Three hours passed as Yao Shen and Zhou Hui debated upon the direction of the soon to be established Modern Sect, a divine sense ward isolating the specifics of their discussion from from his disciples. It was, of course, not a matter of trust, but comfort— there would be certain topics that Zhou Hui would not be willing to bring up in front of young disciples, or matters pertaining to sect secrets that his disciples were not yet qualified to know.

Zhou Hui animatedly brought up a few reforms and policy changes for discussion that surprised Yao Shen— not necessarily in ingenuity or scale, but rather in Zhou Hui’s willingness to rebuke tradition. It only further gave credence to Yao Shen’s belief, that perhaps the cultivators of Ionea were not as entrenched in tradition as they thought themselves to be, but simply lacked a framework through which they could implement institutional reform.

In Zhou Hui’s case, he was bound by his position as Patriarch of the Hui Family, and his need to maintain amenable ties with the other Legacy Families. Yao Shen did not fault him for the teachings of his family, and indeed, presenting a united front in front of the Heavenly Sky Sect and the cultivation world was the most optimal way to secure their long term survival and prosperity. Without Yao Shen, an absolute power at the very top of the pyramid, the reforms he was proposing now would be mere fever dreams— Meili Zhu would never stand for such a blatant transgression upon the heritage of the legacy families, and she was not an opponent Zhou Hui could openly oppose.

They were nearing the end of their discussion, the conversation having shifted to far more informal topics when Yao Shen’s divine sense picked up on his second disciple’s abrupt departure— Duyi left the cultivation chamber with a solemn expression on his face, a compact silver mirror held in his oversized right palm as he stepped out of his line of sight.

Yao Shen could still track him with his divine sense, but his destination, and the purpose behind it were fairly obvious— Dongmei Xue had upheld her part of their ‘deal’.

“Patriarch Hui, this has been a very gainful discourse. After the establishment of the sect, perhaps we can make this a monthly occurrence,” Yao Shen felt refreshed after the candid conversation, especially since the council meetings always left him feeling a little exhausted. But Yao Shen’s praise had not been false— the juxtaposition between he, who had regained memories of his past life on Earth, and Zhou Hui, a denizen of Eliria through and through, had shown compatibility between the two, at least when it came to the righteous path.

“I would be glad to make our discussion a monthly occurrence, Grand Patriarch Yao,” Zhou Hui amiably replied, but the implication did not escape him. Yao Shen wished to end the discussion, and Zhou Hui himself would be lying if he claimed that he was unbothered by the thought of a legacy family’s prized possession falling in the hands of an outsider. “....That said, I apologize for taking up so much of your time, Grand Patriarch. I am sure that you have preparations to make for tomorrow’s grand duel, and thus will take my leave now,” Zhou Hui left the comfort of the divan, getting back onto his feet before giving Yao Shen a nod. Yao Shen nodded back in acknowledgement, a mutual, shared respect in their gazes, before he walked away without looking back.

A few minutes later Duyi returned to the cultivation chamber, cupping an ornate sea-green box embellished with the silhouettes of aquatic spiritual beasts finely engraved upon the surface with both his hands. His steps were slow and measured as he approached Yao Shen, clearly afraid of damaging the contents of the box— when one was as strong as Duyi, such concerns were not entirely unfounded.

“Master,” Duyi greeted, as he gently placed the box on the table— immediately relieved to be rid of the responsibility. “A faceless handed this over to me. I assume it is the gift we discussed earlier,” he gave a brief explanation, not elaborating on the specifics.

“I see. Thank you, Duyi,” Yao Shen’s attention fell upon the box, immediately probing it with divine sense. Seeing that he was no longer required, Duyi returned to his fellow disciples.

Yao Shen’s initial divine probe failed, but he was not surprised— Divine Sense wards were only natural for such a valuable treasure, and the box did not allow the slightest hint of Water Qi to leak out— indicating that it had likely been forged with trace amounts of Zalur Stone. If he were so inclined, his Divine Sense could brute force their way past the wards, but that would also destroy its utility. The box was fairly valuable in its own right, and Yao Shen did not believe Dongmei Xue rash enough to employ such a crude trap— but he had not lived for two centuries without developing a healthy degree of caution.

Yao Shen formed his Human Dao Domain, startling his disciples as the golden wheat fields manifested upon the cold tiling of the floor, translucent silhouettes that represented mortal farmers silently harvesting the crop. Without further hesitation, he tugged at the lid. It offered little resistance as it popped open— a strong burst of the purest Water Qi Yao Shen had ever sensed blew past him, and it was merely excess Qi that the Natural Treasure had accumulated.

A small, unassuming blue orb rested in the open box, it’s perfectly glossy exterior reminiscent of fine marble. Yao Shen had never gotten an opportunity to witness the Xue Family’s Heart Cleansing Sea-Pearl for himself, so it was truly a little beyond his expectations. As he reached for the orb and held it up in the air, he almost felt sad for Dongmei Xue’s loss. Casually dispelling his domain, Yao Shen absorbed a trickle of Water Qi from the pearl to test his effectiveness.

His eyes immediately widened in surprise as pure water Qi flowed through his meridians,, immediately rejuvenating every aspect of his physical body. The soft, supple nature of Water Qi brought comfort to his body, and Yao Shen instincts told him that if he kept absorbing it, what little impurities that remained in his body would be purified. Regular contact with such pure Water Qi would undoubtedly increase one’s understanding of the Dao of Water, and even had a small chance of increasing one’s affinity over time.

It was not that Yao Shen’s intelligence on the legacy families was lacking, but such priceless treasures almost never left their family compounds— even then Dongmei Xue would hardly let others freely inspect it. He had thought he had a grasp of the legacy families foundation, but the Heart Cleansing Sea-Pearl had made him realize that he had still underestimated the legacy families— that realization alone was perhaps, more valuable than the Pearl itself.