The Magistrate: Chapter 85 (Patreon)

Chapter 85

Miasma Tests

During the Great Plague, there had been hundreds of miasma vaults across The Three Kingdoms. However, once the Great Plague ended, those vaults had been consolidated into a single location. Opening and closing the final vault required the mark of a field marshal along with an additional nascent soul realm cultivator, so Tobias wasn’t surprised when Field Marshal Kang arrived at the Imperial Palace with Patriarch Shen.

Tobias motioned with his hand to the dozens of large iron cauldrons outside the entrance to the Civil Realm, ignoring etiquette because of the looming threat. “Patriarch Shen, would you please guard these while we enter? I do not believe taking them all in at once is the wisest course of action, and Field Marshal Kang has yet to witness the effect of the sage realm spirit herbs for himself.”

Patriarch Shen nodded, holding The Three Kingdom’s official request for aid. “I have no objection. It will allow me to speak with the elders of my clan and assess how quickly we can respond to The Three Kingdom’s request.”

Tobias turned to Field Marshal Kang. He hadn’t seen the man in years, but it was neither the time nor the place to see if the man was still as committed to his path as he had been all those years ago. They had a job to do.

Tobias gave him a small nod. “I will need a cauldron of miasma crystals. Try to suppress their ability to absorb chi with your dao, I don’t want to damage the Civil Realm any more than we have to.”

Field Marshal Kang wrapped one cauldron with his dao and chi, reinforcing the iron and levitating it into the air, before following Tobias into the Civil Realm.

Field Marshal Kang breathed in deeply as they entered. “This is a true wonder of The Three Kingdoms,” he said with a small smile. “It is everything my officers have described and more.”

Field Marshal Kang still hadn’t recognised the Divine Council’s authority, so Tobias wasn’t surprised he’d never been to the Civil Realm. From what Servant Ho had said, the man never left the Shattered Fortress, except to investigate threats beyond The Three Kingdoms’ border. He was considered a dangerous wild card by the Divine Council, which helped distract them from what Tobias was doing right under their noses with their blessing.

Tobias continued walking, noticing the shocking amount of chi the cauldron was absorbing despite the field marshal’s efforts. “Did Patriarch Shen explain my thoughts on what miasma is?”

“He informed me that you believe it to be immortal chi toxicity.”

“Did he say anything else?”

“Only that you have slandered our immortal ancestors and that he was unwilling to repeat what you said.”

Tobias sighed as they walked over to Elder Chow. “I believe there is a possibility that the realm immortals ascend to is not the heavens, but a realm closer to the heavens. It is a realm that was likely barren of all but chi before the first immortal arrived. Think of it like an immortal hidden realm.”

“That is not what we are taught.”

“I’m well aware of that. However, I am basing my assumptions on facts, not on what you were taught. Fact one: Miasma nourishes sage realm spirit herbs. Only chi toxicity does this. Fact two: only sage realm spirit herbs are close enough to immortality to survive an interaction with a material from the immortal realm. Fact three: the stockpile of miasma in our world and the ascension of so many immortals during the Great Plague are likely why it ended. Fact four: You are taught that the heavens await you when you ascend, so you do not consider that this may not be true. Fact five: because of fact four, cultivators have allowed their greed to let them ignore the fact that cultivators cannot live without spirit herbs, allowing them to prevent all spirit herbs from ascending to immortality. If these previous facts are correct, the immortal realm is now corrupted by chi toxicity, and our immortal ancestors are the cause of this crisis.”

Field Marshal Kang swallowed as Tobias stopped before the sage realm spirit herbs’ barrier. “That was more than slander.”

Tobias motioned to the cauldron. “Please float the cauldron to the centre of the formation beside Elder Chow. The barrier will drop as you do, but keep it as close to the ground as possible, so it doesn’t tip over when the barrier raises, and the cauldron falls.” Tobias turned to the woman in the centre of the garden. “Elder Chow, please indicate the moment you experience any deviation in your condition, and Field Marshal Kang will remove the cauldron if he can.”

Elder Chow nodded as the cauldron floated forward. The barrier disappeared the moment the spirit herbs sensed the contents. Once the cauldron was inside their zone of influence, the lid flew off, and the barrier reappeared, cutting off Field Marshal Kang’s control over the cauldron. The cauldron fell, landing on the eight small legs. Black miasma mist began to billow from the top, moving towards the sage realm spirit herbs.

Tobias watched his test subject and the spirit herbs. “Are you well, Elder Chow?”

“Yes. Would you like me to try to move the cauldron to the centre?”

“If you are willing.”

She closed her eyes, and the cauldron began to float towards the centre. When it was halfway there, it suddenly dropped to the ground. Elder Chow screamed at the same moment as an explosion of miasma mist erupted from her body, filling the barrier.

Tobias frowned at the sudden disturbance, trying to figure out what had happened. Based on the eruption of miasma fog, Elder Chow had released a significant portion of the miasma within her. There were a few reasons that this might happen, but the most likely one was that her core had collapsed. However, her core would only collapse if she were no longer protected by the sage realm spirit herbs.

Tobias stared at the miasma mist billowing from the cauldron and made a wild assumption that introducing a secondary source of miasma to the spirit herbs had temporarily distracted them. This distraction stopped them from protecting Elder Chow, leading to the destruction of her damaged core as the miasma within her consumed it.

Tobias wasn’t in a position to be kind and stop the experiment. What had just happened to Elder Chow could affect the survival of The Three Kingdoms. He still softened his tone. “Elder Chow, are you alive in there?”

She continued to scream, but Tobias heard no sounds of pain or discomfort, only shock and horror.

“I believe your core has collapsed, Elder Chow. You should be otherwise unaffected, and this may also be a blessing in disguise. If you will stop screaming, I can explain.”

Field Marshal Kang frowned as she continued screaming. “How would it be a blessing?”

“Her core was severely damaged when she entered the Civil Realm. It would have prevented her from making progress were she to be cured. The miasma within her consumed all the chi in her core, starving the nascent soul within, unravelling the dao she had gathered. She is now effectively a foundation realm cultivator, which is why the excess miasma within her has been forcefully expelled. If she were to step out of the barrier for a moment, the miasma within her would consume the fragments of her core that remain. She could then enter the barrier again to receive the sage realm spirit herb’s protection.”

“You believe she will be able to ascend to the core realm in the future again, because of this.”

Tobias nodded. “I have studied the heavens and concluded that while they have many rules, they are not cruel. They always allow you to return to their path.”

Elder Chow’s screaming cut off. “I apologise for my unseemly behaviour, Sage Knowledge.”

“You experienced something no cultivator wishes to experience and lived to speak of it. Your outburst is already forgotten. Is the miasma within the barrier having any negative effect on you?”

“No, Sage Knowledge. I appear to be physically unharmed beyond the loss of my core.”

“You are struggling with something?”

“It feels like I have lost a part of myself other than my cultivation.”

“That is normal. Your nascent soul and core are formed from spiritual energy. This spiritual energy contains your dao. You are spiritually less than what you were before your core collapsed, so you should not expect to feel the same. This feeling will only go away when you have reestablished your cultivation to its previous strength.”

“Thank you for the explanation, Sage Knowledge. It is a weight off my mind. Would you like me to carry the cauldron to the centre when the miasma mist has cleared?”

“Yes. Field Marshal Kang and I are going to deliver a cauldron of liquid miasma to another garden of sage realm spirit herbs now. Please pay attention to what is happening around you and inform me if anything changes.”

Tobias began walking to the exit. “As you can see, sage realm spirit herbs can fully repress the plague when not distracted by another source of miasma. I want you to inform your generals of this fact, so they are willing to take more risks to protect The Three Kingdoms. You may also inform your soldiers of what I believe is happening and what the cause is.”

Field Marshal Kang nodded. “Patriarch Shen informed me that you wish to deploy the Fifth Imperial Army across the southern front of The Three Kingdoms.”

“I do.”

“Doing so will leave our border undefended.”

“I’m sending Peace Master So to reinforce the city states beyond our border. My aim is to prevent the hordes from forming this time. If we act quickly and decisively, it should be possible.”

“Those who fought for the 3rd Emperor are not allowed to leave the border.”

“Do you believe they will flee to the other kingdoms without the rest of your army there to oversee them?”

Field Marshal Kang shook his head. “After the war, they might have, but your disciples taught them the same as my soldiers, and they have made more progress in their cultivation despite their restrictions than they ever expected. Many are content to live out the rest of their lives in the Shattered Fortress, hoping to one day return to their homes. Those who are not have long since tried to escape and have been executed.”

“Then I do not see an issue. Leave them behind to guard the border under a few of your generals. Their actions may be enough for me to convince the Divine Council to allow them to return, though it’s been impossible to move them on this subject so far.”

They exited the Civil Realm, collected a cauldron of liquid miasma and a cauldron of miasma crystals, and made their way to another large cluster of sage realm spirit herbs. Tobias instructed Field Marshal Kang to leave the miasma crystals beside the barrier so it would remain down and position the other in the centre.

The Civil Realm held 487 sage realm spirit herbs, but Tobias wasn’t taking any risks, staying far away from the largest gardens of sage realm spirit herbs.

Tobias watched the liquid miasma breakdown into mist as Field Marshal Kang returned the crystalised miasma to Patriarch Shen. Based on what he could see, there was no obvious difference between using crystals or liquid. Both seemed to be able to be used interchangeably. And both had a maximum absorption rate.

Tobias watched for a few minutes before turning to Elder Chow. The miasma fog that had filled her barrier had faded. Through his aura, he could see the cauldron they had placed inside. It had already lost a third of the crystallised miasma in the past ten minutes.

Tobias knew that a core realm cultivator only possessed a single drop of liquid miasma within their core, and that was enough to transform their entire body into a crystalised state upon their death, so the spirit herbs could absorb a drop of liquid miasma in fifteen minutes if the consumption rates were consistent.

Tobias made his way back to the other garden and lifted the Three Pigeon treasure to his mouth, removing the cap. “I’ve placed miasma crystals and liquid miasma near the sage realm spirit herbs. I need to know how quickly they are absorbing it and how quickly they are developing.”

A minute later, Peace Master So appeared beside him. He opened the barrier surrounding the spirit herbs and the cauldron of liquid miasma to investigate. “These spirit herbs are progressing their cultivation thousands of times faster than they normally would while under the influence of liquid miasma.”

Peace Master So closed the barrier and then appeared over by Elder Chow, opening the other barrier.

Tobias followed.

Peace Master So was frowning when he arrived. “Miasma Crystals appear to be less effective, Senior. These spirit herbs are only progressing half as fast.”

Tobias turned to Elder Chow. “Would you be able to touch a miasma crystal for me. It should be perfectly safe.”

Elder Chow walked over to the cauldron and touched a miasma crystal. It exploded into miasma fog, filling the barrier. Within a few seconds, the fog began to fade, and within a minute, it was gone.

“See if that had an effect.”

Peace Master So opened the barrier. “It’s not as effective as the liquid, but more effective than the crystals. It’s about two-thirds the rate. Do you need my assistance with anything else before I return to delivering the proclamation?”

Tobias made a minor hand motion, and Peace Master So sealed them from outside observation with his aura. “I need you to investigate whether or not sage realm spirit herbs can protect lower realm spirit herbs and help them absorb miasma.”

Peace Master So winced. “Senior, I would rather not risk my realm for this.”

“Then don’t experiment in your realm. Transplant them elsewhere, then run the tests. If this works, we’ll have a way to accelerate the growth of lower realm spirit herbs, forcefully progressing their cultivation.”

“Which you will have to hide from the Divine Council, because they will use that information to expand their own gardens instead of focusing on protecting The Three Kingdoms.”

Tobias nodded.

The youngest sage realm spirit herbs were several centuries old, but most didn’t reach the sage realm until their second or third millennia. A handful failed their tribulations for everyone who succeeded. If Tobias found a way to transform those millennia into only a few years, then every clan and sect would ignore their duties to focus on their internal growth.

Tobias didn’t know if his suggestion would work, but he needed to know whether it was possible to plan what he would do if the sects and clans found out. The Three Kingdoms needed everyone if they were going to make it through the Great Plague this time. The world probably didn’t have the population necessary to empty the heavens of miasma a second time, so they needed to buy time until he could come up with an effective solution.   

Tobias took a deep breath. “Before you leave, distribute the miasma throughout the Civil Realm and collect what you need for the experiments. Bringing so much unsuppressed miasma in here will be damaging if left to nascent soul realm cultivators, so Patriarch Shen shouldn’t question your involvement. Don’t place any near this garden as I believe spirit herbs can be distracted by new sources of miasma.”

“Is that how her core collapsed?”

Tobias nodded. “Actually, before you go, does Elder Chow’s body contain any traces of her core?”

“I noticed several shards in her body, and I could tell they were causing her discomfort.”

“Help her purge the remnants before distributing the miasma. It will give us more insights into the plague.”

Peace Master So nodded and got to work.