Stepping outside the stone mansion at the center of the Murong Clan's estate, Jun Li took in a deep breath of the outside air as a servant closed the door behind her. "Ugh…" The air tasted of ashes, and the cloying humidity of the rain-sodden estate filled her nose. "So much for a breath of fresh air…"

  Murong Cang had said he would give his word of recommendation, but in this time of emergency, he decided not to travel unnecessarily. Thus, he gave Jun Li a letter of recommendation for her to take with her, which was more than sufficient for the purpose of expediting her introduction into the local branch of the Alchemist's Association.

  Before leaving, she had spent much of the night engaged in lengthy discussions regarding medical and alchemical technique, and had no shortage of interested peers and needy patients ready to coax the information out of her.

  Jun Li had almost forgotten the enjoyment she derived from matters of alchemy. Although she had already made use of it multiple times in the Jianghu, she found that matters of such delicate skill were only truly enjoyable when she got to show off to someone who understood the subject as well as she did.

  Glancing around, Jun Li quickly spotted Little Yun resting on a stone, elevated from the rain-soaked ground and basking in the morning sun. "Come along, Little Yun, we're off to the local Alchemist's Association branch." She didn't spare more than a glance at her young companion. To her, its presence was as natural as that of a sunrise in the morning.

  Moving through the estate at an unhurried pace, Jun Li looked about at the buildings, all of which had been rendered into a greyscale palette of black char and grey ash. 'He said this clan had a lot of enemies… I can't say I'm not curious as to why, but… I'm not one to talk, regardless of how they earned them.'

  Jun Li walked slowly, lost in her own thoughts. 'Two people need something, one person dies, one person survives, the first person had nine relations, the second has nine enemies…' She laughed. 'Yep, that's about the core of it… Nothing strange about having enemies in the Jianghu.'

  … … … … … …

  Within the hour, Jun Li had made her way out of the Murong Clan Estate and had risen hundreds of meters above it, into the middle of the mountain city of Tinglu. 'It looks like most people live near the base of the mountain, then there are larger businesses and establishments in the middle tiers, and the higher tiers seem to be farms?'

  Looking up the mountain, Jun Li found it was absurdly tall, to the point that it almost made her laugh at the absurdity. 'Incredible… the peak is shrouded in fog… or clouds? Who knows what's up there…'

  Standing at the edge of one of the raised roads that loomed over the latticed districts of the city, Jun Li looked out over the middle tier of the mountain. Little of what she saw was particularly exciting to her sensibilities. Large buildings that clearly marked their purposes as mercantile or bureaucratic in nature, businesses and companies that deal in matters of supply, demand, and deadlines.

  Catching a glimpse of a large pagoda in the distance that matched Patriarch Murong Cang's description of what she was looking for, Jun Li jumped down from the overlooking street and slid down the steep wall, stumbling into an alley behind a building before emerging out onto a proper street.

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  While Jun Li took in the clean, yet dull sights of the surrounding businesses, Little Yun remained in the alley and hid behind the buildings as it quietly followed her, abiding by the intelligent subtlety that it had long grown used to exercising.

  Many of the public-facing businesses in Tinglu city do not reside in these middle-tier districts, but in the lower-tier residential districts. Restaurants, clothiers, clinics, and more niche shops, all supplying standard fare for standard people, at least as far as the Jianghu's standards are concerned.

  Of course, higher-end stores can be found in these middle tiers, catering to those who would eagerly embark on a day trip to a well-esteemed establishment, whether as a common affair for the wealthy or a rare luxury for the more moderately well off.

  In addition to the bureaucratic company buildings and high-end businesses, Jun Li also saw the occasional Martial Hall standing bright and proud among the 'safely decorated' places of business that lined the streets.

  'Gaunt Night Hall, Gold Fist Hall, Vermillion Crest Hall…' Jun Li thought of some of the buildings she had passed. 'I suppose it's the common Cultivator's alternative to a proper Sect… Probably easier to learn and leave that way… If you can endure the peer pressure to stay and help the hall prosper, or whatever nonsense they use to try and stay afloat.'

  The streets were far from busy, especially compared to the bustling streets she had passingly glanced towards last night in the lower residential districts, but some figures did come and go from the buildings around, none of whom paid attention to Jun Li.

  She retained a slightly ragged appearance from her long days of travel and lack of personal care, but it was far from abnormal for a vagrant Cultivator to pass through looking worse off than she did; thus, nobody spared her a second glance as she passed quietly through the streets.

  Her eyes focused on the sight of the pagoda in the distance, almost appearing to loom higher and higher above as she approached. 'This… doesn't seem right…' A sense of unease caused Jun Li to look around and notice that the establishments on the path ahead were boarded up and unused buildings of poor quality.

  Even Little Yun had slithered back to her side, content enough with the desolate nature of the space that it didn't feel compelled to hide so distantly.

  Looking back, the streets seemed as well-maintained and decent as she had initially seen, but for some reason, the closer to the pagoda she looked, the more bleak and abandoned the surroundings seemed. 'What is this…?'

  Carried by her curiosity, Jun Li quickly reached the front of the massive pagoda, turning a corner around a large, brick fence that blocked off the land around the pagoda.

  Inside that fence was a peaceful, overgrown plaza, roots and greenery pulling up the stonework that covered the simple, unadorned yard. Looming over all of this, the pagoda sat silently, its windows dim and its surface spared by the passage of time that seemed to have distorted its surroundings.

  'It's a pagoda, alright… but it's not the Alchemist's Association Branch…' Not only was it strange that the pagoda was surrounded by such desolation, but it wasn't nearly as large as she would have expected. This close up, it was obvious. This pagoda was no larger than the one in the Zhao Kingdom, and surely Tinglu City would have had something of greater stature.

  'Whatever this thing is… nobody wants to be near it.' Jun Li looked it over for a moment. Although nothing about the pagoda seemed particularly unnatural, its wood still retaining a clean finish, and its tiles still bearing a clean green-hued paint, the context that it stood starkly against made her uneasy. '...I don't think I want to be near it either.'

  Letting out a sigh, Jun Li turned the other way and continued on her search for the Alchemist's Association Branch, Little Yun following alongside her, and slowly splitting away as the streets around grew brighter and more frequented.

  'Ahh… What is that place? This is going to bug me all day if I don't get answers… Maybe the people at the Alchemist's Association will know…' After a moment, she scoffed at her own thoughts. 'If I can find the damn place…'