"Wen Huli, none, Foundation Establishment. Reb Ka, none, Qi Gathering. Returning from hunting, which was mediocre."

"Thank you," he says, and bows, before writing in a log book. "Is this your first visit to this kingdom?" Wen shakes her head. "Then I'm sure you're well aware of our laws and how they are enforced by the Three Jades Sect, so I wish you a pleasant day."

One final bow, which Wen returns shallowly, and then she continues running.

"I think an answer of 'none of your business' would have been accepted too. Anyone who was actually sneaking around would go far into the wilderness, not follow the road."

She nods at the explanation.

"How long to the city?"

Can they see it yet?

"Couple more hours. It'll be night by then, but we ought to be mostly safe inside Three Jade."

They cannot see the city yet, but they're passing the odd herd of sheep and farming hamlet now, steadily increasing in density.

It's a good thing she has Lightfoot to help emulate Wen's sort of overland travel, or not having the latitude to fly would be terribly inconvenient. Or maybe part of it came with the fox heritage? She'll just passively absorb the scenery as they run. And also see if she can sense any change in ambient qi as they move in.

At some point, she'll ask, "Should I change into something more conventional?"

(She's not wearing a suit anymore, but it's still modern-style clothing.)

"...If we're lying low we should both be in average daoist robes, honestly. I just don't like not being able to transform freely."

"I was worried someone might notice something about the construction of my clothes that might reveal I'm from somewhere very foreign, which might invite questions I'd find difficult to answer. I might be overthinking it; no one back at the Valley cared much. I don't mind one way or the other, so I'll just—"

While she's out of sight, she switches into something like what the merchant cultivator was wearing, but fitted for a woman, letting Dressing Room fill in the gaps.

"—does this look right?"

"Looks fine. Can you get me some too? I'm not strong enough to pull off 'not giving a fuck' without it hindering us at least some. Particularly if you want to do high end shopping, they won't let you in unless you look rich."

"Yes, but I think we need to stop for a moment for me to get the right size—I have this other power—"

Once they're standing still, she grasps around for the right lever. The notebook said the powers would be customized to her expectations and preferences, roughly, so if she wants to be smaller...

Then she is. Proportionally scaled down. She's at eye level with Wen now. It's fascinatingly disorienting. Size Difference scaled down her pupillary distance with everything else, so it's not like being shorter, but more like the whole world being just a little larger.

"Of course you can transform too. To an extent, at least..."

"Size changing. Not sure what the limits are and the upper limit is of course hard to test. But for now..."

A copy of her robes! Slightly permuted in cosmetic details to make it not an exact clone. At least robes means an imperfect fit won't be obvious.

She puts them on over her current set.

"Can you dodge by changing size? Probably."

They don't encounter any trouble the rest of the way to the city. Amber Hill City is built sprawlingly around a gentle hill rising up in a wide slope, standing above the plain at a few hundred meters high, with tall structures all over the upper slopes. There's a fifty foot high stone wall, and the last few miles are lined with gas lamps. There's a line for entry. Everyone gets out of their way without prompting, allowing the pair to go right up to the gates.

Those walls are impressive, for the apparent technology of this world; and it looks like brick and mortar, not solid rock, which means probably someone wasn't cheating with geokinesis. She conceals a sigh of relief when they're allowed to skip the queue. She hasn't had to deal with border control since her twenties—save one memorable exception in Frankfurt—and she's not interested in starting now.

She keeps her gait confident and assured, but not too full of herself.

Are they going to get questioned again like they did at the wayhouse?

—wait, hold on. Are those gas lamps? Is there any visible piping the fuel is coming from? Do they have underground gas distribution network running out past the city limits?

She mutters to Wen, "Those lamps: how do they work? Are they common?"

"Not common, usually it's light stones if a city is rich enough for it. They collect gaseous byproducts of deep mining, rich in fire essence, strip it of qi for use in refinement chambers, and use what remains for light and heat. Clever artifice."

They're shown to a side gate where a guard sees them immediately! Some of the decorations here scream 'hidden countermeasures' to Rebecca's design sensibilities.

And they are interviewed again, and informed of an entry tax of 10% on any 'natural treasures or beast cores', plus a flat fee of 100 tael of gold for a low-level qi gathering cultivator and 1 spirit stone for a foundation establishment cultivator.

Wen turns out her bag for inspection without complaint, and pays everything without complaint, and they each receive a small high-quality re-entry card apparently good for 30 days, and then they're let into the city.

And then they're on the city streets, people still giving them a fair berth and respectful nods. The place is full of stone construction, two or three stories high in this area near the gate. It's crowded and noisy.

"That's high but not absurd for city entry fees. It's one of their biggest income streams... And they do have to pay for when loose cultivators wreck shit."

Natural gas as a cultivation byproduct. It checks out, she supposes. The investment in distribution infrastructure and utilization instead of just venting it all off, that's competent government in action, though.

The entry tax she doesn't comment on; she can produce more on demand. Maybe it's the excess wealth cultivator traffic brings in that enables things like the gas lamps.

As they get into the city proper, she restrains herself from goggling like a tourist, but she does absorb everything as they walk. This really has the bustle of a proper city, not like the village they left behind. Do they see any other cultivators as they go, if they're recognizable by the same robes? Where's Wen guiding them?

Cultivators are identifiable by the ineffable style of the robes, and a certain - solidity to them and the way they move. Faster and stronger, in a way that affects their posture. They're also - prettier? It's hard to quantify but seems to be a thing. They see a few more, including one in uniform wearily acting as a guard handling some sort of street stall dispute, and several walking along and joking with each other about their latest fights, or complaining about the difficulties they face. Or gossiping. Roughly two thirds of visible cultivators are male, and the women are lower-key about it and tend to be walking alone rather than in boisterous groups.

Wen is taking them along one of the streets towards the center of town. The crowd keeps well clear of them even more than other cultivators, once the pair's ears are noticed.

"I think we want a fancy inn but not too fancy. With an emphasis on security. I don't know enough formations to set up any of my own, sort of hoping to buy a book on it now actually..."

One of the other cultivator groups decides to come towards them. Wen gestures, and schools her expression. One of them steps forward, his pair of lackeys seeming content to follow his lead.

"I see two new beauties have come to the great Amber Hill City! Welcome! I hope the benevolence and might of the Three Jades Sect puts you at ease. Diremonsters are all safe here, should they keep order in their hearts."

Wen's tone is slightly cold. "Fellow Daoist, it does. The Three Jades Sect is a righteous and noble sect, and it's natural to respect it. I see your sigil." It's three swooping shapes arranged in a triangle. Green, blue, yellow. "You would be a member, then? Qi gathering, outer sect?"

"Indeed. I am yet low, in the third rank of the outer sect and the sixth minor stage. But it would be my pleasure to show some of the benefits we enjoy for our duties to new arrivals. For I am sure I would have hears tales of you both were you here long!"

"You flatter us too much. Surely there are many diremonsters dwelling in Amber Hill."

"Not so, in truth. But I mention again the quality of our Three Jades sect. Those who are diligent and loyal may advance to the second realm in a matter of years if they have some talent, and we are always looking for those who do."

"We have only just arrived and have matters of our own to attend to, so I must decline. And in fact, I have attained Foundation Establishment. Though it's understandable if your qi sense is not honed sufficiently to discern it. I'm sure your Three Jades Sect seniors will be able to help you refine it in the future."

The guy tenses up and his friends look nervous. He works his jaw for a moment, thinking, before bowing and saying, "In that case I would apologize for taking up your time, fellow Daoist, and I wish you both good luck in this fair city."

"No apology is necessary. You are simply displaying hospitality." Wen nods, which the other group takes as a dismissal and skedaddles.

"You follow all that?" She asks Rebecca once they're a bit away.

"It's not clear to me if they were trying to make a genuine advance, or if it was just—playing games, looking for attention, status-signalling behavior. If there's more subtext than bored men trying to talk their way into our pants, I'm missing it.

"For the rest: your barb about underdeveloped qi sense would be a relatively mild one, I'm taking, but deliberately hammered in to make the rebuke clear after they didn't take the hint. The leader was upset, but decided to back off instead of potentially tick off someone stronger than them. Then you extended an olive branch after they backed down to smooth things over. If you hadn't been stronger than them, they would have pushed?"

"Oh, some men will just come out and say 'You, become my woman!'. That was within the vicinity of polite, thus the rebuke is mild. And there might have been some genuine recruitment push in that? Or at least testing interest? Presumably your status rises if you're involved in bringing in a promising seedling. Their sudden nervousness when I revealed the Foundation Establishment- The sect would not have batted an eye if I lightly injured one of them about 'bothering' us, so long as I kept it light. But I know that because I know Three Jades keeps a policy of 'juniors will handle juniors'. Three Jades is a righteous sect. One I would be content to join, even, if I had not greater targets set in my sight. And the barb- I was giving face to the sect, but not to the person, that's important, to give face to the sect."

"That makes sense. Recruiting, really? The pitch was very—sideways, almost an afterthought after his first come-on didn't work; and I'd thought Three Jades intake process might be more formalized than to bother with the word of recommendation of an outer disciple. I assumed he was stringing us along, really, dangling it as bait, and he'd just point us at the admissions office after having his fun."

"No, they don't have an annual test or anything- A lot of the big ones in Cloudsoar do. That's probably closer to the truth. It doesn't really matter though, he didn't seem like he'd be very fun anyway. Arrogant. I've been to Amber Hill before and know an inn from that time but it was an out-of-the-way one. We can afford much better. Thoughts?"

"Somewhere more central might be a good idea if we'll be spending. Good to shop around and compare prices."

Good to avoid notice spending an unreasonable number of spirit stones if they end up doing so, is what she means, but they're in public, so she's not going to say that part out loud.

"But I'm not picky about amenities, as long as it's clean and reasonably private."

Wen guides them along as the city becomes fancier, ears swiveling around. The city moves around them, everything from market squares and tea houses to crafts shops and bureaucratic offices. Wen ignores the open-air fighting arena they pass, where two men are fighting with steel swords. Eventually she chooses an office to go into- Fifth Morning Dew, according to the sign. The innkeep is serious-faced and well-dressed.

"Honored Daoists," the innkeep begins, "Welcome to our humble establishment. How can this lowly one assist you today?"

"I have heard praise for your elegant simplicity and dedication to discretion and security. One house with two bedrooms. Qi gathering formations will not be necessary, but security formations, meals, and a guarantee from your backer will be. I understand you are affiliated with the honorable Kang Men, the smith."

"Indeed we are. We of the Five Ways Forge guarantee the peace of our residences, both from within and without. If you intend to cultivate quietly, there is no better place in the Amber Hill City to do so."

"Very good. We would like a week, to begin with."

"If the honored cultivators would please present three spirit stones, this one can enter you into the security formations and show you to an appropriate residence immediately."