While most of the clans and organizations that had initially shown interest in working with me had backed off, the Hu Clan was still eager for a partnership. Thus, when LiPin told me that the clan had met my requirements by making a ‘substantial offer,’ I agreed to meet with Instructor Hu in one of the Pavilion conference rooms to discuss the details.

Once we were seated, Instructor Hu got straight to the point. “The clan elders are willing to work with you and teach you all our knowledge of formations. We will not hold anything back.”

“That’s… very generous of you. This goes well beyond what I expected.”

“Yes.” The instructor steepled his hands while trying to explain. “This offer does come with conditions that you may be unwilling to accept, but as long as you do, we will freely share all of our clan’s secrets with you.”

My eyes narrowed in suspicion. They wouldn’t be clan secrets if they were willing to share them so openly. “What are the conditions?”

“First, you are not allowed to pass on any knowledge you gain from us.”

I nodded easily. “That sounds fair.”

“Second, you are not allowed to earn a profit by creating formations for others while within the kingdom.”

I thought through this restriction to ensure I completely understood the implications. “I’m allowed to create them for my own use and the use of my subordinates without restriction, though, correct?”

“Of course.”

I waved the restriction away. “I can accept this.”

“Finally, you must make a pledge to this effect on the kingdom’s Oath Stone.” When saying this, Instructor Hu seemed to become nervous, as if he expected me to balk at such a condition.

I cocked my head to the side. “Please, explain. As you know, I am new to this kingdom. I’ve never heard of an Oath Stone before.”

“The Oath Stone is considered the most valuable artifact of our kingdom. A pledge on the Oath Stone connects you with the kingdom’s Bagua Formation and, through it, to the Heavenly Dao. If you break your Oath, the Heavenly Dao will pass the information to the Bagua Formation, and the formation will annihilate you. If you are too far away, the formation may not be able to reach you, but once you return within its range, you will be destroyed.”

I tapped the table in thought, then turned to LiPin. “Is swearing on this Oath Stone safe? Are there any hidden dangers that the Pavilion can tell me about?”

She hesitated before speaking in a somewhat strained voice. “The Oath Stone is well known, and we have no information about any hidden risks associated with it. Beyond what Master Hu has stated, when you are close to breaking an Oath, you will feel a form of pressure on your soul, so you will not be able to break one accidentally. However, it is possible to force someone to break an Oath. If you swear never to say something, you could be tortured to the point where you are forced to speak. At that point, your Oath would be broken, and you would be killed.”

I returned my focus to Instructor Hu. “So, you are willing to teach me your secrets, but you need to ensure that I can’t pass them along to others.”

“That is correct,” he responded simply.

I couldn’t get any kind of read of whether this was intended as a trap or as an open offer, but no matter how it was intended, it was a double-edged sword. Still, I could try to navigate this Oath to my benefit. “I can agree to this, but I will need a few changes and clarifications to the Oath before I take it.”

The instructor seemed relieved.

“You said that I can’t teach the knowledge you give me to others. Let’s make that pledge stronger. I will swear to never teach anyone anything about formations, but my pledge will only last until the day I die. I am not sure if reincarnation is real or not, but if this Oath is connected to the Heavenly Dao, I do not want any chains binding me in my next life.”

“That… should be acceptable to the elders. I will need to check.”

“However, if I am to work closely with the Hu Clan in the future, you will likely learn some of my secrets as well. I would like an Oath from my teacher that my secrets will not be shared with anyone outside the clan. In return, I will pledge to only use formations for experimental purposes while I am within the kingdom. Also, whenever I have any formation-related needs in the future, I prioritize hiring specialists from the Hu Clan.”

This wouldn’t actually stop the clan from sharing my information. My teacher would still be able to share secrets with the clan’s elders, and the elders could then share them outside of the clan. Making this request would just, hopefully, minimize any suspicions they might have of me by showcasing that I was worried about them spreading my secrets.

Instructor Hu grimaced. “I don’t know if that will be possible. A Master may be willing to make such an Oath, but a Grandmaster…”

I opened my hands in a welcoming gesture. “I am only making an offer. You can return to discuss it with your elders, and we can work through any problematic details.”

I was slightly surprised when the deal with the Hu Clan went through without complaint. A Grandmaster agreed to give me lessons on formations, and I agreed to pay for them with a significant number of Rank 3 pills.

The next few years flowed by as I studied alchemy and formations. A few other clans stepped forward to offer me deals, but they were all swiftly rejected by Manager Bai. I had told her to accept nothing worse than what the Hu Clan had offered, and that was a bar too high for most clans to cross.

During this time, I didn’t concern myself with participating in the kingdom's internal politics. People were jockeying for positions, especially the upcoming kingship, but I wasn’t in any race to claim it for myself. I simply made notes of what occurred in the event that it would be useful in the future.

My alchemy progress was incredibly swift during this period. With my enhanced comprehension, my understanding of Rank 1 herbs and how to mend them advanced significantly. However, as most Rank 1 herbs were already in excellent condition, the amount of improvement I could get from mending them was limited and seemed to max out at around 105% of standard efficacy.

5% was miniscule for the amount of effort that it took to mend such herbs. In the same time that it took me to completely mend a single herb and create a single pill with 105% efficacy, I could make four or five regular pills. So, for common, low-level herbs, there was little reason to push for that extra 5%. However, the economics of the situation changed at higher Ranks.

Some Rank 3 herbs were extremely rare, such as the Fire Dragon’s Tongue Fruit, which was necessary for temporarily boosting a person’s fire affinity. An alchemist didn’t have the luxury of only selecting ideal herbs in such a situation and had to work with whatever was available. Once I mastered this skill at higher Ranks, I would be able to change what might have been a pill with 70% efficacy into one with 140% efficacy. So, even though it wasn’t useful yet, I continued with my practice.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

After three years, I had nearly perfected my mending skills on Rank 2 herbs, but learning to mend Rank 3 herbs was proving to be an order of magnitude more difficult.

This made some amount of sense. Looking at the number of credits I had spent, my comprehension boost to alchemy was at a mid-Grandmaster level. Its effects seemed magnified with tasks below that level and greatly reduced with tasks above it. This didn’t mean that learning this skill at a higher level was out of reach, however. It just meant that it would take more time.

Alongside these improvements, I became more skilled in working with herbs of the secondary elements. They each had quirks that normal herbs didn’t, but I was beginning to understand how to combine them together properly. Where energy from basic herbs could just be thrown together and mixed, the secondary energies were somewhat like puzzle pieces that needed to be slotted together in specific ways. This was what caused my problems back during the Pavilion’s registration exam. I hadn’t understood how the herbs slotted together.

My lack of affinities still held me back from perfection, but my competency with these herbs had already improved to a level that I was satisfied with.

During this same period, I invested many days and weeks into learning formations.

My new formation instructor was named Hu BoSan. He was an ancient-looking man who had been at the peak of the Grandmaster realm for centuries. I came to understand that the reason he was chosen was that he was the only one who was willing to swear the Oath that I had requested. As an old man nearing his end, it would have a limited effect on him.

Going into these lessons, I knew that only having access to wood and fire qi would cause problems. I needed access to earth-based energy. My seed of the Cold Mountain fire could grant me this, but flashing around a fire seed was a terrible idea, even with Oaths of Secrecy in place.

That was when I remembered the strand of spirit fire that I had infused into my body back when I was in the Wastes. I had done that before I had made that temporary reset point, so the fire was still there. I hadn’t even touched it during this life, but it was the perfect smokescreen to use in these lessons.

When we first met, Hu BoSan was surly and disgruntled, but when he learned that I had both a peak seven-star earth affinity and an earth-based spirit fire, his mood rapidly improved. Then, when he realized the mastery I had over this spirit fire, he became genuinely excited.

As Instructor Hu told me in my first lesson, the Hu clan had been researching different materials and qi types for use in formations, but they hadn’t been very successful. After seeing my two qi types, my dual-element spirit fire, and my high affinities in all of the basic elements, Hu BoSan’s impression of me changed from tedious project to interesting test subject.

He forced me to learn everything that he could teach me about Rank 1 formations as quickly as I could. After that, he used me to experiment with new ways to combine elements to produce new and unique effects.

BoSan confided in me that, while the Hu Clan did have a few disciples who chose dual-element cultivation techniques, their talents were always limited. They couldn’t use high-level techniques, and their qi was too impure to make stable, high-level formations.

So, typically, when multiple elements were needed in a formation, multiple cultivators worked together. This resulted in conflicts between different people’s qi, and progress on improving the situation had been slow.

My spirit fire could not be used to power a formation, since the designs of the Hu Clan could only accommodate qi, but I could use it when making inscriptions. Boring a hole through stone with my spirit fire then reinforcing it with fire qi allowed me to make inscriptions that were far more durable than usual. These more durable inscriptions could handle stronger qi flows, and stronger qi flows allowed my formations to have more powerful effects.

By the time three years had passed, BoSan had only taught me Rank 1 formations, most of which were not of any immediate use. There were formations related to farming, livestock, and pest control, but these only provided meaningful benefits to mortals, and I wasn’t in a situation that called for them.

The most important formation I learned was the Rank 1 Qi Gathering Formation. This was a formation specialist’s response to Qi Gathering Pills. The pill affected a cultivator’s body by making it easier to draw in qi from the environment. The formation affected the environment by increasing the density of qi within a small bubble around a cultivator. Both of these allowed cultivators to advance more quickly than normal, and if both were used simultaneously, the effects would be magnified.

Of course, as I had already found out, this wasn’t necessarily a boon. Advancing too quickly would only lead to a corrupted cultivation and a lifetime of madness. So, for the moment, I didn’t plan to take advantage of this boost. In the future, however, after I reached a true mastery of basic cultivation skills, combining pills and formations should allow me to advance faster than anyone else.

The final topic I studied during these years was how to properly nurture talents as a future Water Groom. I took several classes on this in the Metal District, but there were only a few that stood out.

The first was focused on how to manage a domain. According to the teacher, the key was maintaining a proper hierarchy. A Lord should manage his Grandmasters, the Grandmasters should manage their Masters, the Masters should manage their Disciples, and the Disciples should handle the mortals. Only by maintaining the proper hierarchy could a domain advance as a united whole.

She gave us an example of a Lord who directly managed both the Masters and Disciples below him. His domain became much more powerful under his leadership, but after he stepped down, the Grandmaster who replaced him didn’t have the experience necessary to govern as a Lord.

The second part that stood out was when she talked about helping others with their cultivation. The teacher made it clear that what I had done with Mei and SuYin was considered extremely improper, especially regarding Mei. I directly controlled her qi during her Master and Grandmaster advancements. This would only lead to a cultivator not understanding their own cultivation base.

While excessive assistance wouldn’t do too much damage, it would lead to the one helped being unable to properly function as a Lord. They wouldn’t have certain experiences that were considered necessary for nurturing followers.

This made me wonder how Mei was handling things. If it were as bad as the instructor implied, she might be struggling to improve her domain. Of course, considering her blessing, I doubted this would be much of a problem.

The final part that stood out to me was when the instructor talked about the proper role of a Flower.

“Once a Groom becomes a city lord, his Flower steps back from leadership and becomes his strongest pillar of support. She will be your consort and your wife, giving you all of her affection and love, but she will also be your Grand Chancellor, ensuring the smooth functioning of your domain by using her knowledge and expertise to assist you in every way possible.”

I thought about Mei in this kind of role. Her blessing would certainly be of use in the political sphere. She would be able to manipulate her rivals with ease.

This made me snort internally. I wasn’t sure if relying on Mei for such a thing was smart, but she was made for those situations. I wasn’t.

“She will have eleven years of experience, so you should rely on her to help you, but keep in mind that she is your wife, not your servant. She is there to support you, but you are the one who is in charge of running the city. After a Groom ascends to lordship, the Flower’s primary duty is to nurture her Seeds, while you are in charge of governance.”

The teacher handed us each a paper that contained a historical account so that we could better understand the role of a Flower.

In the story, after a new Water Groom ascended to his position as Lord of North Lake, he wanted to make his mark on the city. So, he worked with his ministers to craft a series of proposals for new street layouts, improved roads, and a sewage system. His proposals would have affected nearly every significant interest in the city, and if he had rashly implemented them, the major clans would have rioted.

This was where his Flower stepped in. She did not mediate with the clans directly. Instead, in her role as Chancellor, she advised the Groom on how the clans would react and gave suggestions that would improve his ideas and make them welcomed by everyone involved.

The Groom created the plan. The Groom implemented the plan. But the Flower was in the background, lending her experience and guidance.

Three years after I arrived in Hundred Flower City, the King Selection took place. While I jotted down several notes about it, I didn’t involve myself in the festivities.

The day after the new king was crowned, LiPin burst into my workshop in a frenzied state. “Several clans wish to meet with you. In the last hour alone, we’ve had over two dozen organizations contact us. Manager Bai is dealing with this, but you need to be prepared. She… isn’t in a good mood.”