If elders and core disciples were the heart of Sword Dao Monastery, then the Housing and Maintenance Division was the citadel’s soul. Other than employing a huge number of servants, they were responsible for setting up and managing all the practical formations integrated into the citadel.

  Things that most disciples took for granted, like the ever-present light from the sunstones, the convenience of running water, or the privies that turned anything that fell inside into ash—they all made life on the mountain not only comfortable but, in many cases, luxurious. These people had the tough and thankless job of ensuring everything worked as intended.

  After paying the division a visit the day after his fight, Cade found out his new house would be ready in a couple of days. There was no surplus housing in the inner court; there were 400 units and exactly 400 disciples. All of Tiarsus’s belongings had to be removed, and then the whole house would be cleaned from top to bottom, including making all necessary repairs and replacements.

  But he wasn’t in a rush. King had made an agreement with one of the high-profile hunting groups in Tower Oasis. After the fight, he and Brickwall went to meet their new contacts, returning to provide Cade with the details. They seemed to have secured a solid deal.

  “I got it done, Boss!” King beamed, puffing out his chest. “Five late stage Rank 3 carcasses, all big, fat, and juicy. The hunters weren’t keen on lowering the price, but how often do they get to sell so many expensive carcasses in a single transaction? I just kept reminding them that having half a million crystals is better than not having it.” He winked. “They’re still tracking one of the beasts and should return with its corpse within two days, tops.”

  Cade found the ex-bandit's words quite amusing. King had apparently decided “Boss” was obtaining the carcasses for some sort of culinary cultivation art.

  All those creatures had decent bloodlines, and even a common Rank 3 corpse would rarely sell for less than 120,000 spirit crystals. The price was a result of scarcity and immense personal risk. Typically, two to four True Core or Muscular Enhancement experts had to work together just to safely take down a single early stage creature.

  Fortunately, when it came to negotiating prices, King had the drive and persistence of a wolf chasing weakened prey. For his 500,000 crystals, Cade would get five large corpses filled to the brim with highly potent blood. He’d still be able to sell them after draining them, recovering roughly a fifth of his investment.

  The day after his victorious duel, Grandmaster Erendriel invited him over for a short chat. He officially congratulated his in-name disciple on the advancement but also didn’t fail to mention that this rate of progress within the Sword Dao structures was well within his expectations.

  Cade did mention that he planned on going into seclusion for the next two months. This was the amount of time he estimated was necessary for him to reach the peak of the early stage of Flesh Fortification. In truth, this was mostly a guess. Late Rank 3 blood was extremely powerful, but his prismatic spherules were equally greedy.

  "Cultivate quickly. There is a huge opportunity coming up, and raising your realm is paramount," Erendriel said, smiling mysteriously.

  The Asura spent the next two days sleeping and training. He began learning Four Faces of War and trying to combine it with Feral Path and the Law Severing Art. It instantly became obvious why average disciples had no chance of ever mastering this sword style, not unless they drastically advanced their cultivation. It required a combination of speed, agility, and strength that even Muscular Enhancement cultivators would find very taxing. After all, it was created for elite Asura soldiers.

  The titular four faces referred to four ways of controlling the enemy in melee combat: bleeding, crippling, maiming, and killing. Every move had a clear purpose, a brutal philosophy designed to eliminate the opposition from the battlefield as quickly as possible. Killing them was always the goal, the best possible outcome. If that wasn’t possible, maiming was the next best option, disabling them and delaying their recovery. If you couldn’t maim, you crippled, reducing the enemy's ability to move or attack. And when even that wasn’t on the cards, a single bleeding nick on an artery could turn the momentum of the entire fight. Combined with Feral Path’s anti-clotting diagram, it could force an opponent with a prior advantage into an outright retreat.

  It was a practical and savage combat style, one that took full advantage of the Asura physiology and their various blood arts. When combined with War Form, it promised a vivid spectacle of carnage. Cade had no doubt that mastering it would turn him into a walking nightmare for his enemies. However, after a mere thirty hours with the style, he could already tell that he had a long road ahead.

  Grandmaster Erendriel reluctantly promised he could spend any future assignment points he earned to train with him, even though Saints practically never worked with disciples below the core level. This perspective excited him greatly, as the elf’s understanding of Four Faces of War must have been truly deep. Erendriel never directly mentioned his age, but he alluded several times to being quite old for a Soul Avatar expert in the late stage. Human cultivators in the fourth tier typically lived between 3,000 and 5,000 years, depending on their stage—and elves likely lived even longer. This kind of enormous knowledge and experience was absolutely priceless to a young cultivator like himself.

  A knock on the door pulled Cade out of his thoughts.

  “Boss, it’s us.”

  He let Reeve and King into his crammed quarters.

  “Shit, your room is even smaller than mine,” Brickwall remarked. “You’ll be moving out soon anyway, you lucky bastard,” he added with a grin, suspiciously eyeing a small chair before carefully sitting down.

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  Not all outer dorms were of identical size, but the differences weren’t great.

  “We’ve got all five carcasses, and everything went smoothly. These hunters are in it for the long run; this is their home and hunting is how they fund their cultivation. It makes them quite reliable,” King noted, passing a plain silver ring to Cade.

  The Asura briefly checked the contents, smiling with satisfaction.

  “Thank you, this is exactly what I needed. Now, as I’ll be entering seclusion, I have a favor to ask—nothing big. Please check on Jade from time to time and let me know if Castien makes any moves. By the way, have you found out anything about him?” Cade asked.

  Reeve gave King a meaningful glance, and the latter sighed.

  “Boss, I spoke to quite a few people—casual conversations, nothing that'd appear suspicious. It seems his dominance in the Low Ladder is largely a result of his insane speed and reaction time, not so much strength. But the thing is, nobody quite understands how he can move so abnormally fast. Our best guess is that he’s inherited some kind of forgotten body enhancing technique for qi cultivators. Reeve had a suspicion Castien found some way to access bloodstones directly from his storage ring and even checked his fights to confirm if he was burning blood qi.”

  Cade’s brows raised, and he turned his gaze to Reeve.

  “Correct. As long as he did it in very small amounts - at crucial moments of the fight - he could start recovering immediately and potentially get away without damaging his foundation. I had an idea to look into his duels. In Sword Dao, each fight is recorded by the arena formations. Judges can check those records in case they thought some clever cheating method might have escaped their notice,” Reeve explained. “I paid a few crystals to one of the disciples who works in the arena archives and watched all of Castien’s fights. It’s probably worth mentioning I dueled a lot in Hak Fu. Nearly everything we did was centered around cultivating and fighting. I can recognize when someone’s burning blood qi; they have a fervent, almost mad look in their eyes. I didn’t notice anything like that with Castien. Bastard is just really fucking quick.”

  Cade nodded thoughtfully. “So the guy is either a genius or has something that makes him appear as such. Why do you think he’s so interested in Jade?”

  King thought it best to take over.

  “Boss, Castien’s a known womanizer. No surprise there—he’s handsome and obviously very talented. It might be that he’s pursuing her like…” King paused, searching for the right expression. “...like a sated lion who spots a fine gazelle at the edge of his vision. He might be chasing her for the thrill, not necessarily out of hunger.”

  “He seems to take this place very seriously and considers himself a mentor figure. It’s unlikely he’d risk his position to do something stupid. Jade said she has learned a lot from him. As long as she doesn’t leave the monastery alone, she should be fine,” Reeve added.

  “Alright. Since you two haven’t managed to come up with anything after doing serious digging, it’s unlikely I will. Once my house is ready, I’ll enter seclusion. In case anything suspicious happens, please let me know through the token. Thank you both, again.”

  Reeve and King said their goodbyes, and Cade left to pay another visit to the Housing and Maintenance Division.

  Evening had fallen by the time the Asura arrived at the dark metal gates set into a seven-foot brick fence capped with red shingles. Behind the wall was Tiarsus’s old house, now belonging to him. The gates were forged of darksteel—light and durable. Neither the gates nor the fence were supposed to prevent intrusion but rather just served to clearly mark off private areas and provide some basic privacy.

  He used his token to enter and took a moment to look around. The house was two stories tall, built of dark stone and weathered wood, its style unfamiliar but solid. The roof sloped low and wide, with curled edges that gave it a slightly exotic look. Glass windows lined the walls—tall and narrow, most of them obscured with heavy curtains. A faint shimmer around the building suggested built-in defensive measures. Two carved columns flanked the entrance, holding up a jut of roof that shaded the steps. The wood was old but well-maintained, marked with symbols and scenes he couldn’t quite place, likely from Sword Dao’s extensive history.

  Overall, the house had an ancient feel. All other units on the level appeared to be of similar, but not identical style, as if they were built—or rebuilt—at different eras.

  The garden was serene. A small round pond, no more than ten feet in diameter, had a bench next to it, surrounded by a few weathered daoist sculptures. There were several small bushes and two stone paths: a short one leading to the entrance and a longer one that twisted and disappeared behind the house.

  Just as he was about to enter the building, the heavy wooden door opened, and a young girl wearing brown martial robes stepped out. She immediately performed a customary bow and cupped her fist. She couldn’t have been older than seventeen.

  Surprisingly, the girl wasn’t a mortal, but rather a body refiner in the sixth stage of Qi Saturation. Her hair was dark, curly, and long, with a healthy luster, while her skin was surprisingly pale; she probably didn’t spend much time outside the citadel. She had a pretty face—not outstandingly beautiful, but still very pleasant to look at, with emerald green eyes and a dusting of freckles. Her build was lithe and athletic, with long, toned legs and arms—a fighter’s physique. Cade had no doubt she trained hard when she wasn’t working.

  “Greetings, Senior. My name is Lucretia Viridis, and I have been assigned as your personal servant. If you allow me, I’ll look after you and your home. Anything you need, please don’t hesitate to ask,” she said, her young and melodious voice a little tense. He didn’t need to see her emotional fluctuations to tell she was very nervous.

  “It's a pleasure to meet you, Lucretia. My name is Cade Ward, but you can call me Cade. Is it alright if I call you Lucy?” he asked, offering her his best smile.

  “Of course! Senior can call me however he likes. I… I don’t mind it. Truthfully, it’s what my mother used to call me,” she blushed slightly.

  “Really? Well, that seals it then,” Cade’s smile widened. “Lucy, your accent sounds familiar. Are you, Castien and Tiarsus from the same place?”

  Lucretia’s body tensed momentarily, then she slowly nodded.

  “Yes, Senior. I was born in Carpathian Peak.”

  “I know next to nothing about it. Is it a city? A mountain?” Cade asked curiously.

  Lucy smiled faintly, a flicker of longing in her eyes.

  “It’s a big human city at the base of a huge mountain—the largest one in Carpathia. It’s far to the east. For outsiders, there’s probably not much of interest there, but for me… it’s home,” she answered, the nervousness leaving her voice for a moment as sadness took over. Her shoulders slumped slightly.

  “I’m sorry. You’ve probably been away for a long time.” Cade didn’t know her relation to Tiarsus but doubted they shared any familial ties. It was more likely she was all alone here.

  “No, no. I’m sorry, Senior. I chose to come here. I do miss home sometimes, but life there… isn’t easy,” Lucy straightened her posture, her hands clasping nervously.

  “Oh? Did you come here because Carpathia is tough to live in? Sorry, I really don’t know anything about your home.”

  Lucy’s gaze turned somber, her jaw tensing, but she quickly recovered her neutral expression.

  “Yes, Senior. Carpathian Peak is constantly harassed by the forces of Death Dao—or as we call them, the undead.”