Chương 59: Rooftop Rivalry

Rowan It was the strangest dream Rowan had ever had. His vision was filled with the sun. Large, blinding, unwavering. He stared, unblinkingly, and kept staring still. Usually, in dreams - even strange ones which didn't make sense - things would be happening. Rowan would be moving around, people, real or imagined, would do things, and the scene would shift. Not this dream. His vision was filled with sun. Minutes passed. Hours. Forever. No thoughts went through his head. He simply stared, like he was hypnotized.

Like it was the most beautiful thing in the world. Like it held the Dao inside, like it was the path to a brilliant life. Rowan shook himself awake, somewhat perplexed. He wasn't sure if it had been a dream, or if he'd been idly staring at his Qi Sea. But if that were the case, wouldn't his Qi Sea have taken its new form? A sudden panic took him. He'd heard of stories where cultivators regressed for seemingly no reason at all, followed by a short, bitter life of no further progress.

He closed his eyes and reached for his Qi Sea. An immediate embarrassment followed. It was exactly as he remembered. A tree, suffused with wood qi, with a single, slightly wilted, somewhat concerning Bodhi Leaf. At least Ostra hadn't bothered to comment. He'd been laying on a gentle, grassy slope on the mountain, halfway between the Outer Courtyard and the Inner Sanctum. It was a popular spot for outer disciples.

The alignment of the natural qi was considered beneficial, and countless generations of disciples had forgotten or lost valuables all around. It wasn't uncommon to find anything from jewelry to a jade slip with a scripture on it. Rowan was here because he'd noticed that the further up the mountain he went, the lighter he felt on his feet. He'd gotten used to the new Dao Mark on his Qi Sea fairly quickly, so he hadn't noticed exactly how much weight he was carrying around.

"Ostra?

"Rowan tried." Why is it that I get lighter as I go uphill?"

"Earth demands the attention of all things, but its power is held centrally. The further you are from the ground, the less it affects you." Even mortals knew that." It's only been this noticeable since the third Earth Dao Mark formed." Ostra didn't respond, an indication that he'd already answered the question. Ostra rarely left him without a way to figure it out on his own, but it would take time. Rowan sighed and leaned back against the tree. He'd been cultivating and accidentally fallen into a catnap.

Truth be told, he hadn't been sleeping much lately.

There was so much going on in Righteous Mountain, and when he had a spare moment, he fell back into old habits—cultivating without a break. There was the pressure of the conference, of now being in the mid-stage bracket. He was also concerned about the Fross Family retaliating against him for killing Barrett. And there were the missing girls, who were still missing, despite everything.

He brushed a few stray leaves out of his hair, and tilted his head up, enjoying the feeling of the sun on his face for a little bit.

"Rowan!" someone called. A kid from his year, Ignatius, huffed and puffed as he strode towards him. He was short and round-faced and still in the first layer of Qi Condensation. Rowan recalled that the boy was one of Lavinia's friends and one of Barrett Fross's former students. What was this about? Rowan rested his elbow on his propped knee.

"Can I help you, Ignatius?"

"Blackscale Sect is setting up in their dormitories. Lavinia went to introduce herself to them, but she ran into trouble!" Earlier today, both Soul Shear Valley and Ancient Dynasty Tower arrived in the city at the same time. They each came with an army of disciples and at least one Foundation Establishment cultivator - five in the case of Soul Shear Valley - and the wharf's destruction had seemed imminent.

The two sects were bitter rivals, and after Zarian Zanathmas snuck into Ancient Dynasty Tower to try his skills against the infamous tower and came away with a rare scripture as a prize, the tension between them had erupted into, if it could be believed, a long battle along the rivers of the First State of Kyrr. Rowan hadn't realized in that disaster that Blackscale Sect had also arrived. That meant his cousin Ash was here too.

"What do you mean trouble? Is she hurt?" asked Rowan, standing up in a hurry.

"She got into an argument with one of the female disciples of Blackscale Sect. I came to find you because… well… you know…" If possible, Ignatius's face burned even redder. The boy swallowed.

"You guys are an item, right?" Rowan's urge to roll his eyes was overpowering. Save a girl one or two times…

"Hardly. We're just acquainted," said Rowan. He jumped off the rocky outcrop, landing next to Ignatius with a shockingly loud thump.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Lead the way." Along the eastern edge of Righteous Mountain was a forest full of sturdy pine trees that made for impressive lumber. Some intrepid inner disciples had cut down several hundred of them and piled them high to be taken to the Outer Courtyard, where they put together dormitories for the visitors. From this vantage point, Rowan could see a trio of his senior sisters casually flinging logs two stories high and as wide as three men up the side of the mountain.

Elder Schell was catching them out of the air and rolling them down the courtyard to a group of outer disciples who were being shouted at by a senior brother with his hands on his hips. A lot of disciples were pretending to help - walking around aimlessly and adjusting some of the lumber very slightly. Most of them didn't bother, choosing instead to sit around on tables they'd dragged out of the cafeteria and flirt with the newcomers from Blackscale Sect. Ignatius led Rowan to one of the finished dorms.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. They didn't even need to go inside. Lavinia's animated but frustrated voice could be heard from the roof. As well as Ash's.

"---the Northern Coast route goes through Goldvault Isle and Squid Isle, which have the best markets—""---the Southern route is the safest, you don't have to worry about the Circling Sea at all, plus—""The Northern Coast doesn't have a piracy problem like the Southern route, so you can save on security hires. That entire system is a racket. You're effectively being extorted by one group of pirates so you don't get boarded by another." Lavinia scoffed.

"Every year, tons of badly captained vessels hit the rocky northern shore and their profits wash out to sea. Just a few months ago, Fortuitous Ocean and Co lost three ships laden with Tide Pool Pearls to a freak storm and had to declare bankruptcy." The two voices weren't arguing so much as talking over each other. Rowan shook his head. In one smooth movement, he jumped onto the roof they were chatting on, leaving Ignatius behind.

A few tiles cracked under his boots when he landed, causing both Ash and Lavinia to pause.

"Rowan!"

"Brother!" The two glanced at each other in shock.

"You know him?" they asked each other at the same time.

"Of course, I'm Ash Helsing, why wouldn't I know my own family member? Just because I'm from Blackscale Sect—""I've been friends with Rowan for a long time, didn't you hear he even dueled an inner disciple in my honor? It's the biggest news in Righteous Mountain City—""---and when we were kids—""---at the auction house, he—" Rowan palmed his forehead. Ash and Lavinia were two of the chattiest people he knew, and together, they spawned some unholy abomination of noise.

It was the disaster he hadn't even thought to look out for. Rowan was forced to interrupt.

"What's going on? Ignatius said there was trouble." When they both started talking again, Rowan pulled Ash back by the shoulders and then smothered his mouth with his hand.

"One person at a time, please," Rowan begged. Lavinia's cheeks went pink. She crossed her arms and looked away slightly.

"Ash can explain," she muttered. Ash gasped as Rowan released him. He shot Rowan a half-hearted glare.

"Is this how you treat your favorite cousin? I might talk a lot, but only because I have important things to say and I'm willing to share my knowledge with others." He also crossed his arms.

"Besides, you like that I'm chatty. Gregarious, even." Lavinia scoffed. Ash's half-hearted glare sharpened to a real one at Lavinia. He also crossed his arms and looked away.

"This sect sister of yours got into a fight with Bara - you met her, she stole your chicken leg at the restaurant we went to - over the current female fashions of the Kyrr Peninsula. I gallantly rescued your sect sister from the situation. Little did I know, it wasn't an innocent maiden I was rescuing from a dragon, but the dragon itself!"

"It was hardly a fight," corrected Lavinia, unable to help herself.

"I complimented your sect sister on her robes - a genuine compliment, by the way - and she assumed I was being sarcastic."

"Weren't you? I doubt even Bara's own mother has ever said one good thing about her."

"That's really quite sad." Rowan was simply glad that both Lavinia and Ash were safe. When Ignatius had come running to him, he'd thought the issue was more serious.

"How have you been, Ash?" Rowan asked. Ash shrugged.

"I thought I was doing well, cultivating quickly. But it seems that you've figured something out." Rowan was glad that Ash had the good sense to not discuss cultivation matters in public.

"Can't you take a few pills?" asked Lavinia curiously.

"Your family owns the best pill shop in the city." Ash shook his head.

"I cultivate Dry Fire. I was barely able to find someone selling a portion to help me align my Qi Sea - there aren't any Dry Fire pills that I've been able to find. And trust me, I've been looking."

"Surely normal Fire qi pills should be fine?" asked Rowan curiously. With Rowan's own cultivation, even though he cultivated the Spring techniques of Ensouled in Wood, he hadn't used any specific Spring materials to align his Qi Sea. The Bodhi Leaf was a Wood path material, but not specifically of Spring, even though the single leaf on the tree of his Qi Sea illustrated the meaning of Spring. He didn't exactly know what the Bodhi Leaf was, other than that it was powerful. And priceless.

"Dry Fire is special," said Ash.

"I can only use Dry Fire materials until I get to Qi Refining, otherwise my Qi Sea could collapse."

"See?" murmured Ostra.

"Dry Fire isn't usually so particular, as it is Fire after all, but this Codex is trash. I warned you." Ash sighed loudly.

"I should've just followed Uncle Pyrus's path and cultivated Truefire, or Dawnfire, or something normal, and then dipped my toes into Dry Fire after. In my arrogance I thought that if I had a Dry Fire Qi Sea from the start, my arts would be even more powerful, but I'm getting stalled out by the lack of materials this early on…" Rowan made a thoughtful noise.

"But Pure qi pills and spirit stones should still be fine, right?"

"Sort of," admitted Ash.

"The benefits are much more limited. Father has been sending me pills, but they just burn to ash inside of me." Lavinia pursed her lips.

"Wow. You really are stuck."

"That's rich coming from you. You're still in the first layer of Qi Condensation," Ash shot back.

"Yes, but I'm fourteen. Two years younger than you. I'm still taking my general classes." Ash turned to Rowan. The giant sapphire in his hair crown gleamed in the sunlight.

"Why don't we take a visit to the Helsing Alchemy House? I might be out of luck, but surely we stock Wood qi pills. I'd like to have some tea as well, if possible." Lavinia looked between them in confusion.

"Doesn't your family already give you pills, Rowan?"

"Not really," said Rowan. He hadn't heard from or seen another member of his family since the party at the Fross manor.

"It wasn't worth it before, when he didn't have a Qi Sea," explained Ash.

"Now, though, I'm sure the family will be stuffing his pockets with pills!" That was… optimistic. The three of them hopped off the side of the roof and began making their way out of the Outer Courtyard.

"Hey Rowan!" Lee called out, sweat running down his face as he held a large beam in place. An inner disciple was nailing it into the ground.

"Aren't you going to help out with the buildings?" Traitor! Rowan was hoping that he would be able to silently sneak out of the courtyard with Ash and Lavinia. The Outer Courtyard had gotten more and more crowded with disciples who had come to see what the commotion was all about. They were now milling around because it seemed a bit selfish to not help out with the construction in some way.

"Just running some errands! We'll be back before you know it!" responded Lavinia, as she quickly dragged them away before Lee could continue guilt tripping them.