Regressor Sect Master

Tundra wasn't a good cook, at first.

In fact, for the first 1,000 years of his life, the only cooking he did was when he was in his earliest years as an outer disciple. Even then, as the 'foster' son of the Sect Master, he was well fed, and so devoted his attention to his studies.

Then, it was during one of those days, when he observed an open cauldron used by a mortal to cook meat, and realized that he should experiment on cooking as part of an alchemical process.

Cooking and alchemy were very similar. A fact that he realized later in life.

It's about preparing materials, amplifying specific attributes, and controlling the amount of heat and energy, in order to create something a texture.

When he realized there was huge overlap between alchemy and cooking was the magical aha moment. His non-existent cooking abilities improved by orders of magnitude within weeks of that epiphany.

It was also why he truly believed that for certain things, sometimes, it just takes the right set of thoughts and realizations.

A huge shame that the cultivator restaurant industry in the wider world remained stuck in their old ways. Cultivators can be so attached to little things, as if they were obsessed with it.

Cooking.

"My father would scream at me if I ever harm a single piece of skin on a treasure like that." Elly said.

"He did?" Tundra didn't know this. He and his wives, well, they never talked about their past. Maybe he should talk more about their past and how they came to be where they are. It was quite sad that they didn't have knowledge of each other's history.

"Yes. Such things were precious. They still are and I am sure if my father is here now, he will be trying his best not to scream." Elly said. The image of Elly's father, face red and trying his best not to react to how Tundra sliced the damaged skin off the ancient roots was somehow plastered in his mind.

Tundra found it amusing, but then again, maybe the old him would react the same way. He washed the materials, but made sure to keep the dirty water in a bowl. "He is not wrong. Some of the effects of these roots do in fact wash off into these waters, and there is some loss of effectiveness."

That made Elly turn. The maids breathed a sigh of relief. "Then?"

"But a wise abbott of the Golden Bell once said to me. If you can get a child to drink a bowl of foul tasting soup that contains all the benefits, that is the best outcome. But it is still good to get them to drink ten bowls of good soup, even if each soup is only half as nutritious. The benefits to the child's foundation would pay off in itself."

"That's something a wealthy family would say." Elly scoffed. Families like the Mistburn considered themselves to be middle-class within the ranks of cultivators.

"You're not too wrong, but I would say we can afford a little such waste. Besides, these dirty water and the remnant skin can be used for something else." Tundra eyed two bowls of dirty water.

"Such as?"

"One, we can use the dirty water directly to water our spiritual plants. It improves their growth."

Elly paused. That was a decent use, she supposed. The plants won't mind the dirt, and better quality spiritual plants do help in other things.

"First, we filter out the dirt." Tundra easily made a set of water filters, made from stone and some semi-porous types of spiritual plants. "Now, we have two layers. The dirty water which we don't want. And the filtered, clean water, within it is the roots and some of the exposed nutrients from the plants. We can soak our children in it. Use the clean water for bathing and soaking. That way they soak up some of the remaining nutrients of the spiritual ginseng."

"That sounds wasteful."

"I suppose. It's inevitable that there will be some loss. But it is a trade I am willing to take." Tundra looked at the cooks and the maids.

They nodded. Even if they didn't, they would nod. Tundra would have to check in the next time they prepared these herbal soups for his descendants. In the royal family, it is said that the alchemists were those that brewed soup for the royal descendants, and they were the first to create these better tasting soups. After all, royalties could afford the excess.

***

The Verdant Snow Sect's compounds expanded every year. There was always a construction project going on in some other part. New recruits. New plans. New defenses.

For most of his family, they have a favourite place. A safe place.

For Hana and Jihan, and most of the other younger members, they were clustered in a set of houses and inner compound built about seventy years ago. It was initially built to cater for Jihan's parents, but had somehow turned into the 'young children' section of his family.

"Father." Hana bowed, as she sat next to him. There were books. Scriptures that he chose for her. Jihan too greeted him.

He nodded at the two. "Was the soup better?"

Jihan nodded. Compared to the earlier foul tasting soup, Tundra's new recipe at least didn't taste like dirt. That alone made it a lot more drinkable.

There were some sects that often added various types of rock sugar, aloe vera or other plant-based sugars to improve the taste of their soup, but the qualities of these sugars often clashed with the nutritional qualities of spiritual herbs. Some day he'll find a sweet herb that doesn't reduce the efficacy of spiritual herbs, and that should revolutionize the supplemental diet of his sect.

Jihan was growing fast, but unlike Hana, his spiritual roots were still in their infancy and nowhere close to being fully formed. There were some debates on the risks of bloodline transfusion during this period, because it is quite possible that a bloodline that was strong in one element, could cause problems for a spiritual root that had another element. It is not something conclusive, though within the 72 Iterations, there were notations by the writers that the Ancient Titans had ancestors who did perform such tests on a large number of children. It is a controversial scripture, and thus kept a secret.

His grandson would have to wait a year or so more.

For now, the routine of the two young children was fairly simple. They would study, ask him questions, and they would then meditate, just to hone their ability to sense spiritual energies around them.

Hana was ridiculously talented.

And that meant it would be quite hard to hide her spiritual bloodline for long.

Unlike Jihan, the development of her spiritual roots were almost complete, and she would be a difficult one. A metal-fire dual element spirit root, and what's still uncertain is the final quality of the spiritual roots.

If her soul and mind was above average, she was certain to be something. He wondered whether she died in his first life before she gained achievements.

His mind whirled as the two kids played. He set them for success with as much foundational knowledge he could. Maybe Hana could do better than Yavin.

But talent only reaches their utmost potential when they have something to fight for. A goal and a foe. He needed to find someone just as talented as Hana, and make them rivals.

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Many great sects and great families know that, and often arrange for their talented offsprings to compete, in friendly and not-so-friendly capacity with the talented children from other families of their own sects.

Such competition was often 'constrained', with the elders of the families stepping in to restrict and prevent these offspring from going too far. In short, they are 'safe' ways to compete. Safe ways for each of the talented children to practice their skills together.

He needed to find families with children of similar talent. Friendly families with young children, a bond that could be their family away from home.

Hana would need that. He could already see how Anna and Annaly faced some challenges because of intrafamilial competition. The various 'wings' of the family still had a tense relationship with each other, and even if Grayne Fallows would ensure no harm would ever come to the young Hana, the young child still needed emotional connection and friendship.

***

Tundra decided to expand the Sect's outer disciple recruitment, and take it into his own hands. The Blackshores may think that the presence of the Southeast Fists gave them the ability to resist them, but there are more ways to weaken the influence of a family than just straight up combat.

First, he met with a few trading guilds and routed some of their trading routes away from Lakeshore.

Second, Tundra attacked Lakeshore's main produce, the lizards. He ensured that the Verdant Snow built up a big reserve of these lizards, and then began to delay payment.

Third, he got Severian to look into the Blackshore family's creditors, whether there is anyone that he could manipulate to put pressure on the Blackshore family indirectly. His Elder Severian soon found that the Blackshore family had two large lenders, the Southern Seas Trading Guild, and the Imperial Teahouse Traders.

One of the great advantages that the Verdant Snow Sect possessed over many other sects was their debt-free status.

Tundra's own master hated being in debt, and personally witnessed how some sects went in trouble because of debt, and so over the years, they only spent spirit stones they actually possessed, and never relied on debt.

Naturally, the largest lender of them is the imperial family and the various princes. Each of them controls and has access to so much wealth that debt is the other means which the royal family controls the various sects. This was on top of the taxes and various fees already charged by the royal institutions.

Even if the sects themselves were not in debt, individual elders or promising disciples could get themselves in debt in order to afford some treasures, elixirs. or pills.

Enforcement of debt has been one of the ways by which the Imperial house exercised control over the various sects. The creation of debt has been partly why the Imperial House does not significantly control the actions of various auction houses.

Debt. Even as cultivators aspire for immortality, debt is the chain that keeps each and every cultivator bonded to the mortal realm.

It is a fact that the Great Sects know, and it is why every Great Sect aspires to achieve their own financial independence, and many sects even go as far as to engage in lending to their own disciples and elders.

But as with any financial system, there are always those who suffer the burdens of debt, and no one is ever more burdened by debt than the mortals under these indebted cultivators. Many mortal families are worked to the bone to pay off the debt of their patrons, and the act of obtaining wealth to clear off debt is one of the few links cultivators have to the mortal world.

In a way, Zuja's uprising overturned a key aspect of their cultivator society, and returned it to more primal methods. The interwoven web of financial responsibilities and burdens were burnt down, and replaced with a patronage system.

Between the powerlessness and indebtedness of the mortals, Tundra realized that the ground was really rife for an uprising. Zuja's ability to provide power in exchange of loyalty, and its patronage system, was a great counter to their societal structure.

"Lord Fox, these are those that signed up for the recruitment drive." The man said, clearly shaken that the Sect Master himself came to inspect the potential disciples. Candidates were usually judged by the elders.

"There are better things for my elders to do." Tundra declared. Each of his elders were busy with their work. Severian and Agnia, both playing a diplomatic role, also had to visit a few more princes and sects to work on diplomatic affairs. Severian in particular, now visited a few more sects around Lakeshore, to work out deals and weaken the Blackshore family.

In every city so far, Tundra managed to accept one or two disciples, most of them were fairly middling in terms of talent, but should be good enough for the Verdant Snow.

But almost every master hopes to find that special hatchling who could grow into a dragon.

Two hundred children aged nine to twelve were lined up in rows of ten.

Tundra walked, and touched their wrist one by one. Most were pathetic. A weak spirit root meant their path would be hard. Slow.

If it was his own children, it could be worth it to augment their spiritual roots directly, or indirectly.

Disciples?

Unfortunately, Tundra didn't have that sort of resources or wealth. Even with 10,000 years of extra knowledge, it wasn't enough to upend the order of the world.

Mediocre.

Weak.

In the first hundred there was not a single one, and he sent them all of. He watched the worried looks in the children. Many families hoped that one of their offspring would be selected.

He began to go through the next hundred children.

It was more of the same. Weak. Weak.

Then he stopped.

There was a boy, eleven years of age and looked like a rough gem. It was not the first time Tundra had this experience. He recalled his own marvel when he picked up Yavin, or Julia, or Agnia from the mountains of candidates.

He looked at the boy, and felt his spiritual roots. Average. Normally that would be a pass.

Yet, he could pick up the presence of a spiritual treasure hidden within his flesh. It latched onto the boy's growing spiritual realm. He smiled, and gently sent a spiritual message into the spiritual treasure.

In his life, Tundra recalled meeting such individuals multiple times. What's left in the spiritual treasure is a remnant spirit of likely a cultivator, maybe in the 7th realm, or perhaps the 8th.

"This humble one greets the treasure's spirit."

There was no reply.

He waited, and sensed no movement. Good, he didn't expect a reply. It would be a very powerful treasure if it could respond.

The fact that the boy still didn't have a cultivation meant the spiritual treasure's strength was still weak. Such things have a parasitic relationship, and at this level, it is likely only able to communicate with the boy.

"You're accepted. What's your name?" Tundra said.

"Drasi, master!"

"Good. Stand aside."

Tundra considered a boy like Drasi to be a good haul, and this recruitment a success. But there were still thirty more to go, and so, he checked them anywhere.

As it so happened, luck was on his side.

There was another one. Another boy with slightly unusual features, and likely hinted at some kind of spiritual beast bloodline that has yet to manifest itself.

"Your name?"

"Farai, master cultivator." The boy answered with a bow. Tundra's spiritual senses picked up his spiritual roots. Above average.

"It seems the God of Fortune is on my side today." Tundra smiled at the agent, and tossed him a spirit stone. The man bowed graciously. "Now, let's go back to the sect."

****

After Tundra's trip across a series of about fifteen cities, he recruited about twenty new outer disciples. It was a fairly large intake.

"Twenty new outer disciples?" Elder Jashen and Elder Jon both looked a little suspicious. Most of the twenty had great spiritual roots, or had a hint of a nascent, still unmanifested physique, or a talent of that sort.

"Yes. Twenty is good." The Verdant Snow's recent expanded intakes meant the sect had grown quite a bit.

Six elders, eleven core disciples, thirty inner disciples, and with the latest twenty new disciples, a grand total of almost one hundred and thirty or so outer disciples. Elder Jashen summoned some core disciples over and quickly made the arrangements to house the new outer disciples.

Some of them will have to squeeze into temporary housing, but over time, the sect will procure new buildings so that they get their own facilities. These are often mortal managers, who are responsible to engage workers and builders to make housing.

"I believe we will need a treasury elder soon." Tundra smiled at Jon, who traditionally handled the inner affairs of the Sect. As sects grew, the need for people to manage administrative overhead only increased.

"Ah yes. The deals with the various trading and merchant houses are getting quite heavy for a single person to manage." Jon rarely complained. Tundra, naturally, decided to summon his family, his elders, his core disciples for an impromptu lecture on Sect Finances.

Tundra didn't consider himself to be a master of the various intricacies of sect finances, and in fact, in the later stages of the Zuja invasion, sect finances didn't matter at all. They were fighting for survival.

But at this point, this was important, and so he shared with those present the key points. The income sources of a sect, and the expenses of a sect. Income, mainly came from taxes from the territories, profit share from the various merchant guild deals, fees and payments for protection and various services, and direct trading income from directly owned businesses.

Interestingly, it was an area Elly was well versed in. As the daughter of the Mistburn family, she was rather involved with trading deals and family finances. But Tundra didn't want to trust Elly with the finances of the Sect, or the family. Elly wasn't everyone's mother, and from what he heard from Anna, he couldn't trust her to be fair, either.

It's unlikely Elly could handle the finances of the sect. At best, his wife can manage only her branch.

So, for now, he would have to burden Jon with the task. Still, Jon is right. He should look at his core disciples and look for someone who could be promoted to be Elder Jon's assistant.

***