Elder Margret took a deep, satisfying breath of the crisp morning air as she stood in the doorway to the White Stone Palace. It was such a refreshing experience, feeling the sun on her face and smelling the fresh air after spending the entire afternoon and night in the cavern trying to teach the rogue alchemists how to incorporate the Patriarch's fruit into pill recipes.
As it turned out, the rogue alchemists were slower to pick up new things than she had expected, so it had taken many more hours than planned to teach them everything they needed to know.
I hope Stella didn't get too stressed making that poison pill while I was away. Elder Margret thought while glancing around at the courtyard lay before her.
A smile adorned her face as she saw a dozen crimson-haired youths sitting silently and diligently cultivating the ambient fire Qi.
Elder Margret's 8th stage Soul Core pulsed quietly in her chest, drawing the ambient fire Qi toward her as she watched the rising sun over the far horizon.
"Elder Margret," Someone hissed in a low voice, drawing her attention to a crimson-haired boy sitting on the cold stone floor a few meters away, "Could you please cultivate somewhere else?"
She was initially confused by the boy's blunt words, but after a quick glance around, Elder Margret noticed many youths had broken out of their meditation and looked at her with slightly annoyed expressions. Something she couldn't blame them for as they were still trying to mellow out their fiery personalities as a result of cultivating fire Qi.
"My apologies, I got distracted." Elder Margret said as she reigned in her Soul Core's influence to stop drawing in all the ambient Qi in the air away from the youths in the courtyard and sent it back toward them.
Without a proper Qi gathering array in the courtyard to absorb the ambient Qi and evenly distribute it, whoever had the highest cultivation would draw the sparse fire Qi away from those weaker. Which was Elder Margret in this case, as she was an entire realm above anyone else present.
Luckily, work had already begun on converting the entire White Stone Palace into a large runic array with the vast wealth acquired from the recent alchemy tournament. Elder Margret could see a few people huddled over a table covered in parchments of runic diagrams.
Those must be the formation masters that the Grand Elder hired yesterday. Elder Margret assumed as she witnessed a few new maids hesitantly walking up to the group with trays of refreshments.
Elder Margret had never seen the White Stone Palace so lively with a sudden surge of new mortal personnel. After completing their tasks, the two blonde-haired mortal maids stuck out in a sea of redheads gasped and hastily bowed when they saw her.
Finding their reactions to her presence troublesome and to avoid causing any more issues, Elder Margret strode past them, through the gate, and turned left toward Red Vine Peak. Leaving the Redclaw youth to cultivate in peace.
"It's been a while since I've had to walk anywhere," Elder Margret muttered as she half expected a portal to suddenly appear and lead her somewhere. However, the portal never materialized, so with her hands clasped behind her back, she followed a mountain path that winded through the scarlet forest while enjoying the morning breeze.
Nothing much of note occurred for a while as Elder Margret enjoyed the chorus of birds while being warmed by the sunlight streaking through the canopy.
Finding the peace to calm her mind, she entered a half state of meditation as the fire Qi from the many Blaze Serpent Roses that grew on all the trees swirled around her and slowly filled her Soul Core.
It would take months to advance a single stage at this rate. The fire Qi is so sparse even this deep into the forest.
Elder Margret sighed. She appreciated the immortal's efforts to make their new home more habitable for her family, but the fire Qi flowers would never manage to live up to the fire Qi that had been present in the volcanic region they had called home.
Lost in thought, Elder Margret was drawn toward a beautiful vermilion bird squawking on a nearby tree branch. Its beady eyes betrayed an intelligence far greater than a regular bird's, and its unique feathers drew her intrigue.
"Hey, little guy," Elder Margret cooed as she cautiously approached the bird, making sure to restrain her Soul Core to seem as harmless as possible. Like cultivators, monsters saw mortal humans as weaklings that could be ignored, so Elder Margret wanted to pass as one.
The bird stopped squeaking angrily at the heavens to switch its attention to the human approaching it.
Summoning some luminescent mushrooms she had picked from the cavern earlier, Elder Margret tried to feed one to the bird.
The human-sized vermillion bird made the thick black branch creek with its every move as it curiously extended its long neck toward the mushroom.
Elder Margret smiled because she recognized this bird species from the volcanic region and was glad to see them again.
"Here, it's for you—" Elder Margret stumbled back a step as the giant bird screeched right in her face and furiously extended its feathered wings and shot up through the canopy.
Elder Margret was briefly bewildered, but she felt a wave of power wash over her, causing the hairs on her neck to stand up and her Soul Core to quiver.
Spreading out her spiritual sense, she felt thousands of life forms fleeing the mountain—the birds took off to the skies, and the small mammals scurried toward the ground.
What in the nine realms is going on?
Elder Margret began gathering crimson flames around her fingers and sprinted toward Red Vine Peak, as she noted that was where the wave of power originated.
Did the Patriarch do something, or has a monster appeared on the mountain range?
The forest became a blur as she shot down the winding mountain path while trailing flames behind her. It was only this easy to move quickly due to the ambient fire Qi in the air that she could pull on to fuel her movement technique.
She then noticed that the trees around her were aflame with power, and there was a human up ahead?
Elder Margret came to an explosive stop right before a large man standing on the mountain path beside a beige four-legged monstrosity that looked like a cursed merger between a human and a turtle with no eyes, a giant maw, and black vines for hair.
"Grand Elder Douglas?" Elder Margret blinked as she recognized the man.
"Oh, Elder Margret," Douglas looked up at her and chuckled, "I must admit being called a Grand Elder by someone my senior in every way is bloody bizarre."
His hands were firmly planted on the ground and seemed to be turning the hard stone of the mountain into mud. Over his shoulder, Elder Margret could see a beautiful cobblestone pathway snaking through the trees and branching off either side with steps down the mountainside to somewhere else.
"You deserve to be called with such a term as a proud member of the Ashfallen Sect," Elder Margret said as she dismissed the crimson flames swirling around her fingers and relaxed her Soul Core.
"Also, sorry for interrupting your work," Elder Margret said apologetically, "I just felt a disturbance throughout the mountain range, which scared off the wildlife during my walk over to the cavern to see Mistress Stella."
Douglas nodded as he stood up, "I see. Well, you are welcome to see the changes the Patriarch is making yourself. Just follow one of these steps to reach a grove."
"A grove?" Elder Margret wondered as her eyes followed one of the nearby staircases that cut into the cliff face and led to a small group of trees on a ledge down below.
"Aye, the Patriarch is getting this place ready for when various cultivators join the Ashfallen Sect," Douglas explained as he leaned against the leg of the abomination and used it as shade from the rising sun, "The groves will have trees covered in plants that produce different types of Qi—"
"And then runic formations will be installed to keep the Qi within the groves?" Elder Margret asked.
"Yes," Douglas nodded, "I believe that's the plan."
Elder Margret then felt a terrifying presence awakening in her consciousness. Knowing what it was, she quickly summoned a Mind Fortress pill and scoffed it down.
"Taken an interest in my little project?" The immortal's chorus of a hundred overlapping voices overwhelmed her mind, "Take a walk and explore one of them and give me your thoughts."
Elder Margret released a shaky breath as she felt the Mind Fortress pill push back the creeping white fog and numb the immortal's presence in her mind.
"As you wish," She replied with a tranquil voice and calmly walked past Douglas to stand before one of the branches of stairs that led down below. She went to ask Douglas another question, but the man had already returned to his work, and she didn't feel like interrupting him again.
Why are they all so crazy diligent with their work all the time?
This was one of the reasons Elder Margret felt fine with calling Douglas a Grand Elder despite his inferior life experience and cultivation. She could tell this man would surpass her in due time as only a few stages in the Soul Fire Realm separated them, and he had a great work ethic.
Shaking her head, she looked down the path at her feet and was surprised to see Dreamweaver Orchids blossoming on two black roots running alongside the steps.
Illusion Qi that swirled through the air somewhat obscured the steps, as if her brain doubted reality. Thankfully, the effect wasn't too strong, and she could easily penetrate the illusion Qi with her spiritual sense and not be tricked.
Trusting her spiritual sense, she walked down the steep steps and soon found herself walking into a small circle of trees covered in Dreamweaver Orchids.
"There is still a lot of fire Qi here, and I can sense the trees were beginning to form fire Qi Soul Cores." Elder Margret spoke her thoughts aloud for the immortal, "But after a few days, this will be the perfect place for someone with illusion affinity to meditate heaven's will without getting distracted by the whispers of too many other elements."
Elder Margret stood in the center and noted the space was around half the size of the White Stone Palace's courtyard. So, there was plenty of room for about thirty people to cultivate together.
This is great as illusion Qi is problematic to come by in the wild, so only those with access to expensive gathering formations can cultivate it. However, doesn't this sort of count as a very expensive formation and will be even more once a Qi gathering array is added?
Elder Margret realized she had grown somewhat numb to the Patriarch's ingredients, but each of these perfectly grown rare Dreamweaver Orchids could sell for a large amount of Spirit Stones.
"Patriarch, I believe these flowers will cause problems," Elder Margret said, "They are far too valuable to leave out in the open like this. Even the most diligent sect members will be tempted to pluck a few and sell them on the market."
"That's an interesting point. Although the flowers are worthless to me, they must be valuable in the eyes of others," The immortal hummed in her mind, "What if I created protection formations to prevent theft? Do you think that would work?"
Elder Marget sighed, "I'm not the one to ask such a question as I lack knowledge of runic formations. The Grand Elder did hire some Formation Masters recently for a good chunk of our funds to convert the White Stone Palace's courtyard into a Qi gathering formation, so you could ask them for advice."
"I will need you to ask them for me once you have finished helping Stella," The immortal replied.
Elder Margret nodded as she remembered that they were working on a deadline. The meeting with the Merchants would occur in two days, and the poisonous pill to keep them in check still wasn't finished.
"Do you not plan for everyone to take oaths?" Elder Margret asked because that would be an easy solution to the problem.
"Are oaths a common solution for sects?" The immortal asked, "I have noticed the Blood Lotus Sect seems adverse to using them."
"It's common for sects in the Celestial Empire to require an oath of loyalty upon joining. It's just not something practiced out here in the wilderness, as nobody wishes to be bound by heaven and unable to stab their neighbors in the back. If the Blood Lotus Sect's Patriarch required the noble families to swear an oath, they would have never come together in the first place."
There was a long pause, and Elder Margret stood there awkwardly.
"My trust in oaths has waivered in recent times."
Elder Margret's blood ran cold. Did he know about the Redclaw's doubt in him? Had he been listening?
"But requiring an oath of loyalty to use these groves could be a good incentive," The immortal continued, "And with some additional security from the Ents and some runic formations, I believe the flowers will stay safe."
Elder Margret let out a sigh of relief. It didn't seem the immortal had noticed her talk with the Grand Elder, or at least didn't feel the need to reprimand her.
"Do you have any other feedback regarding the groves?"
Elder Margret pondered the immortal's question as she glanced around. In all honesty, it was a circle of trees on a mountainside. There was nothing much to criticize, but she looked forward to the future where there would be hundreds of these, with one of every affinity known to exist.
"I do not," Elder Margret shook her head.
"Then you can go and complete your work with Stella."
There was a ripple of spatial Qi as reality was torn apart, and Elder Margret saw a very excited Mistress Stella through the rift.
Elder Margret walked through the rift and wrinkled her nose at the sudden overwhelming flora smell, "Sorry for the wait. It took longer than expected to teach the newbies—"
"I did it!" Stella bounded over and excitedly pushed an unrecognizable pill into her hand.
"—What's this?" Elder Margret asked.
"The cursed pill," Stella grinned, "I figured it out!"
"How?" Elder Margret was at a loss.
Stella was smug as she gestured for her to follow, "Come, I will show you."
