"Perhaps, perhaps not. Which elder was this, precisely?"

"That would be the venerable Eight Trigrams Master Agil Ze."

"Agil Ze, I have heard of. He's the master of Three Jades Alchemy peak. Why under the heavens would he write a sword manual?"

"All this humble merchant knows is that he claims to have found truths regarding many other disciplines from his studies on refinement and the trigrams."

"But it's undeniable that alchemy is not swordplay."

"I would never dare imply the honored elder is mistaken."

"...I am not sure it will be relevant."

"Wishing to spread this teaching far and wide, the Elder has given no restriction on distributing the work. I could let it go for a mere handful of tael. And it is still the writings of a Nascent Soul elder regardless of anything else."

"I suppose. Very well. But about the other two, I imagine those won't be as cheap. I've not heard much about quicksilver steps aside that it's better than the worst, and it's just the qi gathering version besides, so I think ten spirit stones would be more than fair."

"You are mistaken about its quality. While it does not compare to the laudable Forest-Cutting Stride, it's an exceptionally mobile and precise technique that I'm sure will serve your junior well. The lowest I could part with it is forty spirit stones. And you will need to swear an oath not to distribute it further than the pair of you until you form your first core or learn the same method from a different source, and abide by that source's restrictions instead in such a case."

"The oath is acceptable but the price is ludicrous! Fifteen is already more than generous."

.....They haggle for a bit, eventually settling on twenty-five spirit stones.

"Acceptable. As for the Martensite Crucible, I have not heard tell of it as an earth-shaking method..."

They haggle over that one too, eventually settling on forty-five spirit stones. Wen also asks for a few talismans (Lantern Bearer creates a hovering light for 24 hours, and Mirecaller is just a huge quantity of mud crammed into single-use storage), and a manual called Flaming Arrow of Din for twenty (still just the qi condensation level, but she claims to collect fire techniques for insight into the dao of flame). And as an offhand finishing request, whatever immortal chef ingredients are on hand, they'll keep in stasis storage.

The final bill is 115 spirit stones.

Wen fishes out a handful of different stones, which are carefully appraised. Apparently the bigger, shinier ones are worth many of the little pebbles. The wording of the oath that is presented to them is not especially worrisome, filled with phrases like 'willingly' and 'good faith' and no weasel-wording around the exit clauses. Wen holds her hand up and says 'I swear to the Heavenly Dao...' and all the rest without hesitation.

It does feel like something. A little bit like being watched, but by something impossibly far away.

Haggling, one of the oldest arts known to man.

She repeats the oath. She manages not to twitch at the feeling, but barely. Wen mentioned oaths on the Heavenly Dao before, but she didn't expect—

She doesn't comment before they finish the leave.

The merchant probes about the Gao family while putting together the goods, and Wen evasively refuses to say much, just to watch for demonic cultivators. And then they exchange rocks for stuff and the caravan of wagons pulled by surprisingly fast animals rolls on by. Wen waits until they're a bit away before turning to Rebecca and smiling.

"See? Not so hard."

"Perhaps I was worried over nothing."

Though the merchant wasn't a cultivator, was he? She shakes her head.

After a pause inspecting their new haul, she says finally.

"What exactly is the Heavenly Dao?"

"Well, I wouldn't have expected a fight from a merchant cultivator anyway. Dao is the way, the path. The fundamental truth of the world. The Heavenly Dao stretches across all, embodied by the Celestial Immortals and the Heavenly Bureaucracy. Those who judge our karma when our life ends. Heaven will greatly punish those who break an oath to the Heavenly Dao, cursing them with ill luck and karmic sin. But the Heavenly Dao itself is... An idea. The grandest concept and understanding, the most sublime and perfect knowledge of all things that can possibly exist, and the goal of every cultivator to comprehend. Or so it is spoken."

So he was. Merchant cultivator. The bit about the Martensite Crucible soothing his soul might have implied it.

"I see."

She looks into the distance.

"When that oath was sworn, it felt—significant. There is nothing so tangible, where I'm from. No divine truth save what we make of it."

"Oh, right, you won't have an external sense yet. You wouldn't have been able to tell aside from his speed... The Heavens are divine because they can do such things, not capable of such things because they're divine."

"So the Heavenly Bureaucracy are—powerful immortals who choose to dedicate themselves to enforcing heavenly law? To judging the dead and administrating the Hells." Not exactly like the mythical pantheons of Earth, then. "But the Heavenly Dao itself is above all, and Bureaucracy simply acts in its name?"

"Celestial Immortals and those who accumulate good karma reside in the heavens and enforce heavenly law. Those who administer the Hells are called Devils, which are distinct from Demons, who are... Residents. And, as much as a Dao itself can be said to act, that is the case. Does fire act? Does a river act?"

She nods.

"I still have much yet to learn.

"Shall we continue on to the city, or peruse our new toys first?"

"I'd say keep running- We can get a place in Amber Hill and cultivate comfortably."

Off they go, then.

Running through the fields!

They hit a sharp line of, frankly, quite beautiful sheer cliffs. For about a mile, the ground is broken up in a massive series of rocky slopes and ridges, descending quite a long way. The elevation falls away by at least a thousand meters, maybe 1300 or so. The dirt road winds and weaves through the terrain, finding at least moderately flat areas. In a few places the rocks have been blasted or pounded apart for a shortcut.

Evening is approaching by now. Wen goes human again as they work their way through the area. In human form she runs at a leisurely eighty miles an hour, slowed by the turns and clearly not going all out.

"The jade granite ridge. It goes on for thousands of li, and there's an abundance of jade in the rocks. It's what gave the region its name. Green Jade, Azure Jade, and Amber Jade. Representing growth, the Heavens, and wealth, apparently." Shrug. "Just past here there'll be a rest-house of sorts, and that's the official entry into Three Jades Kingdom. They'll ask us our business and we'll just say 'returning from the town of Clotting', or maybe 'hunting', that's less remarkable, and we're free to continue on. Only major cities have entry tariffs."

"I'll follow your lead."

It's a wonderful view. She has to resist the urge to fly around; it would be too conspicuous if anyone saw. She skims close to the ground instead. She wonders what created the rock passes. Probably cultivators, but what are the dominant techniques, and what do the logistics look like? Does the Three Jade Sect maintain the roads for the state?

Or maybe it's just dynamite and pickaxes.

"So the ridge runs along the... tail of the Three Jades? What is it called, properly, the long part?"

"The coastline, I suppose? The Southern Region of Three Jades perhaps?"

"That works. It's good geography to build your kingdom on, lake on one side, ridge full of valuable minerals on the other. The city we're going to—Amber Hill City?—is that a mining town?"

"Sure, but it's more of a major urban center at this point. You know, bureaucrats, craftsmen, trade hub. There's a major Three Jades branch, because there's a small spirit stone mine."

"A major branch! Will we be keeping our distance or trying to cozy up to them? Is it the sort of situation where the Three Jades Sect controls access to all the best resources, or are they—optional?"

"I hadn't planned on having much to do with them? And of course they keep the best stuff for themselves? I want to eventually head to the capital to meet an alchemist I slightly trust, then head towards Cloudsoar City, which will take a long while unless we get a flying boat ticket."

"Sounds good. What's the constraining factor on getting a flying boat ticket?"

"One stopping by the capital in a reasonable timeframe, since we have your spirit stone trick."

They're coming to the edge of the rock formations. There's a wayhouse visible- Four simple buildings in a square, with a watchtower on one corner and a tall stone wall surrounding them, plus a largely symbolic gatehouse barring the road.

Wen doesn't slow down on approach, only coming to a halt right up close.

A man steps out, looking like the bored functionary he is. "Honored cultivators, welcome to the Three Jades Kingdom. We appreciate your patience for this brief interview. I would humbly request your names, sect affiliation if any, cultivation realm, and reason for visiting, for our records and to better welcome you."