Chapter 0016

As one the ‘mercenaries’ of the camp stared at the two cultivators overseeing this operation. Each had their own thoughts about the pair.

Jean thoughtfully assesses the pair like a cobra stalks the mother bird, wary of the possible ruse to lure it away from the nest. Jean is the eleventh princess of the Corner Swamp Kingdom, a minor country at the border of the Great Myriad Swamp and the Dessert of Illusion, in a small corner of the Magus Alliance. Although her country doesn’t not allow the ruler, male or female to keep a harem, relations outside the marriage is permissible and children resulting from such unions are the responsibility of the mother.

The Magus Alliance focus on cultivating the relationship between mortals and the spirit. As a result the people of the Magus Alliance are more free with their feelings. On good days people from the other domains call them affectionate, on bad days, fickle creatures living on the whims of their emotions.

Marriages in the Magus Alliance are a tricky matter. Choices in marriage partners are left to the individual as well as inheritance. Mortals will marry, immortals tend not marry. How many swear eternal love to one person and manage to keep the vow? Almost every couple in the Magus Alliance. How? Kill their spouse when they get the inkling their emotions is running dry. The general excuse given is they have to free up their affections to continue their cultivation. Given the ease in severing a relationship, few are willing to enter the relationship in the first place.

Marriage does offer benefits as well. For as long as the couple stay true together, the cultivation speed of the couple increase by several folds depending on the couple. It isn’t unheard of for those truly in love with each other to cultivate ten times faster. In the case of one spouse being true to the other while the other spouse doesn’t feel the same emotion then the faithful spouse benefit from the increase in cultivation while the other suffers no penalty.

Marriage is a necessity to cement an alliance. Therefore, rulers ‘marry’ with the understanding that they may seek satisfaction elsewhere once the heirs are secure.

Children must be cared for. Society will crumble if the next generation aren’t produced and raised. Therefore, the mother takes on the responsibility. In order to raise children, woman must have a source of income. Hence, there are no discrimination between the sexes. Gender roles are fluid. What matter is power.

Men in the Magus Alliance have the option of being free and loose with their dalliances. Woman raises the children; men are relieved of the responsibility, or so it seems to outsiders.

Outsiders never realize that once a woman gives birth to a child, the woman can receive one spirit from the male as a security and the spirit of the parent can migrate to the child if they are of the same elements. Men having many children will destroy their cultivation. The transfer to the spirit is done when the child reaches adulthood, around age 40 without suffering from intentional harm or neglect from the caretaker.

The reverse is also true. If the man was the primary caretaker of the child, then he is entitled to one spirit from the female.

The spirit held as security decides if the caretaker meets the social obligation of a parent. Be a bad parent and the spirit return to the owner.

The transfer of spirits doesn’t happen all the time, but it occurs often enough that all mages are aware of it.

The spirits have a mind of their own. How can they allow themselves to follow the dictates of the cultivator they are attached to? Tempest suspect it is their method of transferring the dissenting spirit out of their collective, but it remains a speculation as she had no proof and her chatty spirit chose to remain silent.

Because of the intricacies of marriage and the general scheming of the court, Jean is aware of a simple fact - powerful cultivators wear a mask. They will only expose their true selves to those close to them or if the benefits outweigh the risk.

Jean knew Aria’s silliness was merely one of many masks she wears, and the clinging ghost is her true personality. The princess was not bothered by Aria’s assessment. She worked hard her arrogant princess persona that it became who she is. The haughty princess routine might work the Magus Alliance, but it won’t work in the Heavenly Mountains. Aria’s words gave her an excuse to change her personality without arousing suspicion.

“Princess, don’t mind the her words. Look at her eyes. She can’t see what is in front of her, much less your greatness.” One of Jean’s attendants flattered her.

“Yes, Abby is right. Did you see her eyes? They are white and opaque. The film covers her iris. We can’t even tell if that is her original eye color. Only blind people have those kinds of eyes. There is no way she can see how amazing you are princess,” another attendant jumped in curry favor with Jean.

Jean disdain the flatteries of her attendants. These servants were assigned to her by her mother to handle the mundane aspect of the expedition, so she can focus on her cultivation. She knew one or all three of them were bribed by her siblings to send regulars reports them. The scheming princess didn’t care.

Aria stated an important fact. Jean had earth and wood mortal spirit vein. Not many people with mortal spirit veins become an immortal. A biography of a renown cultivator with mortal spirit vein was written three thousand years as a symbol of hope to the weak. Jean analyzed the story carefully, checking the fact and double check the fact before she came to the conclusion that the story is real, but it takes extreme endurance, fortitude and massive amount of luck for the cultivator to become an immortal.

Jean was not graced with any of the qualities needed to overcome the obstacles placed on the untalented individual. No. The princess had a different objective when she chose this particular mercenary group.

“It’s you who are all blind. Aria may have unusual eyes, but she can see more than ordinary mortals. Which of her statement was untrue?” When none of the servants responded, Jean continued her scolding, “Don’t insult other people in front of their face, especially a cultivator who can decide whether or not we can join their sect or not. Who knows what they will do. Go back and do your work, all of you. I need to think.”

Emery Avant listens to conversations between the royal and servants with interest. Emery is a caramel skin, black haired woman from the tropical region of the Magus Alliance. She made her way to the central region hoping to cultivate her body as all of her immortal potential are very lackluster and she was not resigned to the fate of a mortal. She wanted to be more than a wife. Along the way, Emery had to act like a trained killer to deter potential slave traders, bandits and all the bastard looking to take advantage of her.

Aria was her correct when she called Emery a poser, but if other thinks she was weak then she’d show them her weapons were not for show. She’d never make it this far on bluster alone.

After listening to the side conversation, she began to carefully consider Aria’s words. A poser? She exudes killing intent to prevent trouble, but it did not make her an expert or an assassin. She never killed a chicken. Emery killed bandits and robbers when she made her way towards the central domain. Light mortal spirit vein, check. Medium mental power… Emery smiled in gratitude. The black clad woman finally understood Aria’s intent. Emery won’t be able to cultivate very far based on her light mortal spirit vein. It might be worth a try, but it is highly unlikely she’d be able to become an immortal based on her weak immortal potential, however she wills closer in towards her goal if she cultivates her mental power instead.

When she was testing her immortal potential, she tested all four aspect as well as her blood potential. There were furtive glances and subtle hand movements before the tester proclaims her mental power to be a 2.

Looking back, Emery should have questioned the authenticity of the tester’s words when there were many inconsistency between the verbal and non-verbal communication. It’s not too late to head towards the Mysterious Wasteland to train her mental power.

“The little princess is right. Aria can see more than ordinary mortals.”

While Emery obtains a minor enlightenment, the three mercenaries were arguing among themselves.

“So what if we have battle general spirit vein. It is better than the mortal spirit vein the other two poses. We still have a chance.” Bailey, a short black haired blue eyes mercenary said with optimism.

Senna, the black hair green eye pessimistic of the three refuted, “They know we were lying. I don’t think they will consider us due to our past transgression.”

“Which cultivator is completely honest?” Bailey snappily rebutted.

“The sects don’t care what we do as long as we don’t get caught. They can deny their involvement in the entire affair if it gets blown up. They might say we were never accepted into their sect in the first place. Our spirit vein isn’t high enough for the sect to stick their necks out and protect us. We broke their taboo when Aria disclosed our lie.” Senna didn’t want to fight with Bailey but they had to face facts. Before they were accepted into the sect, they were exposed.

“There is no use arguing.” Amber Eldgand, so named after her beautiful amber eyes, stopped the argument. “Whether they accept us or not is out of hands. There is nothing we can do about it. We came here to hunt down a Sundered Lion. That’s what we will do. Though I don’t think Aria said those things out of spite. The others haven’t left yet, so there is a deeper meaning to her words, however Aria won’t show her hands too early. All we know is Aria has an interest in the newcomer.”

“Should we try to pull the newcomer to us?”

“No.” Amber answer was as decisive as her personality. “Fawning over the newcomer will regulate us to flunkies. Cowardly cultivation is not the way for me. I want to walk the path that is right for me, to be able to stand on my own two feet and to abide by my own morals. Begging others on our knees will hinder our future. I don’t want to sacrifice my future for the present.”

The three black hair girls stared after Aria and Xing Zhi Hui with longing and helplessness. The opportunity was so close yet so far.