Path of the Lilies: Early Beginnings

It took them some time before they arrived in the next city. By the time they arrived, it was already night time. The seven of them checked in at a nearby inn to rest for the night and only visited the association the next day.     

"I can't believe we have to walk this far just to visit the Forging Master association," Lin Cai jumped on the bed and lied down.     

They ordered a room with two beds inside. That way, they could save up some money and protect each other better. Lin Cai stayed in the same room with Ye Jiao while Mu Xin stayed in a room next to theirs.     

"Is there no other cities with Forging Master Association?" Ye Jiao tilted her head as she took out a set of clothes. She wanted to take a bath and have some rest for tonight.     

Lin Cai sat down on one of the beds and shrugged. "How could I know? I don't really have any interest in those associations. Besides, do you really think that I can memorize all the cities in this area?"     

"Eon Energy Masters have better memories, right?"     

"Not for these things," Lin Cai rolled her eyes, unwilling to admit that she was lazy. "Do you plan on visiting the association too tomorrow?"     

"Yeah. I'm curious about the place. Don't you want to see it too?" Ye Jiao placed the towel on her shoulder and prepared to get into the bathroom. There was an inner bathroom in their room, so it was convenient.     

"Nah, I have already visited the association a few times in the past," Lin Cai waved her hand. "Try to bear with Qin Zheng tomorrow. He'll surely brag in a way that you can't never imagine."     

Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. She didn't know how she could get a senior brother as peculiar as Qin Zheng anymore. He seemed to be so annoying yet, at the same time, very capable. It was hard for her to describe that young man.     

"I'll take a bath first."     

"Ok. Take your time."     

The night passed quietly. No one disturbed them. Even those from Wang Luo Academy didn't come and bothered them as they had expected. The lesson they gained from facing Qin Zheng before seemed to bear fruit as not a single one of them tried to get close.     

"Qin Zheng is the most black bellied disciple in Hua Shan Academy," Lin Cai remarked as they went down to the dining room. "No other disciple is as petty as him."     

"Rather than petty, isn't it just taking advantage?" Ye Jiao sat down on the chair. She ordered some light food from the waiter before turning her head back to Lin Cai, seemingly curious about her senior sister's view of her senior brother.     

"If you wronged him, he'll surely get back at you," Lin Cai pursed her lips. "He complained to Master Shan again after I reported him. Thanks to him, I have to endure another harsh training under Master. What's that called if not petty?"     

"…" that's just both of you wanting each other to suffer.     

Ye Jiao shook her head lightly with a smile. Lin Cai was fairly lazy to practice. She was often seen playing around here and there with her master chasing after her later on. Aside from forcing Lu Wan to practice, she herself only spared little time for her own practice. If not because Qin Zheng reported her to her master, she might not even manage to make a breakthrough to the middle stage.     

But that relaxed training suited Lin Cai much more. After all, she disliked training a lot and only wished for freedom.     

"Since I'm so petty, I think that vice leader Shan is going to be happy if I tell him that your training allows you to make a breakthrough."     

The voice from behind them caused Lin Cai's body to turn frigid. She turned around while glaring at the young man. "Damn you, Qin Zheng! Why do I have you as my junior brother?!"     

"That's because you followed me to this place," Qin Zheng said plainly and sat down. "Do you plan to go to the association or visit the market? I heard that there's another new batch of sweets there."     

"Market," Lin Cai replied almost immediately.     

"Ok."     

Soon afterwards, Lu Wan and the others came down. Qin Zheng told them of his plan, and Mu Xin chose to follow Lin Cai. Wang Jun wanted to be with Mu Xin, so he also picked to not follow others.     

Meanwhile, Lu Wan, Qi Huan, and Ye Jiao would follow after Qin Zheng to visit the Forging Master Association.     

"You're wearing your badge now?" Qi Huan noticed that Qin Zheng took out a badge and pinned it on his clothes. It was dark orange in color with double hammers' picture located in the middle of the badge.     

Qin Zheng nodded. "It's a useful badge if you wish to trade for ores."     

"Didn't you just go to gamble them?"     

"That's because there's no Forging Master Association in that city. Besides, I also need to hone my skill in guessing which rocks might contain ores by picking in that gambling area. If I need a large batch of ores, it'll be much faster to either mine them myself or head to the Forging Master Association.��     

Qi Huan looked at the badge. "If I'm not wrong, you can get a certain number of discounts just by showing that badge."     

"Yes. When buying materials from the association, Forging Master can buy them at a lower price depending on their rank. Red has a 5% discount, orange has a 10% discount, yellow has a 20% discount, green has a 30% discount, light blue and blue has a 40% discount, and purple has a 50% discount. In addition, some materials are only accessible when you reach a certain rank in the association."     

Lu Wan's jaw dropped when he heard the discount rate for the materials. One has to know that the price for high level materials was extremely expensive. If they could cut down the price, it was certainly for the better because it would help them a lot. Especially that 50% cut… that was a really good offer.     

"How about that Water Haze?" Ye Jiao asked. "it's fairly rare, right?"     

"Yes, but you can still buy them at the association once you reach the yellow rank. If you're still at orange rank, its price is higher, but you still can buy it," Qin Zheng replied.     

"Why?"     

"That's because Water Haze's purification requires higher fire control and more hammering. Those at Orange Ranks generally unable to do so because of their limitations."     

Ye Jiao recalled that Qin Zheng had just reached Yellow Rank not long ago. It meant that he might still have some problems when dealing with the making of that armor. No wonder he wanted them to make other armor first.     

"How about valuable metal such as Emperor Stone?"     

"That one requires you to be at light blue's rank at the bare minimum," Qin Zheng explained. "Of course, it's possible if you earn it outside, but it requires a lot of luck on your side."     

Ye Jiao nodded. They only coincidentally found that Emperor Stone in that dark tunnel because of a mission. Normally, it wouldn't be that easy to find the stone.     

"Alright, we have arrived."     

They stopped in front of a large building. Some people were outside, but Ye Jiao's attention was fully focused on the building before her. It was colored in dark silver, which shone brilliantly under the ray of light. There was one large door not far from her with several guards watching over the people of the surroundings.     

"It's very big."     

"Yes."     

"Let's get in."