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The building in this courtyard was elegant but not opulent. It was a red wooden structure with small decorations in blues, whites, and other colors painted across the eaves and lintels. While the ground here was mostly paved brick, this courtyard did include a small garden with a variety of ornamental plants.

As we approached the entrance of the building, a young woman in simple dark brown robes opened the door.

The elder led me inside and gestured to the well-appointed room awaiting us. Its furniture was nothing too fancy, but everything was well constructed and carefully chosen to best suit the environment.

“Prince Fang, consider this your home while you are staying in our training compound with us. This courtyard is reserved for the use of only our most important guests.” He motioned to the young woman who opened the door for us. “This servant has been specially chosen by our head eunuch, and you can trust her to serve you well during your stay.”

After looking at everything with a discerning gaze, I returned my attention to the elder and nodded in acceptance.

“Thank you for your hospitality, Elder Su.” I turned to the young woman. “Have all of this furniture removed by the end of the day.”

Her eyes widened in shock, and not even the Second Elder was entirely sure how to react to my request.

“I… Ye… Yes, sir. Please excuse me while I make the proper arrangements.”

She gave a deep bow and scurried away.

Once she was gone, I turned back to the Second Elder. “When will the training sessions commence? I would like to be present for them from the very beginning.”

He cleared his throat and blinked to regain his composure.

“Yes… Of course… The new disciples are arriving today, and we will conduct the ceremony tomorrow morning. You are welcome to join us at that time.”

“Very good.” I nodded to the elder and YuanFei. “Elder Su, Young Master Su, it was nice to meet you. I shall retire and prepare for the trials ahead. Good day to you both.”

They didn’t seem overly happy with my quick dismissal, but there was little I wanted to say to these two. I would rather relax alone than spend even one more moment with them. However, the thought of a man who had to be nearly two centuries old still being called ‘Young Master’ made me chuckle internally. The title seemed a bit insulting, but unless his father was willing to step down, there must not be anything he could do to change it.

After those two departed, Su Heng also took his leave to prepare his own living arrangements. As my attendant, he would also need a place to stay within the training complex, and I wondered if he would get something as fancy as what they were giving me.

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Once everyone had left, I found the house’s master suite and quickly moved all the furniture out into the hall. Then, I set up a simple privacy formation so that no one other than myself could enter the room. That done, I took out and swallowed a Shadowed Soul Pill, turning invisible and untraceable by anyone within the Wastes.

Of course, if I wanted to remain undetected, I couldn’t go around opening and closing doors, let alone the massive gates that were strewn about the training complex. So, after jumping out a window, I used a small burst of qi to propel myself to the top of the wall surrounding my courtyard.

After quickly getting my bearings, I ran along the walls and headed deeper into the compound in the direction of the tallest, most ornate buildings. I occasionally spotted a guard or two patrolling these ramparts, but unlike in the clan’s main compound, these walkways were mostly abandoned, so I was easily able to move about without needing to worry too much about stealth.

It was still the middle of the day, so I had expected the place to be rather busy, but I only saw the occasional guard or random servant doing odd jobs around the place. It seemed like this training compound didn’t get much use without any new Disciples around. Though, there was also the possibility that every building I passed held dozens of cultivators in secluded meditation. Except for martial arts, most training as a cultivator was just sitting alone in a room, after all.

Halfway to the largest building in the compound, I ran across Su Heng. He was walking quickly and purposefully, and I could see from the look on his face that he had a clear destination in mind. So, giving up on my original goal, I instead chose to follow him and see where he would take me.

While Su Heng was heading in roughly the same direction that I had been traveling, his destination was not the largest and most ornate of the courtyards. Instead, he went to the one just north of it, the second most ornate one.

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After being let inside, he approached the door of the courtyard’s small mansion and announced himself before being let inside.

Even invisible, there wasn’t a good way for me to enter the building without being detected. While I might have been able to slip inside a door when no one was looking, a formation had been set up to detect anyone who tried to do that. There were solutions to such problems, but none were quick or foolproof enough for my liking. Instead, I approached a side wall and used my qi to open a small hole just large enough for me to hear what was going on inside.

The first voice I heard that was loud enough to be intelligible belonged to YuanFei.

“Heng, what can you tell me about this man? Is he really a wealthy prince?”

Su Heng’s response was stilted and awkward. “Young Master… I’m, I’m not sure. My father believes he may have a powerful backer, but he isn’t sure. He told me to be extremely cautious around Prince Fang.”

The conversation paused briefly, and I heard a few muttered curses, but it soon returned to more interesting details.

“What about my brother? Did he just send a foreign prince to me out of the goodness of his heart? I find that hard to believe.”

“Young Master… Second Young Master YuanFeng has become close with Prince Yangci of the Red Sun Kingdom. He has sent a dispatch to his allies and is waiting for them to respond before deciding how to react. Since Prince Fang only wishes to recruit our new Disciples, and since he has offered such an extravagant price for them, the Second Young Master had no choice but to accede to Prince Fang’s request and allow him access to the training grounds. I believe he is expecting Prince Yangci to deal with Prince Fang before any issues arise.”

I listened to these two talk for a few more minutes, but it was all rather boring clan intrigue. From prior knowledge, I could guess that this Prince Yangci was supposed to assist YuanFeng in claiming the position of patriarch and that this caused YuanFei to develop his ill-conceived revenge plot that would lead to the destruction of the Su Clan.

From the looks of things, Su Heng and YuanFei wanted to drag me into this mess to muddy the waters. I would play along if needed to further my own goals, but I had no interest in helping a bastard like YuanFei. I was only here to harvest a good crop of Disciples. After that, the Su Clan could deal with their family issues on their own.

Satisfied with what I had learned, I left, took out my mental journal, and worked on mapping out the rest of the compound. I would need to go back and label the courtyards later, once I learned what their intended functions were, but using the top of the walls as a reference, creating a basic outline of the entire compound wasn’t too difficult.

Once that was done, I tried to find where the new Disciples were being held, but I didn’t have any luck. The Second Elder had said that they were ‘arriving today,’ so either none had arrived yet, or they were currently being held in another nearby structure. While it would have been nice to get a read on them before they received their blessings, I didn’t consider it overly important.

As the timer on my Shadowed Soul Pill was running out, and since there was nothing else I wanted to learn, I made my way back to the guest house.

Upon my arrival, I found that all the furniture had already been removed, so I spent the next few hours decorating the place with the luxury items I had bought in Lushan City. If the Su Clan had any competent interior decorators, it would be good to have them come and arrange everything properly, but I was able to get it all looking decent enough.

With that task complete, I retired to my room to await the new day.

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Su Heng came to find me early in the morning, and when he saw all the new furniture I had filled the place with, he seemed to be in a state of shock.

“Prince… Fang? You brought all of this with you?”

I nodded as I sat down across from him. The chairs we were using had each been crafted from a single tree which a wood cultivator had meticulously shaped into the form of a high-backed chair as it grew. This kind of craftsmanship couldn’t hold a candle to the understated elegance of the Ning Clan’s essence-infused furniture, but I doubted the people here would understand the value of such items anyway. It was far easier to understand the importance of furniture that had been made from a Rank 4 wood and had been sculpted by a Martial Lord.

Once I was seated, the servant assigned to me by the Su Clan made us tea from the leaves I had purchased at the Pavilion. After a quick check to ensure nothing had been tampered with, I took a sip before turning to discuss the topic at hand.

“Is it time?”

Su Heng, who had been looking around and gawking at everything, flinched as he was pulled back to the present.

“Wha… Ye… Yes. The blessing ceremony will begin one hour before noon. The children are being led in as we speak.”

I sat quietly in thought as I slowly sipped my tea. Once my cup was empty, I stood.

“Very good. Let’s depart.”

I didn’t wait for Su Heng and directly exited the building.

Su Heng caught up with me and tried to guide me, but I paid him little attention. Using my map of the complex, I walked straight to the large courtyard where I had undergone the blessing ceremony in the distant past.

It had been many lifetimes and many centuries since I had been forced to return there, but after identifying the residential area, with its broken-down houses and crumbling walls, I was easily able to find the courtyard where my journeys in this world had all begun.

When I entered, the only people present were a few servants who were working on finishing things up and making the place more presentable.

Some small piece of my soul compelled me to step onto the packed dirt ground, and with a little searching, I found the spot where I had first entered this world. I didn’t kneel down, that would have been too unseemly, but I did spend a few moments standing there, allowing my thoughts to drift back in time.

Suddenly, I turned to Su Heng and gave him a sharp nod of my head.

“This will work well.”

Then, I stepped forward to the small platform where YuanFei had always stood as he conducted the ceremony.

The servants had already placed seven chairs here, one group of five and one group of two.

I glanced at Su Heng for an explanation.

“These five are for the compound’s Grandmasters. These two are for us.”

I had to smirk at this deft maneuvering. If there had only been a single group of seven chairs, it would have been politically necessary to position me in the center of them, marking me as the most important person present. By separating us, YuanFei could retain his position while also not offending my sensibilities.

It was tactfully done, but should I poke the bear? I didn’t see any reason why not. I wanted to ensure the clan continued to see me as a pompous noble, after all.

I grabbed one of the two chairs that had been placed apart from the others, shoved it into my storage bag, and replaced it with an ornate throne.

With that, I sat down and waited for the festivities to begin.