"...So her power was real?"
Beneath the eye-catching vermillion tower that rose above the city, a steady stream of visitors came and went without pause. The ground floor had been built into a large apothecary shop serving well over half the city's population.
"Wild Bloom Sect" was the name carved prominently across the wooden placard above the entrance.
Wild Bloom had once been an ordinary sect among the many that called Moondrift City home. But over the past few years, they had risen rapidly into the top ranks by cultivating close ties with the royal palace, and after news spread that Wild Bloom's medicine had pulled King Jongliean back from the brink of death, their popularity soared even higher.
Both the number of disciples and the customers who came to purchase medicine had grown without end.
"...Yes."
High in the uppermost tower, a space reserved exclusively for disciples, several elders sat in heated discussion. Li Jiyao stood at the center, her face drained of color. With so many sharp gazes trained on her, there was no way she could talk her way out of this.
"Splendid...!"
Just one word. Yet for someone who had just committed such a grave mistake, it was far more terrifying than an outburst of rage. The qi had already wrapped itself around her from every side, squeezing tighter and tighter until she could not breathe, and her body began to writhe.
"Everyone, please calm down."
An elderly woman rose and flicked her wrist. Her qi shattered the pressure bearing down on Li Jiyao. Released, the young woman sucked in a desperate lungful of air.
"Your disciple just picked a fight with a powerful outsider and brought trouble straight to our door. You expect us to sit here and enjoy our tea?"
One of the elders spoke with visible displeasure, fixing Li Jiyao with such a sharp glare that she flinched.
"What's the situation?"
"According to the report, the heroine and her attendants are staying at Sage White-Beard's residence, sir."
A disciple stood and read from the document in hand with crisp clarity.
"So that old man's still useful for something..."
Another elder muttered without the slightest attempt at tact.
"And the other sects — any movement from them?"
That was the question foremost on everyone's minds. The fact that Bai Fanxian had not left immediately but had instead taken lodging at Sage White-Beard's residence meant there was still a chance to repair the damage done yesterday.
"Some of the nobles are still watching and waiting, but most factions and sects are already heading to Sage White-Beard's residence, sir."
"Hmph! How fast they move."
An old man spat irritably. He turned toward the head of the table, where a middle-aged man sat in silence.
"Deputy, what do we do from here?"
The man had been quiet from the start. He simply pressed his hands together and considered the situation with a calm, unhurried air.
"Right now, the Sect Head is at the palace checking on the King..."
He finally began to speak, then added:
"We need to act too. We can't let the other sects get to her first."
He turned and looked at Li Jiyao, who was still trembling, and gave his order in a cool, flat voice.
"Your disciple caused this problem. Let her be the one to go."
"Do whatever it takes to make the heroine stop being angry. It would be best if she could be persuaded to join Wild Bloom."
"...Do you understand?"
He laid special weight on those last words, releasing a pressure that made the air feel thick. Li Jiyao swallowed hard and answered in a small, barely audible voice.
"...Yes."
.
.
.
"Are we not leaving yet, my lady?"
Tang Yeye rolled back and forth on the large bed. Sage White-Beard had prepared this guest room with obvious care — from the furnishings to the atmosphere, everything was of the finest quality, more lavish, in fact, than his own quarters.
"...Did you forget why we came to this world?"
Bai Fanxian sipped the excellent tea that had been set out for her as she replied. Her free hand moved absently, stroking the little black kitten that purred contentedly in her lap.
"Oh! We came to help Kuro's family, didn't we."
The girl remembered. The Dragon Queen — thoroughly annoyed by the cat's presence — let out a quiet, disgruntled growl.
"Speaking of which, aren't you in a hurry to go home?"
"Mrrp... Kuro's scared of getting scolded."
"..."
Come to think of it, the creature had admitted from the start that it had snuck away on its own. And it had taken a full month just to get back. No wonder it was in no rush to race home — it was clearly using Bai Fanxian as an excuse to stall.
This little cat intended to use her as cover for going home.
Bai Fanxian said nothing, but flicked it gently on the forehead. It toppled backward off her lap and landed on the floor, meowing in indignant protest.
"What should we do about all of this?"
Grandmaster Lu Qing was also in the room. He asked the question while looking at the considerable pile of gift boxes stacked on the floor. They had been arriving since morning — Sage White-Beard had mentioned they were sent by various factions, sects, and several nobles as a show of goodwill and an apology for what had happened yesterday.
And they were still coming. Sage White-Beard's home had grown quite lively because of it.
"They went out of their way to bring all this themselves — so we'll keep it."
Bai Fanxian was not the sort to overthink things like this. If they chose to give, she was perfectly happy to receive.
"There are some good things in there. Take whatever you like."
She had already looked through a few of them earlier. The contents were either treasures or high-grade medicine — it seemed the various sects had invested heavily in their offerings.
"There's quite a bit of restoration medicine in there too. I'll sort through it and set it aside."
The old man spoke with his usual courtesy. Even though Bai Fanxian had told him to simply take what he wanted, he paid that no mind.
Naturally. Any man with a shred of sense would understand that no matter how precious these medicines were, they could not compare to the master alchemist sitting right beside him, quietly sipping her tea.
So long as he remained by her side, he could ask her to refine whatever medicine he needed.
"As you like..."
Bai Fanxian let out a small sigh. Just then, a gentle knock sounded at the door. Hui'er, who was standing nearby, hurried over and opened it the moment she sensed who was waiting outside.
It was Sage White-Beard.
He had personally delivered gifts to the room five times already since morning. As the door swung open, he smiled warmly down at Hui'er.
"Little one, I brought you all some sweets."
The old man held out a basket packed full of confections with one hand, while his other arm balanced a stack of gift boxes six high. For someone at the Sage level, the weight was nothing at all.
"Thank you."
Hui'er bowed politely, then took the basket and ran off to share with her younger sister. The little kitten and the Dragon Queen both scrambled over to join them, sensing that their lady had company to attend to.
"Aren't you going to check on your king?"
The question made Sage White-Beard smile awkwardly. He set the gift boxes down and turned to greet Grandmaster Lu Qing, who had at some point quietly moved to sip his tea at the side of the room.
The man was playing the role of Bai Fanxian's "senior" with flawless dedication.
"Ah... I have already been, Your Greatness."
"..."
Why was it that every time they met, this old man's manner of addressing her seemed to grow more and more self-effacing?
"You don't need to be so formal with me."
Bai Fanxian finally sighed and said it plainly.
"Oh..."
Sage White-Beard let out a small sound and scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed grin. Truth be told, this had been troubling him for quite some time. However powerful the young woman before him might be, there was still something a little strange about an eighty-year-old man addressing himself with such excessively humble language in conversation with someone who looked young enough to be his granddaughter.
"I did go to see the King... the situation is quite poor."
"His old wound has flared up again. This time, it seems even Wild Bloom's own treatment won't be of much help..."
"He shouldn't have gotten out of bed yesterday to begin with."
Bai Fanxian's voice was level. Yesterday might have looked like some grand move on her part — but not one of her attacks had so much as grazed King Jongliean. Sage White-Beard could only manage a rueful smile. The blame for all of this lay squarely with his friend's stubbornness.
"That aside... Lady Heroine, the nobles have also begun to stir. They've sent gifts and wish to meet with you."
Before, when only smaller factions and sects had been showing up, he had been able to send them away without too much difficulty. But now that some of the arrivals held social standing comparable to his own, he had no choice but to come and check with Bai Fanxian first.
If she refused, he would send them away.
"...Then let's go take a look. Someone might run into a familiar face..."
That last part she said to Kuro. The little cat — mouth still full of sweets — was scooped up unceremoniously as Bai Fanxian turned and led the way out of the room.
.
.
.
Outside the main gate of Sage White-Beard's residence, a crowd had gathered until there was barely room to stand. They were representatives of prominent nobles and various smaller factions and sects, all of whom had rushed over the moment word spread — arms loaded with gifts — hoping for an audience with the Hero of the Battlefield.
They waited with patient resolve, for this was no ordinary place. The soldiers guarding the gate radiated a formidable pressure as they stared straight ahead.
No one in their right mind would cause trouble at the Grand Marshal's residence.
That said, it did not stop them from whispering among themselves with great enthusiasm. As long as no one stirred up trouble, the guards were content to look the other way — and so the crowd felt free to chat and speculate to their hearts' content.
Most of the conversation was curiosity about what each faction had brought for the woman known as the Hero of the Battlefield.
"Did the Iron Horse Faction really bring Four Seasons Silk?"
"Quite the investment! I heard they got it through a deal with Dawnbreak City. Didn't expect them to pull it out now."
"That's still nothing. Have you heard what the Plum Blossom Sect brought?"
"What?"
"The Plum Blossom Sword! That's their sect's greatest treasure!"
"They went all in!"
Exchanges like these drifted through the air without pause. At this point, the gift-giving had quietly transformed into something of an informal competition among the various representatives.
"Senior Sister... should we really be here?"
Amid the crowd, a young woman voiced her uncertainty to her senior sister in a low tone. It was Mu Xia and Su Lin — both had changed out of their battle-worn clothes from yesterday and scrubbed away the grime of the fight. Even in plain, simple attire, their beauty was impossible to conceal.
Su Lin understood exactly what her junior sister meant. The gift box in her own hands was worth nothing compared to what the others had brought.
"...We still had to come."
Su Lin exhaled. News that the Hero of the Battlefield was staying here had already spread across all of Moondrift City. Even the smallest sects had made the trip. If the Goddess Alchemy Palace remained conspicuously absent, they would draw attention from all sides and hand their critics a ready-made excuse to attack them.
"...Wild Bloom Sect has arrived!"
Just then, the crowd parted to either side. A young woman strode forward at the head of a group with an air of cold arrogance. When people saw the chests of treasure that took four burly men to carry, they felt the gap in standing pressed even more firmly against them.
Wild Bloom Sect was, without question, the top faction of this era.
"Oh... look who's here."
Li Jiyao, out here in public, was no different from before. Even after yesterday's lesson, she still wore that same expression when facing someone she disliked.
"..."
"I didn't expect the Goddess Alchemy Palace to show up... aren't you all a bit short on funds these days?"
She pressed the provocation further, glancing at the small gift box in Mu Xia's hands and letting out a soft laugh.
"Hmph! That's because—!"
Su Lin raised a hand and stopped her junior sister before she could go further. She glanced at the gate guards, who had turned to look. If she let Mu Xia lose her temper here, the soldiers would throw them out and the humiliation would be complete.
She would not let this play out the way this woman intended.
"We may be poor, but we came with sincerity... which is more than can be said for certain people who change with the wind."
Su Lin kept her voice even. Word of Wild Bloom's disciple causing a scene before Bai Fanxian in the throne room had spread through all of Moondrift City since yesterday.
"You...!"
And now it was Li Jiyao's turn to flare. Yesterday's incident was still a wound she had not managed to put behind her — the moment someone pressed on it, her composure collapsed just as easily.
"...Watch your tongue."
But at that moment, from somewhere behind Li Jiyao, an elderly woman's voice cut through the air. In an instant, both Su Lin and Mu Xia felt a crushing pressure descend on them, driving the air from their lungs. They had gone pale and were on the verge of collapsing when movement stirred at the gate ahead.
"Lady Heroine is coming out!"
"Get to the front! I need a good spot!"
The crowd surged forward. Su Lin and Mu Xia, barely freed from the pressure bearing down on them, gasped as they pulled air back into their lungs.
"Hmph."
Wild Bloom's group moved without hesitation. The old woman barked an order, and her people shouldered the chests once more and began to advance — leaving two young women to watch from behind, helpless and seething...