The marketplace was abuzz with the sound of disciples and merchants bargaining. Many of the new initiates were out browsing the stores and their wares before the student orientation's commencement.
The sect never slept; the time of day didn't matter as the floating flames and glowing grass constantly kept the city illuminated. Additionally, sleep became more of a luxury than a necessity as they honed their bodies to a more divine state that required less and less sleep to function.
Aoi Rin had agreed to escort the three younger sisters around the marketplace before they headed to the orientation. Under her master's orders, she had spent the past several days assisting these three when they had issues in their cultivation as well as supervising their progress to confirm they were on the right track. The only one she had barely spent time with was Hirai Hikaru, but she assumed all was well with her since she favored staying in seclusion.
"Shizuka, these needles. Do you think Kenja-niisan would like them?" the younger sister asked, pointing to the needles on the front display of a vendor's shop with one hand and beckoning her sister over with the other.
"This beautiful sister has a keen eye," an eager voice skillfully complimented Yoshie from inside the store. A middle-aged man with a wrinkled face and a flat nose approached them while rubbing his hands together, stopping next to the product in question.
He began zealously advertising the product, "These Calm-Inducing Acupuncture Needles were crafted by our very own blacksmiths. Using the hottest flames our forge could handle, the metal was purified and molded to form this incredibly fine tip. Afterwards, it was quenched with water from the sect's very own river. Finally, we dipped and coated the needles in the blood of an Ancient Tortoise from the Yunshan Range. Their blood is known for inducing a relaxing effect on the acupoints and stimulating the nerves and body's sensitivity to Qi."
Yoshie lit up when she heard of the needles' positive effects. "Shizuka, we must buy a set for niisan! How much is it?" she asked the vendor, already deciding that the price was not a factor.
Rin rolled her eyes at Yoshie who was easily lured in by sweet-sounding words. This timid sister was frequently impulsive and emotional. When she had reached her cave on the first day, Rin could hear her sobbing loudly through the walls of the cave, and the moment she had read her brother's letter, her sobbing was replaced with an incessant humming.
Yoshie placed others before herself, especially this so-called brother of hers. Rin found her to be endearing, but this sort of temperament would only hold her back in the selfish world of cultivation.
"Normally, this set is sold for one hundred and fifty credits, but for you, I will let it go for one hundred," he offered, trying to sound as sincere as possible.
One hundred credits could be considered a fair price as the vendor had to balance between selling at a high price and estimating what the customer could actually afford, but this amount still took around a month to accrue naturally.
Rin was deciding whether to intervene and advise this naive girl when Shizuka approached the vendor. "Wait. You said it is coated with the blood of this beast, but how long will its effects last on the needles?" she asked, giving the vendor a strong look of indifference as she narrowed her eyes.
Rin nodded silently in approval of Shizuka's question.
The coating of beast blood would eventually be used up or lose potency with time, so the needles' primary beneficial effects weren't permanent. Shizuka had expertly identified and inquired about the underlying issue with buying the set of needles.
Shizuka was the more rational and clear-headed of the two sisters. She took charge of Yoshie and kept her in line, making sure everything proceeded smoothly. If they weren't identical twins, Rin would have thought Shizuka was a young aunt supervising Yoshie.
While Yoshie was crying on their first day in the sect, Shizuka spent her time consoling her sister even though Rin could hear the same sadness in her voice. After the twins had received Kenja's news, Shizuka's eyes shone with determination, and she immediately compelled Yoshie to cultivate the technique Master Kazane had specially given to them.
"Uh…" the vendor's smile persevered, but his eye twitched as he was pushed into a corner. The beast blood was the reason the needles could be priced so highly, but outside of a sealed container, the blood would eventually lose its effectiveness. "The blood's attributes will have lessened within one or two years, senior sister."
While the price of the needles was fair, the temporary effect had caused most customers to look to the other products, so he had hoped they wouldn't bring this point up.
"I see…" Shizuka responded coldly, giving the vendor a royal look of disappointment. She had grown up with Kenja who had taught them the importance of knowing what to buy and how to shop. While Yoshie might forget herself out of excitement, she would cover for her younger sister's childish tendencies.
Rin watched the sisters deliberate with the vendor. From her standpoint as a cultivator, she was impressed with these two.
It hadn't been a whole week, and yet, they had cultivated from the mid-level of Body Tempering up to the full circle, ready to breakthrough to Qi Flourishing at any time. Much of the credit for this insane amount of progress goes to the unique cultivation method her master had imparted on them as well as their innate talent, but without sufficient understanding of the core principles in cultivation, there was no way they could make this much progress in such a short time.
Rin could see that the twins' basic fundamentals and conceptual understanding were above her own when she had been at their stage. After examining them over the past few days, even she had to admit that they had great potential.
Rin turned to look at Hanabi who had wandered over to a street vendor selling plants. Assured that Shizuka would handle the situation here appropriately, she left the twins to check up on the princess.
Shizuka looked at her younger sister. A defeated look appeared on Yoshie's face after realizing that the needles would most likely lose its effects before they would reunite with Kenja.
"How much for a bottle of this Ancient Tortoise blood?" Shizuka asked the attendant.
Yoshie's lips curled into a smile at her sister's words as she turned to the vendor with expectant eyes. Although her older sister might act more mature and aloof, she knew that their brother was also her weak spot.
"..." The vendor was unsure how to tell them that the blood of the beast was too expensive for them to purchase, so he decided to just give them the price. "A bottle is worth five thousand credits, senior sister."
The man was at the peak of Qi Flourishing, so he knew how absurd it was for a person at the Body Tempering stage to have anywhere near this amount, even if they were inner sect disciples.
"Not bad, doesn't seem too expensive. We'll take two bottles, and three sets of the acupuncture needles. Also, how much for that 100-Year Ginseng Massage Oil?" she spoke to the man with a sharp glint in her eye.
Shizuka was not an idiot, but she had not yet grasped the value of a single credit. She had checked the amount they had obtained from the wager before returning to their cave, so she knew they had more than enough credits for this purchase. She just didn't realize that that amount would make anyone in the sect drop their jaws in disbelief.
The man stepped back in shock, unable to fully grasp what the youthful senior sister had just requested.
Yoshie tilted her head at her older sister in confusion. "Why do we need three sets?"
"It will also benefit us if we use it. Plus, we can ask Kenja-niisan to help us since he is the expert in this matter!" she declared in a haughty manner with her eyes closed and her hands on her hips. Getting Kenja-niisan to spend more time with them was always a side-goal for the two sisters.
"Shizuka is definitely the older sister!" Yoshie nodded her head vigorously in agreement with Shizuka's decision. "And the massage oil…?" she asked, already sure of the answer.
"Of course, that is for Baba's feet! We can treat her together next time we see her."
Yoshie grinned at her older sister while shaking her head lightheartedly. Even if people thought she was the emotional twin, she understood that was only because no one knew Shizuka like she did.
...
Meanwhile, in the architect's studio, a bald, old man with scars and burns all over his body had burst into the room suddenly, causing a plump, young woman to jump out of fright. The man had one eye sealed by a burn and a large monocle over the other eye, his skin and clothes patched with ink spots.
"I've done it, Aracha! I've done it!" he yelled out, shaking his index finger in the air as he marched over to the 'broken' TD. "I've figured out the reason why the tribulatory demarcator is broken!!! Quick! Make me some tea so that I can drink to my genius after I fix it," he ordered her.
Aracha giggled at her master's words and was already brewing up another pot of tea. Her master asked for another cup of tea every hour of every day regardless of the situation. Whether he was victorious or not, he would demand some tea.
"Are you sure this time, master? You said the same thing last time," she said as she closed her eyes, ready for the usual answer. He would always reply, "Sure..? Of course, I'm sure! Why wouldn't I be sure?!" Despite his 'sureness', he would always come with around seventy or eighty thousand credits to try out more than one theory.
"Aracha...has anyone done anything to my tribulatory demarcator?" he said, standing in front of the TD.
Surprised by the change in their usual routine, Aracha turned to look at her master huddled in front of the TD's sockets, his hand grasping his chin.
"A senior sister had come earlier today and taken a look inside, but I was sure she hadn't done anything to it." Aracha knew he was quite sensitive about the machine, but fixing the TD was an official sect challenge. If a disciple meets the prerequisites, they cannot deny them the opportunity to take the challenge.
DING!
Aracha heard a loud ding come from the broken TD.
"What was that?"
"...it works," muttered the old man with a stunned expression on his face.
"What works, master?" Aracha hesitantly asked, fanning the flame under the teapot.
"My tribulatory demarcator! It works!!!" he shouted. He turned to face Aracha with his face flushed red as if it was about to burst. "Tell me the name of the disciple that dared fix my machine behind my back."
"Master, please don't harm her," Aracha pleaded with her master, concerned for Kenja's safety. If the kind senior sister she had met earlier did indeed fix the TD, then all of her master's accumulated credits from the past few years were in their possession. It would be an amount worth eliminating a junior for.
"Harm her? I have finally found a worthy colleague to share my knowledge with! Why would I harm her?!" he asked with his brows furrowed and a visible frown. "Now tell me who she is so I can go find her."
Aracha relaxed again before tensing up once more, moving her chubby hand to her right cheek. She remembered that she didn't know the kind senior sister's name. "She didn't tell me her name, master."
"Didn't tell you her name? There shouldn't be that many in the sect that you don't know." The second elder's words were spot-on. Aracha had been one of the tea girls in a highly-frequented shop for a long time; needless to say, of the thousands of people in the sect, there weren't many she couldn't recognize.
"Master, this senior sister had joined recently. Our first meeting was earlier today." Aracha stopped fanning the flame and moved the teapot away to cool off.
The second elder turned his head away from Aracha and looked up to the ceiling, trying to recall something. "That's right. It is around the time of year we initiate new disciples into the sect. Fine, fine. You should at least know where we can find her. Go fetch her."
Aracha scratched the back of her head shyly. "Master, I don't know where she is either. All I know is that she wore inner-sect robes, and she had some questions about the keystones."
The man furrowed his brows even closer together to the point that they were touching. He began thinking of a way to find out who or where this person was.
"Oh! She wore a single earring on her right ear. It looked like some type of seashell." Aracha managed to remember a minor detail of Kenja's appearance that could help locate Kenja.
The second elder looked to the ground, putting his right hand back on his chin.
Shell accessories weren't uncommon, but only wearing a single earring is unusual. Considering Kenja was an inner-sect disciple, it wouldn't be impossible to locate him as long as he continued to wear that earring, but would the elder arbitrarily have all the inner-sect disciples gather just to locate a specific disciple that he didn't know the name of?
"Ah! Don't we have some type of event for the new disciples?" he asked Aracha. Since becoming an elder, his other brothers and sister had continuously reminded him of impending events, but he would normally write them off and forget about them.
Aracha's eyes flashed with a realization. "That's right, master! The student orientation is today. I am sure senior sister will be there."
New disciples have very limited resources, so the student orientation was very important for them. Not only did they receive instruction on how the lectures functioned, but they were also given the opportunity to find others who wished to participate in similar lessons. Certain teachings were handed down only when enough lecture passes had applied for it.
The second elder nodded his head approvingly, "Splendid. Splendid. Go fetch her. If she is reluctant to follow you, you can tell her Elder Inazuma wishes to see her."
Inazuma wasn't his real name, but it was what his brothers and sisters called him after he defeated his most recent tribulation. After dealing with so much of the tribulation lightning, he found the nickname appealing and humorous, so he welcomed its usage, especially since his real name was a little unusual for those living in the Freezing Desert.
"Yes, master." Aracha quickly rushed toward the door, but when she had one foot out the door, the second elder yelled out to stop her.
"WAIT!"
Aracha turned back to face her master, curious to see why he stopped her.
"My tea..."