Elder Bai walked through the inner sect garden.
The afternoon sun cast long shadows across manicured pathways. Spiritual herbs grew in carefully tended beds, their leaves shimmering with faint traces of residual true will.
He had left his hiding spot shortly after Zhen Wu's cultivation display ended.
His mind had been working constantly since then.
'That boy's talent is genuine. The cultivation speed, the manifestation intensity, all of it points to a spiritual root of truly exceptional quality.'
His fingers flexed unconsciously at his sides.
'But the elders are watching him too closely. Supreme Elder Feng. Elder Yun. Even Elder Hua despite her faction's stance. Any direct action would be noticed immediately.'
He rounded a corner and saw her.
A young woman, perhaps nineteen years old, sat on a stone bench beneath a willow tree. Her features were delicate and refined, the kind of beauty that drew attention without effort. Her robe marked her as an inner sect disciple, third year.
She looked up as Elder Bai approached.
Her expression shifted immediately to respectful attention.
Elder Bai sat down beside her, his movements gentle.
They spoke in low tones, voices barely carrying beyond the willow's drooping branches.
Thirty zhang away, concealed behind a privacy formation of his own, Supreme Elder Feng watched.
His expression was unreadable.
He couldn't hear the conversation. Elder Bai had deployed a sound dampening formation that prevented eavesdropping. But he could see the body language.
The girl's nervous posture. Her occasional glances toward the academy. The way she nodded at Elder Bai's words.
Elder Bai's gentle smile. His patient, encouraging gestures.
Supreme Elder Feng's eyes narrowed slightly.
'What are you doing, Bai?'
He watched for another five minutes.
Then Elder Bai stood, patting the girl's shoulder once before walking away.
The girl remained seated, her expression troubled.
Supreme Elder Feng's internal monologue was cold and disappointed.
'The girl has a third grade spiritual root, not bad but not good either. What could someone like her be doing with old Bai?'
He shook his head slowly.
'Unless...'
His thoughts paused.
'Using a disciple as a manipulation tool... What could be your end goal?'
He turned and left his spot, flickering out of existence like smoke.
Behind him, the girl continued sitting beneath the willow tree, her hands clasped tightly in her lap.
The next morning arrived clear and bright.
Zhen Wu opened his eyes to find himself in an unfamiliar room.
The new residence.
It was larger than his previous quarters by a factor of five. The bed was carved from white spirit wood, the mattress filled with cloud silk. Small formation arrays were etched into the walls, maintaining perfect temperature and preventing dust accumulation.
He sat up and dressed in the new inner sect robes that had been provided. Dark blue with silver threading.
A knock sounded at the door.
"Young master? Are you awake?"
The voice was feminine, young and carefully polite.
"Come in."
The door opened.
A girl entered, perhaps eighteen or nineteen years old. She was beautiful, with delicate features and long black hair tied back in a practical braid. Her robe marked her status as a servant.
She bowed respectfully.
"This servant's name is Xiao Lan. I've been assigned to attend to young master's needs."
Zhen Wu studied her briefly.
A mortal. No cultivation base whatsoever. Her status was purely functional, a household servant provided by the sect to maintain appearances and handle daily tasks.
"There are two other servants assigned to our household?"
"Yes, young master. An older man, Uncle Feng, attends to Master Wu Chen. And Aunt Ming serves Madam Wu Mei. Both are also mortals without cultivation."
Zhen Wu nodded.
"The sect has also prepared cultivation resources for young master's use." Xiao Lan continued. "They were delivered this morning and placed in the storage room."
"And true will stones?"
"Yes, young master. Fifty rank one true will stones."
A decent amount for a new inner sect disciple. Not lavish, but sufficient to support several months of cultivation.
'The sect is trying to asses my financial ability...' Zhen Wu noted.
Zhen Wu stood.
"Guide me to the storage room."
"Of course, young master."
Xiao Lan led him through the residence. It was a proper courtyard dwelling, with multiple rooms arranged around a central garden. His parents' quarters were on the opposite side from his own, providing privacy.
They reached a side building and entered.
The storage room was modest, perhaps fifteen zhang wide and twenty zhang long. Shelves lined the walls, currently mostly empty.
But what was present caught Zhen Wu's attention immediately.
Herbs. Spiritual plants in sealed containers. Several bottles of refined potions. Cultivation manuals stacked neatly.
And in the corner, two massive corpses.
Beast corpses.
Each one was twice Zhen Wu's size, covered in dark fur marked with strange patterns. Their forms were preserved perfectly, no decay visible despite obvious death.
Zhen Wu's steps slowed as he approached them.
His spiritual sense extended, examining them carefully.
Then his internal thoughts froze.
'Beast corpses. And they still have their souls in them?'
His mind raced.
'Does Qing Yue think I'm a Soul Harvester? That could explain my situation to some degree. My spiritual root's unknown attributes. The difficulty sensing any resonance. Soul attribute cultivators are rare, but they do exist.'
He examined the corpses more closely.
'It could be a possibility. Soul Harvesters can absorb residual soul energy from recently deceased beings to fuel their cultivation. It would explain why I managed to intake true will easily but haven't shown any spiritual root abilities yet.'
His thoughts paused.
'But it's very far fetched. I'm likely overthinking. There could be a dozen other reasons she provided beast corpses.'
Xiao Lan had been watching him silently.
Sensing her young master's interest in the corpses, she took the liberty to speak.
"Instructor Qing Yue personally insisted that the sect provide these corpses for young master's use. She didn't specify the reason."
Zhen Wu's expression remained neutral, but internally his heart skipped a beat.
'She insisted personally? That's not a casual request, she thinks there is a chance that I am a Soul Harvester.'
He stood motionless for three seconds, processing.
Then he turned to Xiao Lan, his voice calm.
"Did the sect provide me with a storage device? Something to carry resources?"
Xiao Lan nodded immediately and reached into her robe.
She withdrew a small white object and offered it to him with both hands.
Zhen Wu took it and examined it closely.
It was a mark. Not a ring or a pouch, but a flat circular token about the size of his palm. Its surface was covered in intricate lines that flowed in all directions, forming patterns that seemed to shift when viewed from different angles.
The design was strange. Unlike anything he'd seen before.
His expression must have shown his confusion, because Xiao Lan smiled slightly and spoke.
"That's a storage rune, young master."
"Storage rune?"
She nodded.
"I don't know many details myself, but I know the rune's complexity determines its capacity. This particular design is one of the larger capacity types. However, it has a disadvantage compared to other storage devices."
"What disadvantage?"
"You must instill true will into it to activate it. When activated, it expands to roughly the size of a small basin. It can't be used quickly in urgent situations."
Zhen Wu turned the rune over in his hands.
Interesting. A different approach to spatial storage than the ring based methods he was familiar with.
He channeled a small amount of true will into the rune.
The white mark began to glow. Then it expanded, growing from palm sized to basin sized in three seconds. The material remained flat but the interior space clearly existed in folded dimensions.
Xiao Lan opened her mouth to explain further.
But Zhen Wu had already extended his spiritual sense into the storage space, examining its interior.
After a moment, the rune contracted back to its original size.
Then it dissolved into light and reformed as a white tattoo on his right forearm.
Xiao Lan blinked.
'He figured it out before I could explain. Smart.'
Zhen Wu walked to the beast corpses and placed his hand on the first one.
He channeled true will into the tattoo again. The storage space opened, invisible but present.
The corpse vanished, drawn into the dimensional pocket.
Then the second corpse followed.
Each beast had been twice his size. Massive bodies that should have occupied significant space.
Zhen Wu checked the storage capacity.
Less than ten percent filled.
He gave Xiao Lan an approving nod.
He moved through the storage room, selecting various herbs and potions. A few cultivation manuals. Some basic alchemical ingredients.
All of it went into the storage rune.
Then he turned to leave.
"I'm going to the inner plaza. I don't require accompaniment."
"Yes, young master."
Xiao Lan bowed as he departed.
The inner plaza was located at the heart of the inner sect territory.
It was a large open square, perhaps five hundred zhang on each side. Stalls lined the perimeter, merchants calling out their wares. Disciples moved through the space, examining goods, negotiating prices, conducting the daily business of cultivation.
Zhen Wu walked slowly, eyes scanning prices, quality, the way merchants interacted with customers, everything.
He was familiarizing himself with the current market conditions. Information was valuable. Knowing what resources cost, what was considered rare, what could be obtained easily, all of it would inform future decisions.
After circling the plaza once, he approached a particular stall.
The merchant was middle aged. His cultivation base was modest, early True Will Condensation realm. Enough to handle small groups of rank 1 beasts.
A large sign hung above his stall: "BEAST MATERIALS - BUY AND SELL"
Currently, the merchant was arguing with an inner sect disciple.
The disciple was perhaps twenty years old, his robes marked with a third year insignia. His face was flushed with anger.
"Eighty true will stones! That's robbery!"
The merchant's expression was flat, unmoved.
"Night Sand Terrors are rank two beasts, yes. But their materials aren't particularly rare. The hide is decent for armor, but not exceptional. The claws are useful for forging devices, but dozens of other beasts provide similar quality."
"These are fresh corpses! Killed yesterday! The true will and souls haven't fully dissipated yet!"
"Which is why I'm offering eighty stones instead of sixty." The merchant's tone grew colder. "Take it or leave it. Other disciples are waiting."
The disciple's hands clenched into fists.
His eyes swept the area and landed on Zhen Wu, who stood nearby watching.
The disciple's anger found a convenient target. He glared at Zhen Wu with undisguised hostility, as if Zhen Wu's mere presence had somehow caused his misfortune.
Then he turned back to the merchant, teeth clenched.
"Fine. Eighty stones."
The transaction completed quickly. The corpses vanished into the merchant's storage device. True will stones exchanged hands.
The disciple left, still glaring at Zhen Wu as he passed.
Zhen Wu ignored him entirely.
He stepped forward to the stall.
The merchant looked up, his expression shifting to professional neutrality.
"Welcome, young master. How can I assist you?"
"I have two rank one Purple Howlers. What price would you offer?"
The merchant's eyes sharpened slightly.
Purple Howlers were common rank one beasts, but their pelts had good spiritual conductivity. Decent materials for entry level cultivators.
He pretended to think, stroking his chin.
"Forty rank one true will stones."
Zhen Wu's expression didn't change.
He turned and walked away without saying a single word.
The merchant's face froze.
"Wait! Young master, we can negotiate..."
But Zhen Wu was already fifteen zhang away, moving toward the next stall.
Behind him, the merchant stared in shock.
'He didn't even try to haggle? Just left immediately?'
Other merchants had noticed the interaction. A few smiled knowingly.
Zhen Wu moved through the plaza, approaching different beast material merchants.
Each time, he asked the same question.
Each time, the prices varied but remained disappointingly low.
He had no intention of selling immediately. This was a form of reconnaissance. Establishing baseline values but also understanding which merchants were reasonable and which were not.
He himself was aware of the price, he couldn't get more than 60 rank 1 true will stones at most even if he tried his best.