Chapter 14 - Hidden Shadow Market

As Lu Ai stood up from her stone bed, her spirit renewed and convictions reaffirmed, akin to a Phoenix reborn from its ashes, she looked at Yu Weiyuan, her gaze soft.

"I've made you worry." Her voice was filled with tenderness as she could feel the warmth of familial love she thought she had lost.

"Everything for you, Sister." Yu Weiyuan only gently answered. "But you frightened me. When I saw your appearance, I nearly thought you had lost your Heart for the Dao."

"Fortunately, nothing happened, or else I wouldn't know how to answer to Master in Samsara."

Lu Ai deeply nodded. She understood that for a cultivator, having a Heart for the Dao, a Dao Heart, was the most important foundation to one's Immortal Path. Cultivation is a lonely road marked with long, solitary and monotonous seclusion, with each step more difficult than the last. Only with a strong enough will to walk the road and a clear enough purpose to know its destination can one walk to the eventual end of the Immortal Path.

Both the Will and the Purpose together constitute the Dao Heart. Lu Ai used to have the Will without the Purpose, but the untimely death of her father damaged her willpower, harming her Dao Heart.

Only through Yu Weiyuan's timely help did she restore her determination and found her purpose in cultivation, succesfully recasting her Dao Heart to be even stronger, effectively smoothening her future cultivation path.

Thus, Lu Ai was more than deeply grateful to this little brother of hers.

Yu Weiyuan looked at her calmly, before saying: "You don't know the recent happenings do you?"

She shook her head from side to side.

"Then let me explain." He continued. "In order to resolve the lack of high-grade resources in the short term, the sect will participate in the centurial Grand Auction of the Endless Wealth Auction House."

Lu Ai grimaced in disgust. "In the Hidden Shadow Market, this den of criminals?"

"Yes..." Yu Weiyuan sighed at his sister's reaction. "But you know this is also the largest commercial hub of the Crouching Dragon Domain... Don't be so close-minded like the inflexible pricks of the Divine Sword Mountain Sect..."

"I know, I know, stop nagging." Lu Ai pouted and thought grudgingly: 'Why does it feel like I'm the little sister now?!'

Yu Weiyuan smiled at her antics before continuing. "If I am saying this, it is because I want you to accompany me to the Auction."

Lu Ai's eyes narrowed. 'Even if I'm a Core Disciple, it does not mean I should come to these kinds of major affairs... So why?'

But as she looked at the eyes of Yu Weiyuan, she could distinguish a hint of worry withing their golden irises. 'He wants to keep me next to him so he can prevent me from falling to my grief and sorrow again...'

Her heart warmed up. It wasn't empty anymore. 'Tsk... This little brother of mine is too considerate...'

Sensing his careful thoughts, she couldn't find it in her to refuse his request.

"Okay... I'll go with you." She said lightly with slight curl of her lips.

But as she saw Yu Weiyuan's eyes brighten, she couldn't help letting a bit of mischeviousness rise in her heart. "But... Let me remember something..."

Her little brother tilted his head, not understanding what she meant, until a oh so familiar smirk was drawn upon her face.

At this sight, a shiver ran through his spine while his sister's lips parted to deliver words he dreaded so much:

"What did I hear again? 'It's Little Wei, your BELOVED Little Brother'?"

A deep red blush covered his face as he raised a trembling finger towards her. "S-So, y-you were listening in the end!!"

Lu Ai's smirk deepened as she indulged in her teasing. "How could I not listen to my oh so beloved and cherished Little Brother?"

Yu Weiyuan's blush deepened even more as he turned tail and ran away, with his sister going after him, continuing to tease him with cute nicknames.

The young sect master hid a smile as he enjoyed his sister's lively appearance.

At the price of his own dignity.

---

Five Days Later

At the boundary of the Sky Reaching Mountains, four people were standing next to exalted and resplendescent white carriage with golden ornaments pulled by a fiery and impressive bird with wings wrapped in orange blazing flames.

Yu Weiyuan examined the beast, nodding in approval. 'A Spiritual Beast at the Peak Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm to pull our carriage, and a Luan Bird to boot. It has a trace of Phoenix Bloodline. How fancy... But I don't dislike it.'

He turned towards the three people next to him.

One was the peaceful-looking Elder Liu Ning, the Head Elder of the External Affairs Hall.

'She is needed in order to manage the relationships with the other sects in the future gathering of great powers caused by the auction, all the while using her contacts in the Hidden Shadow Market to gather information for me to make plans...' Yu Weiyuan thought.

The other was an old man with a bent back but a lively contenance with a trimmed beard showing he liked to take care of his appearance. He was Xia Fang, the Head Elder of the Resource Hall.

'He will determine our purchases at the auction and manage our finances.'

And finally, Yu Weiyuan smiled as he looked at his reborn sister Lu Ai wearing the usual Core Disciple black-gold robes, letting her waist-long smooth black hair fall like a waterfall on her back, only tying a small braid on the right side of her oval face. Her beautiful visage had soft features probably inherited from her mother. Only her sword eyebrows were the same as her father's, giving to her aloof temperament a touch of heroism. Her eyes had an emerald green colour, and they shone like gems. With the bamboo sword tied to her waist, she seemed like a peerless swordswoman, dignified in appearance but simple in demeanor.

Yu Weiyuan, wearing his usual black purple-gold robes, led the small group to enter the carriage, snapping his fingers as the Luan Bird reacted and took the vehicule to the skies.

"I always prefered Void Boats... Why did we have to take a flying carriage?" Lu Ai complained lightly.

"Young Mistress," reacted Xia Fang, waving his finger in admonishment. "You already know the usage of Void Boats consumes Spiritual Stones, and their use is only suitable for the transport of a high number of people."

Lu Ai scowled a little, slightly dissatisfied. "I know, I know..."

Then, she avoided Xia Fang and turned towards Yu Weiyuan. "Little Brother, the only thing I heard about the Hidden Shadow Market are the stories of my father. Do you know about it?"

"Not more than you." He answered, shaking his head.

Elder Liu Ning said in response: "The Hidden Shadow Market is a commerce platform hidden in a Secret Realm. It hosts branches of many forces and factions like the Yin Flame Pavillion, the All Killing Valley and even the Endless Wealth Auction House. While most products sold in the Hidden Shadow Market are quite normal, you can still find inside most unorthodox products, services and practices."

"What does that mean?" Lu Ai asked curiously.

This time, Yu Weiyuan answered. "Brothels, prostitution, slaves, cultivation cauldrons, drugs, sacrifices, curses, poisons, human blood and body parts, corpses and even soulless but living bodies."

"How disgusting." Lu Ai said, revulsion clear on her face. "But why soulless bodies?"

"They are used as vessels and replacements for the Nascent Soul and Divine Transformation cultivators who lost their bodies."

Lu Ai's blood ran cold as she imagined someone possessing her body after death and using it as they please. But then, she thought: 'I finally understand why the tradition to burn the bodies of cultivators after death came to be. Even if a corpse is not suitable for long term possession, it can still be used as a temporary vessel...'

'This why they call the incineration of the corpse a way to keep the deceased away from the involvement of karmic bounds... Because even their bodies can be used after death...'

The young woman was lost in thoughts for the rest of the trip, staying silent as she slowly remembered the memories of her father's funeral.

Except this time, she didn't fall to her grief anymore.

'Live happily in your next life, Father.'