Red was silent, staring at the youth in front of him as if trying to see through the deception. All he saw, though, was a serene expression.

“Why buy them all?” he asked.

The young man smiled. “Is that something the seller has to be concerned about?”

Red frowned. “It is when you are someone in my position.”

A Lesser Ring Realm cultivator had little use for so many talismans. This wasn’t because the spells within weren’t strong, but because they took a long time to activate in combat, and a cultivator could cast multiple Spiritual Arts at that same amount of time with his own energy. The talismans they used needed to be more powerful than their cultivation base to justify their use, but the ones Red had were all very basic.

What use did this stranger have for so many of them, given his cultivation? After all that had happened since coming to town, he couldn’t help but become suspicious.

“It’s for my household members.” The young man said. “They need something to protect themselves.”

“How many members are in your household?”

He chuckled. “Quite a few.”

Red went silent as he pondered in his mind.

“40 Spirit Stones for all of them.” he said.

The young man’s eyes widened. “That much?”

“Yes.”

“Please, sir. Your talismans are good, but I have never seen any basic talismans priced so high.”

“You’re not willing to pay?”

The young man hesitated. “… I’m afraid I can’t spend my money so frivolously at such a time, so if that’s truly the final price, I can only give up on this idea.”

Although he said that, he didn’t leave, staring at Red with a shred of hope. The masked vendor, however, only glared back with his icy gaze in silence.

A few seconds later, the young man let out a sigh of disappointment and turned around to leave. Red stared at his back, and only when he was about to step out of the store did he speak up.

“Twenty five Spirit Stones for all of them.”

The young man froze and looked back with a resigned smile. “That’s still a Spirit Stone for each talisman.”

“I need the money.” Red said.

The first quote he gave was far above market price exactly because he wanted to test this buyer’s intentions. It was reasonable that this customer walked away, and Red would have been suspicious if he accepted the price instead. The second quote was more along what one would expect for such talismans, though still above their usual cost.

This time Red was truly settled on selling them, so now he was trying to make a profit.

The young man seemed to be deep in thought, looking over at Red with a pondering expression.

“I can do that price, but there is a condition.”

The youth frowned. “I only negotiate with currency.”

The young man chuckled. “Relax, it’s nothing so binding. I only want to invite you for a drink.”

“A drink?” Red was confused.

“Yes, in the tavern across the plaza.” He pointed outside. “Me and some of my friends will be meeting there tomorrow, so I want you to come.”

“… I don’t drink alcohol.”

“It’s fine.” The young man waved him off. “You don’t need to drink.”

“Why do you want me to be there?”

“I find that cultivation becomes far easier when you have connections with other cultivators. Me and my friends are all practitioners or people of influence at some level or the other, and we are always eager to have more talented young people to join our circle.”

“So, you want me to join your group?”

That sounded like the last thing Red would want to do.

The young man shook his head. “As I said, it’s nothing so binding. I just want to introduce to them a talented Arcane Scripture Master, and you only stand to gain more clients if I vouch for your skills.”

“Why do I need more clients? You bought everything I had.”

“You bought an entire store here in the most active part of the city. Surely your ambitions don’t stop at a measly few dozen Spirit Stones, do they?”

Red shook his head. “I intend to focus on cultivation for the next few weeks.”

Now that he sold the talismans, he could buy what he needed for a Gathering Spirit Formation, and the ingredients alone would cost him far more than the 15 Spirit Stones he still had. He expected it might take at least a week to sell all his talismans, but now that they were about to be sold, he didn’t have a reason to delay.

“That’s fine too.” The young man nodded. “As long as you need resources, you will find clients in us. There are plenty of rich cultivators amongst my friends, and there is always a need for talismans in times like these.”

Red hesitated. “… One meeting, correct?”

“That’s right!”

“And I won’t get in trouble for associating with you?”

He chuckled. “More than you already are? Unlikely. In fact, it might make certain people think twice if they see you associating with us.”

‘Like I thought, he knows about it.’

The fact he still knew all about the troubles Red had gotten himself into and still walked into his store only spoke about his background.

“Fine, I’ll go.”

He didn’t like interacting with other people, but he knew his own situation in this city. It was unlikely he would ever get many clients in this store, so directly supplying his products to rich people who weren’t concerned about his background was not only beneficial, but it was also necessary if he still wanted to go ahead with his plans.

The young man smiled at this. “Good!”

He walked over to the counter, which left Red confused.

“You aren’t going to fetch your Spirit Stones?” he asked.

He was carrying no large bags on him, so Red couldn’t imagine where he would fit twenty-five Spirit Stones.

The young man shook his head. “No need.”

He fetched a small pouch from the side of his waist. The leather suddenly started to glow as he injected some Spiritual Energy onto it, before it opened up. The stranger then put his other hand inside, which disappeared for farther than should have been physically possible, and started to pull out Spirit Stones from within one by one.

Soon enough, twenty-five Spirit Stones were on top of the counter, pulled from a container that should have been too small to keep all of them. Red was staring at the bag in wonder, though none of that showed in his expression that was hidden beneath his mask.

“What is that?”

“Ah, this is a Spatial Bag.” The young man said. “It has a cubic meter of space inside it squeezed into a small pouch. Rather impressive, isn’t it?”

‘Squeezed space?’

The notion was so ridiculous that Red could barely wrap his head around it. In fact, he even forgot about the Spirit Stones, only having eyes for the small pouch.

“May I see the runes?” he asked.

“Of the pouch?” The young man hesitated. “… I don’t mean to sound rude, but this is my most valuable possession, and it’s not something I let even close friends touch.”

“I see.”

Red was disappointed, but he could understand it. If he was in the same position, he probably would have also refused.

To his surprise, though, the young man smiled. “However, if you come by tomorrow, then I can let you have a look.”

“Really?” Red frowned in suspicion.

“Of course. I don’t think you would have any ill intentions towards it and besides… You wouldn’t be able to open it even if you stole it from me.”

The youth nodded. “Then I must thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, just keep your end of the bargain!”

With a chuckle, he waved his hand and a gentle wind swept the talismans off of the shelves and into the open pouch. Red made no motions to stop this, and he also stowed away the Spirit Stones off of the counter.

“Remember, tomorrow at night in the tavern across the street.” The young man said as he walked away. “Tell the hostess you’re a friend of Leon and she should take you to us. We’ll be waiting for you there!”

‘Leon…’

The name was imprinted in Red’s mind. He would need to ask Emer about it once he was back.

“Well, looks like that is solved.” Aurelia’s voice echoed in his ears. “It seems faith deals you good and bad luck in equal measure.”

The youth was compelled to agree. Leon’s appearance was like a miracle to Red, who was on the verge of giving up entirely on his plans after a string of unfortunate accidents.

“What are you going to do now?” The woman asked.

“I will buy the materials for the Gathering Spirit Formation tomorrow and then focus on resting so I can build it.”

The Gathering Spirit Formation was responsible for increasing Spiritual Energy density within a certain area at the cost of Spirit Stones. It was vital for any cultivator who didn’t have a personal Spiritual Fountain, and something Red couldn’t do without if he wanted to make good progress through the Lesser Ring Realm.

Aurelia snorted. “It is not a simple formation. Are you sure you can do it?”

“If I can’t, then I won’t try it.”

It was likely this formation would be even harder to build than the Parting Storm Formation he used to break through, and even with his quick improvements, Red wasn’t so blind as to think he would succeed in the task easily. Even if it took him a month of practice and work, though, it was still something he thought was worth going through.

It was one of the foundational steps in his cultivation plan, so failure wasn’t an option.

After he stowed the Spirit Stones away, Red saw no reason to remain within the store. Soon enough, he locked the place and started to make his way back to his manor. Thankfully, no one from the Golden Hand tried to intercept him as he left the market district, though the youth wasn’t so naïve to think he was rid of their troubles.

‘I need to learn what happened in the court.’

This time, though, perhaps he could ask Leon and his friends instead of Gustav and his Golden Hand.

As Red walked away from the market district, the street traffic diminished as well. It was already getting late into the night, and people in the residential districts had long since returned to their homes after work, and only the usual carriages and guard patrols could be seen with frequency.

It was a sight and path Red was getting used to from his many forays into the city, which was why he immediately noticed something out of the ordinary with his crimson sense.

‘There’s a new fluctuation stalking me.’

At this point, he was almost completely familiar with the people sent to spy on him. They rotated in a very rigid schedule as the day progressed, but it was almost always the same pool of seven or so people that were tasked with spying on Red as he walked through the city or stayed in his home.

Sometimes newcomers whose fluctuations he didn’t recognize would appear, but this was only during shift changes at dawn or very late at night. This was the reason, then, that this new arrival seemed suspicious.

‘There’s still one of the usual spies stalking me, so is this someone from another faction?’

It only meant more trouble, then.

Red tried to study this fluctuation as usual - discerning physical features as he was capable, such as age, sex, and strength. To his surprise, this fluctuation seemed fainter than usual and harder to discern, resembling someone who was on the edge of death. However, how could that be the case if they were stalking him while jumping across the roofs above?

‘Wait, don’t tell me…?’

He recalled one such situation where it felt as if his crimson sense was being tricked, where the strength of the fluctuation didn’t match with the actual power of the cultivator. That was when he met the Greater Ring Realm cultivator from the Crystal Sky Sect.

A shiver ran up his spine. Slowly and while trying to make his movements natural, his hand reached into the bag he was carrying, grabbing onto the moonstone core and extending his awareness.

“Aurelia… There’s someone stalking me.” Red said through his awareness.

“Of course there is! Why does that surprise you?”

“I can’t feel them properly with my crimson sense.”

“What?” This time, she seemed surprised. “Where are they?”

“Fifty or so meters behind me, on top of the buildings to my left.”

“Huh? But there’s nowhere… Wait, I think I can- Crap, they’re moving!”

Her warning came before Red’s senses could even detect it. The fluctuation charged in his direction, soaring towards him.

The youth was quick to react and turn around, spotting a dark silhouette jumping from the rooftops towards him at an incredible speed. He didn’t hesitate to dash away, but that was when he saw something glinting in the shadow’s hand.

A dagger.

The figure threw the weapon towards him, cutting the air with a shrill noise. It was faster than any dagger Rimold ever threw, and even after breaking through, Red wasn’t confident he could dodge it, so his hand went to draw his short sword to parry it.

“Dodge it!”

Aurelia’s scream echoed in his ears. The youth didn’t know why she was saying that, but he decided to trust her judgement in that split second. He twisted his body and tried to step to the side, making sure that even if he was unable to dodge the dagger, it wouldn’t hit a vital part of his body.

Only when the weapon was a few meters away from him did he understand the woman’s warning. The metal flashed with a bright white light before the dagger exploded into several sharp metal shards, which were all propelled with even greater speed towards Red.

He couldn’t even follow them before he felt several strong sharp pains on the entire left side of his body.