The carriage was buckling under the load as I was watching the wagoneers loading it to the limit. The day of the departure had arrived and so I was standing in the cold wet morning as the last preparations were being made for our departure. Adra was shivering with me too, as a ladies’ maid she was not required to help with the loading of goods, but she was to assist me.

My parents were here too, my mother looked worried, while my father looked rather bemused. I wished to make a good impression on the people in charge of the expedition and so I went to the departure spot early.

This mistake led to me getting progressively more wet as morning dew soaked me, while the baggage was loaded ,while my father looked at me bemused. The issue was, as I quickly figured, that we would be also selling goods at our destination, not just buying cultivation materials. In retrospect it should have been obvious. It was more profitable to travel loaded with cargo to the destination, if you were sure you could sell most of the goods we had packed on the journey and I had little doubt it would be so, but it meant that for now I was outside in chilly morning watching while the wagoneers loaded the aforementioned goods, while the leaders of the venture were still sleeping in their beds.

What made it worse was the fact that my father certainly knew about the fact the departure time I received was too early, as his smirk betrayed his foreknowledge.

At least this unwelcome pause gave me ample time to study the carriages, which were being loaded.

There were five of them in front of me. They were built for durability and strength, which was not surprising, because they would have to carry a significant number of carcasses for further processing and selling. The clan prepared a special carriage full of Nitrate, which would help preserve the dead bodies on the journey back to the town and the facilities further in the Empire, which would take care of the bodies and sell them to the merchants working for various distant sects.

What I found interesting was the lack of clan’s colors or any regalia on these carriages. Normally they would carry them to protect the caravan, as even the most daring bandit would think twice about attacking a caravan protected by an important clan.

Finally as I steamed, Liuxian Silverhand emerged accompanied by lower rank merchants, who served as his aides and assistants. I walked to him and bowed.

“Mei Silverhand at your disposal,” I introduced myself to him.

“Welcome to our little venture. I hope our profits will grow, now that you are here,” he said smiling.

“I hope to be of assistance.” I said respectfully.

He looked at me in all of my somewhat wet glory, “Why don’t you go to my personal carriage. We should depart in an hour and I want you ready?” he explained as he gestured to the luxurious carriage which had just arrived.

I picked my things and walked with Adra in tow. The packing took little time and then it was time to say goodbye to my parents.

Adra took her seat in the meantime. She already finished her farewells the day before and was now ready to undertake the journey. She seemed to be rather pleased at this opportunity. This would be the first time she left the city, as she told me when I told her she would have to go with me.

I attempted to bow to my parents, but my mother embraced me before I could take the proper pose and hugged me so hard, she nearly knocked my breath out.

“Mei, please return safely and take good care of yourself,” she said to me with tears in her eyes.

I nodded and hugged her back.

My father was more reserved, “I hope fortune will find you on your journey and you will bring riches to your clan and your family,” he said and of course he also hugged me as a farewell.

“Thank you. I will return and bring fortune,” I promised them and turned to board the carriage.

“Just return safely, Mei. that is all we are asking for,” my father said to me.

I nodded. I was certainly planning on that. There would be nothing which could hurt me, after all.

I was still smiling when we departed on time as the well-oiled machine of the caravan moved. An escort of well-armed guards joined us as we were leaving the caravanserai. We turned south once we cleared the city limits and would take the direct path to the Shadowstar forest.

I had plans for the journey ahead. I would use the time on the journey to compose a few letters and to experiment with my cultivation device, if the opportunity arose.

Liuxian joined us in his carriage. “Let’s discuss our plans for the hunt,” he said after we left the city.

I nodded and put my writing instruments aside waiting for his instructions.

“We have reserved a perfect stop for our stall, so once we arrive we shall set up shop. We can expect the travelers and hunters to visit us before the hunt starts, this is when we will sell all the goods we carry and I will go around making deals with promising hunter teams,” he explained as he showed me a map of the location. It was nothing much to speak about. It was a typical merchant camp, which was set up on the edge of the Shadowstar forest far away from places where hunters would engage their prey and even farther from locations where rifts would form and cultivators engage the true foes and prizes.

“I suppose you will get weapons and armor during that time? I saw you carry no weapons on the carriage,” he asked me, as I was studying the handy map.

“It is my plan. I believe there will be enough traders willing to provide me with simple weapons,” I answered his question. I had little need for armor, because I had no training in its use , as it was beneath cultivator’s and I had no time to pick it up.

“My lady, why would you need weapons? I thought you would just help the traders with identifying worthy things to buy?” Adra looked at me confused as she tried to understand what was happening.

“I will do that too, but I will also take part in the hunt itself,” I explained to Adra, who was looking rather worried.

“Why, my lady? It sounds very dangerous.” She wondered.

“Because I will make a rather significant amount of money by hunting the Beasts, Adra. It is a perfect solution,” I explained, but as she looked worried still I added an explanation, “I will be okay. No Beast will hurt me. I am a skilled fighter after all.”

“Do not be overconfident. The hunters are skilled warriors too and they die to the Beasts fairly often,” Liuxian inserted himself into my attempt to calm Adra down, ruining my efforts, while my maid looked at me like I was a madman.

“I fought Beasts before, Liuxian, I am not an inexperienced soldier, who tries their hand on something, which looks easy and promptly gets eaten. I know how Beasts act, which will keep me safe,” I argued.

“Clan head might have allowed you to join the hunting expedition, but that does not make you invincible, Mei. The lone hunter is an easy target. The Beat will certainly swarm you, if you will stand alone,” My point clearly failed to persuade Liuxian.

“Clan head gave you this task?” Adra asked clearly in awe at the idea I received a mission from our clan leader. Only the mention of his approval was enough to disperse her worries. It was slightly disconcerting.

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“I made a deal with him and he gave me approval for this mission,” I explained to Adra. I was not willing to lie more than necessary. As I satisfied Adra’s curiosity I addressed Liuxian.

“I know I will have to find allies. I do have an idea where to begin with my search, but I doubt they will refuse me.”

“I doubt they will be interested in a person who will appear out of nowhere and will demand a place amongst them. They must be sure of the skill of their comrades, because their life will depend on it. I doubt you have a way to prove yourself to them,” he still doubted me.

Demonstration was in order, but I found no object, which would serve as an excellent demonstration around the carriage. I doubted Liuxian would appreciate the destruction of his upholstery.

“Do you have a weapon you can lose?” I asked him directly as the silence dragged on mocking my failure to find something viable for my demonstration.

Liuxian pulled a dagger out of his belt and handed it to me. It was a beautiful piece. On its blade was a complex engraving depicting phoenix in flight and gold leaf covered the handle.

“Are you sure you can lose this dagger?” I asked him to be sure. This was an expensive piece.

“Do your worst,” he said with smug self assurance.

I shrugged and grabbed both ends of the dagger. Then I pulled. I had to try, but the blade gave away swiftly. It was after all normal steel.

The steel twisted and warped as I was applying my strength and I continued to work it despite the strain and the pain, which shot through my fingers. Soon the blade resembled a corkscrew instead of a pristine dagger. Then I handed it back to him. It was a cool trick, but it was not exactly purely in the purview of cultivators.

Still Adra looked impressed by my feat of strength, while Liuxian looked mildly annoyed at the state of his weapon.

“You are a cultivator,” he pointed out the obvious as thin reedy girls handed him a dagger turned into a spring.

“I was a cultivator and I still hold the benefits from my time in the sect,” I explained his mistake, ”I thought you knew I had the spirit sight?”

“Clan head was not very forthcoming with the details of your skill and power, so I presumed you were significantly weaker than this and spirit sight was the limit of your capability. I will be happy to enjoy the fruits of your assistance,” he said and bowed his head.

Adra looked at me with awe as she returned to her sewing assured of my strength and skill. It was easy to appease her worry, which was nice. The man before me posed a bigger issue, for his anger would make my quest much harder. I had to keep him on friendly terms.

“It is okay. I hope the dagger was not important,” I looked at the former weapon.

He waved his hand as he smiled, ”I would not give you something I was not willing to lose. I have a set of those and the sooner I will get rid of them the better. These things are a magnet for bandits and scammers, but they were gifts from my father-in-law and so to just get rid of them is impossible.”

“Then I'm happy to be of service, but do you expect bandit attacks on our trading expedition?” His remark about bandits reminded me of my last time I faced them and the wounds I sustained. My body still latched in phantom pain from the memory.

“No. We protect this caravan enough so no normal bandit would dare to strike and on our way back we shall join other traders and hire an Imperial escort. It will be the safest journey we can undertake, but I undertake other trading expeditions,” he explained.

We chatted like this for some time about the expedition he took part in and led, but as time passed Liuxian attention was demanded outside of the carriage and I had time to work on my correspondence.

To my great embarrassment I still did not send a letter to cultivator Li who was undoubtedly awaiting news of my progress with the cultivation manual. In my defense I hoped I would have more information to share with him ,but it was not to be and now I would have little time once we arrived, so now was the perfect time to compose my letter to him.

Honored Cultivator Li

I write to inform you that I could claim benefits from the manual you have lent me. I had achieved the goals I have set up for myself and successfully produced refined Qi with the methods included in the manual.

I deem it necessary to give you a detailed report on the process of producing the refined Qi with the method included in the manual, which you as my benefactor and the source of my success undoubtedly deserve. I shall also share my observation about this cultivation method to expand your well of knowledge.

In short, your supposition was correct. I have refined Fire Qi using gold, stone and my spirit pressure by creating what I termed a cultivation field around a specifically crafted object. I included a specific diagram of how I achieved this feat in a separate document. In the letter I also included a schematic for the device which I used.

This is the core technique of the cultivation manual you have shared with me, sadly I could only figure out a combination for Fire Qi, but I have little doubt that other types of Qi can be refined with this method, sadly the manual is too damaged for me to find the materials necessary.

I do not believe any orthodox cultivation method replicated this feat, and it makes the cultivation method included in the manual truly unique and opens a great potential.

Unfortunately, I have found several weaknesses in this cultivation method, which might explain why it failed to find widespread use, although I do not discount the possibility these flaws are caused by my incomplete understanding of the cultivation method in the manual or the condition of my body.

The fundamental flaw of this method for use as primary cultivation is the amount of Qi created by it, which pales completely to even the most basic orthodox cultivation method and as such cannot be used by a cultivator to reach the next realm. The time investment is simply not adequate. It provides too little refined Qi even for use as a supplementary cultivation method. I will pursue further experimentation in the matter, but so far all my experiments were met with failure.

Second issue which emerged is that even though the method provides enough Qi for a technique, I was unable to successfully channel it towards creating any technique I am familiar with despite my affinity for fire elements. This might be an issue with my body simply drawing away all the fire Qi before I can arrange it into a technique matrix. I suspect the small amount of Qi which is produced at once causes this. I attempted to change the circulation of the Qi I gained by this method to accumulate enough for a proper matrix, but so far only failure met me

I hope my information will please you and I hope you will offer me insight to experiments I might carry out.

Mei Silverhand

I finished writing the letter after a few false starts and put it away. It was disappointing. I had a strange and nearly miraculous cultivation method at my disposal. This method saved my life and allowed me to work with Qi once more, but I found it lacking as it could not bring me back my status as a cultivator. I guess the old tomes were right and the nature of man was to crave things.

I pushed these thoughts aside and pulled a new thing I carved out of my bag.

Paulos the jeweler finished my order and a new set of cultivation devices was on my lap. His apprentice delivered them yesterday, and I had no time to properly test them, thanks to all the packing and rush of the upcoming expedition but now I had ample time and I was very confident I would not set the carriage on fire.

Adra was taking a nap next to me and so it was now a perfect time to take them for a ride.

Each device was a flat tablet with gold thread running through it. I could see the gold on the ends of the device. I had to admit that Paulos was a skilled artisan. To do such a strange request in such a short time was truly a showcase of skill. I hoped I would have more orders for him once I discovered the other materials for the cultivation of different types of Qi, but that would have to wait.

I closed my eyes and spread my spirit creating the barrier of spirit pressure, which I would now call the cultivation field around the tablet. Soon I pushed through the gold and gulped refined Fire Qi with full breaths. The process was much smoother, that time I worked with two halves of a stone. The wobble of the field was barely noticeable and I could keep going for a much longer time.

What stopped my efforts was a slight lapse in concentration as a carriage hit a bump on the road and the field of spiritual pressure collapsed letting flows of Qi spread away from the tablet.

I smiled. I could produce much more Qi without the constant interruptions caused by the collapse of my cultivation field. It would provide significantly more Qi, but even doubling the amount of drops in the desert still left one with very little water and so I at least attempted to amass enough Qi for a technique.

The days passed and my experiments proved futile. I simply could not amass enough fire Qi in my body for even the simplest Blazing Blast. It was frustrating, nevertheless my experiments were not completely worthless as it showed an interesting fact.

The cultivation field grew unstable on its own even, when my concentration was not disrupted by outside influence. I subscribed this phenomenon to the effect of refining the fire Qi as it acted on the spirit pressure barrier making it wobble. I could compensate to a certain degree by adjusting the pressure , but as the time passed, my skill proved inadequate and the cultivation field always collapsed.

It was intriguing, as it was not happening in dantian based cultivation, which suggested the body and soul compensated for this wobble on their own. It was a discovery worthy of further pursuit, but for me it was worthless at the moment.

And so days passed as we traveled and my experiments proved fruitless until we arrived at the Shadowstar forest.