I'm not happy with this chapter, but I currently have no idea how I need to fix it, or if I should just cut it, so I'm leaving it here. Also, it will take so long to fix you won't get chapters for like a week or two if I try to figure it out, so it's going up.Chapter 128
Legacy
Peace Master So didn't leave immediately. He spent three years deliberating over his decision and discussing what he hoped to gain from his journey before simply vanishing one night when he felt the time was right. Senator Lee returned to seclusion that morning, and First Disciple Chi instructed the other disciples to do the same. Their master had left his home in their care, and while they did not broach the subject of their guests leaving, the message was clear.
They packed up their things without complaint and headed for The Three Kingdoms by the end of the day.
Tobias was in no rush to go home. No rush to return to his life as Patriarch Finch. The main reason being that his clan might not allow his clones to wander off alone anymore. The loss of freedom was going to be grating, and Tobias was interested in seeing the changes The Three Kingdoms had undergone without someone hovering over his shoulder, so he took his time.
Their group spent five years travelling through The Three Kingdoms as tourists, visiting old and new cities, exploring shops selling cultivation materials as if they were everyday items, entertainment halls featuring core realm performers, and experiencing new varieties of tea that Tobias's grandfather had developed. The Blossoms searched for the dao of beauty in all its forms while they travelled, and Tobias marvelled at the changes The Three Kingdoms had undergone.
It was everything he had hoped for and more.
The Cultivation and Science Academy had taken over Cloud City, developing technology to improve mortals' lives and ease their burdens. These innovations made everyone vastly more productive, especially when you considered that the population was now entirely made up of cultivators. Food insecurity and back-breaking labour were relics of the past.
However, with all this innovation, some were left behind.
Tobias did not regret this, but he had friends who would be heartbroken.
Cloud Sect, like the other sects, had lost its relevance. The number of disciples had dwindled to such a degree that only those with a chance at immortality remained. Everyone else had returned to the mortal world, accepting that they had but one long life to live. Mist Sect had disbanded completely, becoming a business empire with the largest spirit garden in The Republic under their control. It was managed and owned by the former disciples. Their elders had gone to join the elders that remained in Cloud Sect, reuniting the parted sects.
The Great Clans had also lost their influence, no longer holding sway in the Senate or The Three Kingdoms. Senator Lee's clone was the only old face Tobias recognised when they visited the Senate to watch a debate. Tobias hadn't let his friend recognise their group, but his friend had kept glancing at Hun Fen, wondering who she was.
He wasn't the only one.
Which told Tobias it was time to go home.
Hun Fen drawing the attention of strangers was fine, drawing the attention of the Senate was not.
That afternoon, Tobias took his disciples to what had formerly been the Inner Palace. It was now The Three Kingdoms Museum. He wanted to be in and out, but his little girl had other ideas.
"Master, they have a tour that's just about you," Lung Mei said, excitedly. "Can we join that tour?"
Tobias slowed his steps and looked over his shoulder. "Why?"
"They're talking about your life. I want to see what the mortals think of you."
"We can meet you at the entrance when we're done, if you like?"
Lung Mei shook her head. "I want you to come with me."
Tobias glanced at Hun Fen and Ming Dia Lu, seeing no reason to disagree. The Senate would react, but not by the end of the day.
"Do you wish to join the tour?"
"I'm more curious about the 1st Emperor," Hun Fen replied.
"I'm interested in the 3rd Emperor," Ming Dia Lu added.
"Why the 3rd Emperor?"
"I want to see if we inherited any of our ancestors' bad traits."
"Oh, that could be interesting."
Ming Dia Lu nodded and turned to Tobias. "We'll meet you at the throne room."
Tobias wasn't concerned about them causing trouble or making a scene, so he merely nodded and wandered over to the ticket stand to join the tour about his life as the 1st Minister. A young man dressed as a eunuch showed up not long after they had their tickets, gave Lung Mei a grin that was all enthusiasm and no substance, and began recounting the history of Tobias's life as the 1st Minister with surprising accuracy. The tour group ate it up.
Tobias wandered through the palace with Lung Mei, remembering faces that had been gone for centuries and events that had seemed minor at the time but had ended up leading to great changes. Life was hard to predict. The big picture was easy. The small print was hard to make out.
Even after all his years, Tobias was only slightly more confident in knowing what would happen next when it came to individuals.
As they reached the dungeons, Lung Mei raised her hand.
The tour guide turned to her and smiled the smile of a man who knew he had no chance but was just happy to hold her attention. "You have a question?"
"Is this where the 1st Minister was tortured by the 2nd Prince?"
The tour guide shook his head. "No. That was done in the 2nd Prince's palace, which was destroyed to make way for the accommodation which was needed after the Sword Garden was transformed into the Civil Realm. The 1st Minister was also only a senior magistrate at the time when that occurred. The only known record of the 1st Minister visiting this dungeon occurred on the first day of the outbreak of the Second Plague. The logbook where he added his entry is on display in the Imperial Archives, which will be our last stop on the tour."
Lung Mei reached for Tobias's hand as she hid herself behind a dao shroud from the tour guide. Tobias took her hand, noticing her discomfort, as the tour guide gave a confused look, having forgotten her presence and turned back to the others.
"Where was I?"
Tobias sealed their conversation with his aura. "Is something wrong?"
Lung Mei scowled. "I was just concerned that going in there might upset you."
Tobias could hear the lie. "I'm fine. You seem to be the one growing upset. What's bothering you?"
"I don't like how everyone treats your life like it's theatre for their entertainment."
Tobias raised an eyebrow. "You didn't mind when I did the same thing for your bedtime stories."
"That was different. You were telling me those stories, not someone else."
Tobias squeezed her hand, running his thumb across the back of her fingers to calm her down like he did when she was a child. "My life is part of their history. It's tied to how The Republic was formed."
"I know, but I didn't realise that you were involved to this extent or that the paperwork you filed was this complete. These strangers know more about your time as the 1st Minister than I do. There was an entire row of ledgers that logged when you started and ended your lunch and bathroom breaks. Everyone knows what you did every single day you were the 1st Minster, except me."
Tobias understood what was bothering her. "Are you upset that strangers know more about this part of my life than you do, or are you upset they view me as a bureaucrat?"
Lung Mei turned to him, and her scowl grew. "Master, you are the most powerful cultivator in the world. Even Hun Fen says she can't beat you in a fight to the death. And everyone here thinks all you were good for was manipulating the Divine Council and establishing effective legal codes. It's embarrassing."
Tobias let go of her hand and put his arm over her shoulder, chuckling. "This all happened before I discovered the unconscious and conscious dao paths. Before I had the divinity to reach immortality. Back then, I was the weakest core realm cultivator in The Three Kingdoms. Yes, I had techniques and spells that were superior, but that didn't mean I was invincible."
Lung Mei scowled as Tobias made her walk down the staircase into the dungeon to rejoin the tour group. "I don't believe you."
As they reached the lowest level, she withdrew her dao shroud and raised her hand to get the tour guide's attention again.
The young man turned back to face the group, about to introduce the cells for the core realm cultivators, when he spotted the raised hand. "Oh, you have another question."
Lung Mei nodded. "How dangerous was the 1st Minister as a warrior?"
His face lit up. "An interesting question and outside of the scope of our tour. However, I see more than a few interested expressions, so I'm happy to answer. If you look behind me, you will see the cells where the first victims of the Second Plague were held for the 1st Minister's study. One of these victims was a cultivator named Elder Chow, who survived the ordeal. I had the pleasure of meeting her grandson when he came on a tour."
"What does this have to do with the 1st Minister?"
"I'm getting to that. He said that at the time, his grandmother considered the 1st Minister to be the most dangerous core realm cultivator in The Three Kingdoms. The spells and techniques that he was willing to share far eclipsed anything the Chow Clan had. And the confidence he displayed warned anyone who glanced in his direction that these were just the scraps he was tossing aside. Elder Chow's grandson told me that everyone knew the 1st Minister was a threat to their clan and sect, but did nothing because he had no clan of his own and held the keys to immortality."
"So, the 1st Minister wasn't a recognised warrior, only an unknown threat that no one was willing to confront for fear of finding an enemy they could not overcome."
The tour guide hesitated. "That's technically true. During his time as the 1st Minister, Tobias Finch never participated in combat. However, as a magistrate, he established a reputation for being a formidable warrior by using himself as bait to draw out the 3rd Emperor's spies in the Shattered Fortress. During his encounter with these spies, he killed more than six cultivators who were in his realm. Most of these deaths were the result of his own techniques and spells, not the traps he'd laid out, or the assistance of the guide who was with him."
"So, everyone was running away from shadows because of that event."
"Perhaps. Perhaps not. However, history shows us that Tobias Finch never did anything without a plan. And history has proven that Sage Knowledge, another name we should all know, is the greatest cultivation mind to have ever lived. If you looked at everything he has accomplished today, you could say confidently that the Great Clans and sects were not running away from shadows. They may not have understood the threat he posed, but they knew he was not a simple cultivator. However, we are getting off topic, and I still haven't told you about the dungeons."
Lung Mei turned to Tobias with a happy grin.
***
Hun Fen and Ming Dia Lu were waiting for them when they arrived outside the 1st Emperor's throne room. Tobias looked around with amusement, remembering the stressful conversations he'd had with the Divine Council in the room beyond.
Tobias stepped over the rope, preventing entry, motioning for his disciples to follow him.
The tour guide lost it. "Excuse me, you are not allowed to enter the 1st Emperor's throne room. I must ask you all to get out of there immediately. This museum is overseen by The Republic's army, and I will call their attention down upon you if you do not return. This is a national treasure."
Tobias knew all this and merely raised his magistrate mark to the tour guide. "I have permission to be here."
The tour guide stared at the mark. "Is that made of jade? Did you steal it from a museum? No one has those anymore."
"I do."
"Where did you get it?"
"The Divine Council issued it to me when they fired me as 1st Minister."
"Likely story."
Tobias turned as he reached the foot of the daze, stopped hiding his features for a second so the guide could see him, and raised his fingers to his lips. They guide's eyes bulged, and Tobias turned back to the throne and motioned to Hun Fen.
Hun Fen frowned. "Senator Lee said I won't be recognised."
Tobias nodded. "You won't be recognised as the next emperor, but you might be recognised as a worthy disciple. The 1st Emperor was a warrior first and emperor second. You are exactly the sort of pupil he would have wanted to leave an inheritance for."
Hun Fen shrugged and climbed the dais, taking a seat on the throne. The moment she sat, Tobias sensed the throne room's sage realm arrays come into effect. They were built into the foundation of the inner palace, so the only way to removed was to destroy the palace.
They scanned Hun Fen for the appropriate cultivation base using unsophisticated means before concluding that she met the right criteria.
A recording left by the 1st Emperor appeared in the centre of the throne room. The recording showed the emperor standing twelve feet high, looking at the throne. He was a handsome man, but so many generations had passed between him and Hun Fen that you could not see they were related.
The 1st Emperor smiled. "You carry my blood and sit on my throne, but you are not of my clan. And yet you and I share a common bond."
The ground before his feet opened, and a platform rose into the air. There was a stack of manuals, a storage ring, and a beautiful sword on top.
The 1st Emperor looked down. "These are my insights into cultivation, a storage ring with blades that might intrigue you, and the greatest sword ever forged. Its name is Shadow Slasher, because it has the potential to cut what does not exist. I must assume my clan has fallen if you sit on my throne, but if any have survived, all I can do is ask that you spare the innocent and rule over the people of The Seven Kingdoms with kindness and mercy."
Tobias eyebrows rose as he realised how old the recording was. If the 1st Emperor had said The Five Kingdoms, that would have been old enough, but The Seven Kingdoms was something that had only existed during the first few centuries of his reign.
The recording ended, and the illusion vanished.
Hun Fen climbed off the throne and appeared beside the platform, cutting apart the space between with her dao. She scowled at the inheritance he'd been left. "This is all junk."
"Historical junk," Tobias corrected.
Hun Fen picked up the sword. "This is sort of interesting. It contains the dao of wind. You can cut the air out of your enemy's lungs with it. Whoever forged it must have been a true master of their craft or extremely lucky. But it's useless to me. I can do more with a toothpick than with this sword." Hun Fen placed the sword back on the platform. "I'll leave it here and let them add it to the museum."
"Who are you people?" The tour guide shouted while his tour group stood behind him, mouths hanging open.
Hun Fen ignored them.
Tobias motioned for Ming Dia Lu to sit on the throne. She gave a bored expression as she climbed the stairs and sat. The arrays noticed her presence and reacted.
This time, the 1st Emperor appeared beside the throne and smiled at Ming Dia Lu. There was weight to his appearance that told you he was older than before. Much older.
"I do not know your name, my descendant, nor do I have the time to prepare a proper inheritance for you, but I recognise your mastery of the sword. From this day forth, you are my heir. Rule my empire with my blessing. I shall announce your arrival, so all will know you are worthy to take my place."
Above the palace, a giant illusion of the 1st Emperor appeared. It stood so tall that everyone in the capital could see it.
"I name the one who sits upon my throne as my successor. All that I had as a mortal belongs to them. They are the rightful emperor of The Three Kingdoms and will continue my legacy with my blessing. They bear my seal, my sword, and my crown, so that you may recognise they hold my authority."
The ground before Ming Dia Lu parted, and all three items rose up. Tobias senses the arrays that protected the archives and parts of the old treasury power down.
Ming Dia Lu looked past the items at Tobias, showing not the slightest bit of interest. "Can we go now?"
Tobias nodded. "It's probably for the best. If we stay here much longer, we're going to have to do a lot of explaining." Tobias looked up slightly. "I trust you don't have any orders to hold me for questioning."
Tobias heard a chuckle in his ear before the museum's protector replied. "No. You are free to leave, Patriarch Finch. May your journey to immortality be peaceful."
Tobias smiled. "May your journey to immortality also be peaceful."