Slowly waking up, Yue Rin felt more tired than usual. After staring at the ceiling for a while, she decided to sleep in until noon, pick up the honey cake, return it to her room, and only then head out for training.
She also realized since she didn't know how much spirit stones she had left, she isn't sure she could afford the fee for the training grounds. Plus even if she had enough, she still needed some backup savings.
Instead, she could hail a carriage to a forest outside the kingdom and practice there. Fresh air, more space, and cheap.
What a genius idea!
With that satisfied thought, Yue Rin rolled over and drifted back to sleep, completely forgetting one small detail.
How she would get back.
* * * *
"Hello. I'm here to pick up the honey cake under the name Yue Rin." At the bakery, she found the same staff member as yesterday and spoke to them.
"Of course, esteemed customer. Your cake is ready. What kind of packaging would you like, and would you like it cut?"
"Package it so it stays fresh for a month," Yue Rin said, then hesitated. "And… yes. Cut two slices and put them into two separate packages. Something simple, but gift-like."
The staff member nodded and disappeared into the back.
When the bags were brought out, Yue Rin took them carefully, as if they might tempt her through the cloth.
She did not look inside.
She did not smell them.
She feared that if she did, the 'bait' would become 'lunch' before she ever reached the ape.
She returned to the inn first, slipped upstairs, and tucked the larger bag safely into her room. Only after it was out of her hands did she let out a breath. Then she grabbed the smaller one and headed straight for the Rogue Alliance Pavilion.
The Pavilion was as busy as ever. Yue Rin scanned the reception desks and found A-Ling behind one of them, neat uniform, bright eyes, and that calm expression.
There was a line in front of her, so Yue Rin stepped into it and waited.
When A-Ling noticed her, she kept her professional face, but her eyes curved slightly, and she gave a quick wink.
Unfortunately, the cultivator in front of Yue Rin noticed it too and immediately flushed, standing a little straighter like he'd just been blessed.
When the line finally cleared, Yue Rin stepped up to the desk. Before A-Ling could greet her, she placed the small bag down.
"I bought a cake today, It was too much for me, so I thought I'd give you two slices. One for you, and one for your mother."
A-Ling's eyebrows lifted.
"Thank you, you're going up north mountain tomorrow morning, right?"
Yue Rin nodded.
"I'll try to be at the gate, just to wave you off. And to wish you the best."
"If it won't be too much trouble for you, see you!"
Yue Rin turned and left before her face could heat up under the hood.
After Yue Rin disappeared into the crowd, A-Ling waited until there was a gap between customers. She flipped the sign on her desk to Closed, then slipped into the staff break room.
It was simple room, with a table, a few chairs for staff to rest.
A-Ling set the bag down and opened it.
Inside were two small boxes, tied with thin ribbon. With a clean paper lining that was faintly scented.
She lifted the lid of one box.
The cake slice inside looked nothing like the rough street sweets children bought with copper coins. It was golden and glossy, the honey baked into the surface like lacquer. Nuts were pressed through the crumb, and the scent that rose was warm and rich, sweet without being sharp.
A-Ling went still for a heartbeat.
"This… doesn't look like a normal cake," she murmured. "This looks like something you'd serve to royalty."
She took a small bite.
For a second, she forgot she was in a break room.
The sweetness spread cleanly across her tongue, followed by the deeper flavor of nuts, and something else beneath it, faint but unmistakable, like a gentle warmth that settled into the body instead of just sitting in the mouth. Her shoulders loosened before she even realized they'd been tense.
And she almost made an embarrassing sound.
She swallowed, forced herself to breathe normally, and stared at the cake like it had personally betrayed her self-control.
"…That girl."
A-Ling shook her head, resealed the lid carefully, and set it aside for home. Her mother was going to misunderstand this. Completely.
And somehow, A-Ling could already picture the conversation.
Maybe she should invite Yue Rin over another time. Just to prove there wasn't a man involved.
* * * *
After leaving the Pavilion, Yue Rin headed east of the central market toward the carriage plaza.
The place was loud in its own way, different from the market stalls. Here, the noise was hooves, wheels, and hawkers calling out routes instead of prices. You could buy a carriage, rent one, or simply squeeze into one that was already heading out and pay for a seat.
Yue Rin found a carriage bound for the Lianhua Kingdom and approached the coachman.
"I'd like to ride along," she said, "and be dropped off once we're outside the kingdom."
The coachman only nodded, like he'd heard the request a thousand times.
Once Yue Rin paid and climbed in, she understood why.
There were already five other cultivators inside.
So she wasn't the only one who'd decided a cheap ride to the forest beat an expensive training yard.
And it seemed she was the last passenger they were waiting for. Yue Rin found the final open spot, removed her sword so she could sit properly, and set it against her side.
With a sharp neigh and the creak of shifting wood, the carriage began to roll.
The trip would take around two hours. So Yue Rin let herself relax, eyelids drooping.
As long as they were still inside the kingdom, no one would dare start trouble so openly.
…She could afford a short nap.
* * * *
When the carriage began to rattle harder, the jolting finally dragged Yue Rin awake.
Her seat was near the back, close enough to feel every bump through the boards. She blinked, then leaned slightly to look out through the side opening.
The kingdom road was already behind them.
The fields had thinned, the trees had thickened, and the air smelled less like people and more like damp leaves.
Yue Rin sat up straighter and glanced around.
Half the cultivators were gone.
So they'd been getting off while she slept.
She decided it was better not to wander too far from the kingdom on her own, so she knocked on the carriage wall.
"I'd like to get off here," she called.
"Alright," the coachman replied without surprise.
The carriage slowed to a stop. Yue Rin grabbed her sword, stepped down, and the wheels started turning again almost immediately, rolling onward without her.
She stood there for a moment, watching the road stretch ahead like a thin line cut into the trees.
Beside the road were trunks, brush, and shadows that layered deeper the farther the forest went.
Yue Rin stared after the carriage until it vanished.
Then she turned into the forest.
After walking for a few minutes, she found a thick tree with bark rough enough to take punishment and a clear patch of ground around it.
Good enough.
A practice dummy didn't need to be pretty.
Yue Rin set her feet and let her mind run through the first technique she'd learned for offense.
Needle-Line Draw.
She placed her rear foot firm to stabilize, angled the front foot toward the trunk, and softened her knees just enough to stay springy. Shoulders down. Chest relaxed. Breath even.
On her exhale, she drew a thin thread of Qi from her dantian and guided it along a familiar route, upper arm to forearm to wrist, circulating it into the pattern she remembered until a faint warmth gathered there.
Not weak.
Not overbearing.
She unsheathed her sword close to her body, no wide arc, no wasted motion. Wrist steady. Elbows tucked.
Then she extended that thread of Qi from her wrist into the blade, letting the steel become the conduit.
The moment the sword bit into bark, she released.
A clean gash opened in the trunk, deeper than a normal swing should have been able to carve.
Yue Rin exhaled and reset her stance.
Needle-Line Draw wasn't meant to be spammed. If she forced it over and over, her wrist routes would heat, her control would wobble, and she'd be the one bleeding by the end of the day. It was a precision technique. Timing. Clean release. One use, then breathe, then reset.
She practiced it again, then paused long enough for the warmth in her wrist to settle.
Next came her movement technique.
Falling-Leaf Step.
She exhaled and guided the Qi to her hips, circulating it into the lower-body pattern until it felt like warmth sitting at the junction. At the instant her rear foot pressed the ground, she let the Qi drop into thighs, calves, and soles.
One step forward.
A single burst.
Her body slid forward at an angle, quick and light, like a leaf that never fell straight.
The moment the step completed, she cut the flow immediately, just like the book warned.
If she fed it longer, she'd stumble. If she pushed too hard, her calves would burn and her hips would tighten like stone.
She did it twice more, spacing the bursts between normal steps, counting her breaths without realizing she was doing it.
Three bursts in ten breaths.
No more.
Her legs already felt warm, not painful yet, but close enough to remind her that her body was still Qi Foundation, not some novel genius who could sprint forever.
Finally, she drew on her defensive technique.
Bark-Skin Guard.
Qi from dantian to torso routes, circulating into the shallow pattern, spreading it evenly across chest, shoulders, and arms. She held it for one breath.
A faint heaviness settled over her upper body, like a thin weight pressed onto the skin.
Then she released.
If she held it longer, the technique would bite back. Too much pressure, too long, and it would turn into chest tightness and ugly backlash.
Yue Rin practiced combining them after that.
She imagined being chased, imagined an arrow coming from behind, and used Bark-Skin Guard for a breath while her feet shifted into Falling-Leaf angles. She imagined an opening and snapped into Needle-Draw, then reset again, and again.
Tree bark flaked onto the ground.
Her breathing roughened.
Sweat dampened her hair under the hood.
And time passed.
* * * *
As the sun began dipping toward the horizon, Yue Rin finally stopped.
Her arms felt heavy, her calves warm, and her wrist carried a faint lingering sting that warned her not to push her luck.
She wiped sweat off her face, then remembered she wasn't a mortal and used Cleansing Flow.
After that, she sheathed her sword and turned back toward the road.
She should return to the inn, eat something, and sleep early. Tomorrow was the secret realm opening, and she didn't want to enter it exhausted.
Then a thought struck her so hard she stopped walking.
…How was she supposed to get back?
The sun was already lowering. There wouldn't be many carriages passing now, and even if one did, who would stop for a cloaked cultivator standing by the road with a sword?
From a distance, she probably looked like a bandit.
Yue Rin stared at the empty road, then at the thickening shadows between the trees.
"Oh no…"