The Magistrate: Chapter 67 (Patreon)

Chapter 67

The Finch Clan

Tobias approached his tribulation with one thought in mind, allowing as much of the tribulation’s transformative effects to reach him without dying or being permanently crippled. With his divine vitality making him as resilient as a core realm cultivation, Tobias felt like it was worth the risk.

Soon after he’d successfully ascended to the core realm, Tobias lay in the herbal bath Peace Master So had prepared, living with the consequences of his choices.

Xu Ling had ended her tribulation covered in burns. Tobias had ended his covered in charcoal. His skin had burned away, taking much of the muscles and tendons with it. Many of his organs were thoroughly cooked, and most of his bones were shattered. His cultivation was the only thing holding him together, and that required constant attention.

Even without eyes, Tobias could see Xu Ling’s disapproval. He’d pushed himself too far in her mind. Taking risks no sane cultivator would take.

Tobias disagreed. His meridian networks, core, middle and upper dantian, had come through the tribulation undamaged and much stronger than when he entered. Every bolt had been allowed to hit him, and he’d even hurled insults at the heavens to receive more.

Curiosity made him do it.

Everything he’d studied suggested that this would provide him with additional benefits, but no sane person would agree to do so to test this theory. He had to do so himself.

Tobias was too injured to know what the final results would be, but what he could see through his new aura gave him the confidence to know he was right.

Peace Master So appeared beside the bathtub, carrying a barrel. “It took me longer to find a core realm spirit beast that was unbalancing its environment than I thought it would.”

If Tobias had working eyes, he would have been forced to roll them. Peace Master So had been gone from his realm for only thirty minutes.

Peace Master So poured the contents of the barrel into the bathtub. It was a pink, sludgy mixture. A type of medical paste that was given to core realm cultivators to quickly regrow damage organs and muscles.

The moment it reached the water, Tobias’s divine vitality took hold of it, pulling it towards what remained of his flesh. It passed into what was left of his stomach, where it dissolved and moved into the remnants of his intestines. Both organs immediately began to regenerate, processing the mixture more quickly than a core realm cultivator ever would. From there, his recovery spread, first to his most vital organs. Once they were semi-functional, the medical paste travelled elsewhere, finding the next most important damaged muscle or organ to heal.

Within a few minutes, Tobias regained his eyesight, and his tongue grew back. Without being able to see through his aura, everything would have been blurry. A few minutes after that, skin began to spread across his new muscles.

In less than ten minutes, he was fully recovered.

Peace Master So put his hands on his hips. “Senior, you are hiding secrets from me. No core realm cultivator should be able to heal so quickly.”

Tobias chuckled. “I had a theory that if I pushed myself far enough, my vitality transformation would ascend another realm. It mostly worked.”

“Why do you say mostly?”

“I shouldn’t have need your assistance.”

Peace Master So smirked. “Senior is showing his ignorance again.”

“What have I missed?”

“If you were to study medicine, you would realise there are several families with a bloodline that has a similar effect to your transformation. Despite having a nascent soul realm cultivator’s vitality, you are still in the core realm, so you still have those limitations. Your cultivation doesn’t allow you to recreate flesh out of chi yet.”

Tobias cupped his hands and bowed while remaining sitting in the tub because he was naked. “Sage Knowledge thanks Sage Peace for his assistance and insights.”

“You’re not allowed to die until after you can explain the nascent soul realm well enough for my disciples to become sages.”

“With that mindset, I’m surprised you’re not going to trap me here.”

“Master said I couldn’t.”

Tobias chuckled because he knew he was joking.

Peace Master So laughed with him, before turning serious. “Your core isn’t as stable as I would like.”

“I noticed.”

“It’s more like a hollow shell than a proper core. You need to gather more spiritual energy to reinforce it. You and your companions may stay until it’s safe for you to travel.”

Peace Master So vanished before Tobias could thank him. Tobias could sense him far away, sitting on his boulder.

Xu Ling waited a moment to make sure the sage realm cultivator wouldn’t come back and then glared at him. “You were reckless.”

“Taking a calculated risk is not reckless.”

“Your life is not worth the ability to heal quicker.”

Tobias reached over the side of the tub and offered her his hand. They were both core realm cultivators now, and many of the social restrictions they had lived under no longer existed. In his past life, such a small action would have been inconsequential.

Xu Ling hesitated for a moment before taking it.

Tobias gave it a gentle squeeze. “I’ve been unravelling the secrets of core realm cultivation while you were adding layers to your core. I understand most of what is necessary to reach the nascent soul realm successfully now, and I know that I fall short of those requirements.”

“You are speaking in the past tense.”

Tobias shook his head. “I still fall short. However, somewhere between my third and fifth layer, I would have damaged my energy meridian network. That injury would have prevented me from going further. But now that I have a nascent soul realm cultivator’s vitality, those meridians will heal, allowing me to reach my peak. You are destined for immortality, Xu Ling. I wanted to make sure I lived long enough to see your last ascension.”

Xu Ling swallowed. “You still can’t come with me?”

“That’s not my destiny.”

Xu Ling squeezed his hand back and then let go. “I suppose I can’t be angry with your recklessness if it was necessary for you to live centuries longer, but holding my hand while lying naked in a bath is utterly scandalous. My father might insist you marry me after such actions.”

Tobias chuckled. “Not half as scandalous as you waiting for the water to grow a little clearer.”

Xu Ling blushed. “I am not waiting for the water to grow clearer.”

Tobias continued to chuckle. “Then perhaps you’re just concerned that everything has regrown in the appropriate place.”

Xu Ling spluttered, unable to form a reply.

Tobias chuckle turned into laughter and happiness as he got his first taste of living a life free from social restrictions.

***

A core realm cultivator could refine spiritual energy much more quickly than someone in the foundation realm. However, Tobias still took three weeks to stabilise his core. When Peace Master So examined him to determine why it had taken so long, Tobias was informed that his core was as large and strong as someone who had used six droplets, not five. This meant it would take him longer to gather the spiritual energy he needed to form each layer, but it might also allow him to create a sixth layer without damage, and a seventh layer with damage, which was still shy of the eight needed to survive a nascent soul realm tribulation. However, those were not his current concerns, as it would take him decades to form another layer in Cloud City.

Peace Master So had warned Patriarch Lee that he was escorting Tobias and the others home, so when they arrived in Cloud City, every member of his household and academy was in attendance. They dropped to the ground and kowtowed three times as the pair walked through the main gate side by side, remaining face down as the two of them made their way into his reception hall for tea.

Lingling and Xu Ling remained outside the entrance doors on their knees, while Majordomo Wo stood by Tobias’s side, ready to attend them. As a core realm cultivator with two layers to his core, Majordomo Wo was barely qualified to do so, but Tobias lacked anyone with higher standing to serve them.

Privately, Tobias and Peace Master So shared a causal relationship, but a sage realm cultivator could not visit anyone openly without all the social graces.

Peace Master So sipped his latest cup of tea and sighed appreciatively. “I must commend your grandfather on his diligence. His latest creation is only seven generations removed from the original. It is a praiseworthy accomplishment.”

Tobias inclined his head. “You honour my family with your words, Peace Master So.”

Peace Master So inclined his head in return.

He then waved his hand, and the manuals Tobias had created for his grandpa to cultivate appeared before Tobias. They had been rebound, containing hundreds of new pages. “The cultivation method you created no longer contains the previous flaws. It is also unique in that you have created alternate teachings dependent on divinity and talent. It is without equal among my core realm collection in these matters, but your lack of understanding of medicine, gathering, arrays, formations, and alchemy was painful for me to read. I have taken the liberty of correcting these mistakes. You will find everything you need for your family to progress their cultivation and create their own realm.”

He waved his hand again, and hundreds of small pots appeared in the room, each one containing a bonsai spirit willow grown from the seeds of his own core realm spirit willow pollinated by a sage realm spirit willow that Yin Hao owned. Each one was nearly identical to its mother, only a fraction of the size. Their dao was dense, filling the area with a sense of peace and life. Each one was at the peak of the initiate realm, having had their cultivation accelerated by the sage realm cultivator.

“Since my companion was the inspiration for your family’s cultivation method, it is only appropriate for your family to receive her guidance from her children. I trust they will take care of them as if they were their own children.”

Tobias cupped his hands and bowed. “It will be as you say. You honour my family once again.”

“You say honour when others will say marking those under my protection.”

Peace Master So looked at his empty cup.

Tobias immediately began preparing another pot.

“I thought you told me that your disciples and guards had to earn their place in the foundation realm.”

“Several earned their place before you summoned Xu Ling the second time. One would assume those disciples tested the others and rewarded them for their accomplishments.”

“I notice that their meridians are all unusually small.”

Tobias realised he’d never explained how he'd chosen his disciples and began a long explanation of his theory of how cultivators naturally arose outside cultivation families. Peace Master So listened, leaning forward, and hanging onto his every word. Majordomo Wo was sent to collect the reports on their families, and he read those while they discussed the topic.

After several hours had passed and Peace Master So had not lost his enthusiasm, Tobias politely cleared his throat. “Peace Master So there are many mortal children in my family, and the families of my servants. Have you ever considered children yourself?”

Peace Master So frowned for a second and then blinked. “So, there is. The poor things are struggling to maintain their kowtow. It is probably time for me to leave.”

“Do not worry about the concerns of my household,” Tobias replied, knowing he’d got the message through.

“You are most kind, Senior. And to answer your question, I have never considered having children. My own childhood was not something which encouraged the idea. My father always blamed me for my mother’s death. If Master had not been there, I hate to think of the monster I would have become. Do you have thoughts of marriage and children?”

Xu Ling twitched by the door.

“Such thoughts are on my mind more and more each day. The journey through the core realm will be a long one, and I look forward to filling the time with love, family, and friends.”

“Perhaps that is the thought we should end my visit on, for life does not get much better than that.” Peace Master So cupped his hands and bowed. “The respect your family has shown me is recognised and felt, may you live in peace.”

With those words, Peace Master So folded space, vanishing from the city, leaving his Three Pigeon treasure where he’d sat.

Tobias motioned to Majordomo Wo. “Inform my household that they may rise and make sure they take care of the children. Once they have recovered, we can begin the greeting ceremonies.”

Tobias had been absent from his household for years, so he had to sit through hours of ceremonies before he could begin investigating what had happened in his absence. The next few days would revolve around celebrations as they celebrated his ascension to the core realm. The Finch clan was now a recognised noble clan with a core realm cultivator.

Tobias sat through the ceremonies, accepting greetings from all those who had stayed behind. At the same time, Xu Ling investigated why every disciple and guard was now a foundation realm cultivator with the title of professor.

It was nearly midnight when the last of the Nang clan exited the reception hall and returned to their duties. Xu Ling entered through the side door as he rose to his feet.

Tobias turned to Majordomo Wo. “Find out what sort of condition my household is in.”

Majordomo Wo cupped his hands and bowed with the grace only those who have undergone divine beauty transformations can achieve. The divine beauty pill he had consumed had left him so attractive that Lingling had been incapable of being around him without blushing and stammering. This trend had continued with most of the members of their households.

He wasn’t as attractive as Tobias, because he’d been much more attractive when he consumed the pill, but he was the second most handsome man in Cloud City.

“As you wish, Patriarch,” Majordomo Wo replied.

Tobias rose and began walking along the covered paths toward his palace with Xu Ling. “What have you discovered?”

“Your disciples claim to have followed your instructions to the letter. Each of them understands your teaching well enough to teach in your place. I tested several at random to prove this. I will need to do further testing, but I believe they do deserve to have consumed the pills you set aside for them.”

“And the guards?”

“Your disciples did not have your permission to leave, so they set about teaching your family and your guards. Your guards picked up your teachings more slowly but also developed enough insight to begin teaching others. I spent most of my time testing them, and they seem to be as capable as your disciples. You had already established that guards could become disciples, so the professors assumed this was your intent.”

“They made them disciples.”

“They did.”

“All of them.”

“Yes.”

“When did this happen?”

“Your last guard became a disciple two years ago. However, most of your disciples have been studying everything the Cloud Sect is willing to teach them for nearly a year. For the most part, that has been gathering, spirit stone creation, and some lower forms of alchemy. They have also been assisting your family with their spirit gardens. Your family now holds several dozen commercial gardens outside your compound. Without many alchemists willing to make pills for them, they have focused on expanding their capacity. This year, you will produce more general body meridian opening and cleansing pills than Cloud Sect, and that is without Elder Xi’s assistance. With it, you will produce significantly more.”

“Have they been sending the pills to Field Marshal Kang?”

“Yes. I saw confirmation letters from both your disciples and Field Marshal Kang.”

“Anything I should be aware of?”

“Sixty-eight of your disciples have asked me how to approach you about getting your permission to marry their fellow disciples.”

“Tell them I will be willing to begin meeting with them to discuss the matter within a few weeks. Until then, I would like you to ask around and spy on them to see if their commitment to one another is sincere and strong enough to weather trouble. You may get the assistance of whoever you need.”

“You could simply say yes.”

“They do not come from cultivator families, so they do not understand the commitment they are making the way cultivators do. Without them understanding what it means to live with another for centuries, I must understand that for them.”

“You don’t come from a cultivator family.”

Tobias smirked. “You do, which is why I’m giving you the task.”

Xu Ling rolled her eyes. “Your mother tried to insist I still have a chaperone.”

“Did you inform her that core realm cultivators do not travel with chaperones?”

“No. I said one of the benefits of walking your dao path was that no one can read your aura. She was scandalised.”

Tobias stiffened. “You didn’t.”

“Master, are you blushing?”

Tobias chuckled. “Payback.”

“You have centuries of suffering ahead of you. Do not think we are even.”