The bustle of Soto City was a jarring contrast to the heavy, suffocating silence of the Star Dou Forest. The evening markets were in full swing; the air was thick with the scent of roasted meat, pungent spices, and the sweat of a thousand travelers. Merchants shouted over one another, hawking spirit metals, herbs, and dubious artifacts, while carriages rattled over the cobblestones.
Near the inner gate, amidst the flow of the crowd, Ye Lingling stopped. The transition from life-or-death struggle to mundane commerce seemed to disorient her for a moment. She took a breath, centered herself, and reached into her spatial storage tool. She pulled out a heavy velvet pouch. The metallic clink of gold coins shifting against one another cut through the ambient noise like a bell.
"Five hundred gold coins," Ye Lingling said, offering the pouch to Arthev with both hands. Her expression was solemn, her eyes locking onto his. "As we agreed. Half upfront, half upon completion. But since you didn't take the deposit earlier, this is the full amount."
Arthev glanced at the heavy pouch, calculating its weight, then up at her earnest eyes. He didn't reach for it. He simply shoved his hands into his pockets and let out a short, amused huff.
"Keep it," he said lightly, turning his head slightly to watch a passing patrol of city guards. "The price was a joke. A test to see if you were serious about risking your life. I don't need your money."
Ye Lingling frowned, shaking her head stubbornly. She stepped forward, thrusting the bag closer to him, forcing him to look at it. "No. It wasn't a joke to me. Arthev, you don't understand. Before today, I was just the Nine Heart Begonia inheritor, a glorified healing potion for others to use and discard. I was a background piece on someone else's board, protected only because I was useful."
She took a step closer, her voice trembling with intensity, ignoring the curious glances of passersby. "But now... with these wings, with this power... I'm a player. I can decide my own fate. You gave me that. You stood in the fire for me. This money is the least I can do to show my gratitude."
Arthev looked at her, his expression unreadable. He saw the desperation in her need to repay him, to balance the scales so she wouldn't feel the crushing weight of owing him her life. In the world of Soul Masters, favors were dangerous currency.
He reached out, but instead of taking the bag, he gently pushed her hand back toward her chest, closing her fingers over the velvet.
"Gold is a currency for goods, Lingling. It pays for food, for steel, for beds," Arthev said, his voice low but cutting through the noise of the market. "But strength? True evolution? That cannot be bought."
He looked her dead in the eye, his gaze piercing. "You paid for your power in the forest. You paid with your agony, your blood, and the will to survive when your bones were breaking. To offer me coins now would be to cheapen the price you've already paid in pain. Do not insult your own effort by trying to put a price tag on it."
Ye Lingling froze. The words struck a chord deep within her, resonating with the pride of the Phoenix Crane that now lived in her spine. The transactional nature of her request suddenly felt small, almost offensive. Slowly, her grip on the pouch loosened, and she lowered her hand.
"I... I understand," she whispered, putting the gold away.
She took a deep breath, composing herself. The transactional route had failed, but she wasn't ready to sever the tie just yet. "If you won't take the money, then... come with me. I will be enrolling in the Heaven Dou Royal Academy soon. My family has influence there. With your talent, and your... unique martial soul, you would be treated like royalty. We could be teammates. The Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament is approaching... we could dominate it."
Arthev looked past her, toward the distant lights of the city center, where the spires of the Spirit Hall and the nobles' estates rose above the common buildings.
"Heaven Dou Royal Academy... A gathering place for nobles and politics," he mused, a hint of disdain in his voice. "I have my own path to walk, and it doesn't lead to a classroom right now. "
Ye Lingling looked disappointed, her shoulders slumping slightly. She had hoped to keep the mysterious master close.
"However," Arthev added, seeing her expression soften. "Fate is a strange thing. If our paths cross again, and they likely will, I will consider it."
It was a polite dismissal, but it was enough for her. It wasn't a 'never.' Ye Lingling nodded, a faint smile returning to her face. She straightened her posture, the confidence of a Soul Elder radiating from her.
"Then I will get stronger, so next time, I won't need saving. Goodbye, Arthev."
"Walk tall, Lingling," Arthev replied.
He watched her turn and disappear into the crowd. She moved differently now, purposeful, dangerous. The silver-haired healer walked with a new stride that parted the sea of people before her, no longer the girl who needed to hide behind a tree.
Arthev didn't head straight for rest. He adjusted his collar and wandered the streets of Soto City for an hour, aimlessly drifting through the districts.
He walked past high-end auction houses displaying rare metals, noisy taverns spilling drunk mercenaries into the gutters, and dimly lit alleyways where deals were made in whispers. He bought a skewer of grilled squid from a street vendor, eating it mechanically as his eyes scanned everything. To an outsider, he looked like a tourist taking in the sights. In reality, he was indeed sightseeing.
The world was vast, and he was still a stranger to its deeper machinations.
Eventually, the noise of the crowd became grating. Arthev turned down a quieter street away from the market district and found a modest inn called "The Gilded Barley." It wasn't luxurious, but it was clean and quiet. He paid for a room on the top floor, ignoring the innkeeper's curious look at his unique attire, and went upstairs.
The room was sparse, a wooden bed with wool blankets, a washbasin, and a single sturdy chair.
Arthev didn't lie down. He dragged the chair to the window and sat, leaning his arm on the sill. The cool night air washed over his face, carrying the scent of rain from the distant mountains.
Above, the night sky was a blend of diamonds, the twin moons of this world casting a pale, ghostly glow over the city rooftops.
He reached into his shirt and pulled out a pendent. Hanging from a simple leather cord was a blue pendant. It looked like a teardrop of frozen ocean, dull and lifeless in the dim light, yet it held a weight that seemed to anchor him to the chair.
"Well?" Arthev projected his thought inward, his voice echoing in his subconscious. "Do you think the Stone of Serenity is one of the Seven Artifacts?"
Arthev said with his expression as if recalling past events.
Deep within his mind, the presences of Shukaku, Matatabi, and Isobu shifted.
'Hard to confirm,' Isobu's deep voice resonated back. 'We never got physically close enough for your pendant to react.'
Arthev stared at the moon, his fingers tightening around the dormant pendant. The trail hadn't gone cold, it had just become more dangerous.
"A fake, huh?" Arthev murmured to the empty room, a dangerous glint entering his eyes.
To be continued....