but it’s made in a breath. Let me concoct it for you, and don’t forget to bring a good wine next time.” He used his office to concoct pills, as the materials for the Gathering Qi Pill were fairly common, he had plentiful here.

The First Grand Elder went to one of his shelf’s, where were stored hundreds of cauldrons with all kind of sizes and shapes. After a brief inspection, he selected a small cauldron made of Fire Blessed Mythril.

The art of pill concocting was complex but simple. It requires great concentration and understanding. At the same time, with alchemy treasures like this cauldron even a novice could success easily in they basic recipes. It was the power of abundant wealth and resources, the Shen Clan had both.

Shen Honghui placed the cauldron into a corner of his office, where the ground was made of a blueish stone. It’s name was Qi Condensed Stone, and like his name indicated, it was a stone made by the alchemist compressing Qi with a few herbs and ores. It helped to improve slightly the quality and purity of any pill that was made in it’s vicinity.

Concentrating, the First Grand Elder started to emanate a dense red purplish aura. This aura, acting as it water, condensed in small drops. Placing both hands as if holding a sphere, the drops gathered, filling his hands. He directed the sphere of aura under the cauldron, and the orange veins of the Fire Blessed Mythril started to turn scarlet. Blue tendrils raised from the floor, evolving the cauldron. As it food, the cauldron absorbed them increasing it’s aura.

With a movement of his hand, forty ingredients flied from it’s respective shelves, entering the cauldron. They started to rotate, getting ground in the process. Another hand movement and the brownish resulted pulp paused in the center of the cauldron, then started to condense and rotate again in itself. Purple tendrils of smoke poured from the cauldron and surrounded the rotating pill. When the stream of smoke stopped, the smoke around the pill gradually dissipated, revealing a brown purplish pill that emanated a little of translucent white steam.

“I told you, it couldn’t be easiest.” Satisfied after inspecting the quality of the pill, Honghui chuckled. “With this, the small wounds that you gave to Junjie won’t be a problem. It’s really a shame that you can’t block a dantian without generating an injury.” Blocking a dantian was similar to block an organ. It couldn’t be done without consequences.

“Thank you. I’ll pay you a visit soon.” Already in the afternoon, Lo Hu leave the hall with many responsibilities yet to attend.