Gradually Ludwig's cultivation rose, when he reached the 3. Level of Qi Refining, he reached a small bottleneck, so he started learning the arts he had neglected somewhat after getting them. The first he wanted to learn was actually the whip mastery, because he had a great idea he wanted to put into reality.
For the Qi-Refining stage, there is a simple move in the whip art he learned. It was a training of sorts till he entered actual cultivation at the foundation establishment realm. Ludwig thought it looked funny because he had to use a whip and form a circle in the air, no extras, just make it seem like it's a lasso instead of a whip
How easy this is… would have been anyone's first thought, but for Ludwig, he knew this was probably one of the most difficult moves and only possible because he had the body of a cultivator. A whip is a tool with which you hit people directly, at most you curl around them, but keeping this curl the whole time? Not possible through usual ways.
Since this was the basics, Ludwig had to learn it of course, and he did. It fit well into his muscle training since he had to do a lot of movement to reach the state where his whip would keep being in a curled state without uncurling on its own.
…
Time flew by as Ludwig kept on practicing. He didn't lose his focus nor neglect his studies in the school. At this point, they were teaching him about basics of cultivation and other things he needed to know in this world. In all honesty, most of it was wasted on him, so he got a free pass for most of the time as long as he attended the exams and absolved them properly.
When a year passed, Ludwig was once again invited to the birthday banquet of the third young master. Naturally it was less spectacular than last time. After all, the clan head and several other elders can't be bothered with every birthday. No, the last one was somewhat special because it was secretly speculated that the third young master would go and open a branch in the near future. Leaving was supposed to be somewhat secret, so a celebration wouldn't be held for that.
No, if children with a large background leave, a celebratory event such as a birthday will be used as an excuse for a last large banquet where the important family members attend.
This time, Ludwig received an invitation directly, not only from one but from two places. The first is obviously the little prince who invited him personally, meaning the young master Ye had accepted Ludwig's unique swear of loyalty, while the other was from the Steward Palace that told him to go there as a representant of theirs.
The second was somewhat surprising to Ludwig, because representing the Steward Palace, at such an event, even if it wasn't as great as the one last year, would fall into the job of true stewards of the clan.
Although many people are called stewards, there are two keys that differentiate them. They are either Branch-Stewards or Clan-Stewards. Branch-Stewards are like Ludwig, as long as they finish their studies and enter the foundation establishment realm, they are accepted as real stewards, their authority in their respective branch is second only to the branch head, per branch only a limited amount of stewards are allowed to exist, because they have a real authority in the clan and the branch.
Even in the clan, they have certain rights, obligations and benefits, and this is regardless of their cultivation stage. The Clan-Stewards are called the 'True Stewards' for a very important reason, they are on the rank of a Low-Level Clan Leader, their power equal to an elder of the clan.
To reach this this rank, Branch-Stewards have to attain the cultivation, while clan servants have to meticulously serve the clan and advance their cultivation with their meager resources. One can imagine how large the gap between True Stewards and not even a proper Branch-Steward but a Steward-In-Training!
'The Grand Elder puts a lot of pressure on me…' Ludwig was thinking 'but this also means he has high hopes as well as expectations. As long as I fulfil them, it won't be an issue. As for not fulfilling them, that is a question better left unanswered.'
Ludwig used his clan contribution points and bought fancy clothing, he worked the violin gifted to him and made sure it was fine, then he went to the entrance of the steward palace. When he arrived there, he hung the 'Steward Palace Envoy' plaque on his robe, instantly two people came to him, cupped and introduced themselves.
"Custodian Lee and Custodian Hu pay respects to the Envoy!"
Ludwig looked at the two women who looked to be of young age, around mid-twenty, but he was sure they were at least five times that age, cultivators, especially female cultivators, would always look young. Male cultivators have different values and looking old made one look wiser, so most male cultivators would not stop their natural aging once they settle down.
For Ludwig, this wasn't really something he cared for. No woman would ever make him feel like how he felt with his wife, so he didn't think much of the young women's appearance, nor how they bowed down slightly too much. 'If I killed her, they'd be difficult to remove, maybe I can try to feed them to some animal, yeah they should have good proteins, and the monsters of this world don't care about what they eat…'
This was just an unconscious thought, but the two ladies felt murderous intent coming from the young man in front of them, so they instantly stopped what they were doing and thinking of. They were custodians of the clan and promising in age, but that was only limited to a short time. Getting a backer who they could influence and manipulate would be a great boost no matter what, but it seemed like they targeted the wrong person.
Ludwig didn't care about it anymore "Do you have a flying tool? The distance isn't so short that we can walk there."
The women nodded, took out a carriage from their sleeves, one opened the door while the other went ahead and sat on the front seat, using her spiritual power to summon cloud beasts from the reins and position them in front of the carriage.
Ludwig looked at it for a second, when he saw what happened, he was satisfied. He was about to enter but thought of something and asked, "Did the Steward Palace send a gift?"
He personally didn't have anything else besides a play he prepared, that would be fine since he was personally invited, but he was also representing the Steward Palace, so he needed to show something worthy.
The custodian Lee who opened the door nodded, took out a storage ring, thought about it but complied in the end and presented it to Ludwig. Then, she was waved away and watched as the young man entered the carriage on his own, she was somewhat disappointed but just went to the side of custodian Hu.
Inside, Ludwig put spiritual power into the ownerless spatial ring. There were no barriers, so he could instantly look into it, and he saw a small bottle. Next to the item was a small note.
He read the note "100grams of Pure Stardust." This alone was enough to surprise Ludwig, because Stardust was the main material in most items the clan made, normal Stardust could be gained by the secret places owned by the clan, but Pure Stardust has to be obtained personally by someone on the rank of an elder, because Pure Stardust are little particles left by Stars when they fly by. Even the Stardust Clan, who is great at Astronomy, can only get a few hundred grams of Stardust every year, gifting directly 100 grams is likely at least half the amount of stardust the Steward Palace receives every year.
'The Palace seems very generous. With this amount of stardust, and some more from the clan head, Ye should probably have enough to build his very own natal formation, Pure Stardust is used best in the Star Formations, the core inheritance of the clan.'
In anyone's life, they can have one category of Natal-Item that accompanies them. A spiritual planter has his natal plants, a formation master his natal formation, an alchemist has either his natal pill, fire or cauldron, a smith has his hammer or fire, a spell master can have a natal spell, a talisman master has his natal talisman, and so on.
There are many different paths of natal items, planters are known to be the ones with the most natal items, but if you count each single formation item that forms one formation, then they might have the most, a beast master of a special path might have thousands of natal beasts, the most important is that the natal items are always growing with the cultivator, and the initial items for them are the most important, beast masters will choose beasts with the best bloodline, planters will choose rare plants and formation masters will create formations with the best resources.