The pervasive aura of death settled on the courtyard and everyone felt a shiver up their spine as if the grim reaper himself was standing behind them and lining up his scythe for the first and final swing. An ancient sounding and truly demonic voice rang out from Harvy as if evil itself was speaking through him from the underworld.

“The Dark Lord rises on this pathetic mortal plane. You think yourselves powerful with cultivation and martial skills! But, you don’t realise you are but ants in the eyes of true power. ‘He’ comes, and behind his glorious path of ascension shall be great rivers and torrential rains of blood that span the starry sky. ‘He’ will erect mountains of corpses that he shall climb upon to ascend the heavens. And you, Xanzu you pathetic shell of a man, shall be the first to suffer his ire. Hahaha! HAHAHAHA!” Finished speaking his disturbing prophecy, his disgustingly course, wheezing laughter rang out through the courtyard once more.

Before he finished his mad laughter, a grey blur shot through the centre of the arena and smashed into the back of Harvy’s head. Having just been smashed in the head by surprise, the madly laughing Harvy fell flat on his face and passed out.

Everyone was in shock. Even slightly panicked. They’d never in their lives seen something like this. He truly sounded as if he climbed out from the pits of hell to deliver this message ... This prophecy. Xanzu was especially worried. He’d never expected some death curse to be placed on him by the weak pathetic Harvy. He actually spent a great deal of his free time picking on and degrading Harvy when they were younger.

To see him like this now, he didn’t know what to expect, but he was the type to bully the weak and fear the strong, so if there truly was someone as powerful as described he expected nothing good. Before everyone’s thoughts went wild with worrying theories or even before some people managed to wake up from their shock, an embarrassed cough rang out in the arena.

Everyone finally realised there was someone that had appeared and knocked out that madman. Then with a slightly bashful chuckle he began to step forwards to begin speaking.

James was inwardly a little worried as well. He new this scene of madness would not bode well for them if they wanted to save Harvy, but he wasn’t ready to give up on Harvy yet. Especially after he witnessed that devotion bordering on ... Well let’s admit it. It was true cult like zealotry.

“Ahem! Heh-heh. Many apologies everyone. Harvy recently suffered from a slight cultivation deviation and this matter seems to have aggravated it somewhat. There’s nothing to worry about though, we’ve actually been working on something for that and we believe it won’t be a problem to get him back to normal.” After James’ brief moment of quick thinking he decided to just go for broke and admit that Harvy’s a little broken and try and use it to his advantage in the upcoming discussion.

Hao and the Elders were the first to wake up from their thoughts. Realising James had come, Hao breathed out a long breath. He had no idea what was going on with Harvy and he was fairly certain he didn’t want to know. Regardless of that though, the ... Prophecy, of Harvy’s couldn’t possibly be related to his little Jay so it was nothing to worry about for the moment.

Before he got the chance to get control of the situation, the shrieks of his son rang out. “Executioner! Kill that creature this instant! Whatever that is it’s not human, I command you to kill it!”

Following these screams the entire seating area exploded into a raucous scene, as everyone began yelling and discussing what just happened. The executioner was naturally from the sword hall and willingly followed the commands of their golden boy as he walked towards the unconscious body of Harvy.

He raised his gleaming sword over his head with a cruel smile and just as he brought it down, it suddenly disintegrated in his hands. Following the disappearance of his executioner’s sword, an unstoppable force blew the executioner across the arena. In the brief moment, as he was lifting into the air, the explosive sound of an object breaking the sound barrier rang out and then the explosion of the wall on the seating area on the far side of the arena quickly followed up.

Everyone froze. Was this the power of some all mighty expert? Even Elder Jeng didn’t have the power to disintegrate a sword of that quality, let alone then destroy an entire wall with a single blow. Even with his most powerful earth element martial skill and using every scrap of spirit power he had, he doubted he could achieve such a result.

Quiet once again descended until a loud “Phewy!” rang out, as James pulled himself up from the ground. They never had a chance to test this design so even he didn’t realise that it would be so powerful. Everyone watched him as he climbed up with a bright smile on his face, which was quite unusual for James in a situation like this, and he began to pat the dust off himself.

As he did that the eyes of everyone present moved towards a strange long white blunt metal ... staff? Or a cudgel or some kind of ... weapon. It was hard to tell exactly what is was but the smoke coming off of it and the fact James seemed so carefree about the massive explosion just then, would suggest he was the source.

James then turned to the now silent as the desert crowd. In his arms was a long white rod about 4 foot long. At the midpoint of the stick were two obtrusions that come up out of the stick like a fork in the road. They then proceeded out from the handled part of the stick in parallel, leaving a clear space in the middle like a track.

The space between the protrusions looked as if it was drilled out from the end to leave it looking circular. At the handle of the track was a small gap that looked square and fed into the hollowed gap between the two sides of the track. In the handle of the oddly shaped stick was an odd rectangular prism, about the size of a hand, that was glowing with a strange luminescence and looked filled with tiny blue electric snakes.

This was James’ greatest wish and desire become complete. He called it an Arc Cannon, but truth be told it made no arks or any such thing, he just liked the name. This weapon design was conceptualised by him when he was still an apprentice and something he longed and dreamed to build. In truth it would have been more apt to refer to it as an electro-magnetic rail gun. That however sounded less cool than arc cannon.

The ark cannon was a powerful modernised weapon that used a massive current of electricity to magnetically charge two tracks. Inserted between the two tracks is a projectile that acted as both the firing mechanism and the ammunition of the weapon.

This was a weapon that was built to fire large slugs at absurd speeds. It only had two down falls. The first was the absurd knockback of the weapon when firing a slug. The fact that James wasn’t injured by the recoil alone can only be attributed to his using half his spirit energy to hold himself steady.

The other massive draw back of the weapon, was the energy consumption. Even with a material like black-iron that had an abnormal level of efficiency in creating magnetic fields, it still used half a battery charge. The battery in question was something James and Skay had spent the majority of their time last night developing and just charging one had an enormous energy cost for James and was the reason they were so late.

Although they could try and charge it using electricity generated by their makeshift lab, the speed was slower by a depressingly large margin. They had a few theories about that but the leading one was that the nature of the spirit stones themselves was to take in a person’s refined spirit energy and not energy created by the world. Which would explain why the stones aren’t chock full of primal energy most the time.

As James stood there with his arc cannon leaning on his shoulder he couldn’t stop a grin spreading across his face. From the Elders faces they most likely were very interested in this weapon.

Anvil was the first to react as he shot to his feet, his eyes staring at the white stick in James’ hand fanatically. “Young junior. Is this something you’ve created?”

Finally the other Elders reacted as they too eyed the stick. “This weapon is indeed a concept design. It’s called an arc cannon. The reason I came to your public display today is to make a trade. In regards to the life of Harvy Gau. First and foremost he is a necessary subject for our research on cultivation deviation. Without him, it will be difficult to finish developing a cure for the effect of something that is normally so debilitating for cultivators. I’m sure you all realise that if the Gau clan had such a method in the future you would surely become a stronger power in the empire, with many cultivators seeking you out.”

Jeng couldn’t stop himself from being dragged in. He stood up and his one good eye fell on James. “This disciple is a criminal and his crimes are unpardonable. You will need to give the clan more than some methods to alleviate cultivation deviation. That weapon for example could almost be considered enough, if you can teach our forge masters to make it that would be sufficient.”

James didn’t even think before replying. “Not a chance mate. The research on this weapon is leagues beyond the worth of Harvy. You’d never even have seen it had I not decided that Harvy was worth keeping alive. In regards to his unpardonable crime, I can’t help but feel it’s been exaggerated. From all the stories told to me, disciples killing each other over resources or blood feuds are common. Why haven’t you punished all the other members of your clan that have been witnessed killing someone for some reason or another?”

Everyone in the crowd couldn’t help looking at one another. They too knew that death was a common part of how practitioners lived. It was impossible to get ahead in this world without offending someone and when rare resources appeared it’s not unusual for battles to occur even between clan members.

They all came here for a good show though, so a party crasher like James was excellent for making things a bit more exciting. They weren’t about to jump in and assist any side.

Elder Jeng was not happy with James’ rebuttal and it was clearly written on his face. Unfortunately he wasn’t certain what to do, he had a feeling that such a weapon was not something their clan could create without assistance. Even if they tried to reverse engineer the one James now held. On top of that, even if they moved on him now to apprehend him, the power of that stick was enough to make even him apprehensive, so he had no doubt everyone else wouldn’t want to get anywhere near it.

Hao stepped in to mediate the Elders and James’ discussion. He had a feeling James intended to exchange the weapon with the clan but he’d definitely want more for such a thing than just Harvy’s life. Regardless of if he wanted to trade it or not, this weapon gave him the right to bargain with the clan as an equal.

“Little Junior James, I’m certain you and the Elders can come to an agreement later in regards to an exchange for your arc cannon. In the case of Harvy’s life, you are free to take him as a sign of the clan’s good will in this matter.”

Xanzu couldn’t believe he hadn’t gotten his way twice in a row and was on the verge of jumping down to the stage and slapping James to death with a single palm. He turned to his teacher Elder Jeng to plead his case. “Master Jeng, we can’t allow some scum to...”

“Silence boy!” Interrupted Hao. He was already rather displeased with Xanzu and he’d just been even more irked that his own son ran to the Elder of the sword hall to overturn his ruling. He truly was an unfilial son.

Once Hao put an end to this matter and James picked up Harvy to drag him back to the lab holding his nose, the 4 Elders and the Clan Head met together in a secluded study room at the back of the mansion.

As the four elders sat down at a table and waved off the servant who’d just brought down tea, the most excited Elder, Anvil, started the discussion. “I want the boy and the old man to be inducted into the Hall of Forging immediately. They hold a great deal of knowledge that will be invaluable to us as forge masters and building a strong relationship with them now would be better than when they’ve acclimated to our world fully.”

Jeng was a little dissatisfied with how things had gone with the steppers so far. “I disagree with the soft approach. They have been given a great deal of leeway these past few days and we’ve put off bringing them into the clan until they could swear an oath but that’s left us here now. They aren’t part of the clan yet and as such aren’t bound to us, that brat even had the audacity to speak against an Elder in front of the gathered clansmen. We need to be able to control them! We should give them enough resources to reach mid-barrier realm and then have them swear to us or die. We can’t let such a weapon, or anyone that can build such a weapon, leave our Gau Clan. It would be easier to get control of them now than let them gather any more information on our world. They should also be separated from each other!”

Jeng was sure it would be better to get control of the steppers who had strange methods immediately, before they had the chance to get used to this world. From what the boy said, they were already well aware that this world was one were the strong eats the weak.

Many other worlds connected to ascension star had more developed and set social systems that were policed, but even there, as long as it had cultivators the strong had the power and the weak were forfeit of any liberties.

He suspected they were already making plans to leave.

Elder Song had once again jumped ship. Of the Elders, he knew the steppers natures somewhat better than the others and had interacted with them the most out of the Elders. Although he’d rather not admit it, he probably couldn’t manufacture such a weapon, ever. In fact he didn’t even have any ideas on how it actually worked.

However, he had lived his life in the clan and for the clan and now felt that these steppers could very well be a turning point for the Gau Clan and perhaps even allow them to contest for the entire region, or perhaps even the empire one day.

He also knew that the steppers and the boy especially, were a little too astute and he was sure if they forced them to swear an oath they’d still find someway to make things difficult for them, the oath after all isn’t infallible.

“We can’t try and force their hand. I’m certain that boy is aware that we may keep them here and force them to swear an oath but he seems the type to rather die than live in servitude to our clan. We should either kill them all now, or prepare to accept that we can’t control them and may need to develop a new relationship with them.

“Although they won’t belong to our clan we can still set up a relationship to benefit from their impressive crafting technology. In the future they will definitely become powerful enough to assist our clan in it’s growth. If we befriend them now and create that goodwill then even if they one day leave, it will not be before they’ve assisted us and we’ve developed a good relationship with them.”

Elder Grace being the last to speak was looking at Hao who’d yet to sit and was staring out the window with his hands behind his back. She could tell this situation was incredibly troubling for him. “Clan Head. I feel that the boy would never have shared the existence of his weapon without a reason. Perhaps our best course of action now would be to find out exactly what the steppers want. Only then will we know how to respond.”

Hao’s eyes were glassy and his face solemn. As he looked out the window his expression grew softer. Unfortunately he now saw that little Jay would never be held down by his Gau Clan. He shone too brightly to be trapped in this little city out on the edge of the empire.

He’d kept a creepily vigilant eye on James over the past few days and overheard quite a number of the trio’s conversations. Although he’d always managed to miss the Zombies moments of fanatical worship he knew James had a double element. He never mentioned this to the Elders and now that this whole fiasco had begun he knew for the moment he couldn’t. He wanted James to be tied to his clan and by extension, him, for the rest of his life, but he knew it would only create enmity if he tried to force it.

He turned to the Elders. With his face stern he looked them in the eye one by one and then finally spoke. “We’ll do as Grace has suggested. For the moment let’s consider them guest forge masters and treat them as such. If we try to pressure them into the clan, they will feel trapped here and it will only sour our relationship with them. Once we’re certain of their intentions, then we will either let them stay in the clan and join the halls or leave and set out. Either way, we will not be trying to force them into the clan. We can ask for explanations on there research into black-iron in exchange for the meagre knowledge on cultivation we’ve given them.”

Jeng seethed as he sat there thinking furiously. He didn’t want to allow such dangerous people out of the clan. He felt the head was being foolish in his attempt to placate them. “Clan Head we can’t allow them to leave and be snatched up by someone else. If we can’t have them they should be killed!”

Hao shook his head at Jeng’s short sightedness. “I’ve made my decision. We will discuss it with the steppers tonight but I don’t want any actions taken against them regardless of their decision.” The Elders watched Hao leave the secluded room and then made their way out as well.

-The Lab-

Harvy was in pretty bad shape. Oddly, even though he should be dead from his injuries he still managed to draw breath. Skay began applying a number of high-tech first aid disposables the moment they entered the lab. Although they only had the little bit that came through the Gateway with them they didn’t mind using them for Harvy.

They had a strange relationship with Harvy now. Both Skay and James had to admit they may have gone a bit overboard with the guy. Now that he’d become so damaged, mentally and physically, they felt a slight bit of responsibility for him. That being said, they didn’t regret their actions to any great degree and they both willingly accepted that their moral compass was almost as damaged as their now death-state subordinate’s body.

As Skay began treating Harvy, the trio began planning their next move and discussing what they wanted in the best case scenario. James was now certain they had something the Gau Clan wanted. He also knew that it may be more than he bargained for and most likely had caused the situation where the clan either killed them or forced them to submit. Which was exactly what he’d wanted to avoid.

He hadn’t realised exactly how powerful this prototype arc cannon would be. Originally he’d only expected the cannon to at most be powerful enough to knock the sword away. After all, on earth you’d need a cannon nearly 4 times bigger for the same level of destructive power.

It was only now that it occurred to him, that perhaps his lightning spirit energy had something to do with it. When they were testing the black-iron in the lab, they’d used the electricity they created and not his element. At present he didn’t have time to question such things though.

Right now he was more worried about how the clan would respond to this and trying to think of a way to escape the eventuality of being trapped here. He wasn’t certain yet but he thought he knew of a way to clear an oath, even if he didn’t trust the source. Unfortunately it could take them years before they trusted him enough to let him move around alone, he also wasn’t sure if he’d be able to clear any oath sworn by the other two.

The stepper trio discussed a multitude things for some time before a knock came on the door. A very afraid looking servant girl entered what the servants referred to as, the den of madness, especially after Harvy was assigned to Skay and became ... well whatever it is he became.

She bowed very politely at the doorway not daring to enter too far. “The Clan Head and the Elders are throwing a banquet in the main hall for the three guests tonight and wish for you to attend.” Then she bowed again not wanting to look around inside the lab and hurried out on the verge of running.

James, Jessy and Skay all looked at each other. Jessy finally sighed and made to leave. “It looks like we don’t have much choice any longer. I’ll meet you at the hall.”

When she left James looked to Skay. “Old goat, how’s Harvy looking?”

“Well, he’s somehow not dead, despite his right lung being caved in and massive internal haemorrhaging. He’s seems stable for the moment. What do you suppose the clan’s going to do?”

James face was solemn as he sat in a chair with his arms crossed looking at his feet. “I’m uncertain. We’ve displayed too much already. Most likely, they’re not going to let us leave. For now though, we’re in a spot where we can’t really do much about it. We don’t have the power to fight our way out and even if we did we don’t have a powerful backer to assist us once we leave.”

“Hmmm. Well we can’t change things now. All the calculations on the arc cannon were off. The prototype is now significantly damaged from the recoil. We didn’t expect it to be so attention grabbing. It doesn’t look like we’ve much choice but to go to this banquet and see what Hao has to say.” Skay gave James shoulder a pat as he too left to prepare.

James sat there wildly thinking, trying to come up with anything he could to prevent their expected servitude. Coming up blank only made him more solemn as he too left to get ready after checking Harvy’s condition again.

-Gau Clan Main Hall-

For the first time since their arrival, the main hall of the mansion was full. All the branch heads and their families had come to this banquet. Very much similar to the public execution, they came for a show. It’s rare for particularly exciting things to happen inside the clan. This was attested to by the entire clan assembling for a guest banquet.

The four Elders and Hao sat in the main seats and opposite them sat the trio of steppers. The banquet had a rather excited atmosphere and all the families present spent some time greeting the steppers and having a toast. Almost nothing exciting happened and none of the trio or Elders mentioned the elephant in the room.

Once it had gotten rather late and everyone had eaten or lubricated themselves with a number of toasts the elephant was finally disinclined to remain unmentioned when Elder Anvil couldn’t hold himself and asked James about his arc cannon.

“Young Junior I’m quite interested in your weapon. The ahhh ... Arc cannon?”

The trio of steppers and the other Elders all tensed for a moment. James finally let out a long breath, he knew this would come after all. From their rather polite conversations all night he could tell something was going on with the Elders. He couldn’t read Hao at all though, mostly because he was afraid to make any eye contact with the man.

His expression became stone and he finally decided. Since he’d already revealed so much he may as well go all out and get that elephant out into the spotlight. He was of the opinion by this point that the clan was still trying to play with kiddy gloves and trying to retain the trio.

“I suppose it’s about time we discussed this.” James sighed mostly to himself. Then he glanced at Hao and the Elders and then at his two compatriots.

“I’m afraid we’re not willing to sell plans or teach anyone to build the arc cannon and that means not just you but everyone. It’s a powerful weapon from our world that we used materials from this world to build and although eventually we may sell the weapon we’ve decided it’s best not to spread this technology yet.” James let that sink in then threw out what he suspected may be his last free words.

“To be honest we don’t want to remain in the Gau Clan permanently. That being said we’re still too weak to leave your protection and most likely will be for some time. No doubt you’ve discussed this and if I’m not wrong you’ve...”

“Young James just wait a moment!” Hao interrupted. He could guess all too easily where James’ thoughts had run to. Most likely he was afraid they planned to forcibly conscript them to the clan and was going to threaten with his life if they tried. So he jumped in now to alleviate that fear.

“Junior James, the Elders and I did discuss what exactly to do about you. Originally we had intended for you to join the clan because all random steppers generally come from a world with knowledge or cultivation methods that our world lacks. The reason steppers like yourself are enslaved so often is because most clans believe if they can’t have your worlds knowledge then no one should. Sects are generally less strict but that is another matter. We offered methods to cultivate and gave you all a chance to learn of your elements. Unfortunately, two of you we can’t even properly train and if you remained we’d be unlikely to teach you anything regarding your talent.”

Hao paused for a moment then looked to see if the Elders would still accept his proposal to release the trio from their previous promises. When all of them but Jeng nodded he continued.

“Juniors, all three of you have given us reasons not to allow you to leave. It’s also obvious that you all have a great deal of potential, if not in cultivation then in your world’s strange means and crafting. That means staying here would only limit you. Instead of killing you or trying to force your devotion to the clan ... We want to treat you as guests or friends and commit to trade. You’ve already learned more about black-metal in your time here than we have in our clans thousands of years living here and mastering the art of forging. We want to know your plans for the future.”

Hao eventually fell silent and seeing as almost the entire hall was listening in on this conversation a strange quiet fell on the entire hall.

James looked to his companions then an unusually bright grin split his face. He couldn’t tell if this was some kind of trick or some method to manipulate them into swearing an oath to the clan but then, what reason would they need to do so?

Finally he nodded to Jessy whom he’d recently learnt was an excellent negotiator. Having discussed what they wanted to do earlier in the day Jessy had a pretty good idea what the duo wanted to achieve. She herself wasn’t sure what she wanted to do yet, but she knew she’d stay with James and the Madman for a little longer.

After having cried herself to sleep these past few days she was acutely aware that all she had left was these pair of morally corrupted madmen, as depressing as that notion was. She gave a curt nod in reply to James’ urging and took a deep breath, once she’d collected herself mentally she put on a very business-like face and spoke in her proper British accent.

“We want to make some trades. You’ve done a great deal for us already, as such, we at the least owe you for that. Although the cultivation methods you’ve given us aren’t particularly useful individually they have, together, given us the means to create our own. On top of that is the assistance you’ve given us when we first arrived. We’ve no delusions that had it been someone else our fate would be questionable at best. Therefore we’d like to offer you some of the knowledge from our world as compensation for this, just as was agreed upon when it was first discussed. Also we want to assist you in understanding the black-iron research we’ve done.”

The Elders shared brief glances and finally Anvil spoke for the Gau Clan. “Well we certainly won’t deny the opportunity to learn from you on your worlds techniques. We would also like to offer you the opportunity to work with our Hall of Forging. That will allow us to learn from each other. We believe there will be a great deal about our methods that will differ from yours.”

Jessy looked to James and he nodded again. Jessy then faced Anvil and continued. “Your offer we will most certainly agree to. Our intention was to sell you some equipment and start a workshop in the city. We’re aware that we don’t have the strength or means to protect ourselves so we intend for the workshop to be a Gau City branch. We will pay tax and protection money and ... I suppose allow for our workshop and your Hall to cross exchange ideas. We’ve no intention of stepping into your business of artefact and weapon production.

“Instead we would be considered ahh ... Hmm well, as a research and development department. We only need the workshop to further our understanding of your world and in the process your hall of forging will reap the benefits in any designs we choose to sell you. Although we will make sales to other groups there won’t be anything that would disadvantage your clan. In saying that, we would naturally swear an oath to a mutually beneficial business relationship for our duration here instead of an oath of servitude.”

Finally having finished her sales pitch Jessy took a deep breath. James and Skay were both surprised. They’d figured she’d be a good speaker because she’d handled there trade with Hao earlier rather well, but they never expected her to be so fluent.

When it comes to business things James was the first to bow out, he new his limits. Skay had more experience but his people skills were sub-par at best. Even now in this serious situation it looked like he was having difficulty restraining himself from leaning across the table and trying to scoop out an eye from starry eyes Elder Gau.

After Jessy’d finished, the Elders all looked at each other. Although it looked like they were only staring from one to another they were actually sub-vocalising. Only someone who’d trained to their level of cultivation would have such precise control.

After a short time Elder Jeng grinned. He then leaned forward slightly and looked at James in specific. “We can accept these conditions. However, we still wish for you to swear an oath to our clan. Not of servitude as some of us would like but as a pact of mutual protection. You’re all weak now and still need our protection. If we are to protect you while you’re not a part of our clan we want this oath. That way, when your rare elements propel you to higher levels of cultivation, you will step in to assist our clan. Also, while your in the city you will leave once a month to assist in beast subjugations or material collections. This counts as protecting the clan and also can be considered a good chance to train yourselves.”

Jessy wasn’t too sure how to respond to this. Ideally they wanted to separate entirely from the clan and remain only as business partners. She herself had no attachments now and although she was still battling with the severity of losing her home and all the people she loved she knew she wanted to cultivate.

To have such power, who wouldn’t chose to try and become stronger? That was why although she wasn’t ready now she was sure later she would want to leave this city and see what this world had to offer. Perhaps she may even find love! She, like James, didn’t want to have anything tying her here.

James had cupped his chin and was thinking quickly. ‘I don’t trust this Jeng character much. He’s not had a pretty face on all night, so if I had to guess, he was against the idea of letting us go. He also seems too close to that Xanzu fellow for my liking.’ After a brief moment he had an idea.

“How about we delay any action on your clan missions until our party has at least reached the true spirit stage? You said it yourself we’re too weak and still require protection.”

Jeng frowned slightly. If he could get them out of the city it would make it easier for them to have an accident. “What more could you want? The majority of our disciples are only barrier realm. This is just a chance to measure yourself and train to properly handle yourself in battle. You’ve definitely realised by now that if you want to become a strong cultivator you’ll have to engage in battle. No one can be strong without having offending others or fighting for resources.” Jeng coaxed. He had to encourage these people to leave the city so he could deal with them silently. Accidents always happen during the beast clearing.

Elder Song stepped in this time. He already had an idea of what Jeng was thinking. “It’s fine Elder Jeng. Let’s allow them some more time to acclimate to cultivation first. How about until they’ve reached true spirit they visit the sword hall and train under Elder Grace? That will give them a chance to gain experience and they will be more prepared for a real life or death experience once they have to take a mission.”

Elder Grace who’d been eyeing Jessy for most the night then nodded and agreed. She’d never taken a personal disciple before. Although her cultivation speed wasn’t slow, she knew that she would almost always be tied down to the Gau Clan because of the oath she swore when she married into the clan. If she took a personal disciple for a while who would be a better choice than this beautiful young women with an abnormal element.

James gave a nod to himself. This would be appropriate for him as well. A chance to actually experience battle was as important as cultivation itself. He’d come to this understanding after fighting Calso. He gave a charming smile and leaned in to whisper his thoughts to Jessy who was his negotiator. She gave his words some thought then began a new pitch.

“Very well, we agree to these terms. It is acceptable for us to repay the Gau Clans protection in our early phase with kind. Therefore we will refrain from protection fees from our workshop and assist in beast hunts at true spirit realm and join the Gau Clans Sword Hall until then. Hmmm ... that being said, we don’t necessarily have any aversion to joining your clan. Only to being restricted in anyway. Well ... Actually we eventually plan to start a Guild so I guess we would be in an alliance and have Gau city be our first branch. So let’s call this a trade alliance and a mutual defence pact. How about instead of just a personal oath we make it as a guild in the same way you make an oath as a clan? In the future our guild will assist in beast clearing to allow newer members to gain experience and also deepen the relations with your clan?”

Hao’s eyes widened in surprise. He wished his own son was as intelligence as these steppers. Not only were they master craftsmen, they also had the forethought to build a power base for themselves. It was truly a pity they wouldn’t remain in the Gau clan, but if their aspirations succeeded and their abnormal talent accelerated there cultivation as fast as he and the elders expected, then they would be powerful allies for the clan in the future. Doubly so if they began developing new talents in a guild.

He looked at James with an odd expression that left James sweating slightly, then after another sub-vocal discussion between the Elders he agreed to their terms.

Because the trio needed time to have a seal created they would sign the pacts and make there oaths on their seals in two days. After this discussion the hall was a magnitude more exciting as everyone ate and drank till the morning in celebration.

Some people weren’t happy the Elders were treating such weak cultivators so well and a good deal didn’t give a shit and were just there to drink on the clan’s dime, but most everyone took the opportunity to greet the clan’s new allies.

James and Skay spent half their night discussing with Anvil and Song everything about forging or materials under the sun. James spent the other half trying to avoid Hao’s burning gaze or wandering hands. At some point Jessy had disappeared somewhere with a tall handsome disciple from the swords hall.

Eventually as the three suns peeked over the horizon, James and Skay found their way back to their rooms, greeting the earlier mentioned tall handsome disciple strutting out of Jessy’s room looking rather bedraggled.