The bathhouse in Ryker's quarters had heated water that never ran cold and enough space to actually move around. Luxury compared to his previous life, but he wasn't thinking about that. He was thinking about how his father believed he was training orthodox while his actual method involved a perverted beetle and accidental kinship.
He scrubbed off the forest dirt and sweat, watching brown water circle the drain.
"You're overthinking again," Zyx said from the bathroom counter. "Your meridians are tensing up."
"I'm not overthinking."
"You're spiraling about lying to your father. I can feel it."
Ryker dunked his head underwater instead of answering. When he surfaced, Zyx was still there.
"Done with your crisis?" the beetle asked.
"For now."
"Good. Get dressed. We have pills to buy."
The marketplace was loud in late afternoon—vendors shouting, customers haggling, the smell of roasted meat and incense mixing into something overwhelming. Ryker walked through it wearing clean blue robes, his hair tied back, trying to look like a 'young lord'
"You're doing the constipated face again," Zyx muttered.
"What face?"
"The 'I'm mysterious' face that looks like indigestion."
"I'm not—" Ryker stopped. There was no winning this argument.
He found Lian's stall easier this time. It was the same wooden table, same glass vials, and the banner with "Silverbrook Alchemy" in silver thread.
And there was Lian, arranging bottles.
Today he wore actual robes instead of those shabby clothes—pale green silk that caught the light, cinched at the waist with a darker sash. When he reached up to adjust a high shelf, the fabric pulled tight and Ryker's eyes followed the movement before his brain could stop them.
Narrow waist. Curved hips. What the hell was with these people!!
"Staring at his ass," Zyx whispered.
"Observing the merchant."
Lian turned around then, and afternoon sun caught his face. Silver hair loose today, falling past his shoulders. Green eyes widened when they met Ryker's, and his whole expression lit up.
"Oh! You came back!" Lian's face went slightly pink. "I was hoping—I mean, I thought you might—" He tucked hair behind one ear. "Hi."
"Hi," Ryker said, forgetting every other word he knew.
"Did you need the pills?" Lian glanced at Ryker's empty hands. "Or something else?"
Right. Words.
"Qi Condensing Pills," Ryker pulled out the coin pouch. "However many this buys."
Lian's eyes widened at the weight. "That's a lot. Are you preparing for something?"
"Academy trials. Eleven days."
"Me too!" Lian's excitement was immediate and genuine. "I'm taking them too! My combat's not great but my friend said alchemists are valuable for support, so I figured—" He stopped, face going pinker. "Sorry. Rambling. You don't need my life story."
"It's fine," Ryker said, and his brain supplied absolutely zero follow-up words.
Lian smiled anyway, like Ryker's behaviour was somehow endearing. "Let me get those pills."
He turned to search through boxes behind the stall, and Ryker's traitorous eyes tracked the movement. The robes really didn't hide much. When Lian bent forward to reach a lower shelf—
"I'm going to narrate if you don't stop," Zyx warned.
Ryker looked at the sky. Clouds. Very normal cloud-watching behavior. What a drag.
"Here!" Lian straightened with a wooden case. "Twelve pills, freshly refined. I made these myself—they use Moonpetal Lotus essence for meridian purification."
Something in Ryker's chest flipped. Lian had made these personally. With those delicate hands that now traced the carved lid with obvious pride.
"Take one every three days," Lian explained, leaning across the table. "Don't exceed that or you'll oversaturate. And drink water after—the purification process dehydrates you."
"Right. Water. Three days." Ryker counted out silver, trying not to notice how close Lian was, how the light caught in his hair, how his eyes crinkled when he smiled.
Their fingers brushed when Lian took the coins.
Heat pulsed through Ryker's dantian—not a breakthrough, just his qi circulation speeding up like it recognized something. His meridians hummed but stayed stable at Rank Four. Just... more active than before.
(Ok im here to stop this!! Author this does not make sense, how tf can he get such benefits from doing so little!! What the hell will happened if he kissed one!! Would he just become immortal!!!??
Cough cough, in regards to ongoing investigation, my lawer has recommended me not to make a comment so…. No comment
BS!! I swear if this happens again!!)
"You okay?" Lian asked. "You look flushed."
"Fine."
"Oh!" Understanding crossed Lian's face. "It must be the heat, yeah it gets me too sometimes, though personally i think winters are much brutal." He reached under the table and pulled out a small vial of pale blue liquid. "Here. Free sample—a cooling tonic"
He pressed it into Ryker's hand, fingers lingering a moment, and Ryker's qi sped up again.
Was he an angel? No maybe a divine being trapped inside a mortal shell, the dao told him t-
"Thank you," Ryker said, voice rougher than intended.
Lian went pink, tucking hair behind his ear. "I-It's nothing…. I just want you to do well at the trials. You seem like you're working really hard."
If only he knew.
"You too," Ryker managed. "Good luck."
"Maybe we'll see each other there!" Lian's smile was bright. "It would be nice to know someone."
"I'll see you there."
Apparently that was the right answer because Lian's whole face lit up, and Ryker felt his qi do a happy little circulation loop
"I should go," Ryker gestured vaguely at the market. "Other supplies."
"Of course! Good luck with training!"
Ryker left before he could embarrass himself further, walking through the crowd with the pill case and cooling tonic clutched tight.
He was halfway back to the estate when someone stepped in front of him.
Three someones, actually. Young cultivators in expensive robes, the kind that screamed "we have family money and want you to know it." The leader—maybe eighteen, with styled hair and a smirk that made Ryker's inherited memories supply a dozen similar encounters—blocked the path completely.
"Well, well," the leader said. "Ryker Ashford. Heard some interesting things about you."
Ryker's brain catalogued options. Go around them (cowardly but efficient), ignore them (possibly escalates), or engage (stupid but expected). His mouth picked option three before his brain finished processing.
"And you are?"
"Sunshi Hua. My cousin trains with Wei Jian." The smirk widened. "He told me about the trash heir trying to enter the Academy. Said you're suddenly claiming to have advanced after years of being crippled."
Ah. Wei Jian's social network. Perfect.
"That's accurate," Ryker said flatly. "I did advance. Is that a problem?"
"It's suspicious." Sunshi Hua moved closer, his two friends flanking. "No one jumps ranks that fast without forbidden methods. Demonic cultivation. Blood sacrifices. Soul theft."
The marketplace around them was getting quieter. People noticed the young cultivators. This was becoming a scene.
"I don't use forbidden methods," Ryker said, which was technically true. Zyx's method was weird, not forbidden.
"Then prove it.Sunshi Hua's hand went to the sword at his hip. "Spar with me. Right here. Show everyone your cultivation is legitimate."
Ryker's brain supplied multiple responses:
"No" (A person should never cower)
"This is inappropriate" (technically correct but weak)
"Sure" (absolutely cinema)
His mouth, operating independently of survival instincts, picked: "Fine."
Sunshi Hua's smirk became a grin. "Excellent. Let's see what the trash heir can actually do."
The crowd around them expanded, creating a rough circle in the marketplace. Someone was definitely going to tell his father about this. Multiple someones, probably.
Ryker drew his practice sword, settling into the stance Elio had corrected this morning. His Feet shoulder-width, knees bent, grip loose.
Sunshi Hua drew his blade— real steel, not wood—and his aura flared outwards. Foundation Establishment Rank Two, minimum. Possibly higher.
Ryker was Qi Condensation Rank Four.
This was going to hurt.
"Whenever you're ready, trash," Sunshi Hua taunted.
Zyx buzzed in Ryker's collar, voice urgent. "Listen very carefully. I'm going to teach you something that will absolutely work but will also absolutely destroy your reputation."
"That's not helping."
"Do you want to win or do you want dignity?"
Ryker looked at Sunshi Hua's smug face, felt the weight of the crowd's attention, thought about Wei Jian somewhere hearing about this and laughing.
He had to think rationally, THERE WAS NO FUCKING WAY HE WAS WINNING!! Sigh, how cruel were the heavens.
"What do I do?"
"Compliment his stance," Zyx said. "Sincerely. Mid-combat. Watch what happens."
"What—"
"TRUST THE PROCESS."
Sunshi lunged.