Chapter 53

“So my brother tells me that you’ve figured out who he is, and by extension that means that you know who I am,” the emperor said to three of his subjects.

The children froze, and began to bow to the ruler of their lands, but he made a motion for them to stop.

“I honestly get quite enough of that as it is. This is a vacation. I will have no pomp or ceremony while I’m on vacation,” Renton declared. “Tomorrow, when we train, I expect you to treat me with no more respect than you’ve shown me already as a visiting elder to your little sect that my brother has established for himself.”

“Yes, Master Renton,” the children said.

“Good,” he said. “And obviously don’t actually tell my niece or nephew either. It’s absolutely adorable that they don’t know the truth and I don’t want it spoiled for them.”

He retreated, leaving the children to finish getting ready for bed.

In the morning, after everyone had finished their chores and eaten breakfast, Tan and his friends faced off against his uncle together.

And lost miserably, of course. Renton did not hold back with his intent one bit, and even divided four ways it was all the children could do to remain on their feet. They struggled to overcome the insurmountable challenge, launching attacks that were easily deflected, only to be launched through the air by casual blows from the adult.

He praised them for their efforts, however.

“I’m barely holding back at all,” he informed them. “Seriously, you kids are doing fantastic! I wish that everyone I worked with was so capable at this stage in their cultivation.”

“Don’t burn them out,” Tren said, watching the proceedings from the corner of the field. “I’ve been careful not to crush them, so don’t ruin all of my hard work so far because you thought a little tough love was warranted.”

“I know better than anyone when to hold back and when not to,” Renton argued, casually deflecting a burst of ice Qi from Ko while returning it with a burst of intent. She staggered and struggled to reform her control over her element.

“I’m just saying. They’re in a delicate stage of their training. You know that the period where your first learning Intent is one of the most critical stages,” Tren said as Tan swooped in and launched a series of serious blows against his uncle.

“I do know that, which is why I am being careful,” Renton said, casually catching his nephews attacks before launching the boy flying with a sudden kick.

“This is being careful?” Tren asked as Pao planted his feet and came in, sweating and breathing heavily under the weight of the man’s intent. He attacked, launching powerful punches that Renton was forced to dodge rather than block.

“I can be careful and firm at the same time,” Renton argued. “I’m complicated like that.”

He caught Pao’s wrist during a punch, twisted, and used the boy’s momentum to send him flying in a throw.

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At this moment, Tan and Won put together the attack that they had been building for some time. Tan filled the area around Renton with wind Qi, while Won abruptly ignited it, causing the air to burst into flames, engulfing the master fire cultivator in flames.

He laughed as the air around him burned. Then he hit the children with another wave of intent and knocked them out of sync. The flame died, and he stood over them, unburnt.

“That was very good. Against another cultivator who wasn’t focused on fire cultivation, you might have singed my hair,” He praised.

The children recovered from the intent and launched another attack.

The sparring continued until the children were utterly exhausted, at which point Renton called an end to the match, praising them and sending them to the cultivation hill to reflect on their lessons.

Once the children were gone, Renton sat with his brother on the edge of the sparring field and sighed, looking at the sun. “This place is delightful. I can see why you don’t want to go back.”

Tren acknowledged the words with a grunt. Then he sighed. “To be honest, for the first ten years I thought I’d made a mistake,” he admitted. “It took me a while to stir up the dragon veins in this Qi desert and turn out a crop that was actually worth harvesting. Before that, I could grow food, but it was only fit for commoners.”

“And now? I can sense the life Qi in the crops you’re growing from miles away. What are you doing with all that you produce here?” Renton asked. “I think I’d know if you’re selling it.”

Tren sighed and held out his hand, which had a storage ring on it. “It’s all here,” he admitted.

Renton laughed. “Oh my, really?”

“Except for what I’ve been eating and feeding the family, yes,” Tren said. “It’s too high quality to put it on the market. If I did that, people would come looking for the farmer who grew it. So I just harvest it all, then throw the harvest in the ring and let it sit in stasis. It’s still as fresh as the day I harvested it, so there’s no rush to offload it before it rots like a normal farmer would have. Someday, when the kids are grown I think, I’ll flood the market and get payment for the labor I’ve put in. Until then…”

Tren shrugged.

Renton nodded. “I could take some of it for you, you know. Give you the coin of what it’s worth and not tell anyone where it came from. It would be just one more imperial secret.”

Tren shrugged. “I don’t need the money. I didn’t take much when I left, but the coin that I did take is enough to keep living without drawing much attention to myself for another six decades, if nothing changes.”

Renton nodded. “Yes, but, my brother, that’s something you can’t count on. Especially with two precocious children who will one day soon be extremely powerful cultivators. Tan is already at the point where he could become an inner sect disciple at the majority of the sects in the empire. The other children you’re raising to be his quartet aren’t far behind. And I doubt that little Safron will be any different.”

Tren sighed. “Yes, I think you’re right. The quiet days are coming to an end, as all things do.”

He sighed, then turned to his brother and nodded. “Okay, fine. I’ll start selling you my harvests. The children might need the money soon, and it’ll be better to have it on hand than to have to turn the crops into cash when the time comes.”

Renton grinned. “My court is going to be absolutely stunned at the sudden quality of the imperial rice and cabbages, I think.”

Tren laughed. “You don’t know the half of it, brother.”

They shook hands, and Tren transferred several tons of high-quality, Qi infused produce into his brother’s storage ring.

Renton’s eyes went wide as he realized that he now had to cash the check that his mouth had written. “Um, you know I don’t carry this much gold on me, right?” he said nervously.

Tren grinned at him, and they began to talk business.

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