The Patriarch didn't really have much to say, at least to me. She recognized what I was trying to say, even without the words being uttered. I wasn't severing my affiliation with the Sect, or even with House Penumbra, but I wasn't going to be a stooge any longer.

It took barely moments for me to update my new status as a roaming cultivator, that task done at Contribution Hall. While there, I turned in almost all of the Golden Lodoicea pods I had stored. I knew some of them would find their way to Elder Dill, but I needed the points more than I needed to exact my revenge.

With my Contribution Points flush once more, I began purchasing the materials I would need for the Dojo I hoped to build. I planned on placing it at the bluff near the area where the Triad of Spirits gathered. The area was steeped in water and air Qi and would be a perfect location to shepherd the new members of my House, but I wanted to add earth and fire affinities to the structure.

I was hoping to emulate the natural four-element affinities that flowed through the Sect artificially. It would require fire and earth-type plants supported by arrays, formations, and treasures to filter the affinities I was looking for.

The Sect was overflowing with items that would work. The unique nature and location of the Four Elements Sect making it easy and possible to gather and craft the resources I was looking for.

Once that was finished, I visited each Elder in charge of a Hall and asked them for recommendations for people that might be willing to leave the Sect and join me. I was offering each person a position as an adopted member of the main House line and would try to fill any reasonable resource request they may need to continue advancing their cultivation.

I had some luck with each Hall, but one of the biggest finds was a pair that Elder Arthit from Recruitment Hall had suggested. Siam and Zui were a married couple, both uniquely qualified to help me build the Dojo I was envisioning.

"Why are you willing to leave the Sect?" I asked Siam almost as soon as they had sat down across from me in the meeting room Contribution Hall had allowed me to use for these interviews.

"We wouldn't normally," Siam admitted, "but my wife, Zui, suffers from Cleithrophobia. We had thought the Sect's upper buildings would be enough that her fear wouldn't be a factor, but she works in logistics for Contribution Hall, which requires her to spend most of the day underground.

"Her fear of being trapped has gotten so bad that it is crippling. She has had to resign her position and because we are staff instead of Sect members, the only place for her to reside above ground is in the hospital healing chambers.

"We were going to take our chances and try to find a town or village close by that we could settle at when Elder Arthit suggested we speak with you."

I looked at Zui with more than my eyes, examining her with my perception and noticing the small visual clues she was giving off to confirm Siam's assertion. The tightly drown lines around her mouth, the furrowed brow, the darting eyes as she glanced around frantically looking for a way to escape. More importantly, she radiated feelings of fear. She was fighting every instinct she had to escape and get as far away from this room as she could.

She was straining against the walls of sanity. There was no way for her to remain in the Sect, at least not until she broke through the Body Refinement Realm. If she could attain Qi Gathering, the foibles and peculiarities of phobias would be a thing of the past. The reforging of her mind would eradicate any of those types of mental weaknesses.

Elder Arthit had given her his full support and a glowing recommendation when he'd mentioned the couple to me. He assured me Zui was a talented young woman with a real skill for organization, and that she seemed to have an almost prescient ability to know what resources would be in high demand in time to warn Contribution Hall so they could stock up.

She would make an exceptional resource allocation and distribution leader for the Dojo I planned on building. I would see how well she served and if her talents were as prodigious as the Elder had suggested, I would expand her authority to serve as an adviser for my Fief. I wouldn't give her full authority. It would be safer to diversify, but it wouldn't hurt to have her looking over the shoulder of whoever I appointed in that capacity.

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I envisioned requiring the need for resource allocation over three divisions. One for the Dojo, one for each town, and one for the Fief at large. I was hoping Zui would work out and help with the logistics and resource management of all three.

Siam was the real prize in this interview, though. At least at this stage, when I needed someone to help with my most pressing issue. He was talented, so talented that Elder Lien, the head of Tamer Hall, would have promoted him as a direct disciple if his Spirit Root had been even one level higher.

The Elder despaired at losing such a talented young man but admitted to me when I'd spoken to her about him, that he was eminently qualified to help me build a Tamer's Hall for my Dojo as well as training each of the new cultivators I'd recruited. He was dedicated, knowledgeable, and a capable instructor. He would be instrumental in helping me build the Beast Tamer flying fleet I had planned to connect the towns of my Fief and build trade routes.

Elder Lien had promised to encourage some of the more talented Beast Tamer Body Refinement Cultivators to visit the Dojo once we completed construction to help the fledgling Beast Tamers learn how to handle their new companions in battle. Her idea would require an infusion of contribution points, as she had suggested a tournament system to lure more cultivators into participating. Prizes would need to be awarded for duels and spars from bouts I would host monthly.

It would be worth the cost, I thought, and had agreed to her proposition. She'd even promised to visit personally before the first bout to make sure the intricate arrays required for aerial combat were installed and perfected. Her involvement would publicize the event, and encourage participation from even some of the most recalcitrant and dubious members of the Sect.

If I charged entrance fees for those that were interested in watching, I might be able to offset the cost of each tournament. If I required anyone interested in participating to pay to sign up, that might cover any shortfall. And as long as the contribution points awarded for the seedpods I was growing remained at their current levels, I would continue to have a steady revenue stream.

They were in such demand that even selling the crates and crates of the confiscated pods hadn't caused the points awarded for each one to fluctuate. Contribution Hall had orders from across the Empire for as many samples of the item as they could fill. I also had a warehouse full of cores that had no taint of beast energy, but those were currently earmarked for infrastructure improvement across my fief.

My people had found jade in the mountain range that ran through my territory. I hoped to augment those findings with rare ores and spirit stones. I would plant the spirit seed I possessed when I found a suitable location, but that would take years to sprout and grow an appreciable number of stones.

"Do you understand what I am offering?" I asked, returning to the interview.

"I need to expand my recently created House. I don't want you to just come work for me. I want to know if you're willing to be adopted as part of the main branch of that House?

"Elder Arthit and Elder Lien weren't certain of your House or Clan status, so if there will be an issue with you breaking with them to join me, we can still work together. You will even be doing the same job, just your position within the leadership hierarchy will change."

"We, like I would guess 99% of all Silver Spirit Root cultivators that were hired to work here, have no House or Clan affiliation," Siam informed me.

"We come from common households, simply lucky or unlucky enough to awaken cultivation abilities that place us right on the border of desirable," he explained.

"We could have found a low tier Sect to join but chose instead to accept the scraps and leavings we would find at a higher tier.

"The Sect we came from before Four Element Sect was called Aerial Sect, located on the floating island of Guade. The Sect was rich with air and space elements, and mainly concentrated on creating spatial devices."

"We thought Four Element Sect, built as it is on the top of a mountain, would give me the same sense of freedom that Aerial Sect did," Zui added shamefully.

"Elder Lien used a favor to get us placed here. She is the closest we have to what might pass as a family and House, and she has encouraged Siam and me to take this chance. To start over, in a place where we can build something new. To join someone who will listen to our advice.

"If you are willing to adopt us into your House, we would be honored. It says much about you that you look for the talent most able to help you build a type of House, Dojo, and Fief that is needed for this island, instead of finding a way to funnel resources into your coffers at the cost of everything else."

I smiled in delight. I had only the smallest trace of foresight, and I knew that these two people would be an integral part of what I was going to build.