Cade and Gorgo sat in Cade’s room with a couple of clay jugs of wine, watching a large image of Sacrament City floating above the table. This was the best map spirit crystals could buy, and its level of detail surpassed anything Cade had seen before, approaching the quality of Master Lao Ren’s projections.

  “Chi Chi’s Pleasure Parlor. ‘Where your wildest dreams come true, as long as your pockets can afford it’,” Cade snickered, centering the light projection on an octagonal building surrounded by tall, thick walls crowned with red shingles.

  The map zoomed in, magnifying the area Cade had highlighted. The bird's-eye view of the city dissolved, replaced by a detailed image of a grand, six-story pagoda adorned with dozens of glowing red lanterns.

  “Madame Chi Chi caters mostly to nobility, but as long as you have enough crystals, you are more than welcome, regardless of status, sex, or preferences. I’ve heard she prides herself on providing entertainment to match anyone’s tastes, no matter how weird or vile. It’s all just a matter of crystals. Griswold usually flies there twice a week, even when he’s staying in Kettle,” Cade said, providing Gorgo with a quick overview.

  “Damn. Madame Chi Chi’s girls must be something else for him to visit so often, especially considering there’s a huge red-light district in Kettle. Maybe we should research that place more… thoroughly,” Gorgo suggested with an impish grin, taking a sip of wine.

  Cade’s wide smile reflected his brother’s. “Apparently he’s infatuated with one of the prostitutes. She’s supposedly quite beautiful, and that’s coming from Veronica.”

  Cade summarized what else he had learned from Marius’s daughter before laying out his simple plan.

  “I’ll wait until it’s dark and fly to the pagoda’s roof. Then I’ll climb down and observe from the overhang. The shingles are brown. Wearing a brown robe and with a little bit of luck, I should be unnoticeable from a distance. Once Griswold gets busy, I’ll place a few sleeping gas pills inside the room, enough to knock out a young ogre. When the pills do their job, I’ll grab him, and then you’ll fly down and pick up his murderous, pockmarked arse. I’ll climb back up and follow you.” Cade sent a trickle of qi into the map slip, bringing back the bird’s-eye view of the city as he pointed out their flight path.

  “I assume taking him down mid-flight somewhere over the Verdant Sea is not viable?” Gorgo asked.

  “Griswold owns an Arrow Nine. It’s top of the line; you can’t even buy them in Kettle. You have to order them directly from the Gold Coast. He only resorts to using flying discs when he has people to transport, as a barge would be too slow and conspicuous, not to mention its huge drain on crystals. Unless you fancy waiting a few weeks and spending over 20,000 crystals on a new flier just to match his speed, it’d be easier for us to snatch him from the Parlor.”

  “A fair point. What about other patrons? What if someone powerful notices you?”

  “Once Griswold is in your hands, I’m fairly confident in making it out of there. Besides, most cultivators aren’t that willing to interfere for no benefit. If I’m really unlucky and there happens to be someone in True Core, I can detect them before they notice me. After all, only Soul Avatar cultivators can use soul sense. Then we’ll just have to try our luck another night. I don’t really have a death wish,” Cade shrugged, a helpless smile on his face.

  “Any defensive formations we have to worry about?”

  “Not to my knowledge. The merchant I bought the map from claims there is nothing stopping us from flying over Sacrament City. The only people who travel by air are either nobles or higher-ranked disciples from the Sword Sacrament Sect headquarters—that golden ziggurat near the city’s center—and occasionally, some unaffiliated cultivators. I’ve been to the city many times, and everyone ignores the fliers zipping quietly over their heads. As long as we keep a low profile and don’t cause trouble, nobody should bother us.”

  “Fine. I admit your plan is simple and straightforward, which I like,” Gorgo conceded. “That being said, a little extra power wouldn’t hurt. Aren’t you a step away from advancing?”

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  “I am, and I’m not. That step is more like a chasm,” Cade sighed with disappointment, shutting down the projection. “My cultivation has deviated. I seem to get more strength with every bit of progress, but each advancement is a big drain on resources. Finding high-ranked spirit beasts is nearly impossible around Kettle.”

  Gorgo nodded with understanding. “The spiritual density in this part of the continent makes it difficult to advance past the equivalent of the great circle of Qi Condensation. There are no large spirit veins around. Unless your aptitude is amazing, you’ll need a lot of pills. I’ve heard the majority of local beasts require four, sometimes five decades to reach Rank 2. With the number of people hunting them for cores, it’s not surprising you can’t find any.”

  Gorgo was always happy to share his knowledge, and Cade was happy to listen. When it came to learning, Gorgo was a scholastic demon. His mind devoured information, and he remembered everything as long as he tried. He could memorize an entire cultivation art, including the complicated diagrams, with a single glance. This was why he was so good at haggling; he remembered all the current prices at different vendors and knew the exact value of his goods. He could get the best possible price each time.

  Gorgo continued, “Compared to you, I have it much easier. Xia’lah sits on a massive spirit vein, not inferior to some of the largest in the south. It should be more than enough for me to quickly progress through Foundation Establishment. Assuming they actually let me into the city, that is.”

  When Gorgo focused on cultivation, his rate of advancement was ridiculous. He was a natural-born cultivator, extremely talented. The Asura had no doubt his gray brother could reach the great circle of Foundation Establishment in a couple of years, likely much sooner.

  “Worst-case scenario, you’ll buy your way in. Griswold is definitely not poor, so we should be good on funds for a while,” Cade comforted Gorgo, who saw the dark elf capital as his only hope of discovering his roots.

  “Ah, whatever. I’ll get inside one way or another. No point worrying about it now.” The giant smiled, finishing his wine. He then stood up and stretched his massive back. If the chair he’d been sitting on had a mouth, it would have surely sighed in relief.

  “Alright, I’ve got some more reading to do. Deciphering these new manuscripts is a pain in the arse. Let me know when it’s time. Hopefully, after everything is done, your soul will have some peace,” Gorgo said.

  “Even if it doesn’t, it’s alright. Griswold Brightheart racked up an enormous karmic debt, and it seems fate has placed me on his path to collect on it. I promised he will understand what living a life worse than death truly means, and I intend to deliver in full,” Cade stated with conviction. For the first time, he spoke of Griswold without allowing his anger to take control.

  Fascinated by the idea of karma, he had been reading a lot of ancient philosophy during his long cultivation sessions, and at some point, he had begun to look at these matters from a different angle. If he failed, would another like him come after Griswold and his father? He was inclined to believe so. It was as if karma wanted to return what was given, though usually took its damn time doing so. People like these two Brighthearts weren’t destined to have a good death. Whatever the case, Master Lao Ren behaved as if karma was unquestionably real, so he had to assume it was.

  All these thoughts flashed through his mind, taking less than an eyeblink to process.

  Knowing that Gorgo only wished him well, Cade hastily offered a thankful smile. Having people you could trust was priceless. Gorgo simply nodded in acknowledgement, as he wasn’t big on the idea of karma. His primary concerns were to discover his roots, maybe even find relatives. He preferred numbers and facts, rarely wasting time on philosophy. His big hand lightly patted Cade’s shoulder in a gesture of support, then he left.

  After the door shut, Cade found himself sitting at the table, his thoughts continuing to shoot off in random directions. He pulled out the shortsword he had received from his Master and ran a hand along the flat of the blade. He always wondered why the ancient Asura had given him this specific weapon. Was there anything special about it? It certainly didn’t appear so.

  Maybe he was short on longswords.

  Like he had done many times before, Cade swung the little sword a few times, trying to sense anything unique about it, then with mild disappointment sent it back into the ring. Not knowing what else to do, he collapsed onto his bed. He was restless, a weird sense of unease pressing at the back of his neck, yet he couldn’t comprehend why. Griswold’s power was nothing special. Even if he had some additional tricks up his sleeve, Cade had backup in the form of mighty Gorgo the Gray.

  After arriving at the great circle of Qi Condensation, Gorgo’s physical strength had shot up to another level entirely. The middle-stage Rank 1 man-eating ape they had fought what felt like ages ago now wouldn’t have survived a casual swing from the giant’s broadsword. His potential in body refinement was probably monstrous, and Cade had even suggested he should switch paths, but the giant wasn’t interested. He said his current path was exactly what he felt he should follow.

  Cade’s mind circled back to the present matters.

  How good would it be to capture Griswold on the first night?

  Embracing that final thought, he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

  What a professional plan. Foolproof. No chance for anything to go wrong! Right? Right?!