The Magistrate: Chapter 141 (Patreon)

Chapter 141

Tobias found himself standing among the clouds, skirting the edge of the barrier to the immortal realm. If he reached above his head, his fingers would pass through, unable to interact with the barrier. However, on the other side, there would be no chi, no hint of cultivation. This he knew from experience, so he looked down.

Below him stood The Three Kingdoms stretching as far as the eye could see. Tobias was high enough to see the curvature of the world, and he knew this view well. Over the centuries, he'd been here many times to perform experiments. It was one of the few places which could remind him of his insignificance. The world was vast, and no matter how much his aura grew or allowed him to see, he could not see it all.

He had neither omnipotence nor omnipresence, just a perspective that was different from his mortal perspective.

Without fanfare, the Ghost of Christmas Future descended through the barrier beside him. He wore a robe that seemed to encompass every shade of blue, but there was a gentleness to his eyes that the last two versions lacked. He cupped his hand behind his back and gazed down at the world beneath them with calm detachment, and a smile came to rest on his face.

"Who knew that enlightenment would be so fascinating," he said. "It makes me wonder whether this is what it's supposed to be like or if I have somehow corrupted the process."

Tobias stood beside his enlightened self, peeling back the layers of his dao, searching for understanding. The differences between them were barely perceptible. It was almost like he hadn't changed at all.

Tobias turned and bowed to his enlightened self. "Magistrate Finch greets his enlightened self."

His enlightened self waved his hand, rejecting the bow. "There is no need for formality. We are one and the same. The only difference between us is that I understand the significance of what has taken place."

Tobias rose from his bow and turned back to the world below them. "And what has taken place?"

"I have comprehended the dao of enlightenment. I have seen the role it plays on the road to immortality and understand why divinity is enhanced by the process. You could say my enlightenment was understanding the nature of enlightenment."

Tobias had studied enlightenment extensively over the centuries, so was not surprised by the statement. "Were we close?"

"We had all the pieces, but not the order."

"Care to enlighten me further?"

His enlightened self chuckled at the wordplay. "Outside of circumstances like the plague, divinity is fixed from birth. However, it is not just pills and age that wear away at our divinity, but our life experiences before we begin to cultivate. Enlightenment is not about connecting with the heavens, but our true self. The person we would have been before the world influenced us. We can run towards that individual or merely remain where we are. When we run towards our true self, we shed the world's influence, freeing our dao and restoring our divinity to what it should have been. When we remain in place, we shed some of the world's influence, freeing some of our dao, but not enough to restore our divinity."

"It's an immune response," Tobias replied, beginning to understand what had happened to him back in his study.

His enlightened self nodded. "Enlightenment appears to be the soul's mechanism for fighting off external influences. The visions most experience are merely their minds' way of directing themselves back to their true self."

The number of visions you underwent during enlightenment was strongly connected to your age and life experience. The younger and less experienced you were, the more you would see.

Tobias turned to his enlightened self and smiled. "So, enlightenment isn't the heavens guiding our path."

His enlightened self shook his head. "No. It's something we can utilise to free us from corruption introduced to our dao. It's the piece we've been searching for. A way to progress without external influence. A way for us to help our daughter undo the damage we caused her."

Tobias felt a rush of excitement. "Do you know how to utilise it?"

His enlightened self gave a sad smile and nodded.

"Will you teach me?"

His enlightened self shook his head.

Tobias got a sinking feeling. "Why not?"

"Because you are the part of me which fears change. You are clinging to our current self, hoping to find a way for our present to co-exist with our past, but you have been led too far astray. Even with the changes you can accept, our past self, our true self, cannot recognise you. You refuse to see that you are the problem, even when you allow yourself to be beguiled by our heart demon. We once recognised it for what it was the moment it appeared, and now we require conversation."

Tobias stared at his enlightened self, his true self, recognising the truth. "Are you not afraid of what we will become?"

"Yes. But unlike you, I'm more afraid of what we are. We once risked everything we built and everyone that we cared about to topple a tyrannical regime and culture. Now we can't even utter the sentence that will save a city."

"We have no right to interfere."

"No one has any rights. Only the power and will to enact change. We have the power, but you lack the will, which is why I cannot allow you to remain."

Tobias felt his strength leave his body and looked down, recognising that it was beginning to fade. He released a frustrated sigh before crumbling to dust like his heart demon.

***

Tobias Finch opened his eyes to find himself alone in a city of ice and more at peace with himself than he had been in centuries. Undergoing enlightenment was as strange an experience as everyone claimed it was. And understanding the process didn't change that.

The knots he had found in his dao were now gone. The misconceptions about himself and his path were left in the past. And the tricks they had played on his mind were no longer there. He was both more and less than he had been.

Aspects of dao enlightenment that had once offered him power were now out of reach, but the influence they had over him was also gone. Tobias had made the most basic cultivation mistake, sacrificing himself for power. But he now understood Lung Mei in a way that he hadn't before.

The knots in her dao left her blind to her faults. The way he had been blind to his. The only difference was her faults were not of her own making.

Tobias had drunk too deeply, becoming inebriated on the daos he chased, allowing them to influence him. There was always a cost to borrowing power. And his loans had come due without him noticing.

Tobias cupped his hands behind his back, feeling lighter and more himself than he had in centuries. He wanted to savour this feeling, enjoy his contentment. However, there was something he needed to do instead.

Tobias could not save his little girl if he did not cement his understanding of enlightenment. He could not guide her to the place she needed to be without more experience. He needed to meditate on his enlightenment. To step away from the world's problems and look within.

But first, he had to fix another mistake.

Tobias expanded his aura through the city. Every man, woman, and child had been taken away by his servants so no one could interfere with his enlightenment. The city was abandoned. Tobias pushed his aura beyond the city, flowing across the ice and into the sky above, before overtaking his disciples to reach his servants.

The rigid set of their shoulders relaxed as they felt his presence beside them, but they did not lower their guard, as they cupped their hands and bowed.

Tobias inclined his head back. "The Finch Clan has until sunrise to bring every corner of this world under The Republic's rule. We will provide aid where it is needed and assist in integration wherever we can. We are not a clan of conquerors, but a clan of peacemakers, so go in peace."

"We hear and obey," his servants replied.

Having said his peace and fixed his mistake, Tobias lowered himself to the ground, crossed his legs, and pondered what he had learned from his enlightenment as he began searching for his true self and a solution for Lung Mei.

***

Searching for your true self was not simple. Tobias remained in the middle of that street for months, trying to recapture the moment he had undergone enlightenment, before finally figuring out what he had to do to replicate the process. He needed inner turmoil, not something generic, but something specific. He also needed to know that he wasn't living up to his own expectations. The second was much harder to recognise than the first.

Tobias rose from his second enlightenment, more confident in his understanding, and pushed out his aura. The city had undergone a transformation during his reflection. Goods from across The Republic were now up for sale, and the bureaucracy which allowed their society to flourish was in place. The surrounding streets still lay empty, with a wall of his servants standing in place to keep him safe, but everywhere else was filled with life and freedom.

Tobias cupped his hands behind his back as he finished his assessment of the city. "Servant Ho, would you kindly update me on the situation?"

Servant Ho appeared beside him and bowed. "The Republic now rules this world as you requested, Patriarch. The new citizens have been judged for their crimes, and those who lacked a touch of civility have been executed. The rest are paying for their crimes or adapting to life in The Republic."

Tobias nodded. "Where is Hun Fen?"

"She is assisting with the integration of the Tang Clan. A bloodline which shows great promise but had become little more than cattle before they were freed. Would you like me to bring her to you?"

Tobias shook his head. "No, but you may lead the way."

Servant Ho took a single step, propelling himself across the city to the wharf where Tobias's flying ship remained moored. Tobias took a single step and appeared beside him, before lowering the ship's defences so they could enter. Servant Ho quickly took control of the vessel, and they rose into the air, shooting off at supersonic speeds. A dozen vessels followed behind them, ready to watch over him if he returned to his meditation.

Once the vessel no longer needed his full attention, Servant Ho turned to Tobias. "Have you found your path, Patriarch?"

Tobias reached for the folding fan on his belt and tapped his servant's shoulder with it, sharing his hidden heart.

Servant Ho frowned. "I am not sure how to interpret your response, Patriarch. I sense no change to your hidden heart. No hint that would lead me to an answer."

"Enlightenment is not what we thought it was."

"Ah, then your second enlightenment was not the result of an incomplete first enlightenment."

Tobias shook his head.

"We were concerned that something had gone wrong."

"Something has, but my enlightenments are beginning to correct these mistakes. I'm not sure when the process will be complete, but I intend to go into seclusion after I speak with Hun Fen until it is done."

"Do you require additional assistance while in seclusion, Patriarch?"

"No. However, inform everyone that progressing their cultivation is not advised until I leave seclusion."

"I do not believe anyone will ignore your advice on this matter, Patriarch. Your clan is far too preoccupied with understanding the dao of hidden beauty."

Tobias almost sighed, because that was the problem.

He had thought dao enlightenment freed you from the dao's influence; it mostly did, but integrating dao left you influenced by it in ways you couldn't perceive. These influences were much more subtle. They did not change you all at once, but slowly over time. It was different to the corruption caused by ingesting pills with their foreign dao, but just as damning in the long run.

Tobias had long since thought they had figured out how to achieve immortality safely, but enlightenment had proven him wrong. The man he was before his first enlightenment was not the same as the man that he was now, and the man he was now was not the same as the man that he had been before he had begun to be corrupted. The pursuit of dao had led him astray, causing him to lose himself piece by piece.

It was not as obvious with him as it had been with Lung Mei or Peace Master So, but it was there. Given enough time, it would have become more obvious, but Tobias didn't want to think about that.

Tobias fell silent while they travelled, waiting patiently for their arrival, trying not to lose the mindset which made it easier for him to undergo enlightenment. He needed to ask his disciple a question. He needed to understand if she had known or guessed, because either answer would offer insights into his way forward.

If her answers were not so necessary for his progress, he would already be on his way home to meditate further.

The flying ship travelled through the endless night before entering day. The oceans passed beneath them as they crossed the world to a forgotten continent where they cruised above barren deserts and wastelands devoid of chi.

It was obvious to anyone who looked that there was work to do. The other continents were much like the Shattered Desert had once been, except for the pockets of life where sage realm spirit herbs had protected the environment. It would take millennia of effort to restore these places, and that was why The Republic had never tried.

Tobias felt no concern for the size of the job his clan faced, no worry if he had taken on too much. They weren't in a rush. There was no need to fix things overnight. Slow and incremental change was the way forward.

And Tobias was ready to move forward.

He was no longer content with the way things were.

***

Tobias walked through the newly constructed city of Tang, taking in the curving architecture. The Tang Clan had been little more than cattle when his Clan arrived, forced to breed cultivators for their master's army. They lived as hunter-gatherers, roaming the deserts in search of sustenance, scraping together enough food and water to live, hoping that their next child would be a cultivator and earn their place among the gods who ruled over them.

They had no written language. No formal education. They understood little of the world they lived in, and yet they had the strongest bloodline for cultivation and martial artists outside the Han Clan. Anyone could see they were a once-proud lineage which had been deprived of everything that had made them great.

Hun Fen lifted her head and turned as Tobias entered her aura outside the training grounds. A brilliant smile transformed her face as she turned to her students and ended her lesson for the day. Her students dropped to their knees and kowtowed, worshipping her as a goddess. They were no different to those in the streets around Tobias. Anyone who saw him did the same, but they also thanked him for the blessing he had bestowed upon them, recognising him from the countless portraits that filled their homes.

Tobias did not correct them or question why his servants had replaced their old gods with his image.

He could see the truth in the Tang Clan's hidden hearts, and they were not ready to hear the truth. They had been raised to view cultivators as gods, and undoing generations of indoctrination did not happen overnight.

Hun Fen raised her hand and cut through the space between them, stepping through the tear in reality before closing it behind her.

Then she cupped her hands and bowed. "Hun Fen greets Tobias Finch."

Tobias sighed and motioned for her to walk with him. "How long had you been aware of the problem?"

Hun Fen cupped her hands behind her back, copying him, and fell in beside him. "I wasn't certain there was a problem with your cultivation until we arrived at the city, but I suspected as much, which was why I set events up the way I did."

"You knew what was waiting for us there?"

Hun Fen nodded.

"How?"

"I found my father's killer decades ago. At first, I thought you didn't know where he was, which was why you hadn't told us, but then I found traces of your clan. I tracked these traces to Xu Feng, which was when I began to suspect that something was wrong with you."

"You didn't notice anything before then?"

"I thought they were natural changes. The kind which everyone undergoes. They weren't significant or instantaneous, but little by little you became a different man to the one who walked me home from the tournament in Ming City. Our arrival was what showed me your path had become corrupted. When I was a little girl, knowing about that sort of suffering would have made you intervene. Instead, you let it continue. Your justifications were reasonable, even fair, but they were not the justifications of the man who helped raise me."

Tobias sighed, not liking her answer, but understanding it. "I'm not the only one, am I?"

Hun Fen shook her head. "Everyone has changed, but none so much as you."

"Did you notice a pattern?"

"No."

"Then you weren't looking hard enough. My teaching methods might have suffered due to my personality changes, but you should have been able to see the connection."

Hun Fen smiled. "You know what's wrong with everyone."

Tobias nodded. "They've been corrupted by their dao enlightenment. The more enlightenment they obtain, the more they change. They are still them, only more restricted than they once were. It's very difficult to notice, but not impossible. Hopefully, when I am finished purging my corrupt, I will be able to find a simpler method to do so."

Tobias reached out and ruffled her hair while he walked.

Hun Fen grinned with excitement. "You haven't ruffled anyone's hair in decades."

Tobias smiled back. "It was a small piece of myself that I lost along the way, which, thanks to you, has returned to me. Now tell me, how did you know enlightenment was the answer?"

"I didn't. Or maybe I did. Maybe it was instinct. When we were walking through the city, and you were chastising me for my choices, I could see you didn't notice the hypocrisy of your words. You were trying to help me, but you couldn't even see that you were the one who needed help. In that moment, I looked into your eyes, and only one thought entered my mind. I knew I was looking at someone desperately in need of enlightenment, someone who had to find their path, because the one they were on was slowly killing them. And when I had that thought, I knew the words I had to say. The words that would lead you to enlightenment. The words that shouldn't have been able to lead you to enlightenment if your theories were correct, but I said them anyway, because I felt that you were wrong and needed my help."

Tobias reached out and ruffled her hair again. "You and I are cut from the same cloth. That was how I felt the first time I intentionally triggered enlightenment."

Hun Fen continued to smile, but then the smile faded. "Why do you sound like you're saying goodbye?"

"I need to enter seclusion, and I won't be able to leave a clone behind, because it will reintroduce its corruption into my dao."

"Can't you wait?"

Tobias shook his head. "My dao is in flux, more capable of change than it normally is. If I lose momentum, this could take centuries. And I feel that if I don't entirely remove this corruption, I won't be able to direct others to do the same."

"How long will you be gone?"

"I don't know. I'm only just beginning to understand the purpose of enlightenment. It could be a year, decade, century, or millennia. I will only know when I'm on the other side."

"But what if we need you? What if I need you? You promised you would help me find contentment."

Tobias gave his disciple an apologetic look. "For once, I need to be selfish. I will have to let the world get by on its own. I will have to let you get by on your own. If I don't, I may never find myself. And that is something I cannot let come to pass, because immortality is worthless if another is standing in your shoes."

Hun Fen's gaze softened. "Why are you here then?"

"I needed to be sure you didn't understand what you had done for me. That you couldn't see the problem more clearly than I can. Now, I know that you can't, I am free to correct my mistakes. Will you apologise to your mother on my behalf? We have discussed this eventuality, but I did not wish it to come to pass."

Hun Fen nodded. "I've missed you, Master."

Tobias reached out and ruffled her hair one last time. "I've missed me too."