Jie stared at the poor village as she tightened her fists and clenched her jaw.

"Time to go ask them about any schools in the area... a village as poor as this one is unlikely to know of many, but they should know of some local ones. They probably dream about getting a child accepted into one.

"A single cultivator of even mediocre talent among them would be a treasure beyond treasures for them," Ming said, "hop to it, kiddo. We have a lot to do. Standing here being outraged won't do anything productive."

He took out a gold coin seemingly out of thin air. "If they tell us what we need to know, you can give this to them," he said and gave it to her, "any more than this would only bring unwanted attention to a village such as this."

Jie clutched the coin tightly and nodded.

Jie ran down the hill and into the village with Ming hovering invisibly above her. It was even worse up close.

Hungry eyes followed her every move, and the hairs on her nape prickled. The mud sucked at her shoes as she walked, and the sickening squelch was the only noise in the entire village.

The villagers were gaunt and dirty. They didn't look quite like they were starving, but they weren't far off either.

She picked a villager at random, a tall man three times her size. He shrank away from her as she approached and looked down at his feet.

Jie frowned. Was he afraid of her? He was huge!

Ming chortled in the psychic link he'd created between them but said nothing.

"Could you take me to the village elder please?" Jie asked. This was her first time dealing with people in this world other than Ming, and she hoped none of her nervousness showed in her voice.

The man nodded without looking up and scurried toward the largest building in the village like a frightened mouse.

He knocked frantically on the door, and an old man walked out with a beard that came down to his knees.

As soon as the elder appeared, the other man rushed off like his life depended on it.

The village elder bowed deeply to Jie, his beard brushing over the muddy street and staining it as he did so. "How may I be of service, young miss?" he asked.

Jie returned a polite bow, but not one so self-deprecating. "Is there a good martial school nearby?" she asked.

A crowd had formed around her and more and more gathered, adding to it. She hated having all these eyes on her but refused to let it show.

"Ah, yes. There's The Crimson Academy not far from here. It's a prestigious school. Many of its students come from Heping City and beyond for the chance to enroll," he said.

"We should have a look," Ming said through their psychic link, "though I doubt anyone in this village even knows what prestigious means..."

"Could you direct me to this academy?" Jie asked.

More villagers filtered into the crowd, which had turned almost into a circle around her.

"May I ask where your family or guards are, young miss? It isn't safe to travel alone you know," said the elder as he stroked his long beard.

"I'm quite safe. You need not worry," Jie said.

"Needn't I? But what is there to stop someone from taking advantage of one such as yourself?" asked the elder.

Jie frowned. His tone was giving her the creeps.

"Like I said, I'll be fine. Could you direct me to The Crimson Academy please?" she asked.

"There's no point. You won't be going," said the elder as his face darkened, his eyes growing hard, cold, and calculating.

The air around Jie stirred as the villagers gathered their qi into savage-looking fist weapons like knuckle dusters from her old world, except with spikes jutting out, and each comprised of qi energy of various colors.

Though, their qi was mostly dull and grey. A far cry from her own vibrant dragon lightning qi.

"Ming! Help!" Jie sent through their connection.

"You don't need it right now. This will be a valuable learning experience for you," Ming said.

Jie's mouth dropped open. "What? I'm about to die! Did you bring me all this way just to get killed in some trashy village?" she asked.

"Behind you. You may wish to dodge," Ming said.

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Jie dived to the right, and a glowing fist flew through the air where she'd been standing.

She activated her lightning step skill and avoided a swing from another villager.

She frowned. They were moving so slowly... she smiled. Ah, they were just trying to play some kind of game.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not in the mood for this. I have too much to do to spare time for playing around," she said.

"I'll make you eat those words!" snarled another villager. He came charging at her with a dully glowing fist.

"They're serious, little one. Defend yourself, and teach them a lesson," Ming said.

Jie shook her head. "It's such a pity," she said.

She stepped out of the way of the villager's attack which moved at a practically glacial pace, and she slammed her dragonfist into his chest.

He flew backward, and blood sprayed from his lips. He crashed through the side of a shoddily made building, and guilt squeezed Jie's heart. A moment later the shack collapsed on top of him.

"Focus! These are not your friends! Worry not about your actions. Whatever fate you deal them is well earned," Ming said.

His words snapped her back to reality, and she avoided another fist. She countered with her dragonfist, smacking the man on the shoulder.

Though she held back, she felt and heard bone crack beneath her crackling blue qi, and the villager spun away like a top before collapsing to the ground in a heap. He cried out in agony.

Three more rushed her, but they were all so slow that she simply tapped each one with her Dragonfist and knocked them to the ground without them so much as touching her sleeves.

"Enough!" roared the elder, "the rest of you stand back. I'll deal with this noble brat!"

Red energy brighter than the others gathered around his open hand.

The waves coming off it were oppressive, even for Jie and a shiver ran down her spine.

"Don't worry, he's more than a whole rank above you, I don't expect you to deal with him. Just try to look... I don't know... profound?" Ming said.

"What are you going to do?" Jie asked.

"You'll see," Ming said.

The elder appeared before her in the blink of an eye and swept his palm toward her. The energy pulsing off it was far from her pure qi, but there was so much of it that it gave off a deathly aura as it bore down on her cheek.

Ming put his invisible hand over her entire head like a helmet. The elder's palm slammed into Ming's scales. A boom rang out, and the resulting wind fluttered Jie's robes, but that was all.

The elder staggered backward, his eyes wide and his mouth opening and closing wordlessly. Blood dripped from his hand like he'd just slapped a knife.

Unlike when Jie had sparred with him, Ming didn't actively avoid injuring the elder.

"Do not think you have seen even a shred of my power!" Jie snapped coldly.

"Oooh, I like that! Say something else! Make them cower and grovel for what they've done!" Ming said.

The elder gritted his teeth. "You may have some impressive defense, but I can still beat you. A rich girl like you must have plenty of treasures, and an expert at your age no doubt has more. I'll take them all from your cold, dead body!" he snarled.

Jie walked forward with slow, methodical steps.

"Are you truly so foolish? I've spared your life only because you hold the information I seek," she said.

"That's good! Where are you getting all this?" Ming asked.

"I read a lot of books in hospital," she said.

Jie waved her hand in front of the elder's face as fast as she could, and Ming poked him with an invisible finger.

The elder snapped backward like a puppet yanked by its master's string and crashed through the door behind him into the darkness of his slightly more impressive shack.

He groaned and struggled to his hands and knees amid the splinters that surrounded him as he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Jie stood in the shattered doorway, her hair fluttering in the breeze as she loomed over the elder.

"I'll ask one last time. Where is The Crimson Academy?" she asked.

The elder pressed his forehead to the floor, kowtowing to her in absolute submission.

"Apologies, young miss! I had eyes, but could not see! Please! Spare my life! If you want, you can take some of the prettiest boys in the village, but please just let me live. You can even take the girls if you so desire!" he cried like a pathetic, blubbering child.

"I said, I won't ask again," Jie said. Her voice was like the cold chill of a frost-covered grave, and it brooked no argument.

"I-i-it is to the south! Just head that way, and you will soon come to it. It's large, and the enrollment period is ongoing, so the crowds will make it even easier to see!" said the elder, still groveling before her.

"That's all I wanted to know. Was it truly so hard?" Jie asked.

"Not at all! Forgiveness, please!" said the elder.

Jie shook her head. "You're pathetic. I had sympathy for you before you revealed your disgusting natures," she said for all to hear.

Jie held up the gold coin with her thumb and index finger so all could see it from any angle

"This was what I planned to give you for telling me about the nearest school," Jie said.

The elder risked a glance up at her as the villagers sucked in a breath and his eyes went wide. Murmurs of "a gold coin!" rippled through the crowd.

"I think it's clear that you don't deserve it. Not in the slightest," she said.

Jie then gripped the coin with both hands.

Ming had explained that the toughness of materials in his world was very different than on Earth and that it could vary depending on the amount of Essence the material had absorbed. But, gold was a soft metal and this particular piece had absorbed very little Essence... it bent and warped all too easily to her newfound strength.

Jie ripped the coin in two and dropped one half on the ground at her feet.

"Thank you for the information. Perhaps some of you may remember this day, and better yourselves for the future," she said.

"We most certainly will!" cried the elder as he stared at the torn piece of gold on the floor between them.

Jie clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. This pig not ten seconds ago had offered to give the children of the village to her. Her fist squeezed around the remaining half of the coin in her hand, bending it like taffy.

Jie shook her head and walked away with Ming hovering beside her. The crowd of villagers parted for her as fast as they could, with several stumbling over one another and falling into the mud.

Jie stormed past them.

When the village was out of sight, Jie handed Ming back the bent half-coin.

"You know, they didn't deserve even what you gave them. The gold in the coin will still have a lot of value. Particularly for a village as poor as theirs," Ming said as he took the half-coin back, "why did you do it?"

"I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to talk about anything to do with those disgusting people," Jie said aloud.

She stormed off to the south with Ming flying invisibly beside her.