Qi warped and winds blew strongly, disturbing the fine sand present on the desert floor and sending various nocturnal beasts, predator and prey alike, scrambling for shelter at the passage of something far more powerful. A long trail crackling with lightning qi cut through the sky above the desert, marking the passage of a Neophyte on relentless pursuit.

The Outlands were not Lasvania, and in a region where Neophytes were considered elites, the passage of a furious one was taken note of by the denizens of the desert. More so when his target was another of such elites.

And so, the two Neophytes flew, one hot on the other’s trail. One wreathed in shadow and the other in lightning, oblivious to all but each other. But the desert was not oblivious to them. It watched, like it always did.

* * *

Xiao Lee flew with single minded focus, putting every movement technique he could to use in his fury. His target, a dot of shadow far ahead of him which stubbornly refused to grow closer, ran from him in cowardice.

He had dealt with cowards before. What truly infuriated him was the way she feigned ignorance of her crime even when he showed her the path seed that was obviously hers. It was one thing to commit such a crime but to completely deny it even when faced with clear proof?

Though he did not consider himself a paragon of virtue, the Lightning Peak Sect was a righteous sect, and such evil provoked his wrath.

Yet he knew that all his anger was for naught if he could not actually catch her. Something that seemed more likely the longer he pursued. The information he’d been given speculated that she was likely from Cascadia, a large kingdom east of the Outlands. Which was coincidentally, their current direction. He knew that if she escaped back to her kingdom, he would not be able to chase after her.

He mentally weighed his options as he flew. He had been wary of using a powerful technique against her without being sure of her exact power level and fighting style. Now that he couldn’t catch her though, he was left with no choice.

Mind made up, he channelled his qi into the only technique that he trusted to do the job.

Boundless Unparalleled Thunder Lord of Heavens and Earth Eternal!

Though dramatic, it truly did live up to its name. In a flash, all the lightning qi for kilometres around fell under his control. He concentrated it on a ball of shadow close to the edge of his range and channelled qi into another technique.

Hand of the Lightning God.

A thick bolt of attuned lightning imbued with his path of power, struck the woman, knocking her out of the air. He felt her try to keep hold of her techniques as she fell, an exercise in futility.

He triggered another technique, this time a simple lightning bolt overpowered enough to kill a Great Lord, and sent it her way. He felt all her techniques disperse completely and her body hit the ground.

A second after she hit the ground, he stood in front of her, staring at her crumpled form in disgust. To say he was disappointed was an understatement. Not only was she evil, but she also had no power to back up her cruelty.

She might have earned a little grudging respect from him if she at least put up a fight.

He lifted her up, resisting the urge to snap her neck and be done with it. He brought out the black button from his storage ring and pressed it.

Multiple long chains of pure silver qi flew out of the button and wrapped themselves around the woman, dragging her into a portal that appeared out of nowhere with blistering speed.

He looked at the charred spot where the woman landed in disappointment. He had expected his first service mission to be a little challenging at the very least. He consoled himself with the knowledge that if the Lasvanian legal system was even half of what it claimed to be, then Helena would at least get justice.

* * *

Lisa observed the ‘battle’, if it could even be called that, from where she sat in the village even as she listened to Linda and Zara console Helena.

It was why she saw the exact moment when Lee plucked the woman from the sky with a lightning bolt and put her inside the cage she gave him.

She hadn’t expected a serious challenge. Anyone talented enough to become Neophyte in the qi scarce worlds of the second realm was a prodigy.

To do it at such a young age meant that Lee was far above any average cultivator, and the woman had not gone far enough into Neophyte for the age difference to matter.

Even now as she watched him, she still found herself amazed by his very existence. She knew she was talented without a doubt. She could count the number of people in her generation who could match her on one hand.

She knew her limits though. She has no doubt that if he was born in the most powerful nation in the universe and raised by one of the most feared Lone Powers in existence, she wouldn’t be his match.

A part of her was thankful that he wasn’t born in Lasvania even as another scolded her for such thoughts. Since when did she start placing herself so low. Sure, he might be talented, but she was nearly a Master at twenty-five. That in itself proved that she had enough talent to stand against anyone in her generation.

“Miss Lisa,” Zara called in her whiny voice. “Please has Sir Xiao Lee caught her.”

She rolled her eyes at the botched pronunciation of Lee’s name. Though she’d told Zara to call her by her name, the other woman insisted she couldn’t call someone of her ‘status’ without honorifics, leaving Lisa to contend with a woman likely over twice her age showing her deference.

She’d definitely never get used to that no matter how many times she’d already experienced it.

“He has caught her,” she said to all three women. “It wasn’t terribly difficult. He’s on his way now.”

“Good riddance,” Linda said stonily. She’d been like that since Helena arrived. “I hope she rots in one of your prisons. Since you refuse to grant us proper justice.”

“I told you, Linda, it’s not my call. There are protocols for these things. Rest assured she’ll get what she deserves.”

She looked at Helena who was lying on the bed and shivering slightly then took a moment to prepare herself before walking over.

She’d put this off for too long.

“Helena,” she said with her most gentle smile, using qi to make her voice more soothing. “Lee has caught the woman and she’ll be going to jail for a very long time along with having her cultivation crippled at the very least. I’ll make sure of that myself. That being said, it doesn’t change the fact that you’ll need help to deal with trauma. Do you know what a therapist is.”

She sighed internally when Helena shook her head. She knew it was a long shot given how isolated most of the village was, but she’d held out a little hope.

“Well therapists are trained to help to help people who’ve gone through very difficult experiences.”

The other lady simply stared at her blankly, so she went on.

“Listen Helena,” she said, keeping her tone soft. “What you were been put through was harrowing and truthfully, no one in this village, including me, can truly help you overcome. That’s where the therapist comes in. She’s going to help you and have you back on your feet in no time. You don’t have to worry about anything. I’ll cover the cost and she’ll come here herself.”

She wasn’t sure if Helena truly understood what she said, given the blank look on the woman’s face, but it didn’t matter in the end. She would send the therapist to the village to fetch her. It would cost a lot, but she knew from experience just how good Doctor Rhea was. She’d have the girl back to normal in a month.

She nodded lightly to the other girls and excused herself from the room. Lee was almost at the village already. She squared her shoulders in preparation for what she was about to do.

It was time to fulfil her actual purpose here.

* * *

He felt a dash of relief as he saw the village come into view in the distance. The mission had left a bad taste in his mouth. Hopefully they’d be able to go back to Lasvania so he could cultivate properly.

He’d cultivated on his flight back, but the qi density simply didn’t come close to what was available in Lasvania.

Wait outside the village, Lisa’s voice rang in his head. Finding out the neural processor’s ability to communicate over distance was a boon he was grateful for.

Though his orientation had revealed the basics of how they operated, no amount of observation had lent him any insight into their inner workings.

“Congratulations, Lee, I told you the first job would be easy,” Lisa called. “Don’t get comfortable though, it only gets harder from here. Now come with me. Time to finish what we came here for.”

He watched in mild confusion as she turned around and disappeared back into the village. He quickly went through the mission details he was given beforehand, trying to find out what Lisa was talking about.

He frowned when he didn’t find anything then moved to catch up with Lisa, who was standing in front of the Chief’s house.

“We’re going to see the chief,” she said, tone low. “I’ll do the talking. You’ll watch and learn.”

“Learn what exactly,” he asked sceptically. He hadn’t seen any indication of an extra mission so far and Lisa was being very cryptic. He wanted to at least have some knowledge of what he was walking into.

“Diplomacy. The Lasvanian way.”

Lisa stifled a sigh as she stepped into the Chief’s living room. Though she hated diplomacy and the politics associated with it, she was her mother’s daughter and she’d been forced to learn it since she could talk.

So even though she knew she was going to hate every second of it, she steeled herself and took her seat opposite the Chief reminding herself of the license that was her end goal.

“Miss Feltham,” Chief Henry greeted, bowing slightly. “Ascendant Xiao. To what do I owe the pleasure of your presence. Am I to assume you’ve caught the foul woman?”

Lisa resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He knew that Lee had caught the woman, of course, he was just trying to be formal.

“Yes, he has. He did a pretty good job at it in fact. Though I’m afraid the damage to Helena has already been done.”

“Of course, you have our eternal thanks. What happened to Helena was awful indeed, but we’ll cope. But please, if there’s anything you need from us, just ask.”

His last statement was just a formality of course, after all, Lasvania was known for its unrivalled generosity.

Unfortunately for him, Lasvania wasn’t feeling so generous anymore.

“Well since you brought that up, there is something we need,” she said, pulling a sealed envelope from her storage, trying not to laugh as his eyes widened in obvious surprise. He clearly wasn’t truly expecting his offer to be accepted.

He took the envelope from her, eyes nearly popping out of his sockets as he examined the seal. She wasn’t surprised by his reaction. It wasn’t everyday you received a letter directly from the Lasvanian Presidency after all.

The whole process of writing on actual paper and sealing the envelope with a special seal struck her as old fashioned. Then again, that was the alternative when the other party didn’t have neural processors. Though she supposed they’d solve that problem soon.

“Are you aware of what you ask,” the Chief asked, his expression serious after contemplating on the contents of the letter for a while. “It is no small thing.”

“I am perfectly aware Chief, and I can assure you His Excellency is also perfectly aware. Yet we are also aware of how much you stand to gain from this.”

“Indeed. Is that not interesting? Forgive me Miss Feltham, but it does seem like a deal that is lopsided entirely in our favour. You’d understand if neither I nor my fellow Chiefs would blindly put our faiths in such.”

“Oh, but you see, we already spend a significant amount of resources on your villages every year, Chief Henry. With this, you’d gain access to absorbers which would make your people powerful enough to stand against most,” she let him process the implications of what she told him. “Let me be honest, Chief, you don’t have anything to add to us, yet. With the absorbers and integration into Lasvania, though, we would be able to extract value from you.”

“That does make sense and is consistent with what I know of your nation’s foreign policy, if I’m being honest. Yet I can’t help but wonder why this is only just coming up now. Your people have been spending a lot of money on us for decades and yet have always opposed integration. What changed.”

“You were at the Chief’s Convention not long ago. You’ve no doubt heard of what happened in Cascadia,” she said. She’d been expecting that question and already had an answer ready for him. “Now are you aware of what a full-blown war of expansion implies?”

“I did not pay much attention to it. Cascadia is relatively far and has not been expanding in our direction, so it wasn’t considered a priority. Not to mention your presence generally dissuades power-hungry empires.”

“Reasonable assumption. It would have been accurate at any other time except for a single variable,” she paused slightly before delivering the blow. “Emperor Cascade recently advanced. He now believes he has enough leverage to defy us to a certain extent. He will not make a move on us or the Confederates – he's not stupid – but he will definitely try to make a move on the villages closest to him to gauge our reaction. Since we do not want Cascadian presence in the Outlands and have no intention of fighting an offensive war, this was decided as the best course of action.”

“I understand the emperor is even more powerful now but surely Lasvania has people who are more advanced than him. Would it not be easy to simply end him. Or at least give him a warning.” He genuinely looked confused as he spoke, like he couldn’t possibly imagine why they didn’t do that from the very beginning.

“Lasvania does indeed have a number of strategic assets more advanced than the emperor. However, strategic assets generally have a certain level of autonomy and have jointly recommended that the government follow this course of action. And so here we are. We do not require an official response till the joint meeting that will take place in Free City next month. That being said, accepting this offer now will allow our people to start integrating you quicker. You’ll immediately get Confederate-level access to Lasvanian resources and technology.”

The chief shifted slightly on his seat at that. He was clearly tempted to accept the offer now. She didn’t blame him, it was a wonderful offer, no doubt, one that he’d be stupid to refuse. Yet it was too important a decision for him to make alone.

“I believe my offer has been properly made, Chief Henry. If you’ll excuse me, I would like to take my leave now. Perhaps you can properly discuss the matter with your elders then.”

Lisa breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped out of the Chief’s house. She hated formal meetings, and this one was no exception. She thought of the look on the man's face when she mentioned Confederate-level access and nearly smiled inwardly. At least she had gotten him hooked.

As she walked with Lee in silence, pointedly trying to ignore the questions that she knew he was nearly bursting with, she imagined herself back at home floating in the midst of pure space qi and trying to achieve symphony. She let herself bask in the thought for a moment before shaking herself out of her daydreams.

She had a license to get and an impatient Neophyte to answer.

Lee followed Lisa, trying to hide his impatience as struggled to understand what just happened. He knew that his mission was considered very low priority.

He didn’t expect Lisa to have been given a more important one. Though now that he thought of it, he should have expected it. It did seem odd that they’d send someone as powerful as her to be his guide for a year.

Perhaps this was how all his jobs were going to be, all year. Him doing the low-level grunt work while she took care of high-level deliberations. He wasn’t a big fan of that, but it wasn’t like he had much of a choice.

For now, he’d focus on cultivation and keep doing what he was asked. Eventually, he knew, he’d become important enough. It wasn’t his first time after all.

They stepped into a small building close the edge of the village. It was directly opposite the direction they came from and like the chief’s house, it was warm and cosy.

He felt her cast a working the moment the door clicked shut.

“It’s a privacy bubble. It completely encloses this space and stops sound from escaping.” she explained, likely noticing his curiosity. “Quite useful. So, you have questions. Well, ask away.”

“What realm did the Cascadian Emperor advance to?” Of all the things she mentioned, that was what got his attention the most. The idea of becoming powerful enough that even Lasvania would decide against confronting him was attractive.

He’d already gotten used to that kind of power as a Great Lord back on Xenus and the idea of reaching that level called to him. Though he knew he had no chances of getting to that level soon, it would be a great long-term goal.

“He is a High Emperor now,” she answered after staring at him for a moment. “Anyone who reaches his level gets elevated and becomes a High Cultivator. It’s also when people start to be considered as strategic assets by the government.”

Interesting, he thought. There wasn’t any information on the Master realm and the advancements that came after it in the orientation he was given. It was unsurprising, given how restricted advancement above Master was, but it also meant that every detail he could learn was valuable.

“Was the Director a High Cultivator,” he asked. The director was by far the most powerful person he’d come across and he could barely comprehend her power. He wanted to at least get some perspective on how high he was aiming.

“No, she’s not. She’d be a High Director otherwise. High Cultivators are rare and not easy to come across. Even I have only met a few,” she looked thoughtful for a moment, then asked. “Is there a particular reason you’re interested in High Cultivators, or is it simply curiosity?”

“I simply want to be sure of how high I’m aiming. It wouldn’t do to set my sights too low.”

She stared at him for a few moments before bursting into laughter – it felt like that was happening often recently.

“I know you are a cultivation genius, but this is determination on another level,” she said when she had calmed down. “Perhaps you should run before you fly, don’t you think. I understand the desire to chase the top but right now, you’re a Neophyte with no citizenship. I think you should focus on getting to my level first – which will take at least a decade – before you start focusing on higher levels. Trust me when I say you have no idea how powerful a High Cultivator truly is.”

He listened to her advice in silence without replying. He was used to such comments. There were always some people who believed he was aiming too high.

Yet here he was, ascendant in under thirty years. He’d proved the naysayers wrong before. On a world with far less qi and no automatic absorbers. It didn’t matter how powerful a High Cultivator was. He’d get there.

A small part of him pointed out that Lisa was a cultivator more talented and privileged than he was and that perhaps she was right about focusing on the closer goals first. Talent did not mean one should not recognise the Mount Xuan after all.

He dismissed that as well. He was not a novice in cultivation. He of course knew how to properly focus on the correct path. Besides, he was above Mount Xuan now. Perhaps he should find a new mountain to look up to.

“Gratitude, Lisa. Your advice is most welcome. I will endeavour to watch so I don’t get stuck in the clouds,” he replied, his etiquette training slipping out. Though he wasn’t convinced, he’d found that pretending to accept was the best way to deal with more powerful naysayers. “Was everything you said to the Chief true? Or was it just a way to get him to accept the deal?”

He found it hard to believe that Lasvania couldn’t handle Cascadia easily, regardless of the emperor’s advancement. He wasn’t an expert, but the orientation gave him a basic idea of the geopolitics in the realm.

There were a handful of countries Lasvania considered potential threats. Cascadia was not one of them.

“A bit of both, really. It’s genuinely better for the Outlands to integrate with us and they’ll have access to our resources and technology if they do. That said, they aren’t really under threat of invasion. Cascadia wouldn’t dare. The Executive and the High Congress simply saw the perfect opportunity for a merge and got the Senate to approve it.”

“High Congress?”

The information on the way the government worked in the orientation was quite comprehensive. Yet he couldn’t recall a single mention of a High Congress.

“Well, I guess that should have been expected. The High Congress is a bunch of High Cultivators. It’s meritocratic not democratic and doesn’t do much in day-to-day leadership. They handle issues relating to High Cultivators and war,” her eyes became unfocused for a few seconds before she continued. “There. I’ve sent you a detailed packet holding information about them. Any more questions?”

He received the packet but mentally shelved it for later, remembering how the orientation had flooded his mind.

“Just one more,” There were other things he was curious about, but he knew when his time was running out. “Are all my jobs a cover for you to carry out Lasvanian orders?”

“For the most part, yes. It’s a more efficient use of our time.”

“Of course. I was only trying to confirm a suspicion.”

“No worries,” she said. “Now let’s go to Helena and wait for the Chief to wrap things up with his elders so we can leave. The qi in this place is making me feel dirty.”