Chương 39: 24.2. An Invitation you can't refuse

"Round 2!" The announcer's voice echoed across the Starry Sky Mountain arena. Tao was sitting in the stands by himself, watching the matches intently. Aneroze and Foria hadn't been interested in watching the outer sect disciple matches. Tao couldn't understand their mindset and shook his head slightly as he thought of them. Compared to watching the big flashy fights, watching people at their own level fight was far more insightful.

One disciple wielding a halberd expertly defended against a sword before spinning it around and pulling back, disarming their opponent. Tao looked down at his notebook and scribbled down what he saw. Really. Getting a notebook might have been the best decision he's ever made. While nodding to himself, the announcer suddenly shouted, "Clear Mirror Sect's Long Tao! Versus…" Tao shut his notebook and launched into the air with his glaive before landing in the arena.

He rushed forward across the granite stone and looked towards his opponent. A whip of fire swung across the arena and Tao ducked under it. Oh, I remember the other guy who fought a whip user… Tao thought, recalling some of the previous fights. The whip curled and arced before slamming back down. Tao leapt sideways before landing back on his feat and continuing forwards. The whip cracked and swung from the side again. This time however, while Tao ducked, he raised his glaive into the air.

The whip curled around it and as its tip was almost completely curled to the shaft, he stood up again. He channeled his Spirit Qi into the glaive and wrapped it around the whip, practically gluing them together. He yanked. Hard. The disciple on the opposite end of the arena was startled, shouting as they were pulled forward by Tao. Tao continued reeling in his opponent before they got close enough.

"Hah!" He suddenly lunged forward with his glaive aimed at their neck. The disciple's eyes widened and Tao suddenly stopped. For a moment nothing happened, but the next, Tao pulled back his blade from resting on his opponent's neck, letting them collapse on the ground shaking.

"Another victory from the Clear Mirror Sect!" Tao nodded to himself before offering a hand to his opponent. They just stared blankly.

"Are you getting up?" Tao asked and the disciple suddenly shook his head briefly before clasping Tao's hand and letting him pull them up before the two sprinted off the arena. See. Watching the fights is useful. Tao grumbled as he returned to the stands alone.

"Wow, you're really strong." Someone commented as Tao sat down. He turned to look.

"You're the kid who was being bullied aren't you? Bu Danxing?"

"..." Bu Danxing's smile trembled a bit, "well… Yes…" He responded after a moment.

"I see." Tao nodded.

"Thank you." He turned back to watch the next match. He felt Bu Danxing staring at him for a bit, but ignored it. Inside the Clear Mirror Sect's territory… Wu Jie hid himself in the sky, using a technique to make him near invisible. In the distance, massive grey cliffs and mountains jutted out from the landscape, completely barren in contrast to the nearby lush forests and Soft Meadows. Thunder cracked and the weather whipped his robes around madly, filling his ears with a cacophony of roaring wind.

Wu Jie ignored the weather however, watching carefully— using a pupil technique to peer far into the distance. Three elders of the Clear Mirror sect advanced slowly towards the Ruby Demonic Sect's hideout, navigating between the barren grey peaks. Suddenly, there was a flash of red light. The peaks of the nearby mountains shot a red beam into the air and circles of array characters appeared in the sky.

The three elders in the mountain were suddenly under siege rapidly taking injuries from more than twenty Golden Core demons.

"We'll go in next." An elder spoke from nearby. Wu Jie nodded. The vice-sect leader, an Essence unity supreme elder with greying hair, rushed forward with four more elders. Several more demons rushed out to meet them, all at the Nascent Soul realm. At least, until Wu Jie spotted a flying black serpent appear from the horizon. As more and more of its body was revealed, Wu Jie's expression continued to fall, until the serpent suddenly collided with the supreme elder.

Seeing as the serpent's body never seemed to end and it was targeting the supreme elder, Wu Jie guessed it was a hundred kilometer flood dragon. He looked down and sent a telepathic message to the peak masters below. Those who reached the Golden Core realm but who were unlikely to reach the Nascent Soul realm.

He received his response and a small army of twenty peak masters, all at the peak of the Golden Core realm, activated their stealth techniques and silently made their way towards the demon's base, taking a detour to avoid the elders fighting and the array formation in the sky. Seeing the supreme elders group being held off, Wu Jie focused on the original group of three elders who were still trapped inside the glowing red array formation in the sky. They were already injured.

However, he didn't want to rush in in case there was a second, larger trap waiting for them. He would just have to trust that the peak masters could disable the formation in time and move to support them quickly. For now, Wu Jie shared a glance with the old woman who was floating nearby. Another supreme elder who was waiting with him.

"It seems they arn't some 'rag-tag group of survivors' afterall." He thought out loud.

"So it appears." The old woman looked back at the fight with a frown on her face. Wu Jie thought for a minute, then shook his head. For now, they would wait. With so many Golden Core demons besieging the three elders in the formation and so many Nascent Soul demons holding off the vice-sect leader's group, he didn't believe they could also stop the peak masters from destroying the array formation they were using to suppress the mind of Nascent Soul cultivators. Miu sat at a wide, low desk.

A large open balcony with intricate wooden patterns around the edges was in front of her, pointing out into the setting sun. Soft orange light bathed the room, illuminating the desk as Miu focused on the brush in her hands, trying to perfectly replicate the imperial script characters onto the page. If she couldn't read and write imperial script by the two week mark, then the princess would keep her here until she could. Dammit! I just wanna go home. She exhaled deeply and put the brush down.

She looked down at her work. It looked like a bunch of scribbles. She had never even used a brush before, just chalk and charcoal pencils. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The page was covered in spilled ink, illegible characters that bleed so much as to just become a blob and other characters so thin they looked like scratches. Not that any of them matched the princesses handwriting which sat to her right.

She looked up at the pile of letters she had practiced. Her highness had advised her to try writing a letter to someone in the capital. Unfortunately, she didn't know anyone in the capital. She didn't want to send it to someone as terrifying as Faram, so she just sent it to the only other person she knew by name, inviting him to the Rising Dragons and Phoenixes tournament. All of it on Her highness, Shuyue's suggestions.

"What do you think, Jung?" Miu asked the little snake that had curled up on the desk at some point.

"Sss." The snake let out a lazy hiss. Miu sighed again, letting her body slump onto the table before looking out at the sun. Heels clacking against wood sounded behind her. Miu had one part of her mind screaming to stand up and face the princess. But the other part had gone numb. In the end, she just lay there while the princess came up to the desk and sat down on the cushion beside her. There was a ruffle of pages as Shuyue went through Miu's work.

"Hmmm. Not bad. You're such a smart cookie. Improving so quickly." She complimented.

"Oh. I also invited Faust to the little tea party I'll be holding."

"?" Why do that? Miu wondered. Then a shiver went down her spine. Don't tell me. He's actually some super strong expert hiding his cultivation!

"It was the Roze clan heir and Han Dukedom heir's request. Apparently he gave Han Ci a fake name. Really brave of him. Truly." Shuyue explained. Han Ci? Miu thought. She recalled the frail scholar from the Han Estate. Supposedly sick and on the verge of death. Yet Jung's senses still warned her he was a bajillion times stronger than her. Even most of the maids were stronger than her. Let alone the official palace maids who all had Golden Core cultivation. She was the strongest in her village dammit!

Since when were there so many Meridian Opening experts! Even in the nearest city they were considered rare. Shuyue glanced at her and let out a small chuckle.

"You really must hide your emotions some more. I bet you're wondering why everyone here is stronger than you— Or something similar?" Miu twisted her lips, before sitting back up. She glanced at Shuyue, who was now wearing a flowy black, white and gold dress, before looking away and crossing her arms unconsciously.

"Haha… You really are just like her aren't you…" The princess chuckled dryly.

"Who?" Miu asked before she could cover her own mouth.

"..." Holding her own mouth tightly, Miu slowly forced herself to turn and see Shuyue's expression. The princess wasn't looking at her though. She was looking at the sky. For the first time, Miu didn't see her smile smugly or confidently. It was just a passive, completely neutral expression. The two maids, Ning and Jing, shuffled uncomfortably nearby. Even Miu could vaguely hear their whispers. She took another glance at Shuyue. She was smiling again.

"Maybe I really will keep you forever." She suddenly said, staring Miu in the eyes. Miu trembled and quickly looked down to her lap, averting her gaze. She unconsciously reached for her robes to find Jung, but he was still resting on the table, so she just ended up hugging herself as a cold breeze seeped in through the balcony. Shuyue watched Miu for a few moments, then looked back to the desk, opening a letter she had just received.

'I have successfully planted the evidence. I was almost caught and killed by a passing scholar's interference but they quickly escaped after the second prince's man pulled out his token. They've taken steps to hide their aura from me so I am unable to trace them.' Shuyue rubbed her chin slightly. Was it worth pursuing the passing scholar? She shook her head.

If they ran off as soon as they saw the second prince's token, despite helping them originally, then they were sending a pretty clear message of not wanting to get involved. Since the evidence had been planted, there was no need to complicate matters needlessly. Shuyue wrote a simple response.

'Good work. Proceed to the next step immediately.' She folded the paper and handed it behind her, where one of her maids quickly took it from her hands and sent it where it needed to go. Faust lay in bed while staring at the ceiling. He sighed again. Never should have touched Tao. Never should have touched Tao. Never should have touched Tao… He repeated in his head like a mantra. Life had been predictable. Simple even. But ever since Long Tao… Nothing had gone right. First.

There was the demonic cultivator infiltration on the disciple induction Tao was a part of. The first time ever in Clear Mirror Sect's admittedly short history. Then there was the odd number of heirs from noble families. The Roze clan specifically had persisted through the past two dynasties. Faust focused his eyes on the ceiling a bit. He felt the still air on his skin and the silence within the small estate he had rented. Part of him was happy at the unexpected turns.

The journey beyond Nascent Soul seemed clearer than ever. Paved neatly even. Beckoning him to abandon his better reasoning. He closed his eyes again, exhaling. After the indictment mission, the Open Palace Serpent they were hunting turned out to be a peak Open Palace flood dragon. Then there was the rescue mission where they had not only encountered, but even defeated an entry Golden Core level beast. Speaking of which, Faust still had the Jade Toad that had captured Persius and Mue Dian.

He pulled the Jade Toad from his spatial pouch, its surface gleaming from the thin rays of light entering from the paper window. It had gone into its jade form, turning into a small jade statue that was difficult to destroy even for a Golden Core cultivator. He returned it to his spatial pouch. He would find a use for it he was sure. What was strange was that after that, his journey to the capital had coincided with the princess calling for Miu.

Rozaline had also appeared for the Rising Dragons and Phoenixes Competition despite having an older sibling in the capital who could compete. He was turned away by the brocade guard despite wearing his Clear Mirror Sect uniform. He met Faram, Miu and almost met the 4th Princess in person. He had for some reason entered the Han estate, then mysteriously forgot how to navigate until he almost followed Han Ci into some kind of banquet.

He saw Rozaline, The Tang clan heir, Tang Qingyu and he wasn't certain, but he was pretty sure he also saw the heir of the Bu clan, Bu Yuanzhi in the banquet room— a core disciple of the Clear Mirror Sect. There was also his encounter when leaving the Grand Archive. Such a massive place and he just happened to cross that isle at that exact moment. Faust brought his hand up and rubbed his chin. Trying to put everything together. Why did he get the attention of the princess? He had no interactions with her.

So it could only be because someone else asked her to invite him. His first thought was Miu— who had even sent an invitation to the Rising Dragons and Phoenix's competition. But she didn't mention anything about the princess's tea party in her letter and it was clear she was only just now learning how to write Imperial script. It could still be her, but Faust found it unlikely. The kid was too timid to ask for anything. More likely would be Faram, but why would Faram recommend it?

They had similar hobbies and had hit it off, but they still didn't know each other that well. So that left the next most likely candidates, Rozaline and Han Ci. He couldn't understand why Han Ci would do it, especially when given a fake name. But Rozaline had been interested in him, or rather, his work, for a while now.

"Hmm…" Faust hummed, before getting out of bed. He entered the main hall of his little estate before glancing over the princess's letter still sitting on the table. Right. I need to prepare. He realised, looking down at his clothes. He doubted he had anything that wouldn't immediately mark him as different from the rest. If he wanted to stay low profile, he had to fit in with high society. He needed good clothes and accessories. To put it simply.

"Haah…." He was becoming ever more depressed with each passing day in the capital. Good clothes were undoubtedly going to be… Expensive… And the party was only two weeks away. He would need to pay for a rush order. Wouldn't he?

"F%ck my life…" He complained, pinching the bridge of his nose before putting on his best clothes and preparing to go find a high end tailor or boutique. He picked up the letters before throwing them in his spatial pouch and closing the front door behind him. The sun was high in the sky, shining brightly as if to highlight Faust's terrible mood. He looked around briefly before launching into the sky and drawing his flying sword from his spatial pouch. He scanned the horizon to find anywhere that seemed…

Shiny — He guessed. Nowhere particularly stood out, unfortunately. He saw a pair of well dressed young men on their flying swords, flying away from Central Zentrum and quickly followed until he was beside them.

"Excuse me, fellow daoist." Faust asked politely, cupping a hand in his fist.

"What?" One of the young men snapped.

"I'm just searching for a high end tailor. Do you happen to know where one is?"

"Golden Circle Boutique." The young man scoffed, before speeding up. Faust felt his eye twitch at the attitude, but ignored it, slowing down and watching the young man's back for a moment as he thought it through. He turned towards Central Zentrum and approached the gate of the boundary wall separating it from West Zentrum. The same guards who had let him in and out before happened to be on duty and Faust landed nearby. The guard at the Golden Core realm shouted, "Halt!"

Faust did as instructed, pausing and bowing slightly with a cupped fist.

"Do you have permission to enter?" The guard asked. Faust pulled out the silver capsule he received from Faram. The guard checked it and while he did, faust asked, "Would you know the directions to Golden Circle Boutique?" The guard glanced at him for a moment before continue to read the document that had been sealed in the steel container. He finished reading it and resealed it before passing it back.

"I believe it is along the main road somewhere. Keep heading straight and you should eventually hit it." The guard answered while clearing their throat, before shouting for the gates to be opened. Faust gave another respectful bow before passing through. He then looked ahead at the patterned stone path that stretched far, far into the distance and sighed. He may have forgotten that flight wasn't permitted within Central Zentrum. He also recalled that with the scale of the city.

He could be facing upwards of a hundred kilometer walk. He looked at the sky and held his face for a moment, pinching the corner of his eyes to prevent any tears. Then he looked back ahead and activated his movement technique, the Clear Mirror Step and shooting forward between various massive estates.