Altura

The protector suddenly blasting a hole in space and leaving was a shock, to say the least. And it was even more of a shock when he returned a Spirit Tree.

“Thank you, Archduchess, for your guidance. The Gorge will not forget your kindness, or your friendship. The Arch duchy will have our support come the Tourney.” he said.

“Did you figure out how to heal Aloha?” I asked, curious and maybe a bit hopeful.

“Yes, Archduchess.” the old man smiled, “The way to do it is simple, to alter the blood back to normal. The process can only be done by a Spirit Tree, and this shall be my task for as long as I live. What was it that you wanted to trade for again?” he asked.

“The crystals” I replied, removing the sample I had, “I have an interest in them. I can allot a part of the Arch duchy to grow food for you, if that is acceptable.”

“The crystals are a naturally forming feature of the Gorge, and are available aplenty. I would be happy to offer them for free.” the old man replied.

“But I would not be happy to accept them. Please let us strike this deal.” I answered back. An unequal deal could easily lead to resentment and breakage down the line, a proper trade was far less likely to break down.

“I shall see to it that seeds and instructions are delivered to the Arch duchy.” the old man finally said as he went to pick up Aloha. A few minutes later, he left for the Gorge, leaving the Arch duchy now officially allied with an Elder.

The months passed by, and the Arch duchy grew.

The crystal trade began in earnest and turned the Arch duchy into a steampunk haven. The presence of a power source brought about the invention of a great many tools. An industry was born, and it wasn’t going anywhere.

Xerte had founded his own organization, a charity that worked on saving and providing shelter to victims of abuse and persecution everywhere in the world. And I mean everywhere in the world.

The organization spread through the Lands like wildfire, leaving the Rotere guards in awe. Kerrin had a not small contribution in this, after all, who else would travel to far and distant lands to establish chapters?

The two of them grew at a stunning pace, reaching Grand Tree in less than two years since their breakthrough to Treeling. But they weren’t the only ones that grew. The industry, Xerte’s organization and the growing number of trade deals not only with the other Jewels, but people from other Lands as well propelled me through the levels.

I did finally get around to removing the seals on the staff. The effect was rather anti-climatic. Oh, sure, it was important, but when the first seal was simply a spacial lock, I knew that it would not be much.

The staff had increased the quality of seeds in the Arch duchy, something that had proven itself very significant, but I still wanted something more interesting. I suppose I was bored, my early months in this world had been quite fascinating, but things had calmed down after that.

The second seal was a bit more complex, a type of Qi construct that needed to be unraveled. The effect had been the same. I had basically eradicated Soldier and Commoner seeds by now, everyone got something more special.

A thing I had come to do was keep note of the questions asked by the holes after a curveball it threw at me on my Late Tree breakthrough. I needed to keep a better track of the pattern.

On the Mid-Tree breakthrough, the hole asked- ‘What is the way of casting you find yourself favoring, and why, Archduchess?.

The answer had been easy, I had prepared and finally invented my 100% efficiency casting method. And so I described the method in all its detail.

‘To cast without loss is to follow the nature of Qi. Qi wishes to turn, to run, to be and is attracted solely to emotion. The power of emotion fuels it, drives it, and so this is how I cast. An action has a reason, and a reason has an emotion. The emotion when spoken brings about the change I need, without loss of Qi in casting.’

The discovery of this casting method hadn’t even been hard for me, the fact was easy to get at after my discovery of spirit, most facts were. I had already begun developing and producing Spirit Qi, after all.

The Late-Tree breakthrough was a curveball, however. I had expected something related to Qi, but had instead found myself facing royalty.

‘Tell me, Archduchess, what makes you royal? What gives you the right to rule, to govern over your fellows?’- The hole had asked, throwing me for a loop. I had been expecting something related to Qi, but instead I got this.

But I had an answer nonetheless. ‘The force of circumstance, nothing more, has me ruling my people. But I hope that it is not merely that which keeps me in power. Perhaps it is my pride speaking, but I think they like me.’

The hole seemed shocked by my answer, actually explaining its questions. ‘And so you pass, Archduchess. I must say, I acted maliciously in hopes of stopping your advance. I was angry, you see, my purpose seemed useless when faced before you, a person that knew so much about administration. And so I hatched a plan.

I deliberately asked you questions that made it seem like the barrier of Tree level was the knowledge of Qi, so to trip you up by asking you a question from the pillar of self reflection. I have met many nobles in my time, but few would have answered that question right.

And so I deem you Archduchess Altura, to have answered my questions, on knowledge, innovation, and self-reflection satisfactorily. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors, Archduchess, you may find yourself needing it.’

And the hole left me with that warning. I needed to stop collecting warnings one of these days.

The Early-Grand Tree breakthrough had been simple in comparison, but it sufficed.

The hole had asked- ‘What allows for the conversion of Qi into a form manipulable by cultivators?’

The answer was simple- ‘The Qi’s property to change, and the Seed’s to guide that change through spirit.’ The hole had accepted it, and moved on.

And that was my breakthrough chronicle. I was really bored, wasn’t I? The fact showed in the Qi too, it had taken me over two years to reach Mid-Grand Tree, a slow speed in comparison to before. After all, I had done little in these two years other than sit around in my palace, yes I had a palace now, a big one too, and sign stuff.

The only excitement I had was when the Kingdom had surrendered to me. As it turned out, the King had decided to go on a massacre and kill the slavers. The same ones that made up most of the nobility. The move had left the Kingdom vulnerable to attack from certain foreign forces. The Sect, for example.

So he had surrendered the Kingdom to me and took off. In his words- ‘To somewhere far away from things that only brought stress and no rewards’. The Sect was its own tale in telling. The internal conflict in the Sect had intensified to the point that they hadn’t even attacked the Kingdom at its most vulnerable.

In the end, Viola had approached me for aid, and once again extended my borders to cover half of the Sect’s land. So now I had a few Dukes under me too. The unclaimed lands to the south of the Kingdom were also conquered, I really had done a lot of conquering, hadn’t I?

But in my defense, everyone was treated well and there wasn’t even any resistance! I was being invited! To conquer people! Yes, I know, I don’t believe it too.

The alliance with the Gorge was going on in full force, their people had recovered, and somewhat emerged from their seclusion. The fact that the two most powerful forces in the Land were in a strong alliance did not go unnoticed by everyone else. I was sure it had something to do with the Sect ancestor not even protesting my extension.

The Valley and the Empire had both chosen to deepen relations with us, the Valley, in a unique way. Aswelth had been falling behind lately, stuck as he was in the Late-Tree stage despite our military advances.

But I doubt the new father of triplets even noticed. Oh, yes, he and Lady Illiana were now married, in the most cliché fashion imaginable. And then there was me, sitting in my room whiling away time mooning over the past while ruling a veritable Empire.

At least the Tourney was just a week away, that was bound to be interesting. At least, I hoped it would.

Altura

A knock sounded on my door, almost as soon as I finished my pathetic thoughts. Elder Norvane entered the room. I had to admit, I was quite shocked to see him, he had left the Arch duchy a year ago, declaring Argus trained.

“What brings you here, Elder?” I asked.

“I fear it is not good news, Archduchess. The Rotere guards have been reporting an increase in the participant quality this Tourney, a shocking increase.” Elder Norvane said.

“Oh, is our victory in doubt, then?” I asked. I didn’t really care for the Tourney, I was just passing the time now.

“A bit more worrying than that” the Elder said. Oh, what had happened? “The Grand Tree participants now number in dozens, and so do the naturals. A number of participants are at the border of Spirit Tree, and I suspect ready to break through. The conclusion the Rotere guards have drawn, and I agree, is that it is a conspiracy to kill you.” Norvane said.

Why did that sound so much like a conspiracy theory? I was not arrogant enough to think that everything that happened in the world revolved around me.

“Or maybe the other Elders just want a good showing this time.” I answered.

“No, if that were the case then they would not be so desperate. The resources being mobilized, the alliances forming, are at a level not seen since the Typhoon sloths. The reason is apparent, Altura, you.” Elder Norvane said.

“Ok, bear with me here. What makes you so sure that I am the reason? Why am I so special?” I asked.

“Do you really not realize? Altura, you are a fourteen-year-old Grand Tree that reached her level naturally, without any major aid, and has already figured Spirit Qi out. I wouldn’t be surprised if you knew enough to answer the second question too.”

“The way things are going, it is only a matter of time before you reach the Warrior Tree stage. And who do you think that threatens? The First Warrior, he will not stand for it. Can you really survive the attacks of a dozen cultivators of a level higher than you?” Elder Norvane asked.

I was seeing that he may be right regarding the First Warrior, but as for the attacks…

“Elder, would you care to fight me?” I said, smiling as I teleported us to a training ground. I had moved past portals now, teleportation was quite possible, it just required finesse.

“What?” the Elder said, shocked.

“Come on, fight me!” I said, sending a wave of fire towards him. At first the Elder just conjured a flimsy shield, more confused than defensive. But then my cast broke through his shield, and the battle began in earnest.

I conjured an explosion where I stood, teleporting behind the Elder and shooting Earth spikes at him. The Elder reacted, summoning a shield around him. The trick to engaging Spirit Tree I had found, was to never fight them directly, Spirit Qi would defeat normal Qi in a one to one fight, but their advantage was reduced when the fight was in elements.

A whirlpool formed around me as Elder Norvane retaliated in a classic Spirit Tree fashion. A waste of Qi, but since when did a Spirit Tree have to worry about Qi? An Early-Spirit Tree had over a hundred million Qi.

Oh wait, that was my number. A normal Spirit Tree would have less, but still a lot of Qi. I was not done,, however. I teleported around the Elder, shooting attacks at him from different directions and of different elements. The Elder didn’t budge this time, instead he cast a spacial spell.

The space around me suddenly locked, forcing me to put in a lot more effort to teleport around. I didn’t even know that you could do that. But I could adapt too. I shot out elemental attacks as I took to the air, summoning a tornado of my own. I could brute force too.

The difference was, mine were made with the express reason of hiding me. The tornado pulled dozens of things into the air, giving me plenty of things to hide behind as I fought. I laughed as I hopped from one to another, attacking the Elder as I went. I was enjoying this.

Elder Norvane was not satisfied with the situation,, however. Slamming his foot down, he took to the air, causing an explosion to disperse the tornado. Using pure force were we? Well, I couldn't play that game, but I could still fight.

I threaded the air currents around, trying to make a funnel around the Elder so that the explosion headed towards him. But the Elder wasn’t having it. The aura around him suddenly increased to Late-Spirit Tree level, putting an end to my casting.

“Altura stop. I see your point.” The Elder said, exasperation in his voice. Oh, come on! I was just starting to have fun. But whatever, I could beat the heck out of the Rotere guards later. A bunch of them had leveled up to Late Grand Tree just to stop getting beaten by me. Sadly for them, I had a different thing in mind. And then they had all run away, claiming that their work was done. I hadn’t had a fight in the last few months. But I would meet them soon.

“I take it that you have absolutely no problem beating back a few dozen Grand Trees?”The Elder asked, shaking his head.

“Not at all. And this is without my staff.” I said, removing it from my spirit space. I pointed it towards the ground and released a burst of fire. A hole appeared before me. A hundred-meter deep hole.

“The staff is a tad fatal. The crystal has a tendency of concentrating blasts.” I said as Elder Norvane peered down the hole.

“I see why the First Warrior is worried.” he said as he took out a white wand with a crystal on the top. “Here, take it. I am sure it can serve as a backup weapon.”

“What is it?” I asked, taking it.

“A very powerful weapon from your Grandmother’s arsenal, one of the best she has.” he said, suddenly narrowing his eyes. “Do not give it to one of your vassals just because you have a better one.”

Was I really that obvious? But giving this to me was just a waste. Ugh. I did like this new fun Elder Norvane. The guy from before was way too serious. The new one was making jokes! And seemed much happier, and generally not a walking cloud of gloom. Wait a second…

“Did you sleep with her?” I asked, my eyes narrowing.

“What?” Elder Norvane asked, freezing.

“Adriea, Elder of Frost, my mother. Did you finally sleep with her?” I asked again, smiling.

“…Yes” Elder Norvane said, hesitantly.

I smiled. I had another fun thing to do now.

“So, what exactly led to this step-father.” I said, stretching the stepfather out to tease him.

Elder Norvane opened and closed his mouth, clearly awkward. “Do you know of the Xombei encounter?” he asked.

“The one where the newly minted tenth Grand Elder Xombei attacked my mother and was promptly killed in one blow? Yes, as a matter of fact, I and the entire Land of the Six Jewels are aware of it.” I replied. “Was it really in one blow?”

“Well, not exactly, Xombei used a forbidden weapon to ensure that he killed your mother and deprived your grandmother of her heir. I don’t think he was aware of your existence. But anyway, your mother survived and killed Xombei while he was suffering from the backlash. A few days later she came to me and confessed that she did regret a lot of things and, uh, one of them was not accepting my proposals. Well, you know the rest.” he answered awkwardly.

I didn’t really hold that big a grudge against my mother anymore. I wouldn’t be listening to her anytime soon, and reconciliation was miles away, but in the end all she had done was try to help me. In a classic Xianxia fashion, but she was a Xianxia young mistress through and through. Not really forgiven, but I wouldn’t try to kill her if she came before me.

“So, am I going to have any siblings?” I asked. The embarrassment needed to go up a notch.

Elder Norvane looked like a deer caught in the headlights. The face! “Not to my knowledge…”

“A pity.” I said as I walked towards him and tapped the staff on his shoulder. “Do work hard stepfather, I want a sibling. A sister preferably, brothers are too much of a bother.”

The look of abject horror on Elder Norvane’s face was worth a third of the Arch duchy’s economy. And the economy was big now. I wondered if I had found the anti-Xianxia young master weapon. What would happen if I asked the young masters about their sex life in the middle of battle…hmm, something to consider.

“Perhaps I should withdraw if it is so dangerous?” I suggested.

“I fear that is not the answer. The nomination to the Tourney cannot be taken back. The punishment is death.” Elder Norvane replied.

What a weird rule, seemed like it was just inviting people to put their enemies’ names in the Tourney and make them die. I wouldn’t put it past Xianxia for that exact intent, and it did put me in a spot.