Chapter 1: A Nameless Little Town
The moon hung bright over the streets of the little town. To call it town was generous; there was one main street, and business revolved around it. Even though it had not grown fully dark, it was already quite lively. Merchants were bustling to sell their wares, and the small restaurants lining the streets were filled. Despite rarely seeing travelers, today there were many new faces.
There were even the occasional cultivators, proudly showing off to the mortals their uniforms of some third-rate sect that no truly talented disciples would have heard of.
Amidst the cheer and energy, two people in dark cloaks from afar walked towards the lights of the main street. The close observer would note that neither left any sound of footprints as they stepped through the branches and crisp autumn leaves scattered along the path.
“A’Jin, look. That’s probably the little town that vendor told us about. I think we’ve arrived.” The shorter figure took off her hood, revealing a bright face within the long and silky black hair. By the light of the moon, one could make out her delicate features, with pearly white skin and tender rosy lips. Her long silver earrings danced with the movement of her head, and the designs matched her elegant hair ornament embedded with a translucent purple jewel. For the mortals, this was certainly a striking beauty.
“Mm. Keep your hood on.” The man next to her said, and a flick of his fingers caused the hood to move back up. She laughed and brushed it down again.
“No need. There’s no way anyone here could recognize us. Let’s speed up.” The two picked up their pace. Sighing and still hesitant, the man took off his own hood after doing a quick survey of the area, just as the two stepped onto the grimy streets. A young woman holding a bundle of faded cloth unconsciously paused to stare at his face. Even among the immortals it was rare to have features like his, naturally exuding charisma and charm just by the slight narrowing of his dark eyes as he looked around.
The cultivators, who marched arrogantly just seconds ago through the middle of the streets, also shivered subconsciously upon meeting his gaze. Inwardly surprised, their embarrassment turned to anger at the thought of being fearful of a weak mortal. However, before they could react, the man already looked away.
“That’s probably the inn. Let’s take a look if we can book some rooms.” Despite the favorable looks thrown their way, neither attempted to ask another for directions. The girl also knew better now.
The two stepped through the doors, and the once boisterous atmosphere began to quiet as their looks caused envy and shock. Continuing to ignore the gazes, the girl ordered a double room before the pair made their way upstairs.
“It seems we’re still standing out too much.” She said softly as they entered their room. As expected of a small town, the sheets also looked faded and the wood on the walls were slightly warped. Her sharp eyes could even spot little patches of black mold from the humidity by the edge of the small window. However, the room smelled of the scent of soap, and it was rather clean and not dusty. It was bare except for two single beds and a small table with a lamp by the wall; the entire space lit up as she set the wick on fire with a snap.
“That’s why I told you to keep on the hood.” The man closed the door behind him, taking off his cloak and revealing the long sword strapped on one side of his waist. On the other side hung a circular donut-shaped jade pendant hanging on a red string, one-third of which was slightly darker shade due to the natural designs of the stone. A matching pendant could be seen on the girl as she also removed her cloak.
“But it’s way too stuffy. It’s fine, we have enough to purchase the appearance-changing illusion spell the next time we see it. It’s a pity that vendor wasn’t selling it, but fortunately not even the outer arms of the noble sects have reached here.”
There were countless righteous sects even in the Wulin Alliance littered throughout the lands, most staying in regions with higher concentrations of spiritual energy. The larger, powerful ones generally stayed in the best locations, although they also had branches established in other areas. This was particularly true of the 5 Noble Sects, which were Reverent Sun, Joyous River, 5 Mountains East, Ou Yuan, and Tao Duo Lu.
XinPing Lake, the area they were in, had low spiritual energy and was heavily populated by mortals, with only some unknown sects nearby.
“Never let down your guard.” Mo Jin said. He JiYang pouted.
“I know already! I’m going down to gather information. What about you?”
“You’ll be fine on your own.” Without waiting for a reply, Mo Jin flew soundlessly out the window towards the lake. Turning to see him just as he left, He JiYang’s expression fell. She stood silently, staring blankly in the direction he left in.
Looking at the bright moon, it was unknown what she was thinking before she laughed softly at herself. Lifting the edges of her lips, she turned to go downstairs.
He JiYang saw the atmosphere was jovial and wondered at if she could overhear important information from afar without needing to socialize. Just as the area was too remote for most righteous sects, it couldn’t meet the eye of the pair either. However, they’d heard reliable information that a Crimson-Tipped Lark Darling was sighted in the region.
The Crimson-Tipped Larks weren’t too powerful, as the whole mob including the Darlings could just make rank 3. What made them special was that Darlings were very rare and only appeared when the Green Lantern Fruit grew, feeding a unique type of energy to these flock birds.
This Green Lantern Fruit wasn’t typically of much use, but it was very convenient for demonic cultivators. It allowed them to smoothly absorb the cultivation from others’ spiritual cores without the typical rejection symptoms. Usually, it was difficult for one to absorb the cultivation of those at a similar level or higher than themselves, particularly if the cultivation path was different. The process often caused internal instability as the energies fought with each other.
This was normally not a big problem, but if the person originally had internal injuries it would only worsen. Furthermore, the fruit could amplify the speed of the absorption and the rewards if one is lucky. That made it quite valuable, in addition to its rarity.
He JiYang listened for a while, but eventually gave up. She didn’t expect to hear any specific information about the whereabouts of the fruit. Most people didn’t know there were Darlings here, but she also couldn’t find anyone discussing the Crimson-Tipped Larks. He JiYang thought for a bit before hopping out the window to the bar down the street. It was livelier and there were cultivators there who may know about the region’s monsters.
She still couldn’t hear anything relevant by standing at the side, so He JiYang decided to straightforwardly order some drinks or snacks and make conversation. She approached the table with the cultivators and stood politely by the empty chair.
“Hello. Do you mind if I join you here?” When they saw her face, the group of three blushed. They were all at the Lower Foundation Building level, which was just one step below her level of Upper Foundation Building. However, they all looked decades older.
Cultivators aged at the same speed as mortals before passing through the Qi Condensing stage, after which it was much slower before stopping after the Foundation Building period. These disciples were lacking in either talent or resources, likely both. On the path cultivating the Dao, opportunities and luck could be the difference between a genius and an unknown. It was likely their treatment was far from even what the outer disciples of the branches of the 5 Noble Sects received. However, in their sect, Lower Foundation Building was likely praiseworthy.
“Not at all, take a seat.” The tallest one pulled out the chair for her to sit down, quickly helped her pour a clean cup of tea. She smiled in thanks, causing him to blush even to his neck.
“What brings the lady out here alone?” A slightly plump man with an open face asked her, conveniently positioning himself to show off the logo of his sect uniform.
The shortest of the group, sitting beside him, scoffed lightly and elbowed him upon seeing this foolish look. Based on her companion they’d seen earlier and the girl’s bearing, she was no ordinary mortal. Her light green robe and the accessories they could see when she removed her dark robe where certainly not of ordinary quality. Furthermore, she also had a cultivator’s sword by her side, with a precious gem hanging from the sword tassel. Could a woman like this even bear to look at them? More importantly, if she really did her companion could not possibly let them go. There was no way he wasn’t strong.
They were the typical group who bluffed before the weak and cowered in front of the strong. They couldn’t help it; it was really too difficult to survive.
“My name is Feng ZiHui. My shixiong and I were sent on an adventure by our shifu to see the world and steady our hearts, and we came to this area to complete one of the missions left by our shifu. He’s a bit tired, so he decided to rest for the evening.” Even in this remote area, it was still safer to use her alias. As she said this, He JiYang called over the waiters and ordered a few light dishes. “As thanks for sharing the table with me, allow me to treat this meal.”
The plump man quickly shook his head and tried to flatter, adding a few of the restaurant’s meat specialties. “No need, no need! We’re fairly valued members of our sect, so our allowance is not small. It’s not problem at all to treat a beauty like you!”
He JiYang just smiled politely, pretending not to notice the signs of use on their uniforms. Although better than mortals, their sect was likely impoverished. She didn’t continue to argue. She picked up the cup to sip a bit of the thin and cheap tea, and the barely noticeable decrease was immediately refilled by the tall boy once she set it down.
The introduced themselves as core disciples of a Cloud Running sect. Taking the surname of their sect, they were called Yun Sen, Yun ZhuLi, and Yun HaoMen. The shortest one, Yun HaoMen, felt embarrassed looking at his companions trip over themselves to flatter her, but also couldn’t help blushing catching sight of her smile and looking away nervously.
He quickly continued the conversation to avoid further foolishness.
“If you don’t mind me asking, what’s the mission? We’re familiar with the area, so we might be able to give some insights.”
“Is that right? Lucky me. We’re looking to hunt some Crimson-Tipped Larks and heard there were some nearby. Would you gentlemen know more by chance?” Most of the dishes He JiYang ordered were prepared in large batches in the beginning of the day, so these appetizers were able to be served quickly. They arrived, along with a jar of wine and wine cups later added by the other cultivators.
“We do! Hold on, try some of this wine. It’s quite famous in the region.” The plump cultivator, Yun Sen, tried to offer her a cup, but she politely declined. Yun ZhuLi, who was quiet up to this point, tried to scoop generous portion of one of the dishes with the general serving spoon for her, but she also refused.
“I’m sorry, I can’t drink. And I feel more comfortable serving myself. Instead, you all should eat hurry and eat too, no need to wait on me.” Smiling gently again, they didn’t feel she was being rude, but rather felt this aloofness and separation from the world was to be expected from such a beauty. Even her movement of scooping food and picking up dainty bites with her chopsticks exuded elegance and grace.
Internally, He JiYang sighed.
Author's Note: First time publishing a story. A little nervous, please be kind.
