So for some reason, I thought a week was enough for me to see everything I wanted in Rome despite having never been to Europe. I enjoyed Athens, but Rome is on a completely different level. You turn down a random street, and there is something else you have to stop and look at, find the entrance, and then go in and gawk for an hour or two. So anyway, I'm not going home at the end of the month now. I'm staying in Europe until LitRPG Con.I'm in Rome for another week. Then heading to Naples. Them maybe Florence. Eventually, I'm going to end up in Ireland to hang out with Brian Nordon. He needs to get his book finished, so he's in full work mode, and I will be too, so the end of next month should be super productive. I swear the rest of my year is just writing. I have no other plans, so I'll get this series and book 3 of Unorthodox Farming done. Stay well, everyone.
Chapter 115
Ming Dia Lu
Tobias heard his first suitor arrive and stepped out from behind the screen, controlling his movements. The dao of beauty was a fascinating dao to study and interact with. Every time he thought he was beginning to understand it a new aspect was introduced which changed his understanding.
The dao was more versatile than he'd ever imagined it could be when he had first arrived and was able to effortlessly integrate itself with other daos without causing negative consequences. Tobias was only slightly closer to comprehending its depth than when he started, but he was as captivated by it as he had been at the end of his first lesson.
Going into the mountains to train Hun Fen had greatly delayed his courtesan training. Despite giving him some insights and comprehensions on the dao of beauty which helped him master the skills once they returned, it had taken him another four months of lessons before the Blossoms approved him for work in the Silver Blossom Pavilion. This was mostly because, once the standard group classes were over, he had to move on to the private adult ones.
Learning to have sex beautifully had been difficult for both him and Blossom Shui. They had to figure out, through trial and error, how to do this as a male. The roles in the bedroom were different and required different approaches, which they eventually worked out together. Her connection to the dao of beauty wasn't as strong as the other Blossoms', so her guidance wasn't as intuitive as his lessons with his other teachers.
His lessons on erotic and sensual massage took him a fraction of the time to master, but Blossom Zhong kept calling him back for extra lessons. It wasn't just that she found him attractive; it was that he was her most capable disciple, and she had imparted much of her higher ability, dao insights and comprehension to him, furthering his understanding.
Tobias glided into the tearoom, holding his folding fan before his face, ready to entertain and educate his new suitor with many of the skills he had learned. The purpose of his training was not to make her think he was attractive, but to make her think he was beautiful. His divine looks would actually make this harder, as they would distract from what he attempted to do.
Tobias elegantly took a seat before his suitor and slowly opened his fan, revealing his face in the most fascinating way. The dao of beauty surrounded his actions as he looked upon Ming Dai Lu.
The young woman had recently had her twentieth birthday and didn't share many features with her half-sister. She was beautiful, the way most prodigies were beautiful but had the callouses and body of one who had swung their sword too often without training the other side of their body to compensate.
Tobias gave a dazzling smile. "Flower Sage, greets his suitor."
Ming Dai Lu stared at his face and swallowed, blushing under her makeup. "I believe I have the wrong person, Flower Sage."
Tobias flicked his fan closed, drawing her attention away from his face, to give her a moment to gather her thoughts. Her standing in her clan had fallen in his absence, and the older generation had begun to distrust the younger. Patriarch Ming had told him he was sending her without telling her his intentions. It would make it look like he was getting her involved in a scandal to appease the older generation.
Tobias placed down the fan. "Were you looking for someone in particular?"
Ming Dai Lu lowered her gaze, continuing to blush. "No. Nothing like that."
Tobias flicked open his fan and covered his mouth, hiding his words. "Then does my company not agree with you?"
Ming Dai Lu reached for her fan and covered her mouth. "There is nothing wrong with you, but I am not here by choice."
"That is a shame." Tobias closed his fan and placed it on the table. He reached for the teapot and heated the water with his chi, elegantly placing it before him. "Let me prepare you a drink while I send for someone more agreeable to you."
Ming Dai Lu's eyes widened. "You're a cultivator."
"Is that a problem?"
Ming Dai Lu lowered her fan, placed it on the table, and stared at him intently. "Why are you working here? You could have a place among our patriarch's officers with such ability."
Tobias offered her a beautiful smile. "When you have lived as many centuries as I have, you must find ways to amuse yourself and pretending to be an officer for some weak clan doesn't amuse me as much as pretending to be a courtesan."
Ming Dai Lu swallowed after his description of her clan as weak. "Why can't I tell if I like you?"
Tobias added the tea leaves with his aura. "I take it you have never met a nascent soul realm cultivator before?"
Stories about hidden masters were all too common in the cultivation world, and they always ended in one of two ways. Either you upset the cultivator and died, or you experienced the most beneficial encounter of your life.
Ming Dai Lu moved to cup her hands, and Tobias gently restrained her with his aura. "Here I am just Flower Sage. There is no need for anything more than that." Tobias released his control over her and elegantly collected the cups for their tea. "You mentioned you were not here by choice."
Ming Dai Lu began to scowl before she regained control. "My great uncle convinced our patriarch to reward the cultivators of my generation with a trip to the Silver Blossom Pavilion. His wording allowed him to send me with the young men of our clan."
Tobias gave a sympathetic nod. "He wished to disgrace you."
Ming Dai Lu gritted her teeth. "My clan already does that by preventing me from progressing my cultivation. I'm a prodigy. Other prodigies my age are already in the foundation realm."
Tobias rolled his eyes beautifully, playing the part of the bored, hidden master perfectly. "This is one of the few things your clan has done right. Cultivating beyond the mortal realm before your mind and body fully develop leaves you emotionally immature and makes it harder to progress through the foundation realm and realms beyond. It's why your own patriarch can go no further than he already has. However, you are squandering the opportunity he has given you by not using your time to expand and strengthen your body meridians."
Ming Dai Lu's eyes widened again. "Why would you share something so valuable?"
Tobias gave a self-amused smile. "I am a courtesan, and when one is a courtesan, they share what they know with those who pay for their time."
Tobias poured them each a cup of tea and handed her the cup with the same self-amused smile. "Would you like me to organise an afternoon with another of our Flowers?"
Ming Dai Lu opened her mouth to agree, then realised what she was doing and lifted her cup to her lips. Tobias cooled the tea so it wouldn't burn her tongue, creating the perfect temperature. She spilt a drop down her chin in her haste, and he picked up a napkin and wiped it away. Tobias was having quite a lot of fun playing the part of an ethereal beauty hidden master.
Ming Dai Lu's eyes widened again, and she dropped her gaze. "Fate has put us together, and I am not so foolish as to fight fate."
"Then I will order some snacks, and we can spend the afternoon discussing whatever you like."
Tobias rose and went to the retired Blossom outside, instructing her to bring the pavilion's most expensive snacks, before returning to the table and pouring his suitor another cup. "How do you like the tea?"
"It is wonderful, beyond anything my servants have given me."
Tobias turned and looked in the direction of the Ming Palace, sending his aura across the city. "You're servants, and I share the same skill in selecting our leaves, but they lack my ability to bring out their flavour."
"How can you know?"
"I'm watching them prepare it for your patriarch."
She looked at her cup. "This is Three Towns Tea."
Tobias nodded. "But properly prepared."
"The depth of flavour is so different."
"That's because it is not meant to be prepared by mortal hands. Only a cultivator can bring out its true flavour."
Tobias reached across the table and poured her another cup. "If you give me warning, I can perform a tea ceremony for you that will leave you measuring everything you ever drink against it. But alas, I do not have the time to prepare today."
Ming Dia Lu's eyes widened, and her heart sped up with anticipation. "You would allow me to return?"
Tobias placed down the teapot and flicked open his fan. "It is hard to pretend to be a courtesan when no one will visit you, and I'm getting rather bored of playing my role without suitors to share the skills I've gained with. You are the first who has ever come to my pavilion."
Tobias watched the gears turning in Ming Dia Lu's head as she reevaluated everything they had spoken of and realised she had found a bored, hidden master trying to amuse himself, and if she played her cards right, he would tell her everything she could possibly want to know.
Ming Dia Lu nodded. "How long would it take you to prepare a tea ceremony?"
"A few days. I will need to track down the right leaves, and that requires me to travel across the continent."
Ming Dia Lu kept her face calm. "You suggested that I should be trying to expand and strengthen my greater and lesser body meridians."
Tobias filled their cups with more tea and drank. "Cultivators make the mistake of ignoring their lesser meridians. Expanding and strengthening them independently actually makes them more receptive to the changes that occur when you expand and strengthen the greater ones. However, the benefit this brings is not worth your time and effort unless you have nothing else to do."
"I was taught it's not worth trying to expand and strengthen your body meridians until you have opened at least one greater energy meridian."
"It isn't if you think that all you are doing is expanding and strengthening your greater ones, but if you work on the lesser ones and use the experience to learn how to effectively strengthen and expand your meridians in a way that cannot harm you, then once you open your energy meridians, you will make faster and greater progress."
"Where would you suggest I start?"
Tobias turned and gazed at the palace again. "There are six manuals in your clan's library with different practices for expanding and strengthening body meridians. You will find that if you study them all and try to perform them, some will work better than others. However, they are all inferior methods."
Tobias summoned a manual from his storage ring. "If you join me on the veranda with a view of the garden, I will read to you from my personal collection, or I can give you the names of those in your clan's library."
Ming Dia Lu dropped her gaze, mortified, but this was an opportunity she couldn't walk away from.
Tobias decided to throw her a bone. "It is far less scandalous to be seen sitting with a courtesan than for others to know you are with one without being able to see you."
Ming Dia Lu looked around and realised that they truly were alone, and what that might make people think. She shot to her feet. "The veranda sounds perfect."
***
That evening, Lung Mei was laughing hysterically as she recounted to Hun Fen what Tobias had made Ming Dia Lu do in their new home. Having been recognised as a flower and having a paying suitor had allowed him to rent better accommodation for them. It was still small, but the courtyard was large enough for them to train.
Lung Mei continued to giggle. "Master was feeding her grapes while she lay on her back, resting her head on his lap, as he read a boring book about body meridian expansion and strengthening. It was so embarrassing to watch, but I couldn't stop looking, because it was also so funny. She kept fanning her face, and whenever she looked into his eyes, she had to ask him to repeat what he'd just read."
Lung Mei flopped backwards, finding the whole day hysterical, kicking her feet with excitement and second-hand embarrassment.
Hun Fen giggled as she turned to Tobias. "When are you going to tell her the truth?"
Tobias looked over. "After she comes back for the tea ceremony. It's going to be very embarrassing for her to train under me, so I want it to be her decision."
"What sort of ceremony are you doing for her?"
"Teacher student."
"You should wear your red robe. The one that looks like living flames."
Tobias frowned. "Why?"
"She'll be even more embarrassed when she finds out the truth."
Hun Fen fell backwards too, laughing her head off at her sister's fate.
***
A week later, Tobias wore the red robe as he performed the teacher-student ceremony for Ming Dia Lu. The meaning behind the ceremony was not lost on her, and she played her part adequately enough for Tobias not to wince. Practicing with Hun Jia had ruined him. The woman could play either role in any ceremony so beautifully that it was hard for him to not measure others against her talent.
As the ceremony ended and the retired Blossoms walked off with the equipment, Tobias flicked open his fan. He covered his mouth, indicating their conversation would be secret. "I assume you have questions."
"Why me?"
Tobias went with the honest answer. "Your patriarch realised that your clan cannot help you reach your full potential, so he reached out to me, his lord, for assistance."
Her eyes widened at the implications of his statement. The Ming Clan thought that their patriarch was the ultimate power in their clan, but Tobias had just rejected this true.
"I have promised to train you so that you can reach the nascent soul realm. Your patriarch will confirm my words if you ask"
Her eyes widened further, and then she frowned. "Why are we here and not at the palace?"
"I have no interest in training you. However, I am very interested in training your half-sister, and one of the requirements her mother placed on me for her training was becoming a courtesan of the Silver Blossom Pavilion. Only Blossoms, Flowers, and their disciples live within these walls. If it were not for that requirement and her begrudgingly accepting me as her daughter's teacher, I would have given you better manuals and manuscripts and left the city."
"Could you not just come to the palace?"
Tobias shook his head. "The wealth of your clan could not buy my tutelage for a day. Teaching you while I remain here is a favour to your patriarch for bringing law and order to this city and the surrounding land. You will achieve heights you never dreamed of if you continue your studies with me and regret it for life if you decide not to continue."
She paused. "You are doing this so that you have suitors."
"Yes."
"I can find you suitors."
"Finding suitors only requires me to walk around the city with the other Flowers."
"Is there no other way?"
"None. You made the choice to come back. You have already shown how much you value what I can teach you, and the value of that teaching has only grown since I revealed my identity to you. So, you can lie down and let me feed you grapes while I teach you about cultivation, creating a scandalous but not reputationally damning scene, or you can return home to continue training under those in your clan who believe they know what they are talking about."
"Does it have to be grapes?"
"Is that a problem?"
"I don't like grapes."
Tobias chuckled. "It can be anything you want. You're my suitor, and I am your most humble servant."
"Is Hun Fen really worth this much effort?"
"Yes. She is destined for immortality. All I can do is watch her grow and guide her on her way. That is nothing to be ashamed of. Even with all my talent, I pale in comparison to her. She is a mortal goddess. She is not someone we should compare ourselves to."
"Everyone in my clan compares me to her."
Ming Dia Lu's shoulders dropped, as if she were carrying a heavy burden, and tears threatened to spill. Her clan had clearly not been kind in these comparisons, and she was without parents to shield her from their ridicule.
Tobias rose to his feet, walked around the table and gave Ming Dia Lu a hug. It felt right. He heard the pain in her voice, and all he wanted to do was show he cared. The dao of beauty surrounded his actions, giving him insights and comprehension that he had been missing.
Ming Dia Lu sobbed in his beautiful arms.
"Your clan do not know what they are talking about. All they see is two prodigies. They cannot grasp what lies beyond their comprehension and are blind to the comparison they make. I have met hundreds of prodigies in my time, and none of them can compare to your half-sister. She defies everything I know about mortal potential. But what she is does not diminish what you are capable of. You will reach heights that your clan cannot comprehend and watch ages come and go. You will build a legacy for your clan that they cannot dream of, and you will stand with those who shape this world, not live within it."
Tobias would not have chosen those words, but the dao of beauty guided him to them. Ming Dia Lu leaned into his embrace, accepting the comfort. Tobias knew exactly when the moment had ended and released her, returning to his seat.
Ming Dia Lu stared at him, not sure what to say, as she dried her eyes.
Tobias smiled. "Part of the reason I was willing to stay here was that the courtesans have tapped into the dao of beauty and learned how to wield it to some degree. I have been studying what they do to understand it. That was the most beautiful hug I have ever given."
"That's what it felt like."
Tobias cupped his hands and bowed. "Thank you for helping me understand this dao."
Ming Dia Lu stared at him, not sure how to respond.
"For those who do not understand cultivation, comprehending their cultivation path's dao can be the extent of their ability. For those who understand cultivation, the world offers them countless opportunities for growth. And anyone who helps you grow should be thanked for their generosity."
Ming Dia Lu cupped her hands and bowed. "Thank you for helping me walk the path to immortality. Please order anything but grapes."
Tobias laughed at her honesty, and his new student laughed with him.