[RSM] Chapter 115. Unwanted (Patreon)

The city of the Spearhead Hills was located at the entrance of the Thousand Spears Pass, and home to another of the many Branch offices of the Silent Mountain. The Thousand Spears Pass was one of the many mountain passes through the Jagged Peaks.

Though high level cultivators were not hindered by things like high mountains and cold winds, for fifth realm and sixth realm cultivators, the cold and the steep heights were just a taxing obstacle, such barriers continue to constrain the bulk of the cultivation world. 

"We wish to pass." Gana Adan approached the guards and the guards looked at each other. There were whispers. 

Two elders of the Silent Mountain appeared. "Am I not wrong to presume that this group are all alchemists?"

Gana Adan squinted. "Yes, we are."

"Then I must refuse. The orders from our leaders are that we must turn away all alchemists." 

Tundra and the rest of the alchemists collectively tensed. Anger brewed, but none of them were stupid enough to try and challenge the elders of a Great Sect. Still, it felt strange. Tundra wondered why did the Silent Mountain even bother to enforce Prince Kaorl's ridiculous directive this far from the border, but for now, he studied the two elders intently. Carefully. 

"We've travelled for weeks. We were refused entry, and the elders of the cities closer to the border said that the cities further south will be kinder to us. And yet we are still refused entry when we are already here? When we traveled so far?" Gana Adan asked, his voice clearly laced with his growing fury, and Tundra was reminded of himself. 

That defiance was nostalgic. That raw youthful fire, backed with oodles of talent. 

"Orders are orders, alchemists. Take a different way." The elder of the Silent Mountain said with a face of absolute disinterest.

Again. Another refusal. "When will someone do something about this?" Gana countered. "Surely the Silent Mountain has more spine in them than to just bow to this ridiculous commandment! Truly I have eyes and could not see, only now I know that the Silent Mountain is silent because it won't speak up even when the Prince commits a mistake!"

The elder clearly took offense, because what came after was a fist. A spiritual punch of the seventh realm. Not meant to kill, but meant to hurt.

Gana blocked with his spiritual might, his arms raised, but still the elder's punch was from a warrior in the seventh realm, still a realm above Gana, and so he flew backwards. The Elder of the Silent Mountain answered. "Do not speak ill of the Silent Mountain's decisions, young alchemist. Watch your next words, traveler. My next fist would not be so kind." 

Gana bled, and there was unbridled fury in his eyes. He forced himself to stand, unwilling to buckle in face of his might. He forced himself to ask, clearly furious. "What is your name, elder?" 

"I am Elder Drefen Yung of the Silent Mountain, Spearhead Hills Branch."

"I will remember this, Elder Drefen Yung." Gana Adan declared, a look of absolute hatred in his eyes.

Drefen Yung of the Silent Mountain merely ignored him. In his eyes, Gana Adan is but a speck of dust, irrelevant to the power and might of the Great Sects. He didn't even bother him with a reply. 

Tundra sighed, and did not know why he felt a bit of second hand embarrassment. In his first life, was he so easily triggered and provoked?

Grudges form so easily, over such petty issues. 

Tundra decided to speak. "If the Silent Mountain would not let us use the city, may we, at least, pass through the city? We are more than happy to have an escort or a minder, to ensure that we do not stay more than necessary."

Drefen Yung's attention turned to Tundra, and their spiritual energies met. They brushed each other, like the exploratory punches between two sparring fighters. No Great Sect elder is a pushover, and Tundra could feel the man's aura was respectable.

Clearly, the man thought the same of him. "And you are?"

"Tundra Fox of the Verdant Snow." Tundra greeted. "May we have an entry? If not to stay, merely to pass?"

"Strange. Are you perhaps a guest elder travelling under some special circumstances?" Drefen Yung countered, clearly eying him with suspicion. "Such strength and abilities are rarely seen outside the Great Sects." 

Tundra cursed in his heart. Sometimes, being too strong for his level clearly attracted its own share of troubles. "Not at all, merely a fortunate turn of events, but it seems my luck has run out, as we are mired in an unfortunate sequence of events." 

"Well, Lord Fox, I am afraid my leader's commands are clear. There is no entry permitted to alchemists, especially those wanted by Prince Kaorl. I recommend climbing the Southern Ridge pass. It is unguarded, the journey will be tiring, but should not be a challenge for a man of your strength." Drefen Yung's double standards were clear. The way he spoke to Tundra was respectful, as if he still secretly believed he was a double agent of some sort. Such was the two-faced nature of cultivators. Arrogant to those beneath them, but deferential to those above. 

But Tundra still thought the decision was strange. "Elder Yung, has your leader explained the rationale behind this decision? As someone caught in this entire debacle, the Silent Mountain's position is puzzling."

In his mind, he tried to piece together the Silent Mountain's actions. Was the Silent Mountain compromised? Or was this just internal politics making its mark?

Elder Drefen Yung shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine, Lord Fox. More than one of the Great Ancestors advocated for Prince Kaorl's position, but the specifics of his argument is not something I am privy to."

Tundra nodded knowingly. "Such is life in the Branch offices of the Great Sects. Details rarely reach the limbs of the beast."

That response only increased Elder Yung's suspicion. "Spoken like one a little too familiar with our ways. But alas, those far from the centers of power can only obey. In better times, Lord Fox, I would more than love to have tea with you. Sadly, today, I must turn you and your entourage away." 

"Very well." Tundra nodded. There was some political machination within the Silent Mountains. He hoped it was only that, and not infiltration by the demons or the bugs.

***

"Why'd he treat you so politely!" Gana Adan was clearly slighted as they climbed the Southern Ridge Pass. It was a small, narrow pass used for wagons, and some of the locals who lived along the ridge. There were small houses here and there, but none were willing to host them. "I served Prince Kaorl for 200 years and benefited greatly from his treasury of resources, and yet what is the gap between you and me?" 

Tundra sighed. From what he understood, Gana Adan took great pride in serving Prince Kaorl as his trusted alchemist, and after the recent events, all of that came crashing down. Now even his own pride as a cultivator was challenged. 

For the past two centuries, he lived a life where everyone was respectful to him, and now that changed. "This journey has been tiring for you, Lord Gana Adan. Once we find somewhere to rest, it will all be better."

"No. Do not deflect it. How is it that you're a better cultivator than me?! With my resources, with my talents! I may be a realm behind, but I am no less a cultivator!" Gana said.

Taha Tarmath, didn't help. "Gana, you are being ridiculous. Lord Fox is a full realm above you, while you are still just potential." 

"You shut your mouth!" Gana blared at his fellow expelled alchemist. 

"Fight him, then." Taha said.

Tundra thought about Edison. His wives. His children. Was this how they felt? It didn't help them face reality when he downplayed his own strength. It only made them refuse his help. He remembered trying to teach Edison the finer parts of cultivation, but he sensed his son's refusal to acknowledge him. 

Did they need a dose of reality? 

He thought back to how he tried to educate his children. In this life, he tried to be approachable, but that didn't work the way he expected. Not with all of them. 

The older ones found him suspicious. Tundra is proud of his own strength. 

But his humility may be ingratiating. 

Or did they perceive his humility as him subtly looking down on them? That they were undeserving of his full strength, that he had to soften himself for them?

Even if that was not what he meant.

"Lord Gana Adan, your talents are incredible." Tundra went on the charm offensive, a part of him felt he didn't need this conflict. It was silly. "You are a passionate, focused alchemist and cultivator. With enough time and experience, I am certain you will exceed even my achievements."

"No. He saw something that made you special. Better than me, even with all the inheritances and techniques I've acquired from Prince Kaorl over the last two centuries." Gana Adan, however, was a little too stubborn and smart for his own good. "Something that made him treat you as if he was speaking to a fellow elder from a Great Sect."

Tundra mentally winced. "It is no more than an inheritance that gave me an artificial boost." 

The younger alchemist did not take that well. "I have inheritances too. What did he see?"

Taha Tarmath decided to repeat his earlier statement. "You two should just fight. Lord Fox,  Gana will not relent on this until you prove that you really are better than him."

Some cultivators just make it a point of pride. 

Tundra breathed, and decided to face it head on.

"Lord Gana Adan, if you'd like, let us spar in two ways. We make simple pills, and we do a simple trade of blows." Tundra decided there was no point denying he was the better cultivator. After all, in first life, he reached the 10th realm, and Gana Adan was either dead or just a nobody.

Gana blinked. "Really?"

"It is infuriating, isn't it?" Tundra stood and looked at the alchemist he rescued from the banquet stage. "You cannot believe it, even though it is I, who tossed your unconscious body into a spiritual gourd and escaped. So you lash out, thinking I am undeserving of such respect and deference. That my station in life is but a coincidence, an alignment of fortune, while yours is earned by your effort and talent." 

Taha grinned. "See. Be grateful."

Tundra glared. "No. I do not need gratitude. You are still working through your emotions and the difficult events. You did not expect the Prince you worked for to betray you. But it is so typical of talented cultivators to face setbacks, and take out their frustrations on those around them. A behavior so very much like my children."

Gana gulped, clearly did not like being called out. 

"So. Come. Let us fight, and let us prove to the heavens and earth that the gap between us is real. Let us shatter all your preconceptions, so that you have a clean slate. It is a lot easier to rebuild when there is nothing left." 

***

On a small, open ledge along the jagged peaks, Tundra and Gana had a spar, and Tundra's metal spears, even when reduced to its sixth realm form, were far superior to Gana Adan's weapon.

Gana was talented. Tundra could sense it and feel it. It was like looking at a past version of himself, and he realized, maybe Gana needed a beatdown.

Tundra remembered all his own humbling defeats. They were events that refined his heart, and forged his will. Gana had lived two centuries under the protection and auspices of Prince Kaorl, and thus never found himself truly challenged or pushed. 

The regressor gave the young talent a brutal beatdown. Even though Tundra clearly held his moves to the sixth realm for all to see, there was a level of control he possessed from ten thousand years of lived experience that Gana just couldn't beat. 

"Are you really an alchemist?!" Gana said as he was defeated, a part of his pride shattered, but it was not yet gone. "Or you are just a warrior masquerading as an alchemist?"

"Well, then let us make a simple pill, and see where we stand?" Tundra said. The jagged peaks were home to various commonly found herbs. "We harvest what we can find, and we make a [Hundred Remedies] pill from the pile of material. I'll let you pick the best from the lot."

Then, they stopped for a moment, with the same basic cauldrons, both made a simple [Hundred Remedies] pill. A simple 3rd realm pill meant to heal and remove common illnesses, colds, and restore spiritual vitality. Considered one of the essential pills in an alchemist's education. 

The rest of the alchemists served as judges. Though a few of them were clearly irritated that they took up some time for Gana's personal grievances, most of them also wanted to know the extent of Tundra's skill. 

After all, a Great Sect's elder looked down on them, but didn't look down on Tundra. 

Thus, they scrutinized the pills intently. Both made three pills, one to examine its external qualities, and two to be consumed by the judging alchemists. 

For many pills, the effects are only clear when they are consumed. 

A gap in their skill was also evident. Quality, texture, and shape. Both Taha and another alchemist tried one of the pills, and they all had to admit that Tundra's one was a little bit better. After all, Tundra had 10,000 years of experience, while Gana was no more than half a millennia old.

A small gap. But there was a gap.

Gana Adan, once the favored alchemist of Prince Kaorl, sat on a rock and did not know how to process his emotions. 

"Impossible. How? why" Gana Adan said. It was a declaration of absurdity. That he could not process being less than others. 

"How what?" Tundra said, and felt that even in his first life, he would've been on par with Gana. In fact, he believed the two would've been very close equals. 

Tundra realized he might have been a little too harsh in judging the alchemist. He truly was talented, it is just he didn't have 10,000 years of experience. "How do you exist?" 

"Like I said, a sequence of luck and being in the right place." Tundra said. "And a lifetime of suffering." 

Gana stared. Their eyes met. Moments later he looked away. 

Tundra sighed. "You have potential, Lord Gana Adan. With the right direction, with the right motivations, you can shine. You've lived a comfortable life under Prince Kaorl, and your steel was not put through the flames. You can go further."

"Are you saying that now to console me?"

"Not at all. I actually would like to invite you to take up residence with my sect, as a Guest Elder. The situation with your original sect is volatile, and I believe a role with us would be the best way forward."

Gana paused. "You did all that to recruit me?"

"I am not one to let talent go to waste." Especially one that reminded Tundra so much of himself. 

***

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