Elder Bin Wei bows at the waist, politely greeting his fellow (and senior) elder.

"Elder Bin Wei greets fellow elder Qin Yana. I was lucky enough to uncover a visitor to our lands, who asked that we exchange pointers. I was happy to oblige, seeing as they offered a sizable sum of valuable resources that I might gift to the sect upon my victory. Surely you would not begrudge me a small indulgence for such a talented youth?"

Elder Qin Yana does, in fact, look like the type to begrudge things.

She possess much of the inherent beauty of higher realm cultivators, having reached the Warrior realm a mere few centuries before Bin Wei himself, but it is marked by her personality very distinctly. Her eyes are sharp, with pupils that have no black center, glowing like molten gold instead. Long, raven-black hair flows freely behind her, save for a small, polite bun atop her head, and it moves as if underwater, flowing in rippling patterns, highlighting her frame, which is ever-so-slightly abnormal in its thinness.

She stands as many cultivators do, as Bin Wei himself does, as a step beyond human, divorced from the conventional limits of biology and bound, instead, to the chains of self-image. But where he has kept the ravages of age, allowing them to form whorls like tree-patterns on his skin, she has chosen instead to become something like a beauty, but a bit too skinny, a bit too alien, pushed ever-so-slightly to an extreme.

And the sharpness of her angles is matched by the sharpness of her gaze.

"And for this indulgence, you have wasted away perfectly good territory of the Watchful Fields sect? Have you no shame, Elder Bin Wei? And what could this thing possibly offer us, hmm?"

The "thing" in question waves a hand from where she currently lays, sprawled out across what was once a fertile field and is now glassed, transmuted landscape.

"Nice to meet you too," Rai Ka rasps, already regenerating up a fresher set of bioarmor and new veins and muscles to replace what he tore off of her.

Before the words have finished touching the air, Qin Yana has already formed a new spear of bronze, and has already fired it through the air with enough force to ignite the atmosphere around itself. It flies true, traveling near-instantaneously, and-

Impacts, hard, against a block of azure stone, touched by the limitless blue of the Dao of Matter.

"That's no way to treat an honored guest, Elder Qin Yana."

She looks at him like he's gone insane.

"This… thing is an honored guest? How low have you fallen in your sheer boredom, Elder Bin Wei. How dare you extend hospitality rights to this thing?"

"The name's Raika~"

A wave of Killing Intent washes over the world, directed at the wounded beast on the floor. And yet… Bin Wei can't help but feel a bit tickled by the fact that her use of it is actually weaker than Rai Ka's has been, less directed and far less sharp.

"It's nice to meet you, Elder Qin Yana. I'm afraid, however, that you've interrupted this bout between myself and my senior, Elder Bin Wei. Perhaps you would be so kind as to return to us in a few hours? I'm pretty sure I'll have worn him down by then."

"Ha! I'll have you know, you only escaped the need to surrender due to my gentle grip, junior! Best to not dare imply that a longer trial would do anything more than allow you to continue to embarrass yourself."

"How rude! The nude, degloved form is nothing to be embarrassed about, and neither was that broken jaw I gave you!"

Elder Qin Yana does look over to him at that, her incredulity at their talk cut through by the genuine awareness of what it would mean for his jaw to have been broken. He still has his Domain out and alive, but she can surely sense the level to which his reserves have diminished. He's lost considerably less Qi on what should, by rights, be considerably harder battles than some strange talking construct with no Qi.

And yet, her pride demands that she act as an elder should.

"Do not claim that you are more than an ant in the eyes of elders of the Watchful Fields sect! You have no right to demand any trial by combat, much less the indulgence of taking up our time! Elder Bin Wei, if you will not remove this intruder, then the task will fall to me."

A third spear forms, this one even larger than the first two. Her Domain, a field of ever-shifting copper and brass, of value and beauty and burning construction, enhances it, pushing its glow from that of molten metal to the glinting of a star in form.

Perhaps Rai Ka really could survive hours more against Bin Wei- surely she has more tricks than she has yet shown. But it is one thing to survive against one who is hiding his trump cards and entertained by her presence, and another yet to face down the rage of Qin Yana's techniques. And what's more- if Rai Ka chooses to confront her, to fight back, then Bin Wei will have no choice at all save to fight alongside his fellow elder. The thought of doing anything else isn't just alien, it's preposterous, and is more than his duty, it is his chosen path.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

And yet…

Perhaps… it would be better to form some kind of alliance. If he can get to the woman's benefactor, or discover the depths of her power and hidden resources, then surely the insight he's gained from this fight would be but a pittance. Already he's glimpsed some fragment of a deeper mystery in the way that she shaped Intent almost as if it was a sort of Truth, and he's certain that this opportunity has not yet given all it has to offer.

He steps in front of the attack.

The spear freezes where it rests, very literally. Molten heat vanishes as Qin Yana's Dao of Stillness rises, her rage turning cold and centering on him.

"Pardon, fellow Elder. I'm afraid that the word of this Bin Wei is not so easily overturned. It would be unjust to break a vow made between the two of us for the sake of appearances, here, beyond the eyes of our foes. Allow me to end the battle properly, and this one would be honored to step aside, so long as you agree to honor the battle fought between us, and the vow therein secured."

The look in her eyes promises retribution that will last generations for the slight against her authority.

Unless, of course, his gamble pays off.

He turns, floating down to the ground before Rai Ka.

"Now, I believe, would be the opportune moment for you to choose surrender over defeat."

He tries to communicate his intent with his eyes, with subtle gestures, but it's hard to know how politically savvy the beast-woman is, to properly interpret his minute changes. If she chooses to fight further…

But no. She exhales, sighing with the strength of an industrial furnace, cracking her neck to one side, then the other. Before his eyes, skin begins to regenerate overtop of her bioarmor, and both of the additional limbs and the tail she generated seem to… fold back into her body somehow.

"Alright. I admit it. Now that time is up, I can't beat you by the rules we've set. It's my loss."

Her hand unfolds, and from deep within it once more emerges the crimson orb, resplendent with Qi and rich with Dao.

"Your prize, Senior Bin Wei."

He feels the way that Qin Yana freezes behind him. It's so mild that only one who's known her for over a millenia could detect it, but there, ever so slight, is the hitch in her cycling, the way her Qi subconsciously reacts to shock. He can't help but mirror the reaction, despite having seen the material once before already. If it's a natural treasure, found in the Overgrowth, then it is of a kind that sects would gladly send disciples to die for, and if it was made artificially, then the alchemist behind it must be a prodigy or a hidden master. The material could likely be ingested as is, and, if survived, rocket one's physical constitution to new levels, provide startling insight into the Dao of Blood- but refined? Made into pills, heightened and focused?

The possibility alone is enough to buy back the face he has lost in Qin Yana's eyes. It's one thing to be as a child, indulging in whimsical destruction with a complete outsider; it is another entirely to be responsible for the acquisition of such a boon. Truly he has eyes to see, where she did not. He can't help but feel a bit smug about that.

Reverently, he approaches the orb, and with a deft twist of his Qi, absorbs it into his spatial ring. He briefly notes the way that Rai Ka flinches at the sight, as if the view of the material being absorbed disturbs her, and for a moment he feels a tautness to the world… loosen. Like a string, held tense, but now released- the vow she made, perhaps? Later- for now, he has higher priorities. Of his spatial rings, the one he's used is old, and rare to the extreme, designed for the preservation of resources above all else. It hasn't much room, but it should have just enough…

Yes. There was a tremble, as if a great pressure had shifted within, but it's stabilized, held properly and safely.

"Now, junior Rai Ka," he says, very slightly angling so that Qin Yana can better observe the exchange; "I believe our bet was that, should I claim victory, you would leave the lands of the Watchful Fields sect after delivering unto me this gift."

She rolls her eyes, the impropriety entirely indicative of how she fought and how she's acted, but nods, sighing as she does. "That, I did, honorable Bin Wei. As promised, I will gladly cease to burden the lands of the great and noble sect that harbors your personage."

There. Her eye flicks to him. Minute, but present- a prompting.

Hmm. Perhaps not entirely lacking subtlety, then. And the phrasing was… surprisingly proper, compared to her previous way of speaking.

He quirks his lips into what might, by the perceptive, be called a smile.

"Nonsense! How little you must think of the honorable Bin Wei, that the presence of such a promising talent would be a burden?"

Qin Yana, who had inched ever-so-slightly closer at the exchange, like a shark sensing blood, smiles in turn, the previous aggression repackaged into a more overbearing pushiness. "Indeed! This one had eyes, but did not see. Clearly your strengths fall outside the expectations of lesser cultivators, and I am honored that Bin Wei has brought your talents to the attention of the elders. Perhaps we could speak more comfortably over tea, and discuss your plans for travel?"

Rai Ka grins, shark-like but relaxed, rolling her neck. From her wrist, a smoking pipe emerges, her other hand sprouting a dark-blue moss and mix of herbs as if from a hidden pouch to press into it, and she packs the bowl calmly as she watches them. A slow, sardonic roll of the shoulders precedes her response:

"Ah, but Elder Qin Yana, I'm afraid that a bet is a bet! For a wanderer as myself, the most valuable item I possess is my word, and that word was given upon the conditions of our encounter. What honorless rogue would I be, to go back on such an agreement now?"

Hmm. Not unsubtle at all. Well and truly set up for him, it seems.

"Ah, but honorable Rai Ka, I do not believe we ever agreed to when you would depart. Surely there is room in even the most powerful of oaths for the generosity of fellow Daoists to stand true?"

Her hand flickers, and-

The pipe is lit.

That wasn't flame, what she used. It had no Dao of Fire within it, though it felt similar. It was… rawer. More primal, born of Qi and fundamental properties alone.

Bin Wei has seen such a light once before, and only once in two thousand years.

True Flame.

The impossible beast, stranger and stranger, more and more intriguing, looks him dead in the eyes as she exhales, blue-grey smoke wafting from her and across her naked form. He is put in mind of old paintings, from when man worshipped the stars and the beasts of the wilds before the Heavens and the ways of orthodox cultivation.

"Why, senior brother, I do believe there is just enough room indeed."

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