The winner of the tournament was standing in front of me. And she was glowing, how annoying.

"You want what?" I asked. "And stop that light, it's annoying."

"I want a robe to wear over this one. Longer sleeves, a hood, and a lion on its front. And for you to join my sect." She explained. "How do I stop this?"

"You can hide the material doing the glowing by overlapping these strips of cloth." I explained.

"And don't take this the wrong way, but I really don't want to join a sect." I added.

The woman’s eyes bugged out, and she looked at me like I was some kind of idiot.

“But the amount of resources you can get in a sect, especially as a crafter as talented as you, are far greater than anything you could get on your own.” She said.

Suddenly my doors were pushed open, and three guy entered.

“I am part of the great Waid Clan, and you are going to work for me and my brothers. You may bow, and feel honored we bless you with our presence!” Their leader announced.

I eyed him, and remembered him as the angry guy from the tournament. His two followers didn't ring a bell though.

“Nope. Now piss off, I have an actual customer to talk to.” I said, long buried feelings surfacing again.

Mainly anger. The same emotion the guy I just talked to seemed to feel, as his cheeks started to redden.

“YOU WERE GIVEN AN HONOR! YOU WILL REGRET DENYING A SECOND TIME!” He threatened.

“Hmm. How about this?” I said. “By the heavens, I solemnly swear I will not create a robe for the Waid Clan, or one of their proxying knowingly.”

Everyone in the room gasped as golden light settled down around me, and I felt a restriction settle upon my soul. Looking at the horror on the young men's faces they knew I would never be able to create stuff for them.

I shot the guy a triumphant grin.

“You can leave now. And don't bother to come back, I don't deal with murderers.” I stated.

I didn't give him a chance to react, completely turning him out as I concentrated on the lion woman again.

“So you want your original look again. It’s going to take some time, after all most cultivators want a different color for their robe. So I’d need to send some guys into the forest, to find me the material required for a yellow or golden color. Are you fine with waiting?” I asked.

A quick glance saw the two lackeys drag their leader out of my shop, even as he struggled to jump at me. Perhaps I could have been a little more polite? Ah well, he wouldn't do something stupid, after all I was a gold mine for the mayor.

“Why did you do that?” The lion woman asked.

“He’s a second realm cultivator. And you’re not.” She said. “Sure, he’s a berserker, but you don't look like much of a fighter to me. What did that clan do to you to react this extreme?”

“One of them killed my mother.” I answered.

A thread of foreign aura entered my own, filled with qi. Well, that was a problem. First, I took a step back.

“That’s rude. I suggest you stop before things get serious.” I stated.

The woman followed me regardless, and her aura entered my own, tightly controlled aura again, this time filled with qi.

Damn. I wouldn't be able to talk my way out of that, no matter what. So I concentrated my aura, and battered her’s aside. She recoiled, and looked at me in astonishment, before her aura repeated its attack.

Damn squared. I started burning some qi, to slow down my perception of time, and get some time to think.

What should I do?

I could just let her inspect my body, but my meridian network was ridiculous for a cultivator my age. Just as my aura control really. So I’d have to pit my qi against hers? I felt confident I’d win, but looking at her age, around thirty years or so, that’d be more than unusual too. Still, it was better than her seeing more of my cultivation.

I allowed my aura to expand, to encompass the whole room, and moved some of my qi out of my body, forming a shield of qi around me.

The woman’s eyes widened a little more, but she pressed on nonetheless, until my qi met hers. They immediately started clashing, with our qi intents being a lot closer than I thought possible, but it didn't matter. I was there to help my qi along after all.

As I thought she cultivated lion intent, not something I had thought existed two weeks ago, and I gravity. How would a lion fight against gravity? The answer was it didn't. Not really.

“Who are you?” She asked breathlessly.

I felt the foreign aura retreat, so I did the same. No reason to chance someone randomly entering after all. A lot of my customers needed new robes after all.

“I am Triss.” I answered. “And you know that already. The mayor told everyone who I was after all.”

Lion shook her head.

“That's not what I meant. You have qi intent, and its of one of the fundamental forces of nature. No one cultivates these by themselves because they are too hard to understand. Yet here you are, a young woman, in one of the most backwater towns around. And your understanding of gravity is powerful enough to compete, and win against my qi intent!” She said. “What’s your real, your full name?”

“My full name is Triss.” I answered. “I don't need anything else added to it.”

The woman nodded to herself several times, before she broke the silence, her posture straightening, a savage glint entering her eyes.

“So. What happens now?” She asked. “Are you going to kill me? Because I'm not going to go down easy.”

I looked at her in horror.

“Why in all hells would I kill you? I haven't killed a single person in my life, and don't plan to?” I exclaimed.

“Because I know your secret.” She answered.

“And what secret is that? That I am no first realm cultivator anymore?” I asked.

“That you are a powerful third realm expert in hiding.” She answered.

I looked at her like she was stupid.

“And what would happen if you told someone? The mayor is the most powerful cultivator here, if you ignore the fox and the old man. Anyone else wouldn't dare offend me if that were true. And that's if they believed you. I have nothing to fear.” I explained. “And you gain nothing from telling anyone too. You want something from me after all, not the other way round.”

The woman thought to herself for a moment, before nodding towards something unseen.

“Good point.” She admitted. “But now I really need you to join my sect. Someone as promising as you shouldn't fall into the hands on any of our rivals.”

Well, damn. That backfired. Not that there was something that would have changed had I handled this situation differently. Well, if I hadn't sworn that oath things could’ve gone differently. I didn't regret anything though.

“Look.” I started explaining. “I really have to interest in joining a group of maniac animal fighters several months of travel from here. I don't have an interest in joining any sect really. I just wanted my calm, live my life. And perhaps offend the Waid Clan whenever possible.”

The woman looked at me for a moment, thinking.

“You are joining my clan, no matter what. But what did this clan do to you to risk something like that?” She asked.

“I. am. not. going. to join. a. sect.” I stressed. “And one of them killed my mother.”

“You can't run. I can smell your fear, you should just join. We can help you learn how to fight, to get your revenge too. I’d even personally help you.” She said.

“Are you deaf? I don't want to kill someone. And if the guy is dead he won't be able to regret anything! And true, I may fear you, but it is not like you can catch me.” I said. “And even if you could, I’d just have to reach the town hall, the mayor would fight you. And while you are powerful, you are still a second realm cultivator.” I reasoned.

The woman raised her eyebrow.

“Lions are hunters. You can't run from me. And reaching the third realm won't take long.” She said back.

“Lions are also bound by gravity like everything else. You need it to live, to move. In a way it even allows you to breathe.” I explained.

The woman’s eyes widened for some reason, and she opened and closed her mouth several times.

“So, I can see why you wouldn't want me join one of your rivals, which seems to be your main problem.” I interrupted. “So, how about you bribe me to swear a heavenly oath I will never join a sect.”

Lion did a very good dead fight impression, a contemplating look entering her face.

“Are you really ready to go that far? You can't break a heavenly oath before reaching immortality.” She said.

“Of course I am. And how hard can reaching immortality be, it’s not like cultivation gets harder the more powerful you get. You really just need a rough guideline, the rest can be found with a little experimentation.” I complained.

“So, what would a successful cultivator such as you want for not joining any sect but mine?“ She asked.

Ignoring my previous words, as a rough hewn stone appeared in her hands. Wait! Where did that come from? Were lions in this world capable of teleportation?

“What’s that?” I asked, indicating the stone. “And where’d you get it from just now?”

“Hmm? It’s a communication stone, and every sect disciple leaving the sect gets a few. For emergencies and unexpected opportunities.” She explained, before raising her hand. “And I stored it in my spatial ring.”

Spatial ring? Magical storage? That sounded useful.

“So, how rare are these rings?” I asked innocently.

Only to be looked through immediately.

“In the mainland? Not so much, there’s a clan dedicated to just producing them. Out here? In the hinterlands? Very. Only really powerful cultivators will have one this far off from the actually powerful sects. Or someone like me, on who’s journey brought them here.” She explained.

So, they were products of qi. Probably something related to space. Could I do the same? Maybe. But the only way gravity stored stuff was by compressing it, like matter in a black hole, so nothing I put in there would ever come out, or least not come out whole. So I would need to get one some other way, and a source just stood before me. But I really wanted a book on array creation too. So should I start negotiations big, or not?

No question there, you always started negotiations on a high price, and both sounded quite valuable to me.

“So, how do we do this?” I asked. “I will need both a manual on arrays and a spatial ring, as well as five medium quality spirit stones, to make such a restricting oath. Especially because it will affect me for the rest of my life.” I demanded.

“That's impossible.” She said immediately. “I can get a book on array creation easily enough, and the spirit stones aren't hard either. But a spatial ring? It can not be affected by spatial magic not of its creator. I can offer a high quality spirit stone in return. They are several times better than medium ones, as they store liquid qi instead of normal qi.”

Well, what a letdown. I really wanted a magical storage, now that I knew they existed. Perhaps I should change my qi to space? But I didn't know two things about space, and really liked gravity. No, changing my qi intent sounded like a terrible idea.

“Well. How much is a high quality spirit stone worth? I really only trade in raw materials. Now that I think about is my stuff is too cheap. I need to increase my prices.” I stated, thinking.

“A lesser spirit stone is enough to feed a mortal for a month. A medium one enough for half a year, and a high quality spirit stone can feed an entire family for a single year. All that are rough estimates that depend on your location though, the value of all spirit stones sinks the less cultivators are there to use them.” Lion explained.

Well. You couldn't have everything, and having a source of liquid qi ready should be helpful to, a good reason to break into the second realm soonish.

“Do you agree that you will not join a sect other than the Great Savanna Sect in a weeks time, upon being provided with a manual on arrays, ten spirit stones of medium and one of high quality?” She asked formally.

Seeing how readily she agreed I probably sold myself short. So I better add in something to that. Something valuable, but not of monetary value.

“If you add in a small favor from your sect I am sure we can come to an agreement.” I said. “Why the one week of time though?”

“The heavens punish you if you swear too many oaths in too short a time.” She explained. “How do you not know this?”

“How would I?” I asked back. “I never had a mentor for all that stuff.”

“You don't have a mentor?” She shouted.

“I didn't.” I agreed. “Well, there was my mother, but she only taught me how to make clothes.”

---

Lion looked at the young woman in front of her. She obviously didn't know just how much she denied herself with this oath, but she wouldn't say no. The girl obviously didn't have any fighting experience, but she wasn't really weaker than herself in terms of cultivation level.

Which meant antagonizing her would be a bad idea, considering she was only half her age, and seemed to have lacked any cultivation resources as well as instruction growing up.

“I will return in a few days.” Lion announced.

“Wait.” The girl called. “What about your robe? You want to use it for a hot climate from the sound of it?”

She’d still work on her commision even after being threatened?

“Yes. That sounds fine.” She answered.

Leaving the small house, definitely unfit for a cultivator like the one within, she turned towards the forest. She’d need a little quiet to contact a sect elder, and the forest lord was said to keep anyone above the second realm out of his home. By force if necessary.

“Hello sect elder.” She said, bowing towards the apparition of qi in front of her.

The elder growled in anger, letting her leopard leak out a little.

“Don't call me elder again daughter.” The apparition growled. “And your last report is three weeks off! I was about to leave the sect in search of you.” Her mother added.

“Mother!” She complained. “I am over thirty, and you know that this treatment is the exact reason I left.”

“Yes, yes. You are thirty. So you’re still a kitten really and you know it too!” Her mother said.

“You’re just too old. Everyone else can tell you the development of us humans is the most pronounced in our first years of life. Old cultivators don't change.” She said. “But that's not why I contacted you. I need a good manual about arrays.” She explained.

Her mother raised an eyebrow at the unusual request.

“And what would you need that for? Until now you never seemed interested in arrays. So? Sending anything that far is expensive, so you better have a good reason.”

“I met someone. A crafter. She made the final reward for the tournament I won just a few days ago. I'm wearing it right now.” She explained.

Lion felt as her mother’s aura exploded from the stone in front of her. It easily pierced her own defenses, and inspected both her robe and her cultivation.

“Still in the second realm daughter? How sloppy!” Her mother criticised.

Lion winced, but was more than glad her mother had not seen the final fight. That had been a disgrace, and would have resulted in at least a year of additional training before she could leave the sect again.

“The tournament required me to delay my ascension.” She explained.

“Passable excuse. The robe is of good make, but nothing that will be useful once you ascend.” Her mother said. “So?”

“Well, the crafter is pretending to be in the first realm, which must have limited her options significantly.” She explained.

“A tailor? They can't be too powerful, considering you’re still alive, and know about their supposedly secret cultivation.”

“A seamstress. She’d be one of the scariest persons at my power I know, if she would actually know how to, and want to fight.” Lion admitted. “Her aura control is decent, considering she never had a teacher. And her qi intent won against mine, with the lion helping out! Her gravity intent qi!” She added.

Her mother’s eyes widened, which meant nothing. Well it was her mother saying she was impressed, but not more. Immortals had perfect control over their bodies, so they only showed expressions they wanted to.

“So how’d you get someone like that to agree to anything?” Mother asked.

“She didn't want to join a sect, or give up her home. So she proposed a deal, she would swear a heavenly oath not to join a sect other than ours if I bribed her.” She explained.

“She asked for a bribe?” Her mother chuckled. “And she only wants a manual about arrays?”

“And five medium spirit stones as well as a spatial ring. I increased that to ten medium and one high quality spirit stone in our agreement. She agreed to swear the oath next week.” Lion said.

“Why not now?” Mother asked.

“She swore a heavenly oath as I was in her shop. That she wouldn't work for an insignificant clan, ever. Something personal.” Lion explained.

“Very well, you know how this works. I expect to hear back from you soon.” Her mother said, fading back into the ambient qi.

Lion sighed. Talking to her mother was bothersome, as always. She’d better search for a quiet place to ascend in the next few days, or she wasn't going to hear the end of it anytime soon.

“Don't ever do that again!” A voice suddenly called out. “I don't like immortals on my territory!” Lion looked up, and saw a small fox standing in front of her. Glaring at her. She bowed, her heart nearly exploding. She already knew who stood in front of her, considering the reaction of her lion.

“Of course, honored lord of the forest. My mother’s appearance was unexpected. I apologize for any inconvenience.” She said.

“Humans. Why do I even bother?” The fox grumbled, and disappeared. “And don't come back once you break through. I don't tolerate people of the third realm in my forest.” He added.

Lion gulped, and made her way out of the forest. Two immortals on a single day were too much. Way too much. She’d need to sleep a day. Breaking through would have to wait!