Chapter 36
Tan awoke in the middle of the night as the thunder rang through the Soaring Tower. He frowned and got out of bed, going up to the cultivation chamber to investigate what was going on.
He spent a moment looking at the sky, but could see no signs of a storm. He was certain that it had been a thunderclap that had awoken him, but there was no evidence of it now. He looked down at the courtyard and saw some sort of commotion going on, but he just shrugged. Probably didn’t involve him.
He peed off the tower again and went back to bed.
~~~~~
Zenith was scrambling as the second top-tier cultivator made his presence known in less than a fortnight. While the man’s words had requested that they respect his privacy, the method of arrival was as effective at establishing his identity as though the man had walked in with a giant banner with his true name on it.
It was reassuring in a way. If ‘Renton Shen’ were going to try anything underhanded, he wouldn’t have declared himself. Or come himself. Or been present on this hemisphere when it happened.
No, the fact that he had made such a dramatic entrance was a good thing, and as the servants scurried to bring up fruits and treats to the parlor where the man was led, offering Renton sweet wines and sweeter fruits, with the cooked kabobs of lizard meat and dabs of hummus and crunchy bread to go with them, Zenith scurried to notify the emperor of their guest.
The emperor was already aware. “If Renton Shen makes a nuisance of himself, he will be dealt with,” the emperor promised. “But until he oversteps the bonds of propriety, show him all courtesy.”
With his marching orders, Zenith returned to the parlor and sat across from Renton, who was lounging while one of the servants tossed pieces of fruit into his mouth. The powerful fire cultivator was grinning like a young man on a holiday. Which, Zenith supposed, was exactly what he was.
“Hello again ‘Renton,’” Zenith said.
“Zenith, so nice to meet you again. I haven’t seen you since I was a boy,” Renton said. “Tell me about my family. I know that there are four children, are they all related to me? I do wish that my brother’s letters were more frequent.”
Zenith sighed. “To be honest, I don’t know. They’re here for training and insights, of course, but Tren said to treat them all as if they were members of your family. I find that its easier to do so if I don’t know which ones are and which ones aren’t. You’ll have to ask them yourself.”
“I see. Well, if my brother is raising them then whether or not they’re members of the ‘Shen’ family, they’ll be important enough some day,” Renton said casually. “I suppose they’re sleeping, though. They’re very young, yes? I suppose it would be impolite of me to wake them in the middle of the night just to introduce myself.”
“We are preparing rooms for you to spend the night in,” Zenith assured him. “You are the guest of the emperor. Do not forget that you are a guest. Act like it.”
“Have I stepped out of line so far?” Renton asked.
“No,” Zenith admitted.
“I’ve grown up quite a bit since you saw me last, Zenith,” Renton said. “I promise, I’m really not here to make any trouble. I just want to meet some members of my family. I did promise not to bother my brother while he was on his little farm, so this is a rare opportunity, you see. But you and I both know that if I wanted to cause trouble to my older brother, this is not the way I’d go about it.”
“No. You’d send an intermediary,” Zenith admitted. He paused. “What do you know about the Zang family?”
“The Zangs? Minor family, minor talent, not really of any concern to me,” Renton said. “Why?”
“They’re trying to marry into your family. I don’t think they really appreciate the significance of their goal, or know who your brother really is. But they have their sights on one of the children, the wind boy. Tan is his name. He’s the youngest of the children staying here,” Zenith explained.
“I see. I’ll look into the matter,” Renton promised. The serving girl tossed him a piece of fruit, and he opened his mouth to catch it just in time. He grinned. “Now then, I have caused enough of a disturbance for tonight. It’s time to retire. I’m very much looking forward to meeting the children in the morning.”
~~~~~~
Pao awoke early in the morning, as though he were still on the farm and there were chores to do. After briefly performing his morning ablutions, he sat in the center of the Vault of the Crystal Veins and cultivated. He was interrupted when a servant stuck their head in the door.
“Young master, there is a guest who wishes to meet with you,” the servant said nervously. She wouldn’t have chosen to interrupt the cultivation of the powerful earth aligned child, except that she’d been instructed to bring him to the guest parlor as soon as he was awake.
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“Who is it?” Pao inquired.
“His name is Renton Shen. I believe he is claiming to be your uncle,” the young woman explained.
“Oh. No, he’s looking for Tan,” Pao said. “I’m not really a Shen, it has nothing to do with me.”
“No, he wishes to meet with the four of you,” the servant insisted. “If he loses interest when you tell him that then that’s fine, but I’ve been instructed to bring you to him and I’m afraid I must insist.”
Pao sighed. He’d just gotten started, but the Qi in the room had been coming particularly easy to him today and he’d been looking forward to a productive cultivation session. But adults were always inconvenient, so why should now be any different.
“Okay, I’m coming,” he said, and he went back to the bedchamber briefly to examine himself in the mirrors. If the guest really was related to his master and mistress, then he should try to make a good impression, he thought.
He was escorted to a fancy room with a several platters of fancy food and wine. A young man with pale skin and black hair was casually having breakfast by allowing a team of young and beautiful women with a bit of skin showing to feed him as though he were a child. He was making a bit of a show of it, going ‘aaaahyup’ as they placed a grape on his tongue.
“The young master of the earth is here,” Pao’s escort said, and quickly slipped into the background.
“Your name is Pao correct? Come sit with me. Have you eaten? There’s plenty for you as well, if you haven’t,” the young man said.
Pao was sweating. He wasn’t certain why, he couldn’t sense the man’s cultivation level. He could sense that the man was a cultivator, and a strong one, just as he could with his master and mistress. But the strength was understated, present but hidden from direct view. What was making him sweat was --
“Apologies. I was just wondering when you’d notice,” the man said. “Sorry for testing you so early in the morning. I assure you that I mean you no harm.”
The heat vanished. Pao let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “What was that?” he asked.
“A very, very minor sliver of intent,” the man answered. “Perfectly harmless in small doses, I assure you. I was simply taking your measure. You endured it very well. Tell me, are you a Shen, or a foundling?”
“I’m no foundling, but I’m not a Shen,” Pao admitted. “I think you’re looking for Tan. He’s the only real Shen among us. When he bound Zephyr, he showed off to the other children in the village and we each begged Master Shen to teach us as well. Myself and the twins were the only ones who managed to become cultivators, and the Shens are teaching us well.”
“Yes, I can see that,” the man said. “Come, take a seat and tell me about life on my brother’s farm while we wait for the other children to awaken.”
Pao took the seat as instructed, blushing as one of the serving women began to feed him as though he were a child, just as they were doing to the man. He especially blushed at just how close the woman’s breasts were coming to his face.
Renton smiled reassuringly at him, turning briefly to ‘aahyup’ another piece of fruit, then asked him to describe a typical day on the Shen farm.
So that’s what Pao did.
The twins arrived twenty minutes later. Ko looked rested and at ease, while Won looked tired and frumpy from sleep. Or lack of sleep. He had sensed something in the night which had kept him from getting a good nights rest, but he couldn’t figure out what it was.
Not until he met the powerful cultivator of his element. Once he saw the waves of Qi that were circling around the man, his eyes went wide. The others, less in tune with fire, did not notice. Won had no idea just how powerful this ‘Renton Shen’ was, but he was quite certain that he was the most powerful fire cultivator that the children had ever met, far beyond Pyter.
“I must say, I’m rather impressed with each of you,” Renton said. “Your cultivation is quite advanced for your ages. My brother must be doing something right to have raised such powerful disciples.”
The children soaked in the praise and ate their breakfast. There weren’t enough serving women for all of them and Renton both, so the twins were allowed to feed themselves. Pao’s continued embarrassment and protestation that he could feed himself only amused the woman feeding him and encouraged her to continue in the act.
The conversation turned from life on the farm to the children’s understanding of their Dao, but retained the same light-hearted tone as before. Pao spoke of being steadfast, Ko of finding balance, Won of being in an ever changing process of becoming something more than he’d been before. Renton nodded along, grinning.
“Now I’m really impressed,” he admitted as the children finished discussing their various philosophies. “You must understand, there’s a difference between the weak and the strong that has nothing to do with the stage of their cultivation levels. If I were to bring each of you to the capital and have you face off against a peer of your cultivation level, you would likely mop the floor with them. Sincerely I congratulate you on your advancement and wish you well.”
The children blushed at the praise.
“Thank you, Master Renton,” Ko said. “Are you truly Master Shen’s brother?”
“I am indeed. I am ten years younger, but when you get to be our age such things matter less than they did when we were children. As you’ll come to learn yourself in time,” Renton answered. “I was very jealous of my older brother when we were young, and it led me to make some regrettable mistakes, which is likely why he doesn’t speak of me very often. I have … made some insights recently, and I hope to reconnect with my family. When I heard that my brother was bringing some children to Mosanatas, I saw an opportunity, and I decided to take it.”
“What insight is that?” Won asked, eager for a lesson from the powerful master of his element.
“There is only one,” Renton answered. The children exchanged looks, confused.
“That’s it?” Won asked.
“The most profound insights are the simplest, and the simplest insights are the most profound,” Renton explained. “I heard those words spoken when I was younger and did not understand them. I have reached a new level of understanding, but have yet to reach the depths of that simple statement. Perhaps I never will.”
“Only one what?” Pao asked.
“Yes,” Renton said, a grin on his face. “Anyway, it seems that my nephew is a sleepy-head this morning. I am going to go disturb him, since he seems in no hurry to join us.”