Elder Fang’s home was a humble little place, set apart from other houses only by the enormous oak tree overshadowing it. The tree was so ancient that only the poor spiritual energy in the valley had prevented it from awakening as some sort of spirit or elemental. Even so, Jia could sense the faintest hints of a core beginning to form. The tree would be incredibly valuable for magical materials, or might develop into a natural guardian for the village in another thousand years or so.
Nobody else seemed to notice—even Zheng Long just thought it was an unusually large tree—but the village elder was remarkably canny. He’d been surprisingly knowledgeable for a mortal living so far from the empire’s southern borders, and Jia suspected he knew more than he let on. The old man hadn’t even flinched when Zheng Long introduced her.
Jia was still a little annoyed about that. She’d hoped to give the villagers a bit more time to know her before putting them on edge with her true identity. It had been quite awkward after that, as Elder Fang invited them into his home and Xiu put her son to bed in a spare cradle that her father ‘just happened’ to keep around.
When she returned they all sat around a small wooden table—Zheng Long and Fang Xiu together next to the elder, with Lee Jia sitting across from them by herself. She felt terribly awkward, sipping quietly at some lukewarm tea.
It was Elder Fang who finally broke the silence.
“Zheng Long neglected to mention that he was friends with a foreign empress. I would have considered that a pertinent detail when asking to marry my daughter.”
His son-in-law winced and cleared his throat.
“In my defense, when last I’d seen her she was the de facto leader of a tiny city state with all of a dozen citizens at most. And we were...not exactly on friendly terms.”
Jia smiled wryly.
“A lot has happened since then.”
Xiu was still looking a little overwhelmed by it all, and she shook her head incredulously.
“So you really are an...Empress? And all those other things.”
“Yes, it’s true. Supreme Overlord of Yamato is not a real title, though—Zheng Long made that up.”
He gave her an exasperated sigh.
“It’s descriptively accurate. I’ve seen how you try to give your subject nations autonomy, but their leaders still ultimately answer to you.”
“I suppose, but I’m not here as Empress Yoshika, Grand Unifier of whatever made up titles you want to throw at me, I’m here as Lee Jia, friend of Zheng Long.”
Elder Fang raised an eyebrow at her.
“Yet you did offer the protection of your empire.”
“I did, and it’s an offer you have every right to refuse. I am still Empress Yoshika, and I cannot separate myself from that. The power that I can wield as Lee Jia includes the power of the state, but I’m not necessarily here to represent the interests of the state.”
“Makes for a piss-poor leader, doesn’t it? You are the state, and you should always be looking out for your people.”
Zheng Long and Fang Xiu both went pale and glanced nervously at the old man, but he just held Jia’s gaze as if to challenge her. She just laughed.
“I never claimed to be a great ruler, Elder Fang. I’m only...”
She had to stop and think about it for a moment. Did she use the oldest of her aspects? The total? The average? Rather than fuss over it, she decided to just use Jia’s age since that’s who she was presenting herself as. Definitely not because she was the youngest.
“Twenty eight. All I’ve got is a lot of power and a little bit of luck. I often have to defer to my wiser and more experienced friends and allies. My one talent in life is making friends and bringing people together.”
Zheng Long coughed.
“It may also be worth noting that you are a powerful enough cultivator to rival the grandmasters of the great sects. At age twenty eight—even younger than I am, and I’ve been called a prodigy among prodigies.”
He blushed as everyone looked askance at him.
“I’m not trying to brag—simply repeating the words of others to make a point. Empress Yoshika, you are—and I believe I can say this objectively—the most talented cultivator in the history of this world.”
It was Jia’s turn to blush, and she tried to wave off his praise.
“I just got lucky. Besides, there are five of me, that’s sort of cheating.”
“You know as well as I that it doesn’t work that way.”
She averted her eyes and scratched her cheek as Xiu regarded her with a mix of consternation and awe.
“What do you mean by that? There are five of you?”
“That’s a really long story—weird cultivator stuff, don’t worry about it. Anyway, let me reiterate my offer, now that you know who I am.”
Lee Jia closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then Yoshika opened them and exhaled slowly.
“Beginning from the greatest offer, you may join Jiaguo as citizens of our empire under my full aegis. Yue will yell at us for that, but that allows me to make near-absolute guarantees for the safety of this village. You would not so much as need to call for my aid in times of strife—I will always be here.”
The elder grimaced and shook his head.
“We live out here on the frontier to get away from petty politics and cultivator squabbles. You sell it as protection, but joining your empire would mean defecting from Qin, and paint a huge target on our backs.”
“I would guarantee your independence, but you may be right that it would draw Qin’s ire upon you. I could relocate you all in the worst case, but I understand entirely if you would rather avoid such trials. My next offer, then, is simply protection. I will leave you with the means to contact us at any time to petition for aid, and swear to provide it to the best of my ability. I will not be as immediate as if you were part of my empire, but still swift.”
Zheng Long muttered under his breath.
“She flew here from the southern border in less than an hour.”
Even the surly old elder’s eyes bugged out at that.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“Wh—that’s at least a two year journey on foot! And I’d expect closer to five!”
Yoshika smiled politely, less embarrassed to flaunt her abilities now that she wasn’t presenting herself purely as Lee Jia.
“Zheng Long wasn’t exaggerating about my abilities. I’ve defeated Yan De more than once, and speed is one of my specialties. Even without the aegis of my empire, my personal protection isn’t insignificant. But if even that is too much, then I’ll simply leave Zheng Long here with assurances that his former sect will not bother you.”
The elder pursed his lips.
“How can you offer such a guarantee?”
“Because my best friend and the right hand of my empire is Yan Yue, the new grandmistress of the Great Awakening Dragon sect. Though the four cultivators currently debating whether they should burn this village down don’t seem to have gotten the message yet.”
Zheng Long’s eyes sharpened immediately.
“Where? I can’t sense them.”
“They’re using wards and trying to hide their auras, but my little sisters could write better stealth formations. They seem to have realized that trying to attack while either you or I are here is pointless so instead they’re arguing over which of them should...die to trigger their spiritual jade tablet, seriously?! What the hell is wrong with your sect, Zheng Long?”
“I cannot defend it. You saw how Yan Zhihao treated his underlings. Outer disciples are seen as expendable.”
She shook her head incredulously.
“You couldn’t come up with a better method of communication than killing each other? Qin’s sects are absolutely ridiculous sometimes...”
Xiu swallowed nervously, glancing between her husband and Yoshika.
“Er, I don’t mean to interrupt, but I’m a little bit concerned about these cultivators threatening to destroy my home.”
“I’ll deal with them shortly—or I can go do it now, if you'd like a moment to consider my offer.”
The elder held up a hand and shook his head.
“No need, Your Majesty. On behalf of my village, I thank you for rescuing my son-in-law, but I must decline your offers. We are an independent people, and we will remain so. Frankly, associating with a rival of the God-Emperor is far more trouble than it’s worth.”
Yoshika bowed.
“I see. In that case, may I at least offer some parting gifts? A token of friendship and goodwill between our peoples?”
“I’m not too proud to accept immediate aid, as long as you know we have nothing to give you in return.”
“Three things then—in addition to taking the garbage out when I leave. First, for Zheng Long...”
She produced a small token of white jade and placed it on the table. The culmination of many years of hard work and refinement, nearly ready for large scale production.
“This is Jiaguo’s most advanced speaking stone. It’s keyed to our reflecting pool by spiritual resonance, and while it can’t be used to open a channel independently, you can empower it with a bit of essence like this—”
Yoshika channeled a tiny mote of power into the stone, and it began to glow a soft green color.
“And its twin will respond, indicating that you wish to speak to us.”
Zheng Long chuckled mirthlessly as he accepted the token.
“Well, that’s much easier than dying, isn’t it? We really have fallen behind.”
“You can also attune it to yourself and it will double as a spiritual jade tablet.”
“Ah, in case I want to use the traditional method after all.”
Xiu smacked his shoulder.
“Don’t be ungrateful! Even I know that’s a top grade artifact.”
Actually, thanks to Dae and Haeun’s advancements, the speaking stones could be created by any houtian ranked mage capable of divination and enchantment. Of course, that pretty much just meant Haeun and Yoshika herself, but they were working on that part. That, and the fact that they had to connect to the reflecting pool, which was a xiantian grade relic.
Yoshika didn’t mention any of that, though. Instead she just turned to the Elder.
“My next gift is for you—though would you honor me with your actual name? You’re older than you look, aren’t you?”
He grimaced and clicked his tongue.
“Tsk, this is why I hate cultivators. Can’t mind your own damn business. If you must know, I am called Fang Shi, and my age is for me to know. Old enough to have seen the world and grow tired of it all.”
He reminded her of Murayoshi, the grizzled old blacksmith who’d once been a mentor to Master Ienaga Yumi. Old, jaded, and tired, but with an endless font of wisdom hiding behind that veil of cynical apathy. Unlike Murayoshi, however, Fang Shi was only mortal.
“I don’t know what the secret of your longevity is, Elder Fang, and I’m sure you have your own reasons for eschewing cultivation, despite your obvious ability. But if I may, I’d like to offer you a few more years of health and comfort.”
The old man pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.
“As if I haven’t lived long enough as it is. You can’t cure age, you know—not without becoming something else. It changes you, slowly but surely. Bah, but you don’t need me to tell you that, do you? I accept, if only so that I might have a chance to see my grandson become a man.”
Yoshika smiled softly and reached across to take Fang Shi’s hand. Her essence circulated gently through him, and she saw that he was exceptionally fit, despite his weakness. Just old and worn in ways that most mortals would never live to experience. He lacked the impurities that built up with age, and Yoshika was impressed all over again. It was almost more difficult not to awaken as a cultivator with such well maintained meridians.
That wasn’t to say he lacked any impurities at all. He had a lifetime—several lifetimes worth of sickness and injury leaving their marks upon his body. Scars in his lungs, bones that had never quite healed correctly, tendons that had been worn ragged by decades of overuse.
She went through and delicately corrected every single problem she found with the life-giving essence of Wood. Once, she would have needed Eui’s physical presence to perform a technique like that, but more and more it had stopped mattering which aspect Yoshika appeared as. Fang Shi was right—cultivation had changed her, and probably wouldn’t ever stop changing her. Yoshika could respect his decision to hang on to his mortality, and perhaps even found a new understanding of Jung’s choice to do the same.
When Yoshika withdrew her hand, Fang Shi’s eyes were brighter, and his back no longer hunched in his seat. He breathed deep, and the subtle rasp in his lungs had vanished. He was still old and frail, but his body had regained some of its vigor. As promised, Yoshika had given him a few more years, but he was still mortal.
“Thank you, Your Majesty. I could not have asked for a greater gift.”
It was worth it for the look of relief and delight on Fang Xiu’s face, but in truth her gifts had cost Yoshika almost nothing.
“You’re welcome, but my last gift will be greater still. I can’t do it alone, though, so if you could all do me a favor—please close your eyes and focus on that which is most important to you in life.”
She could see the elder hesitating, but Fang Xiu and Zheng Long did as she asked immediately. The old man probably understood that she was about to offer something that couldn’t possibly be repaid, but this was a gift, not a transaction. With a small sigh, he also closed his eyes to meditate.
As they all focused, Yoshika began to hum a silent song. The melody she’d learned from Yue, but the voice was something Haeun had taught her. Yoshika smiled as she felt the emotions of the three align, just as she knew they would. A single great pillar of jade with the same tiny figure cradled safely atop that pedestal. She called it forth, summoning that pure and united intent to life as a wisp.
Yoshika produced one of her precious pure essence crystals and beckoned the wisp of a family’s love for their newborn child to inhabit the stone. A power unlike any other, given the strength to grow and flourish.
Zheng Long stared in awe at the faintly glowing crystal, and even the two mortals could sense the nature of its power—it had come from them, after all.
“This is more my apprentice’s specialty, but for this particular case, it falls well within my domain. I’ll need to put it somewhere safe, so that it will come of age along with its intended recipient—but I know just the spot.”
She turned to leave, and the family silently followed her out. Elsewhere, the Awakening Dragon agents stopped their bickering and turned as they sensed something beyond their reckoning. Yoshika flew up to the trunk of that giant oak tree, the crystal floating between her outstretched hands. She ushered it forward, and the stone passed into the body of the tree as though it was immaterial.
Yoshika secured the essence of Zheng An’s protector within the burgeoning soul of the nascent tree spirit. What might have one day grown into a natural guardian within a millennium was instead blessed with power and potential fueled by the unconditional love of a baby’s parents—and grandparent.
“That’s my final gift—for Zheng An. Whether he chooses to follow in his father’s footsteps, or lives his life here as peacefully as the name his mother gave him, he will be protected. He will always have a friend and guardian, no matter what else may come to pass.”
Xiu covered her mouth and gasped, eyes shimmering as Fang Shi slowly dropped to his knees. The old man had lived a long time, and seen much, but that...
“Your Majesty—Empress Yoshika. Is...is it too late for this village to change our mind about joining your empire?”
!
Selkie Myth for their incredible shoutouts.
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