Chang Heng opened his eyes to an austere room. It was long, with walls of grey stone, and filled with bare beds, many of which housed hurt people. Other hurt people, just like him. He felt weak, so weak, but at least his conditions didn’t look as bad as theirs.

  One of the doctors, or maybe nurses, or attendants, or…

  I lost to Xin. And she’s a… a… Hells and Heavens! Damn, damn, damn-

  The thin man, who the boy had no idea what job worked there and had just left another patient, stopped him from clawing his own face off in shame.

  “Stop with that, you lost enough blood already. If you manage to lose more while here, we’ll lose even more of our funding. Now eat this stuff, and go away. Your parcel has already been paid for by the guy waiting at the entrance.”

  The man didn’t give him time to thank him before running off to another patient, mumbling.

  “For the thirteen Sacred Cows of Sia, did this guy make all the other scratches too, or what? Why do I always have the crazy patients?”

  Quite embarrassed, the boy turned to a tray waiting by his side. Some red meat, and a liquid that he just couldn’t understand the colour of.

  He looked around as he ate the meat. Its quality was low, but still a cut above what his family could afford just a month earlier, so it ended up tasting more nostalgic than bad. The walls, austere as they were, carried banners at fixed intervals, black with an even blacker closed hand embroidered, its contours white. It wasn’t hard to figure out who the place belonged to, and the incoming patients, almost all Cultivators in black shirts and pants, made it even more clear.

  He forced himself to down the drink. It was as bad as it looked, its taste a mix of… basically everything, from sweet to sour to metallic to bitter, and more. It didn’t even carry any Qi, so it was probably one of the few mortal medicines he had never had a chance to try.

  When he was done, he tried to ask some of the disciples on the beds what was going on, why there were so many of them there, but even just getting close earned him looks that could almost behead him, so he left the place, his head was still slightly spinning, but it was manageable.

  There, waited the same man who had walked him to the banquet… that morning, the Sun said. His chin was still square, but the expression was open about his now good mood.

  “Cultivator Chang Heng! What a pleasure to see you so healthy already. I’m here to get you to the Prize Palace. Well, that is not the official name, but in the Red Moon months you’ll get to learn why everyone calls it like that…”

  The man walked him to a nice carriage, much nicer than the only one he had ever taken, and never stopped talking during the next hour-long trip. When they got off of it, he had learnt that the man had been employed by the City Lor- Uncle Peng, and how it would affect his life, and the life of his family, and the neighbourhood they’d move in, and the school he’d send the children he didn’t yet have, and his plans for the festivities… and that people were talking quite a lot about Xin.

  Just like the setting Sun, all he wanted was to go and lie down, preferably on a nice bed. Hoping he still had one waiting for him.

  The Prize Palace was a huge, octagonal, squat building, with a smooth roof of light brown wood treated so well it shone, the walls of the same material but darker in complex, with simple but elegant decorations, slightly elevated. The side in front of them had huge doors, but the other three cardinal directions had, instead, tall towers attached straight to them. They weren’t the usual pagodas, but they were built straight instead, almost as if made of bricks, rather than the man-wide wooden planks they actually were built with.

  A stray thought came to the talkative man, imagining how easy it would have been to burn down the Palace. He was not insane, so he shooed the image away with a shake of his head, but the need to share it was just too strong to resist.

  What a weird man, the redhead thought, instead. No image of a gigantic bonefire had come to his mind. Not at all.

  They entered the doors, and the newly-appointed assistant of the City Lord left him in the care of the local workers.

  There, a thin mortal man in his fifties, with a straight, almost pointy mustache and an even straighter back, greeted him with a slight, respectful bow. His expression was flat, but his tone was more professional and collected rather than cold.

  “I am Attendant Li. You must be one of the Young Masters coming to claim their prize from the tournament, am I correct?”

  “Uh, yes, yes. I’m Chang Heng.” He bowed in response. “Uhm… nice to meet you?”

  The man showed him a polite smile before his face became fully serious once again.

  “A pleasure to meet you, Young Master Chang Heng. Now, I’ll start by showing you the greatest treasures our fine city has to offer to Cultivators of your level, and later, you’ll get to pick one according to your achievement, Young Master Chang Heng. If you’d follow me, Young Master Chang Heng.”

  The man twirled his mustache and showed him his back and walked to one of the sides of the building connected to a tower, his steps quick and long, expertly avoiding the other workers and customers. The boy didn’t have time to be weirded out by the repeated title before almost having to run after him.

  The side in question was fully open, with no walls or doors, connecting the main building straight to one of the towers; the ground floor after it had no walls either, a huge room filled with shelves into the far distance. Metal weapons, manuals, Techniques both for fighting and Cultivation, but also of miscellaneous uses, plants or flowers or pieces of bone or meat letting a weak Qi aura around them, the open space was full of resources of all sorts, useful for a beginner Cultivator like him.

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  Attendant Li didn’t let him enter and explore it, though. Instead, he led him to a side, where a lone bench waited.

  “You may sit here, Young Master Chang Heng.”

  “You can just call me… uhm…” The boy sat where he was told and scratched his head in embarrassment. He really had no idea what to tell the man. Just by his name, only the closest people could; name and family name was almost fine, but unsuited for the context; Young Master was obvious-

  “Will Cultivator Chang suffice?”

  “Yes! Perfect. It’s perfect.”

  Being called by his family name made him worry once again about what kind of future awaited him, but he’d be worried anyway, so at least part of the embarrassment was removed.

  Suddenly, the area of the room the duo was in started rising in the air. Startled, the boy went back on his feet, and looking up, he found a part of the ceiling missing, the exact shape of the platform they were on.

  How is this getting up? Is it some sort of enchantment, or-

  “There are wooden poles under the corners, pushed up from underground, Cultivator Chang. That is how this platform moves up or down.”

  They passed one floor, another open space, the quality of its contents a cut above the previous, but it didn’t stop. The third floor was another level entirely, the Qi flowing in the room refreshing on its own, but emptier than the previous two. The fourth, for the amazing treasures that waited, used singular stands for each item, with a small text by their side to add some information.

  The fifth, where they stopped, was instead one long corridor, branching at fixed intervals into more corridors, with many rooms connected to them. Looking up, the ceiling was closed. It was the highest floor, where only the best could claim-

  “We are here merely to show you what you could gain in the future, Cultivator Chang, by performing exceptionally well during the beast waves or reaching first place in the annual tournament. This attendant will give you a quick tour, in respect of your time.”

  Why does it feel like he reads my mind? Not being able to think without feeling interrupted is a new one!

  Attendant Li proceeded to show him a few rooms, each having only one object inside them, carried in luxurious boxes and velvet cushions. For each they saw, a short explanation was added.

  “This Thirteen Harvests Scythe has been crafted with metal imported from the Devouring Depths Mountains, its handle keeping the life-keeping properties of the land thanks to the great work of Artisan…”

  “One Fist, Thousand Brilliances, an offensive Technique coming straight from the now-destroyed Dawn Beholding Pagoda, it contains many of the insights of the Sect Founder, and can be adapted to be used even after entering the Second Awakening Stage, thanks to…”

  “Elder Branch of the Dual Burning-Mountain Tree, its properties are perfect for Cultivators with more offensive fighting styles, can both be used for pill-making or during the forging process to…”

  “Forgotten Night Scroll, the meaning hidden deeply in the painting can help during breakthroughs or for one’s understanding of Shadow-, Darkness- and Moon- element Techniques…”

  They walked down some stairs, the boy’s head almost spinning from the potent Qi he was being exposed to, not even mentioning the raw number of roots, flowers and meats he had felt compelled to eat, but barely resisted. It was subtle, but the Mortal Purity aura he could constantly feel coming from the centre of the palace was enough of a threat to make him suppress his natural desires.

  On the fourth floor, the descriptions became a bit shorter, but he would still be very, very happy to get his hands on almost everything he was shown there.

  “In this scroll is the recipe for a Northern Bull Spiritual Reforge Helixir, we cannot show you its contents, but it has been authenticated by the Wandering Pill Sage, its value established on par to…”

  “The Eight Blades Sword, a weapon of immense power for its intended user’s Stage. The first wielder is said to have beaten into submission a False Wind Tiger with it. Other stories say…”

  “This is a Curse-Blessing Cycle Fruit, a fitting name, may I say, it carries healing and enhancing capabilities on par with fifth-floor trasures, offset by the fact that its energies rampage and bring destruction to the user first. It was found and donated by an expert of the Jingxian Clan during…”

  When they finally got to the third floor, the Sun was below the horizon already, stars starting to appear in the sky.

  “This is the floor where you’ll choose your reward, Cultivator Chang, so I recommend you put your utmost attention on the explanations to come. This is where the variety and number of options spike, so please don’t spite me or our Pavilion for sharing them all. An informed choice is the best choice, after all.”

  “I won’t, Attendant Li. Uhm, thank you for your kindness.” He added, looking out a window. “This level of effort at this hour of the day is commendable.” He hoped to have said the right thing. The man didn’t seem more displeased than he was a moment earlier, so that was a good sign.

  The attendant straightened one of his long mustaches, nodded, thanked him, and resumed his long list of explanations.

  …

  There was no sign of dusk when they were done with the tour. Chang Heng was exhausted, and even his host had started to get a raspy voice. The man had hidden it well, but at times he had caught him yawning under his breath.

  In the end, to make his choice easier, he had written down which of the far too many options most attracted him, together with the main points of the explanations and properties. Stories and origins were put aside, leaving only what he felt truly mattered.

  Scriptures of the Sage At The Foot Of The Mountain, fully understanding its contents would increase one’s affinity to the Earth element and some of its branches, which would in turn improve many aspects of a Cultivator’s path, its value could be felt even in future Stages.

  Five Times Reforged Armguards, apart from being incredibly sturdy, they could vastly improve the effectiveness of defensive Techniques, just like his [Three Layers Defence]. He didn’t know what risks his journeys would show him, but they would make him feel much safer.

  Fifteen Years Minor Sanctity Root, a longevity treasure, it could elongate one’s lifespan if refined into a pill or elixir; it would be less effective for him, but the energies he felt meant it’d grant him one, maybe even two months to live. Attendant Li mentioned its great value as an animal bait when boiled, but the first part mattered most to him.

  [Ever-Growing Fists] was a Stamina-based Technique that would make his every attack slightly stronger the longer a fight went, it would turn him from a turtle to an avalanche. Simple and direct, but it had the potential to be a cornerstone of his fighting style.

  In a similar vein, and inspired by the morning’s match against Xin, [Soul of Iron, Skin of Blades], one of the few Metal attuned rewards he had seen there, granted him the ability to grow blades out of any part of his body at will. With the right use, it could invert the “offence is the best defence” saying.

  All that was left to do was choose. And after that… deal with his Clan.