Chương 34: 22.1. The Han Dukedom

After passing the humble gate, Faust followed the yellow robed guard deeper into the estate. Wow. Faust thought as he scanned the place, turning his head from left to right. Faram's estate had been grand. But next to this? It was tiny. Heavily armoured statues lined the massive stone courtyard at the front— which was so large that the 4 story buildings that surrounded it didn't look much bigger than the single story buildings in Faram's estate. Not from Faust's perspective near the main gate at least.

An older butler, who also wore a sword at their waist and had a scar blinding one eye, walked towards the yellow guard.

"Steward. Another doctor has come." The yellow robed guard bowed, cupping their fist. Faust followed suit, bowing and introducing himself.

"Faust from River Valley, Green Terrace Province." Faust lied about his origin, choosing the first thing that came to mind. Just in case something happened. He doubted he would ever enter this estate or meet these people again, unlike Faram. The steward looked him over and grunted.

"Another hopeful?" Faust shook his head.

"I merely wish to record the symptoms and document the ailment. I don't dare believe I could treat it."

"So you're just a scholar with a bit of medical training then?" The steward spat.

"Well… Yes." Faust decided to agree. The steward looked him over again.

"Very well. If you spread it around, perhaps it would attract more talented doctors— You!" He shouted while pointing at a passing maid in a matted yellow dress, who jumped in fright.

"Lead this man to the young master's room. Ensure his bodyguard is informed before he enters." The steward ordered. The maid bowed, then cupped a fist to Faust and began leading him to one side of the courtyard. Faust turned to follow, entering one of the building complexes around the courtyard and traveling through several long hallways, passing tens of yellow robed guards. Truly a military duke.

It was no wonder the princess would choose to get them on her side, even if it meant effectively taking the duke's son hostage. Eventually, the maid led Faust through a covered walkway, which revealed elaborate gardens on both sides until the entered a smaller, two story pavilion. The maid knocked on the door. A few moments later, someone opened the door. In the opening stood a black robed woman with a dark hood and scars covering their aged face.

The black robed woman looked up at Faust, who bowed along with the maid, cupping his fist with one hand.

"The steward asked me to let him see the young master." The maid quickly explained.

"Another doctor?"

"Uh…" The maid hesitated, looking back at Faust.

"A scholar with medical training. I'm just here to document everything I can for future study." Faust explained.

"... I see. That is a good idea…" The woman hummed to herself, sliding the door open wider.

"You may leave," she told the maid, who quickly scuttled away through the covered walkway, "you may enter." She turned to Faust, who nodded, standing up straight and walking forward. Brushing against the woman's dark robes, Faust felt a shiver across his body. Peak of the Nascent Soul realm… He focused some more. The woman's aura was slightly odd. Tainted, rotted, a little unstable. It seemed she didn't have many more years left. Whether an injury or age, Faust couldn't tell. It wasn't his place either.

He tactically avoided the woman's gaze and walked deeper into the pavilion.

"Up the stairs." The dark robed woman directed. Faust followed the instructions and ascended to the second floor." COUGH! Cough! Urgghh… Hmm?" A young man coughed before turning their head weakly towards Faust.

"Another doctor?" He asked.

"A scholar." The woman spoke, coming up the stairs behind Faust.

"Oh?" The young man asked.

"You don't appear to be an imperial scribe or scholar." Faust bowed and cupped a fist once more.

"Faust from River Valley, Green Terrace Province. I wish to record the symptoms and other diagnoses for future study. I don't believe I have the abilities to solve such an ailment."

"Ah. Right, right. That makes more sense doesn't it." The young man nodded to himself, pushing himself up to sit up on the bed. The bodyguard moved from behind Faust to the young man's side, helping him up.

"Then, I am Han Ci. I'm in your care." Faust nodded, taking cautious steps forward under his bodyguard's watch.

"May I see your wrist?"

"Mhm." Faust took Han Ci's wrist between his hands. It was frail, practically all bones and veins. Faust carefully sent some small amount of Spirit Qi in while feeling the pulse. Using additional common medical techniques, he gleaned even more information from the pulse as he carefully inched the Spirit Qi through the veins. There was the heart's pulse and the pulse of the dan-tian in the spirit body. One technique measured the response of the dan-tian's pulse.

Closing his eyes, Faust used another technique to visualise the dan-tian's pulse. In his vision, Faust saw countless streaks of red spread out from the dan-tian, throughout the whole body. Mixed in were a few bridges of Spirit Qi, where an attempt at Meridian Opening had begun, but had since been eroded.

"Hmmm…" Faust explored deeper. The red lines, where were they coming from? He was curious now. Forgetting the bodyguard's presence, Faust used Qi control to bring a chair over and sit down while still holding Han Ci's wrist. With his other hand, he retrieved a notebook and some spare paper from Faram's estate. He started writing everything down, exploring the physical body with a strand of Spirit Qi while he continued switching between the three medical observation techniques he knew.

The shape of the red veins, how many there were, the state of the minor and major channels and nodes which had been started on. He completely lost track of time. But the amount of paper he had was limited. Faust ran out of space and looked from Han Ci's hand to his own notes." Cough! Cough!" Faust came back to his senses as Han Ci coughed, gently guiding his hand back to rest on the blanket.

"My apologies." Faust stood up and bowed again.

"No, no. It's quite alright. I thought you were a fraud before but it turned out you were skilled." Han Ci waved him off before humming to himself and asking, "You said you're a scholar? Do you only study the medical dao?" Faust didn't answer immediately, thinking his answer over.

"I study a multitude of things."

"Such as?"

"Arrays, formations, techniquecraft, spellcraft, medical dao, artifact forging… Is there anything specific the young master would like to ask me?" Faust probed. Han Ci rubbed his chin for a bit, humming in thought as he looked idly up at the canopy of his bed.

"Perhaps… Techniquecraft. Right. That was something I was interested in, but I never could quite wrap my head around Heavenly Axiom theory. Tell me about it." He said. Faust could probably leave around now if he wanted, but a part of him whispered there was no reason to leave a bad impression, so he mulled over the answer briefly before humoring the young master.

"It's simply the concept of Heaven having a will of its own and altering laws to achieve its purposes. The Heavenly Axiom theory is just using mathematics to describe and predict these alterations." Han Ci nodded.

"I don't hear of many people— even among the Nascent Soul realm— who know the theory in depth. Why is that?" Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"If the Golden Core is formed right, the ability to manipulate Heaven and Earth Qi lets one begin to vaguely perceive laws and their changes. At the Nascent Soul realm, this evolves further into an innate understanding of the perceived laws and how their behaviour occasionally shifts."

"So they do understand it?"

"It's an innate understanding, not a conscious one. Like knowing how to speak, but not write." That seemed to click. Han Ci's eyes went wide for a moment before he slowly nodded his head in understanding, turning to face blankly at the wall. For a while, the two continued to chat on similar topics. Han Ci would ask something and Faust would answer to the best of his ability. That was until, "Is 'Faust from River Valley, Green Terrace Province' your real identity?"

"..." Faust opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated, closing it again.

"I… Have no malicious intentions." He decided to say.

"Right, but unlike the other things I've asked, you haven't answered my question." Han Ci was undeterred.

"..." You really wanna do this? Where is my right to privacy? Faust wondered, keeping his mouth closed before bowing again. Telling the truth would probably give them a bad impression. Having the lie seen through would definitely give them a bad impression. He thought about what kind of lie wouldn't be seen through. But it was impossible without knowing how the original lie had been seen through. Faust eyed the Nascent Soul bodyguard standing in a corner of the room. Did she do something?

The abilities of the Nascent Soul realm are difficult to understand without reaching it yourself.

"My apologies. I just wished to avoid an interaction with the Roze clan and the royal family. One came from outside of the city while I was leaving. Then the other came from inside the city." Faust explained honestly.

"..." Han Ci looked at him, his face turning a bit strange.

"Seriously?" He asked.

"I wouldn't dare lie."

"You already have."

"I wouldn't dare lie twice."" Cough. Cough." Han Ci fell into a brief coughing fit. Not noticing any reaction from the bodyguard, Faust let a little tension from his shoulders.

"I'm curious though." Han Ci began, recovering from the fit, "why avoid the Roze clan and Royal family? Most would kill for the opportunity to socialise with either."

"It's a matter of perspective, young master." Faust explained, "for most noble clans and families, those who would kill for the opportunity, they're, while not equal, far closer in status to the powerful clans and families. They have some negotiating power. For most however, it is a better avoided affair."

"Hmm. Right." Han Ci stared idly as he stroked his chin weakly. There was a knock from downstairs. The bodyguard disappeared from her spot in the corner. A few moments later, she returned.

"Young master. The duke is calling you." She informed.

"Huh?" Han Ci looked at her, then scrunched his face up in thought.

"What for?" He asked.

"Her highness, the fourth princess. His highness the second prince. The heir of the Roze clan and the heir of the Tang clan, are all in the main foyer."

"Is that so?" Han Ci looked at Faust. Faust eyes twitched slightly. Now that I think about it. It seems rather obvious that they would have been approaching the Han estate. So why did he choose to enter the Han estate? … Long Tao you bastard… Fortunately, there was still the opportunity to leave.

"Then, I will not impose any further." Faust bowed and cupped a fist. Han Ci looked at him, but didn't say anything, letting his bodyguard help him out of the bed and put on a thicker robe, supporting him by the arm as he rose from the bed. Faust scrutinised him. Even after searching it in detail, he genuinely had no idea what kind of ailment could affect a Meridian Opening realm? Surely it was a curse or poison. He imagined that was why there seemed to be so much politics around it.

Faust followed Han Ci and his bodyguard out of the pavilion, back through the covered walkway surrounded by gardens towards the main buildings.

"Hmm…" Faust looked left and right, down one identical hallway to another. Would it look suspicious if I just wandered around by myself? I was invited in so it shouldn't be. Faust narrowed his eyes. He was hesitating. No. That wasn't it. For some reason his memory of the hallways the maid led him through had become blurry. But if he kept following Han Ci he would end up meeting both Royalty and the Roze clan. All my thinking and I somehow ended up in a worse situation than before.

"Hmm?" He looked up. Han Ci's bodyguard let him go, giving him a few moments to catch his breath before a large door. Suddenly the door in front of Han Ci was thrown open, revealing a large hall with several seats and filled with people. Notably, Faust spotted Rozaline and Tang Qingyu among them, with Miu beside the fourth princess. Too much thinking. It's time to go.

Seeing Han Ci enter slowly by his own strength, Faust activated the basic concealment technique he knew— bemoaned the fact he never studied concealment in depth— then turned around and power walked the other direction.

"Senior brother Faust?" Someone mumbled, but Faust pretended not to hear and walked straight down the hall, taking the first turn he encountered. As he turned out of view of the large hall he smacked himself in the head. What was that? Why did he spend so long thinking? Just idly following Han Ci when he should have just left the way he came? No. He shouldn't have even followed Han Ci at all. He should have immediately gone back, even if something strange was happening with his recollection of the exact path.

He could have just asked one of the passing maids or guards. It was like someone was trying to guide him towards hell.

"Haaah…" Faust dragged his face down, looking to the ceiling. Something was definitely wrong. Retracing his steps, Faust reached the main courtyard, where he saw the Roze and Tang clan banners over some horses and guards, as well as the two royal carriages. He strode to the front gate, where the same yellow robed guard who had let him enter was leaning against the wall beside the gate. Seeing him approach, the guard perked up, standing ramrod straight, "how was the young master?" He asked.

Faust cupped a fist and shook his head.

"I was able to write down a lot, but his condition is truly strange. It's almost like there's two Meridian opening foundations in him." Faust explained.

"I see." The guard nodded before opening the gate, letting Faust leave the estate. Faust hurried through the open gates, then looked both ways down the street. It was empty on both sides. The gates closed behind him with a loud click!

"Phew…" Faust exhaled, then looked up with a hardened gaze. Enough was enough. This wasn't normal. He'd been to plenty of large cities, wandering all across the empire for various missions. 15 years may be a short time for some, but it was half his entire life. Instead of returning to rest in his newly rented courtyard, after being let out of central Zentrum by the Imperial Military, Faust headed for the Imperial Office.

People passed through the afternoon streets in bright clothes, setting up ladders and hanging lanterns. Faust looked up. Red banners and tapestries of phoenixes and dragons were being hung up around every building. The lanterns were all yellow and orange rising sun lanterns. Is it already time for the Rising Dragons and Phoenixes Competition? Faust grimaced. He had really timed his trip poorly. If they were setting the decorations up it should only be a month or two away. The competition was held every ten years.

Anyone between 15 and 30 was eligible and brackets were divided by major realm. Faust peeled his eyes away, continuing past towards the Imperial Office he recalled seeing nearby. He thought back to the sect. As a subsidiary sect of the empire, the Clear Mirror sect would also be hosting its own Rising Dragons and Phoenixes Competition, before sending its winner to the capital. Most of the people Faust knew were too old, but after humming to himself, Faust recalled Tao and Aneroze cultivation.

If it was still two months away, there was a chance the two would reach the peak of Qi Refining and place high enough to come to the capital. As for Foria? Faust shook his head. He loved her, but she didn't have that kind of ability. Not that he had ever seen at least. A few minutes later, nestled between several buildings with gilded walls and columns and brightly coloured tiles, was the Imperial Office. A large two story wooden building with glazed black shingles and polished redwood pillars.

Two red uniformed guards stood either side of the entrance, a large open wooden door. Passing between the guards Faust was greeted by a low hall with long lines in front of several wooden counters. After a cursory glance from left to right, he calmly joined one, waiting behind an older gentleman who was nervously holding forms reading something about tax exemptions. As he waited, he began idly tapping his foot against the floor as he mulled things over. It was too coincidental.

He just happened to take the route that went past the Han estate. He just happened to arrive at the same time as the royals and Roze clan. He had just happened to hear rumors about the Han Duke's grandson beforehand. In such a massive city. Where buildings seemed to stretch endlessly in every direction. There were surely countless things to gossip about. Faust shook his head. He would get the pass he needed for the Grand-Archive. Then, he wasn't gonna leave.

He would take some fasting pills and hide away for a year or two. The first thing on the agenda though, was learning more about heaven's will. Heavenly Axiom theory was used for making techniques that could account for and take advantage of the special exceptions and rules within the laws of reality. But it didn't describe anything about how it affected things on a larger scale. Faust tilted his head up, listening to the idle chatter of the people waiting in line.

"The Rising Dragons and Phoenix Competition is only two more months away."

"I know. After that will be the public lecture held by the grand tutor…" Faust immediately closed his ears. The Rising Dragons and Phoenixes Competition and a public lecture by the grand tutor. He didn't want to miss either.

"Tch." Faust clicked his teeth. It seemed he wouldn't be able to lock himself in the Grand Archive. Soon, Faust's turn came.

"I'm here for the pass to the Grand Archive and to give my Mailing Address while I study here." Faust spoke before the scribe behind the counter could speak. They looked up at him slowly, bags pulling down his eyes, then they pulled out some documents from under the counter.

"Fill these out. Provide proof of identity." The scribe instructed. Faust threw down his sect identity token, letting the scribe confirm it while he picked up the quill and filled out the forms. After scribbling through all the documents, Faust put the quill down and looked up at the scribe. They held a thick book, holding his token beside it. After several more minutes, they closed it, then passed Faust's sect token back.

"Clear Mirror sect. You can show your sect token to the guards and enter, no pass required. Your mailing address will be processed within…" The scribe looked somewhere to the side, behind the counter.

"... Two weeks." Faust felt his eyes twitch. So I didn't need a pass and despite seeing my sect uniform that damn guard didn't even say anything? He took a deep breath before cupping a fist to the scholar, "thank you." He forced a smile, or at least a neutral face, before turning around and leaving the office. Seeing the sun begin to dip below the horizon, Faust sighed. He would go to the Grand Archive tomorrow. It was probably too late to find a market or shop to restock on paper and ink.

It would be especially late if he wanted to buy memory Jade and Fasting pills. He shook his head in resignation before heading for his newly rented courtyard. He would spend the night fixing it up since it was in desperate need of repairs.