[I told you you'll get trashed...](Celeste)

"...can you please not gloat!?"

[Hehe! You got more visitors.](Celeste)

"*Sigh* Who?"

[Apparently, the sect master and the custodian of the same sect the other three girls are from. I allowed them entry. They want to see you.](Celeste)

"It's not the best time to see them given the... current circumstances."

[That's too bad. They're at the door and I will let them in now. Have fun!](Celeste)

"..."

With a major headache brewing and many bruises and cuts all over his body, Herman looked more like a rag-doll than a human. You can imagine the reaction of the two new additions in the Fate Pavilion when they laid eyes on him. Yi Xuan was shocked but recovered instantly, unwilling to show any emotions. The sect master Feng Qian was more worried and approached him with quick steps.

"Apologies for my current looks. Also, congratulations to both of you. Seems like you both managed to break through to another level."

[Thank you, but what happened to you? Don't tell me that you encountered the minions of the Altar of Heaven and Earth sect already.](Feng Qian)

"No, not really. It was just a sparring session."

[What!? Kind of heavy-handed... Who was your sparring partner? Was it Wu Xinyan? I keep telling her to go easy on her opponents otherwise there's no point in doing it.](Feng Qian)

[It wasn't me big sis!!!](Wu Xinyan)

From behind the door, five others joined in the room that was getting smaller and smaller with each new entry. The pouting Wu Xinyan pointed at the actual culprit behind Herman's injuries. It was quite funny to see Tianxia Xue flinch under the stares of these many people. While everyone was amused, the two new guests were terrified to realize that besides a housekeeper that was one step away from being a Profound Immortal, there was another 'sparring partner' that was also at the final levels of the Ascension realm.

[The hell were you thinking fighting against someone this many cultivation realms above your own!?](Feng Qian)

"...uhm..."

[Big sis... actually...](Ling Ye)

[And you three as well! Herman just joined our sect and you call him 'big brother' but don't even bother to dissuade him from such foolish acts!? I will deal with you three later!](Feng Qian)

"Sect master Qian, it was my decision after all and it's not like I am heavily injured. It's just some scratches here and there."

[You keep quiet! And you, miss! Being at such a higher realm when compared to your sparring partner, don't you know how to hold back a little? What if you would've crippled him?](Feng Qian)

[Eh... It was actually a tough fight. I had to properly face him, otherwise, it might've been me looking like he does...](Tianxia Xue)

[There's no need to exaggerate, miss. He is a Qi Gathering cultivator after all.](Feng Qian)

[Ahem! Sect master...](Wu Xinyan)

[What!?](Feng Qian)

[...it's true. I have it recorded on a talisman. Big sis Xue almost lost and had to resort to using her full strength to end the combat session. Big brother Herman's swordplay was superb to watch. I'm sure you'll like it.](Wu Xinyan)

[Eh!?](Feng Qian)

[For real? But isn't she Half-Immortal? How come?](Yi Xuan)

Seeing Celeste lead the girls back in the guest room and enjoying snacks with them while watching Herman getting his ass kicked, he turned in for the day and rested while cultivating. He planned to go and adventure for a couple of days in the Westmount territory, but with the beating he just took and the slight mental trauma caused by the snow fox Queen, he decided to take it easy for a couple of days first.

Fortunately, he was quite ahead of schedule when it came to possible servants and very ahead when it came to cultivation.

"With the five from the Fallen Blossoms sect, the two Wanderers Tianxia Xue and Xu Wen'an I have seven possible Servants already. I know some shortcuts with which I can gain others, but the fastest I can get another is after I reach Soul Wandering and can join or create an alliance between cultivators. It seems that I have to kick things up a notch and fast-forward my schedule. Hmm... I should have a couple of weeks at best before they make the announcement..."

For the next phase of his plans, Herman had to visit all Basic Rank sects and get acquainted with all possible companions he could get recognition from. The said companions would usually be in one of the five main positions of a sect: sect master, custodian, main elder, chief disciple, and junior disciple.

If Herman wanted to get acquainted with all of them, he had to leave his current sect and join the next one, meet them, explain to them how he's looking for Servants to follow him in the race for Heavens and then move to the next sect.

"Leaving aside how time-consuming that is, there are eight other basic-rank sects I must visit in order to gather all the help I can get. With my status as Censor and Inspector, I could easily move between sects and even gather some skills in the process. I do need to wait until the old farts like Clear Lake make the announcement in a week's time though. Only after that would the sects lower their walls and allow their members to follow newbies in the race for Heavens. It won't be easy with all the competition though..."

The number of strings being pulled in the background was enough to send politicians from Earth cowering in fear when it came to this particular subject. After all, not only newbies from the 361 worlds would join this race, but natives of the Immortal World as well. As long as they were deemed as a genius, they will participate for sure.

"It's similar to a political campaign. Between a total stranger and a local chap, there's no contest whatsoever. That unless the stranger brings much more to the table, enough to sway the public opinion in his direction. And for that, I need one of the 'voters' to vouch for me. Someone with sufficient credentials to make people seriously consider me... Someone like..."

Getting up after cleaning himself, he changed into normal clothes and walked back to the guest room. When the group saw him, they all smirked, sending shivers down his spine. Each one of thee women was scary enough on her own. A united front against him was downright terrifying given that he was a minority in his own house.

Gathering his wits, he gestured towards Feng Qian to approach him, and they both went for a walk in the garden behind the mansion.

[It's a good plan, but I don't know how much I can help. Using my influence I can help you arrange a meeting, that's for sure, but more than that...](Feng Qian)

"That should be sufficient. I will think of how to gain their trust myself."

[Unfortunately, I don't think Silk Caskets is going to cut it this time around. You need something more and at this point, between a local kid with no accomplishments and you with as many as you could have, they would still pick the local kid. This type of mentality is embedded in one's bones as a mechanism to prevent any unwanted changes.](Feng Qian)

"There must be something that I can do. Something that would help pull my 'voters' together."

['Voters'?](Feng Qian)

"Uhm... sorry. It's a political thing. Back in my world, we select representatives to take care of administrative matters through a vote. The majority of the common folk decide who takes those responsibilities. Before the elections, the participants have publicity campaigns in which they show the voters what strengths they have. I was thinking that I will certainly be stuck in a similar situation."

[That's... interesting. To get the public opinion to be favorable, you need publicity indeed. And I think I know just the right way to do so...](Feng Qian)

"Oh? Please, do tell!"

[Maybe back on your homeworld, politics was a strength to have. Here in the Immortal World though, strength is politics! You need to be strong enough to convince them that you are the one they should follow in this race and what better way to do that then sparring sessions?](Feng Qian)

"Are you suggesting dojoyaburi?"

[...have no clue what that means.](Feng Qian)

"It's something that would transpose to this world in a sect member visiting and sparring with other sects with, more or less, malicious intent."

[Well, you do plan to steal people from their sects. People that are either sect masters such as myself, or in administrative functions. If that doesn't qualify as malicious intent, I don't know what would.](Feng Qian)

"Fine, fine! I get it... However, even if I manage to win and that's a big 'if'..."

[I just saw you doing just fine against an almost Half-Immortal cultivator. You will be fine against some Nascent Soul realm plebs such as myself.](Feng Qian)

"Miss Qian, we both know that it's not that easy to jump this many realms. I was able to beat the bullies of the Crimson Gang because they didn't have resources to increase their attributes. However, that's not the case for executives of a sect, is it? Not to mention that Tianxia Xue was holding back afraid that she would hurt me, which gave me time to pull a trick and make things difficult for her. But that's all it did. In the face of absolute power, such tricks are meaningless."

[At least you are aware of that. I was afraid that you might grow arrogant because of this small win.](Feng Qian)

"I wouldn't dream of it. Now, let's say that I manage to spar and even defeat their executives that lack proper fighting experience. That's still not enough to convince them."

[Hmm... what worked the best in the 'political campaigns' you mentioned back on Earth?](Feng Qian)

"Deception and empty promises mostly. But for people wielding similar or more power, that's obviously not going to work. The other most successful method was... creating a common enemy and becoming a hero for the public."

[Hoh? Seems like you had an idea.](Feng Qian)

"From what miss Xinyan told me, human sacrifices are frowned upon even in evil sects, isn't that right?"

[That's correct. It's an affront against the Heavens.](Feng Qian)

"So, if a major sect is discovered to be practicing such a foul ritual and I am the one to expose and fight against them, would that help build my image into a stronger contender?"

[A righteous character appeals to both the good and the neutral faction. The evil faction, and here I mean the actual evil faction, not the scourges that perform unspeakable acts, they revere strength above anything else.](Feng Qian)

"Hmm... I think I might have a way to actually do this. I will need your help though."

[Hehe! Sounds like fun. What do you want me to do?](Feng Qian)

"For now, help introduce myself to the other Basic-rank sects. I also need someone to spy and collect information about a certain evil group."

[What's their strength like?](Feng Qian)

"Similar to yours."

[That... would be tricky. If they are a group of evildoers, it's likely that their true strength is much higher than my own. It would be hard to send a spy, even if I would go myself.](Feng Qian)

"Don't worry about that, sect master. I have just the person in mind..."

With that, four more days passed and the Sutras and Treasure Hall refreshed. Herman first bought the skills available, since he wanted to increase his attributes as much as possible if he was to follow through with his plans.

Treasures Hall Sutras Hall Spirit Jade Hall Reputation Hall Top Up Pieces of Five Elements IV

Cost: 499 Spirit Stones

Already bought Pieces of Five Elements V

Cost: 499 Spirit Stones

Already bought Pieces of Five Elements VI

Cost: 499 Spirit Stones Pieces of Five Elements VII

Cost: 499 Spirit Stones Enigmatic Thunder III

Cost: 499 Spirit Stones Yin Pieces IV

Cost: 499 Spirit Stones

Already bought Yin Pieces V

Cost: 499 Spirit Stones

Already bought Yin Pieces VI

Cost: 499 Spirit Stones Yin Pieces VIII

Cost: 499 Spirit Stones Matrix Pieces IV

Cost: 499 Spirit Stones Matrix Pieces V

Cost: 499 Spirit Stones Matrix Pieces VI

Cost: 499 Spirit Stones Matrix Pieces VII

Cost: 499 Spirit Stones Enigmatic Thunder IX

Cost: 499 Spirit Stones Enigmatic Thunder X

Cost: 499 Spirit Stones

Luckily, except for a total of four books, the rest he could use. The newly gained attributes based on this were: 24 points in Life Essence, 36 in Dexterity, 24 in Vitality, and 48 in Strength. He broke through in the Qi Gathering VII as well, gaining 5 more points for each main attribute, but he was still far from what he wanted.

Personal Information

Attributes

Ultimate

Pill

Name: Herman Roy

Cultivation time: 0 Years (7 days)

Spiritual realm: Qi Gathering VII

Body realm: Mortal Flesh I

Ascension number: N/A

Attributes

Life Essence: 541

Attack: 2705

Strength: 377

Defense: 1885

Vitality: 529

Health Points: 7935

Dexterity: 523

Evasion: 1692

Fortune: 27

Critical Strike: 9

Perception: 478 Points

Efficiency: 239 Primordial Qi points / 1 hour

Absorption: 167.4 points

Superior Qi Absorption: 83.7 Spiritual Qi point / 1 hour

Character (Unlocked - please select to view)

Personality (Unlocked - please select to view)

He could open the Booze Gift bags, but to drink that much in such a short timespan, he would either drown in alcohol or become an alcoholic. Both of those options were not particularly of interest to Herman, so he decided to wait until his bodily cultivation was higher. Then, he could devour the wine, bottles and all.

His current attributes were not the best, but they would be sufficient to fight against an early Nascent Soul cultivator on equal grounds. Using the Sect Contribution tokens he got from the redeem codes, he upgraded his status in the Fallen Blossoms sect from an outer disciple to a proper inner disciple, allowing him to learn one skill from them. Unfortunately, it was only an extra 12 points towards Life Essence, and right now, that wouldn't make much difference.

"There are still a couple more days until I recover enough to go through another cultivation covenant, so in the meantime, I can finally explore the Westmount a little bit. I got 15 treasure maps with me and another 15 that I can buy one I use up the first batch."

Sighing while looking at his poor Inventory with only 30 slots, he was looking forward to having his damned blacksmith already and start forging Storage Stones. One piece of good news was that Celeste was able to finally hire an alchemist which was already taking lessons from a senior from the administration. He was growing by leaps and bounds and will be a Level 2 Alchemist by the end of the year.

It would help quite a bit if he could refine pills in his free time, but Herman didn't have the resources to give him. Each pill for the four formulae he gave out, required a number of herbs he didn't have at his disposal at the moment. To get them, he would have to adventure and do a bit of collecting.

The pills needed the following:

1. Soul-extracting Pill: For one attempt at concocting a batch 30 x Soul-clearing Grass, 10 x Cojoined Flowers, and 10 x Soul Flower

2. Soul-gathering Pill: For one attempt at concocting a batch 30 x Soul Flower, 10 x Soul-clearing Grass, and 10 x Cojoined Flowers

3. Strength Pill: For one attempt at concocting a batch 30 x Blood Essence Lotus, 10 x Soul-clearing Grass, and 10 x Cojoined Flowers

4. Bone-refining Pill: For one attempt at concocting a batch 30 x Cojoined Flower, 10 x Soul-clearing Grass, and 10 x Soul Flower

Herman could use up to 50 of each without taking any Marrow-cleansing Dew and each of these pills could increase their respective attribute by just one measly point but gathered, they would be better than four sutras skills. He could gain the most out of the Booze gift bags which he had 30 of, translating into 10 points per each wine type. An extra 300 points in each one of the main attributes would be a great thing to have, but he would have to consume that in the span of an entire year.

Thinking of how far he was from clearing the Heaven Array, he couldn't help but shake his head and stretch a bit. He was planning a bit of slaughter in the Westmount domain in order to gain back his killing intent that this body doesn't posses just yet. That way, he could intimidate the executives of the sects and make his case with higher ease in front of them when asking if they would join him in the race for Heaven.

"Being defeated by a newbie at the Qi Gathering realm, one possessing two major titles as well, there's no way that they wouldn't be swayed in the absence of another competitor. That's why I need to act fast."

A light knock on the door woke him up from his reverie and forced him back to reality. Opening the door he saw the Wanderer Tianxia Xue that he asked a favor of previously.

"How was it? Did you get lucky?"

[It was them who got lucky I didn't lose my temper and erase them then and there. Hmpf! They were grabbing girls and men alike from everywhere they could find. I placed markers on both the victims and the aggressors, so we can find them at any time.](Tianxia Xue)

"What about the victims? Won't they be sacrificed? Or worse... abused?"

[No. The ones they selected this time are virgins with good potential. They are needed for blood offerings, a ritual they will apparently perform in a couple of weeks at the union of the two moons. They believe that by performing it then, they can draw the most out of their bloodlines. Sick bastards!](Tianxia Xue)

"So we have two weeks. I'm sorry for the victims, but we probably won't act until the end of the second week. I need to first visit all the other eight sects, including the Altar of Heaven and Earth that I am enemies with and challenge their executives to a duel. After I am done with that and have a bit of reputation, we can swoop down and save the victims."

[That's a bit...](Tianxia Xue)

"Immoral. Yes, I am aware. However, this is not a game miss Xue. If you do decide to follow me, you will see much later on why I took such drastic measures. Until then, I guess you'll just have to take my word for it."

[Hmpf! Fine. But I will tell you now. You are no match for even the small fries of the main cult. They might be at the Nascent Soul realm, but their attributes are much higher. No amount of swordplay would help you take them all down on your own.](Tianxia Xue)

"Hehe! Don't worry miss Xue. I won't have all this fun on my own. I will allow others to take part in the hunt as well. Anyway, that's for later. I'm planning to do a bit of hunting in the Westmount territory, so if you don't mind, please keep an eye on the hostages. I want to make sure they remain alive, just in case of other variables appearing."

[That's fine. I was planning to do that anyway. Enjoy your hunt!](Tianxia Xue)

"That... I will certainly do!"