Two days passed in the blink of an eye, almost the entire time spent running through the stances of the Ancestral Body Technique. In such a short amount of time, Nolan had managed to achieve a minor breakthrough to the late phase of the Integration stage’s sixth level.

No wonder Uncle Grey was getting hard over these things. Nolan had made several months’ worth of progress in less than 48 hours without the slightest bit of backlash. The most change took place within his spiritual space, which he couldn’t help but observe with his mind’s eye as soon as he ended the cultivation session.

Crazy, man.

A vast lake of golden liquid sat beneath a sun-like projection of his dantian that hovered about a hundred meters above its surface, separated by a heavy mist of raw, iridescent spiritual energy that hung over the lake like vibrant storm clouds. After all of his recent efforts, a perpetual rainfall of golden droplets leaked out from the colourful clouds as the spiritual energy within continued to condense, the boundaries of this beautiful space now stretching for over two kilometres in every direction. That was to say, his spiritual space now boasted a diametre of four kilometres, the depths of the lake now over five metres deep.

To think that this’ll go on for hundreds of kilometres by the time I reach the Genesis stage, maybe even thousands… Thinking back to the day that he had first obtained the Ancestral Body Technique’s inheritance, he recalled what the ancient Nian master had told him just before he’d lost contact with the man. Supposedly, they would be able to meet once more when the day arrived for Nolan’s ascendance into the next stage, which wouldn’t be much longer if his recent achievements in cultivation were any indication. A few more months on Venara, several more years on Nia, and he would finally get to speak to the ancient cultivator that was so deeply respected by Jun, the spirit that he had befriended during his last visit to the glade.

I should come up with a list of things to ask him in advance, so I don’t mess up an opportunity to learn some important stuff.

Nolan slipped out of his room after seeing that nobody was in the common area of the suite, hurrying out into the hallway and down to the lobby of the inn to find a hooded figure observing him from a discreet corner. He approached the table that the cloaked man was sitting at, taking a seat and helping himself to some of the finger foods that were sitting in front of him.

“How long have you been here?”

“A long time,” came a haggard reply. “Since I contacted you, actually.”

Looking at Welson’s exhausted appearance, Nolan felt a bit guilty at having ignored the consul’s sound transmission from a few hours ago. He’d been focusing on achieving his minor breakthrough and so had simply told the man to wait.

Whatever’s got him stressing, at least it’s helping him shed some rolls. If he had to guess, Welson had to have lost at least eight kilograms since the last time he’d seen him, which hadn’t been too long ago.

“What did you want to talk about?”

“It’s best we go somewhere else, first.”

As Welson stood up and began to make his way towards the door, Nolan stowed away all of the remaining food in a spatial bag before catching up with a nonchalant jog.

A short while later and he found himself within a gambling hall that the consul claimed to own—now the leading gambling hall in the city, thanks to Nolan’s trolling with his friends’ heavenly tribulations—seated within a private room on the building’s third floor. As had been the case at Connick’s restaurant, much of the room’s decorations and furniture were decked out in star gold, accented by thick rugs, satin curtains, even the drinks speaking of untold wealth.

Sipping on a cup of the city’s famous golden spirits, Nolan met Welson’s tired, green-eyed stare and asked, “So what’s up? You’ve clearly been dealing with some things.”

“An understatement, if there ever was one.” Fingering the enriched sigil of the CMA on the breast of his tunic, the portly man said, “I’ll start with news that concerns you and your friends. Several elders of the Falling Rain Sect have been spotted in the city recently, all of them holding high office within their sect. I’m sure they’re looking for you, so tread carefully in the coming weeks.”

Nolan couldn’t help but loose a light laugh. “Just that? Come on, man. You had me tripping for a second thinking some heavy stuff was about to go down.”

“It would be unwise to underestimate them. All of them are in the Genesis stage, and they’re fairly well known throughout the continent.”

“Yeah, not anymore. I killed them a couple of days ago.”

Welson sputtered mid-sip of his spirits, hurriedly wiping at his face with a golden napkin. “Not your group, but you?”

“Well, I am the sect master.”

“You…” Pinching at his tear ducts, Welson went on. “Assuming that you did kill them—you’ll have to forgive me for not immediately believing you—why would you do such a thing? Now they know for certain that you’re here, and since those elders died without any open provocation, I’m now liable for what happened and can be punished by the association for jeopardizing our relations with such an influential sect.”

“Just say they tried to kill you.”

“It’s not so easy. As a merchant lord, Kalvin can discipline me on behalf of the association. I’m just a consul, after all, and Merchant Lord Kam is young and lacks influence. There’ll be no recourse for Kalvin if he replaces me with one of his own, like Connick.”

“Look, I figured that we’d have to fight them anyway, so I decided to make it happen in a way that’s most favourable to me and my friends. Why fight those three along with the rest of their force when I can pick them off before things even come to that?”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about how our organization operates. Normally it wouldn’t have put me into such a difficult situation, but the merchant king has ordered that the CMA pull out all of its assets and personnel from the Easterly Kingdoms, which represents a massive amount of resources. All of that has to pass through Tallgate, which up until now has been under the jurisdiction of Merchant King Markham’s faction—our faction—but if that were to change then Merchant Lord Angram’s faction could harass us in countless ways as our members make their way back to North Island.”

“Well, my bad then. But hey, that wouldn’t matter anyhow because that Kalvin guy’s coming here to deal with you regardless of what happens. At least that’s what those elders said before they died.”

“What exactly did they say?”

Nolan told Welson everything that he’d learned about Tems’s plan to deal with him and his friends. This included the fact that, as a part of the deal between Tems and Kalvin, the consul of Tallgate was supposed to go missing during the confusion of the coming confrontation.

“This…the Nightshadow Sect is involved as well?”

“Bet you’re glad I killed those three now, eh?”

Welson failed to suppress a shiver. “How can you be so calm? Whether it’s you lot or me, we’re probably going to be killed within the next few weeks.”

“People try to kill me all the time, and yet here I am going to town on these golden spirits. Oh, speaking of, would you be interested in buying a bulk order of heavenly dew? I thought I’d offer it to you and your faction first, considering our current partnership.”

Welson seemed to calm down at the thought of money, his eyes growing sharp as he folded his pudgy fingers into one another in a contemplative gesture. “Bulk, you say? How much are we talking about?”

Nolan handed over a spatial bag that contained five crates full of heavenly dew. After probing it for a moment, the consul’s jaw dropped.

“How did you acquire so much? Heavenly dew rarely appears, and when it does it’s always in small amounts. Usually enough to fill a few cups.”

“What matters is that I have a lot of it, and I’m sure your king would love it if you were to show up with such a good cultivation resource just before he enters into another civil war.”

After donning a deliberating expression, Welson gave him a level stare. “The price we quoted earlier, when you sold that vial to me. If we buy all five of these crates, would it be acceptable to use it as a baseline?”

“Yep. I don’t mind if we lose out on a bit of money, especially if you guys win that war." Nolan ran a hand through his short, honey-brown hair, adding a bit of emphasis to his nonchalant tone. "I just hope that when the time comes, you remember the good old Earth Sect and all that we’ve done for you. We intend to stay on North Island for a decent amount of time, after all, and I can’t see any problems with being on the king’s good side.”