Chapter 131: The Right Order

Joe examined Joseph's knee while the servants cleared the breakfast table. The joint remained sound enough for ordinary movement, but years of physical labor had left considerable wear. The surrounding tissue recovered slowly after exertion, allowing inflammation to persist between periods of heavier activity. Circulation through the lower leg had also weakened, although Joe found no indication that his grandfather faced an immediate threat to his health.

"When did the discomfort begin lasting longer than a day?" Joe asked as he examined the surrounding muscles and tested the knee's range of movement. Joseph considered the question before explaining that the stiffness had become more noticeable during the previous two years. He could still walk around the property without difficulty once the joint loosened, but prolonged work often left him uncomfortable the following morning. Joe completed the examination and moved on to Pam, whose hands and right shoulder showed similar signs of accumulated strain. Her shoulder had lost some mobility, and she admitted that discomfort occasionally interrupted her sleep after busy days.

Lily remained nearby while Joe put away his instruments. She had accompanied both grandparents to their previous appointments and wanted to know whether he had found anything their physician had overlooked. Joe reassured her that their complaints were consistent with the conditions already described in the medical reports. Neither grandparent showed signs of a serious illness, but ordinary treatment had done little to improve their declining recovery.

"The medicines they've been taking help with discomfort, but the underlying wear remains," Joe explained. "I brought a restorative preparation that may improve how their bodies recover after ordinary activity. It won't restore their youth, and I don't expect it to eliminate every problem. If they respond well, however, they may find walking and household work considerably more comfortable."

Mike had joined them during the examination. He asked whether the preparation involved spiritual materials, knowing that Joe's pharmaceutical research had advanced considerably since he moved to Ashbourne. Joe confirmed that he intended to use a small quantity of thoroughly processed spiritual residue alongside an established restorative formula. The material had already undergone extensive refinement, leaving only a weak medicinal effect that he believed an ordinary body could tolerate.

"I've studied the preparation carefully, but I haven't used this particular formula on elderly patients before," Joe told them. "I'll begin with your father's treatment and observe his response before giving it to Grandmother. Their existing medicines can continue unless I find a reason to adjust them. I don't want them taking something unnecessarily strong."

Joseph had listened without interrupting. He trusted Joe's medical knowledge, particularly after hearing about the pharmaceutical business he had established in Ashbourne. Nevertheless, he wanted to understand what improvement the treatment might offer. Joe explained that the preparation was intended to support ordinary tissue recovery rather than strengthen the body through martial cultivation. His grandparents would not need to perform exercises or circulate energy, and their usual activities could continue as long as they avoided unnecessary strain.

"Then I'm willing to try it," Joseph decided. "I've been doing less work around the property because of this knee, and I would prefer to remain active while I still can."

Pam agreed, though Joe explained that he wanted to observe Joseph's response first. She accepted the decision and returned to her usual activities while Lily arranged for the ordinary medicinal ingredients to be purchased from the household's apothecary.

Joe spent the afternoon preparing the restorative medicine in the rear room. The ingredients were familiar, and he had already established how their medicinal properties interacted with the processed spiritual material. His principal concern was ensuring that the preparation remained gentle enough for bodies that had never undergone martial tempering. After completing the medicine, he recorded its composition and intended treatment schedule in a ledger that could accompany his grandparents' existing medical records.

Joseph received the first treatment that afternoon. Joe examined his circulation and general condition afterward, then repeated the checks at intervals while his grandfather continued his ordinary routine. The medicine produced no immediate discomfort, and Joseph reported only a mild warmth around the affected leg that gradually faded. Joe found nothing concerning during his examinations, although he refrained from drawing conclusions about the treatment's effectiveness before observing its longer-term effects.

The following morning, Joseph noticed that his knee loosened sooner than usual. He mentioned the improvement during breakfast, explaining that he had managed to walk across the courtyard without the prolonged stiffness that ordinarily followed getting out of bed. Joe examined the joint again and found that the surrounding inflammation had eased slightly. The response was encouraging, but he retained the existing treatment schedule rather than increasing the amount.

Pam began receiving the preparation after Joe had satisfied himself that Joseph's initial response was stable. Her experience was similarly uneventful, and she reported sleeping more comfortably the following night. The improvement continued over the next several days, although neither grandparent experienced anything resembling a sudden recovery. Joseph still felt occasional stiffness after prolonged activity, while Pam's shoulder remained troublesome when she worked for extended periods.

Joe considered those results satisfactory. He had hoped to improve their recovery and comfort, and the gradual changes suggested that the preparation was supporting those functions without placing excessive demands on their bodies.

By the fourth day, Lily had become familiar with the treatment schedule. Joe provided the prepared medicine in clearly marked containers and placed the accompanying record with the household's other medical documents. He explained that the treatment should remain unchanged until further observation justified an adjustment, and that any unusual response should be discussed with the family's physician.

Lily examined the records before storing them carefully. "I'll make sure they take the medicine properly. Father has been more willing to listen since his knee started improving, though I expect he'll try to resume all his old work if the discomfort disappears."

Joseph, who had been listening from the adjoining room, answered before Joe could speak. "I know better than to spend an entire day working merely because the knee feels better. Your mother has already reminded me several times."

Joe was satisfied that his grandfather understood the purpose of the treatment. He had no intention of preventing either grandparent from remaining active, but their improved condition would mean little if they immediately resumed activities that placed unnecessary strain on their joints.

He continued observing them during the following days, using the results to refine his understanding of how weakened spiritual materials affected aging bodies. Their responses supported his earlier belief that carefully processed residues could contribute to ordinary recovery without requiring martial cultivation. The improvement remained gradual, however, and he did not assume that the same preparation would produce identical results in every patient.

His pharmaceutical research had already taught him that residual spiritual attributes could affect people differently. Incomplete processing sometimes left medicinal preparations with properties that ordinary patients could not tolerate, even when their principal ingredients were beneficial. The earlier investigation into competing tonics had demonstrated that problem clearly, and Joe's subsequent studies of harmful residual properties had made him considerably more cautious about using unfamiliar materials.

The treatment of his grandparents provided another opportunity to examine that concern, although their health remained more important than the research itself. He recorded their responses and avoided changing a preparation that was already producing satisfactory results.

Serena visited the rear study that afternoon while Joe was reviewing the treatment records. She carried several letters that required his attention, together with a copy of the report she had prepared following his meeting with the magistrate.

A small provenance note: this page copied the chapter without the author's permission. The author's publishing page carries the published version.

"I've already sent notice of your Mid Acquired advancement to Marcus and the relevant office in the state capital," she informed him. "The courier departed this morning. I included your previous assessment and explained that you intend to update your public cultivation record when we return to Ashbourne."

Joe examined the correspondence before thanking her. The notification was necessary, particularly because the magistrate had now received confirmation of his claimed realm. Marcus needed to hear about the disclosure directly rather than through administrative reports or rumors traveling from Blackwood.

Serena placed the remaining documents on the desk but did not immediately continue with the business correspondence. "You're becoming troublesome, Joe. I spent months coordinating your training records while Marcus tried to keep the attention around you manageable. Now you've advanced another public stage in ten months, and I've had to send a new report from Blackwood. The offices in Ashbourne will want an explanation, and I'll be the one answering their letters."

Joe understood her complaint. Serena had handled his arrangements for years, and his increasingly rapid advancement had made her responsibilities considerably more complicated. Nevertheless, he considered the disclosure appropriate. The coming Decennial would require him to demonstrate greater strength, and retaining his earlier public realm offered little advantage now that he had spent almost a year developing his combat ability.

"I decided it was time to update my cultivation," he explained. "My training has advanced enough that continuing to present myself as Early Acquired would create more questions later. Marcus knows my circumstances, and I expect he'll understand the decision."

"He will," Serena replied. "That doesn't mean he won't ask why you chose to announce it while visiting Blackwood. I would have preferred to coordinate the assessment in Ashbourne, where the arrangements are already established. Since you've made the decision, I've sent everything necessary to prevent the magistrate's report from reaching the capital before our own notice."

Joe acknowledged that she had handled the matter well. He had given her little time to prepare before the meeting, and she had nevertheless arranged the correspondence without interrupting his family visit. Serena accepted his thanks and turned toward the remaining letters.

A supplier had requested a meeting concerning the workshop, while a minor town official wanted to discuss a property matter already under Simon's supervision. Another letter came from a representative of the Black family, acknowledging Joe's return and expressing the household's wish to pay its respects.

Serena had already examined the requests. "Simon can handle the supplier and the property matter. The Black family's representative can arrange a visit through him as well, since the families are connected through Mira. There's no reason to interrupt your grandparents' treatment for routine discussions."

Joe agreed, and Serena collected the correspondence. She had arranged the schedule so that only decisions requiring his direct involvement would reach him, allowing the household's ordinary responsibilities to continue without unnecessary interference.

The family's circumstances had become considerably more complicated since Joe first left Blackwood, but Simon and Serena understood their respective responsibilities. Joe appreciated being able to leave those arrangements in capable hands, particularly while his grandparents required his attention.

Once their condition had stabilized, he returned to his own cultivation research.

His Innate Transformation remained at 55.80%, the level he had reached before departing Ashbourne. The journey and his first days in Blackwood had offered little opportunity for serious cultivation, although he had continued reviewing his anatomical records whenever time permitted.

The difficulty was no longer the amount of effort he could devote to transformation. Joe had repeatedly demonstrated that his cultivation advanced rapidly whenever he understood how to complete a particular conversion. His improved methods allowed him to prepare supporting structures and transform connected regions with remarkable efficiency.

The remaining work presented a problem of knowledge. His records contained several regions that he could identify anatomically but did not yet know how to transform safely. The marrow, complicated nerve pathways, and structures governing the body's most delicate functions appeared repeatedly in the research he had collected. Existing manuals described their importance but provided little instruction concerning their transformation.

Joe had spent months examining those omissions in Ashbourne. He possessed medical knowledge far beyond what ordinary martial practitioners could obtain, yet the available studies remained incomplete. Physicians understood the functions of many structures, while cultivation manuals described changes that occurred during advanced martial development. Few sources connected those observations closely enough to provide a reliable method. He examined the diagrams spread across the desk and compared several accounts of successful Innate practitioners. Most had concentrated on reaching the transformation necessary for an ordinary breakthrough or the higher threshold required for Grandmaster. Their records discussed the difficulties they had overcome, but few explained the underlying process in sufficient detail for another practitioner to reproduce it.

Beyond those established requirements, the available information became increasingly uncertain. Some historical accounts described practitioners who had attempted unusually extensive transformation, but the surviving descriptions offered little more than general statements about bodily refinement and the importance of maintaining balance. Joe could not determine whether those accounts represented genuine discoveries or later interpretations of ordinary Innate cultivation. His own objective required a more complete approach. He wanted to transform the entire body before consolidating the Innate Realm, preserving the strongest foundation he could establish for future advancement. Whether such an undertaking had ever succeeded remained uncertain, and he had found no reliable inheritance devoted to accomplishing it.

Joe had no intention of abandoning the effort. His talents could turn a valid method into extraordinary progress, but they could not provide knowledge that the available records lacked. He needed better guidance, more complete anatomical observations, or a new understanding of how the remaining structures should be approached.

Blackwood offered fewer research resources than Ashbourne, but it provided a quiet place to reconsider what he had already learned. Joe arranged his notes according to the remaining anatomical problems, separating regions whose methods he understood from those requiring further investigation. He also marked several questions that might be answered through medical observations rather than direct cultivation. His grandparents' treatment had reminded him how closely circulation, tissue recovery, and nervous control depended on one another. The relationships were familiar from his medical studies, but their importance became greater when considering a body undergoing fundamental transformation. Altering a structure without understanding how its supporting systems would respond could create problems that ordinary medicine offered no reliable means of correcting.

Joe examined the relevant diagrams and identified several areas where his existing research needed more detail. He did not attempt another major transformation that evening. Instead, he began collecting observations that might eventually help him establish a safer method.

The following morning, he resumed his regular spear and movement practice in the rear courtyard. Ninefold had reached Complete during the preceding months, and he continued refining the inheritance through short, concentrated sessions. Unbroken Step required more attention to positioning and judgment, but his progress remained steady. Neither art demanded the prolonged recovery associated with Innate cultivation, allowing him to maintain his training without interfering with the household.

Simon occasionally joined him after completing his morning work. He had continued practicing martial arts despite his increasing business responsibilities, although his progress remained modest compared with Joe's. Their sessions allowed Joe to examine his brother's movements and offer corrections where Simon's technique wasted effort.

Joe did not attempt to impose an extensive training schedule. Simon already had obligations that occupied much of his day, and his cultivation could improve through regular practice without disrupting those responsibilities. Nevertheless, Joe began considering how his medical knowledge and access to better resources might eventually help Simon advance beyond the limitations of his earlier training.

Over the next several days, his grandparents continued improving. Joseph could walk around the courtyard with less discomfort, while Pam's shoulder no longer disturbed her sleep as frequently. Lily maintained the treatment records carefully, allowing Joe to examine the changes without remaining beside them throughout the day.

Joe made no further adjustments to the preparation. He wanted to observe its longer-term effects before considering additional treatment, and both grandparents were satisfied with the improvement they had already experienced.

One evening, after reviewing their condition, Joe returned to the rear study and examined the research notes he had organized during the week. Several unresolved questions remained, particularly those involving the nervous system and marrow. He had identified more clearly where his knowledge ended, but the answers would require information he did not yet possess. He set those records aside and opened his spear inheritance. His martial training could continue advancing while he pursued the missing research, and the coming Decennial would eventually bring him into contact with practitioners and institutions beyond those available in Ashbourne.

For the moment, he had time to spend with his family, refine his martial arts, and study the problems that remained beyond his present understanding. He returned to the courtyard the following morning, continuing the same training routine that had carried him through the previous ten months.