The world reformed around Lee in a blend of qi and sound. He took a moment to make sure he was still whole, running his senses through his body. He circulated his qi, running a loop from his dantian through the length of his meridians, and felt his channels tingle from its passage.

He frowned at that. His channels only tingled during circulation when they’d been completely devoid of qi, something he always avoided by constantly circulating passively.

The High Minister’s voice had broken even his subconscious circulation. He scanned his spirit in trepidation, relaxing when he noticed no actual harm.

After confirming he was not truly hurt by the voice, he opened his eyes but withheld his senses. He wasn’t sure what effect the High Minister had on the qi in the room.

He found Lisa staring at him with mild concern in her eyes. He’d thankfully stayed unconscious for just a few seconds and was still on his feet when he recovered. Falling in the middle of a party full of such powerful people would have been beyond humiliating.

“Are you okay,” she asked softly, uncharacteristic worry tinging her voice. “Your clothes were supposed to stop this from happening.”

“I am fine now, it felt like when I first heard the Director speak, but much worse. Though, I think he has reduced the intensity of his voice.”

She opened her mouth to answer him but froze for a few seconds, her eyes becoming unfocused, before letting out a sigh.

“The High Minister just recently advanced,” she revealed. “The formations were configured for a lower level of power and took a few seconds to adjust to his power level, which left you vulnerable. At least they should work properly now.”

He muttered a word of thanks and tried to focus on the High Minister. He knew he should likely be amazed that inscriptions could configure themselves at such a high level, but at this point, it was just another thing in the long and ever growing list of things the Lasvanians did so much better than his home planet.

“...the success of these missions was based on the skillful handling of the negotiations by our own diplomats. These diplomats are the stars of today’s gathering and we are here to celebrate them. For their great service to both our nation and the good of the innocent inhabitants of the Outlands, the Ministry has decided to honour them with the title of ‘Bringers of Peace’!”

His words were met with polite clapping from the crowd. From the tone of the room and the few conversations he could follow, most of them already knew about the titles and didn’t consider them worth much. Then again, he supposed most titles not related to power were also considered unimportant on Xenus.

It was a relatively simple affair. A voice whose source he couldn’t find started calling the names of the new titleholders, after which a soft beam of light focused on their position and the Minister declared them official titleholders. There was polite clapping after each declaration, some louder than others.

The increased clapping likely meant they were more famous than the rest, but he was, frankly, not interested enough to care. He still took note of the man who received as much ovation as Lisa though. Given how important he suspected she was, anyone with the same level of renown as her couldn’t afford to be ignored.

Only a small part of his mind was focused on the names called though. Most of his attention was taken up by his cultivation. As he cultivated, yet another part of him was making plans for the future.

Since his arrival in Lasvania, he had been content to follow the instructions of his seniors and cultivate normally, expecting that he’d get an absorber by the end of the year.

Yet as he thought more about it, he realised how much he disliked that method. The fact that he had fainted twice from hearing people speak was a testament to his extreme weakness. A weakness that he was not making nearly enough effort to correct.

Perhaps the structured, organised life in Lasvania had made him complacent to the point where he was waiting on others to hand him his advancement. He felt disgusted with himself as he thought about it.

An idea struck him as he considered the timeline for his missions. It was obvious, he realised now, what he needed to do. His environment was too safe. Sure, he had access to wonderful cultivation treasures, but it also limited his drive to truly advance.

To truly advance at a pace sufficient to him, he had to leave this place, and temper himself in the fires of hardship once more.

Though the thought of leaving his qi rich, lightning attuned room was disheartening, he grudgingly recognised the need. Even in Xenus, his rise to greatness was because he sought out challenges and didn’t just cultivate in luxury.

Though a part of him wondered if the reason he felt that was because that was all he was used to.

He noticed when the High Minister finished speaking and passed the stage to Director Elize and reluctantly decided to focus more attention on her. For all his excitement about finding a path forward, he still had a party to finish.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, Honoured Guests of the Ministry. First of all, congratulations to our new Bringers of Peace. We hope you continue to spread peace for the benefit of both our great country and for cultivators everywhere. Now to the second half of the party. It is no secret that the last Ascendant to come from the lower realms came more than a thousand ago. Since then, for reasons unknown, the frequency of ascendancy tumbled. Yet even when they did ascend, they were snatched from us by our rivals from the North.”

He looked around and tried to read the tone of the room. He didn’t know what public opinion was towards Ascendants. And all his attempts to find out from Lisa were met with apathy.

Most of the people seemed mildly interested with a few of them listening with rapt attention, clearly captivated by her speech. Interest in Ascendants was definitely higher than the interest shown in the titles, something that both relieved and worried him.

“Gone was the golden era of Ascendants,” she continued passionately. “Where talented cultivators from other worlds cultivated with a fervour that was not often found in born citizens. Indeed, the constant stream of High Cultivators seemed to die out a few centuries ago. Yet now, those centuries spent worrying about our future Ascendants have finally paid off. For our newest Ascendant isn’t just a talented cultivator, like all Ascendants are, but the youngest Ascendant in recorded history at under thirty years! Welcome to Lasvania, Ascendant Xiao Lee.”

The ovation he received was more than he expected. He felt a beam of qi surround him, pointing him out to everyone in the room, and gave the crowd his best smile.

“I’m sure you’re all happy to meet the Ascendant, but first, Monster Control decided to gift us part of a High Thunder Chicken they recently caught. So, if you want to thank someone for the refreshments, you know who to go to.”

Xiao Lee blinked and found himself sitting next to Lisa and Bornie around a table, three plates of steaming, qi-filled food in front of them. Though cultivators didn’t usually bother to eat, they could still eat food that had enough qi in it.

He struggled to keep himself from devouring the food in an instant, instead turning to face Lisa.

“Is this safe for me to eat,” he asked. “I would rather not explode from qi overload.”

“Oh don’t worry about that,” Bornie interjected. “There are cooking techniques to make sure powerful beasts are safe for even babies to eat. The food would have been properly vetted by high precision robot chefs to make sure there’s no risk of overload.”

“Robot chefs,” he asked pointedly. Did robots cook the food?

“Well, yes. No one’s going to go through the stress of actually preparing this manually. Nobody even bothers learning to cook when the machines can do it better. It makes life easier.”

He frowned, looking at the meat sceptically. He wasn’t sure he trusted food that was prepared by machine. He normally wouldn’t be worried considering he had long passed the stage where he could get sick from food, but he couldn’t take chances with a High Beast.

Bornie shook her head at his scepticism and took a big bite from the plate. She ate it slowly, making sure he could properly follow the way the qi flowed through her. She let out a soft moan after chewing for a few seconds and he decided he’d seen enough.

Bornie had said it was safe and she was supposed to be knowledgeable. Besides, given how much Director Elise seemed to like him, he doubted she’d make him eat food that could kill him.

Though he realised he was likely just trying to rationalise his desire to eat the food, he couldn’t bring himself to care much. The amount of qi contained in the meat was significant both in quantity and in potency. It wasn’t an opportunity he could afford to pass on, especially after his resolve to increase his cultivation pace.

He took the cutlery pieces on the table and cut a big piece of meat, thankful that his etiquette lessons stopped him from simply throwing it all into his mouth. He put the meat in his mouth, struggling to stay conscious at the sheer quantity of qi that flowed into him.

The meat simply melted in his mouth, and he replaced it with another piece the second it did. It took all his willpower to stop himself from eating it all in seconds. Taking so much qi filled meat in under a minute was still dangerous for him.

An ocean of qi, as potent as it was vast, flowed lazily in his stomach. It was dormant at the moment, a product of the cooking technique no doubt. The moment he started circulating it, though, it would turn into a relentless tide he’d have to wrangle with his will.

He left it, content to let it sit dormant for the moment. Though he was eager to cultivate it, the qi was too much for even him to circulate it without his full concentration. So, he waited patiently and hoped the party would be over soon.

He looked up to see Lisa staring at him with a small smile on her face.

I thought you didn’t trust machine food,” she asked, her tone light.

“I never said that,” he said a little defensively.

“You thought about it though,” she teased. “It's not surprising. Apparently, lots of people didn’t trust machine food when it started getting popular. There was even a whole movement about it. Hearing about social issues from the Age of Automation is always interesting. Especially from an eyewitness.”

He paused at that. Her voice turned strange at the end of her words. It was melancholic, true, but there was a darker undertone.

“Yes! Finally, someone who finds it interesting too,” Bornie squealed in excitement. “My parents where staunchly on opposite sides of the divide and hearing stories of their rivalry is always a delight. Though my father has seen the light and accepted machine superiority.”

MACHINE EQUALITY, NOT SUPERIORITY.

The words reverberated through his spirit out of nowhere, its source hidden. His reflexes kicked in immediately, his senses expanding to fill the space around the table as he scanned for the source of the intrusion.

“Go away dad,” Bornie’s voice broke through his searching. “Machines are obviously superior. Also, eavesdropping is rude.”

The voice didn’t respond and Bornie rolled her eyes. He stared at Lisa, who simply shrugged, before gathering himself enough to ask.

“Is your father listening to our conversation, Miss Bornie,”

“Oh, definitely not. That would be rude.” she said cheerfully. “He spoke an edict that would alert him when either mum or I misrepresented his opinion on machines. It’s annoying.”

“An edict,” he asked.

“It’s a working that High Cultivators can manifest into reality that alters it to their whims. My dad knows when he’s been falsely quoted by me regardless of the distance between us.”

He tried to sense the space around them for any minute traces of foreign qi but found none.

“I sensed no qi intrusion,” he revealed. “My scans were quite thorough.”

“Edicts require no qi,” Lisa interjected with a bitter laugh. “High Cultivators don’t operate like the rest of us. An edict is simply a High Cultivator’s sheer will made manifest.”

He pondered upon her words. Though he could alter the world with his will, it took a prohibitively high amount of qi and only worked on very minor things. He had successfully used it to ascend because there was already a path from Xenus to Lasvania. It also helped that his home world was actively trying to eject him from itself.

Edicts, he thought. Yet another thing to look forward to in the future.

He stared at the food on the table. The two women had finished their portions, and from the way Lisa was staring at his plate, he suspected he’d be left with nothing if he didn’t finish up quickly.

He wolfed down the food as quickly as he could without seeming uncultured, his joy and surprise rising at the amount of qi that kept entering his spirit. He was going to have a very fruitful cultivation session if it kept up. He'd likely make a minor breakthrough at least.

He felt eyes focus on his table the moment his plate was empty. Just as he was about to point it out to Lisa, someone started approaching the direction of their table.

“Your first guest is coming,” Lisa said, confirming his observation. “Relax, it's not a very high-ranking person. One of the award winners who likely wanted to greet the new ascendant. He’s just a few years older than us.”

He watched as the man entered his vision, thankful for Lisa’s information.

“Miss Feltham. Ascendant Lee. Congratulations on your success,” the man, dressed in a plain black suit, said with a bright smile. “I’m Edwin Timberlake, soon-to-be diplomat. Hopefully.”

“Hello Mr Timberlake, congratulations on your award. I'm sure you’ll become a fine diplomat. Lucinda has a wonderful track record,” Lisa responded with a polite smile. Her tone was polite but guarded. Not welcoming but also not inviting.

“Yeah, I was lucky to have been assigned to her. I definitely wouldn’t have gotten this award without her,” he agreed then turned to Lee. “Did you really catch a criminal?”

Lisa groaned loudly before he could respond.

“That wasn’t supposed to become public till tomorrow,” she complained, then narrowed her eyes. “Where did you even hear that?”

“Well, Lucinda mentioned it in passing on our way here. Just thought I’d confirm from the source,” he said. At least he had the grace to look a little ashamed a t that.

“Whatever he did was part of his state mandated service,” she said, putting emphasis on the last words. “Please don’t go around starting rumours, Mr Timberlake. I’d appreciate it if you allowed the news to be released officially first.”

“Of course I won’t, Miss Feltham.” he exclaimed, sounding scandalised. “What kind of diplomat would I be if I couldn’t keep a secret?”

“I just wanted to be sure. I’d rather not have to deal with rumours.”

“Yeah, I understand that,” he said, then nodded at the occupants of the table. “You’ll have to excuse me. I need to congratulate a few more people tonight. My best wishes, Miss Feltham, Ascendant Lee.”

“Couldn’t even try to pretend to be polite, could you,” she said to his retreating figure, though he couldn’t hear her.

“You could have killed him for the insult back on Xenus,” Lee pointed out.

“I’d rather not have people killed for ever little insults,” she said dryly. “Besides, I like the anonymity, keeps the sycophants away.”

He nodded at that then thought back to their interaction. He was grateful Lisa took charge of the conversation, it gave him more time to learn.

The first thing he realised was that the man didn’t address Bornie once. Though he knew she was very important an well connected, her status wasn’t common knowledge. He filed that information away.

More importantly was how much focus he also received. He knew he was a big part of the party and that Ascendants held some level of prestige in Lasvania. That said, he expected to be acknowledged briefly but mostly ignored in favour of Lisa.

Though he wasn’t sure what exactly her status was, he knew she was very popular, given her large list of high ranking contacts. The amount of applause she received earlier only confirmed his suspicion.

The last and most important was the potential rumours he knew were going to form concerning him. He already experiences such things during his brief stint as the Empire’s hero. Here in a land that was far less militaristic, he’d likely receive even more of the people’s awe. Though the fact that he was much weaker than everyone would likely balance that out and make him easily forgotten.

“Catching criminals now, Lisa?” Bonnie asked. “Looks like you aren’t lacking excitement your life.”

“That’s mostly Lee’s job,” she corrected. “I just observed from afar, thankfully. I’d rather not have excitement if it meant i had to fight.”

“Pardon me, Lisa, but what do you mean you’d rather not fight.,” he asked, equal parts confused and hopeful. ”I thought you loved cultivation.”

“Well, yeah. I love cultivation, not fighting,” she said incredulously. “Why does everyone seem to think they should go together.”

Lee understood her frustration. He had lots of first hand experience with that assumption. It was the reason he could feel seeds of excitement bloom in his heart.

“You’re right,” he agreed. “A love of cultivation is very different from a love of fighting. I have often been subjected to such misconceptions before. Though it is very rare to find one like you who shares my views.”

“You don’t seem like a pacifist,” Bonnie interjected. “And what research i could do about your home world pointed towards a militant society. Granted that may have changed, but it seems unlikely.”

“You are right. Most empires and sects on Xenus were very militaristic. I do not particularly enjoy starting conflict, but you can only avoid so much when everyone else is looking for a fight.”

“Just to clarify, though,” she said. “Lisa’s dislike of conflict doesn’t stop her ability to fight in any way. Though I’m sure you can relate to that.”

He was considering what to say to that when Lisa suddenly interrupted.

“Another guest for you, Lee,” she said. “This one’s important. Works for a very powerful High Cultivator who is also an Ascendant. He’s likely to be very interested in you.”

Just as she finished speaking, he felt a man enter his senses a moment before he came up in his vision.

He watched the man float towards them and smiled internally.

There’s always one of them, he thought fondly. Liu never walked anywhere.

“Miss Feltham. Miss Saurabh. Ascendant Xiao,” he greeted politely. “May I take a bit of your time?”

Lee nodded to him before noting the fact that he knew Bornie and that he addressed him properly. That meant he was well informed.

“Of course,” Lisa said. “Before you continue, Am I speaking with Director Lorent, Lorent Williams, or the Hand of The Madam.

“Right down to business then. You know your stuff indeed, Miss Feltham,” he praised. “You speak with the Hand of The Madam.”

“Good to know,” she accepted. “So what does The Madam want with our humble group.”

“Oh we both know your group is anything but humble, Lisa,” he said with a smile. “The Madam is interested in the Ascendant. She wishes to know what his plans are and whether the Lone Walker wishes to lay claim on him.”

“No one is laying any claims to Lee, Hand. This isn’t the 7000s,” she said with a sigh. “He is on compulsory state mandated assignment right now. After that, he’ll be free to do what he wants. As is his right as a citizen. He will not be pressured to make a choice before the end of the year.”

“Of course. The Madam is well aware of his rights. But her interest has been roused and it is not easily put off.”

“Oh please,” Bornie said suddenly. “You know damn well she can’t do anything if he refuses. Stop trying to scare him. Your Madam isn’t the only with eyes on him. My parents will not stand any coercion. Neither will the High Minister of Foreign Affairs.”

“The High Minister is no issue at all. Your parents are a different matter,” he admitted then turned to stare at the ceiling. “Does the High Senator wish to pursue this matter.”

There was a brief flash of intent and a stupendous amount of qi before reality twisted. The voice that spoke this time was a woman that sounded both irritated and haughty.

THE MATTER WILL BE DISCUSSED WITH YOUR MADAM. IT IS OUT OF YOUR HANDS, DIRECTOR.

“I understand. I shall pursue it no more,” he said with a slight bow, then turned back to the table’s occupants. ”I believe I am dismissed. I bid you a good night.”

“Sorry about that Lee,” Lisa apologised when the man was out of listening range. “Both him and The Madam are from a different world. They never quite managed to adapt to modern Lasvanian attitudes.”

“They can’t do anything to you,” Bornie reassured. She seemed angry. “High Cultivators love to think they’re above the system. They’re not. My parents will handle it.”

He nodded his thanks to her but still felt anxiety. It was hard to feel reassured when he saw the look on Lisa’s face.

Later that night, after the party was over, Xiao Lee worried about many things. He thought about his life, his cultivation and the growing interest in him. He managed to console himself with the fact that even when news of his service was released, his weakness would make him far less significant.