023 Arras

  I didn’t resist.

  I mean, what else could I do? Punch my way out of an arrest? That sounded like a great way to make things worse. So, I stood there as the glowing band around my wrists tightened, bindih some sort of spell-infused restraint.

  I had little experieh the w—both in my past life and in this o I had a gut feeling that keeping my mouth shut was the smartest move.

  Of course, I had to say something to make sure I didn’t look too guilty.

  “I invoke my right to remain silent,” I said, then added, “And, of course… a wyer.”

  Liang Na frowned, unimpressed. With a flick of her hand, her flying sword lifted into the air. The hing I knew, I was being dragged along like a sack of potatoes, my feet barely skimming the ground as she flew ahead.

  Other enforcers fnked us, maintaining a tight formation as we sloroached Yellon City.

  This was not how I thought today would go.

  A few mier, I found myself sitting in a well-furnished room, still bound—but drinking tea.

  Across from me sat Ren Jin, the City Governor of Yellon City.

  The man before me looked youhan I expected for someoh such authority. Youhan when I saw him from the bleachers. He wasn’t some a cultivator with a long white beard, nor was he a middle-aged veteran of tless battles. No, he was young—fairly young for a cultivator—a carried himself with the air of someone who had seen far more than his age suggested. Dressed in dark imperial robes with golden embroidery, he radiated power, but it wasn’t the kind that came from brute strength alone. His gaze was sharp, calg, and I got the feeling that every move he made was deliberate.

  I sipped the tea, sav its earthy bitterness, and took a moment to process my situation. Arrested, dragged through the sky, and now… a casual tea session with the City Governor?

  I set my cup down and decided to get straight to the point.

  “So,” I said, “what crimes am I here for?”

  Ren Jin smiled, then casually gestured with two fingers. The glowiraints around my wrists unraveled and vanished.

  “Nothing,” he said simply.

  I rolled my shoulders, enjoying the newfound freedom, and adjusted my seating. “Then how may I be of service to his Lordship?”

  Ren Jin chuckled. “It should be me saying that to you, sidering the be you’ve brought to my city.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

  “Yht with Sect Master Jiang Zheed a spiritual mineral vein of Thunder Sand,” he expined, his tone almost amused. “That alone is a siderable gain for the city. Apologies for the, ah… unceremonious way you were brought here. My Chief Enforcer be overprotective of me, and you do e off as quite suspicious.”

  I had a guess or two why Chief Enforcer Liang Na was wary of me. After all, she had been the first cultivator I entered upon arriving in this world. But there was something else that demanded my attention.

  I leaned forward slightly. “Sect Master Jiang Zhen?”

  Ren Jin nodded. “It seems you were unaware.”

  I frowned. “Sect Master of what exactly?”

  “The Isotion Path Sect.”

  …

  Huh?

  That damn old man really tried to py me.

  I exhaled through my nose, pig up my tea again to cover the irritation on my face. So he was that important? A, he still owed me two questions and a meeting with his sect.

  Unbelievable.

  This was my sed time sitting across from a high-ranking cultivator. Third, if I ted Liang Na. So far, none of them had reacted ively to my presence, which was a good sign. I had been paranoid about my mana being seen as some kind of heretical energy, but maybe that worry was mispced.

  Did they even se?

  Acc to Lost Legends Online’s lore, mana did inside a person like qi did. Instead, it referred to how much a person could wield through sheer willpower aal discipli was a theoretical energy that existed in a higher dimension, accessible only to those who attuhemselves to an ideal, a path, a belief, a css—or as most NP LLO had called it, a Legacy.

  That being said, if cultivators in this world relied on internal energy, then it was highly possible they simply didn’t detect mana at all. Maybe that was why I hadn’t been caught and bur the stake yet.

  I set my cup down and got to the point. “ I meet Jiang Zhen?”

  Ren Jin tilted his head slightly. “You sound quite familiar with him.”

  “We met at a goldfish stall.”

  He actually bli that. Then, as if deg it wasn’t worth questioning, he gave a small nod. “Unfortunately, the Sect Master has already left. However, he informed me of your arra with him through Qi-speech.”

  Qi-speech.

  Acc to Gu Jie, it was a uniethod only avaible to cultivators at the Third Realm and above. It let them speak through qi alone, sending messages over vast distances without the need for physical tact.

  I was a bit envious. I no longer had access to voice chat.

  Wait.

  That was one game meic I hadn’t tested yet.

  Maybe I should experiment with it sometime.

  Ren Jihe way through the manor, his steps measured, his robes flowing with practiced elegance. Unlike Jiang Zhen, who gave off the air of a grumpy old coot, Ren Jin carried himself with the posed dignity of someone who khey were important—but wasn’t arrogant about it.

  The hallways were adorned with intricate wooden carvings, golden nterns casting soft, warm light against the polished floors. I took in the sights with casual i, but my mind lingered on what he had just revealed.

  Sect Master Jiang Zhen.

  That old man really pyed me. No wonder he’d dodged my questions and bailed the moment Liang Na showed up. Still, he had promised me a meeting with the Isotion Path Sect, and it seemed he had followed through. I just had to make sure he didn’t weasel out of answering my two remaining questions.

  We arrived at a guest room. Iwo figures waited.

  The first was a woman I reized immediately—Fan Shi, the victor of the match I had watched this m. She still carried the same cold, unreadable aura, her Isotion Path robes draped over her form like a shroud. o her stood an entleman, his expression calm, eyes sharp as he observed me.

  Ren Jin stopped at the entrand gestured toward them. “I shall leave you here.”

  I gave him a small nod, though inwardly, I felt a twinge of disappoi. I wouldn’t be able to watch Lu Gao’s fight. From what I had heard, that guy was either going to put on a spectacur show… or a spectacur disaster.

  Either way, I was going to miss it.

  I cupped my hands and bowed slightly, following the s of this world. “Greetings, my name is Da Wei, an… acquaintance of the Isotion Path Sect Master.”

  Fan Shi’s eyes sharpened. “Or so we’ve heard.”

  Her tone wasn’t just cold—it carried an edge of hostility. I had no idea what I did to offend her, but I felt like I was being scrutinized under a magnifying gss. Unlike Jiang Zhen’s casual disregard, Fan Shi was watg me with the kind of suspi reserved for people who smelled like trouble.

  I had to be careful around her.

  The entleman beside her, however, returned my greeting with a polite nod. “And I am an Elder of the Isotion Path Sect. My name is Lei Fen.” His voice was steady, posed, and g any of the hostility Fan Shi carried. “The Sect Master has informed me of your arra with him.”

  Huh. At least the old man had covered all his bases.

  sidering Jiang Zhen had dipped the moment Liang Na arrived, I half-expected him to vely fet about his promise. But if even an elder of the Isotion Path Sect was informed, then Jiang Zhen must have passed the message through Qi-Speech.

  That was one very ve ability.

  I kept my expressioral, but inwardly, I wondered just what kind ement the old man had sold them.

  The deal with Jiang Zhen was simple—he would mediate between the Isotion Path Sed me so they would help Gu Jie with her misfortune. Now that I was actually here, I had to make sure he hadn’t twisted the details to my disadvantage.

  I straightened. “Elder Lei Fen, how do you wish to proceed?”

  Lei Fen stroked his beard, smiling in that way old cultivators did when they were about to say something that would annoy me. “Just to crify the terms—” he began, dragging out his words, “—in exge for helping one of your followers transpose their demonic cultivation, you would pay us a dozen Phoenix Feathers?”

  I barely kept my expression in check.

  That old bastard. I said one.

  I held back a sigh a my tone even. “There seems to be a misuanding. I only have one.”

  Lei Fen gave a sly ugh, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “Ho ho ho, apologies… I must have misremembered.”

  Did this guy just try to scam me?

  If I were some petty immortal, I would have gone full "How dare you court death?!" on him. But no—I adin. And I had more patiehan that.

  I exhaled through my nose, reigning in the irritation. “I will go fetch my follower.”

  Fan Shi stepped forward. “Let me e with you, Senior.”

  I narrowed my eyes slightly. That was not the tone of someone paying respect.

  Elder Lei Fen looked vaguely annoyed, but he maintained a diplomatic smile. “Please, ighe disciple. She’s just a bit eager to meet someone who eer to the Sect Master.”

  Somehow, I doubt that.

  If anything, this dy wao cause trouble for me.

  I gave a nonittal nod and immediately activated TriDivine, switg to Divine Speed. The world blurred around me as I burst forward, my body moving as if propelled by divine will. Then, with a flicker, I engaged Zealot’s Stride and vanished from the manor’s interior.

  By the time I slowed down at the entrahe guards barely reacted. They simply watched me leave, their eyes carefully memorizing my face.

  Finding Gu Jie took a little effort, but not much. A woman in bck robes embroidered with crimson serpents, carrying a fishbowl, wasly inspicuous—especially to someoh superhuman speed.

  She turned as I appeared beside her.

  “Master!” Gu Jie’s eyes widened in relief. “I was worried! There had been a giant fsh of thunder—”

  “It’s fine,” I interrupted. “That was me.”

  She blinked. “M-Master?”

  “Let’s go have you fixed.” I gestured for her to follow. “The Isotion Path Sect has agreed to help you.”