Zhuge Yan and the others had gone to the library, so I waited in my dormitory for a few hours thinking through plans for the remainder of this life. When I was confident that he had returned, I left to visit him.
Shortly after I knocked on his door, he opened it up and invited me inside.
He looked concerned when he saw me. “Fang, what’s going on? Is there a problem?”
“I… need your help. I’ve decided to leave the Academy. I need to ascend quickly. I don’t have time to take the classes here.”
He nodded and gestured for me to continue.
“I’m confident that I can get through the Master and Grandmaster realms quickly, but becoming a Martial Lord is going to be a problem. I need access to karmic energy. I know you and the others have connections. I was hoping your family, or possibly one of the others’ families, would be willing to sell a nominal lordship.”
I reached into my storage space and pulled out several bottles of Rank 4 pills.
“If you think they would be willing, I can trade several of these pills in exchange.”
Yan picked up each of the pill bottles and closely examined them before putting them back down.
“This would be enough to get their attention. That’s for sure.” He folded his hands and sat in silent contemplation for several moments. “I don’t think I can help you with this. My relationship with my family is complicated. I should be able to get you a lordship with this in trade, but that’s not all you want, is it?”
I looked at him, and after a slight pause, slightly shook my head.
“If possible, I want to reach Martial King.”
“That will be difficult. Few would easily grant a nominal kingship to an outsider. Even with dozens of pills in trade, few Emperors are in a position where they can afford to lose much King-level energy. Pills are beneficial, true, but Rank 4 pills cannot create a King. Most Emperors need every King they can get to secure their domain. You could try to join an Emperor’s court, but they typically require some type of guarantee of loyalty.”
I understood this, but I felt there had to be a solution. There had to be a way I could make it to Martial King. If not, ending this life as a False King again would have to be acceptable, but I hoped I could go further. Rank 4 pills might not be able to make a King, but enough Rank 4 pills should have equivalent value.
“Gaining King-level energy from an Empire will be difficult. It would be better to approach a Sovereign power. The Zhuge Clan could help you, but I don’t have enough pull with them.” He looked at me meaningfully. “Instead of going through me, you’d be better off talking with Grandmaster Ning. His family might not be quite as powerful as mine, but it’s close, and he is highly positioned within his clan. If you can provide him enough benefits, he should be able to get you what you need.”
I hadn’t considered the Grandmaster as an option before. The distance between us seemed too great, and even if it wasn’t, I knew nothing about the Ning Clan.
I had only met Grandmaster Ning a couple of times. I didn’t know if he would be willing to go this far for me, but he was a core member of the Nine Rivers Sect and highly placed within a Sovereign clan. It might be possible… as long as I provided him with enough benefits.
Yan looked at me carefully. “Fang, you know this is going to ruin your future, right? If you do this, there’s not going to be any coming back from it. I don’t know why you need to become a King so quickly, but you should consider other possibilities. “
I smiled at him in gratitude. “Thank you, Yan, but I know what I need to do.”
A touch of sorrow crossed his face. “Everyone has their own dreams.”
I stood up to leave, but he caught me before I did.
“Before you talk to the Grandmaster, you should go to the library. It might be more difficult to do so after your talk with the Grandmaster, depending on how that goes.”
I dipped my head in thanks for his advice.
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I still had three tokens that I had saved up over the past few months. One was the Rank 2 token I got from the most recent competition, but I also had two more Rank 1 tokens I hadn’t used yet. That meant there was a lot I could gain from a library visit, but first I had to make a quick purchase.
“System, upgrade my ability to absorb techniques by touch to Rank 2.”
Confirmed. Cost 1 million credits. 82,467,645 credits remaining.
When I arrived at the library, I placed all three tokens on the counter.
“Yes?” The librarian looked at me expressionlessly.
I had thought a lot about what I should use these tokens to get. When I returned here in the future, I would have to use them on earth qi techniques, but this temporary life gave me more freedom. This was an opportunity to take something slightly more unusual. I’d been wanting techniques for the secondary affinities, and now I had an opportunity to get them.
I didn’t have too much of a preference between them, so I picked one without much thought.
“Rank 1 and 2 wind cultivation techniques and Rank 1 martial techniques for wind qi.”
The librarian narrowed his eyes. “You understand that if you do not continue your studies at the Academy, these must be returned before you leave, correct?”
I nodded.
“Very well. If you insist, follow me.”
The librarian led me down the usual corridor. Our first stop was the door for the Rank 1 wind cultivation techniques.
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He gestured me forward. “You have 10 minutes.”
The cultivation technique room wasn’t very large. It only possessed nine different books. I picked up each one and read their descriptions quickly. They varied from Peak-Yellow to Peak-Earth, and each had potential benefits and downsides. I didn’t worry too much about which technique would be optimal. I simply picked up one of the Peak-Yellow techniques and left the room.
Next, I was escorted to the Rank 1 martial wind technique room where I was also given 10 minutes. I repeated the same process I had used when I first entered the martial earth technique room and picked up random scrolls while brushing my hands against everything in sight.
The manuals I looked at had the basic attacks that had come to mind when I first heard of wind qi, such as wind blades, but they also contained a few more interesting techniques. For attacking, there were techniques focused on depriving people of air to breathe and ones for using gusts of wind to push and pull opponents. On the utility side, there were a variety of communication and listening techniques.
After spending 10 minutes copying everything inside, I picked up a basic Yellow-Rank martial technique that would send out wind blades when kicking.
I exited the room and noticed that the librarian seemed disappointed in my choice, but he didn’t say anything. He only led me to a staircase that took us up to the second floor. There, he guided me to the room for the Rank 2 wind cultivation techniques.
Unsurprisingly there were exactly 9 techniques available. Looking through each of them, I found that they were each the second volume of a technique in the Rank 1 room. After browsing through all of them, I picked up the technique that was a continuation of the one I had chosen in the previous room.
Selections made, the librarian took me to make copies of my scrolls.
As he handed them to me, he gave me a stern look. “You will return these before you leave.”
“Yes, librarian.” I bowed.
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I waited until the next morning before going to find Grandmaster Ning. If there was a process to request a meeting, I hadn’t been told, so I simply went to his office and knocked on the door.
“Enter.”
I walked in and saw the Grandmaster seated behind a desk doing paperwork.
“Take a seat. I’ll be with you shortly.”
I sat down in a chair in front of his desk. As I did, I glanced at the papers he was reading. They were dossiers for the new Disciples who would be entering the Academy next term.
Once the Grandmaster was finished with the paper he had been examining, he put it down, made a few marks on it, and set it to the side. Then, he looked at me.
“If this is about joining my Master cohort next term, then I will have to disappoint you. I only have a few years left before returning to the sect, so I am not in a position to accept any new Masters. Instead, I have sent your class’s information to one of my former disciples. She is a skilled Grandmaster who has already become an inner disciple of the Nine Rivers Sect, and she should soon be promoted to core disciple. If she has the openings, I expect her to accept most of your class.”
“This…” I wasn’t sure what to say. I was a bit disappointed that I wouldn’t be able to take Master-level courses under Grandmaster Ning, but that wasn’t why I had come here.
I paused for a moment to recover.
“Grandmaster Ning, I need to talk with you about something. I have an offer for you, and I hope you will hear me out.”
He raised an eyebrow and gestured for me to continue.
“Due to personal circumstances,” I started, hoping he wouldn’t make me elaborate, “I need to ascend far more rapidly than courses at the Academy will allow. I plan to reach Peak Grandmaster in five years at most, shorter if I am able.”
The Grandmaster cocked his head slightly but didn’t speak. I could see he was trying to figure out my reasons for doing this based on what he knew of me. But even if he uncovered everything possible about my past, my reasoning would still be a mystery to him.
“At that time, I will need Lord-level karmic energy to continue advancing. After I do, I will ascend through the Lord realm as quickly as I am able. Then, I will need a source of King-level karmic energy. Such energy is precious, though, and I do not currently have the means of obtaining any.”
Ning tapped his desk in thought, ignoring my implicit request. When he spoke, his voice was slow and deliberate.
“This will ruin your future. If I’m right about you, as long as you cultivate diligently, you won’t have much difficulty joining the sect and rising to Martial Lord. I would say there is a greater than 50% chance you will be allowed to rise to at least Martial King.”
I nodded, accepting the truth of his statement. “That will take too long.”
Ning rubbed his chin. “What is your offer?”
I placed several pill bottles on the desk.
“Perfect Rank 4 pills. They are all lower-level ones, but they will be useful for a new Lord.” I picked up one of the bottles. “Rank 4 Basic Earth Skin Pill. It will let low-level Lords easily absorb most blows from their peers. While it doesn’t have the strength of the more powerful True Earth Skin Pill, it is still worth several spirit stones.”
Ning’s face remained impassive, but I noticed a subtle glint in his eye. He wanted these pills, but he wasn’t willing to say so.
“These will be useful for low-level Lords, yes, but you wanted a kingship? That is a bit out of the question.”
I placed the pill bottle back on the desk. “Let’s deal with the lordship first. 100 spirit stones worth of low-level Perfect Rank 4 pills for a nominal lordship.”
It was more than a fair price, it was downright extortionate, but the cost was meaningless to me. I just needed the karmic energy.
“One year,” the Grandmaster quickly responded. “I can arrange for you to have a nominal lordship for one year, but any more than that will be difficult. While these pills may have value to me, they fall short of my family’s needs.”
I smiled. “I am not a fan of a one-year deal. I need it for as long as necessary to build up enough karmic energy to advance to Martial Lord. If that takes two years, I need the city for two years. If it only takes a month, you can have the city back after that month.”
“Done.” He didn’t hesitate. Likely, he had access to a city that could generate more than enough karmic energy in a short timeframe. Adding that last condition might have only resulted in a loss, but I was still happy with the result.
I took out several more pill bottles and pushed them to Grandmaster Ning’s side of the desk.
“I like to work on trust, not oaths. I trust you to follow through, so I will leave these in your care.”
The Grandmaster smiled and nodded.
“Now,” I said, rubbing my hands, “as for a kingship… Once I reach Martial Lord, I can provide you, or your family, as many Perfect Rank 4 pills as you desire. This is for pills that only require herbs of the basic five elements. If they require herbs of the secondary elements, I will likely only be able to provide you with High-Purity pills.”
Ning’s eyes widened in surprise. “You have a good enough relationship with a Pill King – a Pill Emperor? – a good enough relationship that you can promise such a thing, but you can’t get a lordship from them?”
I ignored his question. “I can provide you with as many Rank 4 pills as you desire. In return, I need three things. First, you will provide the necessary herbs, and you will only receive 80% of the pills that are made from them.”
He nodded, happy with the high return.
“Second, you will provide me with a Profound-Rank spirit fire. The element doesn’t matter as long as it is from the basic five.”
Again, I could see confusion at this request, but I didn’t give him too much time to think.
“Finally, I will want a nominal kingship for as long as necessary to build the karmic energy needed to advance to Martial King.”
Ning scrutinized me carefully for long moments, trying to understand my motivations, but he couldn’t. He lacked vital information.
“Making such an agreement is beyond my power. I will need to discuss this with my father.”
He reached into his storage bag, pulled out a jade box, and placed it on the desk in front of me.
“You have shown me trust in providing me with these pills, so I will return it. This contains the Profound-Rank Implacable Earthflame spirit fire. It is a dual earth-fire element flame. Since it is worth somewhat less than these pills, you may keep it even if my father does not agree to your terms.”
I smiled and gave a short bow. Grandmaster Ning knew how to form connections with people. He didn’t know if I would be making the pills I had promised him myself, but if I made them or if I could have someone else make them for me, either way, he wanted such a connection.