clean up

Ji Li calmed down very fast, in mere seconds he came back from his cold and fierce shouting expression to his usual relaxed and cold face. It looked like all was but an act as he simply sat down in his char and looked to Shixuan "Go out and tell both guards of mine to bring the statue to the servant yard." Ji Li paused as he took out two small shining stone "Take these Essence Stones and put them in the middle of the flower bud. Your guards should follow behind mine and make all the servants that went out today to deliver messages to young masters touch the thorns on the flowers after the essence Stones were put in the bud. 

They will experience a much shorter and painless death compared to the steward, but they have to be punished to know where their loyalty should lay."

Shixuan unconsciously nodded as he went out, still shocked but he wouldn't say anything till he did what he was told, knowing it wasn't the time to ask.

"Qianyu, go out and use the communication tool to contact the Eunuch Mission Hall. Report to them that the Middle Essence Awakening Stage steward they send was punished for accepting bribery and hiding the truth in front of an Intermediate Eunuch. Everything that happens during a mission will be taken care of by them, so you don't have to contact any other Palace. Just make sure that you also tell both elder brothers about this, so they won't be too surprised later on." Ji Li continued to make the necessary arrangements after the murder, so he wouldn't be found faulty.

Qianyu also went out and to a nearby room, the space around Ji Li. The guards came in and were shocked to the core when they saw the frozen statue, but they kept quiet in fear that they would experience the same. Just touching the statue gave them some cold from the residual essence, scaring them. But as they were Essence Awakening cultivators, they wouldn't die as soon as they got a bit of that energy into their system. The case of the steward dying was just because he was utterly mentally defeated and physically unresistant for far too long.

All guards left and the room around Ji Li was very empty once again. He only used his ability to reverse the frozen effect on the grass at the ground, cleaning all evidence of a murder in the process.

Everything happened very quick, barely five minutes passed, so naturally Rong Xi was still wandering deeply in the garden, looking around a bit as he thought to himself.

…

Ten minutes later, Shixuan and Qianyu came back and reported, Ji Li looked at them and knew they wanted to have a few answers, so he only smiled as he explained "I wasn't truly angry, something like that wouldn't make me at all. Although no one would say anything even if I kept quiet and just let him die, I wanted you both to experience how I will act when I punish someone.

I know you were shocked, but you can't be in front of others, and you know that. So just take this as a test run for the real deal, later you both will have to keep them down while I punish them. Rarely is someone so stupid to really not resist punishment, but I guess that's just how good the teachings of the Servant Hall are. Barely resisting only at deaths door.

Don't worry, I didn't kill him randomly, he truly did take bribes. Make sure to check all his quarters later with your guards and take all of his possessions, we can add that to the prize pool, wouldn't hurt to let a few lower ranks experience our generosity. They might decide to take residency here, who knows? Also, if you have to do such a situation on your own, don't hesitate.

Sure, murder is a bad thing, but someday the Junior Eunuch that would be assigned here would suffer because the steward sees himself as too much of a lord. Don't forget when he wanted to greet you while exposing his cultivation, he wanted to make the positions clear.

We have warned him more than enough, and he was even praised when he did well, there is no reason for you guys to feel bad about it. I know that it hit you badly but think back to how it would have been if he took in bribery from a dangerous figure and told them when you would be leaving the Branch Yard. You have to understand the danger, and we the Eunuch Palace accept a few mistakes, we are good natured after all. But corruption is always punished by death."

After explaining so much, it was nearly time for Rong Xi to reappear, so they waited. He arrived shortly after with a determined look in his eyes. From that alone, Ji Li and the others already knew his decision. Afterall, he would be more nervous than determined if he wanted to reject.

They still waited and let him speak it out loud. So, shortly after Rong Xi arrived next to them, he knelt down as he said "May the emerald tree shine forever, for I shall take your protection as I vow to serve and protect his esteemed self, Eunuch Ji Li. I vow with the life of all my brethren and the walls of my home to never betray nor fail in my servitude."

Ji Li nodded as he said "May the emerald tree shine forever, I, Eunuch Ji Li of the Eunuch Palace accept your loyalty on behalf of all my younger and older brothers, for you and your brethren shall serve not me but the palace that protects you from now on. You may stand up, Vassal Rong Xi of the Ferrarius City." Both shined emerald, green for a second, it was an oath signed by oneself, the promise of their blood and the witness of a higher stage. Shortly after, Ji Li took out a small jade box. It gave away a very strong wooden and natural energy, making it alluring for all to eat.

Rong Xi instantly knew what it was, and ever cell of his body wanted to take the box and swallow it without even opening it. Ji Li didn't wait long as he opened the box that arrived secretly and was taken by Shixuan to him. The fruit inside still looked the same, but he didn't take it out and just presented it to Rong Xi as he told him "You may take the Nature's Gift. Take it now, I will guard you. The essence here is much denser than even in your workshops, so you need not worry about missing anything. As I am your master from now on, I will at least make sure that your transition is safe."

The town chief understood and took the box as he looked shortly before he consumed the fruit. He didn't fully feel safe, but theoretically, the safest place would be with Ji Li in the branch yard, so he just accepted the situation.

The fruit seeped into his body as the energy spread through to the Essence Field. His essence was by far larger than Ji Li's, but it was missing the object in the middle of it. Seemingly the core wasn't there. Without the core, an Essence Awakening stage cultivator would only be able to use their Essence to have a general representation of their Attribute, being nothing unique.

The newfound energy made the Essence Field grow and expand as the Essence accumulated and formed a whirlpool in the middle of it. Outside, there was another whirlpool that sucked in all the Essence in the surroundings, weakening the formation in the process. Still, there was more than enough Essence, so the outside world hadn't realised anything.

Inside of the Essence Field, Rong Xi felt that all the Essence contracted as it formed a small object in the middle of the field, as if it was the core of it. He saw the object and instinctively understood, so he went out. He saw Ji Li looking at him without saying anything. Without thinking too long, he said "My previous awakened Attribute was 'Metal' and my now awakened Talent is 'Mineral Accumulation', I can pull the mineral from the surroundings towards my location and condense them as much as I want, as long as there is enough Essence."

Ji Li was more than surprised. Sure, every Talent was equally important and only had different usages, but this talent was more than good for him! His vassal, the person that just swore his loyalty to him, awakened a three-way fantastic talent! 

- First of all, he can gather the minerals and make sure that the ground he's below has more minerals. As his Attribute is metal, it meant that mainly ores and such would gather. That is a very useful ability that can change normal landscapes to mineable ones!

- The second is the ability to find mineral rich places! Naturally, metal attribute awakeners are more sensitive, but Rong Xi might just gather the minerals from tens of meters below the ground. Even higher ranked cultivators might not be that able to feel it if it wasn't their attribute. The ability will also be strengthened based on the cultivation.

- The last ability is to condense! It is a very strong ability, especially if it's about minerals! If he condensed many minerals into a Metal Vein, a vein like construct underground in which one could find many ores. But the better part is, even non-metal minerals, such as coal, could be condensed and become diamonds, naturally there were other such minerals that would become useful.

At least the first ability would be known to Rong Xi, and the second wouldn't be too difficult to make out either. But Ji Li was sure that Rong Xi wouldn't know of the third, so he explained all abilities he understood from the simple explanation Rong Xi provided, to which Rong Xi nodded thankfully. He understood on his own that Ji Li had more experience with Talent, so he didn't feel bad about it.