6.24 - Plans and Preparations

The attention in the room shifted, all pointed to Yan Shirong. He Yu saw him smirk as he started to explain himself, and had to give him credit. It was a good plan, and one that would do everything he’d claimed. It would help them locate Yi Xiurong and Ren Huang while also striking a blow at Jin Xifeng’s ability to coordinate her response to their actions.

“As you all are aware, I am a minor son of the Yan family. The very same Yan family who currently oversees much of the Ministry of Information’s activities in the west. If we were to wrest control of the Ministry, we could achieve several important goals at once. First, of course, we could locate Yi Xiurong and Ren Huang easily enough. Second, I don’t think I need to explain the benefits of depriving Jin Xifeng of the Ministry’s capabilities to any of you. And finally, once seized, we could then make use of those very same capabilities ourselves.”

Li Renshu nodded along as he spoke, and Tan Zihao grinned. The Li Patriarch would be familiar with the workings of the Ministry of Information, and with how effective they were at their duties. Tan Zihao had overseen the early days of Yan Shirong’s pet project in the Jade Kingdom—building a mirror of the ministry to serve the kingdom’s needs. Both knew at least somewhat of the capabilities that Yan Shirong spoke of, and they could obviously see the possibilities this plan provided.

As much as the Ministry of Information had a reputation of being filled with sneaks and spies—a reputation that, according to Yan Shirong was wholly deserved—it also fulfilled a number of key functions both for the empire’s administration and its populace. Officially, the Ministry gathered and disseminated information throughout the empire. If someone needed information about ancestral land rights, the predictions of the imperial astrologers for that year, or even just the name of a local magistrate in the next town over, the Ministry would provide whatever was asked.

Of course, this meant the Ministry also served as both the eyes and ears of the empire itself. It was functionally a vast network of spies and informants, keeping tabs on the comings and goings of any imperial citizen of any consequence. Many a rebellion had been put down before it could really get started over the centuries. And it had been the Ministry of Information that had exposed the plans and leaders to the governors and their agents. Further, the Ministry also enabled relatively quick and easy communication across the massive territory of the empire’s interior.

This was the crux of Yan Shirong’s motivation. There was just one detail that He Yu wondered about. And, it seemed, so did Li Renshu.

“How do you propose to gain control of the entire Ministry?” the Li Patriarch asked.

“Well, it wouldn’t be the whole of the Ministry. Just the western portion of its operations. The Ministry is headquartered in the capital, but there are regional offices. The western office is in Plum Blossom City, the seat of my family’s power. The head of my family is only late Nascent Soul. I would declare myself head of the family by virtue of my advancement. With Plum Blossom City under my authority, I would also gain control of the Ministry’s headquarters in the west.”

Tan Zihao let out a boisterous laugh. “Rule of the strong! That’s the way things ought to be! I like it.”

Li Renshu was less enthusiastic about the plan. “Normally I wouldn’t condone such unfilial behavior, but I think it is warranted, given the circumstances. However, you’re close to advancing as well. Wouldn’t it be better if you stayed behind like my grandson and Princess Tan?”

“I had considered that,” Yan Shirong said, the shadows around him deepening. “But my Way is the Dao of Secrets. There is no greater repository of secrets under heaven than the Ministry of Information. Should I wish to advance to Divine Body Attainment, Plum Blossom City is the best place for me to do so, barring access to the ministry headquarters in the capital itself.”

“We are decided, then,” Li Renshu said. “Lady Zhang may use my cultivation chamber. Once she has reforged her body and stepped into the Seventh Realm, she will depart along with Lord Yan, and Lord He. Princess Tan and my grandson will remain here so they may advance and continue to cultivate. King Tan and myself will coordinate the armies, while my son will oversee the administration of Iron Gate City.”

He Yu did not the sour look on Li Bao’s face at that. He couldn’t imagine what the man must be thinking. He was the great General of the West, after all. The Marquis of the Western Passage, one of the most important and prestigious military appointments in the whole of the empire. Until recently, he had been the outer head of the Li family, a young but powerful family founded by his own father.

Now? He had just been relegated to what essentially amounted to a ministerial position while his son was to be given resources that would allow him to surpass him. Perhaps, had Li Heng left on better terms, Li Bao would have been proud. He Yu supposed this might be a part of why Li Heng had mentioned his father being more open to his relationship with Tan Xiaoling. Tan Zihao wouldn’t likely allow the Jade Kingdom to pass out of his family’s rule through his daughter, and Li Bao could sire more children should he need to.

He Yu shook his head as he considered it. Nobles. Certainly not anything he ever wanted to deal with, regardless of what Tan Zihao had told him about the empire being his once he defeated Jin Xifeng. As he pushed aside the thoughts of nobility and rulership, he didn’t miss the knowing smile Zhang Lifen flashed him as she left on her way to the cultivation chamber.

As the meeting broke up and everyone went to see to their own business, He Yu lingered in the central room of the Li estate, along with Li Renshu himself. Once they were properly alone, Li Renshu arched an eyebrow at him.

“There is something you wish to speak of?” he asked.

From within his storage treasure, He Yu produced the skin, feathers, and core he’d harvested from the serpent Qingzhao in the Mountains of Heaven. That fight seemed as though it had occurred a lifetime ago. In a way, he supposed that it had.

Since he’d done battle on the slopes of those mountains, reshaping the land with his techniques and battling against the awakened serpent, He Yu had reforged himself into something that wasn’t entirely human anymore. He had ripped apart his physical form, replacing it with the very stuff of creation before piecing it back together. It was an act that, now he’d the time and space to properly reflect for a moment, seemed absurd.

The term “immortal” had always been more figurative before. Even as his lifespan had stretched into the hundreds, then thousands of years, He Yu had always known that given enough time, it would end. That wasn’t the case anymore. Disease, age, the ravages of time itself—all that meant nothing to him now. If he never advanced again, he would live forever. Barring, of course, meeting a violent end. Something that, given his current course of action, seemed very likely.

“These are powerful treasures, indeed,” Li Renshu said. “And well suited to your cultivation.”

“I never had the time to make anything useful of them,” He Yu said. “Are there artificers in Iron Gate City that can make use of them while I help Yan Shirong and Zhang Lifen?”

Li Renshu hummed for a moment, considering before he committed to an answer. He looked over the wind serpent’s core first. “The core of an awakened beast at the Soul Refining stage makes for a powerful elixir. Even so, it would have provided greater benefit before you advanced to Divine Body Attainment.”

“So it’s wasted then?”

“Not wasted, no. Like I said, it’s a potent core, regardless. Should you happen upon any spirit herbs or the like of the appropriate aspects during your search for Lady Yi and Lord Ren, they could combine with this core to make a medicine more appropriate to your advancement.”

“And if I don’t manage to find anything?”

“An elixir made from this core would still accelerate your progress through the Seventh Realm. Taken now, it would likely push you to the middle stage. Taken later, it might be better to sell it.”

He Yu turned the choice over for a moment. The prospect of finding the appropriate herbs or cores here in the empire was a slim one. There was a reason imperial cultivators generally lagged behind those of the Jade Kingdom after all—these settled lands made for scarce resources. What spirit beasts or herbs did grow were quickly snatched up by the sects or the noble clans. Banking on finding appropriate materials, especially if he wasn’t seeking them out intentionally, seemed a poor option.

At the same time, he was unlikely to advance during their travels. His focus would be on tracking down Ren Huang and Yi Xiurong. Any time he dedicated to cultivation would be more to restore what portion of his cultivation base he’d expended on travel or any challenges they encountered. A slim chance was greater than no chance, and if fortune favored him, he just might find the ingredients he needed. If not, he could always have the elixir crafted on his return.

“What about the feathers and hide?” he asked. The elixir could wait.

“Useful. Serpent hide makes for good armor, and the feathers can be crafted into all manner of treasures. Do you have anything in mind?”

Armor might be useful. With his advancement to Divine Body Attainment, he could now summon dozens of the mirror’s blue discs at once. As versatile a defense the Spring Rain Mirror offered, it wasn’t perfect. During his fight with Sha Xiang, she had slipped blows past him. He couldn’t imagine that experts with the advancement and experience like Long Tingguang and Jin Xifeng wouldn’t do the same. His body enforcement was one more focused on raw speed and agility than strength or durability. Of all his companions, he’d always been the weakest when it came to defensive capabilities.

“I think crafting armor would be a good idea,” he said. “And the feathers?”

“Fashion them into a treasure, or extract their essences into components for an elixir. Those are your two best options, if you ask me.”

As tempting as the prospect of having a treasure made seemed, He Yu couldn’t rightly see what he’d use it for exactly. A fan? Maybe fletching for arrows? Perhaps the feathers themselves could be scripted to act like flying swords. None of those options seemed like good ones. He’d been relying on his techniques and his guandao for so long, it seemed incorporating them into the elixir he’d eventually make from the core was his best option. He told Li Renshu as much.

“I’ll have the core and feathers processed while you’re gone. I’ll give the hide to my artificers in the morning, and they’ll start working on armor for you.”

“Do I need to pay you?” He Yu asked. He wasn’t entirely certain what the protocol was here. Li Renshu was clearly the one with higher social standing. He’d also received a considerable boon back in their last meeting when Li Renshu had awakened He Yu’s nascent connection with his Dao.

Li Renshu clasped a fist in his palm and dipped his head. “I owe you a considerable debt, Lord He. Had you and Tan Zihao not come to the city’s aid, we would have been lost.”

“King Tan had more to do with it than I did,” he said. “There’s no way I could have defeated Long Tingguang.”

“True,” Li Renshu said. “He’s not one to be taken lightly. We’ll have to deal with him at some point, though. Now that we’re all equally committed to this course of action, further conflict is unavoidable. Long Tingguang will no doubt return to the capital, and Jin Xifeng will be forced to act. Do you remember what I told you during our last meeting?”

He Yu nodded and said that he did. “Jin Xifeng appeared to me on the slopes of the Mountains of Heaven. While I was headed north, seeking the means to break into the Seventh Realm.”

Li Renshu’s expression darkened, and a crease appeared between his eyebrows. “Now that you’ve returned to the empire, you’ll be far more susceptible to her techniques. The connection formed between your art and hers will allow her to sense your advancement. I trust that I don’t need to explain the danger to you?”

“You don’t,” He Yu said. “There’s nothing for it though. If she comes, she comes. Whether I’m ready is irrelevant. I’ll deal with her as I’m able.”

As he spoke those words, the Dao of Heroism sang in his mind.