Mana 4 Chapter 28 (Patreon)

“Back so soon?” Madam Orchid looked up from her desk. “I could have sworn I just set you free.”

I let out a heavy sigh. “Me too. But I realized I have a business opportunity that I need to discuss with you.”

The girls had consolidated all the spoils into my spatial ring. Guo Ying’s ring had been quite large, and I needed to handle this one so that they could all take care of their own tasks.

Despite all the visits Wenxi had made to the pavilion, she actually had a good bit of business she needed to conduct during the day. Rachel was practicing like crazy, wanting to be stronger by the time my wives joined us, and Kat was up to her usual scheming.

“Oh? Do tell.” The Madam put down her current paper and pulled out a ledger.

“I have a large quantity of items for sale.” I dragged out the end, hesitating for a moment. I had a feeling that she’d piece it all together before I even showed her the merchandise, but there was no way she wouldn’t once she saw it. “As you’ve probably guessed, I was the one that attacked the auction house.”

Pulling out the ring from the loop around my neck, I handed it to her.

“Given that you already killed for this much wealth, what makes you think I wouldn’t kill you for it?” She gave me a saccharinely sweet smile. Somehow it made her bright red lips look bloody.

“You won’t.” I said with confidence. “Not after what you said last time.”

She clicked her tongue and leaned back in her chair. “It is so much less fun when you are confident about it.”

“Is that what gets you off? The game of business?” I teased back, handing her the ring and removing its bond to me for her to inspect it.

“Oh. This is quite a sum. Poor Ying family. It seems their time is almost at an end.” She fiddled with the ring and pulled out a number of items, setting them aside. “Some of these pills will help you reach the fifth rank.”

I ignored that last comment and instead focused on the Ying family. “What makes you think their time is almost done?”

“Doing something like this and then staying in the city?” She raised an eyebrow. “You are purposefully hurtling yourself towards conflict with them. Do you want me to let it leak that you attacked the auction house?”

“No, not yet. When I need to anger him, I can just start wearing that spatial ring openly.”

“It seems that you also have the Su family wrapped around your little finger. You are aiming to destroy the Ying family. Should I have any concern?” She pouted.

I shook my head at her antics. Since she had identified my connection to my mother, she’s been openly flirting with me. I wasn’t sure what she wanted yet, but time would tell. “No. You have my word I won’t lift a finger towards you or the pavilion. After all, we are about to become quite the business partners, aren’t we?”

She sighed and took out another spatial ring, transferring items from mine to hers. “Yes, shame. We aren’t another type of partner. I’ll offer you a twenty percent advance on what I expect this to sell for. Sorry, but I don’t have enough on hand to offer more than that.

“After that, I will ship this out and start selling it to you. I’ll give you sixty percent of those profits after I make back the advance.”

“Seventy.” I countered. Sixty was a good number, but it never hurt to push.

“I already gave you my best offer. Sixty.”

“We both know you didn’t give me everything. Sixty-five.”

The madam nodded. “Sixty-three. That’s as good as I can do and still make this worth it. But then you also owe me something additional.”

“Let’s hear it.” I wasn’t against a favor.

She tried to hide it, but there was a flicker of excitement in her eyes as she resisted sitting forward. This is what she really wanted. “I’d like to keep teaching Rachel. She has a certain potential, while weak, that I’ve been looking for. I need your help in keeping her coming back to this pavilion or others to cultivate.”

“What exactly do you have her cultivating?”

There was a moment of pursed lips as she thought about what to say. “Most of the girls in my sect do not cultivate using the same technique as me.”

That wasn’t uncommon. Sects were often a place full of variety.

“But there are a few that cultivate my own technique. It is very particular, requiring that they be of a certain lineage, even if they can’t express it.” She tried to be vague, but I was able to make out the bottom line of what she was saying.

“There’s a bloodline you are hunting for.” I realized.

She nodded. “One I share with them. It, however, has been lost to the ages. These girls without the proper cultivation will display minimal talent. But under the right technique, they will blossom into powerful flowers.”

“Do you possess a bloodline power?” Even as I asked it, I realized that with the power she commanded here in Murdock and no doubt abroad, she must have some sort of substantial power. If she didn’t possess a bloodline, then she might even be above the fifth rank.

Smirking, it was like she could see inside my head and follow along with my own realization. “That’s a rude thing to ask a lady.”

I grunted. “Fine. As long as you do no harm to Rachel and that she isn’t employed in your pavilions, I will encourage her to use your resources to cultivate. But it’s ultimately her choice.”

“Of course. No man shall touch her within, or even near, my walls. She is yours and to damage that would be worse than crippling her cultivation. I have no doubt you’ll take care of her and she’ll even flourish under your care.” The Madam seemed insistent.

But then she changed tact. “Now, let’s get you that advance. Hmm… twenty percent. We have to make sure they are all good quality, since you are going to try to break through with them.”

Light zipped from her core into my spatial ring. “That should do it.” She handed it back.

I peeked inside and my jaw dropped. “How much?”

“About a million crystals. That would be selling yourself into indentured servitude at least twenty times.”

Suddenly, I understood the motivation behind selling slaves. I still didn’t agree with it, but it apparently was lucrative. “How much of this am I going to need to break through to the next rank?”

She gave me a pitying look. “All of it.”

“Thank you.” I gave her a short bow. That she’d give me how much I needed to break into the next rank was… coincidental. And she’d somehow had that much on hand, ready to be given.

“You are most welcome. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a large stash to liquidate if I’m going to have enough to run my business.”

“Since we are business partners, may I ask your name? Madam Orchid is a little distant.”

She paused, looking me over. “It’s been a while since a man has asked me that. It turns out being powerful can also distance you from others. You can call me Lanhua.”

I waved over my shoulder. “Until next time, Lanhua. It seems you’ve successfully tied yourself to me for now.”

She gave a good full bellied laugh as I left.

Several of her disciples were standing outside, watching me with big eyes.

“Is he the servant that the Su family bought?”

“I heard he seduced Wenxi out in the woods.”

“What did he do here? I’ve never heard Madam laugh like that before.”

“Is he so good that even the Madam partakes his pecker?” A woman said, only for her friend to rib her and encourage her to find out.

Rumors seemed to spin up around me. I would not be unknown in this town for long, but I didn’t need to be. We were about to become known one way or another.

Holding tight to the spatial ring, I made sure nobody would see it and recognize it as Guo Yings before I was ready. If nothing else, it currently held my chance at the fifth rank, and I couldn’t let anybody take it from me.

There was no wandering as I left, marching straight back to the Su family manor and the sunroom. It was empty at present, so I set up in the corner and took out the technique that Wenxi had given me.

But as soon as I sat down, there was a pounding on my rings. My mana beasts wanted out of them.

Sighing, I let them all loose.

Rather than greet me with warmth and distractions like usual, Aurora and Mei marched out and took up posts by the door. Mei was wearing a stiff looking military uniform. Quinn sat near the windows, and Lumi positioned herself next to me.

They did all of this without speaking. And this was a new uniform for Mei.

“What’s happening?” They’d throw me off.

Aurora spoke from the door. “No more distractions, Master. Get it done. I want to go back and nap.”

“Sir, yes, sir.” Mei snapped a salute and stood at attention next to the door.

A smirk ghosted across my lips. But if even Aurora was being serious, then there was no time to waste. I sat down and unfurled the scroll, taking in the technique in its entirety.

My eyes scanned it several times, but even then it made my head hurt. “Lumi, tell me again about the fifth rank?” Conveniently, my mana beasts had her positioned next to me.

“You steal a piece of the heaven’s power. That piece of power allows you to make a small piece of your inner world into a true world.”

I squinted at her. “Like how you took that rug inside yourself without a spatial ring?”

She nodded. “If you went to my soul palace, that rug is by the fireplace. A reminder of our first time.”

“But… how?” The soul palace was just that, a figment of my soul. Nothing physical existed there save for my mother’s bone sword.

“You told me of an Old Jin in your stories. Where you went into a world with Quinn.”

“But that place was massive. There were even mana beasts in there.

Lumi’s nodding only made me sweat. “That was his inner world. No doubt he was extraordinarily powerful.”

“And I’m to create that?” I asked.

“No. You are to create a start like it. Take in the power from the heavens and make a few meter circle of reality inside your soul space.”

“Then what?”

Lumi laughed. “That is hard enough. You’ll have to expand it later. Just forming that space is stepping from being a fourth rank to a fifth rank. Like your soul space, you are a god in that small pocket world you create.”

I frowned, looking inward. “How does that make such a difference?”

“Because there in that space, you can truly understand the fundamentals of the universe by expanding it. That understanding will translate into power. And eventually, in the latter ranks of cultivation, you’ll be able to bring that world out around you into this world. That is a true domain.”

I thought about what she’d just said. If I had complete control of that space, then that would make me akin to a god in a limited space if I brought it out. Now I understood why them seeing my domain was so confusing.

What I did was attempt to have absolute control over my elements in an area around me. But it sounded like the sixth rank, and what Lumi was talking about was another level.

“So, in order to kick off this world inside of me, I need to anger the heavens by creating an imbalance. And as they strike me with lightning, that’s my chance to steal a piece of power to start it?”

Lumi nodded. “See, you get it.”

I didn’t, really. At least not fully. But it seemed like something that could only be experienced and not taught. No wonder so many immortals died at this step.

Looking back at the scroll, the second half and its cryptic nonsense made a little sense. But the first half was what was important. Or at least the part I needed to understand in order to kick off the process.

The scroll instructed me to use these crystals and make a massive enchantment focused on myself, trying to draw this lightning down upon me. The goal was to control a small part of the world through the enchantment, which reminded me of when I’d made the sky rumble when I’d tried to push on the world to relocate myself back in the mortal world.

Rather than moving myself, I was pushing on the entire world to move.

It was a very different concept, but something that I might just be able to replicate here. In the scroll, it mentioned degrees of defying the heavens, producing different color lighting, and signifying different levels of potential.

Given the idea of using an enchantment to do it, I had an idea of how to modify this.

“You seem like you have an idea.” Lumi observed.

“Sort of. By the way, you should know I have access to your bloodline now that you are officially part of the family. Will it help me with capturing this power from the lightning?”

Lumi shook her head. “It will just make the lightning hurt less.”

I had to admit that was better than nothing.

“No one else will want to be around you when you anger the heavens.” Lumi added. “You should be safe to use any of your bloodlines.”

I still doubted that I’d be able to use my Pixiu bloodline. I still had the sense that using it would be a beacon to my extended family, a family that wouldn’t take kindly to their bloodline spilling outside of the family they knew and had carefully established.

“Where should I do this?” I asked.

“Outside the city and let us mana beasts guard you.” Quinn suggested.

Lumi nodded in agreement. “We could make it a trip. Just us.”

My mana beasts were right. If this was so dangerous, it was best to leave Kat and my wives out of it. I couldn’t imagine having to watch them go through this and have to resist the urge to help.

Folding the scroll back up, I stood and nodded to them. “I’ll leave a message with Wenxi’s butler. Let’s get this rolling.” It had been long enough. It was time to progress my cultivation.

I’d been stagnant for over two decades. Even though I’d been at the peak of power in the mortal world, it was stifling. An excitement started building inside of me.

The act of making progress had become such a part of my person, a part of my identity. Being unable to grow my cultivation had been stifling.

The thought of growing stronger was like a siren song to my soul. I mindlessly chased it, but then one day it popped, and I found myself at my destination with nowhere else to go.

Now, a new path was illuminated for me. A part of me almost hesitated and froze up. I’d gotten so comfortable that this next step was both thrilling and terrifying.

But I couldn’t let this opportunity slip through my fingers, not for a little comfort that I would most assuredly regret for the rest of my life. I had to push forward and do it now, lest any doubts settle in my heart. I needed to protect my family in this new world, and I’d already come up against those that could take me down. This was the next step.

“Okay. We’re going.” I told my mana beasts. “Into your rings until we are out of the city.”

Flagging down Wenxi’s butler on my way out, I left a message. His eyebrows raised at what I said, but he simply nodded. I trusted Wenxi’s belief in his loyalty.

I didn’t pause and gawk at vendor’s wares or notice what was happening in the city. Instead, I marched straight out the northern gates, heading for the outskirts of the mountain range. I planned to stop at the first small hill and perform the technique, modifying it based on my latest thinking.

There was a risk to not doing exactly what Wenxi’s scroll dictated, but years of experience had taught me to trust my gut. So far, it had helped me grow even stronger, like when I’d originally formed my meridians. I had a feeling personalizing this technique would prove similarly powerful. I’d make it part of my own cultivation rather than something borrowed from another.

As soon as I left the city gates, my feet left the ground, and I exploded out, eager and excited for the challenge that awaited me.

My mana beasts came out shortly after and followed along, smiles on their faces, feeding off my own excitement.

“Master. We are going to celebrate so hard when you finish.” Aurora was all smiles as she swooped through the air, easily keeping up with the rest of us that were running on the ground.

“Yes. After you reach the fifth rank, then it’s our turn!” Mei joined Aurora’s excitement.

I suddenly felt a massive hole in my wallet forming as I realized that I had nine women, and all of them were going to need this many mana crystals to proceed.

Then I paused, realizing that wasn’t quite true. I no longer had nine. Lumi made ten, and a relationship was progressing with Wenxi and Rachel. Twelve?

A moment of panic hit me. Would I have time for all of them?

But I let it pass. We had made it work so far, and our family supported each other. It wasn’t all on me, and I’d have to trust that we’d all grow even closer together. My current women had already blessed these new additions, and I had to admit, I was excited to see how those relationships evolved.