The diagram dwindled as the light died down to a tiny black circle that resided at the centre of one of the peanut-coloured butterflies. As he turned his attention to the second diagram he found that the amount of exclamations and observations were growing quite distracting, mostly people wondering what sort of arrayment he planned to create. He heightened his focus and hurriedly went to work on the second arrayment.

Despite the fact that the backdrop was dominated by constant motion and a cacophony of festive conversation, many people that couldn’t see the light were still able to perceive the fluctuations of spiritual energy within the area. Many of the hundreds of revelers that filled the wide street began to freak out over the fact that a teenager had just begun to create a compound spiritual arrayment without any apparent difficulty. Nolan didn’t pay them any mind, for he’d been the focus of entire battlefields where just as many people were intent on killing him.

Was it the coil-like entry point or the zigzag one? Once he remembered the final step in the second diagram’s construction he quickly created it with a precisely projected mass of spiritual energy. Another bright flash occurred that soon receded into the hairpin that still floated idly in front of him, though a horizontal black line now divided one of the other butterfly carvings down the middle.

“He’s already finished?” said an old merchant from behind a distant stall. “It hasn’t even been a couple minutes.” There were several people gathered around him, a formidable bunch even among the prominent visitors that crowded the streets of Mason.

“No kidding! Forget about people his age, I don’t think any of the arrayment practitioners back home could have done that so quickly.”

“Those robes…” another customer mumbled. “Could he be the guy that beat the royal challenge this year? From that sect—what was it again?”

“The Soil Sect,” said someone else. “My brother was there at the royal plaza, he told me just minutes ago.”

“No, my cousin just told me that it was the Mud Sect. They’re probably from those islands to the west.”

“The Mud Sect? I’ll remember that name.”

“It’s the Earth Sect!” Nolan called out. “Earth!”

The merchant and his customers were clearly surprised, for they were far away enough that someone with Nolan’s cultivation shouldn’t have been able to hear them through all of the celebratory commotion.

He’d happened to overhear the distant conversation as he scanned the hairpin with his spiritual sense. What was this nonsense they were talking about? He normally wouldn’t have involved himself with their mutterings but he and his friends wanted to spread the word about their sect so that they could slowly build up reputation and influence. Once they reached a certain height he would buy Otherworlders from around the continent for high prices, a feat made possible due to his ability to turn regular spirit stones into superior ones whenever he visited the glade.

Whatever, I don’t wanna think about that right now. He tossed the hairpin to Haldi, who caught it in a ginger grip. “Go on and give that to your mom now.”

“Thank you,” breathed Cera. Her eyes held strong interest as she inspected the hairpin, her tone that of one very much impressed. “It really is a compound arrayment. How were you able to make it so fast? Your master must be an amazing expert at the craft.”

“Well, I don’t know about amazing but he knows more about arrayments than anyone else I’ve met by a longshot.”

“Is he an elder of the Earth Sect?” asked Haldi. “That means you’re a direct disciple, right? The direct disciple of a big sect! Isn’t that awesome, Mother?”

“This Earth Sect, can I ask where it’s based?”

“The Three-River Valley,” said Ian, who’d just emerged from the crowd alongside a grinning Sean. “In the Varai clan’s territory to be specific.”

“Shouldn’t you guys be off gambling somewhere?”

“We were,” said Sean, “up until everyone in the dice game stopped to watch your process there.”

“Look at you Nolan, putting on a show wherever we go.”

“Oh, did other people see that? It’s not my fault I’m good at things.”

Cera appeared surprised for a moment as she stared at Ian. “Ah, you must be a member of that clan. I should have guessed it, with those eyes and that hair. Only, I’ve never heard of a sect in that part of the Dragon’s Tail. Was it just recently established?”

“Yeah, we’re trying to build up a reputation in these mountains. Anyway, as for the arrayments I put on that hairpin, one is a basic hardening arrayment that makes it tough to break for anyone below the eighth level of Profound Entry. The other one is a simple movement arrayment that’ll make it fly forward if you inject it with a bit of inner essence.”

“Amazing,” remarked Cera as she flexed the hairpin between her fingertips. “Thanks again. You must be tired after making such a complex arrayment, and so quickly.”

Tired? Complex? These sorts of arrayments were a far cry from the things that he’d seen Uncle Grey do to show off during his lessons.

A chorus of bells drew everyone’s attention to the centre of the city, where many people began to gather.

“Ah,” said Cera, “It seems that the king’s feast is about to start. Haldi and I should probably get going now.”

“King’s feast? Can anyone go to it?”

“Well, it costs two hundred spirit stones for outsiders to attend. It’s more of a show of wealth than anything, both for our kingdom and our guests.”

Two hundred spirit stones for a meal? What are they serving, phoenix meat? Nolan nearly rolled his eyes, but he didn’t want to appear bothered by the prospect of spending eight hundred spirit stones in order for their group to go.

“That sounds like a good time. We’d join you but we’ve eaten a lot of street foods and I don’t feel like dropping that kind of money on a meal when my stomach’s full. I hope to see you guys around, but if we don’t then it was nice meeting you.”

“Take care, you two,” said Sean.

Esteban and Haldi waved at one another as the latter’s mother thanked Nolan once again and bid them farewell. Soon they were swallowed up by the throngs of thousands of people that were also making for the city centre.

Their group hadn’t walked ten metres when a familiar old voice rang throughout Nolan’s mind.

You should come to the feast. I think it’ll make for an interesting time.

He kept up with the others as if nothing had happened, even laughed at a joke that Ian cracked when he saw two drunken and dishevelled children brawling it out on the street. Internally Nolan was quite alarmed. How long had that old man been spying on him? No, at his level of cultivation the man’s awareness likely touched upon everything in the region. He must have kept tabs on Nolan’s aura since he’d left the royal plaza.

Something caught his attention overhead. A small object had appeared in the sky and fallen down so that it landed directly in Nolan’s outstretched hand. It was a spatial bag, and inside were eight hundred spirit stones. How wealthy was this guy to throw away so much money just to invite some vague acquaintances to dinner?

“Okay,” said Sean. “What just happened there?”

The others stopped to look at him.

“We just got invited to that feast by the guy that hosted the challenge I won. What do you guys think?”

“And that bag was…”

“Yeah...it’s enough money to get us in.”

“What a nice guy. Did you hear how expensive that meal was?” said Esteban. “If we go then we can eat it for free!”

Sean gave a skeptical scoff. “You guys don’t think that’s weird?”

“We should go.”

“I’m with Ian. We might as well check it out.” Nolan hadn’t met many Genesis-staged cultivators, but he would never forget the destruction that the armoured sloth had wrought in the Three-River Valley. If a demonic beast at that level could tear up so much land by simply walking and running then what would a human be capable of? No matter how he looked at it the better plan was to get into the old man’s good graces, as opposed to ignoring his invite and earning his ire.

“Isn’t it funny?” Esteban giggled as they arrived at the huge courtyard where the king’s feast was taking place. “All of the strongest people in this world are super old. It’s like the opposite of back on Earth.”

Nolan wanted to hit the kid since it was possible that the old man was listening in on them, but the comment was too funny because it was so true. Of the two thousand people that filled the courtyard of polished tile, around half were in their seventies or older. These people were all prominent individuals from elsewhere in the Dragon’s Tail, all of them in the middle levels of Integration or higher. At least three hundred tables occupied the centre of the square, half of them made of pure silver and the rest pure gold, each draped over with a tablecloth the colour of its opposite. Large wooden tables filled the rest of the area, seating arrangements for those late to the gathering. Wooden posts had been set up all throughout the area upon which hung streamers and banners in the same styles as pervaded the other towns and cities within the kingdom.

It wasn’t long before they purchased four meal tickets from one of the many groups of soldiers that guarded the venue, after which they quickly seated themselves at a silver table along the fringes of the central furniture.

“We’re lucky we got here when we did,” said Sean as dozens of white-robed servants moved throughout the square with large platters of food and drink. “Any later and we’d have had to sit at one of those basic tables.”

“Not that it matters, really.” Ian immediately began to heap food onto his plate. “We’re here for food after all.”

“Are we though?”

“Where is that old guy anyway? Shouldn’t he be at that big table with all those rich-looking people?” Esteban stood up on his seat to get a better look around but was instantly pulled down by Nolan. “Hey—I was just trying to see if Haldi and his mom were around!”

“It’s obviously inappropriate to stand up on your seat to look around. At an event like this you’ve gotta play it cool. Anyway, they’re at one of the golden tables near the main one.”

Nolan had sensed their auras almost immediately and noted that they were seated at the table closest to the one at the centre of the square. They’d changed out of their simple silver robes, Cera in a light blue dress pressed at the waist by a thick grey belt with a silver buckle studded with dark blue gemstones. Haldi wore a black tunic over a light pair of white trousers, with dark boots and a matching belt, along with a necklace made from an onyx-like material. In contrast to the modestly dressed mother and son, the ten other people at the table wore so much jewelry and fabulously embroidered clothing that not a single finger present lacked a ring with a fat rock.

The main table was made from heavier, plated gold and covered from end to end in all sorts of lavish dishes and creative cuisines. Despite the table’s larger size in comparison to the others, only six people sat in a line along its centre. All of the seats were made of gold and covered in white velvet cushions, though only two were particularly engraved with highly decorative patterns, the king’s seat and that of his guest.