4. Making and Cutting Ties

“Senior brother Faust!” Sirius ran and jumped, only for Faust to push her face as she tried to approach. Now, even without an awkward angle he stood firm against Sirius.

“Really… What the hell is happening today.” Faust grumbled, looking between Rozaline and the bloodied Mue Dian.

“Hmpf… I see senior brother Faust has broken through quite successfully.” Sue Jane spoke, covering her lower face with her open fan as she stepped away from Mue Dian. “Congratulations on the breakthrough senior brother, senior sister.” She bowed and cupped her hands in respect once a little further from Dian.

“…” Faust didn’t respond immediately, looking over the few remaining Inner Disciples. Of them, Damarius, Sue Jane and Sirius were the only ones with powerful auras relative to their realm…

“Senior brother!” Sirius stopped trying to get closer and pulled his hand down, “Are you and Junior Sister at the mid stage already?”

“No… Though I don’t know about Junior Sister Rozaline.”

“Barely at the start of the early stage. It will be some time before I reach mid-stage.” She smiled smugly. Rozaline was the first person Faust had seen bragging about taking longer to reach the next minor realm.

But… Not everyone seemed to realise it was a brag.

“Oh? Did something happen during your breakthrough senior sister?” Sue Jane asked with feigned concern, still hiding most of her face behind her fan.

“Not at all.” Rozaline responded, shrugging her hand holding the scroll, before offering it back to Faust. “Senior Brother, may I speak to you about these later?” She asked with a smug smile.

Faust took back the scroll slowly, eyeing Rozaline. Whatever her intentions are, Faust couldn’t find them on her face. “As a senior it’s natural to help guide my juniors.” He responded, not exactly agreeing but not saying no either.

Faust turned his attention from Rozaline to Mue Dian, who was still struggling to stand.

Faust sighed, approaching Dian and putting down his herb pot.

“Senior brother…” The normally silent Mue Dian spoke pitifully.

“Is she fine, Senior brother?” Sirius asked from just behind.

“One moment.” Faust silenced them both, taking up one of Dian’s arms and gently inspecting it, poking a few spots. “Oblique Non-displaced fracture. You’ll need a splint, keep it cold and ideally elevated for a few weeks.” He explained, moving to the cut on her head. “Shallow cut, looks worse than it is.” He moved to the next. “Linear fracture on the femur, don’t walk for a week or two, keep it wrapped tightly and ideally cold.”

Faust stood up, “All in all, not as bad as any of the injuries look. Muscle shake is probably just overexertion. Cycle Spirit Qi properly, ideally Wood Qi through the body and you can cut the recovery time by half.” He completed his assessment. Thankfully, the injuries were “minor”, common even in the more intense friendly sparring a few small groups of disciples were into.

Sirius exhaled sharply, her shoulders slumping, unusually quiet.

“Since I admit the spar went a bit far, I will take my leave now.” After Faust delivered his verdict loud enough for the whole courtyard to hear, Sue Jane bowed once more, before walking away unperturbed, back up the Purple Gem mountain stairs.

Seeing Sue Jane’s back, Mue Dian tried to stand up once again, only for Faust to push her back down. For a few moments, Dian looked betrayed, but she stopped resisting after seeing Faust’s apathetic expression.

Dian remained seated, her eyes turning foggy before she glanced at Sirius and her expression hardened once more. She seemed about to say something, but another person interrupted.

“Thank you… Senior brother…” Perseus thanked, approaching the group while holding his arm tightly.

Faust glanced at it for a moment, then reached out.

“ARGH!?” Persius let out a surprised shout as Faust gripped his arm and pulled, twisting it before gently pushing it back together and folding Persius’s arm up and down.

“Dislocated elbow. Cycle Spirit Qi or Wood Qi for a few hours.” Faust explained.

“Quite the doctor aren’t we?” Rozaline commented from behind.

“The foundation is a matter of spirit and body .” Faust responded, before looking between Mue Dian and Sirius. He was pretty sure something had happened between the two. “Is something wrong?” He asked.

“…” Dian didn’t speak, but glared at Sirius, who hardened her expression slightly. Faust looked between the two again. ??? He was lost.

“Oh?” Rozaline on the other hand seemed to figure something out, looking from Dian and Sirius to Sue Jane, who hadn’t quite disappeared from view a few hundred steps up.

Waiting for further response from Dian and getting none, Faust turned away and brushed beside Rozaline before using one of the many utility arts he had learned, Silent Whisper.

“Care to help a brother out? What’s happening between the sisters?” Faust asked Rozaline.

Rozaline responded with her own variation of the technique, covering her mouth with her hand so Sirius and Dian didn’t realise they were even communicating.

“Since you let me see your masterpiece, let me tell you. I suspect the whole fight and situation was orchestrated by your cute little junior sister.”

“By Sirius?” Faust asked, confused.

“For as cute as she is, she’s quite the schemer.” Rozaline responded, turning to walk beside Faust as they moved a distance away.

“Do you know why?”

“Am I a mindreader? Why not ask yourself?” Rozaline responded, changing course and heading up the Purple Gem mountain stairs.

Faust stopped, rubbing his chin as he thought.

Faust and Sirius had first met when he joined her family’s merchant caravan to reach the 47th Clear Mirror sect recruitment trial. He was under no illusion when it came to her outward behaviour. Yet he felt he had known her enough to know she wasn’t blackhearted.

“Senior brother?”

Speaking of the devil, Sirius bounced up beside Faust, asking him in a small voice.

“…Did you really organise it on purpose?” Faust asked with the Silent Whisper technique, following Rozaline’s advice.

“…” Sirius paused for a moment, then looked down, taking a deep breath. “Yes.” She responded back with the same technique.

“Why?” Faust asked calmly.

“Mue Dian and Persius will die if I don’t do this.”

“…”

“You know it too right. They’ve already ruined themselves. If they keep taking missions like they have been. Without me around, they already would have died countless times in the past 2 years.”

“…” Faust continued rubbing his chin, staring off into the distance thoughtfully.

“You should have demonstrated it to them before. Their foundations are even weaker than that prick from the Redroot family.”

“…” Faust sighed heavily. She was right.

“I just didn’t expect Sue Jane to be crazy enough to use such a dangerous technique.”

“…” Faust stayed silent, nodding along.

“You should show them too. We both know they’ll just ignore us if we use words. As they did before.”

“…I’ll… Think about it…”

Sirius looked up at Faust for a few moments, before replacing her downcast gaze with a face of smiles.

“Wow! Congratulations on breaking through, senior brother!” She shouted out, using Faust’s distraction with his own thoughts to leap up and cling to him like a sloth.

“You’re so powerful I even thought you were at the mid-stage of the Open Palace realm!”

Faust was frozen for a moment, startled by how fast Sirius could change her whole attitude and demeanor. He gave an exasperated smile, turning to follow Rozaline up the mountain staircase. He had just entered the Inner Sect, drama and relationships could wait for a few days.

 

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

 

Manor 28, located most the way up Purple Gem mountain, was the Inner Sect dwelling Faust had been assigned for however long he remained at the Inner Sect.

Faust would either leave this place an overseer or a core disciple. Getting either his own hall to manage or his own mountain to do with as he pleased and focus on cultivation.

“Hmmm… I think I’ll be cutting it close again.” Faust mumbled.

“What close?” Sirius asked, sitting on Faust’s shoulders and resting her arms on his head. She had been unusually silent after they left the stone courtyard.

“Core Disciple status.” Faust responded, tapping his new identity token on the small manor’s outer wall entrance. An array carved into the door briefly glowed, before the sliding of a metal bolt sounded and the door quietly opened.

“Are you confident?”

“More or less. I can guarantee I’ll reach the Golden Core. My ultimate goal so far has been to aim for Nascent Soul.” Faust walked through the manor’s courtyard.

“So you’re aiming for an Iridescent Golden Core?”

“Earth Golden Core.”

“You plan to go beyond Nascent Soul?”

Faust paused at that.

Did I? He wondered. He was confident in Nascent Soul. So that was the logical choice to settle on.

But I could go further. Faust thought. The Earth Golden Core allowed one to reach the Deity Transformation realm.

“Well… The goal is the Nascent Soul realm… But…” Faust trailed off, “We’ll see what happens.” He finished.

“What about you? Are you still satisfied with Golden Core?” Faust asked, pushing open the doors of the manor itself, revealing a dusty but ornate interior, with decorated arches on corners and circular passages separating rooms, with a few old, decorated paper dividers and hardwood drawers.

“Hmmm…” Sirius leaned back, hands on her head as she hummed. “The most powerful person in my family is my grandfather eternally at the peak of Meridian Opening. If I can reach the Golden Core realm at all, then with my support, my kids or grand-kids will be able to reach Nascent Soul. Just like my great-great-grandfather who was only ever able to reach the peak of Qi Refining.”

“You don’t want to go higher?”

“Isn’t it too late? I followed your advice and my own families as best I could and formed a Two-Six foundation. But even with the external items I managed to gather and one of the sect’s array’s, my Inner Palace foundation is questionable at best. I’m not sure it will be able to support the weight of a True Soul or even an Iridescent Golden Core.”

“You’re only at the mid-stage. With a bit of work, we can definitely strengthen your foundation enough to support an Iridescent Golden Core.” Faust took Sirius by the waist, surprised how baggy her robes were, picking her up and setting her down on one of the wooden chairs.

“Mmh… Perhaps, but how long will it take to correct my foundation.” Sirius swung her legs, watching as Faust made a few gestures and hand seals.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Probably tearing your inner palace frame down and regressing to the early stage of the Open Palace realm first… Or maybe maintain your current cultivation for a bit and gather resources and more Innate Qi for a while before doing that?”

“2 years of effort down the drain.”

“Is that much? For an opportunity to reach Nascent Soul?” Faust asked, as all the dust and cobwebs in the manor started moving on their own, drifting towards the space between Faust’s palms.

“…I guess not. I already made friends with Satheon. Hmmm… At her current stage in alchemy, Phalecia will also have to start leaving the sect, so the 4 of us can form a new team to head out with.”

“Satheon? The body tempering maniac?”

“Yup! I’ve been on three missions for him at times when Persius and Dian were out of action and recovering. He’s crazy, but he’ll sooner die than let an enemy through the vanguard.”

“I see.” While the room didn’t look polished, all the dust and webs had gathered into a near solid ball that spun between Faust’s palms. With a snap of his fingers, Fire Qi consumed the ball, quickly igniting it and turning to ashes that Faust waved his hands and sent out the window.

“So do you want to aim for Nascent Soul with me?” Faust turned around and asked.

If one started cultivating at 15, the general benchmark for potential was 1 year to the peak of Qi Refining, 4 years to peak Meridian Opening, 10 years for Open Palace, 20 for Golden Core and 50 for Nascent Soul…

It was an unbelievably tough standard but ultimately it was just a general guideline. So long as Sirius accepted Faust’s offer he was somewhat confident in getting her to the Nascent Soul realm.

“Mmmmm…” Sirius’s expression changed a few times, smiling and frowning in succession.

Waiting for an answer, Faust pulled a cloth from his spatial bag, transforming Spirit Qi into Water Qi to dampen it. With the wave of his hand and a single hand sign, the dam cloth seemed to become alive, following his slight finger movements. The next moment, it started zipping around, shooting across surfaces in a blur.

“Is that your unique flying sword technique?” Sirius asked.

“Not quite. It’s a much earlier variation of it I modified into a general use Telekinesis Technique.” Faust elaborated, before turning back to Sirius. “So, what’s your answer?”

“…”Sirius stopped swinging her legs for a moment, then sighed deeply. “Alright, alright… I’ll try my best to follow you up until Nascent Soul… But no higher! I definitely don’t have the same capability you do and my foundation is far weaker than yours. I don’t know how far it can take me.”

Faust didn’t realise he was smiling. The path to immortality was often lonely, it was nice to have some friends to travel the road with. As for Mue Dian and Persius. Faust lost his smile. The two had ignored his and Sirius’s every warning.

There was nothing that could be done once a major realm was crossed. You couldn’t un-solidify the spirit body bar truly extraordinary circumstances. Just as you couldn’t destroy a meridian node once created or un-form your Golden Core, or turn the Nascent Soul back into a Golden Core once it was born.

But so long as one was patient, there were ways for the minor realms.

Faust turned back to cleaning the small manor.