Chương 82: Chapter 80

Master Mu looks at me with that expression I've come to associate with the moments when she's weighing what to say, and her reply isn't long in coming.

"What do you still want that technique for?" she asks, tilting her head slightly to one side.

"You already have one that's considerably better for the use you're going to give it." The question doesn't catch me off guard, since it's exactly the kind of objection I expected would arise. And since I can't tell her I want it out of pure geekdom, because explaining that would require explaining far too many things I cannot explain, I've prepared two alternative answers that are every bit as valid, or more so depending on one's perspective, as the original.

"For two reasons, Master Mu", I say in a tone I hope sounds reasonable.

"The first is that the Dragon's Grip appears to complement the Myriad of Hands. According to the description, the Dragon's Grip seems capable of lifting far more weight than the Myriad of Hands, and attempting that with the Myriad of Hands would be counterproductive because of the feedback drawback." I pause briefly to order my words before continuing.

"And that's to say nothing of the fact that, according to the listing, the Dragon's Grip also allows for a certain level of defense", I add.

"Which is something the Myriad of Hands cannot do, or at least that's what I gather from your earlier explanation of the technique." Master Mu listens without interrupting, and when I finish, she nods with a slow, approving gesture.

"That's a very well-reasoned argument", she concedes, and in her tone there is an approval that sounds genuine.

"Go on with the second reason." Here I hesitate for an instant, because the second reason is less rational and harder to defend with logic, but by the same token, it's also harder to refute.

"When I saw the technique on the list, I had a feeling", I tell her, and this time my voice drops a note involuntarily.

"Something that told me I had to get it." I raise my gaze to Master Mu and hold it as I finish my explanation.

"For those two reasons, even if the second may seem a little irrational, I'd like to have it as well." And just as the words leave my lips, an idea I hadn't considered until now strikes me with force, an idea I should have thought of sooner and that, if the answer is negative, would change the entire situation.

"One moment, Master Mu", I say suddenly, a note of alarm in my voice.

"Would learning both techniques cause any kind of problem? Because if so, I'll drop it without a second thought." Master Mu looks at me for a moment that stretches longer than I'd like, then makes a gesture with her hand that dismisses my concern.

"Don't worry about that", she tells me matter-of-factly.

"If you wanted, you could have a dozen techniques that do similar things." The relief I feel at those words is immediate, but to my surprise, Master Mu continues.

"The problem would be something else", she adds, and her tone shifts to the one she uses when she's about to deliver a lesson. I look at her attentively, because when Master Mu adopts that tone, what follows is usually important.

"Techniques are divided into four stages", she begins with the cadence she typically uses when starting a class.

"Initiate, Adept, Expert, and Master. Each time a technique advances a stage, it becomes stronger and acquires new capabilities or uses it didn't have before." I nod as I engrave every word in my memory, though at that moment I recall what Lianhua told me about those mental blocks she has with the Vision of Horus, which fits perfectly with this whole matter of stages.

"The problem with having several similar techniques is that you'd have to spread your effort across all of them", Master Mu continues, and here she pauses deliberately to make sure I'm paying attention.

"And therefore, you wouldn't be able to practice any of them enough to reach the Master level." Her words resonate in my mind and, inevitably, my memory takes me to some famous words I once heard in my former world. Words from a man who was an expert in his field and who said he did not fear the man who had practiced ten thousand kicks once, but the man who had practiced one kick ten thousand times.

Bruce Lee was right then, and he's surely right now, though he probably never imagined his words would remain relevant in a world where people have powers resembling those of superheroes. I bow toward Master Mu with an inclination that conveys the respect I feel for the lesson she's just given me.

"Thank you for the teaching, Master Mu", I say sincerely.

"But even so, I'd like to acquire that second technique." Master Mu hears me and a sigh of resignation escapes her lips, a sigh I imagine she lets out knowing she won't be able to convince me otherwise.

"If you're that determined to get it, it's your right", she tells me finally, and her voice carries a certain shade of surrender.

"No one can tell another person what's best for them on the path of cultivation." But before I can thank her again, she raises a finger and adds in a tone that is more warning than suggestion "But remember that diversifying too much isn't good either." I nod in understanding, and I'm about to open my mouth to reply when a commotion rising from the main hall interrupts us both.

The volume of voices ascending from below is increasing in a way that isn't normal, with a couple of them rising above the general murmur with an intensity that leaves no doubt something is happening. I turn my head toward the hall and see Master Mu frown as her gaze follows the source of the disturbance.

"If you'll excuse me a moment", she tells me in a tone that has shed its earlier register and been replaced by something I recognize as pure professionalism.

"I have work to do." Master Mu rises with a movement full of grace, and I, with the curiosity of someone who has nothing better to do than observe, direct my attention to what's unfolding in the auction hall. And what I see leaves me completely stunned. In one of the boxes on the far side of the hall, a man has gotten to his feet and is pointing at another box, his voice, laden with indignation, ringing out clearly.

"Is the Deng family trying to make enemies of the Liang family?" he shouts, and the venom in his voice is so thick it could practically be cut. In the box being pointed at, another man also rises, and his posture mirrors the first's, shoulders back and chin raised as though the simple act of standing were a declaration of war.

"It is you who seek to make enemies of the Deng family!" he fires back in a voice that matches the first in volume and hostility.

"We were the ones who bid on the Golden Ginseng Root first, and it's obvious the Liang family is only bidding on it to keep the Deng family from getting it." I watch the scene in utter disbelief, because what I'm witnessing is something that in my former world would have been completely unthinkable. It's as though at Sotheby's two of the bidders had suddenly started screaming at each other over a lot, discarding every pretense of elegance and decorum in a place where both are practically mandatory.

But Master Mu seems to have had enough, because before either of them can add anything further, her voice cuts through the hall's air like a blade.

"That is enough!" she declares in a voice loud enough to resound through the entire hall. The exclamation isn't exactly a shout, but the authority behind it is so forceful it might as well be. The two nobles involved in the altercation fall silent at once, and I watch their heads swivel toward the box where Master Mu stands with her arms crossed and an expression on her face that promises a painful lesson to anyone who dares interrupt her.

"This is an auction", Master Mu says, and her voice, though it hasn't risen in volume, fills every corner of the hall with a clarity that impresses me.

"And at an auction, neither family nor background matters. Only the money each person is able to produce for bidding." You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. She pauses, and during that pause the silence in the hall is so absolute you could hear a needle drop.

"What happens once you leave this building is your own affair", she continues, and there is something in her tone that borders on contempt.

"For all I care, you can kill each other. But in here I will not allow anyone to disrupt the auction." Master Mu pauses once more, a deliberate pause that seems calculated to let every word sink into the minds of everyone present before she concludes.

"I trust no one will continue trying to disrupt the auction by invoking their supposed rank, family, or background", she says, and this time her gaze sweeps the entire hall with the slowness of someone who wants to make sure not a single corner goes uncovered.

"Because if they do, I'll have no choice but to eject them. So be sensible and let your wealth speak for you, because that is the only thing I will permit." The silence that follows her words is deafening, and from my position I can see how several of the nobles in the hall lower their gazes or look away, like children caught doing something they shouldn't, though my half-brothers seem to hold her stare.

At last, Master Mu turns her head toward the auctioneer, who has frozen on his podium with an expression that mixes relief and admiration.

"You may continue", she tells him in a tone that has recovered some of its usual naturalness.

"And don't worry, I'll deal with any troublemaker that crops up." The auctioneer bows to Master Mu with a reverence that conveys genuine gratitude and then, recomposing himself, addresses the hall in a firm voice that has recovered its professional cadence.

"The Golden Ginseng Root stood at twelve spirit stones for box number seven", he announces clearly.

"Does anyone offer more?" But Master Mu no longer seems to be paying any attention to what's happening in the main hall and sits back down in her seat with the same grace with which she rose, as though what she just did were nothing more than a minor annoyance on an otherwise peaceful day. I look at her with a mixture of admiration and curiosity I don't bother to disguise.

"Is what just happened normal, or just an isolated incident?" I ask once I see she's settled. Master Mu returns my gaze and the smile that appears on her face carries a hint of weariness, like that of someone who has told the same story too many times.

"I've lost count of all the times I've seen similar scenes play out", she answers, reopening her fan with a gesture that seems more reflex than conscious decision.

"The moment someone with a bit of standing thinks they're going to lose a bid, they immediately try to use that standing to intimidate every other participant and get what they want." Hearing her words, something connects in my mind, because what I've just witnessed is exactly what Master Mu told me earlier about the statements I'd hear during the auction that would make me think of her words.

I sigh, and not for the first time I wonder just how bad my karma was in my previous world for me to have been reborn into this one. A world where, according to Master Mu, people who have power use it as a club against others, even in a place that should be governed by rules as simple as whoever pays the most wins. A world where the concept of fair play seems to exist only when it suits you and vanishes the instant it becomes clear that following it means you'll lose.

But I don't have time to sink into my depressing thoughts, because Master Mu's voice pulls me out of them before they can drag me under.

"Child, pay attention", she tells me, and her tone has shifted to one that is practical and direct.

"Shortly they'll begin auctioning the items that aren't natural treasures, and among them will be the technique you're interested in." Her words act as a switch that fires up every fiber of attention I possess, and suddenly the thoughts about this world's injustice and the predatory nature of its inhabitants are relegated to a background so distant it's as though they never existed, because right now my priority is to win the Dragon's Grip and not to worry about things I cannot change.

Fortunately, I don't have to wait long. Three items after Master Mu told me to pay attention, the auctioneer's voice shifts register and adopts a tone clearly designed to build anticipation.

"Distinguished guests", he announces as two handmaidens approach the podium bearing a tray covered with a cloth of dark silk.

"Next to be auctioned are four jade tablets containing neutral Qi techniques, suitable for use from the Gate Opening stage onward." A murmur ripples through the hall like a wave at those words, and I can feel the atmosphere of the place change in an almost tangible way, as if the appearance of these tablets was something no one had been expecting. The auctioneer removes the silk cloth with a theatrical flourish, revealing four jade tablets placed on individual cushions of red velvet.

From my position in the box I can't make out the details of each one, but that doesn't matter, because I know exactly which one interests me.

"The first tablet contains the technique known as Eternal Edge", the auctioneer says as one of the handmaidens raises the tablet for the audience to see.

"A technique that, at its initial stage, allows the user to concentrate Qi along the edge of their weapon to increase its durability and prevent damage, with additional advantages as one advances through its stages. The starting price is thirty spirit stones." Thirty spirit stones. I'm not sure whether that's actually very expensive or cheap, but the few natural treasures, as Master Mu called them, whose auctions I paid attention to sold for twenty spirit stones at most.

That means the lowest price for the techniques is higher than any of the previous lots. But that doesn't seem to bother the participants, who immediately begin bidding on the technique. Even my second half-brother, Sun Rui, takes part, and in the end it's he who wins it for the not insignificant sum of forty-three spirit stones.

"The second tablet contains the technique known as Dragon's Grip", the auctioneer says once the previous auction concludes, as one of the handmaidens raises the tablet for display.

"A technique that allows the user to project their will at a distance to grasp, attract, or push both objects and living beings within its range, with the effect growing more potent as one advances through the technique. The starting price is thirty spirit stones." Thirty spirit stones, exactly the same as the previous technique, which makes it clear that's going to be the baseline for all of them. But I waste no time on useless musings and lean forward slightly so my voice carries clearly.

"Thirty-two spirit stones", I say in a tone I try to make firm, though I can do nothing about the youth of my voice and am therefore making it obvious who is bidding. I notice out of the corner of my eye that Master Mu is looking at me with an expression mixing amusement and resignation, but she says nothing.

"Thirty-two spirit stones for Master Mu's box", the auctioneer repeats.

"Does anyone offer more?" A brief silence crosses the hall, but it doesn't take long to break.

"Thirty-six spirit stones", says a voice from one of the lower boxes. It's a male voice, young, with a tone suggesting he's bidding more out of habit than genuine need.

"Thirty-eight spirit stones", I say quickly, though I immediately regret my haste, since perhaps I should have waited to see who else was interested rather than revealing just how badly I want the technique.

"Forty spirit stones", comes suddenly from a box, and when I look I realize it's the First Prince, Sun Liang, who has just bid. I narrow my eyes and fix him with a stare, because to me it's clear the technique probably doesn't even interest him, he's bidding solely because it interests me and to get under my skin.

That makes me smile for a moment, and even knowing I'm probably going to pay an absurd premium for the technique, I promise myself I'm going to take it home not only because I want it, but because I know doing so will leave not just my half-brothers but everyone present wondering about my true reasons for wanting a technique I can't yet use, as well as about the source of the capital I've used to pay for it, since I doubt they know my mother has given me access to all my finances.

I bid again, raising by two spirit stones, and my half-brother Sun Liang doesn't disappoint by countering, which sets off a bidding duel that, for some reason, is joined by my half-brother Sun Quiming, the very one who, according to Lianhua, is the apple of the eye of the same grandfather who wanted me killed.

At my side, Master Mu has stopped fanning herself and watches me with an expression I can't entirely decipher, though I suspect it falls somewhere between genuine curiosity and disbelief that anyone could be this set on obtaining what she considers a simple technique.

"Sixty-eight spirit stones for Master Mu's box", the auctioneer repeats after my latest offer, as I glare fiercely at my half-brothers, daring them to keep driving up the price.

"Does anyone offer more?" Silence follows the auctioneer's words, and for a moment I see my two half-brothers glance at each other as though daring one another to keep competing with me, but neither speaks.

"Sold! The Dragon's Grip technique for sixty-eight spirit stones to Master Mu's box", the auctioneer announces in his professional cadence after the brief moment of silence. And the instant those words leave the auctioneer's mouth, a relief so intense it borders on the physical courses through my entire body, because the maximum I could pay was the one hundred spirit stones Lianhua brought, which is all the capital I officially possess.

Though I quickly reflect and realize my half-brothers couldn't have kept raising much further either, or they risked hitting a limit they didn't know and being stuck with the technique and, worse, having to pay for it, squandering money they could have used on something more useful. I suppose that even for them there's a limit to how much they're willing to pay just to spite their little sister, however much they may detest me for whatever reason. But I push my half-brothers from my mind, because I've done it.

The Dragon's Grip is mine. I take a deep breath, trying not to let the gesture betray how relieved I am, and turn to Lianhua.

"Lianhua", I say quietly.

"Prepare the spirit stones for when they come to collect."

"Yes, Zhāohuán Wen", she replies with her customary composure, as though I'd just asked her to pass me a glass of water rather than to hand over a sum of money that is anything but insignificant. I turn to Master Mu and find her watching me with the smile I've seen on the rare occasions when something amuses her enough to show it.

"Sixty-eight spirit stones for a technique you can't even use yet", she tells me in a tone halfway between amusement and gentle mockery.

"I hope your feeling was worth it, though for a moment I thought you were going to have to ask me for a loan."

"I firmly believe it was, Master Mu", I reply with a conviction I don't need to fabricate.

"And if not, at least I'll have bought my peace of mind. And with my own capital." Master Mu shakes her head slightly with a gesture of resignation and reopens her fan as she directs her attention toward the hall, where the auctioneer is already presenting the next tablet. Meanwhile, I allow myself a moment, just a moment, to savor what I've just accomplished.

Because somewhere in this hall, in the hands of a handmaiden who will soon bring it to me, sits a jade tablet containing a technique whose effects would be recognized instantly by millions of people in my former world. A technique that here they consider simple and that probably no one present understands what it truly represents to me. And although I know Master Mu is right and that the Myriad of Hands is objectively more useful for my situation, there are things whose value cannot be measured in utility.

Sometimes, the value of something lies simply in what it means to you and in what you dreamed of when you were a child.