The Magistrate: Chapter 50 (Patreon)

Chapter 50

An Exercise in Yin and Yang

On the first day of Summer, Tobias walked into his private dojo and took a seat on his Dancing Cloud Ram Meditation Fleece. His physical capabilities had reached their new peak two weeks ago and his family no longer needed his oversight with their training. He’d taught those who were interested everything they needed to carry one and now they were overseeing everyone else’s training.

Tobias picked up the cultivation exercise manual that was sitting on the small table beside him and began to read. Manipulating chi had been impossible until recently. Barely being able to light two crystals meant that he could sense chi, but no very well. If chi was a drop of water on his hand, he wouldn’t notice it, but falling in a lake was something he’d be aware of.

Two years ago, Tobias had tried to perform the exercises in the manual hoping it would help him understand cultivation better. At the time, he could feel the chi moving through his pathways, but none of the chi that had leaked into his body, which was what cultivators manipulated to perform his cultivation exercises. His attempts ended in failure, and he had put aside any thought of trying to understand cultivation through practice.

Now, Tobias could sense all the chi within him, along with the chi immediately around him, which created new problems. He’d already experienced several moments of deep frustration with members of his family who either didn’t want to listen or were too dense to understand what he was trying to teach them. Each time, the air around him had heated up, becoming a sauna.

If his cultivation base was stronger, that heat would have been enough to start a fire or kill a mortal, so he knew he needed to learn to control his chi.

Half an hour later, Tobias placed the manual on the table beside him and got to work. As the morning progressed into afternoon, he sent a request to Xu Feng and Xu Ling asking them to visit at their earliest convenience. That turned out to be three days away.

Three days later just before lunch, Xu Feng and Xu Ling entered Tobias’s dojo and silently took a seat beside him while he performed his most recent exercise. Over those three days, he’d worked his way through nineteen different exercises, mastering each one with an astonishing amount of ease.

Tobias understood talent to the same degree that he understood divinity, which meant he could accurately assess how good he was. Everything he’d recorded suggested that his talent was equal to the best disciple that Cloud Sect had ever trained, which led him to believe that he might not be able to sense or manipulate chi as well as he thought he could.

If he couldn’t sense his own failures, then it would make sense that he’d think he was mastering the exercises. However, when Tobias opened his eyes, Xu Feng and Xu Ling were staring at him in shock.

Tobias sighed. “One must assume from the looks you’re giving me that I’m as talented as I believe I am.”

Xu Feng folded his arms. “When did you begin practicing these exercises?”

“Three days ago,” Xu Ling replied. “I’m sure I told you that master sent me a letter telling me he was going spend several weeks practising cultivation exercise.”

“Was that why you took a sudden interest over re-examining my cultivation?”

“I’m sure I told you.”

Xu Feng shook his head. “Is it the only exercise you’ve been practicing, Magistrate Finch?”

Tobias raised an eyebrow, slightly offended at the suggestion he would cut corners.

Xu Feng noticed the look Tobias gave him. “Masters often do no take their own advice.”

“I did not go through the trouble of developing a proper training program only to then throw aside all my hard work.”

Xu Feng motioned to the stack of manuals. “Are you as proficient with these other exercises?”

“Yes. I believe I’ve mastered them.”

Xu Feng frowned. “You believe?”

“Such rapid progress is in my mind unreasonable, which leads me to doubt my own ability to assess my actions.”

“Perform the exercises and we will assess your ability.”

Tobias bowed at the waist. “Thank you for your assistance.”

Tobias sat back up and began the first exercise.

Two hours later, he opened his eye again. “What is your assessment.”

Xu Ling pouted. “Every exercise was flawless. It’s infuriating how good you are at everything.”

Tobias chuckled. “Your understanding of the arts is not something I’ll be able to replicate with a dozen lifetimes of effort.”

“My business sense, grasp of politics, dancing, singing, and musical accomplishments, and overall etiquette are also superior.”

Xu Feng nodded his agreement to placate his daughter. “I believe you will need a nascent soul realm cultivator to give you a more accurate assessment, Magistrate Finch.”

Tobias frowned. “Why not a core realm elder?”

“Intuition. Your ability to master so many exercises so quickly suggests you possess exceptional talent. Such talent would only be able to be measured by those with similar talent or with superior cultivation.”

Xu Ling looked at the fleece Tobias was sitting on. “Have you considered that you’re progress is because of what you’re sitting on?”

“I mastered the second and third exercises without using the fleece as a test. There was a small increase to how long they took to master, but it was not a substantial difference, or outside normal variance.”

Xu Feng nodded. “Do you need our assistance with anything else?”

“I may need your assistance once I progress to practicing initiate realm exercises. Perhaps, I will find them more difficult.”

“Inform me ahead of time and I will do my best to make myself available. My daughter intends to examine every aspect of the progress I have made using the cultivation methods and techniques she created for me.”

Xu Ling winced.

Xu Feng smirked. “She said that nothing under the heavens could possibly pull her away from assisting me.”

Xu Ling winced again.

“That I was her dear beloved father and that she wanted nothing more than to help me.”

Xu Ling rolled her eyes. “I never said that.”

Xu Feng placed his hand on his heart. “You didn’t need to. I felt your love and intentions through the inflection of your words.”

 Xu Ling turned to her father. “Master is obviously a savant.”

“A what?” Tobias asked.

“It’s the talent equivalent of a prodigy,” Xu Feng explained. “However, it’s not a real classification as the term is mostly used to insult those who stand out among their peers but suffer from low divinity.”

Tobias didn’t see how that was insulting.

“It’s like saying you would have been a Sage if the heavens didn’t hate you.”

“Ah.”

Xu Ling scowled at her father for changing the subject. “You can’t expect me to walk away from an opportunity like this. Examining how he develops might offer me insights into my own cultivation progress.”

Xu Feng’s smirked again. “Magistrate Finch has not offered to let you watch him.”

“Magistrate Finch is my master. A master would not deprive their disciple of such an important opportunity.”

Tobias hadn’t considered having Xu Ling watch him practice because it was going to weeks of tedious observation, but he couldn’t deny that it might be useful now that it had been pointed out. Watching how quickly Xu Ling developed her own cultivation had been incredibly useful for him and he couldn’t even study what she was doing, only track the results.

“My disciple is correct. She may learn something important from observing me.” Tobias smiled. “But I understand how devoted she is to you, so I can accept that she will never leave your side after making such a commitment. It is truly unfortunate.”

Xu Feng nodded, trying not to laugh. “It truly is a shame.”

Xu Ling glared at both of them. “I’ve recently begun considering a potential business I would like to start. As you know, I’ve become quite skilled at painting, and I can imagine that many lonely widows would be interested in purchasing my more outlandish creations.”

Xu Feng and Tobias sobered.

Xu Feng unfolded his arms and slapped his knees. “I would never dream of preventing my beloved daughter from gaining potential cultivation insights. She can examine my cultivation when it does not interfere with her own.”

Tobias bowed. “As her master, it is as she suggested. I will not stand in the way of her future potential.”

Xu Ling smirked. “I’m blessed to have such a supportive father and master.”

Both men nodded very vigorously, before all three bursting in laughter.

***

The greatest change Tobias had seen in his family came from his mother. She hadn’t just learned etiquette and ignored it. She’d learned it and implemented it in her life. Pushing it onto her children and grandchildren. She wasn’t a refined noble woman, but she was as tactful and respectable as some wealthy merchant’s wife, keeping everyone in line and forcing their family to adapt. Behind closed doors, she was still the same woman, cooking for loved ones and making sure that everyone had enough, but in public she had become something else.

Her insistence that Xu Ling have a chaperone at all times prompted her to join her several hours each day while she watched Tobias’s progress. When she wasn’t around, Lingling or one of his older sisters or sister in laws were. They joked together, played mahjong, or chatted quietly while practicing embroidery, getting to know one another.

Tobias’s mother had clearly decided that he was going to marry Xu Ling, so she was making certain that his future wife was well acquainted with his immediate family.

Tobias opened his eyes and sighed, turning to his mother and Xu Ling who were howling with laughter. Over the past three weeks, he’d mastered every mortal exercise and initiate exercise and was now trying to perform foundation realm exercises. Until now, his progress had never slowed, but he’d reached the limits of what his talent could do for him. His divinity was simply too low to perform foundation realm exercises with the same ease that he’d performed the lower realm exercises, and the constant laugher wasn’t helping.

Tobias’s mother saw his scowl and covered her mouth to stifle her laughter. “It appears we’re disturbing my son.”

Xu Ling shook her head. “He’d lost control of the exercise long before we started laughing.”

Tobias frowned. “When exactly did I lose control?”

“As you began the eleventh cycle, your chi was moving too quickly. You forgot to slow your breathing to help regulate the flow.”

“I believe my divinity won’t allow me to decelerate or accelerate my chi fast enough to perform the exercise. I was hoping I had enough control to maintain the higher flow rate.”

Xu Ling inclined her head to Tobias’s mother, apologising for having to depart their conversation, before giving him her full attention. “The purpose of that exercise is to teach you to accelerate and decelerate chi to perform foundation realm techniques. Why would you attempt to circumvent that?”

“I’m trying to understand what parts of the exercise I’ll struggle with, but I can’t do so without circumventing the eleventh cycle.”

“Ask your majordomo to reinforce you.”

Tobias’s mother leaned forward interested by their conversation. “Wouldn’t it be easier for you to help him?”

Xu Ling blushed.

Tobias turned to his mother. “Your suggestion is extremely inappropriate, Mother.”

His mother froze. “My apologises, Xu Ling. I know not what I said.”

Xu Ling continued to blush. “Excuse me.” She rose to her feet and hurried out of the dojo, taking a servant with her.

Tobias’s mother winced. “What did I suggest?”

“You suggested nothing directly inappropriate, but had she done as you asked the effects of her actions would have appeared scandalous. Were she to reinforce me, my yang chi would be imprinted with her yin chi. To cultivators, it would give the impression that we had slept together.”

His mother blushed as she covered her mouth, shocked. “I didn’t intend anything like that.”

Tobias smiled. “I know that. Xu Ling knows too. She didn’t take offence to what you said. She was just too embarrassed to remain while I explained what you had done and was helping you save face.”

His mother relaxed. “She’s a kind woman.”

Tobias nodded.

His mother began to frown. “Won’t Majordomo Wo give a similar yang impression?”

Tobias nodded. “He will, but it won’t be considered scandalous. He’s a member of my household. If I needed assistance while cultivating, I would logically turn to someone like him, because I have no other options. For the same reason, it would not be considered scandalous for Lingling to be marked with my yang chi. We lack a female cultivator in the family to assist her, so I’m the only choice. However, it would be scandalous for Majordomo Wo to assist her.”

His mother frowned and looked around, before dismissing the servants. They began to file out of the dojo.

Tobias knew what his mother was going to ask him, and he wasn’t looking forward to this discussion. He placed his hands on his knees and looked ahead, waiting for the accusations to come. He was no longer her son, but her patriarch, and he needed to make that clear.

When the servants were gone, his mother lowered her voice. “Have you warned your older brother about this yang chi?”

His older brother Wen was a notorious flirt and quite handsome, even before he became a cultivator. Tobias had been quite surprised to discover that he was faithful to his wife. He’d been just as surprised to discover his shy older sister Jing was not.

“There was no need to warn him, but those who needed to be warned have been discretely warned by my majordomo. They were told unequivocally that they would be banished from the family if their behaviour continued. There were several attempts to circumvent this order before they understood they truly could not hide their affairs. They accepted the restrictions within a year of his arrival. Now, outsiders will see nothing out of place when they examine our family.”

“You’re sure about your brother?”

Tobias nodded. “He might be a terrible flirt, but he has been faithful to his wife for as long as Majordomo Wo was with you.”

His mother groaned. “I’ve been too hard on him.” She glanced at Tobias. “What about your other siblings?”

Tobias continued to look ahead, and his words came out robotically. “As the patriarch of this family, I cannot share any indiscretions that would bring shame to us.”

His mother’s eyes narrow. “It was your sister’s Jing, wasn’t it?”

“As the patriarch of this family, I cannot share any indiscretions that would bring shame to us.”

“I’m going to beat some sense into that woman.”

“As the patriarch of this family, I cannot share any indiscretions that would bring shame to us.”

Tobias knew the look in his mother’s eye, so wasn’t surprised when she rose to her feet, and hurried out of the dojo leaving him alone.

His older sister was about to have a very unpleasant afternoon.

***

Just after midnight, Tobias walk in his garden with Majordomo Wo. The clouds had descended during the evening, and the air was so thick that mortals could not see for more than a few feet. The two were perfectly alone, which was the only reason Tobias was willing to warn him about what was coming.

“My mother knows about yin and yang chi,” Tobias whispered.

Majordomo Wo folded his hands behind his back. “How do you wish me to proceed?”

“If she asks you directly have the building cleared of servants and then answer her honestly.”

“And if she asks for their names?”

“Do not answer. It is my responsibility as their patriarch to keep their secrets as much as it is to protect them. But inform her that my father has been faithful, despite numerous offers by those wishing to curry favour.”

Majordomo Wo sighed. “How do you think the nobility deal with these situations? Maintaining the morality of your household has been the most difficult part of becoming your servant.”

“Their children are born with cultivator knowledge. They know their sins can be read like open books, so only the most twisted act upon their impulses where they can be seen. The rest likely commit their infidelity away from prying eyes.”

“You don’t think they are above such things?”

“Are the nobles above greed? Are they above their lust for power? Are they above pride? No. They are as human as anyone else which means they come with all the horrors of humanity too. I’ve seen enough records to know that every family and sect has numerous cases of cultivators dying long before their time and I would not be the slightest bit surprised if those deaths were caused because of actions that were far worse than those committed by my family.”

Majordomo Wo nodded but changed their conversation to get away from such dangerous topics. “Speaking of my family, I’ve received numerous requests from mine to join my household.”

Tobias frowned. “Why the sudden change in heart?”

“I sent out letters informing them that you had taken the side of the Great Clans and sect and that because of your contribution your household would not need to participate in the war.”

The 3rd emperor had begun drafting mortals into his army within the first month of the war, but the rate he was drafting them continued to increase. Every village and town his soldiers abandoned was always missing the able-bodied men, depriving the Great Clans of a chance to recruit them. So far, the Great Clans had only been taking volunteers, but that would quickly change as the size of the emperor’s mortal army grew.

Tobias sighed. “I would have preferred them to come because of the business opportunities working with us presented.”

“Many of them would have eventually come around.”

“They are your family. You may do with them as you wish.”

Majordomo Wo stopped and bowed until his head was below his waist. “This one thanks the patriarch for his kindness.”

Tobias stepped forward as his majordomo straightened and placed a hand on his shoulder, before leaning in and whispering in his ear. “Watch for spies. The 3rd Emperor has had years to bribe his way into their loyalty.”