She was getting tired of the beast hunts. It’s been beast hunts since she agreed to go along with Jahan and Evin, so, after another two days of more beast hunts, she wanted a break. It was time for her to finally go back from some rest, and Zahar had been mulling over his plants over that same time.

“I’m taking a break. Tomorrow’s the weekend, and I’m staying home with Zahar.” Sana declared as they returned with their spoils. She checked her little bangle and it had like 340 merit points. It was a decent haul.

Evin frowned. “Oh come on. What’s so interesting about that stupid man anyway?”

She didn’t answer, but Jahan defended Sana’s choice. “It’s alright, Evin. There are other missions we can do to earn merit. If a lady wants to spend time with her partner, we shouldn’t stop her.”

Jahan paused, and then asked.

“Would you like to join us for dinner, actually? We’ll actually meet a few other peers.”

It was still late, and so she nodded. The dinner was held at one of the largest restaurants in New Ring City, an institution called Red Dragon’s Dining Pavilion. It was a five story building set across a large area fit for a mansion, with multiple private gardens and pools for private dining services. Just getting to their private room required them to walk through a series of long and winding corridors.

It was a large table enough to fit twenty comfortably, and clearly she wasn’t the only last minute invitee.

“Oh, you’re here!” Serhan was there as he grinned. As Sana walked in, there was a person she didn’t expect to see.

Aria Silvan. She was jawdroppingly beautiful with her silver hair and similarly colored eyes. She was an ethereal fairy on the earth itself. If Sana was a beauty, then Aria was a beauty among beauties. All the boys present stared and constantly stole glances at her, and Sana could understand why the boys were all smitten.

Evin naturally gave Sana a look. “Told ya they’re not interested in me.”

“I thought they were.”

“They would, but something stole their hearts away.”

There were about fifteen present, plus the three of them, a total of eighteen. Jahan noticed, of course. “Ah, cousin! Are we expecting anyone else?”

“No. You’re the last group!” Serhan smiled. “Allow me to introduce my cousin, Jahan Ladar, and next to him, Evin Emmaria of Ouldran, and Sana Eshtar of Koolan.”

Sana nodded to the group present, and took a seat. She sat next to another lady, Wanda Weathers and Evin. The conversation was fairly mundane at first, most of those present all talking to each other. Wanda was a mid 2nd realm, and of those present, she was probably one of those struggling with cultivation.

“You’re already in the 3rd realm?” Wanda was a little surprised.

“I was in the last 2nd realm, but yes, I had a breakthrough before I came to the sect.”

“I see.” The girl was a little upset. “I’m only in the 7th stage of the 2nd realm. I need to work harder, then.”

Her statement was only true among the invited disciples. The average of the outer disciples who qualified via the trails was in the 1st stage of the 2nd realm. Outside of the powerful families, it was difficult for normal people to gain the ability to cultivate, and fewer still could afford the resources needed to cultivate to a high level.

Cultivation was extremely nepotic outside of the sects. That was a fact, and was partly why Sana treated Zahar with such caution.

“So-” After some of the idle chatter, Wanda went for a controversial question. “Sana, did any of the boys catch your eye?”

It was a question everyone seemed interested in. Jahan, Serhan and Evin already knew the answer, but they wouldn’t answer on her behalf. Sana wasn’t the most beautiful present, all the female cultivators were beauties in their own way, even if not in the same league as Aria Silvan.

“I already have a husband.” Sana said to the gasps of all the girls present, and Aria suddenly looked at Sana with tremendous interest. The boys just let out a sigh. All of them would try to win Aria’s heart, but if they failed, they would try for the other nobles like Sana or Evin.

“Really?” Wanda was shocked. “Why are you still here, then? Shouldn’t you-”

“Ah. My husband’s an outer disciple of the sect too.”

“What- Which family is he from?” Wanda said.

“Oh. He doesn’t come from any famous family.”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Then? Shouldn’t you find someone that’s considered your peer, at least?”

Sana smiled, deciding that it was probably risky to undersell Zahar. If she said Zahar was a nobody, they’d use it as an opportunity to disrupt their arrangement. It was socially best for her to increase the perceived value of her husband. “I do consider him a peer. I would even consider him a superior. He has some kind of alchemy gift and my father saw it fit to have us married, even if its just as a concubine.”

That very statement made Evin, Serhan and Jahan look at Sana. “You’ve never said that.”

“Ah. I missed it then.”

“What is it like, being a concubine?” Aria asked suddenly, and everyone else was silent as they waited for Sana to reply.

Sana smiled. “I’m not going to answer that. It’s best to leave it up to your imagination.”

It made all the girls blush and giggle. The men looked at each other and laughed. Wanda’s face was red, but she couldn’t help herself but ask. “Have you did it-”

“I am a concubine.” Some of those present looked embarrassed, and Sana wouldn’t answer it so bluntly.

Aria’s gaze at Sana suddenly grew more and more intense. “What’s your- husband like? Why isn’t he here?”

“He would rather spend time with plants these days.” Sana said. “Enough about me, after all, I am just a girl who already has a husband. The boys should focus on the ladies that are still available. What about you, Wanda?”

Wanda looked like a girl who was incredibly embarrassed by the whole affair, and shook her head. “No one. Not yet.”

Sana went for the prize, since all the boys had their eyes on the Lady Silvan. “What about you, Lady Silvan? Any of the outer disciples interest you?”

The boys waited for Aria’s response with bated breath. She smiled at Sana. “Not for me. I’m still waiting for someone to catch my eye.”

The boys immediately tried to catch her attention. One of them stood and declared. “Lady Silvan, I shall slay 100 monsters for you!”

“Slaying monsters isn’t much.” Aria said, and the boy shrunk in embarrassment.

Aria then threw down the gauntlet. “I’d like to see whether any of the boys can reach Inner Disciple before I do.”

One of them stood. “Lady Aria, if that is a challenge, I accept.”

Indeed, many of these young masters would call on their resources, if only to win her attention. She merely grinned.

“What if more than one succeeds at it?” Wanda asked, curious.

Aria merely smiled. “Then I shall keep an eye on all of them. Anyone who can do so against the resources of the Silvan family certainly deserves that much.”

The boys were pumped. Sana couldn’t help but think about Heishen and also Hendra Han, but decided it was best to just keep quiet.

The rest of the dinner was filled with more idle chatter, and once Sana ate her fill, she informed the rest that she had to leave and approached the waiter to pay her share. Only to discover that the Silvan family paid for the bill.

She frowned. This was one subtle way she was being manipulated along political lines. She then asked how much was her share of the bill, just for information so an adequate gift of value could be returned.

***

Zahar was happy. His six plants grew to the required height and no longer required his life support. They were now energy neutral, and beyond this point, they would grow and support the rest of the herbs.

These six plants went by many names in the multiple realms. The Myriad Energy Herbs, The Thousand Wave Weeds, The Qi Producing Grass. The Foundation Plant. They all ultimately meant that they produced energy and fed it to the plants around it. They were easy to make and alter from existing plants that every Immortal Realm ruler probably had their own version of the plant.

He wanted different types of plants in the long term, and right now, these six plants would likely only be able to support one more plant, and another one after two weeks? Did he want to risk others discovering his plants?

After a brief moment, he decided to go with the Quiet Eye Tree. It was a small tree, but its true ability is in the cloaking field it generates, which hides all the trees in its range. It's so powerful even though in the higher Ascension realms could not see it, unless they had a special ability

But if it's the Quiet Eye Tree, he was fairly certain it couldn't be found here, or they were hidden to his current senses. That meant he had to grow it himself, and splice it together from the existing trees.

He’ll have to harvest it from the nearby forests.

***

He moved silently. His steps unheard, as if he was never there. Zahar's senses expanded as far as he could without triggering the full effects of his Emperor's Soul.

A limitation. Artificial. But it exists because it amuses him. He held an empty pot with his left hand, and he searched.

He could feel the faint whispers of tribulation in the air, eager to heed his call. A glance around, and he detected the presence of hidden treasures in plain sight, only awaiting the right key for their awakening. Treasures of many from a period long before their time.

Treasures are frequently hidden where there are a lot of great cultivators. It was just how it was.

He sought the Shadow’s Whisper, a small plant that didn’t leave a shadow, but did nothing else. It is a distant relative of the Quiet Eye Tree, but with sufficient similarities that it’s masking qualities can be amplified to create the cloaking field.

A lionbeast popped out, a creature of the fourth realm. It sneered, and Zahar returned its stare. The lionbeast was the local boss, it had manes of flames, and it’s hide was resistant to flames. If slain, it’s claws would be made into daggers.

It almost roared, but a brief flash of Zahar’s will, the lionbeast whimpered and fled.

None of the beasts dared to approach since.

He walked.

And walked.

And walked.

The Shadow’s Whisper is hard to find, even for someone with Zahar’s senses. But he picked up a vague, faint trace of its’ qi, and that’s why he was here.

It was hiding.

It took hours. Eventually, he found it nestled at the side of a tree. It’s a small, grayish-green herb, with small leaves and even smaller gray flowers. He placed the empty pot down, and then dug out the Shadow’s Whisper from its little spot next to the tree.

He channeled his energy to sustain the Shadow’s Whisper, and begin his walk back home.

***