Finally, there was the Lunar Serenity Elixir, a hack of a potion that could help me break through the last great bottleneck that stood in my way: Transcendence. And then, the Runic Armor of Divine Favor.

Just like in my memory, it was a set of dark bronze plate armor that incorporated a red silken loincloth on either side of the pelvis, and a full-faced helmet that didn’t even have any eyeholes.

Not a single portion of the wearer was exposed to the light of the outside world, and it only made sense once one considered the fact that the armor had another magical property aside from deflecting every incoming strike: it could turn invisible.

No martial artist worth their salt dressed like some imperial knight. Armor was a coward’s shell. A true martial artist won by the power of their techniques. At least that’s what people thought. The armor was useful to anyone up to the Peak Master realm. At the Supreme Peak realm, it could realistically give you two or three extra lives before the next hit got through. And in the Transcendent Realm, it was less useful than the skin of the martial artist wearing it.

I’d still wear it, of course, because I wasn’t beholden to idiotic ideas of pride and machismo.

“And this one,” Dong Ho said as he pulled out a pouch from his endless pouch. “Is on me.”

I eyed the bag of holding with suspicion. “That’s… excessive,” I said. “Why would you give something like that to me?”

“I think you and I will make a great team,” he said. “You have the equivalent internal energy of a Peak Master, and you only learned about the martial arts three weeks ago, as well as decades worth of vital energy. But even that comes secondary to your mind and attitude. I believe in you.”

He believed in my potential for the martial arts, not me. Important distinction. He was just another Mr. Hao from my music days, only this time I was actually impressing him.

“Thank you,” I said, accepting the bag of holding. I looked over at the ground where I put the armor, and in my hand where I held the glass ampoule of the Lunar Serenity Elixir. I put that hand through the pouch, and my mind was invaded by a knowledge of space, as well as intuitive control over this space. I let go of the elixir, and felt it stay in place. I lowered it to some corner and it touched down gently.

“Don’t worry about anything breaking inside,” Dong Ho said. “A quirk of its function is that all objects are frozen in time. Of course, there are limitations. No living being can enter it.”

“What about my hand?” I asked him. “That can go inside.”

“That’s different,” Dong Ho said. “Just… it just works, okay?”

I blinked. Okay. Jeez. Did I maybe hit a nerve by unearthing a tidbit of knowledge that Dong Ho didn’t know? As far as I could remember, bags of holding had an unknown origin, and it was theorized that they were either relics of some civilization distant in either time or space, or they came from the very heavens.

I widened the mouth of the pouch and worked to stuff the armor into it. I moved onto the Celestial Insight Mirror as well and then the runic breastplate, which I had no need for. Dong Ho then flew a bunch of qi cultivation pills into the bag, all of them mine no-doubt.

Great. That was all of it, then. Wang Qiang’s treasures and Wenhao’s.

“There,” I heard Mei Ying whisper from behind me. “All done,” she slowly came to and stood up, then her eyes boggled as she looked at me. “Wait, holy shit.” She walked up to me, and was forced to then look up, a little more sharply than before. That was new to me as well. “Holy shit! You got taller!”

“It’s no big deal,” I said. “It’ll only make me clumsier for a short while.”

“You got stronger, too!” she said, looking at my exposed forearms.

“You have treasures to look after.”

“Right you are!” Dong Ho interrupted. “The Dragon Whisker Hanfu is simple to explain: the cloth is impervious to most forms of damage, though that doesn’t really confer much protection to the wearer beyond slashing and piercing resistance. The pressure of the attack still doesn’t really go away,” he said. “Apologies for that, but the orthodoxy tend not to think very hard when giving prizes to martial artist women.”

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Mei Ying growled.

“The Moonlit Silk Veil is a little better. It aids in training agility and movement techniques under moonlight. And it makes you invisible at night.”

“Why can it only be used under moonlight and at night?” Mei Ying asked.

“It’s powered from yin qi, both from yourself and nature. Women produce yin qi naturally, and its resonance with the moonlight is what helps it function.”

“Wait,” Mei Ying said. “But what about treasures for men? Do those only work in daylight, from yang qi?”

Dong Ho opened his mouth, but then it froze. “No.”

“How is that fair?!”

“Moving on,” he said, smooth as sandpaper. “The Azure Flame Gem. This one will definitely make you happy,” he said. “It is naturally attuned to the yin qi that women produce, and will allow you dominion over flames of a more spiritual variety. What it lacks in the ability to create large physical fires, it has an immense potential for applications of internal arts, medicine and even alchemy! That being said, it will give you the ability to fight as well as any man! Isn’t that great?”

Mei Ying’s jaws flexed. “Great.”

“Great!” Dong Ho said. He opened his bag of holding, and out from it flew a neatly folded silk hanfu and a veil on top, a large pouch that bulged with small balls inside, and a crystal vial shaped like a blue gemstone. “Absorb the Azure Flame Gem the same way you would a qi cultivation pill. You should ask your boyfriend for help with his Celestial Insight Mirror to make the most of it.”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Mei Ying replied hotly.

Dong Ho smiled knowingly, and gave me a wink. I wrinkled my nose at him. What the hell was wrong with his old boomer brain anyway?

“Sure,” Dong Ho said.

“Wait,” Mei Ying said. “Will the hanfu even fit me?”

Dong Ho hissed a breath, like he was preparing to break some bad news. “No. Like your boy’s runic breastplate, yours was made to fit only one person.”

“This sucks!” she shouted. “All I got was trash!”

Dong Ho’s expression became neutral. “The orthodox sects spared no expenses in providing you with peerless treasures. Do not take our generosity lightly.”

I put a hand on Mei Ying’s shoulder, and she looked at me aggrieved. I shook my head at her. We will talk later.

She relaxed her shoulders, seemingly having gotten the message.

“Thank you for all your help, elder,” I said to him, with a martial salute. “You have spoiled us with your tutelage.”

Dong Ho accepted the praise graciously. Then refocused on Mei Ying. “I recognize your frustration. As a future leader of the orthodoxy, I will tell you only one thing: become stronger. Change our ways. Change is inevitable in any case.”

Mei Ying nodded. “Okay,” she said, in a slightly baffled tone. “I guess I’ll take matters into my own hands then, since no one else will.”

Dong Ho either chose not to hear the scorn, or didn’t do it at all. “Exactly. No one else will. But I have to leave now.”

Mei Ying opened her mouth to speak only for Dong Ho to burst into an enormous pile of rodents that scurried every which way.

The shriek that Mei Ying let out was legendary.

“FUCKING BEGGAR TRASH BASTARD WHAT THE FUCK IS HIS PROBLEM?!”

“He’s a Transcendent,” I said.

She looked at me wide-eyed. “What the fuck?! Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“He likes playing games,” I said. “I just thought I’d indulge him for extra points in his book. Never hurts to make friends with a guy like him.”

“You should have told me!”

I tilted my head at her. “Are you really interested in continuing a relationship with that man?”

She closed her eyes and shook her head no. “He looked so fucking gross. Greasy and weird, how can he be so strong? Ugh, I don’t care. I hate these old people, they’re the worst.”

“Don’t say that,” I said. “You don’t know who is listening in. And like he said, our future usefulness to them is doing a lot of heavy lifting for us, so it’s best not to strain things too much.”

“My prizes are useless,” she said. “Except for one thing. And even that veil is so situational.”

“The training bonus will be useful,” I said. “And if you think the hanfu is so bad, then just give it back to Xinyi. It fits her anyway, and who knows? She might get nicer if you do.”

Mei Ying looked at me for a long moment, and I shrugged. “I know, but it’s worth a shot.” She looked at me for longer. “Or you can wear it and look like a clown.”

“Whatever,” Mei Ying said. “I don’t care anymore. I’m just going to take every one of the pills I have. Still got a hundred and fifty years left of them.”

“Yes, look on the bright side,” I said. “For whatever it’s worth, I’m sorry you’re disappointed.”

“Whatever,” she huffed. “I’ll just learn never to expect anything from these… urgh!” She shook her head violently. “Whatever. Let’s just go down.”

I nodded. I took my bag of holding out from my pocket and widened the mouth to a comical extent. “Let me carry your stuff for you.”

Mei Ying’s eyes boggled at the sight.