v6c55: Growing Roots

Cai Xiulan’s job was demanding. The hours were long. The stress ate at her like Wa Shi carefully nibbling away at something just slowly enough that he thought people wouldn’t notice before he consumed it whole. What she did decided if people lived or died, and it was a constant battle to make sure that she stayed on top of this tiger that she was riding.

And yet, in spite of everything, it was worth it.

Because it was working. She could see it working. The proof was right before her.

Xiulan stood within the Earthly Arena, the stadium raised to its highest point. There were quite a few in the audience around her.

“Zhuan Yimu of the Silent Rain Sect. Word has reached me of your righteous bearing and your composure in carrying out your duty,” Xiulan said, her voice carrying. She stood before the Young Master. He was seventeen years old. His face had not yet grown a beard. Standing at attention, his eyes not upon her, but upon his mother, the Sect Master of the Silent Rain Sect, and upon another, the Sect Master of the Stone Fist Sect.

“This one only carried out his duty, Grand Marshal,” Yimu replied. Xiulan offered him a smile. Proud, but trying to remain humble. He was doing admirably.

“And yet you carried out your duty, while knowing that merely a year ago you would have been killed for carrying it out.”

Zhuan Yimu was the leader of a team of cultivators. They had recently received a report about cultivating bandits from Rags’ information network, and they had been dispatched to investigate. While in the process of hunting down the bandits, their quarry had fled into the Stone Fist Sect’s territory.

The two sects were bitter rivals. In the past, to trespass into each other’s territory meant death.

Zhuan Yimu sent a transmission ahead, and then worked with the Stone Fist Sect to capture the bandits. Then the Silent Rain Disciple and his team had presented themselves to the Stone Fist Sect in proper accordance, and with the protocols the Azure Alliance had implemented.

Instead of triggering a war between sects… the Sect Master of the Stone Fist Sect had actually been impressed at the honour and decorum of the Silent Rain Sect Disciple. In their mind, he had marched directly up to people who had in the past would have held every intention of killing them for what they had done. No excuse would have been accepted less than a year ago.

And yet Yimu went forward anyway.

“We swore to forgive all grievances. We swore to protect the Azure Hills. That was our oath. That was my oath,” Yimu said, repeating the words that had swayed the Sect Master of the Stone Fist Sect. Yimu’s eyes shone with fire, the fire of a person who truly believed what they were saying… and was willing to accept the consequences for being wrong. “If this is worthy of recognition, then Sect Master Qin of the Stone Fist Sect deserves equal recognition.”

Zhuan Yimu walked out of their once-enemy’s territory unharmed, and with the Sect Master’s blessing and praise for his bravery and commitment.

With his team, they had the corpses of two cultivating bandits, Initiates who instead of choosing the path of righteousness, immediately used their newfound power to prey on others. They had killed twelve people in the nearby town, robbed and beaten numerous travellers, and other things that made Xiulan’s guts churn with fury upon reading about their crimes.

They had been smart and wily enough to nearly evade capture before. In the past, their hunters would have stopped at the sect’s border… and these criminals would have escaped. There would have been another day, another week, another month of killing the innocent.

Yet this time… this time, they were stopped. Another Sun Ken, nipped before the wicked bloom fully opened.

“You are correct. The Silent Rain Sect and the Stone Fist Sect have both truly embodied the spirit of our alliance. We only know the worth of our words when they are truly tested,” Xiulan declared. “Both sects have shown their honour and their commitment, and have set an example for the rest of the Azure Hills to follow.”

Sect Masters Qin and Yimu both swelled at the murmuring that followed her words. Neither were among the largest sects. Their hatred of each other was the most notable thing about them both, in most people’s opinion.

And yet, here they were. Maybe it was basic pragmatism that had stayed Qin’s hand at the chance of crippling his hated rival’s next generation. But it wasn’t pragmatism that had the Stone Fist Sect Master looking at Yimu with respect… or his granddaughter with a bit of pink in her cheeks.

For now, it was a reward ceremony for one of their first successful missions; and to set an example of what people were supposed to do. Perhaps in the future, it would be so common that it didn’t need to be commented on.

But right here, and right now, it was the right direction.

That deserved praise… and luckily, Xiulan had just the rewards.

The Spiritual Herbs she had helped grow at Jin’s farm, and several bags of rice were very well received.

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In addition to the fact that their Alliance was visibly working, it also helped that Xiulan had a bit less work in general. Fewer and fewer matters needed her direct attention, as people slowly started understanding their roles. Xiulan needed to step in and play mediator less and less.

The news of the Demonic Cultivators… and that Xiulan actually had a plan in place had helped with that. Nobody wanted any infighting when such a threat was still fresh in their memories. Elders met with each other to plan joint defense training, to discuss logistics, and how to support each other… rather than the normal politicking and veiled words.

She was certain that would return, but for the moment it was getting quiet… which gave her room to breathe.

Xiulan started finishing her work in the middle of the day, rather than late at night. For the moment it was nice, but Xiulan knew she couldn’t get too used to it. She would have to go from creating to maintaining the various institutions they were building, instead of letting them run without any oversight.

She had heard the story from Jin about the Cloudy Sword Sect, and what had happened to him. That would not be happening here.

Still, Xiulan did deserve a little break, and so she rose from her desk and went for a walk.

As soon as she opened her door, she was hit with the sounds of construction. Her office was soundproofed—at least once Delun and Biyu reactivated that portion of the formation.

She headed towards the sounds, and a few minutes later she came across the source of the noise—that being the main hall.

It was an absolute hive of activity.

“Jiayou, Jiayou!” Gou Ren called, in his element. His muscles bulged as he pulled on a thick rope.

‘Jiayou, Jiayou!’ Twenty monkeys chorused with him in Qi Speech as they pulled on the ropes with him. They were accompanied by ten other cultivators, all of whom were sweating as they hoisted a truly titanic pillar into an alcove. It was wide enough that ten men could spread their arms and hug it without any of their hands touching, and taller than a Magistrate’s palace. It was freshly carved and repaired.

In other places around the hall, people were hammering away or examining parts of the room, holding up schematics against what they were seeing.

“Slow! Slow a bit, we need to rotate it! Biyu! Check to make sure everything is aligned!” Delun commanded.