Pan Cai strode into the room as if he owned the building. Which he might as well have. As the Poison Claw Sect leader, his importance had reached the pinnacle on the continent, ascending as the rival Swift Blizzard and Jade Chameleon sects had officially disbanded. All that was left was to distribute the spoils.
"How long do we have before Chao Su arrives?" he said.
In addition to the Emperor and his representatives, City Lord Luo Quan and his functionary Qiu ZhenKang, the other people present in the room were Dai Shuren, an obvious choice as the city's branch sect leader, and Kang Ya-Ting as the person most familiar with the enigmatic Rising Tide Sect Leader.
"A quarter hour, Sect Leader," Dai Shuren said.
Perfect, that gave Pan Cai and Emperor Han Shu time to discuss how best to deal with the Nascent Soul before he arrived.
The man was an aberration in so many ways. For one thing, most cultivators stepped away from day-to-day leadership when they ascended to that vaunted realm, leaving such chores to Golden Core juniors. For another, no one behaved like him, treating trash villagers and street rats as if their lives held value. And, though some martial cultivators took up a craft as a hobby, none grew so supremely powerful as him and somehow managed to also reach the pinnacle of craftsmanship with both Alchemy and Blacksmithing.
Worse, none of those considerations took into account his ability to create, apparently, top heaven rated scriptures.
The man was so far above regular Nascent Souls that staring up at him from even the peak of the realm must have felt like the distance between the peak of Mount Tai and its base.
Due to deft management, the Poison Claw Sect maintained excellent relations with Chao Su. Kang Ya-Ting's recommendations from the beginning had paid off, leaving the Poison Claw faction as the only major sect on the continent and possessing six of its eleven known Nascent Souls. It was a precipitous rise, but Pan Cai was wary of an equally precipitous fall. Their continued prosperity relied in no small part on continuing those good relations.
They had the advantage of multiple personal relationships. Kang Ya-Ting had developed something of a friendship with the man. Yuan Yaozu had done the same in addition to establishing a master-disciple bond. Kang Lin, a wholly undistinguished junior up until about a year prior, had also become the man's disciple and was soon to be married to one of the heirs of the sect. Most surprisingly of all, Pan Cai's own son, who had previously been nothing but a disappointment, had matured into a fine cultivator who had fostered friendships and a good reputation in the Rising Tide Sect.
All current signs indicated a fortuitous alliance between the sects going forward, but no one knew what demands Chao Su would make.
"The spoils are many," Pan Cai said. "Chao Su was much more restrained in regards to property damage this time. He simply Teleported in, quickly killed his target, and Teleported out. Beyond some blood on the floor, there was no damage at all."
"The executions were a remarkable display of skill and restraint," Han Shu said.
The Emperor hid his displeasure well. When there had been four sects, it had been easy for him to play one against another to gather what scraps he could. When the big four had been reduced to the big three, it had become more difficult for his faction to advance, but he'd managed. With only one large sect remaining, his job had just become extremely difficult. Still, he'd survived the wrath of Chao Su without losing anyone, so his strategy of remaining neutral had paid off.
"Two entire main sect grounds and the branch sect here in Sixth Flawless Flowing City need to be distributed, along with nearly fifty thousand juniors," Pan Cai said. "Though my sect supported Chao Su, it would be difficult for me to argue that we deserve even half of that, and I can't see the case for you taking more than a tenth. If Chao were to say that my people didn't actually contribute at all, it would be difficult for me to refute him."
Were he less powerful, Pan Cai would be willing to make that argument, but Chao Su could erase him with not much more than a thought.
Emperor Han Shu cupped his hands. "The Rising Tide Sect only has a bit over twelve hundred members. It would be greedy to try to gobble up so much valuable real estate and resources at once."
"We are in agreement," Pan Cai said, "but will Chao Su see it that way?"
"Ten Nascent Souls against one," the Emperor said.
Kang Ya-Ting scoffed. Every eye in the room turned to him.
"Apologies, Emperor, Sect Leader, but we can't seriously be contemplating threatening him, right? Everyone how has attacked him is now dead."
"Ten against one," Pan Cai said.
"Apologies again, Sect Leader, but I'd place my bets on the one."
The elder had a point. Even though Chao Su was only a Nascent Soul, he had advantages that were not easily understood. Besides, that Trials Pagoda made anything left over from the defunct sects seem like trash in comparison, and they had no chance of seizing that treasure.
"I'm sure the Emperor was expressing an idle thought," Pan Cai said. "The Poison Claw Sect would never betray an ally as dear to us as Chao Su."
Kang Ya-Ting cupped his hands and maintained a completely blank expression. Which was well done. He had to have struggled not to laugh.
The Emperor sighed. "We will request what we can but will not push for much. Chao Su deserves the spoils."
Pan Cai nodded ruefully. "Chao Su deserves the spoils."
***
Benton wasn't one hundred percent sure why he'd been called to the city for a meeting or even what, exactly, the meeting was about, but he figured it must be important for both the Poison Claw Sect leader and the Emperor, neither of whom he'd ever met, to be there.
It turned out they wanted to give him all the land, resources, and people that belonged to the Jade Chameleon and Swift Blizzard sects.
At first blush, he was like, "Riches, cool." Then, he thought about it. He didn't have enough people to manage the land he already had. Not only that but there was no way he could incorporate fifty thousand new juniors into his sect, especially considering that they'd been members of those two sects. Even if they didn't feel a simply enormous amount of animosity toward him, he simply wasn't equipped to handle that large of an influx.
Declining represented a problem, though, as he didn't want to look weak. Once he achieved the qualifications necessary to advance to Nihility, there would be few, if any, cultivators in the entire world who could stand against him. Until then, he still had to play some politics.
Ugh.
"My friends, Kang Ya-Ting and Yuan Yaozu, and the Poison Claw Sect in general were instrumental in assisting me with claiming those resources. This one would not feel right in taking all the spoils.
"Additionally, the Emperor's people behaved with honor and fairness throughout the situation, and their services in making sure that the fights of cultivators don't impact mortals deserve to be rewarded.
"And, truthfully, this old man simply has no use for all that land and resources, and though I do want to grow my sect, I wish to keep that growth relatively small and manageable."
Pan Cai and Han Shu exchanged a glance. They kept their faces impassive, but Benton felt they both wanted to get up and dance a jig.
"What of the resources did you desire, Esteemed Sect Leader?" Pan Cai said.
Benton thought about it for a moment. "We don't have enough people for a branch sect here yet, but the land the former Swift Blizzard Sect owned in the city would be beneficial for our future purposes. I can't see, however, what we'd ever need with the resources from either of the main sect grounds."
"Land and resources, Esteemed Sect Leader?" Han Shu said.
"Correct, and as far as members go, I wouldn't want to add more than, say, five hundred carefully selected people. Of course, I'd also want to know that all the displaced juniors are taken care of, however. If you're not directly inducting them into your factions, we'll need to work together to create ancillary organizations that they can be a part of."
"That seems reasonable, Esteemed Sect Leader," Pan Cai said.
"Obviously, you're getting a lot out of this deal, though," Benton said, "so I will need concessions."
The two other leaders looked at each other. Their glance saying, "Here it comes…"
"First, I want good relations with both your factions. No more animosity. We've already worked together pretty well. I want to continue that and deepen those ties."
Both of them enthusiastically agreed.
"I do, however, have conditions that I think you'll find less favorable." Benton looked at Pan Cai. "Your sect has been a great ally, and I want to continue that friendship. I fear, though, that you will take the lion's share of the spoils and freeze the Emperor out. A sixty-forty split would be better for everyone."
"May this one ask why, Esteemed Sect Leader?" Pan Cai said.
"Frankly, the old system only worked because their were four factions balancing each other out. If you completely dominate, things will become problematic. This way, you will rule the continent when it comes to cultivation matters, and the Emperor will remain powerful enough to control civil affairs. Hopefully, this split will encourage a new era of participation between the two of you."
Emperor Han Shu was obviously overjoyed with the statement, and overall, it was something Pan Cai could live with. He cupped his hands.
"One other reason for the split, though, is my second condition," Benton said. "I want authority to make changes that will affect the common people."
"What kind of changes, Esteemed Sect Leader?" Han Shu said.
"My kids want to make life better for them—healing, vitamins, food. That kind of thing."
Pan Cai and Han Shu looked at each other, and Pan Cai again asked Benton to explain his actions.
Every cultivator I've met believes in karma, but few of them live like they do." Benton pulled an orb from his spatial ring. "It's a real thing. I can measure it. Quantify it. Killing an innocent mortal makes your karma decrease. Helping them increases it. I honestly don't understand why sects aren't already doing more to help mortals."
Neither of the leaders voiced an opinion or an argument, so Benton figured he would get his way on that one. Realistically, neither of them were in a position to refuse Benton anything that wasn't just batcrap crazy. Which none of his requests had been.
Pan Cai brought up another matter that Benton had been expecting. "What about the Trials Pagoda?"
"I've been thinking a lot about that. It wouldn't be very neighborly of me to possess something so useful and not let anyone else use it. On the other hand, it does cost me a precious resource. Every time I let one of you use it is one less time my own people can, so I'll have to limit it. And you'll have to pay for it. I am willing, however, to set up some level of access, something like, every agreed upon time period, you each get one attempt at ascending from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core or from one minor realm to another inside the Golden Core realm and one the same thing but for Nascent Soul."
Both leaders looked quite pleased with the response. Benton was pretty sure that they feared him freezing them out totally from using it. How happy they were had to depend on the defined time period, though.
He didn't make them ask the obvious question.
"For now, let's initially set that time period at five years, but please be aware that I'll need to adjust that it if becomes too burdensome for me." Benton paused. "I will also make some techniques and cultivator methods available."
When the meeting wrapped up, Benton felt pretty good about it. Hopefully, the continents now three big leaders would work together more closely than the factions had in the past. He certainly didn't feel any animosity toward either of the others hand hoped they felt the same about him.
Time would tell, though. Time would tell.