After reaching the city tower, Shui and Kate were invited to the top floor, where Shui and the mayor met for the first time.
"Welcome, my benefactors. Firstly, I must thank you both for the aid you have offered during this incident."
Before Kate or Shui could respond, Mayor Henry gave a formal bow to express his sincere gratitude. This was the first time either of them had received such a greeting from someone of his strength and status, so they were caught off guard.
"Um, I accept your thanks, so that's enough. I only helped you to protect my family."
"That's right, Mayor. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement. We also thank you for doing your best for the city."
"It is only natural for a mayor to act in the best interests of his city. It's not much, but I've brewed some tea for us. Please have a seat and enjoy."
Once they accepted his thanks, the mayor raised his head and guided them to their chairs. While others in his position might attempt to save face, the mayor emphasised humility without sycophancy. This was one of the reasons why Shui respected him and trusted him to look after his family.
Once Kate and Shui were seated, the mayor sat last, and they all tried some of the tea.
"I see, it tastes nice."
Kate was the first to comment on the tea. From the smell alone she could tell that mutated flora was used to make the tea, and the quality wasn't low either since it could benefit her cultivation. Likely only core elders of major-level forces or those ranked higher would be able to enjoy tea like this.
"I think so as well."
"I'm glad my selection wasn't disappointing. This might be one of the few good decisions I've made recently."
"If this is about the Blaze Union, then there's no need to denounce yourself too harshly. From what Kate told me, it would have been difficult to prevent their infiltration unless you knew it was coming."
"Even so, had I acted decisively when I learnt of their suspicious movements, I could have limited the extent of the damage they caused."
Shui didn't know how many had died or been injured as a result of the Blaze Union's attack, but the mayor likely thought that the number was too high.
"There's no point in dragging your regret. You defeated them, right? Then you just have to make sure this doesn't happen again."
Kate was quite direct with her advice, but the mayor nodded in agreement.
"Yes, thanks to you two, I was able to get the rest of the Blaze Union to surrender. I've promised that those who were outside the city will be able to keep their lives, but I plan to hand them over to the other cities as prisoners."
"Hand them over? Why are you doing that?" Shui asked.
The remainder of the Blaze Union was comprised of relatively strong or talented cultivators, so there would certainly be some use Mayor Henry could get out from them, yet he claimed he would hand them over, and the way he said it suggested that he wasn't asking for anything in exchange. This baffled both Shui and Kate, but the explanation Mayor Henry gave cleared their confusion.
"Though I have them under control for now, they're still a powerful force. No one except for me will be able to hold their reins within the city. I considered turning them into slaves, but there's no doubt that many of those proud noble sons and daughters would accept death before dishonour and charge towards me. I could easily dispatch them, but I think it would be best to get them out of the city, especially if any among them have outside connections willing to fight for them."
"I see. Kate, do you know where the rest of the Lava Stream Sect is?"
"No. I think they're all heading to the central region, but I don't know what route each force is taking."
"Hopefully, they won't make a fuss about a group that split from them, but it could certainly become an issue in the future."
"Indeed. I can still rely on the other cities to confront outside threats, but I'm worried about what will happen after my time is up."
Sky Realm experts generally had a lifespan between 300 and 400 years, but based on the mayor's vitality, Shui judged that he had less than 50 years left, and each time he used his power, that time would be further shaved down.
"Do you have a successor?"
Usually he wouldn't pry into the personal affairs of the mayor, but this affected his family as well, so Shui felt that he had to ask.
"That's a tough question. I don't intend to avoid it; I've already set one of my grandsons to replace me if I die unexpectedly. He's a smart and thoughtful fellow, so I'm sure he'll be able to handle the duties of a mayor well. However, he..."
"Is he weak?" Kate asked straightforwardly.
Since she hadn't heard of him during the recent commotion, Kate guessed that he was either unfit to participate or a coward, but the way Mayor Henry described him made the latter option less likely.
"I wouldn't put it like that, but somewhat. He doesn't have the cultivation talent to take over as the successor of Cyrus. He's not lazy by any means, and there's a chance that he might reach my level at some point, but I don't see it as a possibility in the near future."
Shui had means of accelerating someone's cultivation progress, but unless the mayor's grandson had hidden talents, there would be a heavy price to pay.
"I can't say I'm not at least a bit disappointed, but I know that I'm at fault as well. Starting from the previous mayor, our bloodline talent has been degrading. Even I was only able to reach the Sky Realm thanks to a fortuitous encounter."
"Did something happen?"
"No, the Fei clan bloodline has simply become too diluted. The only way to solve our problem would be to introduce a powerful and compatible bloodline into our lineage. However, our customs make it very difficult to find such blood. Ah, my apologies for boring you by rambling on."
Shui and Kate didn't have any experience with Mayor Henry's problem, so there was little they could say on the matter. The Primordial Library did contain methods of strengthening one's bloodline, but those methods generally relied on rare materials and environments. There was no help Shui could offer, but the topic reminded him of something he wanted to ask.
"No, it's fine. By the way, the ancestor of your Fei clan is the founder of Cyrus, correct? Could you tell me the story of how the four cities of the Four Paths Region came to be?"
"Oh, you're interested in our history? Very well. Let me begin with the birthplace of the ancestor."
Mayor Henry started off by introducing a village in the Fern region where the Cyrus founder was born. The village wasn't prominent, but every family had a strong affinity for wind and used it to predict the weather so that they could better manage the farmland. However, the Cyrus founder thought that there was more that they could do with their talent, so he left the village to explore and seek inspiration. The previous mayor of Cyrus once searched for the founder's village in an attempt to address the issue of their waning bloodline talent but found that only scant traces of the place remained.
The Cyrus founder happened to find himself on the path of cultivation and reached the Soul Realm as a vagrant. He was skilled in both reading the wind and the hearts of people, so he rarely encountered trouble on his travels.
While investigating special wind-related phenomena, the Cyrus founder encountered a mysterious man meditating above a whirlpool formed in a lake. The moment he saw him, the Cyrus founder became enlightened and reached the cusp of touching upon the natural laws of wind despite being in the Soul Realm. Once he exited enlightenment, the mysterious man recruited the Cyrus founder as his disciple. At first the Cyrus founder was uncertain, as he greatly valued his freedom, but then the man promised that he could teach the founder how to use his talent properly and revealed his identity as the Theos clan progenitor, one of the most powerful Masters at the time.
"The Theos clan?"
Kate reacted to that familiar term, but Shui's expression barely changed as he confirmed his guess.
"Is there a problem?"
"No, we can talk about it after you're done."
Upon receiving Shui's assurance, Mayor Henry continued the tale.