“Only in the most technical sense. I’m the head of the sect, so I could take control of almost everything here. But I still need to make sure everything I do benefits the sect. It isn’t my personal property,” she said.

I nodded. “Could you sell parts of it to buy something to raise yourself to the next stage?”

“No. Even if I could, there would be no guarantee I would be able to get my hands on an item that powerful. Such things are virtually non-existent.” she said.

I also had a better grasp on what herbs could do. After feeling the plants in the medicine shop, I had learned a lot about the ability of plants in this world. The herbs were all powerful in their own ways, but they weren’t much help for Qi “cultivation”.

Actually, they weren’t any help for that at all. I still didn’t know why Chen Wei had said she needed the Six Petal Goldflower. Even after using Identify on it, I couldn’t discern any help towards Qi.

The gates to the sect were wide open. The two guards at the gate bowed and spoke simultaneously, “Welcome back, Sect Head Xing and our guest” They both wore matching blue robes of the same shade as Chen Wei’s shirt and pants.

“Thank you,” she said before walking past them. We entered a large courtyard with a pond and many little trees. We didn’t dawdle long and moved passed it. The next part was also pleasantly decorated and maintained.

After walking for a couple more minutes, I realized that the entire place was like this. The whole sect reeked of overflowing wealth. It certainly didn’t look like a failing sect to me.   

She walked into a building and I followed behind her. “If you ever need me, this is my house. I might not always be here though,” she said. I followed her inside. She opened a safe and took out a blue stone tablet. It fit in her palm neatly.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

She handed it to me. “This is the highest ranking guest tablet, it grants you access to almost everything in this sect, except high ranking private residences,” she praised, as if advertising it, “It also pardons you from all minor offences and most major ones. It also gives you many other executive and judicial powers, but there are too many to list.”

I felt the smooth cold stone rest in my hand. “Thanks, that sounds useful. Why give it to me?”

“You are our esteemed guest Grandmaster Jin! To give you a lower ranking tablet would be extremely disrespectful,” she replied quickly.

I was starting to see that this girl planned to give me more than a snow globe and a key chain. “Well, I’m honored that you see me that way.”

“Of course, Grandmaster Jin. Where would you like to stay? We have a bunch of open spots. I believe the Blue Dragon House is still open. It’s a modest mansion with a large courtyard and over ten servants, would you like that spot?” she offered.

I’ve never heard the word “modest” used next to “mansion” before. “I’d prefer a house with a large garden. The more dirt the better.”

“The more dirt the better? Hm, please follow me,” she said, walking out of her own mansion. I found myself next to a three story tall mansion. Blue jade pillars supported curling roofs made in a chinese architectural style. In front of the jade pillars, equally brilliantly colored koi fish swam in a stone pool. There was a servant was inside, sweeping the floor of the empty house. “What do you think?”

“Do you have something more… modest?” I frowned.

She hesitated before responding. “We do, but it isn’t very luxurious.”

“That’s the definition of modest,” I whispered. Then, more loudly, “I’ll take that one, thanks.”

I was led to a one story house at the outskirts of the fancy part of the sect. It was just a one story house, but it was in the middle of a medium sized garden, which was also surrounded by a fence. “You may take as many servants as you like.”

“I don’t need any. I’d like to live alone, like I did back in the White Dragon Forest.” I said, “Can I remodel this garden?”

“You can set the building on fire if it pleases you, but no servants? Are you sure?” she asked.

“I’m sure.”

“You can always come to me if change your mind. I hope you enjoy your stay, we’ll do everything we can to satisfy you.” She bowed and left.

I walked into the house and found everything in pristine condition. The floors, windows, and everything else looked like they had recently been cleaned. I found a set of three keys tied to each other by a red string. Each of them were labeled differently: “gate”, “front door”, and “safe”. I went outside and locked the gate.  

I rubbed my hands together. This solved a bunch of my problems. I won’t need to worry about rent anymore. I had to pat myself on the back and give myself a smiley face sticker. Helping some random girl in the forest lead to such good fortune! I prayed to karma gods, or whatever they called them, for some more luck. “Now, onto the fun part!”

It was time to rebuild my stronghold.