Regressor Sect Master

"What elixirs are these, Master?" Julia entered the workshop and found it entirely filled with materials she didn't normally work with.

"A type of fertility elixir." Tundra declared. These were not the best he knew how to make, but what they could do with their current resources. "It comes in as a pair. One for the prospective father, and one for the mother. It also improves the conditions to help improve the body for the child."

Julia blinked. She blinked repeatedly. "Ooooh."

"It sells quite well, honestly." Tundra explained. "It's a fairly profitable elixir to make, but there are not so many buyers. I would be quite happy to make them, if asked."

"Really?"

"The powerful families keep certain secrets within their own doors. The royal family too, has their own secret fertility elixirs meant for the princes." Though, by some luck, in his first life, Tundra got hold of these recipes. Alchemists didn't exist in a vacuum. They had to be supported by an entire industry of hunters and harvesters, in order to create these powerful pills.

Julia nodded and got a look at the recipe. "These are rather common materials."

"Exactly." Tundra nodded. "But the way we use them is different, since the goal isn't boosting cultivation, but augmenting a specific body part and its related meridians."

"Could we sell a weaker, watered down version to the wealthy mortals?" Julia asked.

That was something Tundra didn't expect. His mind paused as he contemplated Julia's suggestion, and realized there could be a market for fertility potions for wealthy merchant families and trading houses. "That can be explored. It is a good suggestion, Julia. You should look into it. If we could make some money from it, we could improve our financial situation."

Julia bowed. "Ah, I will speak to Elder Jon and bring this matter to the various trading houses."

"Good. Then work with me and start making some samples. I believe they would want it."

***

A flying ship came about a week later.

It came without a flag, anonymous, and landed quietly in the middle of the night.

All signs of trouble, but Tundra sensed the familiar energies of the man in the ship. He came alone, and looked quite distressed

"Wilber Blackpetals. You came quickly." Tundra greeted the man as his ship landed and he disembarked.

"One should always make full use of a freshly made set of pills. Alas, things are not well, and I must trouble you to find a mountain secluded enough for my breakthrough."

Tundra smiled. "There are plenty, but you do realize I will ask for a heavy compensation."

"You can have my sister as a wife." Wilber looked tired, but he joked anyway. "She's the prize, and these pills are the dowry."

The regressor laughed off the man's attempt to pair the two together. At this point, Tundra thought it was a rather stale joke. "As I've said before, I am content with what I have."

"I know, I know. We can arrange for a reward later, the Blackpetals will honor those who helped us." Wilber sighed, and then took a look at the pills. They were kept in a simple wooden container, all five arranged in a row. "You've outdone even my sister."

"I wouldn't say that. Given enough time, I am certain your sister can do better. But you do not have much time. It could take two months-"

"No. Not if you have this." Wilber displayed a special treasure, and Tundra felt his heart skipped as he laid his eyes on the object. A blue-silver circlet the size of a dinner plate, marked with multiple intricate formations around it's ring. An oddly familiar item.

It reminded him of the golden ring he once possessed.

Tundra couldn't believe his eyes, as he sensed unusual distortions in the world around him. "What is that?"

"We, the Blackpetals, have treasures of our own, Lord Fox. This is the Old One's [Shoreworld Distortion Ring], and I've kept it for this moment. Given what's happening at home and in Gomerlia, I'm afraid things are very urgent."

Tundra didn't hear anything, and clearly, his information network at this point is rather poor. Things have changed enough that he couldn't be sure with everything. "Your sister didn't..."

"My sister knows some things, and she doesn't know some things. This is one of my secrets, but I know I can rely on a man like you to protect me for a week. Let us hurry to this secluded mountain and we can get to work."

Tunda sensed something was strange. There was an urgency to the man that wasn't there before. "Has something happened?"

"My Sect Master has been poisoned, and my sister is under investigation by Prince Gomerl's investigative officers. If I do not get stronger quickly, I'm afraid the Crimson Lotus will soon be in the hands of less than friendly parties.

Tundra cursed, and quickly escorted the man to a faraway mountain. Wilber Blackpetals prepared for this breakthrough for a while. He activated a series of ten different artifacts, that created a layer of defenses around himself. The pill was the final piece of the puzzle, and now all he has to do is put it all in place.

"You have many enemies, Lord Blackpetals. Will there be anyone headed our way?"

"You would be surprised. But I believe I will. They wouldn't let a wildcard like me or you get out of their sights. I suggest you prepare as well. Here. An extra set of defensive artifacts to help you."

Wilber tossed a spatial pouch, and got ready.

Tundra double checked his defensive formations, but now felt like he should have hired and worked on even stronger formations.

"Keep them away from me for a week. It's all I need. In fact, I think I'd need less than a week." WIlber sat, and Tundra felt the world itself began to shift. The temperature began to increase significantly, and the nearby grass began to catch fire.

Then, Wilber's secret treasure activated. The world visibly felt slower, and Tundra cursed.

The sensation was unnaturally familiar, as he briefly remembered that moment when he was in that strange chamber. This was a reality distortion field, and his guest ate the first pill, along with two others in brief succession. The man came prepared, WIlber also had many other pills of his own, to augment other aspects of his breakthrough.

Tundra gave the man space, and got to work. He gave commands to his disciples and elders. "Monitor the sky and land, let me know if anyone approaches our direction. We need to cover our guest for some time."

***

Fire. The skies lit up as the very clouds above WIlber were transformed into flames. A pillar of fire above him could be seen from miles away. The grass burned. The trees too. The dirt charred. The animals and natural creatures fled, as the area thrummed with choking amounts of fire energy.

"It seems we are tangled in greater machinations." Severian commented. The entire Verdant Snow was prepared for trouble.

Tundra found the statement amusing, but he knew that they were already a piece in the game between the princes. So, it was better to play the game on their terms, instead of being swept up in the schemes of others. "We would always be tangled in some plot, one way or another. I would rather be tangled in one where we have strong, friendly parties on our side."

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Fair. So what trouble?"

"I think not. I do not believe Wilber's enemies would go as far as striking him right-"

That was when Tundra immediately sensed a powerful creature appearing in the horizons.

"It seems I jinxed it. I should remember not to count my eggs too early." Tundra sighed. "It seems trouble has come our way."

Severian grinned, as he was already prepared for battle. His wounds were healed long ago, Tundra saw to that as a matter of urgency. "You're too cruel to yourself. If the heavens desire for conflict, conflict will come regardless."

Tundra couldn't help but agree. Though he stopped the Verdant Snow Sect from going down an expansionist path, conflict seemed inevitable. It is engineered to be inevitable, because that is what the Zuja cult wants.

The spirit beast was in the eighth realm.

It was a demonic spirit beast, and Tundra cursed that the Zuja and the other demonic cults formed an alliance of convenience. "It seems, my good brother, there is a spirit beast to kill. I need you to look for the rest."

Severian quickly rounded out the rest of the defensive forces, while Tundra prepared to face a demonic spirit beast honed on Wilber's scent.

A hunting beast.

The creature was shaped like a deformed serpent, it's body half mutated by the presence of demonic energies throughout it's body.

***

Even though a creature like a 8th realm demonic spirit beast was nowhere near the town of Verdant Leaf, and was instead headed towards the glowing pillar of fire, Celestia still felt fear.

It's roar was so loud and its' effects could be felt far away, even if most of them were deflected by the spiritual formations around the Verdant Snow Sect and the Verdant Leaf Town.

The Sect was supposed to be safe, and yet, at this moment, she didn't know it would be.

"Should we run, Celestia?" Elly and Marin came over, they looked pale, even if the 'fear' from the creature's roar was mostly absorbed by the barriers. They all gathered in the safest place in the entire sect. The main hall was both a receiving hall, and also where most of the protective formations were centered.

Both Elders Jon and Jashen were present, and they were busy getting everyone into the safe place. "Lord Fox is out there, and an 8th realm spirit beast should not be his match."

"You sound confident." Marin said.

"He should." Elder Grayne Fallows and Hana came over. "We should be prepared to deal with the lesser demonic beasts that such a creature commands. Lady Celestia, you should join the defense team."

"Yes." Celestia nodded, now that she was in the fifth realm, she had additional responsibilities when it came to the sect's defenses.

***

Tundra channeled his energies throughout his body, and created a spear of spiritual metal. The blows of the spirit beast were powerful, but predictable.

He was not the goal.

The creature wanted to interrupt Lord Blackpetals' breakthrough, and so, all he needed to do was to deflect the attack and ensure he never got close.

Not only that, its focus on Wilber ensured it miscalculated the danger he posed.

The demonic cultivators and the Zuja clearly underestimated him. A mistake they likely won't repeat, but a mistake they would find hard to fix.

He can't blame them, though. 9th realm spiritual beasts are extremely, extremely hard to cultivate.

Thus, in most engagements, 8th realm spirit beasts are often the pinnacle of what the Zuja and the demonic cultivators would deploy on a regular basis, and it is why the Great Sects and the Great Pretender Sects are often unshaken by the presence of such creatures.

It would be slightly easier to deploy a demonic cultivator who could temporarily release the power of the 9th realm. However, such cultivators are rare, and are likely senior members of the demonic cults and clans, so, their sheer ego and pride would never allow themselves to deal with someone of the 7th realm.

They would also generally limit their actions, so that they are less likely to be discovered. Many maintain a double life, often retaining their original roles as a senior member of a regular sect.

Fools.

In that respect, Zuja's frequent deployment of their avatars were more effective and frightening. It also helped that the Zuja clearly had some unusual abilities to regenerate and rebuild fallen avatars.

The demonic serpent's skin cracked. He had found the right dose of energy, frequency and strength to break through the serpent's armored skin.

His spear tore through the demonic serpent's demonic skin, and sent a powerful burst of energy through it's flesh.

Mindless. Tundra smiled.

He felt genuine joy when his attacks tore through the spirit beast's skin.

Battling was satisfying, and the creature roared in pain.

If the creature assessed Tundra as a threat from the start, this would be a far, far more lengthy fight. Instead, its pride allowed Tundra to deliver a powerful strike to its body, and tilt the odds in his favor a little more.

It flailed, it's massive tail slammed the ground and the entire mountain shook.

The creature now assessed Tundra as a major threat, and turned to face him head on.

"Well. A little too late for that." Tundra's spear transformed at his will, and now, two gigantic metal arms appeared. Time to wrestle the demonic serpent to submission.

***

The town's walls were protected by two layers of fourth realm spiritual formations, created by the sect's formation expert.

Demonic spirit beasts existed in packs and groups, but the flock's strength is often at least two to three realms lower, for two reasons.

Any demonic spirit beast that is close in strength would challenge their authority, and is thus a threat. For these power-crazed demonic beasts, that is unacceptable, and so a fight would break out, with one victor. In other cases, the pack of demon spirit beasts fractures, and one pack becomes two.

But usually, the defeated one is often eaten, and their strength adds to the winner.

Secondly, any decently powerful demonic spirit beast with some intellect would leave to start their own pack, rather than serve a more powerful spirit beast and suffer the fate of eventually being eaten.

Non-demonic spirit beasts are more likely to have herds and flocks of fairly similar strength, due to their ability to work cooperatively and sort out their hierarchy in less violent ways.

It does mean that demonic spirit beasts get stronger much faster than regular spirit beasts, since they often consume the strength of other spirit beasts, while non-demonic spirit beasts often gather energy from the environment through other means.

Fourth realm. Fifth realm. A few in the sixth realm.

It reminded Celestia of her earlier hunting trip on the Earthspine Mountains. A cultivator can face a creature of a higher realm, if one knows its patterns well.

Tundra should be able to defeat the creature.

"Leave the sixth realm to me." Elder Grayne Fallows answered, and the man was in the sixth realm. The rest of the elders would deal with the rest.

Celestia looked around her, and saw the rest of the elders fighting the spirit beast. They were a team, and she knew it because they lured the stronger spirit beasts away from her, so that she could deal with the weaker ones. A few of the Core Disciples, those in the 4th realm, also helped with the defenses.

The lesser demonic spirit beasts were all serpents, though they came in a variety of primary elements.

***

Many of the other disciples were on the stands, watching. Elly and Marin were there too, but as they were in 4th realm and not as skilled as the Core Disciples, they were thus allowed to wait with the rest.

"Did you know that Celestia's in the fifth realm?" Marin asked. They were geared for a fight, but most of them didn't expect they would actually need to.

"Yes." Elly said. The Core Disciples were fighting to ensure no spirit beast got close to the walls. The Inner disciples were on the walls, manning the defensive positions. There were some artifacts and tools they could use to destroy the weakened spirit beasts that got close.

"You don't feel mad? Jealous?" Marin seemed absolutely annoyed by how well Elly took it.

"A little. But it's normal, no? She was always one realm ahead of us. It's only normal that she went first. Are you going to be jealous of everyone else that moves faster than you?" Elly asked.

Marin didn't like that answer.

"It's also a waste of time. I'd rather worry about other things." Elly said as she saw the elders and Celestia battle the demonic beasts. In truth, the only thing Elly felt jealous of was Celestia's place in Tundra's circle. It was just the way her husband spoke of her, and the way he treated her that made it clear to Elly that she was still second place, even if she was legally the first.

"Then what are the sort of things worth worrying about?" Marin rolled her eyes. The two tolerated each other, but some days were harder to tolerate than others.

"Family. Children. Status. Then perhaps, power." Elly wanted to add love, but a part of her heart still wavered. She wasn't sure she was really ready to believe in love. Could she really indulge in something so abstract?

Political marriages were rooted in relatively real and concrete things. Benefits. Resources. Power. Influence. Trade.

"In that order?" Marin frowned, the two have their priorities in a totally different order. No. Maybe even Elly's definition of power meant a different thing.

"Yes."

"Which family are you talking about?" Marin clarified, realizing the definition of family was fairly complex due to the way families are structured.

"My own family. My father, my mother. My brother. My children."

They are the product of political marriages, and thus, the loyalties of a wife lies first and foremost to their main family, not their husband. That has started to move, but the order of priority has not shifted all that much.

She looked away. The fight was going well. The Verdant Snow Sect is stronger than it once was. They had many more fifth realm elders, and so, their strength gave them the ability to sweep through the demonic beasts.

They also had a flying ship, and the flying ship was armed with enough weapons to weaken the stronger monsters.

In their minds, they were safe. They just had to take out some of the garden pests.

***