The Magistrate: Chapter 46 (Patreon)

Chapter 46

The 3rd Prince

Old cultivators were not inclined to change. Tobias knew this before he entered his cultivation chamber to break through to the foundation realm, but he misunderstood how deep this sentiment ran. He knew the cultivation world was bound by tradition, tied up so tight that it took irrefutable proof for many of them to change their views on the most basic matters. But he didn't understand their yearning to return to the ways of the past or the patience they could display. The Great Clans and sects had been waiting over three centuries to make their move and return The Three Kingdoms to its former glory, and because of Tobias, that moment had come.

The enlightenment the emperor had undergone while reading Tobias's enlightenment manual triggered an enlightenment tribulation. The enlightenment tribulation destabilised the 2nd Emperor's ability to repress his breakthrough to the immortal realm, and the moment the enlightenment tribulation finished, he was confronted with another as he began breaking through.

The 2nd Prince immediately made his move, breaking numerous taboos around distracting those undergoing tribulation, assassinating the 1st and 3rd princes and attempting to do the same to the clan heads and sect leaders visiting his father's palace. Without the backing of a sage, the Han clan did not have the power to rule The Three Kingdoms, and the tyranny and repression of the 2nd Emperor's rule had guaranteed that they would not be allowed to continue.

No one was sure if it was the death of his sons, the fact that those deaths were at the hands of their brother, or the fact that the emperor had already undergone a tribulation, but the emperor failed to withstand his second tribulation. On the third day, his body crumbled to dust under the barrage of tribulation lightning, returning his cultivation to the world it came from and drastically increasing the level of chi in the Capitol.

The 2nd emperor's death and the attempted assassination of the clan heads and sect leaders started a civil war and triggered Tobias's breakthrough, popping his minor energy meridians open and cleansing his pathways in an instant, which caused him to undergo several transformations in quick succession.

Three days after his breakthrough, Tobias lay in his bed, groaning in pain as he heard distant footsteps approach. Every bone in his body was shattered. Every organ and muscle damaged. His meridians and pathways had stripped his flesh of the healing chi that held him together, using it to heal and grow larger. Those were the only parts of Tobias that weren't currently injured, and the only reason he was still alive. The injuries he'd sustained were ever greater than when he'd been nearly beaten to death.

His body and energy meridians were now the same size as a natural cultivator's meridians, and his energy meridians were pulling in chi, refining it, and feeding it to his body meridians, so they could stabilise injuries and heal him. Tobias knew his injuries weren't going to kill him, but it would take him several weeks to recover, because every physician who had seen him didn't understand the nature of his transformation and advised against using healing pills or elixirs.

Aunty Nang slid his bedroom door open and bowed. She had come to take care of him the moment she'd heard he was injured. "I'm sorry to disturb you, Magistrate Finch, but a guest has arrived who cannot be turned away."

Patriarch Lee's physician scowled at Aunty Nang from the corner of the room where he was watching over Tobias's care.

Tobias waited for Aunty Nang to rise and then motioned her forward with a twitch of his finger.

Aunty Nang hurried to his side.

"Speak," Tobias whispered. Anything louder would leave him in agony.

"A member of the Lee Clan has arrived at your gate with the 3rd Prince. He wishes to negotiate access to your manuals."

"Dead," Tobias whispered.

Keeping up to date on the civil war and what was happening was the only way Tobias could distract himself. The Great Clans and sects were fighting across The Three Kingdoms, trying to force the imperial armies to retreat to the Capitol. His family were half a day from Cloud City, running as fast as they could, under the protection of core realm cultivators from the Great Clans and sects. Everyone agreed that this was just the opening of what would be a very long war.

"The 2nd Prince's claims over his brother's demise appear to have been false," Aunty Nang replied.

Tobias did his best to focus through the pain and try to piece everything together. The 3rd Prince wanted access to his manuals, and the Lee Clan wanted him to have access to the manuals despite being at war with his brother. That likely meant the Great Clans wanted him to have access to. If they wanted him to have access, it was likely because they had made some sort of deal.

"Invite him in," Tobias whispered.

***

An hour later, Tobias was lying on Xu Ling's fainting couch in his reception hall. Being dressed in his royal magistrate robes required shifting his broken bones and undoing the last few days of healing, but he could not appear before the 3rd Prince in anything less. To describe his condition as utter agony would be an understatement. However, foundation realm cultivators were so robust that so long as they were conscious, they could act.

The 3rd Prince walked through the entrance alone, head held high, looking every inch the regal cultivator that he claimed to be. His robes were not stained, and there were no visible signs of the battle he had fought. He crossed the room and stopped before Tobias, slightly inclining his head with respect, before taking a seat.

"Speak, Han Jian," Tobias whispered, clearly announcing his allegiance to those fighting the 2nd Prince by not referring to him as the 3rd Prince. Using so many words was difficult with the damage to his jaw, but fewer would fail to communicate his meaning.

Han Jian remained calm. "I wish to negotiate for access to your manuals before I break through to the sage realm."

Tobias stared at the 3rd Prince, confused. He couldn't understand why the Great Clans and sects wanted him to have access to his manuals if he was going to attempt a breakthrough. Did they want him to succeed and end the civil war, or did they want him to attempt to break through and fail? The latter seemed more likely.

"Why not take?"

Han Jian considered the question. "I am not a thief, but even if I were inclined to such actions, I would be a fool to try. You have four nascent soul realm cultivators watching over your compound. If it came to a confrontation, two would die, and I along with them."

"How survive?"

A small smile twisted his lips. "I may have no interest in the throne, but I knew that would not stop my brothers from killing me. The body my brother recovered was that of my clone. By now, he is undoubtedly aware that I am alive. I expect him to make another attempt on my life. Without the assistance of the Great Clans and sects, it will likely be fatal."

"Why manuals?"

"They offered my father enlightenment. For one as dedicated to the path of cultivation as I, such impressive works cannot be walked away from."

Tobias heard the underlying threat. He would not steal them, but he would kill for them. The Great Clans wanted Tobias to make this deal, so the 3rd Prince was removed from the board.

"Offer?" Tobias whispered.

The 3rd Prince reached into his robe and placed thirty-one storage rings on the ground before him. "These storage rings belonged to the nascent soul realm field marshal and thirty core realm generals my brother sent to assassinate my mother and I. I will trade them and their contents to read your manuals."

Tobias had no idea what was in the storage rings or whether it was valuable, which annoyed him. The Great Clans were trying to remove a dangerous threat, and they were using access to his manuals to do so. He could be earning a fortune, or he could be walking away with little besides the value of the rings, which, while substantial, didn't improve his family's chances with a civil war underway.

He wanted more. "Want more?"

The 3rd Prince frowned. "I do not have more to give. My mother and I were only able to escape the palace with the clothes on our backs."

"Clone technique."

The 3rd Prince frowned. "I do not have the manual on me, but I have my personal library in my ring that I would be willing to trade. It holds all of our family's cultivation methods and techniques. Would you accept those instead?"

"Those and written manual." 

Han Jian scowled. "I can't remember everything in the manual. It may not be helpful. It might even be dangerous to use."

Tobias knew he was lying. A core realm cultivator never forgot anything once they entered the core realm. A nascent soul realm cultivator remembered everything from their life, including what happened before the core realm.

"Accept risk."

Han Jian nodded. "Then I accept your price. How do you wish to do this exchange?"

"Rings. Read half. Write manual. Read other half."

Tobias suppressed a groan as the pain coming from his jaw grew more intense.

The 3rd Prince nodded. "These terms are acceptable."

Tobias glanced at Aunty Nang and motioned her to collect the manuals with a finger twitch. Aunty Nang left the reception hall and came back, followed by two servants. One carried a small table, and the other carried a stack of his manuals. The servants stopped beside his fainting couch, and Tobias indicated which ones to give first.

Aunty Nang then approached the 3rd Prince, offering a deep bow. They might have been on two sides of a civil war, but a servant did not have the standing to do less than be utterly respectful. Aunty Nang took the table from the first servant and placed it in front of him. She then took the correct manuals and put them on top, before collecting the rings, bowing again, and backing out of the reception hall.

Han Jian studied the titles. "You have a purpose behind the order in which you're giving these to me."

"Teach to write," Tobias whispered tiredly.

"You have that much faith that these will improve the technique I give you?"

"Yes."

Han Jian smiled and picked up the top manual, beginning to read. Tobias hadn't given him the enlightenment manual or anything else he didn't feel the 3rd Prince needed to understand techniques and how to convey the information clearly, but neither had he given him useless information. The manuals before him would structure the information he already knew, giving universal terms and insights into how everything fit together.

Tobias's major discovery was that cultivation methods and techniques were very rarely unique. They all used foundational practices that could cross over to one another. Only those who read widely enough ever caught a glimpse of this, and it had taken him deconstructing thousands of manuals to fully understand and explain.

The insights of his first two manuals were just the tip of the iceberg to what he'd figured out over the past few years, and his new discoveries would revolutionise the cultivation world if they survived the civil war. The next generation of cultivators would not be so held back by their limited divinity. Even the most talentless would now be able to reach the foundation realm without pills.

Tobias hoped to extend that to the peak of the foundation realm someday. That would free the pills produced by the sects and Great Clans to be sold to mortals, significantly boosting the health and well-being of everyone in The Three Kingdoms. Far too many people died from famine.

As Tobias watched the Han Jian, his eyelids grew heavy, but he did not fall asleep. The 3rd Prince's brothers had instilled a level of fear into him that would not allow him to rest in the man's presence.

Twenty minutes later, the Han Jian placed down the seventh manual and met Tobias's gaze. "Though you are not my teacher, you have taught me more than any who could claim the title. Accept my kowtow for the wisdom you have bestowed upon me and this once great empire."

Han Jian leaned forward, placed his hands before him, and offered a deep bow, bending so low that his forehead touched the ground, before rising and repeating the gesture two more times. Finally, he gazed upon Tobias, expecting a response.

Tobias studied the prince and his words, mustering his strength to reply. "Magistrate Finch accepts Han Jian's kowtow on behalf of the once great Han Clan," he spoke the words clearly, fighting through the pain to speak above a whisper.

The 1st Emperor had been a truly brilliant man, and to not recognise the 3rd Prince's sincerity would have been a grave insult to his memory. However, the Han Clan had not been kind to Tobias and accepting the 3rd Prince's kowtow without clarifying his position would have grated on him for the rest of his life. It was an insult, not to the prince, but to his clan, and perhaps he would let it pass, considering it was his family who had recently tried to kill him.

Tobias motioned for Aunty Nang to approach the 3rd Prince. She came forward with another table bearing an empty manual, an inkwell, and a brush. She placed it before the 3rd Prince and backed away.

The 3rd Prince stared at the empty manual before looking up. "What would I have to do to gain your respect, Magistrate Finch?"

Tobias considered the question for only a moment before gathering his strength. "You would have to embody your clan's once great reputation."

Han Jian paused. "Despite my martial ability, I am no warrior, Magistrate Finch. The lives I was forced to take to protect my mother's life continually way heavy on my heart. If she had not been there, I would not have fought so hard to protect myself, and likely would not be here before you."

Tobias heard the honesty in the man's words and reevaluated their early conversation, removing the unspoken threat. This changed much of what had been said. The man before him was not a warrior bent on dominance, but a man sheltered from the problems of the world, deeply passionate about cultivation, and willing to risk his life to further his understanding, before he attempted to break through. He was naïve, but he was not a bad person.

Tobias gathered his strength, because this conversation was going to require more words. "What is right is not always easy."

The 3rd Prince frowned. "You wish me to raise arms against my brother?"

"Your brother is crueller than your father ever was."

"I agree, but fratricide is not the actions of one who walks the righteous path."

"Allowing others to come to harm when you can prevent it is not the actions of someone who walks the righteous path."

The prince's frown deepened.

"The righteous stand against evil, even the evil that comes from within themselves and their own clan."

The prince lowered his gaze. "I do not wish to speak on this matter any further."

They were the words of a coward, and Tobias lost all interest in the 3rd Prince. "Then write, read, and leave."