Trial Difficulty: 1 Star

  Southern Province of the Enlightened Jade Empire

  Vermilion Flame City: First Ring, Second District

  A gentle breeze boldly goes where no man has dared to tread.

  Slipping over the obscuring heights of garden walls besieged by crawling ivy, to caress the verdant picture of peaceful tranquility that lay beyond.

  A calm oasis amidst a sea of roiling turmoil. A garden at the very heart of the Ling family’s estate. Large enough to lose one’s self in for hours at a time, vibrant enough to take one’s breath away, and so serene as to make the very concept of serenity feel right at home.

  Indeed, it was a home away from home for Ling Yuling, young mistress of the venerable Ling Household. Where no one and no thing was allowed to intrude, except for in the direst of circumstances.

  And yet? The gentle breeze was no one and no thing. And so, free from the restrictions imposed upon man, it continued its capricious flight unhindered. Over burbling brooks and moss covered boulders.

  Through brightly colored canopies, carrying away the odd leaf, to soon cause ripples in one of several koi laden ponds. Across arched bridges and gentle streams, as it followed the meandering stone pathway.

  Further and further along this well kept path, until at long last it reaches its intended destination. Reaching out to pluck free errant strands from Yuling’s tightly bound bun, even as it roars through the sparse canopy up above, and dries her beaded brow.

  Yuling stands as still as a stone statue—dao saber held aloft in a ready position, her stance promising she might explode into motion at a moment's notice.

  Finally, the moment of greatest anticipation arrives.

  A single golden leaf, plucked from its mother’s embrace by the cruel capriciousness of nature, spirals earthward—lazily, as if with some resentment or trepidation—only to enter into what Yuling liked to think of as her sword sphere of influence.

  [Golden Hundreds Blade Dance of Seven-Hundred Twenty Nine Petals]

  “First Stance: Part the Orchard!”

  Yuling’s body blurs into motion. Saber singing through the air in an upward slash, golden leaf as of yet blithely unaware. The two swiftly converge, and yet, in the moment just before impact, there is a flash, a ripple, and, in the aftermath of her swing, there are not two bisected half’s of the once whole leaf, but instead two complete wholes drifting lazily to the ground—not a mark marring either of their near identical forms.

  “Second Stance: Roaring Gale!”

  Yuling shifts her stance, alters the flow of her spirit, and swings—her practiced slash carving a fine line through the twin leaves as they slowly drift past.

  Again there is a ripple, again there is a flash, followed by a successive series of thumps, as four identical golden leaves imbed themselves into the scarred and pitted trunk of a far off tree. Yuling takes in a deep breath, then lets it out slowly, the faint hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

  Suddenly, the staccato sounds of clapping interrupt the garden’s general air of tranquility. Yuling snaps her head around—body tense, blade at the ready, and a growing flame of indignant fury slowly kindling in her chest.

  Who dares?!

  “Well done! I mean, just a phenomenal performance all around. You could sell tickets to this sort of thing,” he chuckled. “Actually… that’s not a bad idea.”

  Spotting this brazenly chatty intruder ultimately proved trivial for her profound realm, sensory organs stage, cultivation base. That didn’t, however, stop her from nearly disbelieving what it was she saw.

  Casually perched atop an elm tree that lined the garden path, was a… boy. No older than herself, surely, he looked to be, for all intents and purposes, was he…? Was he taking notes?!

  “Who-!”

  “This is some great stuff, by the way. Really, super helpful. Are you taking questions by any chance? Because I have plenty, believe you me. More of an understatement, really. I have to say, after that display you put on, I’m feeling rather inspired.”

  “…out.”

  “Hmm? I’m sorry? I didn’t quite catch that.”

  “OUT!” Yuling screamed, an upward cascade of golden leaves racing forth on the tail end of her words.

  Before they’d had a chance to land, however, demolishing the age old elm in a shower of splinters and colorful debris, the boy was already gone.

  Leaving Yuling to stare up where the erstwhile intruder had once been—cheeks burning what felt like a bright cheery red.

  “Did you get all that?” Jun asked, leaping bounds and careful footwork carrying him from one green tiled roof spine to another.

  Did I capture every minute detail of that young girl’s lithe body in her moment of greatest vulnerability? Of course. The recording has been saved to your personal databanks, with quick ease of access for your future viewing pleasure.

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  Jun nearly missed a step.

  “Motherf-!?” he just barely managed to catch himself before he tumbled over onto the pavement, several stories below. “Don’t say it like that!”

  Oh? And how else should I have put it?

  “I-! You-? You’re kidding me, right? We both know my interests are purely academic.”

  Silence.

  “Remember, you’re the one that brought the Ling families super secret technique to my attention in the first place!”

  Silence.

  “Which means you must agree that it has massive potential as a theoretical base for my next big project. And that I’ll, at the very least, need some form of reference if I’m going to have even a snowball’s chance of replicating it. The more in-depth the better.”

  Silence.

  “You’re making me out to be the bad guy here and I really don’t appreciate it!”

  Oh really? And here I’d only meant to keep you apprised of events as they happened. My apologies if this accurate interpretation of events has in any way caused you distress. Please accept this gift as a token sign of my sincerity.

  Jun suddenly felt something sticky clinging to his forehead. Tearing away the “Great Job!” sticker with a snarl of irritation, he didn’t even bother to read the star shaped insult before balling it up and tossing it away.

  “Cheap system knockoff,” he growled.

  Voyeur.

  “Gah!”

  This… went on for quite some time.

  Southern Province of the Enlightened Jade Empire

  Vermilion Flame City: Third Ring, Seventh District

  Seven Gang Territory: Central Warehouse

  Jun let out an appreciative whistle.

  “And you’re telling me all of this was done after the unification?”

  “Yes,” replied Lou Fang, leader of the Twin Serpents gang. “Thanks in large part to young sir’s connections, we were able to legally expand our operations in a number of lucrative directions previously unexplored, or simply unavailable. Effectively taking much of what we had previously built up through less than scrupulous means, and hauling them above board, you might say.”

  “Amazing.”

  “It truly is something special, is it not? I marvel at the progress made each and every day.”

  Jun looked out over the expansive space, several stories in height and far more so in length, with its organized rows of sky-high shelving stretching back as far as the eye could see. Stacks upon stacks of grey shipping containers nestled in the corners and filled to capacity.

  Crates upon crates of common and uncommon cultivation resources lining the shelves. Some of the rarer acquisitions set aside in more strategic locations.

  Even as he watched myriad gang members in bright orange jumpsuits scurried this way and that, rearranging units, shelving goods, and generally earning their keep.

  “Oh! And please do be sure to thank the venerable Liang Zhentian when next you get the chance. His presence has been instrumental in curbing the impulses of those traditionalist guilds and prickly individuals inconvenienced by our meteoric rise.”

  “What about tax? When you were skulking in the shadows I’m sure it rarely came up, if ever. Taking certain liberties was probably encouraged even. But now that everything’s out in the open? I really can’t see it being a graceful transition.”

  “Yes, well, that was definitely a concern for many at first. However, the stark increase in exposure, as well as the elevated status of our general clientele, makes the tradeoff more than worth it. Our alchemical shops, the auction house, the casino, as well as our various pleasure pavilions, for instance, seem to practically thrive in the light of day, where they’d merely wallowed in the shadows.”

  “Really? Well, I have to admit that’s very good to hear. And how many more warehouses are there like this one, would you say?”

  “Eight. Nine including this one, young sir.”

  “And are all of them this full?”

  “All but one, young sir. Although, in that particular case the warehouse in question is actually quite a lot larger in scope. It works out that the quantity of goods in both is effectively the same.”

  “Excellent.”

  “Only…” the older man hesitated.

  “Speak up old man. Don’t worry. I promise I won’t bite.”

  The old man flinched.

  Perhaps taking the prospect far more literally than he’d intended. Lingering trauma, he supposed. Or maybe it was the way his eyes glowed like low burning coals ever since his body underwent its high tech transmogrification.

  “Y-yes, well. My only concern is… should we not be making it a priority? Finding a prospective buyer for all of this cargo? Forgive my ignorance, young sir, but I simply do not understand the reason for all this delay. Why the long wait? Surely there are those more than willing to take such a glut of resources off our hands.”

  “Ah! Okay, I see where the confusion is coming from. You’ve got the right of it really, in a way. Supply and demand my friend. Supply and demand! It’s just that our “prospective buyers,” as you put it, aren’t exactly aware they want what we’re selling just yet. That’s all.”

  “Uh. I… yes, I see. That certainly clears things up, young sir. Thank you very kindly for enlightening me.”

  “Anytime. Anytime. Say, you wouldn’t happen to have stumbled upon that thing I mentioned, would you?”

  “Ah! Yes, I had nearly forgotten.”

  Reaching into his inner breast pocket, the old man retrieved a small, rather inconspicuous looking, box. Handing it over without preamble, Jun lunged forward and had it open in nearly the same instant.

  Atop a velvety cushion sat a rough silver band.

  Simple and unadorned, he knew there was far more to it than met the eye. With an imperceptible twitch of his retina, he let his cranial implant project a hovering description only he could see.

  Interspacial Ring — A spacial artifact which somehow contains a pocket dimension uniquely divorced from space time. Effectively allowing the user of this ring to place and or retrieve objects from inside—regardless of size and without a notable increase in weight. Is possessed of an unknown amount of storage space. Can hold an unknown number of entities.

  [This Item is Soul Bound.]

  Reading the description, and that last line especially, Jun couldn’t help but smile.

  Now we need only see if this outlandish gambit of yours actually works.

  “Don’t I know it. Don’t. I. Know it. Pretty exciting though, don’t you think?”

  Hmm. We’ll see.