I had taken a brief break from the meeting with my advisors. Yvonne had arrived and offered to show me the areas that had been selected for the city and sanctuary.

I admitted to myself that both locations were ideal. The city was close enough to Four Element Sect that trading ventures would be easy to establish. If I posted contribution points to keep the passage between the city and Sect clear of beasts, that should make it safe enough for non-cultivators to travel.

The Qirin sanctuary site was isolated enough to make it impossible to reach without effort, at least without the ability to fly. I wasn’t sure what the Qirin’s normal diet consisted of, but the valley was teaming with grass, trees, and animals. The animals should find it easy enough to establish themselves. There were no sizable predators in the area they would need to worry about, and anything that might attempt to attack them should be easy enough for them to deal with.

With the decision to accept Yvonne’s proposal, we returned to the Sect and signed the documents assigning my rights and claiming her territory as a Vassal State. I finished a few other small errands at the Sect and headed home, the most important registering the Writ of Investure that would allow me to establish a Clan.

The flight back was uneventful, as Storm and I spent more time playing than scouting. She hadn’t yet finished the entire mapping of my territory, but the path from the Sect to Xiwang was fully fleshed out. We would have needed to go so far out of our way to add to the map that it would have added a day to arrive at Xiwang.

My advisers were waiting for me when I returned. I hadn't spoken with Gwen to inform her of the changes that were about to occur. There hadn't been time, and we had barely touched on how to expand the city when Yvonne had arrived.

I hadn’t thought I’d receive the reaction I did over gaining a vassal. My advisors were not happy, and my inner circle expounded loudly their discontent at my decision, each attempting to be heard above the other about what a bad idea accepting governorship over a Vassal State was.

“We don’t have the people to establish trade routes with this new city once it’s open,” Siam was the first to cut across the cacophony and confusion swirling around the room. “The Beast Tamers that you can call upon are a finite resource.

“Each of those Cultivators travels to the towns and areas you agreed upon when accepting them. They do their job, often more than what is required, but they need time to advance their cultivation base, collect resources, and train with their bonded companions.

“A few may have time to add an additional run to their schedule, but most won’t. This new territory will take away more time than they can afford. They would rather dedicate that time to growth and advancement. And with the Arena serving as a major source of income, they have to have that time to train.”

“We have already run into issues of supply line problems,” Zui added. “The Beast Tamers have already expressed valid concerns about taking any extra flights. Siam is right; they need time to train, cultivate, and earn contribution points to purchase weapons, armor, and items for their tamed companions. But the town Heads that complain that supplies are slow in distribution are also right.”

“How are we going to expand into more areas for trade when we are barely managing to cover existing routes will need to be considered, but the more immediate concern is the cost. Can we afford to allocate the needed funds required to govern a new territory effectively?” Gwen asked.

“We’ve gained no new Beast Tamer Cultivators from the latest batch of awakened?” I asked in confusion.

“A few,” Zui admitted, “but without you there to offer House adoption or membership to the Dojo, few were willing to accept what we were authorized to offer.”

“There are other territories now that have Barons, and they send people to attend every awakening, poaching our people with offers of riches and resources. The number of people willing to follow you has diminished because of those bribes.”

“Have we returned the favor?” I asked. “I hope we are trying to recruit from their territories too.”

“No,” Zui replied. “Again, it is a matter of authority. You never designated people to cover this eventuality nor gave them enough authority to make a binding agreement for your House or Dojo.”

“That will have to change,” I acknowledged, “especially now that I have a Writ of Investiture allowing me to establish a Clan.”

If I thought the cacophony of noise that greeted me was bad before, this verbal bombshell exploded across the room with explosive force. The voices of confusion were overwhelmed by the voices of glee and celebration at my off-handed remark.

“Where did you get a Writ of Investiture?” Gwen shouted over the din, silencing the excited voices that had filled the room.

“A Heavenly opportunity I discovered while exploring the Mystic Realm,” I replied honestly.

“Will that Writ be valid here? I think the Empire would refuse to validate anything it didn’t have a hand in creating, especially if the Writ came without fees or taxes for the Empire to collect.”

Gwen had a point, and she wasn’t wrong, but not because of any monies they might lose. The Empire was built in order to maintain control. The distribution of rare resources required it. For a Politic established to meet the requirements of cultivation, the control of resources was vital in choosing whom to support as they advanced.

Those selected for support would be given tangible rewards of rare resources that allowed a Cultivator to ascend faster. Those rewards did not come without a cost. Cultivators backed by the Empire would have to swear oaths- oaths that were tied to their cultivation in return.

Those oaths were not so restrictive as to remove free will, but they did demand a Cultivator remain impartial, at least, and not support, suborn, or collude with factions or individuals that might rebel against or sabotage the Empire. That, in addition to the contribution of high-tiered pills, weapons, resources, arrays, and artifacts, allowed the Empire to run smoothly. Without those contributions, the technology that allowed a town to prosper would have been impossible.

“The Empire has no choice. If they refused to declare a Writ of Investiture that contains a valid Qi signature valid, every Clan in the world and every other Empire would move against it.

“The very foundation for establishing a Clan’s rights is written into the bedrock of society. A Clan, even one that has rebelled against the crown, cannot be dissolved. Every member of the Clan might be killed, but the Clan is an entity unto itself, only waiting to be claimed and re-established.

“It will remain in limbo, its holdings left to rot until someone is fortuitous enough to claim the Clan’s Writ of Investiture and restore what had been destroyed.

“The Empire can make it hard and costly to gain a Writ. That is the reason only a few new Clans have been created over the course of centuries. But once that Writ has been crafted, and a Clan Head has activated that Writ with a Qi signature, then the Empire can do nothing to dissolve what has been codified.

“Writs of Investiture are protected by Heavenly Law. Any attempt to destroy them will result in a Heavenly Tribulation, a backlash of such potency that no one would survive,” I warned those listening.

And they were listening, each having resumed sitting. They gave the appearance of calm, but each person was perched forward on the seats of their chairs as I spoke. “I have already informed the Empire’s representative at Foul Element Sect’s Contribution Hall that I possess and intend to re-establish Clan Frost and appoint House Myche as the main line.”