WuJing slid a stack of papers across his desk.


    “This is the contract to transfer the city of Peaceful Ridge into your name. After you sign, you will be the officially recognized city lord of Peaceful Ridge with all the rights and responsibilities that come with it.”


    I took a pen and signed, and then WuJing flipped to the next page.


    “This cedes your control of the city to Steward Fang. He will have complete authority over all matters dealing with Peaceful Ridge during your tenure as city lord.”


    I signed, and WuJing flipped the page.


    “This is your resignation notice. Signing this, you hereby relinquish your position as city lord effective one year from this date.”


    I signed. He continued presenting me with minor documents that would help make this whole operation karmically legal.


    “So,” I said when I finally put down the pen, “I am now a city lord. Does just signing these papers really shift the karmic energy to me?”


    “No,” said WuJing with a shake of his head, “signing these papers is simply staking a claim on the city. On the other side, Steward Fang will announce your appointment to the entire city, and the residents will acknowledge your position. The combination of your actions and theirs completes the connection.”


    I rubbed my forehead. “Alright, as long as it works, but will one year be enough time?”


    “It should be more than enough for your advancement,” said WuJing, “but it will be hard to make too much progress in that time. The cities the Pavilion rents out are well run, but they aren’t going to lease you anything too special.”


    “What do I do after, then?” I asked with a furrowed brow.


    “Well, you can continue to cultivate without the added karmic energy. You will be worse off than someone who had their entire cultivation boosted by it, but not significantly so. More important is what you choose to do when you are ready to advance. You can advance through Lord without the boost, and you’ll still be able to step into the King realm, but you’ll be significantly weakened.”


    I tried to piece together the plan. “Then, I need to regain a position as city lord at every step? Is that possible?”


    “As long as you’re a Rank 4 Alchemist it won’t be a problem. Once you can make Rank 4 pills, you might even be able to purchase a long-term lease from Eight Flower. I’m not familiar with the situation there, but if Eight Flower isn’t willing, then some other kingdom or empire in the region probably will be. As long as you are willing to work to improve the city, such a deal would benefit both you and the kingdom, and with the Pavilion’s assurances, they shouldn’t have too many reservations about it.”


    “Sounds too simple,” I snorted.


    “Being a Pavilion member opens doors that are closed to others,” WuJing smiled. “Though, the cultivation technique will be tricky. Rank 4 cultivation techniques don’t just affect you. They also affect those you are karmically connected to. You have to use an authorized technique with Pavilion cities, and other kingdoms may or may not allow it if you want to lease one of theirs.”


    “And when do I get said technique?” I asked with a smile.


    “Only once we’re out of here. You can’t break through to Martial Lord in the Wastes, so we don’t have any copies of Rank 4 techniques here.”


    ---------------------------------------------------


    Mei, WuJing, and I departed Dragon Gate City a week after I was appointed city lord.


    It would take over a month to travel to the Eight Flower Kingdom, and a lot of that time was spent in the Wastes. It took us eight days to reach the border of the Rising Sun Empire where we made our first stop.


    At the border, there was a small town that served as a waystation for those entering and leaving the Wastes. Each of the major powers had a place for travelers to switch carriages.


    In the Wastes, our carriage was pulled by a team of normal, mortal horses. While it was far better than walking, the speed was limited. The roads leading out of the region were in a state of disrepair, so we were lucky if we could cover thirty kilometers in a day. Feeding them Rank 1 pills, we were able to increase that distance, but it was still slow going.


    At the waystation, we switched to a carriage pulled by Rank 3 wind horses. Wind horses were a type of demon beast bred from normal, mortal horses that had been enhanced with the ability to draw in wind qi like a demon beast. As demon beasts, wind horses had far greater endurance and speed than their mortal counterparts, and the distance we previously covered in a week could be done in a day.


    Rank 3 wind horses were in limited supply, and normal travelers would need to rely on slower means of transportation, but WuJing had been appointed as a new Pavilion branch manager, so he had the clout to requisition them.


    Our first destination was the capital of the Rising Sun Empire. While we were technically in Rising Sun the moment we left the Wastes, we were actually in one of the many subsidiary kingdoms that surrounded the imperial holdings. With our new carriage and better roads, we made swift time and reached the capital only two days later.


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    Entering the Rising Sun City went far smoother than I expected. While there was a line of people waiting to get past the guards at the gate, our carriage, with Blue Wind Pavilion markings, was simply waved on through.


    The Rising Sun Empire was far more prosperous than the Wastes, and the density of qi was much higher. In Dragon Gate City, most people were mortals who had never cultivated, and those who had were almost all low-level Disciples. Martial Masters were a rare sight, and Grandmasters were almost never seen in public.


    In Rising Sun City, though, everyone was a cultivator, and most were close to being Peak Disciples. Grandmasters were still rare, but I still saw a handful walking the streets. I did not, however, see anyone at the Lord level or higher. Cultivators of the Ruler tier were removed from the daily life of commoners.


    The carriage pulled up outside an expensive-looking inn. It was lavishly decorated with red and gold paint, and two guardian lion statues flanked its entrance.


    “I’ve got you a room at this inn,” said WuJing, “it’s one of the nicest in the city, so you should be well taken care of. I need to spend a day at the Pavilion branch, but it would be best if you didn’t come in. The branch manager here won’t be happy when he finds out his region lost its biggest source of Rank 3 pills, so we want to try and get out of here without him realizing who you are.”


    “Is it going to be a problem?” I asked.


    “No, he can’t do anything, but he might delay us. It’s just best not to make it an issue. I’ll grab your new cultivation technique and come back. Just give me a couple of hours.”


    Accepting his arrangements, I left the carriage and entered the inn. Its insides were opulent, but I didn’t care much. I allowed a waitress to guide me to my room where I sat to wait for WuJing’s return.


    While I practiced cultivating, I focused on the small bits of karmic energy that had entered my dantian. I wanted to avoid touching them until I had a proper technique, but I watched as the energy slowly accumulated. The amount of energy I gained in a day was minuscule, but it was something.


    After three hours, WuJing appeared and brought me to a restaurant to eat while we talked.


    “Here it is,” he said passing me a small book. “This is the standard technique for Pavilion craftsmen.”


    I flipped through it casually, but it seemed a little strange. “There’s a standard technique for fire-wood dual-element cultivators?”


    “No,” he said shaking his head, “we don’t have anything specialized to any particular element. This is a generic technique anyone can use. It focuses more on the karmic part of the cultivation, encouraging hard work and industriousness for both you and those you are connected with. You will need to adjust the qi aspect of it to work best for your cultivation.”


    “Anything I need to be careful about?”


    WuJing laughed. “You’re asking me, but who am I supposed to ask? I’m in the same boat as you. Try your best, and if there are any problems, we can look at getting guidance from another Lord. Best to do that after we reach Eight Flower, though. For now, just do your best.”


    “Will do,” I smiled.


    ---------------------------------------------------


    After speaking with WuJing, I returned to my inn room to begin studying the Rank 4 cultivation technique.


    The first step in becoming a Martial Lord was to create a core of karmic energy inside one’s dantian. From what I could tell, this core served the same general purpose as the dantian, except it was made from solid karmic energy instead of braided qi strands. Once the core was complete, the cultivator would then send qi inside, forcing it to compress even further than was possible in the dantian.


    Ascending to False Lord was a process of using another weaving technique to create a false core within the body. This false core suffered the same problems as the larger dantian. A woven structure was simply not able to contain the pressure needed to condense qi to sufficient levels. Using such a process, one could advance slightly, but they could not reach the level of a true Lord.


    Since qi was not capable of creating a solid core, cultivators had resorted to using karmic energy. Karmic energy could be compressed into an extreme density making it easy to form a hardened core that could withstand extreme pressures.


    Once the core was in place, qi would be injected into it, and the qi would compress until the cultivator broke through to the next stage. Karmic energy could be woven into the qi to create a far superior result, but gathering so much of the precious energy was extremely difficult. Instead, the cultivation technique advised using basic qi while cultivating normally and only braiding in karmic energy when one was ready to advance to the next stage.


    The way I understood it, advancing as a lord wasn’t much different than advancing as a Grandmaster. Simply keep injecting qi until it properly condenses and crystalizes into its new form. From my reading, the element of the qi seemed to make no difference to the process. It might affect the final result, but it seemed meaningless to the cultivation process.


    I was not ready to try advancing to Martial Lord. I would need to collect far more karmic energy before it would be possible to even begin forming my core, but I wanted to begin learning how to manipulate and form karmic energy.


    My top dantian contained my wood qi, and my bottom dantian contained my fire qi. My middle dantian had remained mostly empty except for a few stray wisps of qi that had slipped in. However, after being appointed to city lord of Peaceful Ridge, strands of karmic energy had begun gathering inside it.


    I reached for that energy and began trying to mold it into shapes needed for my dantian, but it was difficult. Unlike fire and wood, I had no affinity with karma to help me. The cultivation technique I had been given took this into account, though.


    Most cultivators would have the same problems I did when controlling karmic energy, so the structures needed for the core were bulky and lacked finesse. I just needed to be able to force it into a basic structure, and my soul strength seemed to be high enough to make that possible.


    I spent hours painstakingly forcing the karmic energy into one shape after another to get a good feel for how it would react. I wanted sufficient practice before my dantian contained too much for me to handle. I wasn’t sure if I should form my core gradually as I gathered energy or if I should wait until after I had enough for the complete core before beginning. I would need to ask WuJing about that.


    Focused on studying my new cultivation technique, I was completely unprepared when pain suddenly shot through my entire body.


    From my sitting position, I was knocked to the ground by a hard kick to my chest. Then, two long steel rods impaled me on either side of my body right under my collarbone, pinning me to the floor.


    I looked around but saw no sign of my attacker. Remembering the illusionist from the Dragon Gate Festival, I flipped on my qi vision, but I still saw nothing.


    “I was sent to give you a message,” echoed an ominous voice. “Be more honest in your next life and don’t offend those you can’t afford to offend.”


    A sword appeared above me and stabbed into my chest.


    You have died. Calculating…


    You died as a Martial Grandmaster Peak. 1,000,000 credits awarded.


    Total Credits: 1,025,806