Red Talon Piercing The Darkness

The fresh air hit Hong Zhao in a gust as he balanced on the windowsill and looked down on the city below. He looked in admiration at the bustling streets beyond the city lord's estate. Whether day or night, it barely mattered to cultivators, the streets would still be packed. He chuckled lightly as he remembered Xuan Hua's argument about the time of night it happened to be. An average ninth star student ranked cultivator needed nothing more than two hours of rest per two days. Even after staying awake for the full two days, the only thing they would feel is slight discomfort.

Now that he was a warrior ranked cultivator, he could go a week or so without sleep. This extra time was needed due to the deeper qi reservoir one would need to fill in order to achieve the next breakthrough. The harder one would have to work, the more time one would need to accomplish said work. "I wonder what the limits would be to a knight." He mused over this for a minute before he shook his head. "Now's not the time to daydream." He activated vortex thrust and launched himself out of the window. If anyone were to watch him, they would only see a blur as he disappeared from where he stood.

Using the momentum of his movement ability, he glided to the wall and launched himself over. The drop was quite far, but with vortex thrust, he just glided down to the first rooftop and used the speed to catch himself before hitting. Shingles broke as his feet slid against them, and he managed to catch himself before falling from the rooftop.

Hong Zhao scanned the area below and saw the many people walking the streets. Some moved aimlessly, as if they were just out of their homes for the sake of getting out, whereas others seemed to move with a purpose. He surmised that some might be on sect business while others were only out to buy equipment and supplies from the various markets which lined the streets. As he watched on, he saw the ones who entered the markets had an air of purpose. Their eyes were set upon the doors with hopeful expressions. The other men and women seemed listless as they walked to the streets. Some had a cold sweat while others had an air of duty. Those seemed to be working for their families.

As he looked on, he started to see the type of people he was looking for. Some swayed to and fro with jovial expressions plastered on their faces. Their cheeks flushed as the alcohol set in their stomachs. Hong Zhao gave a knowing smile to these people as he tried to follow the trail from where they came. As he did, he saw others with cheerful expressions, and he decided to follow.

Jumping rooftop to rooftop was not difficult, seeing as though this was a city. When he was in Rantori Village, most buildings were separated a decent amount, making it slightly more difficult to scale the top of the village, where this place was more condensed. Houses had as much as five feet between each other. Even with a slight hop, Hong Zhao was able to cover the distance easily. As he followed, he listened to the many hopeful people who were walking. Some talked of a sweetheart they wished to win over, others talked of their favorite drink. Hong Zhao rolled his eyes. "This is almost too easy." He smirked and continued to scale the rooftops.

It took less than ten minutes before the men made their way into a slightly worn down building. The buildings to the left and right were made of well placed stone and shingled rooftops, but the building in the center was worn out. There were cracks within the stone where light shone through and the roof was made of wood instead. The look of the establishment didn't seem to deter the customers as they went in and came out in waves.

Hong Zhao had a glint of hope in his eyes as he dropped from the rooftop into an alleyway. His black robe billowed out underneath him as if darkness came to devour the street below. When his feet hit the ground, they hit with a walking stride. If anyone saw him exit the alleyway, they would assume he took a shortcut from another street. What they would find strange was his destination.

Entering the tavern, he was assaulted with a jovial atmosphere. Men clanked their mugs together as they celebrated whatever they were at the tavern for that night. There was drunken singing everywhere as celebration was in the air. Hong Zhao took it all in as he walked to the counter.

"Drink up, men!" One man shouted over the crowd of people. "With the load we just got, I will pay for your ale, just make sure it stays as ale!" The man laughed as he raised his mug, sending the men at the tables into a loud cheer. It seemed as though they received a fortunate encounter as they were out in the forest. Hong Zhao toned out the celebration. It was not uncommon for men to get a fortunate encounter within the forest. He himself had gotten a small fortune within an unknown expert's grave near the shadow sect, as well as the stone lion's dungeon.

Hong Zhao made it to the bar without difficulty. The barkeep was a burly man with an air of authority. Hong Zhao sensed the cultivation base of a ninth star student ranked cultivator, but still he seemed not to mind. If there was any trouble within his tavern, he had no doubts the man could call a disciple ranked guard to settle the disagreement. Hong Zhao had noticed that no matter how many people he saw within the city, it was all orderly. If it wasn't, he was sure that Zheng Guo had a way to deal with them.

When he sat at the bar, the few serious cultivators looked at him with curiosity. If they were to try to sense his cultivation base, they would find it unreadable. Under normal circumstances, they would believe he wasn't a cultivator, but just a normal person instead. It was normal within Yuan City to see normal children running around delivering messages as jobs to help their families. So after one glance, the men seemed to ignore him.

The bartender raised an eyebrow as he looked at Hong Zhao. He looked expectantly at the young boy, as if to ask where the message was. There was an awkward silence for a moment as Hong Zhao looked over the man.

"Is there something I can help you with?" The barkeep cleared his throat as if to say 'let's get this over with.'

"Yes, sir." Hong Zhao met the man's eyes without wavering. "I was wondering if you knew the names and locations of the other taverns in the city." After he looked over the tavern when he walked in, he hadn't noticed any familiarity with the one he saw within the jade slip. When he walked in, he felt slightly disappointed but thought to gain some information instead.

"Well, that's slightly rude, don't you think?" The burly man put down the mug he had just finished polishing. "That would be like saying my establishment is too shabby, isn't it?"

"No, no." Hong Zhao raised his hands defensively. A smile firmly placed on his lips as he looked at the man. He then waved his hand and ten gold coins appeared within it. Putting them on the bar, he gave an expectant glance to the barkeep. "I'll take ten gourds of your finest serpent's fire."

The barkeep looked at the gold and his eyes widened. Ten gold coins was more than he could make in four months of continuous work. Though the serpent's fire was seventy five silver to buy stock, he sold it at a gold per because of the added benefits the wine would give.

Hong Zhao's eyes gleamed as he saw the man's expression. He had paid attention on his way to the tavern and heard the many salivating men dream of the wine. It had the added effect of increasing one's fire attribute qi slightly. Mostly alchemists and blacksmiths would use the wine to increase the meager amount of elemental qi they could use in order to make more than one item a day. Even still, what they were working on had to outweigh the cost of the wine in order to make it worth it.

"Did he just say ten gourds of serpent's fire?" One man in the back of the tavern whispered to his friend. "That's ten gold, just who is this kid?" His eyes lit up with greed.

"I feel like I've seen his face before, but not from any of the head families." His friend smiled as he looked at the child like he was a walking piggy bank.