The ceremony was less troublesome than Sage assumed it would be. Every major and minor player in Lionheart Town made an appearance. They brought gifts and the majority of them were eager to see just who it was that had taken over. Lionheart Town had defensive arrays built into the city walls, but it didn’t have any large scale protecting array. They were quite expensive to build and maintain, and since the City Lord wasn’t a Formation Master, he wouldn’t trust someone else to be in control of something so important. Only the most powerful Sects or Clans usually had such arrays, and only if they were very powerful or followed Formation Master Lineages. So, when they heard the new City Lord was a powerful Formation Master they were overjoyed.

Wu Chang had never been a very kind ruler. Outwardly, he always wore his emotions on his sleeves and he was very protective of his people, but he was otherwise easy to anger. He acted straightforwardly and kept the peace for the most part, but his fits of anger led to many unhappy endings. The many groups were now eager to see what sort of ruler Lang Sheng would be and so they brought gifts to get on his good side. Many of them had seen or heard tell of the Tiankong siblings in town and so they had a reasonably good impression. While eccentric, the Tiankong children were on their best behavior and didn’t cause any problems.

Sage made a point of meeting with Fu Hong, the head of the Hatchet Gang in Lionheart Town, to promise them some support. He still had a soft spot for those mortals that went to the extreme to protect their families. The Artful Life Alliance on the other hand, seemed eager to climb onto his revenge list. They ‘gifted’ the City Lord a three month grace period on their loan. They were just a bunch of small allied ‘noble’ clans that were full of arrogance and elitism. If they concentrated all of their clans into one they would almost be a first rate power, but as it was they were spread out all over the Dou Kingdom. The alliance gave them back their arrogance, and even Sage was wary of taking them on. Even if he wiped out the group in Lionheart Town, the others in their alliance might come to avenge them, or even just claim the debt on their own behalf.

Before the ceremony was over, Sage met two very important guests.

The first was one that he had the urge to throttle: Chan Huanju. The man was the Prefect of Jade Spirit County, the same one that wouldn’t help long ago when Lionheart Town was being bullied by Dawn Mountain and Red Jungle Counties. That said, Wu Chang was in charge at the time and Sage wasn’t sure how much of his actions had been lies and plots. So, he met Chan Huanju with kindness, but soon learned the man was definitely no good. He was a very large man, in every dimension. He was nearly seven feet tall, but his stature somewhat matched that of a barrel. If he dyed his beard white and stopped shaving his head, Sage might describe him as a giant asian santa. Even as jolly as he was, Sage could tell he was a snake. He made all sorts of promises of support and kindness, but they were hollow. Later, he even confirmed his suspicions when he met the City Lords of the neighboring towns. They’d also stopped by to see their new neighbor and softball requests for arrays of their own.

The other important guest was an emissary from the Chong Clan. They ruled the 10,000 Wave Province and of course learned of the change in City Lord. That said, they weren’t obligated to attend the ceremony, only the local Prefect was. Even so, they were eager to see whether or not Lang Sheng was of the prior Lang Clan or not. A similar name wasn’t an uncommon occurrence, so they were quite pleased when Sage declared that he was a descendant of the prior Lang Clan. They gave him a generous gift and the emissary seemed to be feeling him out. Sage didn’t commit to anything, but promised they would be in touch. Even if the Lang Clan had been their branch in the past, they didn’t seem to do much when the Lang Clan was wiped out, so Sage wasn’t eager to become subordinate to an ungrateful master.

It still seems like there’s more to the story. Maybe now I can finally figure out what really happened.

He was tempted to head down into the Ancestral Tomb, but just like before he would stick to the command of the Ancestor. He was not supposed to return until he rebuilt the Lang Clan. Just taking the town back didn’t constitute building a clan. He at least needed the Lang Clan Hall, and he’d also need to populate it with some more Lang Clan members.

I wonder if my betrothal still stands? Zhu Jiao really helped me out back then… It’s been a decade, does she still remember me? Does Wan Ling remember me? Hmm, why did I think of her?

With the transfer of power official, Sage was now settled in as City Lord. It was now time to see how far his influence spread. He immediately set to rebuilding his Information Network. Most of the pieces were in place, but they had to be reconnected. He’d tracked down the loose ends before making his move on Wu Chang, but now he sent new agents to take over. He specially trained some Dragoons, and tasked them with establishing a support system for the information network. First, training facilities for the Falconers to use for selection and training of new Falcons which they would call ‘Mews’. Next, relay stations to gather information from the Falcons and distribute funds to them which they would call a ‘Roost’. Lastly, safehouses. If there was an emergency or another catastrophic event, the Falcons or Falconers could fall back to a ‘Nest’ to recover and regroup.

In addition to rebuilding the network, Sage arranged for some messages to be sent to both the Zhu Clan and the Song Clan. The first was a very polite and flowery message that apologized for his long absence and inquired about the health and condition of Zhu Jiao. Sage hadn’t seen her for so long, so he wasn’t going to make any demands. It was better to just let them know he was back first. For the Song Clan, he graciously thanked Song Lu Tian and the Clan that raised him. He promised them his support in future and also invited Song Lu Tian to visit him anytime. Sage wanted to suggest bringing King’s wives and other children by, but they likely had their own lives now and didn’t feel like disrupting them.

Next, he brought out a Messaging Jade. It was twinned with one held by Peak Master Zhen from the Holy Flame Sect. Remarkably, he still had it after all these years. After being betrayed by Wu Chang, he’d told Peak Master Zhen he was likely not to respond for a long time and she had apologized for being unable to help. Later, Guan Zhenyan took the Universe Ring from him and he had no access to the Messaging Jade. This would be the first time he held it in over ten years and it was time to reconnect.

“Peak Master Zhen?”

He sent a tentative first message and didn’t receive a response for a full hour. Only then did he receive a coded response and he brought out ‘How to be Little Birdy’ and ‘Beauty of Birds’. Using the first to decode the second and decipher the message from the Peak Master. He then crafted the proper response phrase and sent it back.

“It’s been a while, Lang Sheng. I’m pleasantly surprised you’re still alive.”

“There were many close calls, but I pulled through.”