Sana could feel the eyes on her as she followed Lady Silvan through the street, some of them were rather obvious. Yet, Lady Silvan didn’t seem disturbed by them, instead, Sana almost felt like she wanted them to notice.

The lady had accepted some monster tasks, through Elder Shuang, and so didn’t have to waste the time of going to the main hall just to inform them of the mission.

“We’re going to hunt Welder Beasts. Those are 4th realm monsters, and each one gives 500 merit.”

Sana paused as she digested the challenge ahead. “4th realm!”

The heiress paused momentarily, there was a look of realization on her face. Sana felt like she caught the heiress blushing, as if she was embarrassed by the statement. “Never mind, just come along. I’ll handle them. I fought them many times.”

Sana nodded, as they traveled further than she did with the earlier group. They didn’t walk, but instead, Lady Silvan had a gigantic flying sword that could change its shape and length, and was large enough for all three of them.

The noble lady sat on one before, her father had a simple flying sword, but this was in a whole different league.

The Welder Beasts were located about two days away, if they traveled normally, but with the flying sword, it took them no more than three hours.

The speed of the flying sword was so fast she felt incredibly uncomfortable. When they landed, she immediately planted herself on the floor, and vomited.

“-as I said, milady, there is really no need to pick up weaklings.” Elder Shuang said with a sigh. Lady Silvan looked sympathetic, but she didn’t know what to say. Sana stood up after she expelled her breakfast.

“-sorry. That was unsightly.” Sana apologized.

Aria just nodded. “It’s okay. Let’s go hunt Welder Beasts!”

They found a group of four beasts grazing at some plants.

The Welder Beasts were large four legged creatures resembling lizards, but with the face of a beetle. They had three large sharp horns that emitted intense heat, and also could shoot some kind of sticky substance that hardened into a cement-like substance once injected with Qi.

Aria moved without much guidance required, while Sana quickly shifted to Elder Shuang. “Elder Shuang, may I ask what is the objective of the task?”

He rolled his eyes. “Are you that disconnected from the construction boom back in the Imperial Capitol? We want the Welder Pouches contained within these Welder Beasts, of course. They produce valuable construction materials for up to five months from the date of harvest, eight, under the right preservation methods!”

“Ah.” Sana nodded as she realized how little she knew about construction in the cultivation world. Her hometown of Koolan certainly didn’t have buildings made with Welder Cement. Her attention was redirected to the moment Aria released a sudden burst of white light, and the Welder Beast was severed in half, then, the halved body of the Welder Beast split a few times more.

Elder Shuang clapped. “Well done, young lady.”

Aria sighed. “Still needed too long for the [White Flash]. I squeezed in twelve slashes?”

Sana had no idea what they talked about, so she just stood there and watched Aria bulldoze through the 4th realm Welder Beasts easily. Sana was fairly sure she couldn’t take on the Welder Beast. Not with her current strength.

But her attention was soon drawn to the strange energy residues Aria emitted, and focused on Aria’s saber. There were streaks of red and white, and Sana rubbed her eyes. What was she looking at?

After the fourth Welder Beast was slain, Sana walked over. She rubbed her eyes again, as she felt like she could see certain flows of energy in the beast. Her mind tried to understand what she was looking at.

It didn’t seem like qi movements. It was emitted even by the dead beast.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Aria stood right next to the corpses of the four dead beasts, and looked at Elder Shuang. Sana immediately sensed some kind of reluctance, and decided to offer her services.

“Can I help?” Sana offered, and at that point, Aria smiled.

“Sure! Actually, would you like to cut them out? I don’t really like to touch them, it’s greasy and smells quite bad.”

“As your maid, then allow me to perform such duties.” Sana answered. “-but I may need guidance.”

Aria nodded. “Oh gladly.”

***

Sana was dirty all over. The Welder Beasts’ pouches were large, qi-infused organs located behind the cheeks of the creature’s face. It took a fair bit of work to cut it out, and it was really, really sticky and slimy. The creature’s mouth was also filled with undigested grass and leaves which released a strangely pungent smell when mixed with its mouth fluids.

She had to do it four times, once for each of the Welder Beasts, and so, she was really, really dirty. But Sana noticed the unusual energies, and once she was done removing the Welder Pouches, she couldn’t help herself, used her slicing knife, and pried open the part that had strange, faint floating lights.

There was nothing there, but she noticed that faint lights then flowed away, and vanished.

“I should ask Zahar.” She muttered to herself, then stood up to look at her new mistress and her attendant. Elder Shuang stored the Welder Pouches in a portable pocket, and they seemed to be talking about some politics.

Aria smiled. “Okay! Actually, Sana- do you want to spar with me?”

Sana clasped her hand. “I would love to, though I doubt I’ll be any challenge.”

“Grumpy Shuang wants to know what your skills are.” Aria shrugged. “Whether you deserve to stand by my side.”

Sana nodded. “This one doesn’t dare to compare to the shining young pearl of the nation.”

Aria rolled her eyes. “If you talk to me like that I’m going to sack you as my maid.”

“Then I should certainly continue to do so,” Sana said with a smile.

“No, you won’t.” Aria realized the foolishness of her statement. “I mean, I won’t sack you as my maid.”

Sana just grinned. “If the young lady doesn’t mind sparring with me while I’m dirty and sticky-”

“Actually, that’s a good point. This wasn’t a good time to bring this up.” Aria glared at Elder Shuang. “We’ll do so when you are clean. Let’s go back, you can go clean up, then we can get some tea! And cakes. And cookies. We’ll spar tomorrow.”

Elder Shuang rolled his eyes. The way he looked at Sana clearly meant that she wouldn’t be able to avoid his judgment. It was as if he said, ‘You got lucky today’.

***

“Sana?” Aria asked as they sat on the flying sword back to town.

“Yes, milady.”

“Have you ever done anything- how do I put it-” Aria had a mild blush on her face. “Romantic with your husband?”

Sana was stunned for a moment. She took a while to think, “I suppose those times when he helped me with my cultivation felt quite romantic.”

Aria leaned a little closer. “-what- what does it feel like?”

“I don’t know. It’s- comforting, I suppose?” Sana said. “It’s like having support to make sure you don’t fail?”

The young mistress looked away. “I received a letter yesterday from Shah Bahrong .”

Sana’s mind quickly pieced it together. “Of House Shah? Is it-” House Shah was a strong sect, but not in the same league as House Silvan. If she remembered correctly, House Shah was one of the top 100 sects, unlike house Silvan in the top 10.

Still, it wouldn’t be too outrageous for a marriage to happen between two sects, especially if there are political interests to align, or if the candidate from the weaker sect was exemplary. Yet, she couldn’t remember whether House Shah and House Silvan were on the same side of the greater political maneuverings.

“They want to arrange a dinner. Me, and him. He’s an inner disciple, two years older. It’ll be this weekend at the Weyshien Diner.”

Sana nodded. She reminded herself to do some research on the diner, and also this Shah Bahrong.

“I hope they don’t make the dinner too awkward.”

“Have you met him before this?”

“No. Can you join us, if things go well you can step out. I believe he will have an attendant present as well. I- I heard he’s fairly nice.”

“I’m certain he will be.”

“That’s why you’re there. I want to see how he treats you. Father once told me the way to judge a person’s quality is to observe how they behave when they are weak, and when they are strong. You will enter the room without introducing yourself, I will be late for the dinner, and you will report how he behaves during the wait.”

Sana paused, suddenly realizing that she was weaponized as a test. “What if he-”

“I doubt he will attack you, but if he does, then he’s out.” Aria checked her spatial pouch and took out a protective amulet. “This should protect you.”

“Surely he knows I’m your maid-”

“That is also a test of his network of informants.” Aria smiled. “The future leader of the cultivation world must build a network of informants.”

Sana sighed. “And I thought you wanted to set up something romantic.”

“Oh. That can happen after he passed my tests.”

Must the love life of these high nobles be filled with tests?