Bushes shuddered violently nearby, and a shadow blurred through the undergrowth before landing atop a stone outcrop just ahead of them. A two-tailed Iron-Fang Lynx, its silver fur gleaming like tempered steel under the dim canopy light, lashed both tails through the air as its eyes burned with unmistakable, bestial killing intent. A Tier 3 Spirit Beast, and clearly not inclined toward caution.
Yu Lianyan stepped forward without hesitation, rolling her shoulders until her joints cracked like grinding jade. The lynx roared and leapt at her, claws flashing like metal daggers.
A flash of crimson light tore through the air in response — Yu Lianyan's fist, wreathed in the searing petals of her Flame Lotus Energy, connected squarely with the lynx's jaw.
BOOM!
The beast was flung ten meters back, smashing clean through a tree trunk before tumbling to a stop, unmoving.
Jin Bao gawked openly at the display. Yu Lianyan flipped her hair back with a self-satisfied smile, clearly pleased with how little effort the whole thing had taken.
Yu Lianxue walked past the fallen lynx without a second glance, her tone matter-of-fact. "Stay alert. More are coming."
Almost as if summoned by the warning itself, the ground trembled beneath their feet. A pack of four Horned Boars burst through the undergrowth ahead — Tier 3 Spirit Beasts, Earth-attribute, built for charging straight through anything unfortunate enough to stand in their path.
This time, Mo Xuan moved. He stepped forward, faint runes flashing beneath his feet as he activated Cloudwalk Script and drew his sword in the same motion. Black-and-white energy spiralled down the length of the blade as he closed the distance.
One step. One slash.
SPLASH—
A line of light swept clean across all four boars at once. They collapsed in silence, the fight over before it had properly begun.
Jin Bao whistled loudly. "So cool."
Mo Xuan didn't spare him so much as a glance, already moving towards the next rustle further down the trail.
Yu Lianyan snorted. "Don't just stand there."
"Oh!" Jin Bao muttered, scrambling forward at once. He brandished a handful of talismans and sent them flying in overlapping arcs of flame, ice, and wind, each one exploding outward to shatter whatever beast happened to be unlucky enough to be caught in its path. Still, even mid-fight, he found a moment to thump his own chest with pride — no bulky bags weighing him down this time, every item neatly stored away in his new storage ring, which gleamed proudly on his finger like a badge of honour he made certain everyone could see.
From that point on, the group encountered one beast after another in quick succession, fighting almost continuously as they pushed deeper into the valley, leaving a steady trail of fallen creatures behind them. After each kill, Jin Bao dutifully stored the carcass away in his storage ring, humming happily to himself the entire time — meat, cores, bones, hides, blood, all of it representing wealth and cultivation resources he fully intended to make use of later.
By the second evening, after bringing down a pack of Gale Wolves — Tier 3, Wind-attribute, hunting in a coordinated pack rather than alone — they found a cave sheltered by stone outcroppings and decided to make camp there for the night.
Mo Xuan roasted meat over a small fire, the smell filling the cave — Horned Boar and Gale Wolf both, Qi-rich meat prized for tempering the body of anyone who ate it regularly. After they'd eaten their fill, Yu Lianxue unfolded her map while Mo Xuan volunteered to keep watch for the first shift.
"We should arrive at Red Pine Town tomorrow afternoon," she said, tracing a finger along the route. "Let's rest here for the night and set out at first light. Once we get there, we can find lodging and pick up any supplies we're missing before continuing."
By late afternoon the next day, the dense forest finally gave way to open plains, revealing a large town nestled beside a wide river.
Lanterns hung from tall poles lining the streets, and merchants shouted over one another from every corner of the market square. It was lively, messy, and loud — everything the sect, with its quiet courtyards and measured discipline, decidedly was not.
Yu Lianxue pulled her cloak a little tighter as they approached. "This is Red Pine Town. A major rest stop for travelling cultivators."
Jin Bao inhaled deeply, as though he could smell opportunity itself on the breeze. "Ahhh... the scent of business!"
Mo Xuan shot him a sideways glance.
Jin Bao nearly choked on his own enthusiasm.
As they made their way into town, snippets of bustling conversation drifted past them from every direction.
"Have you heard? The Red Pine Auction House is hosting a rare event today!"
"Big clans are already arriving for it!"
"I heard a Treasure Pavilion item is going up for bidding!"
Mo Xuan stopped walking.
Auction.
The word carried a strangely familiar warmth, tugging at something in the back of his mind he couldn't quite place yet. His clan — the Mo Clan — had held many auctions back in Willow Creek Village, and he'd grown up hearing the clamour of competing bids, the excitement rippling through a crowd over some rare item, the whispers passed hand to hand about treasures no one had actually seen yet. He hadn't thought about any of that in years, and the sudden pull of it caught him slightly off guard.
Jin Bao's eyes lit up instantly. "We must go!"
Yu Lianxue gave a rare, small nod of agreement. "It could give us useful supplies, or at least useful information."
Yu Lianyan stretched lazily, unbothered either way. "And if anything exciting happens, even better."
Mo Xuan smiled faintly, the pull of the memory settling into something closer to simple curiosity. "Very well. But first, we need to find a place to stay."
After asking around, they settled on a moderately sized inn near the centre of town. Its outer walls were painted a deep red, and two lanterns swayed gently in the evening wind above its entrance. The innkeeper welcomed them with a practised, friendly smile.
"How many rooms, honoured guests?"
Yu Lianxue answered steadily. "Two. Adjacent."
The innkeeper bowed and led them upstairs, chattering briefly about the town's amenities before leaving them to settle in. As soon as he'd retreated down the stairs, the twins turned to face Mo Xuan and Jin Bao.
"To avoid trouble," Yu Lianxue said, "we disguise ourselves."
Yu Lianyan tossed two plain black cloaks onto the nearest bed. "And wear masks. This town will be crawling with all types tonight, and the fewer people who recognise us, the better."
Jin Bao nodded rapidly. "Yes, yes, of course—" He paused, picking up one of the cloaks and turning it over in his hands. "Wait. Cloaks... won't that hide my charm, though?"
Yu Lianyan deadpanned, "You don't have any."
He clutched his chest as though physically wounded. "Cruel..."
Mo Xuan chuckled and picked up his own cloak without further comment.
An hour later, all four of them stood before the inn's mirror, completely unrecognisable. Black cloaks, plain masks, hoods drawn low enough that only their eyes remained visible.
Yu Lianxue checked each of them over with meticulous care, adjusting a hood here, tightening a clasp there. "Don't be reckless, and stay close to the group."
Jin Bao lifted his hand shyly. "What about—"
Yu Lianyan cut him off before he could finish, patting his shoulder with a look sharp enough that sparks might as well have been shooting from her eyes. "Don't."
Seeing that look aimed directly at him, Jin Bao solemnly shook his head, signalling that whatever he'd been about to ask no longer mattered.
Mo Xuan placed a steady hand on his shoulder, and with that, the four of them stepped out of the inn.
The sky outside had gotten a bit dark while they'd been getting ready. Red lanterns hung from nearly every building along the street, bathing the town in warm, crimson light — the same light, Mo Xuan realised, that had probably given the town its name in the first place. If anything, the evening felt even livelier than the afternoon had.
Merchants shouted over one another, each trying to out-advertise the stall beside them. Street performers had gathered small crowds with feats of acrobatics that looked, at a glance, almost physically impossible. Cultivators wearing robes from a dozen different sects moved freely through the crowd without attracting much attention, the sheer variety of them making any single set of robes unremarkable.
Unlike the Azure Cloud Sword Sect, with its careful hierarchy and quiet discipline, Red Pine Town operated on different rules. People came, traded whatever they had to trade, and left again once their business was finished.
Mo Xuan took in his surroundings quietly as they walked. Some passersby wore their wealth openly, expensive Spirit Artefacts glinting from belts and wrists without any apparent fear of theft. Others had their auras deliberately muted. Several cloaked figures, dressed much like the four of them, slipped into narrow alleys only to reappear elsewhere moments later, their business done before anyone could think to follow.
They rounded one final street corner, and then stopped.
Before them stood the Red Pine Auction House.
It occupied nearly an entire block on its own, dwarfing the wooden buildings crowded around it on every side. Unlike its neighbours, its exterior was built from polished crimson stone that gleamed under the glow of hundreds of lanterns strung along its rooftop and walls. Two enormous bronze doors stood open at its entrance, wide enough to admit a small crowd at once, with a steady stream of masked and unmasked visitors alike already filtering through them into whatever waited inside.