Heaven's Laws - Lifestone - Chapter 8

They left the palace by flying over its main entrances. There was a street bustling with people that led straight to the heart of the business district. Huifen wore her orange martial uniform and her cultivation distorting sash. Chao’s garb was a handsome silver she had recommended to him. Even as they landed and the eyes of many glanced in their direction, they weren’t worried that people would see past their sash’s ability. Earth realm cultivators could commonly fly for short stints. Getting around in a huge city was a perfect use of such a skill.

Huifen had put the dress Empress Yan Ya had gifted her in her spatial ring to wear only on special occasions. How she felt when she tried it on, and when her husband had seen her, was still lingered. It was strange. Chao often gave her the same look of admiration whether she wanted him to or not, but this time she dressed up specifically to rouse a reaction from him. She succeeded and felt overwhelmingly giddy about it. She also knew she had to be careful.

It was as Yan Ya had said. Huifen could fall prey to such attention—such vanity. Some women lived for little else. As long as they could get it, it wouldn’t even matter who they got it from. It didn’t even have to be their own husbands. While these feelings were fresh, she determined to meditate on it further when she had the chance. It could be a danger to her martial path and lead her to looking for such attention from someone other than Chao. The idea was repulsive to her now, but if she let it grow, even incrementally, what about decades or even centuries from now?

She felt guilty just having that line of thought as she glanced over at him. He was in an awe filled daze as he took in the sights. There were pagodas everywhere. The smallest of which were three to four stories tall. The tallest were as high as ten and even had lesser traffic flying between their upper segments from higher realm cultivators. They’d likely have to reveal themselves to be able to enter the upper levels. For now, they agreed to shop around as traveling earth realm cultivators.

When Chao turned to face her, she saw the mischief in his expression. “Come, my earth realm wife. Let us see if there’s any good deals this humble one can buy for his beloved.”

She wanted to smack him on the arm. Anyone paying attention would see right through him, wouldn’t they? What use was a humility sash if he was obvious with their disguise? It didn’t really matter. “You only plan on buying me something if it’s on sale? How did I ever end up with such a stingy husband?”

He stiffened at her words, which forced a smile to her lips.

“Does that mean you plan on running off with the first man that fancies you and has more money than me?”

The smile fell from her face. “You.”

He snickered. “Your nose is twitching.”

He pulled her along before she could retort.

They stepped into the closest pagoda to enter a room packed with people and even more goods lining the walls and on display under glass cases. A light wood was used in the pagoda’s construction which interesting white grains running through it. She’d noticed it was common in this area, but this was the first time she’d had an up-close view of it.

Even as a girl, she’d been well off, just not nearly as wealthy as the noble families who’d been gathering resources for centuries. Her mother’s discipline was like a force in their home, so she’d never really felt wealthy. With her husband at her side, nine overlord, and one tribulation cultivator’s spatial rings worth of resources on her person, it was the first time she actually felt rich. If she so desired, she could request some of the wood from the shop and have them tear apart their own walls to get it for her. That was the kind of money she possessed. She wasn’t sure she liked the feeling.

Being in such a tight crowd where people were bumping into them constantly was also irritating, but they weren’t in a hurry, so she managed to keep herself calm with relative ease. Those on this first floor had a wide mix of cultivations. The most common were those in the blood realm that came right before nascent. It was the second realm of cultivation where one drew in qi to mix with the blood and enrich the body further. The first realm was the body. It was the general body strengthening period before someone would dare to start taking in qi. There were many body realm cultivators present as well. Most of them were young.

Nascent realm cultivators, those in the third realm who were developing their core in a gaseous qi form, were fairly common as well. It was the realm Chao had been in when Huifen had first met him. It wasn’t uncommon for this to be considered the first real realm of immortal cultivation while referring to the body and blood realms as the mortal realms. As for earth realm cultivators, the fourth realm that garnered with it a certain amount of respect, there were few. They’d be considered cultivators of some worth here in this context. It was likely that such people wouldn’t even shop on this level of the pagoda.

Chao seemed happy to browse, so she didn’t stop him. Much of this was new to him. She’d been to many cities, but the capital was an experience for her as well. She caught herself over analyzing everything and began making a concerted effort to enjoy it.

They followed the chaotic flow of traffic until they reached the other side of the room where Chao stopped. His face lit up and he grabbed two sticks of dragon’s beard candy and handed her a pink one which he took the blue one for himself. He didn’t even wait to take a bite of the egg-sized, stringy-textured treat.

A grin tugged at her mouth as she took a bite. The cottony candy strings melted on her tongue as she bit into a mix of nuts and seeds. It tasted of sugary coconut. How many years had it been since she had dragon’s beard? A decade, at least.

Chao tossed a bronze coin to the storekeeper on their way out. The young man raised his brow in surprise. Her husband had overpaid many times over. There were no complaints about them having to wait in line though.

“You don’t want to go to the next floor?” Huifen asked as they stepped onto the less busy street.

His mouth was full, so he pointed up with his stick of candy. They flew past the second floor when they saw no opening and went straight to the third, top floor. The opening was wide enough for multiple people, so they skirted past a sky realm cultivator with a haughty expression as the man left.

There were only a few tens of people, so their arrival caught the attention of many in the room. Seeing them holding sticks of dragon’s beard, they received a few scornful looks, but Chao strolled in ignoring them completely. He’d seen something across the room and headed right for it.

Stopping at a row of glass cases, Chao leaned close and examined what was there. As Huifen got a better look, she was suddenly feeling self-conscious. He was looking at jewelry. Women’s jewelry.

“My Huifen,” he began, wondering aloud. “I know you don’t care much for jewelry, but is there anything here you like?”

She was taken aback. It wasn’t that she was surprised he asked, but as she contemplated the question, she didn’t know the answer herself. It was the same problem she had with the dresses in the royal treasury. Without heart of ice, she simply didn’t know herself very yet.

“I’m not sure…”

For the next hour, they explored the cases of jewelry. They weren’t sages, in that moment, but a couple of newly married youngsters. Huifen allowed herself to explore her own preferences. She found she liked silver more than gold when it was well polished and blue-green jade or turquoise more than the more expensive deep green. She was partial to figurines of the phoenix or pendants, but she was pretty sure where that bias came from, so she let herself explore what else she liked.

When she’d finally made a decision, she waved the saleswoman over and asked to have a necklace with a fine silver chain removed from the case.

The young woman was a few years older than they were with a flatter face and kind eyes. Noticing they were a couple, she gave them a joyful look as she removed the necklace and placed it on a black cloth. “This turquoise is covered with veins, which makes it flawed, but it was cut into this oval shape and finely polished. It is very pretty for such an inexpensive piece.”

“It is pretty,” Huifen agreed. The thumb-sized oval turquoise was facetted in silver. She picked it up and examined it closely. It may have been considered flawed, but that was what made it so interesting to look at. Its color was no less vivid than the everything else on display.

“Over here are a few less flawed pieces and a few flawless ones. Generally, the less spiderwebbing, or veins, the more expensive, but that’s not always the case.”

She looked over at the woman’s recommendation but didn’t see any turquoise or blue-green jade pieces that interested her as much. Chao leaned closer and gave her a questioning look after a few seconds.

“I like this one’s natural look,” she insisted.

His face lit up.

Seeing it, the saleswoman gave them a fond smile and said, “Sometimes the uniqueness of a piece is more appealing than what might costs more. This one is a good choice for the beautiful young woman.”

“Try it on,” Chao insisted.

Huifen looked back and forth between the two of them then do as he suggested.

“Mmm,” he sounded a little too suggestively for public.

“It looks lovely,” the saleswoman replied good-naturedly. “How would you like to pay today? You can also hand over an item of equal value that we will hold as you pay overtime if you prefer.”

As charitable as the woman had been to them, she obviously through they were a poor newly married couple. Huifen wasn’t exactly sure what to think. On one hand, they were disguising themselves for convenience’s sake. On the other, they had a ridiculous amount of money. She felt bad fooling the woman.

“We’ll pay with qian,” Chao replied. “Can I also get—” He proceeded to point out every piece of jewelry she’d spend the most time examining.

“Husband,” she warned, but he shrugged off her concern. He didn’t seem to notice saleswoman at all.

“If you end up not liking them, we can always give them as gifts later. It’s not like they’re expensive.” He addressed the saleswoman. “Could I also get the other turquoise pendants and the blue-green jade ones as well? Go ahead and throw in the one’s with the golden chains. I’d like to examine the differences between jade and turquoise later. It’s been a while since I’ve given any attention to earth. Since this is something my Huifen likes, then I should become familiar with it. Do you have any with internal or external formations? I’m assuming they will be a little costly.”

The saleswoman was momentarily lost for words. When she recovered, she backtracked to where she’d become unnerved “Sir, the cost of all of this will be more than two taels of gold…”

He didn’t even look at her and removed the two golden tael cards on the counter as he continued to look for something he might have missed.

“Yes, um—” The woman’s tongue faltered, but she swept up the taels, then began answer his question. “This one answers the young master. You are correct. The cost of pendants with internal or external formations are many times more costly than this common type. We have a few defensive types on hand that are able to protect against peak nascent realm attacks, but they start at five taels of silver, or half a tael of gold.”

“Are there any that help with the gathering of qi?”

“There are.”

“Do you mind bringing them over for me to see?”

“Of course, not.”

The woman hand only just finished pulling the jewelry Chao had requested from the display case when she ran off. She reached another saleswoman behind the counter and whispered to her.

“What are you doing?” Huifen asked quietly. “They won’t have anything here that can compare with your qi gathering artifacts.”

He leaned close to her ear. “I know. What do you think? This girl is a water cultivator, yes?”

“Yes…” The saleswoman was still in the mid-nascent realm.

There wasn’t time to say more, for the woman who’d been serving them was returning with her arms full. She carried a long tray covered in black silk. There were approximately twenty pendants and brooches. Most of them looked to have runes carved into their surfaces, but a few were flawless. It could only mean their formations were hidden inside.

Before the woman could introduce the pieces, Chao asked. “Which is the best for gathering water qi?”

She sat the tray down and reached for golden chained pendant that held a round jade of rich green. Huifen could see her hands were slightly trembling as she picked it up.

“Can you put it on to model for us?” Chao asked without taking his eyes off the piece.

“Uh. I’m not supposed to, young master,” the woman said.

“It will help us make the best decision.”

Seeing that this surprisingly rich young man wasn’t letting up, the girl nodded her head shyly and help it up as if she were going to put it on but didn’t finish with the last step.

“Clasp it, please. Your hands are in the way.”

She did as he said but rung her hands together on her chest.

“My wife, what do you think?”

Of course, Huifen knew what he intended to do. It seemed he’d noticed the saleswoman’s kindness more than he’d let on. Either that, or he just wanted to be generous. “It looks lovely,” she said honestly.

“Great, we’ll purchase this one as well.”

When the woman started to take off the pendant, he called out. “What are you doing?”

The girl looked confused—and frightened. “Young master?”

“You must keep it on. This is a simple gift for treating us so well.”

“Young master, its cost is three taels of gold. More than your entire purchase.”

Three more golden cards flew from his hand. The woman caught them easily.

“That will be all for us today,” Chao said, waving his long ago licked clean wooden stick where his dragon’s beard candy had once sat. “Thanks, again.”

When he started to head out, Huifen grabbed his arm.

He gave her the same mischievous look from before. “Yes, my Huifen?” He leaned forward. “You aren’t jealous, are you?”

Rolling her eyes, she ignored the taunt. “This could be a problem. For her.”

“Oh?”

“Such an expensive piece of jewelry might make her a target.”

He glanced back at the still baffled woman with serious contemplation.

“There is not need to worry,” a cheery man’s voice sounded.

They both turned to find a man in white and green robes with a long mustache with curly tips. He bowed to them.

“This one’s name is Wang Guo, and this is my humble shop. While here, Chun’er will not be bullied. I will counsel her not wear it in the open until she advances a realm. Its best use for now will be to help with her cultivation.”

“Yes, Master Wang,” the girl squeaked.

Chao laughed aloud and relaxed immediately. “Thank you, Master Wang,” he said, giving the man a martial salute.

Huifen watched the man return the salute. He made a point to let his eyes linger on her husband’s sash. A moment later, their eyes met, and it was clear he knew exactly what they were. It didn’t surprise her the merchant spotted them so quickly. He was a sky realm cultivator after all and looked middle age. She’d be surprised if he wasn’t at least a century old.

She saluted the merchant and thanked him as well.

“Is there anything else I can do for you while you’re here?” He asked.

She didn’t doubt that the man’s declaration of protection of his employee was a genuine one, but she was ready to go. She felt uncomfortable deceiving anyone, especially now that they were found out.

Chao didn’t have the same sensitivity to their predicament though. “Do you have any turquoise or blue-green jade hairpins?”

“Of course,” the man replied. “Chun’er, bring the full display.”

“Yes, Master.”

The girl was only gone for a minute when she came back carrying another tray. Just as with the pendants, there were veined and flawless versions.

As they were examining them, Wang Guo didn’t wait to mention, “You can take the lot of them for three taels.”

“Done,” Chao chimed. He handed over the golden cards and swept the pins into his spatial ring. Only two remained in his hand. They were similar to the spiderweb turquoise pendant. She took them as he handed them to her. Just like before, her eyes were drawn to the gemstone’s natural features.

“If you are looking for pieces with higher realm formations, I recommend the Golden Bell Pavilion and Emperor’s Auction House as two of the most trustworthy establishments in the city with fair pricing. Of course, they aren’t limited to jewelry, and have a variety of things rarely seen anywhere else on the entire continent.”

“Auction house?” Chao said, giving her an excited look.

Why did she get the sudden feeling he was about to spend their entire fortune? Despite that, his enthusiasm was infectious. With a quick spin of her qi, she did her hair up in a bun and put the pins in place to hold it secure. She then grabbed her husband’s arm and patted his forearm.

After getting directions, they thanked them once more and left.

***

“Master Wang,” Chun’er said, keeping her voice down. “Why did you give them directions to go directly to the top floor of the Emperor’s and Golden Bell? Does that young master really have such riches?”

He gave the girl a squinty look. “After gifting you this treasure pendant, do you doubt them?”

“I—” She shook her head. “I don’t mean to. It’s just the Golden Bell gives earth realm cultivators pushback when they try to enter.”

“So you believe them to be earth realm cultivators?”

“Their cultivation is higher than mine, so it’s not too clear, but they’re so young. You mean they’re not?”

“From just a glance at their cores, that’s exactly what they looked like, however, did you notice the sashes that they were both wearing?”

“Uh. The lady was wearing a blue one and the man’s was black.”

“You noticed. Good. Always try to observe what others might miss. They might look like normal sashes. I dare say that even most experts would mistake them, but I’ve seen much in my three centuries of life. Those are Spatial Dissimulation Artifacts. Or simply, they hold internal formations that disguise a person’s cultivation. Just one of them would cost more than a hundred taels.”

“One hundred taels…”

“Yes.”

“So they’re really old monsters?”

Master Wang shook his head. “To look as young as they do, it’s possible for them to have used some specialty technique to look that way, but why would they come here acting as they did if that were the case? No, those two are just as young as you suspect, perhaps younger, and I’m not sure my cultivation is a match for them.”

“Master, you mean?”

“What sky realm cultivator hides their cultivation in the capital city? It provides them with many privileges and respect, but it’s also not the highest realm under heaven. Only someone who doesn’t want to be inconveniences by the spectacle of their realm would even consider this type of artifact. Which means…”

“Sages.” Placed her hand over pendant they had gifted her. “Why would sages come here?”

“To do exactly what they did. Now enough with the questions. I’m going to contact a few acquaintances and make sure the Golden Bell and Emperor’s Auction House know that they’re coming. There might be a little commission in it for us.”

“Yes, Master.

---

I'm ending this chapter here. Auctions are a big part of cultivation fantasy, so I'll put the fun stuff all in one chapter. Maybe two, which we'll get into tomorrow. I don't want to go overboard and have the first half of the book one big auction arc, but I still enjoy them... :D

Cheers!

Special Note: Dragon's beard is the Chinese version of cotton candy.