After saying a few parting words to the gathered elders, Emperor Chan immediately led me from the grand audience hall and out onto an expansive plaza that sat atop the peak of a lonely mountain. Far below us, endless grasslands stretched to the horizon. Signs of towns and cities could be seen in the distance, but nearby, there was nothing but a few herds of weak demon beasts.

Was the Palace of the Herb Sovereign located in the middle of a desolate wilderness? This seemed to be the case, but as I turned around, I realized that this initial impression was completely wrong.

While there was nothing but an endless prairie in front of the mountain, behind it, there was hardly a blade of grass in sight. Instead, the land was covered by a sprawling city for as far as the eye could see. Strangely, though, this city stopped right as it came even with the base of the Palace’s mountain, as if it were being penned in by an invisible wall, creating a sharp demarcation between city and grassland.

Wondering if this actually was caused by an invisible wall, I turned on energy vision to study the place in greater detail. However, what I found was… strange. There were no signs of whatever had stopped the expansion of the city, but thick lines of wood qi radiated out from the base of the mountain in every direction, like the roots of an ancient tree.

As I watched, these roots pulled in energy from both the city’s and the prairie’s plant life, bringing it back to the mountain. However, something told me that this wasn’t their only purpose. If an army marched against this mountain, then those roots might decide that the enemy soldiers were tastier than the local flora.

After giving me a moment to take in my surroundings, Emperor Chan gestured for me to follow.

Walking behind him, my eyes shifted from the endless grasslands and the sprawling city to the cobbles beneath my feet. They were a colorful mix of reds and browns, interspersed with large swaths of gray. For a long moment, I tried to decipher what type of stone this could be. Then, it hit me. This wasn’t stone at all—it was petrified wood.

Studying my surroundings once more, I saw that everything from the walkways to the buildings had been made from some type of plant—living, dead, or petrified. This mountain was the perfect environment for wood cultivators.

This fact was further emphasized when Emperor Chan led me to the wide tunnel that took us down from the summit and into the mountain’s heart.

Inside this tunnel, I found what I had almost been expecting. This wasn’t a mountain of stone, not exactly. It was formed from peat and humus that had been enhanced with wood qi and hardened into a stone-like consistency.

At the third intersection we came across, Emperor Chan took a right and led me to a platform that stuck out from the side of the mountain. Here, we found a large field that was covered in Rank 4 herbs and was being tended to by a team of herbalists.

“The Palace has many places such as this. Some contain herbs, some contain food crops, and some are just gardens filled with a mix of seemingly random plants.” Emperor Chan looked at me intently. “Do you know why?”

I considered the question carefully. The simple answer was that the Palace was in the business of selling herbs and pills, but since he was asking, the simple answer clearly wasn’t correct.

“To give people a place to raise their affinities,” I finally said.

Chan looked like he wanted me to say more, but when I didn’t, he just nodded. “Yes. This mountain serves three functions. First, it helps defend the City of Selfless Courage from enemy attacks. Second, it gives the Palace a place to grow vital herbs. And third, it is a location where cultivators can raise both their wood and herbalism affinities.”

Chan paused, as if waiting for me to ask a question. When I didn’t, he seemed to get slightly irritated. “As long as your latent talent is strong enough, there are areas in this mountain that can help you raise your wood affinity to low two-star.”

That did pique my interest, but only slightly. I currently had a high three-star wood affinity, and the idea of pushing it up to the next star was appealing. However, since I didn’t have a latent talent for that element, this mountain wouldn’t be able to do me much good. Of course, I could purchase a talent, but I could simply purchase the affinity just as easily.

Still, I nodded in appreciation and asked a follow-up in a show of interest. “What about higher affinities? Peak two-star? One-star?”

Emperor Chan inhaled sharply and looked at me with more interest. “If that’s what you’re looking for, then you’ll need to join the Temple first. As long as you have an appropriate two-star affinity, you can attempt to join the Temple directly, but I would suggest you wait for the upcoming competition. If you head there immediately, you will only be able to join as a low-ranking member. By entering through the upcoming competition, you will have a chance to become something much greater.”

I bobbed my head casually as I thought through the Emperor’s answer. Something was off about the man. It had been ever since I had exited that illusion, and now, he was reading far too much into what was only a simple question intended to keep the conversation moving. Even if my performance in that test had been better than he had expected, it shouldn’t have been to this extent.

Lost in contemplation, I was silent as Emperor Chan led me through a series of tunnels, to a forge that was located near the base of the mountain. There, a two-and-a-half-meter-tall bark-skinned man was using saber qi to craft an elegant Rank 3 weapon.

He wasn't doing half bad, either. He could have spent a bit more time and shaped the metal with a bit more care, but as he was a Martial Lord who had a Martial Emperor staring over his shoulder. A bit of nervous rushing was understandable.

When the refiner set down his work to recover his qi, Emperor Chan introduced us. “Su Fang, this is Lord Tuguldur. He’s the best refiner the Palace has to offer.”

I cupped my fists and bowed my head. “Greetings, Lord Tuguldur.”

“Tugu, Su Fang has just joined the Palace, so I’d like you to check out his weapon. Just tell us what you think, and see if there’s anything you can do to improve it.” Emperor Chan’s gaze shifted to me. “Tuguldor might not be an expert at crafting moon spades, but he knows his craft. You can trust his judgement.”

Doing my best to maintain a neutral expression, I reached into my storage bag and withdrew my very best Rank 3 moon spade. To the average Grandmaster, this kind of weapon was a priceless treasure, but to the men in front of me, it shouldn’t be considered too valuable.

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Tuguldor took the spade from my hands and examined it closely for several long minutes.

The more time passed, the more his brow furrowed.

Finally, he blinked in realization and looked up at Emperor Chan. “This… This is one of those cheap pieces of trash they make over in the Nine Rivers Domain. This isn’t something that can be fixed. You just have to start over with decent materials and a real refiner.”

Without waiting for a response, Tuguldor picked up his half-finished Rank 3 saber and slashed lightly at my moon spade.

The saber cut cleanly through both the wooden shaft and the metal ends, causing the spade to fall to the ground in pieces.

He looked at me with sympathetic eyes. “Sorry, kid, but those weapons are banned in the Heroes Domain. I have a duty to destroy them. If you go out and try fighting demon beasts with junk like that, you’ll only get yourself killed. And, now you know, I can’t risk you trying to pass it off to some other ignorant fool.”

I could only stare at the remnants of my weapon in silence. History and Politics of the Western Island had said that the weapons and armor of the Nine Rivers Domain couldn’t compare to the artifacts produced in the Heroes Domain, but this was the first time that I had truly understood that sentence.

Emperor Chan let out a sigh that was filled with too much meaning for me to parse. “Don’t worry. I’m the one who brought you here, so I’ll pay for a replacement.”

I nodded silently, but as I did, I pulled a few pieces of the ruined spade into my inner world for later study. Being given a new weapon would be nice, but what I really needed was to understand how to make my own.

The final place that Emperor Chan took me was an inn that sat wedged between the mountain and the city behind it. As cultivators, this was the closest that we could get to the city without breaking the Saint’s rules.

After pulling me into a room and locking the door, Emperor Chan used several formation stones to set up a rather basic Rank 6 privacy formation.

“Su Fang, you have your secrets, and you are allowed to keep them. If you wish me to teach you like I would any other student, then I will do that. However, if there is something specific that you wish to learn, I need to know. The more you tell me, the more I’ll be able to help you.”

Clearly, Emperor Chan thought

he had figured something out. I just wasn’t sure what that something might be. This was especially dangerous, since whatever Chan was thinking was likely the same thing that everyone else in this Palace was thinking.

I was in a precarious situation, and I needed information.

Mentally reaching into my inner world, I created a soul avatar on the Plane of Earth. Then, I used it to make a quick purchase. “System, move my next temporary reset point forward to this moment.”

Purchase confirmed. Cost 1 credit. 1,303 credits remaining.

Back in the outside world, my gaze locked onto Emperor Chan. “I agree that we need to talk, but not here. Your formation is decent, but it’s far from perfect. Let go of your qi, drop your defenses, and I will take you somewhere more appropriate.”

Emperor Chan stared at me for a long moment before nodding in agreement. The moment he did, he vanished from the inn and appeared on the Plane of Earth.

Emperor Chan looked around, wide-eyed—not entirely unlike how I had behaved when studying the summit of the mountain just a few hours earlier.

“Where are we?”

My avatar waved a hand, gesturing at the craggy landscape. “This is the Plane of Earth, but the specifics aren’t important. All that matters is that, while we are here, not a single person will be able to listen in on our conversation. No Sovereigns, no Saints, and no Daos.”

This time, it was Emperor Chan’s turn to nod silently.

“You think you know something about me. What is it?”

As I spoke, I bore down on the man with the pressure of my soul, causing his face to turn pale in terror. “You… You…”

Seeing that I had scared the man far more than I had intended, I relaxed. “Please, what do you think you know?”

“A 17-year-old possessing the ability to craft Rank 4 pills and fight against high-level Rank 2 demon beasts… It’s… impossible—almost. Who you are… What you are… There are only a few possibilities.”

I nodded and motioned for him to continue.

“You may have been granted a powerful blessing, but that can’t explain everything. How did you learn to craft Rank 4 pills? Why can you only concoct them using elemental energy? Why do you have a weapon from the Nine Rivers Domain? Why did you only speak Western Han when you first arrived at the Hall of the Herb King? Why can we not find any records of a ‘Su Fang’ travelling with any caravans?”

Emperor Chan took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself. “The only way this makes sense is if you received the legacy of a powerful clan and were then sent to this domain by either a Spirit or an Ancestor. But, if your talent with elemental energy is as good as it appears, why would they send you away?”

I smiled slightly. This guess wasn’t entirely

off base. He was just missing a few critical pieces of information.

“The… second possibility… is that you are a reincarnator.”

My smile vanished. “A what?”

“A reincarnator. A powerful cultivator from the past who was reborn into a new body. Usually, people have their memories wiped before being reincarnated, but there are stories… In the distant past, this didn’t always happen. There haven’t been any true reincarnators for millennia, but… it would explain both your level of knowledge and the apparent gaps in it.”

“I see. Anything else?”

Emperor Chan gulped. “You could be… the soul of an ancient being who has stolen the body of a young man.”

Before I could respond, Emperor Chan continued. “But this doesn’t seem likely. You have the elemental skills of someone from the Nine Rivers Domain, and only the disciples of the Devil Saint are known to practice possession.”

I rubbed my chin in thought. Then, I gave Emperor Chan my best kind smile and gestured toward the Plane of Earth once more. “As you can see, none of these possibilities can explain everything, but, for now, let’s just say that the second one is the most correct. Think of me as an old monster who has just reincarnated and knows nothing about the current world. I need information, and I’m looking for allies. If you help me, then I will help you.”

Chan nodded rapidly. “That… is what I’m hoping for.”

“Good.” I waved, causing a table and two chairs to appear in front of us. “Then, we have a lot to discuss. First, tell me, if you figured out that I am a reincarnator, others must have as well. What are the chances people from the Palace will try to destroy my soul?”

Emperor Chan quickly shook his head. “None. They will try to use you, but attacking you would violate the laws of the Saint of Myriad Herbs. Attacking your soul would implicate the entire Palace. Unless…”

I gave the Emperor my most polite smile, urging him to continue.

“Unless they are agents of the Willow Saint. The Willow Saint abhors the idea of a non-urgamal competing for the position of Saint of Myriad Herbs. However, they likely won’t try to attack you until you join the Temple.”

Nodding, I jotted this down in my mental journal. I would need to see if I could get a list of the Willow Saint’s agents at some point.

“And what of the other Saints?”

This time, Emperor Chan paused for several long seconds. “Our Palace assists the warriors of the Heroes Domain, so the armies of the Saint of Tooth and Claw will want to kill you, but they are unlikely to attack your soul. They would prefer to rend the flesh from your bones.”

I made a mental note to try and avoid that.

“As for the human Saints, the three on this island are of no concern. They have no reason to attack you. However, if the Saint of Liberation learns that you’re a reincarnator, he will want to capture you for study. And as for the Devil Saint… The Devil Saint could do… anything.”

After noting this in my journal, I looked back at the Emperor. “Anyone else?”

“The last is the Saint of the Abyssal Depths, but you shouldn’t need to care about them. They rarely take an interest in anything that happens on land.”

“Good.” I shifted my avatar to a more relaxed posture. “Now, let’s talk about my training.”

Over the next few hours, I gave Emperor Chan a detailed breakdown of everything I knew, and he recorded whatever he felt was relevant onto a scroll. Once we were done, I took this scroll, made several edits, and rewrote it using my own words.

Then, I pulled the Emperor out of my inner world whilst simultaneously sending a poison pill into my mouth.

You have died.

I looked at Emperor Chan and handed him the scroll that I had just rewritten. “This should be everything that you need to know. I look forward to working with you, Mentor Chan.”