Even though problems arose due to my behavior at the Thunder Groom Selection, Minister Jin still insisted that I attend the Fire Flower Blossoming the following year. She was willing to concede that the associated social gatherings were optional, but she was firm in her stance that I at least needed to attend the competition. I wasn’t thrilled about this, but I accepted it as a responsibility that I had assumed when I became the Water Groom.

At the Fire Flower Blossoming, I sat with Mei in our designated booth. We were both hesitant to speak, so we mainly focused on the stage, but I did glance at her occasionally.

She looked more tired than she had been the previous year. I wasn’t sure what projects were consuming so much of her energy, but I was slightly concerned about what her blessing’s goals could be.

The tension between us seemed to build as we sat together alone in silence, so I tried my best to diffuse it. “Are you sleeping well?”

She flinched at my words. “Yes. Things have just been… busy recently.”

I nodded, but I didn’t know how to continue the conversation, so I returned to watching the competition. I noticed Mei turned her head slightly toward me, but she quickly jerked it back to focus on the stage below. This made me sigh with regret. I wished I could help her, but her psychological burdens were hers to bear. I had no way to assist with them.

After the competition, I headed back to North Lake City. I wanted to return to my seclusion immediately, but I needed to talk to someone about what was going on with Mei. I wasn’t sure who would be best to ask about this, but Mo SiLing was my Minister of Justice, so he knew everything that happened in this city.

“Minister Mo, do you know what Flower Mei has been doing recently?”

He looked surprised by my question. “Yes, Lord. I told you some time ago that young scions of two of our city’s clans had gotten into an argument. The situation has deteriorated quite a bit since then, with both clans constantly at each other’s throats. This has caused a great deal of damage to the city, and few are willing to offend either clan by trying to stop it. Flower Mei has been working to calm both sides and restore sanity to the situation.”

Such a conflict should have involved the city lord, and I should have gone out to put a stop to the chaos myself, but no one had informed me about the escalating nature of the situation. It seemed like Mei’s blessing was trying to keep me away from it.

I wasn’t sure what game Mei was playing at or why her blessing would put her in the middle of such a conflict, but I didn’t mind allowing it to proceed. In the end, this city wasn’t important to me. It was only a means to accrue karmic energy and test my ideas. If Mei’s blessing wanted to do something to it, I would let it.

I needed to return to my work.

As the years passed, my cultivation rapidly grew. After installing new production lines in the factory and building out new herb farms to feed them, I was gathering karmic energy at a faster rate than I could use it.

This growth in the city’s karmic energy production was slightly surprising. I thought the effects of the factory would taper off as the benefits from the pills plateaued. Nearly everyone in the city who needed a Nutrition Pill had been provided one within the first year, and I didn’t expect the continual supply to have much of an effect. My working assumption had been that making everyone healthy would have a large impact, but keeping them healthy would, at most, keep the karmic energy production constant. Instead, the rate at which it accumulated only continued to grow.

This could partly be explained by the additional production lines that we had installed, but this explanation seemed like a stretch. Rank 0 Healing Pills, Energy Pills, and Soil Enrichment Pills were nice, but they shouldn’t have had such an outsized effect. So, I could only conclude my original assumptions about karmic energy production were wrong.

In any case, wherever this energy had come from, it was exactly what I needed.

At 39 years old, I had enough energy to break through twice, reaching Martial Lord 7. From there, I broke through one stage each year, reaching Martial Lord Peak when I was only 42.

At this point, I had two years left as city lord. Unfortunately, though, no matter how much Lord-level karmic energy I built up, I wouldn’t be able to use it to make a true breakthrough to Martial King. Using such energy in my breakthrough would only allow me to ascend to False King.

Still, I spent another year stockpiling a reserve of this energy just in case I needed it.

After all my possible needs for karmic energy were met, I still had over a year in my position as Lord of North Lake, and I had no further use for the energy it gained me. So, instead of wasting it, I had Minister Jin help me through the process of passing the nominal lordship to Mei.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from NovelBin. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

During her reign, Mei had only been able to reach Martial Lord 6. This lordship would allow her to reach at least Martial Lord 8. Mei had helped me by managing my city for nearly a decade, and this was the only way I knew to repay her.

The longer my reign persisted, the more time I spent in seclusion.

I had stopped having council meetings so that I could focus on my work, and I only saw Mei once a year, during the Flower Blossomings and Groom Selections. Even though her cultivation base allowed her to retain the appearance of a young woman, something about the way she moved suggested that she was aging rapidly. In later years, she looked visibly exhausted. I was angry about what her blessing was doing to her, but it wasn’t my place to intervene.

She seemed to want to talk to me a few times during these events, but the words got stuck in her throat. I considered trying to say something to start the conversation myself, but I didn’t know how.

Thankfully, other areas proceeded more smoothly than my personal relationships.

The Hu Clan and I developed production lines for over half a dozen pills, and my alchemy skills had reached new heights. Because of my lacking affinities, I wasn’t able to concoct any Perfect Rank 4 pills, but I could make well over half of the pills in Emperor Li’s book at the peak of High-Purity.

Finally, after nine years as Lord of North Lake City, it was time for me to step down and let a new Water Flower Blossom.

Before a Flower Blossoming, there was a celebration among the city’s Rulers to mark the Blooming of the outgoing Flower. This was the final event that I would take part in as Lord of North Lake City, and I was more than ready to shed my title.

The celebration took place in the grand ballroom of the palace at the top of the mountain in the center of Hundred Flower City. I entered alone to see dozens of Lords and Kings from years past mingling while a small band played music in the background.

As I had during the Thunder Groom Selection’s party, I sneaked to the back of the ballroom–to that area designated for the Lord of North Lake–and hoped only to get through the evening without incident.

Not long after I arrived there, however, I heard a loud commotion that was drawing ever nearer. There were sounds of congratulations, cheering, and well wishes. A moment later, I saw what had caused such a scene.

Surrounded by a group of adoring Lords, Mei was walking directly toward me. She was the most beautiful I’d ever seen her. Her face showed only the barest hints of makeup, and her naturally red lips and cheeks contrasted against her pale skin, giving her the appearance of an immortal descended from above. She was wearing a form-fitting dark blue dress that had been embroidered with silver flowers, and an unusual scarf of pure white silk hung around her neck.

While countless Rulers were trying to get her attention, she didn’t stop to talk with any of them. She headed straight for me.

When she reached me, she looked me directly in the eye and held my gaze for the first time in decades.

A large, warm smile graced her face. She looked… happy. Far happier than she had been in years. “Fang, come. Dance with me.”

She didn’t allow me to refuse. She grabbed my arm like a young girl and hauled me to the open area in front of the band.

I didn’t know how to dance, but Mei didn’t care. She twirled and weaved around me like a fairy in the middle of summer. The entire time, the white silk scarf around her neck twisted and turned with her movements, as if it had a will of its own.

During a slower dance, Mei looked at me. “Fang, do you ever think about the future?”

“Yes,” I replied with confidence. “The pill factory designs are nearly complete, so I need to start spending more time researching the Brilliant Sun Empire. I could just build the factory on my own, but it would be best if I could involve the royal family in its construction from the very beginning.”

Mei smiled as I talked about my plans. “That’s good. I know you can succeed.”

The ball lasted for hours, and with Mei as my constant companion, the time passed far more quickly than I had expected. I even began to relax and almost enjoyed the event.

But as with all things, the night eventually drew to an end.

After returning to the City Lord’s Complex, I was ready to return to my studies with renewed energy. With the new Flower on the way, I would need to find a new residence, but I needed to finish a few of my projects first.

Before separating, Mei tenderly cupped my cheek with her hand.

“Thank you for tonight, Fang. I’m finally free.” With those final words, she departed, her scarf trailing after her.

The next morning, one of Mei’s Seeds burst into my workshop with a frantic expression on her face.

“Lord Su, Flower Mei… Mei… One of her servants found her alone in her room with a white silk cloth around her neck. She… committed suicide, Lord. She’s… dead.”

I stared at the young woman. Mei was dead? She had committed suicide? She had seemed so happy.

Realization struck me. “That bastard… Her damn blessing had driven her to suicide.”

Why? What was it trying to get from me? Did it want me to feel pity so that I would help her more in her next life? Did it want me to stay away from her? It was impossible to know, and it was impossible to second-guess. No matter how I reacted, it would be exactly the reaction her blessing wanted. I cursed, but I couldn’t do anything to thwart her blessing’s machinations.

As I was about to react further, my body froze. I didn’t know what to do.

Mei’s death was tragic, but I couldn’t do anything about it anymore. I needed to return to my work. She wasn’t dead forever, after all. I had to remain focused on what mattered.

I felt these thoughts were wrong deep in my soul, but it was impossible to express my feelings. I needed to see Mei’s body, to say goodbye, to say… something. A funeral… I had to arrange a funeral, right?

The thoughts of my body and the desires of my soul began to war against each other, and I felt a fracture form between the two, cleaving my mind in half.

I wanted to visit Mei. I needed to return to my work. I felt I should say goodbye. I knew it wasn’t goodbye, so it didn’t matter.

I had to set my feelings aside. What was really important? Was it saying goodbye to someone I’d see again in a few years, or was it working to acquire the fire seed?

The thoughts of my body triumphed against my weaker soul. I returned to work.