Chương 28: 19.1. The Faram Estate

Faust emerged from the jungle of sky pagodas into a massive area of clear skies. He paused in the air slightly off the crowd of cultivators, taking in the sight. Ahead of him was a several hundred meter high building that towered over the surrounding two or three story buildings, dominating the area. The building was made of dark, polished woods, with massive glass windows which stretched half of its height.

Towers that rose a few more stories were embedded into the building extended at each corner and twice more on both its longer lengths. Faust raised his map, then pulled out a painting. The painting was of the grand archive and looking between it and the building far ahead, Faust bet he had found it. Putting away the map and painting, Faust exhaled deeply. Free of the Sky Pagodas, Faust felt the wind and sun on his skin again, helping him tense his shoulders.

He put a hand to his head, stroking his hair until it hit the brass hair ornament his parents had given him when he first left for the sect. changed directions, heading towards the Grand Archive. Faust began approaching the Grand Archive. Behind him, the sky pagodas formed a massive wall. Looking to the sides, they formed a similar wall far in the distance on two other sides, while the last side to the east had the same wall that separated the Central districts of the capital from the rest.

Faust saw a few other cultivators flying around on flying swords, but they were few and far between until he got within a few kilometers of the giant structure called the Grand Archive. Countless trails of Qi zipped around as hundreds, if not thousands of people entered and left the Grand Archive constantly, landing and taking off from the large stone path that surrounded the Grand Archive. Faust followed the examples of others, landing on the stone path. He walked forward for a bit, then looked up.

Standing before it, he had to crane his neck up before he could see the top. Giant marble steps led up towards several giant, wide open double doors leading inside. Faust put a hand to his chin. He really should find some residency before he went in. He walked forward anyway, ascending the marble steps until he reached one of the giant double doors. Faust paused however. A line of black and gold uniformed guards stood in front of the entrance.

Each one was at the peak of the Meridian Opening realm and one, standing in the middle, was at the Open Palace realm. Faust approached slowly.

"Do you have a pass?" The Open Palace guard asked. Faust cupped a fist in respect, stopping a meter or two away.

"Will I need one to enter?" Faust asked, choosing his words carefully.

"You can apply for one at an imperial office."

"I see." Faust gave a small bow and turned, before pausing and turning back.

"Do you know any good long term inns near here?" Faust asked.

"Plenty of people come here to study. Just looked around." The guard scoffed. Faust nodded and turned back around. Walking back down the marble stairs, Faust sighed. It seemed he would need to find somewhere to live for the next few years first. He reached the stone path and continued. Beyond the stone path was a several hundred meter or so strip of preserved natureland that seemed to surround the grand archive. The path Faust was following, a few meters wide, briefly became a gentle bridge.

Faust walked to the edge of the bridge, placing a hand over the stone handrails. A small, vibrant blue river curved through the trees and underbush. A Rock sat on the side with a symbol engraved on it. A strange tree with a golden trunk hung over the river. A blood red lotus swayed gently in place on the slow moving river just below the golden tree.

"Blood Qi… Metal Qi… Water Qi… A triangular cycle for… Detection?" Faust mumbled, before glancing back at the rock.

"No… A connection array…" Faust found another symbol engraved on a tree with gray tiny silver streaks following its bark, almost making it glitter. Leaning over the handrails, Faust found another rock just under the bridge, sticking out of the water with another symbol.

"An earth array…" Faust peered through the water. He could just barely make out more symbols along the bottom.

"A water array underneath? An inverted Wood Qi formation?" Faust stroked his chin, narrowing his eyes and looking between the various formation and array elements.

"I need a closer look." Faust vaulted over the handrails of the bridge, his flying sword shooting out to catch him. Someone cleared their throat— loudly. Faust froze half jump, his gut sinking and the back of his neck going cold, every hair on his body seemed to become charged, scratching against his clothes. He slowly cocked his head back. A young looking man with thick silver hair and natural golden eyes held a fist in front of his mouth, before lowering it and smiling.

He had black and white scholar robes, with a golden yin yang embroidered across the front. The two stared at each other for a moment. Faust jumped back on the stone path, neatening his Outer Robe and coughing a few times, trying to hide how much his body was shaking. The silver haired man wasn't even applying any pressure, but the effect of his Nascent Soul on the world was enough warning in itself.

"Fine weather we're having." Faust tried to divert the conversation.

"Can I see your sect token?" The man didn't mince his words. Faust winced but pulled out his sect token regardless, showing it to the man. The man brushed a hand over it.

"An exceptional disciple of the Clear Mirror sect. The Qi seems to be personally imbued by Wu Jie, the dark scribe of Heaven." The man nodded, handing the token back. Faust exhaled deeply. The natural pressure of the Nascent Soul eased up and Faust's body calmed down.

"It seems you noticed the whole nature strip is a massive formation. But you shouldn't jump in, surely you noticed the warnings on the handrails? There's an alarm that summons hundreds of brocade guards if someone enters." The man explained.

"It's quite the ordeal every time." Faust took a second look at the handrails. It wasn't written down, but there was a strong Qi signature that spelled out the words.

"Ah…" Faust realised he had missed another sign. He turned and bowed towards the senior.

"My apologies senior!" Faust bowed deeply, cupping a fist.

"Hahaha…" The senior chuckled, "It's quite alright. I caught you in time. Do you mind telling me what you were so curious about?" Faust straightened his back. This senior didn't mince words, so he saw no reason to either.

"What was the inverted Wood Qi array formation for?" He asked plainly.

"The inverted Wood Qi array formation?" The senior seemed confused for a moment, before he nodded, "Ah, you mean the heaven to Earth corridor." The senior started explaining, walking along the path and gesturing to Faust to follow.

"The Water Qi Array below the Earth Qi Array isn't the full formation. There's a connecting outer formation that forms a cycle of five elements. The Blood Lotus and Golden tree are part of the alarm array, a completely separate system, so you can ignore it." The senior began. Faust nodded along, pulling out a notebook and quill.

"The five element cycle suppresses Heaven Qi, you're aware of that right?" Faust nodded, "Yes, I've used it when running around near Golden Core level battles as a technique to stave off the Heaven Qi suppression." He mentioned, giving an example to show he understood.

"Oh? I've never heard of using it like that… No… It makes sense. If you're using a Qi Transformation technique… But then you need at least Five nodes in your foundation… Six if you want to be safe…"

"Safety is overrated." Faust joked.

"Hahaha! Yes! I suppose you do have to take some risks in cultivation. You made a three five foundation?"

"Three Twelve." Faust corrected.

"Oh? Then I would have expected your spirit body to have been on the weaker side, how did you get it to this level?" The senior seemed interested.

"I sold my method to the Roze clan. I was inspired by the liquid rock called concrete that's becoming popular in the western provinces."

"Ohhh! I remember it! It's an ingenious invention made by a mortal!"

"Indeed! So I did some research and experimentation. To make proper concrete you need the right balance of Sand, Gravel, Water, Limestone, Clay, Slate, Iron and Gypsium." Faust began explaining as the senior listened with rapt attention.

"So I experimented with combinations of Essence Qi. Gold has some natural properties that make its Essence Qi a bit different when it's turned into a fine sand. Then the Golden Sand Essence Qi fills the function of sand in concrete. Then for gravel I used…." Faust went on a tangent, completely forgetting about the realm difference. Some time passed.

"... Sorry for getting distracted. Now, where was I." The senior cleared his throat. The sun had almost reached its zenith by the time the two had stopped discussing the concepts of concrete in cultivation.

"So. I was talking about the Heaven to Earth corridor. It was something used a long time ago in ancient formations, popular during the Xuanwu Dynasty's time. So the five elements array I used is a pretty typical array. But it's been made outside of its nominal radius so that there's a gap in the middle. The point is that in a Heaven to Earth corridor you suppress the Heavenly Qi everywhere except one point. Then, you use an Earth array or formation to draw Earth Qi into the gap. Now this is the tricky part.

There's no natural way to manipulate Heaven Qi… Not under stable circumstances. So with just this, you can't draw Heaven Qi downwards like a cultivator's Golden Core does naturally. Right?" Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

"Right." Faust nodded, furiously noting stuff into his notebook.

"But if your formation array isn't stable. It means it's in the process of falling apart."

"Correct! But ahhh! How familiar are you with Gordwin's theory of Qi Coupling principles?"

"I've memorised the laws naturally, but formations are less my specialty so I'm not much further than a second level formation master."

"So long as you know the laws. You're aware that Gordwin's third law is that the time Qi takes to decouple is proportional to the time of coupling right?"

"Correc— No way." Faust's eyes widened.

"Don't tell me, your moving the Qi sources so with multiple formations coupling and decoupling simultaneously, taking advantage of the not instantaneous time to decouple!?" The senior smiled madly.

"That's right! I wrote the book on it! On Stable Unstable formations! Specially commissioned by the royal family to figure out how to do it!" He thumped his chest.

"Incredible. So how do you use unstable arrays to manipulate Heavenly Qi?"

"Well. It took a lot of research, but basically I found that Heaven Qi is involved in the decoupling of other QI types. So as formation elements move too far apart and their Qi decouples. Heaven Qi becomes active at that very moment. But if you can change that decoupling motion into a coupling one. You're left with a very small amount of active Heavenly Qi, which can be manipulated with formations. So…" The talk continued until well after sunset.

"... So if you were to, let's say, imbue the lightning Qi with the active Heavenly Qi and capture that in a jar like Lie Daoxian, would you not have a glass jar of tribulation lightning to throw at people you don't like." Faust pondered, referring to an ancient scholar who sought to overturn the heavens.

"Hahahahaha!" The senior laughed.

"I certainly have a few people that would make a good surprise for!" Then, the two were forced to stop.

"Hmm?" Faust looked up at the closed gate. He took a few steps back. Beyond the closed gate the sky pagodas began stretching into the air, forming their wall of communal living.

"Ah…" The senior also looked up, then the two turned around. The Grand Archive was in the far distance.

"... I estimated it to be about… a hundred or so kilometers from this point to the Archive?" Faust mumbled.

"... About that far…" The senior agreed. The moon was high in the sky. Red uniformed guards with gold trimmings stood at attention in front of the gate and along what seemed to be along the entire length of the wall, at the edge of a wide road that separated the wall from the first set of walled off estates.

"Well. I have some authority here. Despite it being past curfew, I can ask them to open the gates if you need to get through." The senior offered. Faust shook his head.

"I believe I saw some inns around here. I don't have a place to stay in the capital yet anyways. I just arrived this morning."

"Oh? That's right. You're from Clear Mirror Sect. If a mind like yours was in the capital someone would have already taken you as a disciple." The senior nodded to himself.

"Well. What brings you here out of curiosity?"

"I came to study some more, so I don't make any mistakes with my Inner Palace and can aim for an Earth Golden Core." Faust answered. The senior looked him up and down again.

"Only Earth Golden Core?" He asked.

"The absolute focus on toughness and adaptability make it look like you're going to try for a Heavenly Golden Core or die trying." That's the plan. NO IT ISN'T! Faust thoughts ran wild for a moment. He looked away for a moment.

"Is that really how it looks?"

"Well… Maybe it's just me?" The senior said, stroking his chin.

"Regardless. My estate is relatively empty and near the Grand Archive. I would be happy to host someone of your caliber for a few days." Faust thought for a moment, then bowed, cupping his hands, "It would be my honor senior."

"Ha! No need for that. I may be ahead in cultivation, but with what I can see of you so far, you'll certainly catch up soon. No need to call me senior."

"If you wish," Faust stopped, then realised.

"Uh. We haven't introduced each other." Faust suddenly said. The senior suddenly froze, then looked at Faust.

"Seriously? We haven't?" Faust closed his eyes, tapping two fingers to his forehead.

"... No… Not that I can recall…" He turned to the senior and bowed slightly, cupping a fist, "Faust from Azure Water Province's Fallen Petal Ridge."

"Ah…" The senior cleared his throat, then cupped a fist.

"Faram Platier, from Zentrum's South Eastoria district, at your service." Faust froze, then looked up.

"Y-you're Faram Platier?" He asked.

"Hmm? Is there something wrong with that?"

"Writer of Reverse Engineering Emphamism Coded techniques and method s!?" Faram nodded, "It was one of my younger—" Faust kowtowed, putting his head to the ground.

"... Oh? What are you doing?"

"The amount of times I've relied on the techniques and methods in that book…" Faust explained, slowly standing up, "I suspect I would have never gone down this path if not for that book." Faram's eyes widened a bit, then he grinned and laughed again, "Hahahaha!!! And those bastards argued with me for seven decades over it!" He shouted.

"Vindication!" He slapped Faust on the back. Faust barely kept on his feet. If Faram had practiced body cultivation he probably would have put faust in the dirt with those playful slaps on the back.

"Well then, follow me." Faram said, before suddenly floating into the sky. Faust quickly withdrew his flying sword and chased after him, only for Faram to shoot off at Nascent Soul speeds.

"..." Faust looked blankly, then continued in that direction for a while. Faram suddenly returned and cleared his throat again.

"Apologies. Most of the people I talk deeply with are from a higher realm than me. I forgot you're still quite young." He apologised.

"No need to apologise, Senior. I understand." Faust smiled, cupping a fist respectfully yet again.

"And… You've gone back to being respectful… Forget it. Do what you want." Faram led the way at a more manageable speed. Faust followed Faram to the wall standing between Central Zentrum and the rest of the capital. Faram landed in front of a gate. Faust followed a moment later, tapping down gracefully from his flying sword. Several bright lanterns mounted atop steel poles lit up the area. The gate and wall was lined by more red uniformed guards.

However, the four guards in front of this gate had red and gold caps on. Faust widened his eyes slightly. Peak of the Golden Core realm! He suppressed a nervous smile. The Imperial Capital was really a big place. Even including all the peak masters who were part of the Clear Mirror sect outside of the overseers, there would be less than 200 people at the Golden Core realm.

That figure was biased as well since everyone there was someone who wanted to dedicate their life to cultivation and lived in a sect that supported that mindset to the best of its ability. The entrance tests were also designed for those who had already made the first step of cultivation by themselves. The sect recruitment trial then aimed to select only the best of the already few elites.

Once someone joined, the Outer Sect Disciples might not appreciate it, but there was a reason for everything and people who entered the sect had much better prospects than rogue or freelance cultivators.

"Sir Faram." The red capped guards saluted, before moving to the sides. Faram held up a red and gold token.

"High Tutor Faram Platier. Please open the gate on the Grand Tutors authority." The guard approached and took the token, inspecting it, before nodding and passing it back. While Faram engaged with the guards, Faust idly looked the other way, towards the wall of sky pagodas in the far distance. The entire skyline seemed to be lit up in various lights. He even saw some kind of illusion magic swirling around in the air above one section of the capital.

If he used his pupil technique he could even make out people in gaudy clothes dancing and swirling around in the air around the illusion.

"Apologies for the formalities." The guard said. Faust snapped his attention back. The guards were evidently quite familiar with Faram. The one in the lead turned and shouted, "Open the gate!" Faust couldn't make out exactly what was happening inside the walls, which obstructed even qi sense, probably even divine sense if it was guarded by Golden Core level cultivators. The gate soon creaked open, the 15 meter high doors opening up slowly. Faust could just barely make out the flickering arrays and formations.

He could barely tell anything from them though.

"Haha… It's the work of the Grand Tutor. You won't see anything no matter how long you look." Faram explained. Faust smiled, turning to look ahead, "It's natural to try." The two continued walking, rather than flying. Some time passed as they walked through the dark streets, lit up by the occasional bright lantern atop a pole. Faust became a bit worried.

"I saw that central Zentrum was well over five hundred kilometers across. Surely we're not going to walk the whole way?" he asked.

"Mhmm… Flying isn't allowed in Central Zentrum. You can certainly try to resist the flight restricting formation however." Faram challenged.

"I'd rather not." Faust admitted.

"Movement techniques are still useful, but the nobility prizes their carriages and domesticated Spirit Beasts. I recommend you to find a fast spirit beast that can transform. Either into a small form or a humanoid one. If you plan on visiting central Zentrum often." Faram explained.

"Of course, I chose my estate to be near the Grand Archive. It's only a few more blocks away." Faust breathed a sigh of relief, he was worried they would be walking for several days through central Zentrum. Soon enough, the two came upon another estate surrounded by low walls. A pair of polished wooden doors, carved in one piece and engraved with a yin yang symbol served as the gate of Faram's estate.

"Welcome back, lord Faram." A grey robed servant with graying hair opened the door before they had even reached it, coming out to greet them.

"Apologies for being late. I happened to be looking over my masterpiece around the Grand Archive when I met a man of similar mind. Please, prepare a room for him." Faram walked past the old butler.

"Of course my lord." Faram turned back briefly.

"I would love to continue talking, but I have an appointment tonight that I should already be late for." Faust bowed slightly and cupped a fist.

"Apologies for distracting you from your work. Thank you once again for hosting me tonight." Faram waved his hand as he passed through the gate with hurried steps. The old butler watched him go, before turning to Faust.

"I'll show you to the foyer first. Since you're a guest personally invited by lord Faram, it will take a few minutes to prepare a room." The old butler beckoned Faust towards the gate.

"Thank you." Faust cupped a fist towards the butler before following through and passing under the gate. The old butler closed it behind him and Faust looked out across the courtyard. When traveling a bit on a long term mission in the western provinces, Faust had stayed with a branch family of one of the clans that supported the sect. Faram's estate seemed laid out in similar fashion. A courtyard that extended from the front gate for a hundred or so meters and maybe a third as wide.

Buildings were laid out in a U shape around the courtyard across front of the main gate. The differences however, was that the courtyard had several lush gardens and small ponds and trees instead of being a plain stone tiled courtyard. The buildings also weren't as tall as the other estates Faust had seen. The side buildings were only single story and only the main building directly across from the gate was three stories.

But, Faust looked to the sides, the estate was even further divided, with inner dividing walls running behind the buildings, with a gap between them revealing another path through. That meant, many of the nearby buildings that poked over the walls were also part of the state. Faust spotted one 7 story pagoda, another large 4 story one.

Other estates also had large gardens and training yards behind the main building, so he imagined someone like Faram would have a rather expansive spirit herb farm since he also seemed to employ several servants. He could see one sweeping the ground in the distance. There was also another, short servant girl with long green hair dejectedly poking at the ground with a small green snake with beady eyes curled around her neck.

Peaking over one wall, there was also several massive red flags with the empire's insignia embroidered in beautiful gold and with Qi that formed the shape of a golden dragon—"Hmmm?" Faust suddenly recalled the banners carried by the princess's procession. He shook his head. He was being paranoid. Faust continued. Then stopped. He looked at the green haired girl with the snake. She looked kind of familiar. Didn't she? Huh. Strange. Very strange indeed. Faust thought.

There were a bunch of pieces floating in his mind, but he decided to ignore them. For his own peace of mind.

"Is something wrong sir?" The old butler suddenly turned and asked.

"..." Faust stayed silent, looking away. His gaze accidentally fell on the red and gold flags peaking over the wall. The old butler followed his gaze.

"Ah. Lord Faram is the tutor of the fourth princess. He should have been back far earlier, so I imagine he will be quite busy over the next few days."

"..." The old butler looked at Faust for a while.

"Does the 4th princess being here bother you, sir? Your room will be on the other side of the estate, so you shouldn't run into her."

"Hahaha…" Faust gave a dry chuckle, before continuing to walk along.

"It's fine." he assured the butler. Haha, my ass… Faust thought. He couldn't even imagine being in even relatively close proximity to royalty. He could barely imagine himself near a supreme elder of the sect. At least not until he hit the Nascent Soul realm. Suddenly, the scene at the skyport, from this morning, replayed in Faust's head. Thinking about it, what kind of luck did he have to meet someone so like-minded on his first day in the capital? Long Tao's face flashed through Faust's mind.

Along with Heaven's stupid gaze. … Ah… That'll do it… I'm in danger.