Dual Cultivation God Returns-Chapter 1002: Fortunate to fall

"Welcome back, Young Master"

"Greetings, Valley Master"

Butler Bang and Song Minfu greeted Wu Long, acting as they always did, but there was visible shock in their eyes at his physical transformation, both adding in unison, "Congratulations on your breakthrough"

Though the latter’s face immediately became just a bit smug, thinking while Wu Long nodded to them, ’Heh, of course he has to make some more effort for my Lingfei...’

But then became a little melancholic as he thought about his daughter not visiting him as much as she used to in the Azure Eagle Empire. Back then she would come into his office every day. Even if he was very busy she still managed to sneak a moment from his day to meet her Dad.

’But then someone just had to come and take her away’, he thought with some still lingering resentment as his mood changed again into a grumpy one, which turned back into melancholy after a while.

While he was going through this myriad transformations of emotions all on his own, Butler Bang already began following Wu Long into the building housing the usual meeting room in the Soaring Feather Trading Company’s Silver Wing City branch, with Song Minfu belatedly coming to and trailing behind the two.

"Good work dealing with things in my absence. Anything big?"

"Not particularly. Things are largely progressing according to your predictions, Young Master. Deviations are minor"

"Yuanjie?"

"Handling things even better than we expected"

"Li Weifang?"

"Already returned from his mission after successfully completing it"

Butler Bang was giving short answers of only what Wu Long wanted to know urgently while following him, as the rest of details were in written reports.

"What do you think?", Wu Long sat down and turned an interested look to the old butler who once again refused to sit down, standing, but not behind the former’s back as during usual meetings with others, instead to the side, next to the table ready to provide answers.

Butler Bang placed a scroll and a jade slip on the table in front of Wu Long, the latter taking the scroll first and opening it to read while listening.

"He’s eager to prove himself useful. Volunteering for pretty much any menial task since there hasn’t been any new big ones you’ve assigned him, and I didn’t take the liberty in your absence. More resourceful and diligent than Guanting, but not as much as Old Yen. Obviously hardly has any overlapping qualities with Mr. Kwon. Overall, has a narrower range of specialities and talents, less versatile, but not purely a combat specialist. Time was limited so I cannot provide any more useful observations at this point"

"And?"

"Conclusive opinion is also hard to reach, but tentatively, I would say a bit lacking as an independent agent - certainly not on par with Mr. Zhao or his father Old Man Zhao, even though he has the strength to act alone. Unless, of course, the mission is straightforward with clear instructions like bodyguarding or making an ambush, not requiring much autonomous problem solving, there he would excel even as a standalone unit. You would probably want to observe more, but my recommendation for now is that he needs a partner to achieve highest effectiveness"

"What about pairing with Qian then?", Wu Long opened the scroll and began reading.

"Mr. Kwon already formed a very stable partnership with Old Yen and Guanting. While he and Old Yen are similarly more versatile, they have different expertise, a very symbiotic relationship. Guanting providing cover for their relatively limited combat abilities makes for an extremely well-balanced and versatile unit of three. Removing one of them severely undermines the unit’s capabilities at this point. When there’s a need for two groups, pulling Mr. Kwon away to pair with Mr. Li is a viable option, but not the best permanent arrangement in my opinion. And..."

"There is a question of their interpersonal relationships", hearing a pause tinged with hesitation, Wu Long raised his eyes again to Butler Bang with a smile.

"...yes", the latter wryly smiled, as if saying ’I cannot win against Young Master after all’, and adding further, "Although it is a bit weird to bring up friendships in relationship to duties, the trio of Old Yen, Guanting, and Mr. Kwon are a tight-knit, very compatible group with already solidified camaraderie and in-group relationship dynamics. Pulling one of them away to put with Mr. Li would likely pose a negative strain on developing relationships with the newcomer..."

"It’s not weird at all. That is the human aspect of any working group, and a very important one", Wu Long shook his head, returning his eyes to the scroll, "Besides, as you already said, pulling Qian away would certainly diminish their very effective cooperation. Even if with time there was a possibility of them adapting to new arrangements mentally and intersocially, you’re right, it’s not worth breaking up what’s working great to gain a bit more of something mediocre instead"

Butler Bang bowed, signifying his agreement.

"It seems I will have to keep an eye open for talents", Wu Long then noted in conclusion.

"Haha, someone in between Old Yen and Mr. Kwon would be preferable if we were to achieve Young Master’s vision, but I suppose that would be a hard find. I am afraid we would have to settle for whoever we encounter"

"Fair enough", Wu Long nodded, placing his hand on the jade slip while still reading the scroll. The scroll contained the rundown of events in the time he was in seclusion, as well as important and pertinent information, while the jade slip contained a vast array of more detailed reports from Wu Long’s direct followers.

Song Mingfu also had the same set of a scroll and a jade slip, only the latter was an even more massive collection of reports, from all levels of the Valley. But since his reports concerned administrative affairs of the Sect and not current developments, they weren’t as urgent and thus he just quietly sat down, waiting his turn while still thinking about his daughter.

However, Butler Bang’s and Wu Long’s conversation caused him to hesitatingly look up from the tabletop he was looking at.

"What is it?", Wu Long seemingly felt his gaze, turning his own from the scroll to him.

"That is... recently, Chu Ren has been doing work not very suited for him. As you know he has been my trusted right hand in the Empire, the hidden and overt hand that could wield both a writing brush and a sword for me. The administrative work I do now for the Valley does not really require such a hand... to be perfectly honest I think it is a waste of his talents. I would much rather have a team of clerks assisting me, while he...", Song Minfu didn’t finish, slightly awkward since he didn’t know if it was an appropriate suggestion.

"That is actually perfect, I was thinking how I would it bring up - you have been side by side for many years so I didn’t want to intrude on that relationship", Wu Long smiled, adding, "But he would be far more suited for sharing the burden with Butler Bang rather than sent out into the field with Li Weifang. If he is willing to work in that capacity, and your relationship would not suffer because of this transfer, we could try that arrangement"

Butler Bang slightly flinched, but didn’t show any other reaction, while Song Minfu’s eyes lit up, "Thank you, Valley Master. I will talk it over with him today. Please rest assured, while you two might have started on the wrong foot, he is a diligent and steadfast man. He will be of great help to you"

"Wrong foot?", Wu Long raised his eyebrow, and then, vaguely remembering Chu Ren might have been present at his first meeting with Song Lingfei, added with realization, "Oh that... umm, unless he holds a grudge I don’t think that would be a problem"

"Hahaha, he’s not going to hold that against you, Valley Master", Song Minfu waved his hand, in a much improved mood.

—-

After the meeting was done, when Song Minfu left the room, Butler Bang remained silent, but Wu Long didn’t get up to go anywhere, turning to him.

This caused the former to sigh, and after clearing his throat ask, "Are you unsatisfied with my performance, Young Master? You just need to say a word and I will put in more effort in remedying-..."

"Do you consider Chu Ren’s assignment to do the same duties as you do to be a sign of my distrust?", Wu Long shook his head, "On the contrary, I couldn’t be more satisfied with your work. It is Chu Ren who will be lacking for some time, you will have to mentor him for a while before he can achieve the same performance as you, and also since for the time being I cannot put the same trust in him as I put in you. I also don’t think you are not handling all your duties, requiring help. You are doing perfectly on your own"

"Then why...?", Butler Bang widened his eyes in confusion.

"Why do you think I need a second group aside from the trio of Old Yen, Guanting, and Qian? They are also doing their jobs perfectly, often exceeding expectations. But the vision I entrusted you to help shape is for a second unit with same versatility and roughly the same functions", Wu Long stood up and approached Butler Bang, "Yes, having more units that can act autonomously certainly gives more options and greatly expands reach, but that isn’t all"

"You... were worried that you could never effectively give any of them a vacation or...", Butler Bang spoke remembering why Wu Long gave him the mission to observe Li Weifang’s capability to form another unit, and then his eyes revealed a realization as he looked at Wu Long.

"What do you seek in life, Butler Bang?", Wu Long stopped in front of the butler, "You are excellent at doing your duties now, there is nothing I can nitpick even if I wanted to, and nothing more I could hope for, but serving me cannot be your whole life, can it?"

"Young Master..."

"I remember that back in the Wu Household of the Wood Spirit Empire, you had a small garden you liked to tend to, a small hobby of carving small wood figures of animals and sometimes sculpt stone...", Wu Long chuckled remembering how badly the stone statues looked, adding, "You also often told me while I was under your care that you regretted missing the time to build a small family of your own, that having me help in your garden was like having a grandson by your side"

Butler Bang’s eyes turned slightly red. He didn’t think Wu Long, the new Wu Long who came back to the Wood Spirit Empire and laid waste to the great noble family of the Wu Household with ease, the one who didn’t exhibit even a bit of frailty or weakness of old, remembered these details.

"I want more for you in life than just doing your job, Butler Bang. I want you, and not only you, but all those who follow me to find more meaning, to find happiness. What’s the use of a life that is only spent in serving the interests of another?" Wu Long sighed, and then added with a wry smile, "And where does that put me as the one leading if all that you all get from following me is work and more work? Don’t I get to enjoy life? Why should you be different?"

Butler Bang wanted to object, but Wu Long did not let him cut into his words just yet.

"Cultivation techniques, battle skills, rising cultivation, longer lifespan? Sure, but what do those give you? What does that longer lifespan give you? Why does it matter if all you do in life is work, train, fight, cultivate, and work again restarting the cycle, all so I could achieve my goals and give you more of the same as your rewards? There’s more than those things"

Wu Long’s tone became heavier as he spoke the next part...

"I’ve been to the top of the world. I’ve glimpsed the scenery there. And it was bleak. Behind all the pomp and splendor there is great emptiness. Here is a secret - a lot of the most powerful cultivators at the very pinnacle of the Seven Boundless Worlds lead a miserable existence. They sacrificed everything else to get there. And now, they have nothing left but eternal time filled with emptiness that they hide with power or authority, believing that indulging in empty pleasurable things is what happiness is. You’d think they could start filling that void now, but they don’t. Because they sacrificed even that which made one capable of filling that void, capable of caring if that void was filled at all. Every time they climbed a step toward their power and position, there was a piece of them lost, every time they triumphed, there was less of them left. Because that was their single focus, only moving up was important to them while everything else was secondary, and thus could be discarded, cut off, sacrificed, left behind and forgotten. And now they are empty husks. There is nothing of substance behind their existence. I don’t want that to be your fate"

Butler Bang gulped, suddenly feeling like an ancient being was revealing a great secret to him, a revelation that made him shudder.

"It might feel like it will be different for you. That you can build up happiness after. If you just reach that goal while not caring about building it today. But it will not. You have to find meaning now, on the way up, and hold on to it tight, protecting it at all costs, even at the cost of moving up slower. And I know because I was there. I was almost one of them. I almost became that same empty husk, because I reached that spot by leaving bits and pieces of myself on the way up just as they did. I cared about climbing that ladder. I was a mighty cultivator with status, fame and power. But there was no color in the world around me. My heart was void of real attachments apart from a handful that I was too afraid to truly face and act on. And everything that ’felt good’ was just entertainment to avoid seeing that void. I was just incredibly fortunate to fall from there and see it"

Wu Long sighed again, releasing the intensity to once again speak with a more tranquil demeanor next.

"Finding meaning and living a life of substance requires time. And time is incredibly precious. Time can be hard to carve out when in your position, in the position of any of us, any cultivator trying to do what we are trying to do. We are in a cultivation world, a minute of rest stops work that should not be stopped, and could cost a lot of already spent efforts to go to waste. That’s why you need help"