Sen looked around at his temporary alchemy workshop and shook his head in self-recrimination. The time there hadn’t been wasted, precisely, since he had actually made progress on refining the powder. Even so, spending the time there had been wasteful. Two of the most talented alchemists alive were waiting back with Ai, and he just hadn’t thought about them. He’d become so fixated on solving the problem that he’d lost sight of the best way to solve the problem. It was becoming emperor that had done it. That much was obvious. All of the responsibility was ultimately his and, at some point, he’d just accepted that. He’d decided that he had to fix every problem, no matter how stupid such an ambition might be.
“I should thank Falling Leaf,” he muttered to himself.
If he hadn’t taken a day away from everything to indulge her whim, he’d still be testing and retesting different versions of the explosive powder. It was only by taking a step back that he’d been able to see how horribly inefficient that approach had been. He was talented, and his intuition for alchemy bordered on being a divine gift, but it wasn’t a substitute for thousands of years of experience. Unless he was badly mistaken, Auntie Caihong and Fu Ruolan could probably have done in an hour what had taken him days. Not because their instincts were better, but simply because they knew so much more than he did. For every one medicinal herb and alchemical reagent he knew about, they likely ten or twenty. That was what this problem called for. If things continued as they had, he’d have only succeeded in using his intuition to create some impossible-to-replicate process.
Not that he would have dared to discuss the powder or improving it with them through the communication cores. Even Glimmer of Night had admitted that he had no idea how to ensure no one else could hear those conversations. Granted, those cores were something very new, which meant that it was unlikely that the spirit beasts could listen in. Unfortunately, unlikely wasn’t impossible. Without an absolute assurance of privacy, Sen didn’t dare take the risk. He’d just have to wait until they got there to discuss it with them. With any luck, they’d take the whole thing as some kind of challenge, and try to out-alchemy one another. If that happened…he sighed. If that happened, he’d probably end up with several new things he’d have to keep a complete secret until he had to use them. But at least he’d have those secrets to use.
Shaking his head again, he took a few minutes to gather up anything of value. Then, he went outside. He almost deconstructed the building before he second-guessed that decision. This compound he’d created here wasn’t central enough to be a good capital for the new empire. It was, however, remote enough to make it wildly inconvenient for most people to come and bother him. Having a place like that, a place where he could escape with the people he cared about, might prove essential. Plus, he’d already left galehouses all over the place. What were a few more buildings scattered across this part of the continent?
“Yeah, I will leave them?”
“Lord Lu?” asked one of the nearby guards.
“I was deciding that I’ll leave these buildings. Let’s go. I’d like to get to Emperor’s Bay today or tomorrow if we can.”
“Yes, Lord Lu.”
Sen didn’t let himself roll his eyes as the guards took up a formation around the qi platform that he and Falling Leaf flew on. As annoying as he found it, they were doing their duty as they saw it. Besides, thought Sen, maybe I’ll actually need them someday. Better if they don’t feel useless. With the spirit beasts all but wiped out, it was more or less safe for both mortals and cultivators to travel at night. So, that’s what they did, arriving at Emperor’s bay the next morning. Sadly, at least in Sen’s opinion, there was no way to arrive quietly. Not when a dozen peak core cultivators approach a city while surrounding a nascent soul cultivator who also happened to be the emperor. Some things were simply too difficult to achieve.
If it had just been him and Falling Leaf, Sen was pretty sure that they could have pulled it off. Sen could hide, and he was pretty sure he could extend that to someone else now without inflicting damage on himself. He still didn’t know what he did to hide that way, which was frustrating. If he knew, he might be able to control it better. He’d have to have a long talk with the next panda he saw. He’d been too busy having a political negotiation the last time he was talking with one. Still, even if they weren’t hiding in exactly the same as him, understanding their method might give him a few insights. Until then, though, his every arrival would be a lot more visible than he’d like.
He did take the time to scan the surrounding area. It appeared that some people had chosen to occupy those abandoned farming villages that dotted the great valley around the city. He could see fields that had vegetables growing in them. He even saw a few small herds of goats, sheep, and oxen. That made him smile. It was nothing like what he’d seen the first time he visited the city. The homes that were still visibly abandoned still dramatically outnumbered the ones that had found new owners. With all the deaths, though, the only solution to that problem was time. Time for people to get married and have children. Time for children to grow up enough to get married and start their own families. It would take generations of mortals to even begin to recover, but at least he’d bought the people here some time and peace to start that long process.
That brief moment of mild satisfaction was murdered by the sight of people gathering near the city gates to welcome him. He could the local politicians and nobles waiting with a mix of expressions. A few looked curious, while most of them looked at him with open dread. It only made sense. The last time he’d visiting this city, he’d killed a lot of people who had imagined themselves untouchable. Then there were the cultivators floating above the city gates on qi platforms of their own. They kept a firmer hold on their expressions, but very few of them looked happy to see him. All in all, it was a large gathering of people he didn’t actually want to talk to. I think this is one time I’m going to use my emperor powers to just do whatever I want, Sen thought.
“We’re going directly to the main orphanage,” he announced to his guards.
“Yes, Lord Lu,” they all shouted in response.
As they flew past the assembled politicians, nobles, and cultivators, Falling Leaf let out a rare laugh. Sen gave her an inquisitive look.
“They all looked confused. Like dumb wolves that can’t find a scent!”
Then, she burst into a fit of laughter. Sen peered at his friend and decided that such comments must have been what passed as humor among the ghost panthers. To be fair, though, all those people had looked deeply perplexed. Whether they resembled dumb wolves, that was something he’d probably never discover for sure. He put that thought out of mind as they settled on the street outside the former Soaring Skies Sect compound. There were two mortal guards and even a cultivator standing watch. All of them looked positively thunderstruck when they realized who had arrived. Sen endured them bowing and being flustered for a minute or two. He had arrived without any warning, after all.
“You’re doing an excellent job. I’m very pleased,” he said when he’d finally endured as much as he could stand. “Please open the gate.”
“At once, Lord Lu!”
There was a bit of a scramble to see who would have the dubious honor of opening the gate for him. His imperial guard went to enter ahead of him, only for Sen to wave them off.
“They’re children,” he said gently. “Do you imagine they’ve plotting my assassination?”
The cultivators who made up his guard detail all exchanged sheepish looks before one said, “Of course not, Lord Lu.”
“Good. Two of you come in with us. The rest of you, make sure we aren’t bothered.”
With that sorted out, Sen and Falling Leaf entered the orphanage.