Money wasn't something that had concerned me since I had first entered the Azure Tide Sect. The currency I traded in when I was Emperor was favors. Favors would get you things that mere money never could. However, in this world, and at this stage of my cultivation, money would allow me to buy the things I would need to advance.

  Obviously, through things like my fights at The Broken Mast, I could earn money directly. But that wasn't a good use of my time in the longer term. I needed to find a way to obtain money without having to earn it through my own sweat, and that meant running a business.

  As Emperor my enterprises had spanned the entire world. It was underpinned by my immense merchant navy, but I had fingers in many pies both on land and at sea, and an army of talented managers to run it all for me.

  To be very clear, I had no intention of starting a business of my own. It wasn't that I was incapable of doing so, and doing it successfully. Rather it was that it was a question of time. It would take longer than I had to grow something to the scale I needed if I was going to to buy cultivation aids I needed to defeat the Vanguard.

  However, Qin's Fresh Catch was big enough, yet also shambolic enough, that it might just give me what I needed.

  So, after my fights in the Broken Mast, while the city slept, I would slip into Qin's warehouse. Old Xu's office became my study. Night after night, I pieced together the true state of his business, bringing the most complex problems to Meiyu in my Silent Pagoda Archive.

  "The numbers don't align," she said one night as we were surrounded by the virtual copies of the ledgers that I had dictated to her. "Three shipments of premium catch are paid for, and they look like they're delivered, but they vanish from the inventory each month. The coin they should generate never appears in the accounts."

  "Old Xu is skimming to avoid tax I would guess, or someone is cheating him," I said. "But whoever's doing it, is doing it poorly. Let's keep digging to work this out."

  By the end of the week, I had a complete picture. The business was fundamentally sound but mismanaged to the point of collapse. It didn't help that at least one of his longest standing and most trusted employees appeared to be stealing from right under his nose without his noticing. Old Xu's lack of care for his own business combined with his gambling, theft, and incompetence had created a perfect opportunity for me.

  I closed the ledger and smiled in the darkness of the office. Tomorrow, after a night's sleep, I would approach Old Xu with my proposal. The first real step in establishing my power base in Shuilin Haven was about to begin.

  Dawn hadn't yet touched the horizon when I made my way down to the harbor. The air carried that peculiar mix of salt, fish, and wet rope that defined Shuilin Haven's waterfront. After nine days in this realm, I had grown accustomed to the scent, even found some comfort in its familiarity.

  I approached Qin's Fresh Catch and the warehouse still locked and dark. Perfect timing. After spending the previous night finalizing my review of Old Xu's accounts, I needed this moment of quiet to prepare.

  A sleepy vendor with a small cart had already set up nearby, selling cups of warmed wine to early risers. I purchased one, savoring the heat against my palms, and settled onto a barrel outside the warehouse.

  Closing my eyes, I slipped into my mindscape and found myself standing before my damaged, but slowly recovering, Silent Pagoda Archive.

  "Back so soon?" Meiyu's voice cut through the stillness as she walked up.

  "Today's the day," I said. "I wanted to check that the numbers work one last time."

  Meiyu looked over me as we walked over to the shelves where we had created copies of Qin's files in the archives. "This body is starting to shape up, at least. Not what we once were but the muscles are responding well to your training."

  "And the meridians are strengthening as well," I added. "We need both if we are going to get that core. But strength alone won't secure our position."

  "What does that Soul Mirror say."

  I had checked it for the first time in a while the night before to see what a week or so under this training regime had earned me so I had a ready answer.

  Name: Shen Taros

  Stage: Breakthrough. Tidesworn Pillars open

  Path: None

  Attributes: Body: 7 (+1) / Mind: 10 / Spirit: 10 (+1)

  Dao: None

  Titles: None

  Meiyu frowned as I shared those numbers with her.

  "That's pathetic," she said.

  "Please don't hold back, I can take it."

  "Well it is. A week's worth of training and that's where we are? If we continue like that for the rest of the year then, maybe, the Vanguard will have to use two fingers rather than just one to wipe us out."

  I sighed. "I know, I know. There just isn't enough of a challenge with what I'm doing. Even the limited ki I can put through my meridians without a core means that I've already got close to the limits of what I can get from training in the basement and in the fights at The Broken Mast."

  Meiyu gave a thoughtful nod. "Just not enough danger or challenge from most mortals even if they're skilled fighters."

  "Exactly."

  "And we already know that meditation is a safe, but incredibly slow, way to improve cultivation. Although, to be fair, that's more about fixing our meridians than growing our cultivation. Whatever we do now will be irrelevant when we create a core."

  I scratched my chin. "Honestly I think that as soon as I get my meridians sorted out I need to get my core."

  "Agreed. The sooner the better, there's no benefit to waiting. That tea we got from Mistress Cao will speed things up as well."

  "So, in the meantime, if I want to grow then either I start picking deadly fights with people stronger than me, or…"

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  "Or we buy some spirit treasures and potions to accelerate our growth." She nodded. "So why are we wasting time gossiping? Let's get to it."

  We spent what felt like a few hours going through everything we had learned from the books at Qin's Fresh Catch knowing that it would barely be any time in the real world. Everything looked like it was as we had thought the night before.

  "To put it bluntly," Meiyu said as we came to a end. "These accounts tell a story of remarkable incompetence. With some simple changes the losses could be stemmed almost immediately. But with proper management, the debt could be made manageable within a month, and it could be turning a real profit in two."

  "Enough to fund the spirit herbs and other items I'll need to accelerate through the stages of the Awakening Realm?"

  "In part, if we're frugal," she said with a pointed look. "The real challenge right now isn't fixing the business though, it's convincing Qin Laoxu to hand over control."

  I smiled. "Men like Old Xu understand two things: fear and profit. I'll offer him a taste of both."

  "Well good luck with that," Meiyu said, "subtlety has never been our strongest trait."

  "I'm learning," I replied. "I should be off then. Wish me luck."

  I opened my eyes as I returned to the harbor. No real time had passed and my wine still steamed in the cool morning air. The soft crunch of boots on gravel drew my attention to a sour-faced man stomping down the docks. Master Jiru, the manager responsible for receiving the fishing boats' catches for Qin's Fresh Catch, approached with his perpetual scowl firmly in place.

  He noticed me sitting outside the warehouse and narrowed his eyes. Today was his turn to open the business, and clearly, he hadn't expected company so early.

  He glared at me as he approached. "Bit early for deliveries."

  I nodded respectfully as I stood and came to stand next to him. "Just eager to start the day, Master Jiru. How's the gout?"

  He grunted something unintelligible as he fumbled with the lock. It took him longer to open it with the key than it did for me to pick it with a nail. I didn't wait for further conversation but slipped inside as soon as he swung the door open.

  Workers began trickling in as dawn broke over Shuilin Haven and I positioned myself on a wooden chair outside Old Xu's office. The early arrivals shot curious glances my way, but none bothered to ask what business I had sitting there.

  When Sarei arrived with the second wave of workers, her eyes found me immediately. Her scowl could have curdled milk. She marched over, tying on her apron as she walked.

  "What are you doing? Master Wei is already asking where you are."

  "Waiting for Old Xu," I replied calmly. "I have a business proposition for him."

  Her eyes narrowed. "More schemes? You promised you'd keep this job."

  "And I will. Trust me, sister."

  She gave me a look that said trust was in short supply, then returned to her station, shooting glances my way every few minutes.

  I closed my eyes and sank into Shoreline Stillness Focus. It was the third and last usable technique that Meiyu had found in the Archive. The meditation technique felt like greeting an old friend as it was the first I had learned at the Azure Tide Sect. My last body had outgrown it centuries ago, but there was something comforting about returning to these fundamentals in this one.

  Shoreline Stillness Focus was the technique that I had been using in the cellar in the mornings. I had left this morning before I could use it so I may as well pass the time waiting for Old Xu with something productive.

  I visualized gentle waves lapping against a shore, each one bringing ki into my body, each retreat pulling it through my meridians. Unlike Waves Take Down a Cliff, this technique demanded complete stillness and focus, but the reward was a stronger, more concentrated flow. With each cycle, I could feel my meridians pulsing as they expanded ever so slightly, like rivers gradually eroding their banks.

  Time slipped away as I meditated. The sounds of knives on cutting boards, shouts between the workers and the slap of waves against the docks all faded into the background.

  Nearly an hour passed before the unmistakable smell of stale alcohol and unwashed body announced Old Xu's arrival. I opened my eyes to see Qin Laoxu shuffling toward his office, eyes bloodshot, yesterday's clothes, including his ubiquitous blue sash, rumpled and stained. He didn't even glance my way as he pushed open his door and disappeared inside.

  I rose from my chair and straightened my shirt. Perfect timing.

  I followed him in without knocking. Time to change Qin Laoxu's world.

  * * *

  I followed Old Xu into his office and shut the door behind me. He jumped at the sound, nearly dropping the bottle of wine he was fumbling to open. His bleary eyes finally registered my presence.

  "What are…" he began, confusion washing over his pockmarked face.

  I stepped forward and plucked the bottle from his hands. "You can drink after we talk, Master Qin."

  His face flushed crimson. "Who do you think you…"

  "The Eight Claws Consortium," I interrupted as I set the bottle on his desk and held up a single finger. "The Pearl Harbor Exchange. Madam Yun's Investment Group. And, let's not forget Yin Chi's Golden Current." At each name I raised another finger.

  Old Xu's mouth snapped shut. His eyes darted to the closed door as if checking for eavesdroppers. He slumped into his chair, the fight draining from him.

  "What do you want?" he muttered, not meeting my eyes.

  "In total Qin's Fresh Catch owes forty-two gold tears, twenty-three silver fangs, and a handful of copper to these lenders." I traced my finger along the edge of his desk. "The total value of the assets in Qin's Fresh Catch is just under twenty gold."

  His eyes narrowed. I continued before he could speak.

  "At the same time, your business is making a loss of six and a half silver every day. And to be clear, that excludes the exorbitant interest being charged by the money lenders."

  Old Xu stared at me for a long moment, then his lips curled into a sneer. "You got a point, boy?"

  I leaned forward. "Master Qin, Let's talk plainly. As it stands, you have no way of paying your debts. Everything you tried to stem the bleeding has just made things worse. In fact, your debts are going to grow until the moneylenders take your business from you. But then, when they find out that the value of the business is less, far less, than what you owe them." I paused. "They're going to come after you personally and take it in blood."

  Old Xu's face drained of color, the permanent flush of cheap liquor replaced by fear. I let the silence stretch between us. Finally, I reached into my purse and placed a single gold tear on his desk. The coin gleamed in the dawn light streaming through the grimy window.

  Old Xu stared at it, his fingers twitching involuntarily. "What's this supposed to be?" he asked, unwittingly echoing the reaction that Yin Chi had when I had placed the money to repay our debt in front of him.

  "My offer," I said. "You have a problem with no solution. At least no solution until now. I'm prepared to buy Qin's Fresh Catch and take on all of the debt. In exchange, you get one gold tear." I tapped the coin with my finger. "We both know this is extremely generous considering your business is worth less than nothing at this point. Given that you had the business valued at a negative figure earlier this year you know it is far more than you'll get from anyone else."

  Old Xu's chair scraped against the floor as he stood abruptly. He drew himself up to his unimpressive height and puffed his chest out beneath his stained tunic.

  "Get out." He was trembling with rage. "How do you know any of that? Get out of my office. In fact, get out of my warehouse. You're fired." His fist pounded the desk. "You've been here a week. You think you can come in here and steal my family business? I don't know who's been talking to you, and I don't care. You're nothing but a thief and a swindler! And, and, a drunk."

  Wow. Me? A drunk? I believe that was called projection.

  I rose to my feet and carefully picked up the gold tear then flicked it in the air. Old Xu's eyes followed the coin, his fingers twitching again with desire.

  "My offer stands until the end of the day," I said, catching the coin and slipping it back into my purse. "I'll return then to hear your decision."

  "Don't bother." He spat out the words. "I'm not selling. Not to you. Not to anyone."

  I paused at the door and looked back at him. "Maybe you should go over the numbers yourself, Master Qin. Perhaps talk to some people who know what these moneylenders do to those who can't pay their debts." I let the implication hang in the air. "I'll be back this evening for your final decision."

  His face twisted with emotions and I closed the door behind me, leaving him alone with his thoughts.