The Magistrate: Chapter 76 (Patreon)

Chapter 76

The Sword Garden

The trouble with studying hidden realms was that they required a nascent soul realm cultivator to enter or exit. A core realm cultivator couldn’t even sense their existence, even if they were standing next to one. However, sage realm cultivators operated under different rules and could permanently wedge open a door if they wished.

Tobias walked along the stone paths between the small spirit gardens, noting the layout and the overall purity of the chi. The 1st Emperor’s hidden realm was known as The Sword Garden, because it was saturated in sword dao and metal chi.

Swords from famous sword saints and blade masters were said to litter a landscape where metal chi spirit herbs existed in abundance. By the time Tobias arrived at the Capitol, The Sword Garden had been stripped of most of these treasures, leaving only common lower realm spirit herbs and a few mortal swords behind.

Despite this plundering, the chi saturation was still higher than in Peace Master So’s hidden realm.

In the weeks since he had arrived, Peace Master So had stripped the Sword Garden down even further, flooding the hidden realm with healthy soil and ponds filled with spirit water. Tens of thousands of spirit herb seeds, saplings, and cuttings had been placed in elaborate formations to suppress the sword dao and neutralise the metal chi, before their cultivation was accelerated.

Peace Master So had told Tobias that he could treat spirit herbs below the initiate realm like mortal plants, accelerating their growth as he pleased, but Tobias had doubted this claim. The idea that spirit herbs could be treated like grass by those with higher cultivation seemed too absurd.

Tobias was happy to see that he was wrong.

While he wandered, Tobias spotted foundation and core realm versions of common mortal spirit herbs used in general meridian opening and cleansing pills. These spirit herbs were rarely more helpful than their lower realm counterparts. Most of the time, the only benefit of their additional cultivation was that a single spirit herb could produce multiple pills. Waiting for them to breakthrough took so long that the additional pills didn’t make up for the extra cost of raising them.

Tobias frowned when he spotted a garden with an extremely rare core realm spirit herb sitting in the centre. “I wasn’t joking when I said you didn’t have to offer your best.”

Peace Master So appeared beside him and scowled at the spirit herb. “There isn’t a hint of the dao of peace on that spirit herb, despite spending centuries in my valley. It’s useless to me.”

Tobias knew that Peace Master So valued spirit herbs differently from other people, but he had not realised that he considered anything that wouldn’t help him as little more than trash. Core realm cultivators would risk their lives for what he’d just called ‘useless’.”

Tobias took a deep breath. “I didn’t know you could impart your dao on spirit herbs?”

“Not intentionally, so it’s a complicated and time-consuming process. Only one in a thousand spirit herbs can change and incorporate my dao. However, spirit herbs with the ability to ascend realms have a higher chance. All these spirit herbs have exceptional ability to ascend, but even with that ability, only one in one hundred can learn to cultivate my dao, and none of these succeeded.”

Tobias thought back to Peace Master So’s hidden realm. Over half the spirit herbs had been influenced by his dao. If each one represented one hundred failures, then Peace Master So had destroyed even more spirit herbs than he’d assumed during the creation of his realm.

Restoring The Three Kingdoms was going to take longer than Tobias had thought. “What did you want to show me?”

Peace Master So grinned. “Have you ever seen a dao storm, Senior?”

The two of them had spoken about the topic at length, so Tobias assumed the sage was up to something and played dumb. “Are you speaking of the storm that occurs when dao impressions conflict with other dao impressions and are broken down into their neutral state?”

Peace Master So nodded far too thoughtfully after his previous grin. “The natural formation I’ve created is suppressing the metal chi and sword dao aspects of this realm. I’m about to alter it to begin breaking them down. For cultivators, these storms can impart dao insights. This might be Senior’s only chance to study dao.”

Tobias understood the theory behind the process. Capturing the dao insights of another cultivator helped you capture their techniques. It was something that a master offered their disciples and was how many of the noble clans passed along their most potent techniques. Tobias thought the method was unsophisticated, but that did not mean he wasn’t intrigued by it. Developing a way to transfer dao insights would significantly reduce the time it took for cultivators to learn cultivation techniques and progress their cultivation.

Tobias smirked. “You just want to see if I can figure out how it’s done, so you can impart your dao insights on your disciples more easily.”

Peace Master So laughed. “Don’t pretend you’re not interested, Senior.”

Tobias chuckled. “You’re using my own trick against me. You’re making me do something that helps me but helps you more.”

Peace Master So laughed harder.

“Is there somewhere that is better to observe from?”

“The air.”

With those words, Peace Master So lifted them into the air and flew them to the centre. Tobias looked around him when they stopped moving.

The hidden realm was relatively flat and about two miles across. A barrier shimmered around the edge of the realm, showing the limits of its space. Beyond the barrier, Tobias could see the Imperial Palace that surrounded the garden and the ruins that had once been the Capitol.

In the outside world, the Sword Garden overlapped with the Imperial Gardens. This spirit herb garden supplied the imperial armies. It was once only open to the Imperial Family and their servants, because a place where two realities overlapped, allowing those in the nascent soul realm to cross over to where the emperor’s true garden lay, had to be guarded.

Tobias had walked all over the imperial garden but hadn’t sensed a trace of the hidden realm he now floated in.

Peace Master So pointed to the gardens below. “From up here, you can see the structure of the natural formation I built. The gardens along the outer edge absorb the chi from the world outside, circulating it around the realm before bringing it closer to the centre. Each garden along the path has a specific effect that's imparted on the chi, which strengthens the surrounding gardens and purifies the dao and chi influences. Once it reaches the centre, it’s entirely neutral.”

Tobias reached out with his aura and spiritual sense. “The effect seems incredibly weak.”

Peace Master So did not look pleased by his comment. “Senior, these are core realm spirit herbs trying to purify the chi of a hidden realm. Of course, the effect is incredibly weak.”

Tobias pressed his lips together to stop himself from laughing at the sage’s pouting. “I take it there is more to do?”

“Yes, I’m going to add nascent soul realm spirit herbs that I rejected from my valley because they were about to break through to the sage realm. They’ll begin absorbing chi to prepare for their tribulations, accelerating the purification process.”

Tobias sucked in a breath as he calculated the effects. “Is that safe?”

“No. But only if you’re inside the realm when they try ascend.”

Tobias understood why Peace Master So had really been grinning. “We’re inside the realm.”

Peace Master So’s grin returned as he waved his hand. Nascent soul realm spirits herbs began to appear in the gardens near the barrier. They pulled on the chi around them, absorbing it and funnelling it through their garden and into the next, where more nascent soul realm spirit herbs pulled the chi to the next.

Tobias felt the formation change. With each passing second, the chi flow in the garden grew faster as a monstrous creation began to rouse. Peace Master So spun in place, adding more and more spirit herbs to the gardens, pulling the chi closer and closer towards the centre.

Tobias could sense the spirit herbs trying to purify the metal chi and sword dao in the environment, preparing for their tribulations. They had little effect, but that changed the moment the chi reached the halfway point. Then the sword dao impressions began cutting their way through the dao of neutrality. With each garden of neutrality it cut through, it had to cut a little sharper, exposing more and more of its nature. Elemental chi exploded in every direction as the spirit herbs surrounded themselves with chi barriers, protecting themselves from destruction.

Tobias didn’t hear dao whispers. He heard a voice. An old voice. From the beginning of time. It was bringing the universe into existence through words. Each word was spoken clearly and concisely, establishing the nature of metal and life which would give birth to swords.

A violent vortex of cascading colours formed as the neutral dao tried to unmake the sword dao, and the sword dao cut its ties to neutrality. This created chaos. Tobias watched in silence, accelerating his thoughts with chi far beyond their natural limits as he tried to absorb insights from the dao of the sword and all the techniques that had been imparted in The Sword Garden over the millennia.

Tobias originally developed his mental technique as a battle technique. It was supposed to accelerate his thought process and reaction time, giving him longer to act while forming techniques and spells. However, the human brain, even a cultivator’s brain, was too delicate to handle that much chi while in motion. One misstep and you might give yourself a lobotomy. However, those risks didn’t apply while motionless.

While accelerating his thought processes, the voice filled Tobias’s mind. The voice instructing him on the nature of the dao of the sword and how it was implemented.

A hundred thousand battles streamed through his senses, each one layered on top of the others. Each started and ended too quickly to process. The owner of this realm had tens of thousands of years of experience, and all of it was imparted on this place. Each day he trained and each night he fought, giving countless lifetimes of effort in pursuit of perfection. There were other sword daos across the realm that had seeped into its makeup over thousands of years. The connections that had once anchored them in place were now gone, but they still remained.

Tobias watched the garden vanish from his sight as the dao storm engulfed the realm, following the battle through his aura. It was unlike anything he’d ever experienced. Knowledge flowed into his mind. Experience flowed into his body. Everything these people had once been became a part of him.

Then Tobias sensed some nascent soul realm spirit herbs begin to attempt breakthroughs. Peace Master So reached into him and ended his mental technique right before folding space.

The realm vanished.

Tobias found himself standing outside the entrance to the hidden realm beside Peace Master So. The door, which had been left open for the past week, was now closed, and black tribulation clouds hung above the Imperial Gardens.

Tobias deep understanding of sword dao vanished with the dao storm, leaving behind only a pale imitation of the knowledge that had once filled him. These pale imitations were dao insights, pieces of a puzzle which meant little on their own. Knowing that the nature of a sword was to cut was a dao insight that didn’t help him. Knowing how it cut was a dao comprehension that would allow him to project a dao cut while holding a sword. Tobias couldn’t weave the insights he’d gathered together to form those comprehensions, though.

Tobias turned to Peace Master So confused. “Why did you take me out? I was gathering insights like you asked me to.”

Peace Master So gave him a shaky smile, like a child who had just done something that had nearly killed them and was waiting to see how their parents would react. “Senior, did you know that when sword dao is not wielded by a cultivator, its actions don’t count as violence, just the dao following its nature?”

Tobias took a moment to process the statement before understanding. “Your dao was powerless against it. There was nothing to make peace with.”

“It may have been a slight oversight on my part.”

“A slight oversight that suggests I’m right about cultivating the dao of war in seclusion being impossible.”

Peace Master So gave a slow nod. “My experience in there does lend your claim a certain amount of credibility, Senior.”

Tobias looked up at the tribulation clouds, thinking about what he’d witnessed inside the hidden realm. “Are you going to have to do this again, or will this be the only time?”

“I have to do it as many times as necessary to cleanse the realm. Clearly, I won’t bring you next time.”

Tobias dropped his gaze and shook his head. “I need you to bring me.”

Peace Master So winced. “I would prefer not to, Senior. If I had been slightly slower, you would have died back there.”

Tobias hadn’t realised he’d come so close to death. “You’re certain?”

Peace Master So gave a guilty nod.

Tobias sighed.

“Why do you want to go back?”

“I want to study what just happened.”

“There are safer ways to study dao.”

“That’s not what I want study.”

Peace Master So frowned.

“I want to study why you were perfectly content until the nascent soul realm spirit herbs began their ascension. As a sage, you could likely neutralise the nascent soul realm dao despite the fact that it was unwielded. For us to suddenly be in danger suggests that you had to contend with sage realm sword dao.”

“Dao doesn’t have realms, Senior.”

Tobias frowned, surprised by the force of his reply. “Why do you say that?”

“It’s something you would know if you could understand dao whispers, Senior.”

Tobias folded his arms. “I thought we agreed that if you can’t explain something so I can understand it, you don’t understand it well enough to make that judgment.”

Peace Master So shook his head. “Sage Prudence taught me that you cannot explain colour to the blind. He tried. The closest he came to making them understand colour was by letting them experience the emotions colour invoked. However, none of them could recognise these colours when he gave them sight. The same is true for dao. No matter how hard I try to make you understand, you will not. You are a blind man in a world of colour.”

Tobias stared at Peace Master So for several seconds, shocked by the clarity of his answer. Clearly, this wasn’t one of his lessons, but something he’d been taught. Otherwise, it never would have been so concise.

He was a blind man navigating a world of colour.

It was a fascinating thought.

Tobias took a slow breath and decided he didn’t entirely agree. “Colour follows rules. Dao does too. I might never be able to understand dao, but I can understand the rule that dao abide by. And much of what I’ve seen suggests that dao has realms.”

“If that were true, then how did I achieve dao enlightenment while in the initiate realm?”

Tobias didn’t have an answer to that. “I don’t know. Do you?”

Peace Master So shook his head.

“Can you explain why the dao storm grew stronger when your nascent soul realm spirit herbs began to break through then?”

Peace Master So nodded. “The Sword Garden holds the dao impressions left over from multiple dao enlightenments related to the sword. These dao enlightenments have seeped into the realm the way my dao has seeped into mine. The purification effects of the formation I built were not strong enough to affect them until the spirit herbs began their ascension. They did not act before then, because there was no reason for them to act.”

“How is that any different to a cultivator refusing to act on the battlefield until they are threatened by someone in their own realm?”

“It isn’t.”

“Then why can’t dao be ranked by realms?”

Peace Master So held out his hand and conjured a ball of white flames. “The dao of fire and ice exists in my palm. Individually, my understanding of each dao would threaten the life of a core realm cultivator. When combined like this, they can barely harm a foundation realm cultivator. Dao does not follow the same rules as cultivation, Senior.”

“It does if that’s not a combination of two daos, but a new form of dao.”

Peace Master So shook his head. “There would be insights that could be gathered, comprehensions that could be achieved. There isn’t.”

Tobias sighed, accepting that his assumption might have been wrong. “It would make things much easier if I were right.”

“Why?”

“We know that spirit herbs that ascend realms do so because of the purity of their heritage. Those properly trained can sense this purity when in their presence. If dao had realms, it would suggest that we are not sensing the purity of their heritage, but the purity of their dao. This would suggest that spirit herbs ascend when they can fully express a higher realm of dao. Which matters, because we know they don’t ascend because of cultivation strength, so it would mean it’s dao comprehension that causes them to ascend.”

Peace Master So began chewing his bottom lip. “I’m listening, Senior.”

“If it’s dao comprehension that causes spirit herbs to ascend, and dao insights can be ranked by realm, a spirit herb that is breaking through would begin to express a higher realm dao. This would have been what drew out the sword dao enlightenment that saturates the 1st Emperor’s realm.”

Peace Master So frowned. “Your conclusion is only appropriate if dao insights are ranked by realm, and spirit herbs initiate their ascension through their comprehension of this higher realm dao. Those are large assumptions to make. Do you have evidence?”

“Failed nascent realm ascensions. There are too many. Some can be explained by inconsistent dao compatibility. Most can't. Especially when you consider how many cultivators practice successful clan or sect cultivation methods. Those cultivators failing because of a lack of higher realm dao comprehension makes sense. The dao comprehensions could be the spark that gives life to their nascent soul or the strength that allows for the proper formation of another layer of their core.”

Peace Master So folded his arms and didn’t reply for a few seconds. “How does this apply to those who reach the sage realm?”

Tobias’s understanding of the sage realm was significantly less than his understanding of the core and nascent soul realms, but it was the most extensive of anyone in the core realm.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“Cultivators narrow their dao path the stronger their cultivation becomes, so it would make sense that sage realm cultivators use their nascent soul realm cultivation to first incorporate nascent soul realm comprehension and then sage realm comprehension. Those higher realm dao comprehensions and insights might be what give a cultivator their power over lower beings? Natural laws and dao are what govern reality, so more control over higher dao places more of reality under their control”

“You’re reaching for answers that may not be there, but there is some plausibility in what you just said, Senior.”

Tobias smiled. “Which is why I need to study what’s happening in there, so when are you going to do it again? I have to assume that very little of the spirit garden you made is still currently in there.”

Peace Master So gazed at the black clouds circling above. “We will have to wait and see.”