The Magistrate: Chapter 72 (Patreon)

Chapter 72

Exposure

The 3rd Prince’s cloning technique did not suit Tobias. It required far too much metal chi, which was why he’d created a neutral version. The problem was that the neutral version required a much deeper understanding of natural laws and a level of chi control few with his divinity had. Each step had to be flawless, with no mistakes, requiring a degree of precision that none of his other techniques required. Creating a lower realm replica of yourself from chi was not the issue. The issues were installing your memories and thought patterns, making it capable of learning new things, and then transferring those memories back to you whole and intact.

Those were monstrously difficult things to do, requiring the incorporation and balancing of hundreds of natural laws and chi patterns. Tobias had broken the technique down into exercises. Despite spending most of his nights practicing, he was still only partway through mastering them.

Tobias’s eyes shot open as he felt Professor Tian suddenly change direction as she passed his room, before slipping inside. Tobias’s chi gathering array was to the left of the entrance, his bed to the right, and his desk straight ahead, so he couldn’t miss her.

Tobias closed his eyes again as he slowed his chi, so he didn’t cause himself injury. “Tian Dongmei, I assume you have a good reason for disturbing me unannounced in the middle of the night.”

Several of Tobias’s disciples had tried to make blatant advances since he had arrived, going so far as to ask to become his concubines. Tobias didn’t get that impression from her. She had taken her failure to answer a question to heart and turned to studying in her free time. She was his most diligent disciple at the fortress.

“I need to speak with you in private, Teacher.”

Tobias flexed his aura, hiding them from the outside world. “You may speak. No one will overhear.”

Professor Tian cupped her hands and bowed. “I have been studying your marking spell, and I believe it can be countered.”

Tobias didn’t react as his chi returned to his core. “Have you created such a method?”

“It was necessary to know if I was correct. However, I have not performed the spell, only the exercises. I did this so that no one would know what I was doing.”

Tobias opened his eyes and motioned to the brick floor before him. “Sit with me and perform the spell.”

Tian Dongmei joined him. She waited a moment and then took a deep breath to centre herself, before channelling her chi to form a rather intriguing barrier. It wouldn’t block an attack, but it would cause his targeting spell to slide off her. It was a solid first attempt in his opinion.

Tobias tried to mark her just to be sure.

His spell slid off her barrier.

Tobias adjusted his aura, spreading it through the surround barracks to gain the other professors’ attention, sealing them all off from the soldiers beyond. “Professor Tian has made a significant contribution to the cultivation world and its understanding of cultivation. From this moment forth, she is officially recognised as a scholar. She is one who now walks beside me on the path of understanding. Show her your respect.”

The surrounding professors all rose and one and cupped their hands and bowed towards her, sensing where she was. “We recognise Scholar Tian and her contribution to our understanding.”

Tobias flexed his aura again and sealed them off. The other professors immediately began a whispered conversation about what she could have possibly done to deserve such recognition.

Teaching the professors his techniques and spells required secrecy, and having a strong aura was the only way to prevent others from interfering with your own, so Tobias had put a lot of effort into strengthening his since entering the core realm. He could now extend it over one hundred yards if he wanted to, which meant he was always aware of what was going on around him.

Scholar Tian sat before him, stunned.

Tobias gave her time to process the promotion.

“But I ruined your spell, Teacher.”

Tobias smiled. “I am no longer your teacher, Scholar Tian. You are my peer, not my disciple. You may call me, Sage Knowledge.”

Scholar Tian swallowed. “Are you not concerned that I have ruined your spell?”

Tobias shook his head. “No technique or spell is perfect. There are always counters. Field Marshal Kang and several of his generals have already shown me three ways that this can be done, and I have shown them several ways that their solutions can be countered.”

Understanding filled her eyes. “You did not teach us the full spell.”

“The spell is complete. There are just other spells which build upon it. War is about constantly changing tactics. One side develops a new way to fight, and the other counters it. There will never be a single technique or spell that cannot be defeated. So, you must have the skills to develop new ones. You have shown me that you are ready to contribute to that process. You have left the realm of understanding my teachings and entered the realm of applying them. However, your spell could use refinement. There are six unnecessary steps in forming it.”

Scholar Tian’s face briefly held a shadow of a frown before it disappeared. “I thought you would be angry with me, Sage Knowledge.”

“Why would I be angry when you have done exactly what I taught you to do?”

“Few cultivators appreciate their failures being shown to them by their juniors.”

Tobias became annoyed. “My spell does exactly what it is designed to do. Your spell does exactly what it is designed to do. Looking at my spell as a failure because it can be countered is the wrong way of viewing this and will limit your future potential.”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“We do not seek perfection, but solutions to the problems that are set before us. Those solutions do not have to be perfect, because the pursuit of perfection is the bane of progress.”

“Does the pursuit of perfection not make us grow?”

“It can when applied correctly, but you do not go from nothing to perfection. Perfection is reached through small steps, each an improvement on the last.”

“Perhaps an example would help me understand.”

Tobias nodded. “Perform your spell again.”

Scholar Tian raised another barrier.

Tobias harnessed his chi and performed a more complex version of his marking spell. The spell ignored her barrier, marking her as if it wasn’t there.

Tobias motioned to her. “Is your spell now a failure?”

She opened her mouth to say, yes but stopped herself when Tobias glared. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because my spell was not designed to counter your spell.”

“This is correct. However, if we were on opposing sides of a battle and I did not know you had created your spell, your spell might decide the battle. When I arrived at the next battle with the new variation, I just showed you, this might decide that battle in my favour. In war, there is no perfect solution, only what works for now. Outside of war, the solutions we come up with will solve small problems; when combined together these small solutions will allow us to solve larger problems. The fact that your first solution does not solve the second does not make it a failure.”

Scholar Tian bowed. “I believe I understand.”

“Do not discuss your spell with the other professors. It will prevent them from being able to follow your path to becoming a scholar.”

“You will allow them ascend with my spell.”

Tobias waved his hand, and a chest appeared beside him. He opened the chest with his aura and floated the contents out so he could get to the manual he needed. Once he found it, he levitated it to Scholar Tian. “I created the spell you showed me several years ago.”

Scholar Tian blushed. “How can I call myself a scholar if all I can do is replicate your old work?”

“The path to learning begins by following another’s path before setting out on your own. The fact that you reached the same conclusions that I did without me pointing you in the right direction is exactly why you can call yourself a scholar. When the war is over, you will follow your interests, and I will follow mine. You will make discoveries and come up with solutions for problems that I have never considered.”

Scholar Tian bowed. “I have taken up enough of your time.”

***

Field Marshal Kang did not look pleased when Tobias entered his office. It had been half a year since Tobias’s banishment, and the basic training for his officers and generals was now complete. There was still room for improvement, and Tobias’s disciples worked with them every day, but they no longer needed constant oversight.

Field Marshal Kang motioned for Tobias to join him. “The sects and Great Clans have chosen to enter a full-scale conflict.”

“Did they give a reason?”

“The 3rd Emperor's spies have smuggled copies of your techniques and spells out of their war camps, and the palace guard have begun practicing them. They know your marking spell can be countered, so they wish to fight before this knowledge can be passed on. Do you know how their training has progressed?”

Field Marshal Kang knew Tobias had been receiving reports from his disciples, but this was the first time he had openly suggested that Tobias might have his own spy network.

Tobias shows the field marshal the same trust that he’d shown him. “The Great Clans and sects have been difficult for my professors to teach. Their elders have made their feelings about me and my teaching clear, and their juniors do not want to be on the receiving end of their ire by showing too much interest or commitment. The Great Clans’ guards have a similar disposition, which slows their progress. Your men are significantly more skilled than any of their forces. You are also the only one who has incorporated them into your tactics.”

Field Marshal Kang had been running endless drills and practice formations, debating with his generals on how to apply the techniques and spells. Initiate officers could use chi grenades, chi missiles, or artillery bursts, which were similar to mortar fire, so there were many different strategies that could be used.

Field Marshal Kang frowned. “You’re certain they haven’t changed their tactics?”

Tobias nodded. “My disciples have codes they can send me to confirm whether something has happened or not. Changing their tactics was one of these conditions for sending a code.”

“Why didn’t you instruct them to suggest a change in tactics?”

“I know enough about warfare to know that I have no experience with which to give advice.”

“Is that why you do not comment during my strategy councils?”

Tobias nodded.

“The need for new tactics should be obvious.”

“It is obvious. However, the oldest among them are fighting this war to return The Three Kingdoms to what it was in their youth. This mindset leaves them too stuck in their ways to act otherwise.”

“You think too little of them. They are not so blind.”

“Those who cannot create can only maintain or destroy, Field Marshal Kang. The Great Clans and sects exist because their ancestors or founders could create a cultivation method that were superior to others. Their clans and sects live in their shadow, trying to maintain this legacy. They cannot create new ones, so the only way to maintain their power is to hold to tradition and holding to tradition is why they refuse to change their tactics when confronted with something outside these traditions.”

“Men holding broken swords do not ignore a sword lying on the battlefield because it is not their own.”

“Men who believe their sword is not broken do.”

Field Marshal Kang paused. “You are suggesting that they are treating your techniques and spells as an additional weapon in their arsenal, instead of the foundation for a new form of combat.”

“Yes. Very few members of the imperial army were born cultivators like you were, Field Marshal Kang. Most have gained their cultivation through pills. They have never been able to perform the complicated and powerful techniques that the Imperial Family, Great Clans, and sects can. For your men, these techniques are the most powerful weapon they have ever wielded. For you, this is the most powerful weapon they have ever wielded, and you wish for them to wield it effectively, so you can get the most out of them.”

“I see these techniques and spells as a boon for my men, but they see them as something that was forced upon them, exposing them to the wrath of their juniors.”

“They have learned my techniques and spells only so they can come up with counters. They will not adopt them until they are forced to, and they have not yet experienced a situation that will force them to change.”

Field Marshal Kang smirked. “Is that why you were so brutal when exposing my generals to your spells? You left them with the impression that they only live because they are not your enemy. I have never seen so many core realm cultivators consider themselves little more than a frog in a well when standing before someone with significantly weaker cultivation.”

“It seemed like the most effective way to open their eyes to new thoughts and ideas.”

Field Marshal Kang laughed.