Immortal Connections - Chapter 17 preview

Chapter 17 - Wu Ying

Studying with Shu Ren was, somewhat unsurprisingly, one that involved reams and reams of paper and piles of books and scrolls. The library in the Lesser Harmony palace was massive. In just the space that Wu Ying had walked and traversed, he had crossed twice the distance of the Verdant Green Waters sect’s own library and he knew there were still additional wings he had yet to explore. It was, somewhat, unsurprising there was so much to learn – the Lesser Harmonies palace was here to teach  – there was still so much to understand.

Not least of all, court protocol and bureaucracy.

“If there’s such an imbalance between the Ministry of War and the other ministries, why does the Jade Emperor allow this imbalance to continue? Why keep adding soldiers to the armies?” Wu Ying said, tapping the scroll that was set before him. It went back thousands of years, marking the slow but increasing ascent and numbers of the armies of heaven, the way it now overshadowed every other ministry; even the main bureaucratic ones. 

Outside of the occasional demonic war – the last of which was over four hundred years ago – the numbers had gone up unceasingly. It was one of the greatest burdens on the heavenly treasury, and a constant source of friction with many other factions.

“Many reasons. The aggression by the demonic realms being one of them – the Jade Emperor seeks to safeguard the heavens and the Middle Kingdom against their interference,” Shu Ren said, glancing around out of habit to make sure that the privacy wards in their study room still functioned. He had not only triggered the existing ones but also added his own, such was his paranoia.

Not without reason, considering how outspoken he could be at times about the current administration. Though, he was often as outspoken in public as in private, which made Wu Ying wonder why he bothered with them now.

Then again, people were often silly about the security precautions they took. As though carrying a sword with one all the time outdoors but setting them aside when in residence made them any safer.

“Safeguarding aggressively too, if the histories are anything to go by.” Like the half-dozen invasions including the last three in the last four hundred years into neighboring demonic realms to head off expected attacks. 

“Exactly. One needs a powerful army – or two, or five – to conduct such actions. Then, of course, is the factions in court – the Jade Emperor favors the military faction and their allies. They offer him great support in all his decrees, and with them in ascendance and in favour, he must continue to keep their favor.” And there it was, some of the things that one should not say outloud if one desired a peaceful life. Not that Shu Ren seemed inclined to that. “But also, what would you do with them otherwise?”

“Let them leave,” Wu Ying said immediately.

“To wander the various heavens with no guidance?”

“Yes.”

Shu Ren shook his head pityingly. “Have you not seen what wandering cultivators in the mortal realm do to cities and villages when too many of them congregate?”

“I have.” It was one of the reasons why most magistrates required wandering cultivators to register themselves upon entrance to a city. Even the most lenient of kingdoms had a degree of bureaucracy involved, and the strictest required travel passes even for cultivators. In this way, they restricted movement, ensured good order in their cities and were able to forecast future problems. At least, in theory. In reality, the speed at which information could be collated, the disparity in flexibility between massive organisations that had bureaucracy to manage to move resources and a sole cultivator meant that, at times, cultivators congregated without or with minimal oversight of the local government.

When that occurred, trouble was not far behind. Overweening egos, political and ideological differences, dao conflicts and a competition of resources set these cultivators at odds with one another and the local sects. This resulted, all too often, in numerous fights between cultivators, as individuals arrogant enough to challenge not just the heavens but their very place within the realms of reality met one another.

Still...

"Should we not be further enlightened than our mortal brethren? Many chafe and struggle against the yoke of mortality, seeking and failing to ascend. Some play the game of politics and ego because their way forward is broken." Wu Ying gestured around, to take in the Lesser Palaces that lay beyond the pressed earth and whitewashed walls. "We have made it."

"And you have no further ambitions then, Ascendant Long? No further desires or goals?" Shu Ren challenged.

"That's not the same as what you're suggesting," Wu Ying said. "My goals should conflict little with others, and certainly not to the extent of causing disruptions in the heavenly realms."

"Then you are a merciful and humble individual at odds with the majority of our brethren." Shu Ren chuckled. "We all ascend by embracing our daos, and those daos can cause conflict - especially when they are martial ones, especially those focused around battle and war itself. Without the structure of an army, without a release for high emotions, many would seek such battle themselves."

Wu Ying had to admit, his own dao pushed him in certain directions. His dao was that of travel and seeking, in learning and grasping for knowledge - not in the scholarly way that Shu Ren exemplified but via lived experiences. While he could - and would - stay for months and perhaps even years on end in one location, for him to truly grow; he needed to experience existence itself, not just study it in a book.

What would a dao that sought knowledge in combat, enlightenment in battle - and solely in battle - do? Surely there was one such dao, in the myriad thousands that had arisen. Would they be content to be stifled in their growth, living in peaceful villages? Or would they seek out battle, creating the conflict they needed?

Perhaps if the ascendants who had risen were more crafters, more artisans and scholars, it might be possible to release them into the heavens to seek their own fortune and place. For martial ascendants, the hundreds who had arisen; perhaps this was the best solution.

Yet, it sat ill with Wu Ying, to find their freedoms so constrained. Part of that, he knew, was his own biases, his past and elemental affinity to the boundless wind. Part, though, was the belief that there had to be a better way.

"Perhaps you're right," Wu Ying said. "Perhaps it is necessary to give structure to the martial ascendants. But you have indicated that not all factions and groups recruit, even though it is recommended that we group ourselves now for the presentation. What then, of those unrecruited? Or those that seek not to join the Heavenly Palace?"

"Why, cultivator Long, do you seek to rebel against them then?" 

"Is that the only choices?" 

Shu Ren smile was stern and cold. "Some would say so." Then, he relaxed. "Obviously, considering my own desire to join the Chancellery and their own lack of recruitment, I disagree. Those of us not chosen - or choose not to join - may descend to the lower heavens. There are major cities within each of the heavenly realms where those who have proven themselves may live, awaiting the call to service."

"And in the meantime?"

"What did idle scholars do in your kingdom, Ascendant Long?"

"I know not. They were never one that I had much interaction with. My own path took me far from those environs."

"Surely you must have seen something?"

Wu Ying recalled the few times he had to deal with such individuals - or the cultivator equivalent. Spoiled thrash, he felt, individuals who wasted precious time on drink and whoring and expensive paper composing lewd poems to themselves, their paramours and their friends. Occasionally, of course, some flash of insight or brilliant piece of scholarship would emerge, paintings of magnificent splendor or compositions of excellent tastes. Mostly, though, they hung around like so many wastrels.

Somehow, Wu Ying did not think that last conclusion would mollify Shu Ren. "They composed works of art, scholarly treatises and taught others like themselves."

"Sharpened ourselves against the wit and wisdom of other scholars, yes." Shu Ren shrugged. "That is what I will do. Xin Heng's path is less certain, if she is not chosen. Though they take more, the competition to enter - and stay in the Heavenly Apothecaries - are fierce. If not, she may choose to leave for other cities, seeking to refine her own dao and pills herself. In such cases..."

"Supply will be important," Wu Ying finished for the man. He understood that portion at least, for Xin Heng had elaborated on it a decent amount. Nor was she shy about why she sought his company and expertise out. A rather refreshing level of candor.

"Still, I would caution against choosing not to apply for any imperial post." At Wu Ying's enquiring look, Shu Ren elaborated. "Concern about rebels are a constant topic. Ascendants are already viewed with some suspicion, for our very transition from mortal to immortal is an act of defiance. Further refusing to join the government could be seen as open defiance."

"And what if we are?" 

Gravely, Shu Ren replied. "Then, the Imperial Executioners are put to work."