The silence in the Thousand Blows Drill Hall stretched out, and all I could hear was the sound of my own breathing as I stood over Shengli's broken form. I wiped the sweat from my brow then walked over to where Duyi had placed the Redroot Tonic. I picked it up, pulled the cork out with my teeth and gave the reddish liquid a cautious sniff.

  The earthy smell was unfamiliar. Not something that was available in my world but, as no one had blinked an eye when Duyi had announced he had it, it was clearly native to this world. My diminished senses couldn't detect all the components, but I recognized its basic purpose. Duyi hadn't been lying when he said that it was a healing potion, but he had been wildly overexaggerating how effective it was. This Redroot Tonic was rudimentary at best.

  But, rudimentary was better than nothing. I knelt beside Shengli's unconscious body. Gently cradling his head, I tipped the vial between his lips, making sure the liquid flowed down his throat rather than choking him.

  "This isn't the best quality," I said, my voice carrying in the stillness. "But it should stabilize him until you can get him proper treatment."

  I rose to my feet, looking directly at Jin Duyi. His lips were pressed into a thin line of barely contained fury.

  "I would suggest that you go do that sooner rather than later," I said. "Unless you would prefer to explain to your captain why you let one of his crew die over your foolishness."

  My words seemed to shake Duyi from his stupor. His eyes narrowed as he took a step forward, his robes swishing around his ankles.

  "Do you have any idea what you've done?" his lips were pulled back in a snarl.

  I shrugged, keeping my stance relaxed even though my meridians hummed with ki in readiness. "I paid the debt you asked of me, in exactly the way you wanted it paid. I gave Shengli a chance to surrender. He refused." I gestured toward the unconscious man being lifted by Duyi's crew. "What happened here is entirely your fault and his."

  The air around Duyi suddenly thickened. His killing aura, raw and untamed, lashed out like a physical force, a collective gasp filled the hall and there was the sound of bodies hitting the floor.

  I remained unmoved, if his aura hadn't been enough to cow me before, it certainly wasn't enough now. However, I tensed my muscles ready to act and I could see Ghost Fist, He Yulian and the few others who could still stand preparing as well even as they struggled against his aura. This would be tough. I was stronger than the last time we had met, but I still wasn't yet to face a cultivator of his level. And there would be no patrol of marines to help me out this time.

  I was considering how I could escape when, as quickly as it appeared, the aura vanished. Duyi shook his head and, to my surprise, began to laugh. The sound held no humor.

  "Wu Shengli is Captain Lang's nephew," he said, each word clipped. "The Captain won't care about why this happened. He'll only care that it did." His smile widened, revealing that gold tooth again. "When he hears about this, he's going to make you wish you'd never been born."

  He Yulian stepped forward, her square shoulders set firmly, her cane tapping once against the wooden floor. "The law is on the boy's side. The fight was fair and it was witnessed."

  Duyi laughed harder, the sound echoing off the walls of the drill hall. "If you think the law will stop Captain Lang, you're an even bigger fool than I thought." He waved dismissively at Yulian before turning to his men. "Take him."

  His crew hoisted Shengli's limp form, carrying him toward the door. Duyi lingered, his eyes meeting mine one last time, and that mirthless smile spread across his face once more.

  As the pirates left, I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding, and my shoulders dropped as the tension drained from my body. That confrontation had nearly spiraled out of control, but somehow I had managed to walk the knife's edge without falling.

  Ghost Fist approached, his scarred face unreadable as always. "Well, that was fun. Never seen anyone fight like that before. Foolish but brave, the sensible thing would have been to take the beating and let Jin Duyi believe he had won."

  Yulian limped up beside him, her cane tapping a rhythm on the wooden floor. "You moved like water around stone. Precise. Efficient." She smiled. "I still have pointers though."

  Ghost Fist crossed his massive arms. "If I didn't know better I would have said that you almost moved like you were a cultivator."

  Well. if the robes fit...

  "But I know you're not," he continued. "The ref checks everyone at the Broken Mast for a core before the matches. No exceptions."

  Yulian's face twisted with frustration. "That's the real injustice. People like us," she gestured around the hall, "we work ourselves to the bone, but we'll never get the resources to develop a core. The techniques, the pills, the guidance, unless you're a genius it's all locked behind wealth and privilege."

  "You'd make a fine cultivator," Ghost Fist said quietly. "Got the instinct for it."

  His eyes hardened. "But listen close. Duyi was furious when he left. That gold-toothed snake won't let this go. Captain Lang's worse. Much worse. Watch your back."

  That was definitely enough training for one day so, with promises to return to the Thousand Blows soon, I headed home, mulling over the conversation. The idea that Ghost Fist wasn't a cultivator was almost laughable, his instincts were better than many Adepts I'd known.

  In my past life, I would have recruited him instantly. The Azure Tide Sect didn't waste potential, we cultivated and nurtured it. Talent like his deserved proper meridian-opening techniques, foundational pills, guidance from experienced elders and the rest

  The wasted potential gnawed at me more than it should have. A sigh escaped me as I navigated the darkening streets. With a failing business to salvage, a moneylender to destroy, and the ever-present shadow of the Vanguard, my plate was full to overflowing. I couldn't afford distractions, certainly not a crusade to democratize cultivation.

  Yet, the wasted potential felt like a personal affront, an injustice that niggled at me. Maybe it was not the case of favoring one path over the other. The point of securing Qin's Fresh Catch was to get cultivation resources. Whether purchasing from established alchemists or setting up my own operation, I would be building up a stock of pills, herbs, and cultivation manuals and more.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Perhaps I could solve multiple problems at once. An emperor needs capable generals.

  * * *

  Back at home, I found Yanzi sweeping the floor, his small frame making the broom look comically large.

  "Yanzi, do you know a Captain Lang?" I asked, dropping onto a stool.

  The boy paused, his face scrunching in concentration. "Captain Lang? Do you mean Lang Feizhen. Wait, isn't that the captain of the Bonehull?" His eyes widened. "That's one of the nastiest ships on the water. Pirates, and not the good sort. They're in port right now."

  I nodded, drumming my fingers against the table. "Could you put some of your kids onto keeping an eye on the Bonehull? I need to know when it's planning to head out to sea again, or anything more you can find out about Lang Feizhen."

  A mischievous look spread over his face. "You want someone to follow Feizhen?"

  "No!" I grabbed his shoulder, my voice sharper than intended. "Absolutely not. He has to be a powerful cultivator and, he may well have perception techniques. I don't want your kids risking themselves."

  I softened my grip. "Just watch the ship casually from a safe distance and keep your ears open. Nothing more."

  Yanzi nodded solemnly, but I caught the gleam in his eyes.

  "I mean it, Yanzi. Information only. No heroics."

  "Got it. But while we're talking about what my people are doing," Yanzi said, sweeping dust into a neat pile, "something interesting happened yesterday."

  "Oh?" I raised an eyebrow.

  "Yin Chi shut up shop in the afternoon. Looks like he does it once a week." Yanzi leaned on his broom. "Then he headed to a small, highly exclusive brothel."

  I shrugged. "Everyone has to have a hobby."

  Yanzi shook his head. "That's not the interesting bit. What was interesting is that around twenty minutes after Yin Chi slipped in, another man arrived and went in through another entrance."

  "And?"

  "I said it was exclusive. The courtesan there only entertains one client a day. That's part of the reason people pay so much to go there." He paused for effect and his voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "But the real kicker? A few minutes later, the lady herself appeared on her balcony. Just sat there drinking tea, until the other man left."

  I shrugged again. "So Yin Chi likes men. That's hardly…"

  "You still aren't getting it," Yanzi interrupted, exasperation clear in his voice. "What you're missing is who that other man was."

  "Well?" I prompted when he paused for dramatic effect again.

  "It was Zhang Jie."

  I stared at him blankly.

  "Zhang Jie," Yanzi repeated slowly, "the number two in The Lotus Veil."

  My expression remained unchanged.

  Yanzi threw his hands up. "I have no idea how someone as naive as you has survived this long. The Lotus Veil is the largest crime organization in Shuilin Haven! You want to do anything illegal, you need their permission." He crossed his arms. "Who do you think owns The Broken Mast?"

  Well it was Ironjaw, obviously. I opened my mouth to say so

  "And don't say Ironjaw." Yanzi cut me off.

  Oh. OK.

  I shut my mouth, even as my mind raced. If Qin Chi had links to The Lotus Veil, that began to explain the excessive security at The Golden Current.

  "Was there anything else?" I asked after a moment of silent thought.

  Yanzi shrugged. "That night, Yin Chi slipped out and went through the gate into the inner city. The likes of me would be in all sorts of trouble if they went there, so my lads stayed out."

  "Exactly right." I gave him an approving nod. "No risks. You're already getting great information."

  As Yanzi left for The Broken Mast my mind was already racing with the implications. Yin Chi's connection to the Lotus Veil wasn't something I had expected and the unexpected was valuable. This could change my approach entirely.

  I shook my head and pulled out my Soul Mirror. I would worry about that later. Now that I was finally alone I wanted to see what effect a proper fight had on my attributes.

  Name: Shen Taros

  Stage: Breakthrough. Tidesworn Pillars open

  Path: None

  Attributes: Body: 9 (+2) / Mind: 10 / Spirit: 11 (+1)

  Dao: None

  Titles: None

  Well that was well worth earning the ire of some pirates. That single fight with Wu Shengli had netted me twice what a whole week of training had done. It wasn't just my Attributes. As I circulated my ki I could tell that it was flowing more smoothly.

  I frowned at looked at it again. The increase in my body attribute made sense, but there was no reason for my Spirit to have gone up. I hadn't even had to use Raging Tide.

  Then I worked out what was going on. The increase in my Spirit was nothing to do with the fight, it was a consequence of the tea that Mistress Cao had given me. That woman knew what she was doing. If she could work out my issues at a glance and then immediately come up with a solution she could be the catalyst that my growth needed.

  The flip side to that though was that she had made it clear that her real treasures could only be bought for favors not money. To get her help I would have to find something that she wanted.

  I shrugged. One problem at a time. If nothing else it was a timely reminder of the value of potions and pills to my journey. There was still a benefits to be eked out from my training cellar and so I needed to get on with it before going to see Old Xu again.

  * * *

  After an afternoon of sword drills that left my arms pleasantly sore, I made my way back to Qin's Fresh Catch. It was time to get an answer to my proposal to buy the place. The harbor was quieting as dusk approached, and most workers had already headed home or to the taverns.

  The warehouse door stood partially open, which struck me as odd. I approached cautiously, listening for voices or movement inside. Nothing but silence greeted me.

  I climbed the worn wooden stairs to Old Xu's office and rapped my knuckles against the door frame. There was no response but I entered anyway.

  If I had thought that Xu's office was a mess before, it was nothing compared to the state of it now. The office was in complete disarray. Papers lay scattered across the floor and crumpled on the desk. The chaos made the previous disorganization look positively orderly.

  Old Xu sat slumped behind his desk, a pathetic figure amid the wreckage of his business. His eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, tear tracks cutting through the grime on his face. Surprisingly, the bottle of wine I had confiscated from him earlier this morning remained sealed on his desk. Given his inclinations, and the situation he was in, I was a little impressed that he hadn't hidden in a bottle.

  "Have you made your decision?" I asked, stepping over a pile of ledgers.

  Old Xu's lifted his head slowly and looked at me. "You came."

  He slouched in his seat for a long moment blinking at me, then drew himself to his feet. He stabbed a finger at me. "You. You're just like the rest. Circling. Waiting for me to fall." His voice cracked. "Everyone bleeds me. The suppliers, the workers with their endless demands, and those demons from the moneylender, they all want a piece of Qin Laoxu."

  With a wordless roar he swept his arm across the desk, sending ledgers and inkpots crashing to the floor. "Do you know how hard I've worked? Twenty years! Twenty years of sacrifice and hard work. And for what? So some upstart can waltz in and take it from me for nothing?"

  "The world is so unfair to men like me," he continued, his voice rising to a whine. "Always kicking me when I'm down. Always…"

  "Enough." I cut him off with a gesture. "This is unworthy of you. I'm not here to listen to your self-pity. This is your final chance. What's your decision?"