The room they reached, ultimately, after walking up three flights of stairs and moving through a veritable maze, was in many ways reminiscent of the city outside. It was colorful— the walls painted with a delightful azure blue, patterns traced across it in deeper indigo and even hints of a dark purple. It almost appeared to grasp the sky in its grandeur, a single moment frozen, plucked down and brushed out across the wall.

Junior Member Lin held the door open for them, then stood at the side like the world’s most nervous guard as the elder took his seat and bid for them to do the same. Of course, Avyr didn’t— but she did, and it was nice. There was a sort of plushness to them, a subtle give that just nicely took the bite off the hard wooden seat.

He leaned forward, folding his hands together— eyes alight. “Young cultivators. We have many juniors of means come through our Association. The foolish demand the secret locations we hold dominion over. The wise merely buy what we harvest. The truly wise join with us, and learn all of that as they rise through the ranks… but, I suspect that your situation is different, no?”

Lily nodded, trying not to feel perturbed. Why had they been singled out? “Yeah. We really can’t afford to get tied down— we’re just here for the winter break, and if possible we want to get out to that mountain as soon as possible.”

“You’re students from East Saffron, then. Elite students. Except… one of you is mortal, or capable of suppressing your cultivation well enough that even I fail to tell the difference. And another of you is, impossibly, some sort of not-quite spirit beast. And you’ve come here, at Shedding, when most independants who seek the wealth of the Dragonspine are Opening cultivators who feel like trying their luck. There’s a story there, is there not?”

“There is.” She didn’t clarify further, though, and the Association elder didn’t press. “If we could get to payment…”

“Right, right.” He coughed softly, though it was clearly a forced gesture more than anything else. “I’m sure you’re wondering why I took you all the way to our Five Stars Six Moons negotiations room, beside the obvious interest over your background. Like any other member of the Chongtian-Dragonspine Association of Alchemists, Formation Masters, and Explorers, I’ve trained extensively with our signature Overwatching Dragon Scouring Eye technique, a useful trick to help us find spiritually dense ingredients in the wilds. Unlike most of the younger members, I’ve spent enough time in Foundation Establishment to hone my spiritual perception, and I couldn’t help but notice that you’re carrying something in that bag of yours. Something interesting.”

“It’s not for sale,” she responded immediately, shifting a bit defensively. As if that’d be able to protect her from a foundation establishment cultivator in the heart of his domain… “It’s an important gift from—” her Master? No, their relationship wasn’t that formal. “My benefactor.” There. Implied protection. Just what she wanted.

“Of course not. I merely wished to gain a better idea of the sort of resources you have available to you, and maybe begin negotiations pursuing a proper price for selling our information. As you must know, once you sell a location, you’ll never be able to unsell it. The secret out then; to sell a secret is to sell something truly valuable.”

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She narrowed her eyes. “So you want something expensive in return.”

“Let’s not get too hasty. For now, all I want to see is what you have that holds such an intriguing spiritual aura.”

Lily hesitated. “Only if you swear not to take it.”

“Of course,” he said so quickly that Lily couldn’t tell if he was being honest in the slightest. Not that she could really tell beforehand either… “rest assured, I will not stain the honor of my Association today. But further negotiations are contingent on you showing me what you have.”

“Why?” The elder merely gave her a sly smile, and didn’t say anything more. She glanced around, considering, then, to Avyr— “should I? We could always try a different way to find the mountain, or just try our luck…”

Avyr did his unhelpful little shuffle-shrug. “This is for my benefit. I didn’t ask for everything you’ve done already, and I won’t dare ask further. It’s entirely up to you, Lily.” Great. She scowled, a hint of a grin touching at the edge of her face. Typical cat, honorable and unhelpful.

She sighed, then unshouldered her bag, undoing the clasps and straps and little clicky buckles and rummaging around inside of it until she found where she’d put the boxes. The one with Mingtian’s notes she didn’t even touch— she’d resisted looking at it the entire journey so far, and wasn’t going to fall to temptation any time soon. The others, though, she gently extracted, laying them on the finely varnished table between them with a soft clatter of wood against wood.

Almost too fast for her to see, the elder was inches away from them, his eyes alight with an unearthly glow. “Fascinating… can I open them? They’re just the storage for whatever lies within, but are crafted of a spiritual material I’ve never even heard of before. Perhaps even itself purposefully refined? Except, no, I’ve only heard rumors of refiners with such skill.” He wrenched his gaze away from the boxes, face a little flushed as he gave her an apologetic bow. “Ah, I apologize, I apologize, I let my curiosity get the best of me there. Consider your part of the deal fulfilled in full— far more than full! If you were to sell one of these boxes to me, I would be honored to place the support of the Association behind you. Or perhaps compensation of a more monetary bent is appropriate? I can give you a hundred lesser spirit stones each, or one greater spirit stone for both of them.”

Despite herself, Lily couldn’t help but gape in surprise. A greater spirit stone? She’d never even seen a lesser spirit stone in her entire life, and she could own a greater one? That sort of currency wasn’t seen beyond the circles of actual cultivators; the amount of money she could get from selling one of those…

She could buy a house— an actual, real house. She could fund the entirety of her tuition at a premier university. She could travel the world, and seek the wondrous corners of each and ever polity…

It would not, however, get her into the Bloody Saffron Sect. Trying her best to resist grimacing, she shook her head. “I’m sorry, but the boxes aren’t for sale.”