Tales of the Teal Mountain Sect

Year 663 of the Stable Era,

Third day of the eleventh month

Thirty-seven minutes into the Second Inner Hour

Quite expectedly, the third floor of the Thousand Grain Pavillion's pagoda was abuzz with activity. Unlike the fourth the demographic it serviced was ever abundant, its noise level a testament to an expert application of sound arrays. Enough of a hubbub to keep the room lively, so that visitors could feel the palpable energy of their companions, but not so much as to create a din that could cause any confusion.

It was quite tricky to design such an array, as Yeung Lin knew from personal experience. Too weak, and sound would leak out at odd octaves once its capacity was exceeded. Too strong and a crowded room would feel like a tomb, a sensation that he had been informed was quite disconcerting to many, despite the assurance of privacy it created. The array at work here even seemed to be subdivided, as he noticed that the sound around the cultivators clearly in the middle of intense haggling was far quieter than their neighbors.

He longed to inspect the array to see if he could determine the method for enabling multiple cultivators to adjust so many aspects separately, but…no, he really did need to make sure that he reconvened with Lan Yun soon. He made a quick note to remember to discuss the array with Du Chengyi when they next met up, taking advantage of his penpal's absence to once again produce his trusty notebook.

Passing through to the second floor, the throng only increased in density. While the third floor had had a large crowd, the second was positively packed. Eight rows of the long tables were divided into narrow stalls, each staffed by a member of the Thousand Grain Pavillion. Large boards hanging from the rafters displayed precisely penned prices in even rows. As the lower two floors carried common plants, the prices were fixed to prevent needless negotiations from slowing the lines.

The value of things such as twenty-year ginseng and fire yarrow had long since settled, and the Thousand Grain Pavillion content to remain inflexible in their pricing. Few other sects could offer quality in the same quantity that they did, so it was unlikely that they would suffer a noticeable loss from such an action.

The crowd parted before Yeung Lin's guide, his uniform clearly enough of a symbol of rank to convince the surrounding cultivators that they didn't need to worry about either of the two attempting to take their place in line. Yeung Lin knew that many of them had been waiting hours, most without the benefit of a book for companionship.

He'd never understood that.

It was such a waste of time to dedicate oneself solely to the act of standing in place, without making use of the time to follow other pursuits. He could understand those that had come with companions, as they could spend the time discussing cultivation, but those that had come alone?

It was just such a profound misuse of time. He was glad that more were beginning to ignore the social expectation to stoically stand in place. Propriety was just such a petty thing to waste time over.

He counted 14 cultivators reading on the third floor and 6…no, 7 cultivators on the first floor, which was 2 more than there had been last year. Surely a sign of progress. One of whom he was surprised to recognize. Quickly, he raised his notebook to prevent them from recognizing him in turn, hands carefully pinching its sides to prevent the notes he'd slid between its pages from falling out.

Chao Ren didn't seem to notice him, and neither did Xia Bao, who was busy enthusiastically conversing with his scholarly companion.

Which was good. Very good, in fact. Yeung Lin was hoping to avoid his disciples for the next week. Too much of an impact might interfere with the delicate path of self-realization and discovery that he had set them on, not to mention the delicate threads of karma that might inform their decision.

A light touch was key to ensure that he didn't influence things too far, and the serendipity of his cover colors had already had him questioning his method. He had redone the covers for his paper manuals a few decades ago on the cheap, which is why their covers were as varied as they were. Chao Ren, with his strangely superstitious outlook, had gravitated towards a book with a red cover because of his association of fortune with the color, which meant that his decision to save a few taels had now had a measurable impact on his lesson.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Was it fate at work, that one of the books he had anticipated tempting his student would be precisely the right color tip the scales on his decision to pick it? Or was it mere coincidence? It was so hard to tell so soon. Perhaps if he had some skill for divination, he might be able to glean the truth, but such arts were far too imprecise for his liking.

Perhaps it was better to remove that influence on future disciples going forwards, but that would require him to spend more time and money on covers that still had another thirty years in them, and that didn't seem like a good use of money. And it would probably be closer to attempting to fight fate than simply leaving it as it was. But…

Yeung Lin's imminent loop about the circular nature of fulfilling fate by attempting to fight it came to a premature end as Li Jiahao turned towards him, mild concern on his face.

"Has one of our customers caused some issue for our honored quest?" he asked, lips barely moving as his Sibilant Whisper Technique guided the sound to Yeung Lin's ears alone.

"No," Yeung Lin said, replying in kind. "I merely spotted two of my disciples. I left them with an assignment to contemplate until next we met, so I would rather not shorten that period if I can help it."

Li Jiahao nodded. He was too professional to outwardly react, but internally he couldn't suppress a slight shiver at the smoothness of his charge's vocal technique. His words barely vibrated as they faded, none of their clarity lost the way the tips of his s's still did when he used his technique.

"I see," Li Jiahao said, glancing over at the two disciples, who were currently sharing a small satchel of jerky. "I will be sure that they will receive the best service that we can offer." He waved for the attention of a nearby clerk, who nodded at him after they shared a quick conversation through a series of coded gestures.

The noise arrays aside, vocal techniques were always tricky things to use at a distance. There was always the risk of being overheard by cultivators that practiced more esoteric techniques or physiques depending on the methods said techniques used to convey sound. With such a large crowd from so many schools of cultivation that risk was compounded, which made it a far riskier endeavor than it would otherwise be.

It could hurt the Thousand Grain Pavillion's reputation if they were to show overt favoritism. Most likely Yeung Lin's disciples would receive a slightly higher grade of herb, carefully selected by their clerk rather than blindly taken from a drawer.

"Your hospitality knows no limit," Yeung Lin replied with a slight nod. "I will be sure to bring a worthy gift upon my return." After another moment, he continued. "As to your application of the Sibilant Whisper Technique, a slight focus on tongue motion would help with some of the roughness on certain syllables. Accentuate it like so on the longer sounds, and it will allow you to draw it back more easily on the transitionals like this."

Li Jiahao nodded enthusiastically as he tried out the motions that Yeung Lin demonstrated to him, eyes alight as he realized how they smoothed the roughness he had always attributed to his technique's tricky nature. He hurriedly thanked his benefactor, who simply nodded as he jotted another note in his book before departing from the pagoda with a perfunctory wave.

In the street the vendors were as awash with dubious deals and questionable curios as always. The Teal Mountain Sect had rather lax regulations on the merchandise that could be offered, having learnt long ago that attempting to enforce stringent regulations was far more trouble than it was worth. It took far too long to rigorously vet and test every item, especially with the volume that some vendors expected to be moving over the course of the month, and that was manpower that was needed for far more important matters.

Instead, they had consolidated their restrictions into a series of strict rules regarding harmful items. No dangerous or uncertified pills. Certifications required for cultivation resources. Mandatory checks on any talismans or weapons. And an ironclad prohibition on any sort of demonic technique, punishable only by death, regardless of rank or affiliation.

Classic scams like passing off mediocre techniques as divine methods or the marking up of low-grade goods as high-quality counterparts were simply allowed. It was better that disciples learnt not to trust a merchant's smile sooner than later, as shielding them from that particular reality would only lead to hardships when they inevitably left the mountain.

Better for them to practice their evaluation skills now, when they had the support of the sect to help them in case the odd sensation they felt while practicing their new Heavenly Phoenix Physique manual was actually a subtle form of qi deviation.

But as much as Yeung Lin wanted to see if any of the vendor's spread blankets had any genuine curiosities mixed in amongst tea-aged tomes and cracked bamboo scrolls, he had to stick to his promise.

And so, he walked on. Past carpets full of haphazardly piled books. Past the vendor selling fried beef skewers. Past the cultivator from the Great Dessert selling textiles woven from reinforced silk. Past the…

Wait, actually, he did need more silk, didn't he? He'd been planning to make a new formation flag for a while now, and the Great Dessert Walkers' product was known for precisely the quality he was looking for. It was very qi-malleable, which was ideal for handling the variations that his technique required, and…

Three and a half sticks later Yeung Lin set off again, thanking the ant guai as he passed an owl selling teacups, an ingot display for the Iron Plate Sect, the short disciple from the Edge's Blade selling his old sword, the…wait, he had also been in need for a bit more Six Streams Silver, hadn't he. And some more iron, and…no…he needed to go.

Lan Yun was waiting.

But…just a small look, to see if it was worth coming back later couldn't hurt…

It would only take a moment.