Qing was in the Iron Ward shopping when words tugged at her ears. As she was a World Realm at Iron Tier, she was afforded great respect even besides being a Heavenly Maiden but today she was in a nondescript cloak so only her aura was felt. She did not have to move much to listen to the strange words she was hearing.
"Did you hear about the Princess?"
"Yeah! That is awful! What will her father do?"
"I don't know but what will the Crown Prince do, because you heard about that too, right?"
"What about him? Isn't this a bit of a small issue for his highness?"
"Apparently there were negotiations to engage…"
The words trailed off and Qing could not follow in anywhere near stealthily nor could she use her Qi without attracting attention. She was flustered on this bit of news as it aligned with what her own sisters had relayed to her long ago. It had only been a month since she had spoken to Cyntilla and it should not have spread this much so quickly!
She finished gathering her food and ingredients before making her way back towards the academy grounds. The troubling part about the rumors was not their speed but their accuracy. Cultivators prided themselves on being careful with techniques to cultivate to execution of tempering their elements, but like mortals, they distorted gossip with the best.
Every time she caught snippets, there was almost no discrepancy from the intel the Heavenly Maidens sent her which was possible but not this wide spread. Qing stopped as she passed one of the roads to the Gold Ward and changed direction. She was suspicious of how this was happening.
Once she crossed to the Gold Ward, she pulled back her aura to hide her cultivation. It was not easy for many to do this as the Lotus Empire did not have good techniques for World Realm cultivation. Their auras were always blaring around them for all to see.
Lind had to forge ahead with his own steps due to being a 6 elemental so thankfully his foundation was not tainted with the lower quality techniques. He had been able to hide his Soul Realm aura after a month of her training. His World Touch was even a bit better than her own technique to make him seem completely mortal even to her eyes.
Qing stopped at an intersection to look for a certain marker. While it was not unusual for each power to spy on others, it was remarkably difficult the higher up the chain one went. The reverse was laughably untrue. The Divine Sword Sect rarely employed spies or information networks, but the Heavenly Maiden Sect believed all knowledge was worth gathering. The path of cultivation could lead to anywhere and even a seemingly unimportant tidbit could become critical later.
Qing glanced at several buildings before finding the glow of peak Diamond Tier she was looking for. It was far beyond what anyone in this Empire could produce and much like her aura, was hidden to all but members of the Heavenly Maiden Sect. It was inconspicuous as part of a sign promoting a blacksmith refiner.
Qing had come to this one instead of a lower ward as she would be far more likely to gather the information at the higher levels of nobility here. The shop was quiet on the outside but within the formations the sound of metal on metal filled the outer shop. She could see another formation behind the counter containing the smoke and heat produced by the back area.
Even with the sounds of smithing going on, the shop was very clean and considerably high class by the use of formations and materials to simply allow some of the noise to come from the back area. It gave the shop an ambiance for those coming to get a weapon refined or armor created.
"How may I help you today?" A young boy hopped up from behind the counter. His face was fairly clean but his clothes were covered by an apron indicating he was an apprentice or assistant to the main refiner. Qing saw no one else in the shop but glanced at the display cases lining the walls.
Each held either a weapon or armor to display the skill of the refiner in this shop. She saw profound engravings on a sword that she could recognize as promoting its durability and sharpness to the peak of Iron Tier easily. In this empire that would be a very high quality item. Qing glanced on and finally found what she was looking for.
"I would like these greaves made for me, possibly modified for my elements. Can your master do this?" She saw the boy look at her in confusion before he nodded and went back to the area where metal was clanging away. Qing waited patiently as she knew her request was normal but by asking for a master, she was indirectly asking to speak to them. Again, this was not totally unusual but it was clear from her clothes to her current lack of obvious weapons that greaves were not needed.
An apprentice, even a brand new one, could quickly tell at a glance the type of customer and further, her lack of aura made her a mortal but to be in the shop, she had to be considerably powerful. Asking to align with her elements revealed her being an expert that could hide her cultivation.
"I am the best armorer in this shop, the Thunderbolt is a modest place but I should be able to–" A moderately muscled older man appeared and was about to hard sell his shop's skills until he saw Qing's hands move in a particular way. It was infused with Qi at a very low level but it used a simple formation to flare gold in the shape of a woman in the clouds.
The widening of his blue eyes made the refiner quickly look around before straightening out his face.
"Ren! Ren, get out here boy!" The apprentice from before sprinted out from the back and looked surprised between his master and the customer. Had he done something to offend them? "I need you to man the shop for a bit while I take care of this customer. I will be back shortly."
Ren bowed and Qing smiled at him to reassure him he was fine. The boy seemed to get the message and relaxed up until his master thwacked him in the back of his head.
"Get to work!" Ren bowed again and moved off as another customer did come in at that time.
Qing smiled as she followed the old man. She could feel his pressure not far off from hers, but it was a bit unstable. She could not see them, but she suspected he had scars on his body from battle. Some injuries were not easy to recover from, but Qing had an idea if she got a satisfactory result here today.
The heat of the forge increased as they moved past it, but the 2 people swiftly entered a set of stairs to ascend up to the next floor. Qing appreciated the modest design from the front of the shop. This was made with practicality in mind rather than being ostentatious. Qing finally saw what she had hoped to find.
A doorway was covered with powerful formations to ward off any intrusion but covered with other formations to hide it even existed. Anyone that stretched their senses inside the shop would never find this room unless they were peak Diamond Tier at least.
"May the heavens ever watch over you, my Lady." The old man was now very humble and she smiled at him in appreciation of the ancient saying from her sect. She indicated for him to wait while she applied her Qi to the door frame. The glow flared until there was an audible click. Qing then waved him off to return to his work, but the fact he confirmed she was real was her way of showing respect to him.
"Welcome to my abode sister." An older woman was sitting in a comfortable room. A pleasant hearth was holding a small flame as a teapot was held above it. It was a mortal way to prepare tea but many cultivators did not possess the fire element nor could they afford an artifact to compensate for it. The older woman had some graying hair but she was still very beautiful.
"I thank you for allowing me to visit, sister." The dark maroon dress brought out her pale skin and darker hair. Her eyes were crystal blue and vibrant while a kind smile crossed her face. She gave off the air of a mother despite calling Qing sister.
"It has been almost a century since I saw a fellow sister of our sect. What brings you to my husband's shop?" Qing was about to hang up her cloak when the final words made her freeze. It was not forbidden to marry, and certainly not when performing a duty like this, but Qing could tell that the old man was afraid of her. What had his wife told him exactly?
"I apologize if I showed disrespect to your family, sister." Qing would have been a bit warmer had she known. Heavenly Maidens were very selective on their husbands, thus her usual coldness would have been absent but the older woman only smiled and waved her hand.
"Tell me what brought you here. I know you are assigned to that troubled boy from the Southern District but I do not know why." Qing nodded and lifted the now whistling tea from the fire. Despite having similar tiers, Qing was considered the lower sister at this moment. She poured out 2 cups and sipped on hers before speaking.
"He is a friend of Shoti's and is responsible for her current trend of seriousness. Do you not think helping such a person with heart demons worthy of my time?" The older woman giggled and nodded quickly at Qing's words. Shoti was nearly a legend despite spending so much time outside of the sect.
"That little girl was trouble from day one but a good kind of trouble to my way of thinking. Even so, I am as glad as others that she has become serious. I truly wish to meet her someday." Qing smiled and then became serious.
Sister, I have heard troubling rumors that match intelligence that was passed on to me over a month ago. The rumors are too accurate for how widespread they have become. Do you know what I am referring to?" Qing did not state outright what she wanted to see if this resource was already on top of it. Qing saw a cylinder glow on the wall behind the older woman and it floated over with ease.
The crest on the cylinder was from their sect, so it was likely a storage treasure bound to the woman. Qing had never seen one that felt as profound as this one, but it was known to be issued to all members of the information gathering network. It could not be broken into without destroying the contents. That included Sky Realm power as well in its considerations.
"I have several rumors and bits of information that have garnered my attention, but given your concern, there are only 2 you could be referring to." Qing felt her heart still but stayed calm. She simply waited while the clear blue orbs seemed amused by her silence. "The first one is recent and quite popular despite how secret parts of this information should be."
The cylinder glowed and the same words began to replay but as a report from one of the woman's contacts. Qing frowned to confirm she had been right as it was verbatim what she kept hearing. Qing then was stunned as a new voice began to speak.
'Traces of information traced back to the demons, specifically from the Fang Clan's forces but no one directly from the clan. It is suspected the negotiations to wed Princess Cyntilla and Crown Prince Ryu have succeeded. The knowledge the princess has marked a human has become widespread, thus Trynith has likely twisted the facts to attain his goal.'
Qing felt her heart freeze. A demonic powerhouse was not only targeting Lind Frey, but he was using facts that would fuel the volatile Crown Prince Ryu to act before confirming anything. Lind would try to tell the truth but he did not know all the truth. That would only further enrage the Crown Prince from what Qing knew of him.
"That is all I needed, sister, thank you very much." Qing needed to hurry as she had no idea how quickly Darkmoor would move. They already targeted Lind to isolate him, thus they knew exactly where he was at all times inside the Lotus Empire. She was almost to the door when words froze her still.
"Lind Frey will become the Crown Prince of Altair when he becomes a World Realm." Qing slowly turned back to find a fierce and solemn look on the woman's face. This was not a simple rumor if it was known in this room. This meant that a network of informants had relayed it back to this woman. Due to the nature of the Kingdom of Altair, the Heavenly Maiden Sect kept an eye on them. A minor power can still threaten wandering members after all.
"It is normally polite to introduce oneself when asking for things Sister Qing. My name is Rowena and I would like to discuss why we are assisting the prince of that kingdom." Qing felt rage rise up suddenly and her aura was no longer repressed.
"Those bastards have nothing to do with Lind!" Her voice stunned her. Qing never knew she would get so angry, but more than that, it meant the boy had come to mean a lot to her. Rowena did not even flinch nor reprimand Qing's outburst. Qing bowed and then produced a vial of silvery liquid.
"I apologize but I have to go. Thank you for your service. This elixir will repair the foundation of your husband. He will need to drink the whole vial in one go and cultivate for 3 days." Qing saw shock spread on Rowena's face but left quickly. She barely registered waving to the old man and boy before she was back in the street and running back to Lind's quarters.