Chapter 137: Obstacle

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    Durable as the robes worn by the disciples of the Eternal Flame Clan are, Lu Meis fire has left hers in tatters. Her wild hair now falls freely past her shoulders, liberated from the ponytail it was kept in. Wordlessly, Liu Jin removes his upper garment and places it over Lu Meis shoulders, making sure to avert his eyes.

    Even covered in sweat and soot, Lu Mei is beautiful.

    Always so proper. Lu Mei chuckles softly but nevertheless holds on to the garment. I dont mind if you look. Id appreciate it. A lady likes to be admired.

    Id love to look, Liu Jin admits, ignoring the blush rising on his face. But if I did, I might forget about everything else.

    Lu Mei sighs. There is a tired note to it.

    And that would be just terrible, wouldnt it?

    Liu Jin does not answer right away. The silence that settles into the room is neither awkward nor comfortable.

    My mother was the granddaughter of an Elder of the Red Sky Pavilion, Lu Mei says at last. She grew up in luxury and learned to expect nothing but the best. The man she married could not be any different. Indeed, the man my grandfather chose for her was talented, belonged to a clan of equal standing, and enjoyed a good reputation within the Sect. Common wisdom dictated it should be a great marriage, and for a time, it was. They were talented, well-connected, and wealthy. All those things we call virtue.

    Lu Mei lets her head rest against the wall as she speaks; her voice is heavy with melancholy. Her eyes stare at nothing.

    What changed? Liu Jin asks.

    It is not a matter of what changed but rather what didnt. My father hit a bottleneck.

    Oh.

    The rate at which a cultivator advances is never an even one. A cultivator will have an easy time with certain stages of their development but struggle mightily with others. The reasons are many and varied. The cultivators talent. Their resources. Their mental and spiritual state. All those things can be factors. It may also be that none of them are. Regardless, a cultivator will eventually reach a point where he cannot advance no matter how hard he tries.

    That is what is called a bottleneck.

    Cultivators can run into bottlenecks several times over their journey to Eternity. A cultivator can be impeded by a bottleneck for months, years, and even decades. The line between the talented and the mundane is drawn by a cultivators ability to overcome their bottlenecks. The talented keep going.

    The mundane are left behind to rot.

    My father was in the late stages of the Earth Realm when it happened. No one paid much attention to it at first. Bottlenecks happen. It was expected my father would overcome it in a few years at most. He was, after all, a talented cultivator, one of the biggest talents of his generation. Everyone expected him to reach the Heaven Realm eventually.

    She says it casually, as though it didnt matter. Her eyes, however, meet his and beg him to ask the question.

    How long did it take?

    Decades, Lu Mei replies. Decades passed, and my father could not overcome his bottleneck. It is the sort of thing that can strain ones marriage. Not right away, of course. Even my mother is not so unreasonable. However, time has a way of wearing away ones patience. No woman wants to be attached to a substandard man, especially when whispers and rumors start flying among her peers and she becomes a target of mockery by association.

    Lu Meis laugh is perfect in the genteel scorn held within.

    My mother did not like that. She did not like that at all, and though she did her best to crush her rivals, she could not deny the inherent problem. My father was no longer one who stood above others but just another common person left behind in the path to Eternity. Suitable for some, but not for her. Thus, her eyes began wandering in search of a better man.

    Would that not have created trouble within the Red Sky Pavilion?

    If Lu Meis mother and father both come from influential clans within the Red Sky Pavilion, Lu Meis mother publicly shaming her husband could have greatly strained the relationship between the two clans.

    Perhaps, but if the man was in a high enough position, no one would be able to complain, and my mother had an exceptionally high-ranking man in mind.

    If Liu Jin is right about the flames that had manifested in Lu Meis body, her mother had certainly aimed high.

    The Red Sky Pavilion has close ties to the Eternal Flame Clan. It is polite to say we are allied Sects. It is accurate to say the Red Sky Pavilion is a subordinate Sect. Regardless, even among the Sects who have pledged their loyalty to the Eternal Flame Clan, few compare to the Red Sky Pavilion.

    Like the Golden Fist Sect?

    Lu Mei gives him a flat stare.

    I do hate when you bring up other people when I am talking about myself.

    My deepest apologies.

    As I am gentle and magnanimous, I will accept them. The two share a chuckle. Tension drains away from the room, but only some of it. But yes, the Golden Fist Sect is one of the few groups that can claim such closeness to the Eternal Flame Clan. My mother intended to take advantage of that closeness.

    I cannot imagine many would be in a hurry to take a married woman, and if they did, itd probably be as a concubine, not as a wife.

    Unless, of course, Lu Meis mother is a beauty that can overturn a nation.

    Which, looking at Lu Mei, is not out of the realm of possibility.

    Oh, men do stupid things for beautiful women all the time, especially one from a good family and in possession of a great deal of talent. My mother taught me men are easily led by their lusts. She gestures at herself with a flourish. Considering my existence, it is hard to argue she is wrong.

    Huang Shings little quest, Liu Jin supposes, is another such example, though he hasnt seen Feng Zhi in a rush to marry anyone.

    And yet, your family name is Lu.

    Patience. I am getting there. She smiles. Allow a lady some theatrics when relating her origins. Now, where was I Right. Of the many branches of the Eternal Flame Clan, the closest to Red Sky City, home of the Red Sky Pavilion, is the Soaring Sparks Valley Branch. It is through the Soaring Sparks Valley Branch that most of our contact with the Eternal Flame Clan is carried out. The Branch Master, Feng Dianzuo, is particularly fond of hunting Spirit Beasts. He will often invite influential people from across the region to take part in Spirit Beast hunts.

    I am guessing your mother showed a special interest in attending the next one.

    Lu Mei nods. Indeed. Things aligned for her rather beautifully. Desperate to overcome his bottleneck, my father used all his remaining social capital to gather several cultivation aids and locked himself in isolation. He swore he would not come out until he reached the Heaven Realm.

    I imagine not many took it seriously.

    I was not alive back then, but from what I have been able to gather, his isolation was the subject of many jokes. There were bets on whether my father would disappear forever or come out of isolation an even bigger failure than before. By then, my mother was past caring. What mattered was that she had been given an opportunity to fraternize with high-level cultivators without obstacles.

    Lu Mei frowns; her gaze turns sharp. Wary.

    There are certain things Id rather not speak about. So it is like this? I had always wondered.

    Understandable.

    I assumed there was no need to mention something so obvious.

    If it was obvious, why not go to Feng Dianzuo for help?

    I could say his branch was too close to my parents sphere of influence. It would certainly be true.

    But not the full story.

    Lu Mei sighs

    ...My mother went into Feng Dianzuos mansion and came out with me. That much is true. What people do not know is that there was someone else there. He was traveling incognito, but my mother, just like me, has a good eye for men. Its sad, really. Had she aimed for Branch Master Feng like she planned, things could have gone differently, but she couldnt resist.

    Who was it?

    Lu Mei doesnt say anything.

    She merely sends out a single image.

    It takes all of Liu Jins effort not to gasp.

    Does anyone else know?

    Sometimes, I wonder if my father knows I exist. If he does, he certainly has not acted like it, Lu Mei replies. I once feared the Feng Clan might somehow sense the flame inside me, but that has yet to happen.

    Even as she speaks, she sends another image into his mind. No. Not just an image.

    A memory

    ~~~

    ...to think Qing Jin was able to grow close to the bastard daughter of Feng Dianzuo. Oh, do not look surprised, dear. You are hardly the first bastard child of a Feng to join the Eternal Flame Clan. You will not be the last. I daresay you have it in you to be more successful than most.

    Honored Elder, I thank you for your praise.

    However, there is one small thing I wish you could clear up for me. As far as those important enough know, you are Feng Dianzuos bastard daughter. That being the case, it seems odd to me that your father never claimed you. Feng Dianzuo is not one to turn talent away.

    I have never spoken to Branch Master Feng Dianzuo, so I cannot claim to know his thoughts.

    Good. Then you can just stay silent and listen to a theory of mine. I know who else was in Soaring Sparks Valley around the time you were conceived. If you were truly that mans daughter, unbelievable though it may be, well, then itd make perfect sense why Feng Dianzuo would keep away from you and never even try to claim your mother as his own. What do you think?

    I think the thoughts of an Elder are too complicated for this little miss.

    ...You only hesitated for a moment. Good, but there is still room for improvement. I expect good things from you and Qing Jin.

    As you command, honored Elder.

    ~~~

    Elder Xue.

    She knows.

    That is troublesome.

    An understatement if there ever was one, Lu Mei says, her face bitter. No wonder she wanted nothing to do with Elder Xue.

    A moment of silence falls over the room. Lu Mei sits before him, exposed in more than one way. The secrets she kept are now laid bare before him.

    My wife belongs to the Divine Frozen Palace.

    What?!

    Liu Jin cringes. Lu Mei did not speak, but she might as well have shouted in his ear. Still, he tells her. About Xiao Shuang. About Eastern Port City. About Murong Bang. About why he is in the Eternal Flame Clan. His fathers legacy is the only subject he avoids. It is not a conversation he wishes to have now.

    Does he tell her all this to even the scales or because he trusts her now that he knows her secrets?

    He wishes he knew.

    Your wife joined the Divine Frozen Place when you were children. A few years later, the Storm Dragon Empire attacked your hometown. Now, you have joined the Eternal Flame Clan on a vengeance quest because they are the one faction that already has a stake in the conflict, and you wish to maneuver them against the mad general that attacked your hometown. Have I summarized everything correctly?

    It is not a vengeance quest...

    Lu Mei snorts.

    ...but you are essentially correct.

    We are quite the pair, arent we?

    That we are.

    ~~~