Regressor Sect Master

1 year and 1 month after Regression [R+1Y1M]

Everyone knew something was happening when Tundra said he needed two months of solitary cultivation. It was the kind of thing that made everyone tense, because the entirety of the Verdant Snow could feel the flow of energies shift violently.

Raw, untamed power. 

The three elders stood on guard, Severian, Jon and Sashen stood outside. It is said that one’s attempt at breakthrough was a moment of intense vulnerability. 

The soul pushes outward, expanding the size of the spiritual realm. The cultivator collects the energies within their core, and in a single burst, attempts to push against the walls of their soul. It is a moment of explosive expansion. A moment of tremendous growth. A moment of weakness, because the power is unruly, untamed. 

Seventh realm. It happened faster than expected thanks to a fortuitous encounter. 

Tundra’s tremendous metal energies cause the entire environment to feel an unnatural level of static. In this environment, swords and nails feel as if they were charged by lightning, and it can feel prickly to even use metal objects. 

For breakthroughs in the 8th realm and above, many masters often find a secluded location elsewhere, because the tremendous fluctuations of energy cause their surroundings to respond in kind. Cultivators of fire often cause forest fires, water-element cultivators often cause their environment to rain and flood, wood element cultivators trigger bugs and plants, and earth cultivators cause the earth to tremble. 

It’s been two months, and the fluctuations have begun to subside. Either it is a success, or it is a failure. To everyone else, it almost seemed like it could go either way. 

Celestia found it hard to cultivate during these two months, and so spent time reading her books. Paper felt harder, sharper, and they may have cut her fingers if she was not careful. 

Her heart doubted. 

Strangely, if it was the old Tundra, she wouldn’t doubt his success at all. The old Tundra exuded supreme confidence, the kind of swagger of a man who knew he was rising up in their society. This new Tundra was gentler, softer, even if his actual talents and knowledge were significantly more than before.

She didn’t know why she had doubts. She told herself there was no reason to doubt. By all measures, Tundra should exceed it. 

Was it because she somehow cared more?

She flipped the page of the book she’s reading. She tried her best to concentrate, and she did succeed.

Yet, occasionally, there was the subtle spike of metal energies in her surroundings that reminded her that a breakthrough was ongoing. 

The higher the realms, the longer the breakthrough. In the first four realms, the breakthrough hardly took a day. From fourth to fifth, it could take a week. Fifth to sixth, it could take two weeks to a month. The expansion of the soul was a lengthy process of man’s spiritual energies battling against the constraints of nature. There were special locations and artifacts that could alter this breakthrough process, but it wasn’t something they had access to. 

 “You’re here.” Marin said as she walked in and sat opposite her. She was here often, and Celestia did find her occasionally irritating to be around. 

The two wives exchanged glances. Celestia wondered what the other woman wanted. Marin shrugged, and stretched. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m just feeling unsettled so I’m here looking for someone to get through the moment with me.”

“Oh. Again?” 

“Yes, and what do you mean, again?” Marin countered. “With Tundra’s breakthrough I feel like my hair’s constantly messy and my skin feels so prickly.” 

At that point, a servant walked in. “Lady Eastheart. Young ladies Azelia and Adelia are looking for you.”

“What? Why?” Marin’s face flashed a rare moment of irritation. 

“It is about the dress they should wear for the celebration.” The servant answered. 

“Celebration- oh.” Marin shrugged. “They can decide for themselves!”

“They- they hope to coordinate colors with you.” 

Marin looked at Celestia a little helplessly, and then sighed. “Fine, fine. I’ll go over. Where are they now?”

“At the Main Street Tailors.” 

Celestia smiled, and watched Marin leave. But a few seconds after she did, she realized she also didn’t have a new dress made. 

It is a common thing to celebrate major realm breakthroughs. After all, they were once-in-a-decade events, and the Sect Master’s success should be joyfully shared. Even their own breakthroughs to the 4th realm was celebrated with a dinner party. 

The air is tense. Charged. 

Most of the lesser cultivators decided it was a good time to be in the Verdant Leaf Town, rather than to be so close to the eye of the storm. 

She stood and checked her wardrobe briefly, and sighed. Tundra never noticed when they had new clothes. In his eyes, it was such an inconsequential thing. But the ladies of the Fox family naturally tried to be well dressed for a celebration. 

Her eyes darted to the window, and the Verdant Leaf Town was bustling. Lady Elly Mistburn, as the most senior wife, organized the celebration. She ordered meats. Wines. Desserts. By now, news of Tundra’s impending breakthrough would have spread. 

The nearby sect masters and their young masters may visit. 

Tundra’s rise to the seventh would elevate their profile. It would also invite both admiration and jealousy. Sects that didn’t feel threatened before would now feel it. 

She left her room. Maybe she should get a dress. 

Then she felt the moment when all the metal energy around her suddenly vanished, as if drained by a sink. 

The doubt in her heart vanished. 

One year after his regression, Tundra Fox rose to the Seventh Realm. 

***

“Congratulations.” The party was bustling, the entire receiving hall of the Verdant Snow Sect had never seen that many people. The hall could normally fit about 500 people comfortably now packed 1,500. Tables were lined end to end, and chairs were so close that most guests were shoulder to shoulder. 

But sycophancy was alive and well, as everyone tried their best to get face time. 

Tundra Fox is now a cultivator in the Seventh Realm, and that made him even more well respected. Local businesses tried to curry favor, and gifts of all sorts made their way into their treasury. There were many, many guests from the other sects.

“Brother!” Elly said as she gave her elder brother, Eric, a hug. Eric brought a gift. “To think I’d see you again so soon.”

“Of course I would be here! My brother-in-law ascends to the seventh. If that is not a cause for celebration, what is?” Eric laughed. 

“So you’re not here to see me.” Elly laughed and gently punched her elder brother on the shoulder. 

“Well, that too, that too.” Eric chuckled. “Good to see you are well. Nice to see you too, Edison.”

“Uncle, let me guide you to your seat.” Edison clasped his hand and greeted the man, and ushered him to his place. For the family, they were seated closest to the main table. The main table itself was for Tundra, his three elders, and his three wives, and for the other sect masters that made the journey here. 

Elly had even more guests to handle. There were merchants. Local officials. Even members of nearby families that now wanted to shift allegiances. 

“How’ve you been, my good nephew?” Eric asked as he was led to the table right next to the main table. 

“Alright, I guess.” Edison wasn’t particularly hostile to Eric. They were after all family, and Eric didn’t harm them. For most part, they almost never talked to each other, at least until their recent visit. 

“How’s your cultivation?” 

“Improving slowly.” The eldest son answered. “But I suppose it's better than not moving.”

“Your father would be happy.”

“It’s got nothing to do with him.” Edison said, revealing a little bit of annoyance. 

“I see. You must feel pressured, don’t you? You’re the young master of the Fox family, and your father is now in the Seventh Realm.” Eric said. “Your father is a monster in cultivation, and you have to measure up to that.”

Edison frowned, and his expression revealed a rare moment of vulnerability and stress.

After what seemed like a long pause between the two, one where Eric filled by eating the fried fish slices on the table, Edison finally answered.  “Yes. People expect that I do. No matter what I do, I am in his shadow.” 

“That is life.” Eric said. “I tried to live up to your grandfather’s shadow. I felt like I was always chasing, always running towards a goal that seemed further away. It was only when I made it to the 4th realm that I felt like that shadow vanished.” 

“4th realm would not be enough for me.” Edison said bitterly, as he sat on the empty seat next to him. It wouldn’t be empty for long. 

“I know. But you must try. You are the young master, and people believe that a tiger father would not have dog children.” 

“I wish my father wasn’t such a genius.” Edison said with a whiff of sadness. 

“Those who live in luxury have their own struggles.” Eric said as he patted his nephew on the shoulder. “To the outside world, they would trade everything to be in your place. But your mother wrote a letter to grandfather, she said she was so proud that you started trying seriously.”

Edison blinked, and blushed. “She did? Why would she do something like that?”

“Your mother is a doting one. She exemplifies the best of our water-element. Nurturing and caring, and flowing from the top to the bottom.” Eric said.

“She’s naggy.”

“We all are. It’s the nature of being a parent. Don’t you nag your children?” 

Edison wanted to correct his uncle, only to realize he was probably right. The cycle of life continued on. 

Eric smiled at the younger man, and nodded. “You should go help your mother. There are more guests coming in, and many would want to meet the young master of the Fox Family.”

The young master groaned. “I hate that my value and identity is so tied to my father. They say nice things to me only because they want to use me, to get close to him.”

His uncle chuckled. “My dear nephew, you’re already quite old. You should know people are like that. If your father rises further, you will have even more of these shoe polishers.”

“Ugh! Father’s just making my life difficult.”

“Go now.” Eric said with a smile. “It’s life.”

***

Tundra stood at the center of the hall as the guests came to pay a visit. He remembered some of them. Sycophants, allies, fair weathered friends. It is the game of society. All the formalities and niceties are all but the little procedures to play the great game. 

Most of the merchants and businesses wanted to get to know him, and they would talk about the usual stuff. Protection. Preferential trade. Just so that he remembers them, and would call on them some day for business dealings. 

He shook hands, smiled, and accepted their gifts. In some ways, gifts were traded for more gifts. 

The guests came, they offered him a toast, and he returned with a toast of his own. Then the VIP guests arrived, and Tundra himself made the walk to the front door to greet them.

“Sect Master Whisperwaters, I’m surprised you actually made the trip here.” Tundra was flanked by Elly and Edison, as they welcomed the high powered guests. 

Lucia Whisperwaters, Sect Master of the Mystical Harbors, and a sixth realm cultivator, shook his hand and smiled. She was a mature but still beautiful woman with long, flowing light blue hair, and her voice was gentle like the lapping waves by the beach on a peaceful day. “After what you did for us with the Scarlet Thunder, I do owe you a large favor. And this is-”

“Ah yes, Elly Mistburn, my wife, and this is Edison, my son.” Tundra swiftly introduced them.

“I see, well met.” Lady Whisperwaters smiled, and then examined Elly closely. Elly had a new dress. All the girls did, even Celestia couldn’t resist the peer pressure and so made a new dress for the occasion. “You’re a lucky woman.”

Elly smiled, but did not respond. Tundra felt mixed feelings when she said that. Was it her luck, or her misfortune? Like Marin, if she said it to her, she would probably consider it an insult. 

“I heard you have three wives. Can I meet the other two?” 

Tundra blinked briefly. “Ah, you will meet them at the main table. You’ll be seated with us.”

Lady Whisperwaters grinned. “Great. I’d love to get to know what kind of woman you like.”

“Nice to meet you again, Sect Master Whisperwaters.” Elder Severian interjected, as he sensed the conversation taking a rather awkward turn. 

“Oh. Severian! It is auspicious to meet again so soon.” She smiled flirtily.

“Let me escort you to your seat, and offer you some welcoming drinks.” Severian offered, and led the visiting Sect Master away. Tundra breathed a sigh of relief, and Elly stepped a little closer.

“Have you met her before?”

“I did.”

“Was she always so flirty? My female senses were tingling.” 

Tundra paused, and suddenly that recontextualized the entire conversation. He didn’t recall the old Lucia Whisperwaters as a particularly flirty woman, though she was fairly close to him even in his first life. But by then he was already through a few more wives, and maybe her impression of him was different. 

Elly looked at him. She expected an answer.

He rubbed his chin. “I don’t think she was. Maybe she’s just in a good mood.”

“I suppose. Our next major guest is arriving.”

The carriage that came was one with the official sigil of the Imperial Court. It was a minister, responsible for the regional taxes, mortal armies of the region. The minister was a cultivator, only in the 4th realm, but his affiliation with the Imperial Court made him a major guest. 

“Greetings, Minister Folan, It must be a bother for you to grace our little event.” Tundra greeted the man as he walked out of his carriage. His robes were a special item granted to the ministers of the court, made with a kind of special silk, then embroidered with a kind of flexible dragongold. 

“The Imperial Court is pleased to learn of your ascension to the seventh. On behalf of the imperial court, I bring a gift.”

Tundra’s heart wondered what trap the Imperial Court set for him, but at this point, he had to receive it anyway. The box made of an ancient lacquered wood opened to reveal a plaque, conferring a status as the Outer Court Alchemist.

“This humble servant of the Emperor is honored to receive the Emperor’s plaque.” Tundra answered, as he kneeled before the Minister. The Minister would sit with them. 

Outer Court Alchemist meant he was now on retainer to the Emperor, though he wasn’t in the priority list. 

The Imperial Golden Emperor officially maintained a list of alchemists in the court’s service. The Personal Alchemist of the Emperor was the highest ranked, followed by the Distinguished Royal Alchemist who could serve the Emperor and his harem, then the Inner Court Alchemist, then the Outer Court Alchemist. 

The politics in the Outer Court wasn’t that bad, so he wasn’t bothered. The royal house may occasionally issue demands of the Outer Court Alchemists, but it also came with stipends and allowances from the royal houses. It represented money and resources of the Royal Family.

At least, before the Royal Family collapsed to infighting, and later, the Zuja’s corruption.