Qongqor might have just been an old wagon driver, but he was still a Martial King who had been traveling the Heroes Domain for centuries. So, while he couldn’t tell me any secrets of the universe, his stories did help me better understand how this domain actually functioned. Therefore, the moment our carriages rolled into a small village that was only large enough to house a few thousand people, I knew that we had arrived at the capital of the Open Fist Sect.

As a four-star sect, the Open First controlled a complete empire that ruled over several large kingdoms, and this empire had a grand capital city that was the home of hundreds of thousands of mortals. However, because of the Saint’s rules, the only cultivators who were allowed to walk openly in that city were the acting Emperor and his guards—not the sect’s true leaders.

Not content to be relegated to backstreets and alleyways within their own lands, the leader of the Open Fist established a new city to serve as the sect’s administrative core. As a small village that housed only the sect’s highest-ranking members and most promising disciples, Hoi’kyun City fell outside the Saint’s edicts, and cultivators were allowed to walk its streets freely.

Of course, while this village may have been small, it still served as the face of an Emperor-level force. So, all of its buildings had been made of the highest-quality materials available, and they had been designed to impress the sect’s visitors as much as possible.

Our carriage pulled to a stop outside of a towered edifice of polished black stone, and a team of Grandmasters guided us to the luxurious accommodations that had already been prepared for us.

Upon entering my private suite, I found a pyramid of ornately carved green-jade boxes waiting for me on the room’s dining table. Opening one of these boxes revealed that each was filled with a set of high-quality Rank 3 herbs. The top of this pyramid was formed from five black-jade boxes, and these boxes contained sets of Rank 4 herbs.

Altogether, these herbs were worth between 500 to 1,000 spirit stones. For an Emperor-level force like the Open Fist Sect, this wasn’t much, but as a gift to an unaffiliated Martial Master, it could be seen as the height of extravagance.

Refusing this gift wasn’t an option. By not accepting it, I would either be suggesting that I was too good for such a gift, or that the Open Fist Sect wasn’t worthy of being my friend. Either way, not accepting it would be a huge slap in the face, creating a deep enmity between me and the sect.

I had to accept these herbs, but at the same time, I had no desire to be in any kind of debt to a faction that I knew nothing about. So, I needed to give them a gift of equal value in return. This wouldn’t exactly make them happy, since it would be signaling that I had no interest in forming a long-term connection with them, but they at least wouldn’t be able to interpret my actions as an insult.

The moment I saw what the jade boxes contained, I immediately knew what I could offer the sect in return for them, but if I was going to do this right, I needed to prepare.

As Emperor Chan had told us, because of a deal between the sect and the Palace, we were required to spend five days in this village. The goal of this delay was to force us to spend time around the sect’s members, in the hopes that we would form some type of attachment with them. I had no desire to waste any more time than necessary around people who would just be trying to recruit me, however, so I instead chose to spend this time in my room, cultivating.

After setting up a privacy formation and checking the area with my space affinity, I was relatively certain that I wasn’t being watched. So, I took out my crescent moon spade and a strand of the Soft Moon Fire and sat down in a Pill Qi Gathering Formation.

It had only been a dozen or so days since I had last advanced, but after all the time I had spent relaxing in the carriage, I felt safe taking the next step. After swallowing a Low-Purity Meridian Builder Pill, I got to work constructing both pairs of meridians that I needed in my right arm at the same time.

Simultaneously constructing two meridians out of toxic energy while also weaving two meridians out of moon spade qi stretched me to my limits, and I had to take a lot of terrible pills to gather the energy I needed, but with only six hours before our group was set to depart, I got it done and advanced to Martial Master 3.

Using what time I had left, I took out a few of the jade boxes that the sect had given me and transformed the herbs they contained into Perfect Three-Pattern Rank 3 pills. Once they were complete, I stored these pills in jade bottles and left them on the table.

The sect had given me hundreds of herbs, and in return, I had given them three pills. As these pills all contained moon spade energy, they might not be of much use to a sect of fist cultivators, but they were still incredibly valuable. Even if no one in this sect could use them, they could be traded away for favors from a sect of moon spade cultivators.

In any case, as I walked back to our carriage, I considered myself and the Open Fist Sect square.

After arriving back at the carriages, I found that four of our number had decided not to continue with us any further. Aside from Zoeng FungJing, one of the Masters and two of the Grandmasters had also chosen to stay behind in the sect.

This was somewhat strange, since none of these three were fist cultivators, but it also wasn’t overly surprising. As an Emperor-level force, the Open Fist Sect would be interested in recruiting any talented cultivators that they could get their hands on. Even if these talents weren’t a good fit for the core sect, they could still take up positions in branch and feeder sects.

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The three who chose to leave had done well in the Hall’s competition, but none of them were top-tier talents, so it was unlikely that they would have many accomplishments at the Palace—if they were even able to successfully join in the first place. They likely saw joining the Open Fist as their best way to guarantee themselves a future, even if it wasn’t the one that they had been hoping for.

In any case, whatever their reason might have been, when we reboarded the carriages, our group of 18 had shrunk to 14.

Over the next three weeks, we traveled across both rough terrain and well-maintained roads.

During this journey, we stopped in half a dozen more cities and villages, but thankfully, we weren’t forced to remain in any of them for more than a day. None of these places were quite as generous as the Open Fist Sect had been, but by the time we rolled into the Endless Chain Sovereign’s capital city, our group of 14 had shrunk to only 6—4 former Disciples, and 2 Masters.

After entering Maan‘bin City, Qongqor dropped us off at an inn, then said his goodbyes. I hadn’t known him long, but he seemed like a good guy. I would have to see if I could find him the next time I was in the area.

At this inn, no one was waiting around to greet us, and there were no gifts waiting for us in our rooms. This wasn’t too surprising, though, since we weren’t planning to stay here long–only long enough to get freshened up and prepare for the night ahead.

Four hours later, I was back out in front of the inn with Emperor Chan and our five remaining companions. There, we got into an elegant, if ordinary-sized, carriage and were taken through the city, to the palace at its northern edge. Once there, I stepped out of our carriage and saw several others arrive right behind us, each one depositing another group of young cultivators in front of the palace.

Emperor Chan didn’t even glance at these other carriages. He just gestured for us to follow him into the palace. However, after only a few steps, someone behind us let out a surprised shout.

“Chan!? Is that you? Why would the Palace send someone like you out west? And why would you go?”

I turned to see a middle-aged man leading a group of seventeen youths. He was a low-level Emperor, but, for some reason, his core looked… fragile.

Emperor Chan looked at this newcomer and nodded. “Ganzorig.” Then, he pointed his thumb in my direction. “A kid who may have some actual talent appeared. Enkhtuya sent me to pick him up—to make sure he got here in one piece.”

The newcomer, Ganzorig, eyed me suspiciously. “And… you actually got him here? You didn’t talk him into running off with the locals?”

Chan let out a dismissive snort. “This one knows his worth, and no one offered him anything other than some cheap herbs.”

“I see…” Ganzorig looked at me again, this time, with a far more discerning gaze. After only a second, his mouth opened in shock. “What the hell did you do to his cultivation base?”

“It was already like that when we met. All I can do is let him keep at it.”

By this point, one of the kids behind Ganzorig was, apparently, getting a bit annoyed that no one was paying attention to him. So, puffing out his chest, he took two steps forward and gave Emperor Chan a martial salute. “Greetings, I am–”

Ganzorig slapped the kid on the back of the head, forcing him into a deep bow. “Do you know who this is? Do you think your pathetic talent makes you special? How dare you disrespect Emperor Chan ZinMing?”

Turning back to Emperor Chan, Ganzorig cupped his fists and bowed his head. “Apologies, old friend. He’s the pampered former heir of one of the Sect Masters from down south. Got sent out west with some of the refugees and still hasn’t learned his new place in the world.”

Emperor Chan waved dismissively. “It’s not important. Come. Let’s not keep Sovereign Jeong waiting.”

Emperor Chan led us into a grand banquet hall that held dozens of round tables.

A waiter brought our group to the front of the room. Then, once the six of us Masters were seated, he guided Emperor Chan up to the table of honor that stretched along the back wall and seated him directly to the left of the fancy throne that was no doubt intended for our host.

Soon thereafter, Ganzorig’s group was brought to the table next to us, and Ganzorig himself was seated to the left of Emperor Chan.

In this manner, the hall slowly filled. Two more weak Emperors appeared, and they were seated to the left of Ganzorig, along with a handful of Martial Kings.

Once all the round tables were occupied, a group of eight youths entered from the back of the hall and sat down in the seats to the right of our host’s.

Finally, an elderly woman entered the hall. Everyone at the table of honor immediately stood to greet her, causing all of us seated below to rise as well. Once she sat down on the fancy throne at the center of the head table, Emperor Chan and the others also sat, giving everyone else permission to sit.

Once everyone was seated, the banquet hall’s doors opened wide, and a team of waiters poured inside, delivering food and drinks to every table. When everything was in place, the elderly woman raised her glass to begin the feast.

This meal lasted for an entire hour, and that entire time, the only people in the hall who uttered even a single word were the Emperors and the old woman. When it was finally over, the old woman let out a wave of qi to draw everyone’s attention to the front of the room.

“I am glad that all of you could join us in Maan’bin City. I am Jeong, the Endless Chain Sovereign. Not only has our local Hall produced several outstanding talents this year, but others have managed to do so as well. I wish all of you well in the trials to come. And remember, if you find the Palace of the Herb Sovereign ill-suited to your needs, you are welcome to apply for a position with the Endless Chain.”

Rising from her throne, Sovereign Jeong fixed her gaze on the open area below the head table.

The Sovereign flicked her wrist and shot out a long chain. One end of this chain remained firmly hidden away in the sleeves of the Sovereign’s robes, while the other end wrapped around to form a large oval directly in front of the head table.

Then, the Sovereign grunted as she poured an inordinate amount of qi down her chain and into the oval.

As the copious amounts of qi caused the chain to glow, Sovereign Jeong leapt forward and struck the center of the oval with an open palm.

The world shattered, and a black portal appeared within the space encircled by the Sovereign’s chain.

The Sovereign looked at the youths who had been sitting at the head table. “Inside! Now!”

Not wasting even a moment, the youths all immediately rushed forward and entered the portal.

Then, the Sovereign looked at my table.

I glanced over at Emperor Chan, who only gave me a curt nod. So, knowing what I was supposed to do, I jumped to my feet and dove into the portal.