Hundred Flower City, capital of Eight Flower Kingdom, was one of the most meticulous, purpose-built cities I had ever visited.

The center of the city was a lone mountain that towered above the surrounding countryside. An octagonal inner wall encircled this mountain, separating the kingdom’s leaders from the city’s populace. A palace complex had been built on the peak of this mountain, and various administrative and military facilities covered its slopes. The mountain also contained a few residential areas for high-ranking officials and the direct subordinates of the kingdom’s monarch.

Outside the inner wall, the city was separated into eight districts, each with distinct roles and responsibilities. All manual labor was to be conducted in the northern Water District, including smithing, alchemy, tailoring, or any other trade of cultivators or mortals. The western Dark District was where any creative endeavors, such as painting or poetry, were to occur. The residential areas were in the eastern Thunder District, except for newlywed housing, which was in the southwest Earth District.

An octagonal outer wall surrounded the city, and dividing walls stretched from the vertices of the inner wall to their matching vertex on the outer wall to keep the districts separate. A wide river entered the city from the north, passed through the northern Water District, wrapped around the mountain, and flowed out through an opening in the western wall of the Dark District.

For any normal, mortal city, the layout of Hundred Flower City would have been atrocious since, for most people, traveling from where they lived to where they worked involved an hours-long trip around a mountain. Hundred Flower City was not a normal city, though. It was designed for cultivators, by cultivators, and its design reflected the needs and abilities of its inhabitants.

Our carriage entered the city through the northwestern gate of the Light District.

Inside, the city was a mix of modern and traditional architecture. Some buildings were of the large, traditional courtyard style, with colonnades and peaked roofs, while others were high rises with glass curtain walls.

Our carriage took us to one of the larger courtyard-style buildings. It maintained some of the colorations of a Blue Wind Pavilion location, having the standard blue roof tiles and red walls, but it also had the silver and gray ornamentations that decorated every other building in the district.

The city looked well-designed, and the eclectic mix of styles blended together to create an attractive cityscape, but streamers of black and dark blue hung from every building, and black fabric had been draped between light posts. It gave me the impression that the city was in the middle of a wake after someone’s death. Local traditions, however, would have called for white decorations for such an event.

Strangely, while these dark decorations gave me a sense of somber melancholy, they seemed to have had the opposite effect on the locals. As far as I could tell, everyone was happy and excited. People were bustling around with barely contained excitement, and small carts had been set up to sell snacks and souvenirs.

I turned to Mei. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” she said, looking just as confused as I was. “But… Let’s get settled in before trying to figure it out.

After giving me a quick glance, she walked over to where the carriage driver was tending to his horses. “Is this the Pavilion? Isn’t it a bit small?”

The driver laughed. “This is the Light District’s Blue Wind Travel Bureau. In Hundred Flower City, different sections of the Pavilion are spread out across the city’s various districts. If you want the Blue Wind Merchant Exchange, you’ll have to go to the Wind District. If you want the Blue Wind Workshops, that’s in the Water District.”

“How do we get there?”

He motioned to a wide boulevard off in the distance. “You can walk. That will take you round the city, but we’re in the Light District, in the northwest. Wind is in the southeast, so you’re going to have to go halfway around the city to get there. It’s fine if you don’t mind walking, but you might want to grab a chariot.”

He gestured to one of the small chariots pulled by wind horses that was making its way around the streets. The chariot was only large enough for three people, and it was standing room only, but it had an umbrella overhead to block out the sun.

Following the driver’s advice, we signaled a free charioteer and climbed aboard his wagon. The charioteer then took us east, circling around the city clockwise.

Once we crossed into the northern Water District, the style of buildings changed. Gone were most of the tall, multistoried structures. They were replaced with squat stone smithies and workshops. Instead of the silver and gray ornamentations of the Light District, the Water District was decorated in black and blue. Where small black streamers and bands of dark cloth had adorned buildings in the Light District, giving me a mournful feeling, buntings of rich blues of various subtle hues made this district feel as if it were in the throes of a vibrant celebration.

“What’s going on here?” I asked the driver.

He smiled and gave a broad wave with his right hand. “The Water Flower had bloomed. These celebrations will last another couple of weeks. Then, a new Flower will blossom.”

I looked at Mei to see if she understood what this meant, but she shook her head.

The driver took us through the Metal District, decorated in light blue, the Thunder District, decorated in shades of green, and finally to the Wind District, where buildings were adorned in purple. Each of these districts had the same sad, black decorations that the Light District had. Only the Water District stood out as a place of true celebration.

The driver pulled his chariot up to an exact replica of the Pavilion in Dragon Gate City. “Here we are. The Blue Wind Merchant Exchange.”

We paid the driver, and he waved us away. “Good luck to you.”

Mei motioned with her head, so I took the lead as we entered.

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Inside, this Pavilion was far busier than any that I had seen before. Countless customers were being guided around by dozens of beautiful young women who were wearing the standard blue and silver qipaos of the Blue Wind Pavilion. One thing that stood out was that while the exterior of the Pavilion matched the decorations of other buildings in the Wind District, the interior had been decorated with the more festive decorations that we had seen in the Water District.

Even though it was busy, as soon as we entered, an attendant immediately approached us. “How may I help you today, sir?”

I held up the silver badge WuJing had given me. “Alchemist Su Fang and my personal disciple Pei LiMei. We want to register for a long-term stay.”

The girl’s eyes widened, and she gave a deep bow. “Of course, sir. This way, please.”

She brought us to the eighth floor, where a small team of secretaries was busy with bookkeeping.

“Secretary Fei, a member wishes to register.”

Fei looked at us. His brow furrowed upon seeing our youth, but he didn’t comment on it.

I handed him my badge and explained. “Secretary Fei, my name is Su Fang. I am a Martial Grandmaster and a Grandmaster Alchemist. I plan to reside in this city for some time, so I need accommodations and to be registered to receive any special orders.”

Fei rubbed my badge a bit to make sure that it was authentic. “This badge is the badge of a Master Alchemist.”

“Yes, sir. I advanced my alchemy during my travels, and I have not yet had a chance to update the information.”

“Hmm, we’ll need to verify your skills before you can be assigned any special orders, but I’ll go ahead and begin the registration process for you. I’ll send the information to the Workshops today, and you should have access by tomorrow. For now, I can only assign you a silver residence. Once your status as a Grandmaster Alchemist has been verified, we can move you into a gold one.”

He jotted down notes on several different pieces of forms, one after another. When he was done, he handed me the final sheet from his stack of papers. “Take this to the Residence Hall. They’ll arrange for your placement. Good day.”

After speaking, Secretary Fei didn’t look back up and restarted the work we had interrupted. The attendant who brought us up began guiding us back down to the shop floor.

I glanced at her as we walked down the stairs. “Is that it? But… Why are you leading us out?”

She gave me a confused look. “Aren’t you going to your residence?”

“Yes? Isn’t that… here? On the third or fourth floor?”

She shook her head. “No, the Blue Wind Residence Hall is in the Thunder District. The city is very strict about who can have an apartment in the Wind District. Only top-level managers who need to be on-site at all times are allowed to stay here.”

I just blinked at her.

She led us out of the Pavilion and pointed down a road. “Just follow that road north, and you’ll enter the Thunder District. The Blue Wind Residence is unmistakable. It’s the only building with blue roof tiles.”

I gave her a short bow. “Thank you.”

“It was my pleasure to help, Grandmaster Alchemist Su.”

Every building in the Thunder District was a multistory, high-density high-rise. This district had to house the entire city, and space was limited, so basic engineering principles were combined with the power of cultivators to create an impressive skyline of elegant and unique buildings. The Blue Wind Residence retained some of the artistic flourishes that were standard for the Pavilion, but it combined them with more modern-looking accents like glass walls.

Using the documents provided by Secretary Fei, we were able to quickly register for an apartment, but Mei was too antsy to go upstairs and view it immediately. She wanted to get out on the streets. So, that’s what we did. We took our time and slowly walked the city’s streets.

The path Mei led us on was somewhat random and meandering, but the general direction was northward. She didn’t settle down until we reached the Water District.

Once there, Mei spent a few minutes wandering around in confusion before running up to a young woman who was wearing a black robe. “Excuse me, we’re new here. Can you tell us about the celebration that’s going on?”

The young woman’s face beamed with an excited smile. “Of course! The Water Flower has bloomed!”

The joy in her voice was evident for all to hear. “In two weeks, the new Flower will blossom. I know I don’t have a chance, but I dream of becoming one of her Seeds.”

Mei’s expression twitched several times. “What is the Water Flower?”

“You don’t know!? The Water Flower is the Lord of the North. She guides the people of the kingdom to have safe and fulfilling careers, supporting those who wish to become skilled in any profession they choose.”

I gave Mei a look and then approached the girl. “Sorry, but we’re new to the city. Could we buy you a meal? It would be nice if someone could sit down and explain things to us.”

The girl seemed a little afraid of my offer, but Mei soothed her. “We just want to learn about the Water Flower. Please, we would be grateful for anything you can share.”

“Alright, alright, I can do that,” she said, mustering her courage. “Let me take you to a place.”

The young woman led us to a large, open restaurant near the center of the Water District. The prices here were likely much higher than in other places in the city, but it was no doubt the safest place for a lone girl to have a conversation with two strangers.

Once we were seated in a semi-private room, she did her best to explain. “The Eight Flower Kingdom is protected by the Bagua Formation, and the formation is empowered by the kingdom’s Rulers. The King rules from the center, and the Lords guard its borders. Each year, one of the Rulers steps down, and a new one takes their place.”

My gaze instantly darted to Mei when I heard this. Mei had said that she was confident we could ascend to the Lord realm here. This had to be the opportunity she was looking for.

I focused back on the young girl opposite us. “A new Flower is chosen each year, and there are… eight districts? So, this Flower will be a city lord for eight years?”

“No, no.” The girl instantly waved this away. “A Flower Blossoming–when a new Flower is chosen–is only held on years of yin energy. This year, the Water Flower will blossom, and she will take charge of North Lake City. On odd-numbered years–years of yang energy–a Groom Selection takes place, and a Flower becomes the consort of the chosen Groom.”

The young woman’s face contorted, and she waved her hands as she tried to explain. “Last year, the kingdom held the Groom Selection for the Dark Flower. The Dark Flower became the Groom’s consort, and the Groom took over all the Flower’s duties as Lord of West Marsh City. A Flower reigns for eleven years. Then, she serves as her Groom’s consort for nine. After this Blossoming, it’ll be twenty years until a new Water Flower is chosen."

Those numbers still didn’t quite add up, but the gleam that appeared in Mei’s eyes distracted me, and I didn’t push for more details.

Mei's gaze was fixed on the young woman. “How? How can one become the new Water Flower?”

“It’s difficult,” the girl demurred. “The requirements are extremely strict. You must be twenty-five, thirty-seven, or forty-nine years old. Otherwise, your zodiac won’t be a proper match. Also, you must be a Peak Grandmaster and cultivate water qi.”

Mei smiled at those requirements. They, of course, fit her perfectly. “Anything else?”

“During the Blossoming, any woman who meets the requirements can compete for the position. They will be judged on several different factors.”

“I’m new to the city. Would I still be allowed to compete?”

“Yes.” The girl looked down with a sad face. “But the current Water Flower has several Seeds. These are the young women she has raised as her successors, and they will all be competing to take over her position. Outsiders are encouraged to join the competition–the kingdom welcomes anyone willing to swear the Oath–and strong outside cultivators are considered valuable additions to the city. But… It is nearly impossible to surpass the Seeds.”

We talked a little while longer to get a few details about the selection process, then said our goodbyes.

I looked at Mei. “You want to be the Water Flower?”

“Yes.” Her voice was filled with determination. Then, she gave me a playful grin. “Don’t worry, though. You’ll get your chance to become a Lord. From what she said, you only need to wait another eleven years.”