"There's only one place left we can look," said Cara, her eyes downcast. She didn't want to check out the Auction House, but she desperately needed materials. If she didn't start her Weapon Cultivation soon, she'd suffer for it in the future. Weapon Cultivation required a harsh early investment, and Cara could only afford such a thing at this exact point in time. Once she Cracked her core further, she'd need to prioritize her advancement of her Outer Cultivation to the next stage.

This was the only time she could focus on creating and advancing her Weapon Cultivation.

"It's okay, Teacher," said Zara from the side. "If they try to cause trouble I can just take whatever materials they have. What will they do about it?"

"You can't think like that, Zara," said Cara aghast. "Even if I don't like them, those people have their own lives and livelihoods. Not to mention doing something like that would tie your karma to theirs. It's both morally wrong and it would cause problems for your advancement to the realm beyond Ascendant."

"I'm going to be honest, Teacher, I don't think karmic ties are even a real thing."

"I'm telling you they are a real thing," Cara replied. "A very real and terrible thing."

"Are karmic ties why you failed your breakthrough?" Zara asked.

"No, I failed for a different reason, but Karma *can* hold you back."

"You're sounding like a superstitious old man, Teacher."

"I am a superstitious old man!" Cara roared, her hair bouncing behind her. Her cheeks were puffed out like a squirrel's.

Zara looked down at her Teacher's expression and burst out laughing. She tried to stop but couldn't physically do it. Her gut ached because she laughed so hard.

"Why are you like this, Zara?" Cara asked. "Where did my cute little obedient student go?"

"She never existed. My whole life with you, all I ever wanted was to become the strongest," said Zara. "I don't like being looked down on. I've always wanted to be the one looking down." Zara sidled up to Cara, making the difference in their heights more obvious.

There was a small pause in the conversation. Only the sounds of their footsteps could be heard, but then Cara cleared her throat.

"Take it from someone who once *was* the strongest person alive," said Cara, her voice downcast and quiet, filled with an old hurt, "It's a very lonely thing. You'll end up wanting contemporaries, to the point that you'll end up making them."

Zara didn't know how to reply to that. She opened her mouth but decided against saying anything and closed it again. The two finished their walk to the Auction House in total silence.

-

The Auction House, as Cara expected, had a familiar insignia on the side of two birds crossing. All around the building people were gathered.

"What good timing," said Zara with a smile, happy to change the earlier subject. "It looks like an auction is going to start soon. Let's go see if we can get a good seat~"

"Uhhg," Cara grumbled and followed behind her student. She really didn't want to come here. She considered turning around, but ended up following behind Zara like a puppy, instead.

The lines moved fairly quickly. Two men served as bouncers at the front gates, and they collected a basic entry fee. Inside the door Cara could see a proper booth that accepted deposits and handed out numbered paddles, color-coded by the amount of money the person paid upfront. Green implied 150 gold, yellow implied 500 gold, red 1500, purple 5000, and so on. The colors moved all the way up to the final three: black, silver, and Gold. Cara couldn't see the conversion rates for those three, but she could tell they were massive.

"See the booth to get your bidding paddles," said the bouncer as Cara paid the basic entry fee. "If you wish to auction something off, please head down the path to the right, over to the Appraiser Hall."

Cara and Zara stepped into the building. Immediately they felt the temperature grow more comfortable. The building seemed to have some basic air-conditioning system installed.

"Teacher, should we auction some things off? You don't have a ton of money, and what little you do have is probably dirty."

"Yes," Cara replied. "Let's head down and take a look. I have already written a few of my weaker Outer Cultivation techniques on fresh scrolls in this world's language. I've converted them all to use Mana instead of Qi."

"When did you do that?" Zara asked, tilting her head to the side.

"I did it not long after I first appeared in this world. Once I realized how much better my Jade-Dragon technique became, I started theorizing about other techniques that would get amplified too. I have about 30 of them tucked away that we could sell if need be."

The two walked down the path until another entryway opened up into a huge room with rows of tables set up. Men wearing red robes and bearing the two birds insignia were walking about, signing notes on different tagged goods. One section was filled with bottled potions and pills; it smelled like herbs and medicine. It was a familiar smell and Cara almost walked in that direction subconsciously.

She stopped herself and, instead, focused on a different area. Near the back of the room, in one corner, were numerous scrolls that bore the markings of Outer Techniques. Cara could tell at a glance because a few were unfolded and had visible diagrams that showed manipulation techniques on how to nourish muscular systems.

"I'll be over there, handing over a few of my weaker Techniques for appraisal. If you have anything you want to sell, feel free to do so yourself," said Cara with a grin as she started walking off.

"Then I'll be over in the medicine section," Zara replied, making sure he kept her Teacher in her line of sight. She didn't like the idea of separating even a short distance, but so long as they were in the same room there probably wouldn't be too much of a risk.

Cara found the man in charge of analyzing the Knight Techniques rather quickly. He was a scruffy man and, from him, Cara could sense the aura of a Yuan Tier Cultivator. He was one of the strongest fighters she'd met since she came to this world, with him having completed the hatching of his Nascent Soul. Unfortunately, it seemed he only did so with Two Cracks in his core, and his future was quite limited.

"Take one of the slips to the side. It has an ID number on it. Write that number on your Knight Technique scroll and wait off to the side," said the man, never bothering to look up from his work. He continually grabbed scrolls from a pile, glanced through them, and then organized them on the opposite side into stacks based upon their quality. A second man, only a Xantian Realm Knight, waited there by the completed piles. He would call out the ID numbers and ask if the person wanted to auction off their goods. If they said 'no' he would ask for payment for the appraisal service before handing back the scrolls and sending them on their way.

It was an incredibly efficient system and Cara loved the no-nonsense attitude of it all. For a moment she forgot where she was and gave a genuine smile. She pulled an ID number and wrote it down on two Outer Cultivation technique scrolls.

Cara picked scrolls that would be fairly high quality in such a small place. She knew that Soul Refining was about as strong as the people in this Tin City got, considering there were only two of them in all, so she handed over techniques that could cultivate only that far. It seemed like a good limit to her.

Cara sat down on the provided seats and waited.

-

A young man with oddly familiar features soon sat down next to Cara.

"Bumpkin," he said with a nod, his voice a bit joking in tone. Cara looked up and recognized him as the man she took the Magicite from earlier.

"Oh, it's you," said Cara.

"Don't give me that," the young man replied, his voice ice. "I was informed you were here so I came personally to apologize for my actions outside town.."

"Then stop insulting me by calling me 'Bumpkin'," said Cara with a sneer. She didn't care if he did so as a joke, it was still rude. She started to get up to change seats.

"Wait," the boy called. "My name is Lars and I'm the 9th Prince of the East Empire."

"And?"

"... Aren't you going to change your tune now that you know I'm a Prince?" The man asked, almost flabbergasted by the girl's response.

Cara laughed. "No. I treat people the way they treat me. If you talk to me with respect I'll do the same. You, little Prince, haven't been respectful to me once since we met. We're done, here."

Cara got up and moved to a different row of seats to wait, leaving behind a slackjawed prince.

The Prince muttered under his breath and his face flushed a bit. No one had ever disrespected him like that in the past.. And he felt a strange new sensation bubbling in his heart. He wanted to order his men to kick the girl out of the Auction House, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Something about the way she looked at him with those cold eyes.. It invigorated him. She was wearing ratty clothes, but her face and body were picture perfect. She was like an Ice Queen. His heart started beating faster in his chest.

-

Not much time passed before a small commotion occurred.

"This Knight Technique!" The appraiser yelled in agitation as he held the first of Cara's submitted techniques. "It- it goes all the way up to the first stage of Perfect Soul!"

His last words weren't said in too loud of a voice, but numerous eyes snapped over to the appraisal bench he was working at. Prince Lars, in earshot, jumped to his feet. His eyes immediately looked towards the girl three rows behind him. His heart thumped louder and louder in his chest. He wanted to curse, to swear at all the world.

The first stage of Perfect Soul Knight was an almost unreachable height. The City Lord and the Head of the Dixon family were the only two powers in the city equal to that level.

"Young Miss," the Prince immediately addressed Cara with far more respect this time, more respect than a Broken Soul Knight would normally ever get from a Prince of the East Empire.

"I'm here to auction it off," said Cara. "If you want to buy it, win it in the auction."

She never even looked at the Prince during her curt, cold reply. The room held a strange atmosphere and, in a moment, several servants ran out at breakneck speeds, ready to spread the news across the entire Tin City that a Perfect Soul Knight Technique was going to appear in the next auction.

"Yes, Young Miss, of course," said the Prince, his brow covered in sweat. He glared daggers at the appraiser that said such explosive words aloud. Now that news got out, they wouldn't be able to take action behind the scenes. The City Lord and the head of the Dixons would surely come to the auction now, and if the Perfect Soul Technique wasn't offered up, their Auction House would be razed to the ground. The elders stationed there were strong, but none of them went beyond the strength of a Half Soul Knight. They couldn't stand up to the City Lord or the Four Families alone..

"P-Prince Lars," the appraiser's voice rang out again as he held the second scroll the Ice Queen handed over. "There's another one!"

"I'm auctioning that one off too," said Cara before she could even be asked.

"Y-young Miss, why don't we discuss this. My Auction House can offer to buy this directly from you, in cash even.." said the Prince.

"I'm auctioning it off. If you want to win it, bid on it" said Cara, her voice snappy.

"Can't we just discuss this, Young Miss?" The prince asked.

"There's nothing to discuss. Oh, and stop calling me 'Young Miss'. My name is Cara."

The Prince wanted to curse again. There were too many ears in the appraisal room still, even after several of the servants ran out. If he had known the value of the two Knight Techniques ahead of time, he could have swept this news under the rug, shoved some small compensation in the girl's hands, and run off with the goods.. But now?

Lars's brow was covered in sweat. He didn't have a choice. He needed to go forward with the auction. He took some solace in the fact that he'd at least make a good profit on the commission, but he wanted to curse his fate.

But most of all, he wanted to curse the girl, because her pretty face wouldn't leave his mind.