The royal carriage glided smoothly through the clean streets of the capital. With a gentle motion pulled by two white horses.
This ti, while looking at the city, Princess Ling presented each point of importance.
"The White Pavilion." She said suddenly, pointing to a shimring structure that seed sculpted from a single massive block of white marble.
The columns were pure, without excessive adornnts, conveying a sense of serene wealth. At the entrance, there was a small plaque elegantly inscribed with the na of the place.
"It is the comrcial heart of high-ranking cultivators. It is present in every major city and in all the nearby kingdoms."
"Inside you will find refined pills of the highest quality, rare herbs of great difficulty to obtain, and even manuals of techniques considered treasures to weaker sects."
"If you have sothing of value to sell, that is where you will get the best price. If you need so rare resource, that is where you will probably find it. Or else, you will find the information of where you can obtain it." Ling explained calmly, her simple tone laying out the details.
Shortly after, she pointed to a massive construction of black stones, with iron gates that looked as if they could withstand the attack of a powerful cultivator.
The surrounding atmosphere was different, charged with a subtle sll of dried blood and rust, along with smoke and the constant sound of hamring.
"That is the Steel Beast’s Den." Ling announced as they passed.
"Here the trade is more... primal. Basically, they buy and sell beasts of all species. Whether alive or dead."
"It was here where I obtained the five beasts for your cultivation. This is the place should you need more."
"They also have the best blacksmiths and weapon masters in the kingdom. A commissioned weapon here costs a fortune, but a weapon forged here with the best materials can save your life in a life-or-death situation against an opponent of the sa level."
Her eyes then fixed on Cairen, silently asking what kind of weapon would suit him. Even after thinking, she could not decide.
Cairen listened to her but remained in contemplative silence. His face was calm as he absorbed every word.
His true attention, however, was outside, through the carriage windows, where he could see little. But his sense expanded, reaching beyond Ling’s words.
He saw the places for himself.
He saw the civilians, the rchants, artisans, and mothers carrying their children. Many of them stopped their activities to watch the royal carriage pass.
The reaction was not of fear, but of respectful curiosity. Many bowed slightly, in an almost unconscious gesture of reverence to the symbol discreetly engraved on the carriage.
The power that ruled their lives.
Many whispered among themselves, their eyes trying to glimpse the princess through the dark curtains.
He realized that the princess was more known than he could have thought, everyone knew that carriage was hers, and all seed to hold good feelings toward her. Which made him frown.
He felt the weight of the presence of royalty in that place, but not like an oppression as he had grown used to in his other life, the people there simply saw them as superior, and that was the fact.
They lived, worked, and breathed under the shadow and protection of the mountain castle, and the passage of one of its mbers was not relatively that rare.
He also sensed things Ling did not ntion.
In a dark alley, far from the main flow, he felt a quick and furtive exchange of a small vial for a pouch of coins.
An illegal trade of who knows what.
On a rooftop, a cultivator in simple clothes ditated, trying to extract the thin Qi of the city compared to that of the castle.
The capital was not only a showcase of power, it was a complex place, with its own underground economy and many individual dreams that simred beneath the orderly surface.
Which he could now see from above, as if everything were his eyes. More and more, Cairen realized the result of having such a terrifying soul.
The carriage finally slowed its pace and stopped gently in front of the Moonstone Restaurant. A five-story construction that imposed respect.
Made of white stones that matched the city’s architecture, together with black wood carved with runes invisible to most.
The air there was notably calr, seeming isolated from the bustle of the city.
"This is the place." Ling said, stepping out of the carriage with an innate grace that made the simplest act seem to exude royalty, despite her always cold expression.
Which contrasted enormously with the monster that had exploded heads in the inheritance site. Ling seed like a completely different person before the city’s public.
Cairen followed her, feeling the gaze of dozens of people on the busy main street turning toward them, or rather, toward the princess.
The fact that she was accompanied by an unknown young man, dressed in elegance matching her own, did not go unnoticed. Whispers spread like fire in dry straw.
They then entered the restaurant, and the outside world seed to be silenced. The atmosphere was tranquil.
Without a word, Ling was guided by a servant who bowed deeply to both and then led them straight to a private staircase that took them to the upper floors.
They passed the second floor, where the lesser nobility dined, and the third, reserved for dukes and patriarchs of great clans or renowned cultivators.
The Qi grew progressively denser and more refined with each floor.
And then finally they reached the fourth floor. The air was rich, and the Qi almost as concentrated as that of the royal castle.
Ling led him to a private room in the corner, which offered a stunning panoramic view of the city, already beginning to be dotted with lights in the darkness of night.
"We will stay here..." Ling comnted, following the glance Cairen had given to the final staircase ending at a simple door on the top floor.
"The fifth floor is reserved for my father and so... old acquaintances of his. n and won whose nas I have not the slightest idea of, nor the necessary strength yet to know." She comnted softly, without caring much.
The al was a series of dishes that seed more like works of art than food, each one infused with Qi. Despite Cairen’s resentnt, he appreciated the taste and the energy that food gave him.
He spent most of the ti looking out the window. Watching everything, it was truly impressive. He never imagined that one day he could be in such a restaurant, looking at such a view.
He ignored the presence of the princess who was with him.
That was when he noticed. His spiritual sense, which maintained a passive map of the floor and the restaurant, had not detected any approach. But suddenly, three dry knocks echoed from the door of the private room where they were.
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