Looking into a mirror of conjured ice, Jun Li scrutinized her freshly cobbled together disguise.

  Where her hair flowed freely before, she now kept it in a high ponytail bound with a metal ring. A style she had seen on some men as she passed through Lanxiu.

  To her eyes, the hairstyle evoked an adequately masculine air. And, after binding her chest, the robe of the Frost River Sect, bearing images of shattering ice and flowing waves, managed to androgynize Jun Li's figure enough to satisfy her.

  But that was only as far as matters of 'fashion' and 'styling' went. Even at a glance, Jun Li's facial features were a bit too delicate and feminine to pass as a man, even an androgynous one.

  Her inherited memories contained some mention of the art of disguise and how some cultivators were skilled in the art of altering their facial and bodily features like human chameleons.

  Yet, there were no methods or techniques defined in her memories that could help her here, nor did she have the time to practice such things even if there were.

  'Well… this will have to do for now.' Giving up on disguising her face, Jun Li instead chose to obfuscate.

  Slowly, Jun Li's hand passed over her face, from her left mandibular joint to her right, leaving an unevenly shaped sheet of ice that covered the lower half of her face like a muzzle.

  Another one, two, and three times, Jun Li's hand passed over this sheet of ice; each pass was slower, and the movements of Jun Li's fingers incrementally became more subtle and careful.

  After each pass, the ice grew thicker, and the surface grew more detailed. By the end, the ice that covered her face became an elaborate half-mask, 'carved' to resemble the fanged maw of some abstract beast.

  That half-mask simultaneously drew the eye and obscured Jun Li's feminine features, enhancing her disguise in both a discreet and direct manner. As she was now, in the eyes of some unaware individual, she could indeed pass as one 'Kang Shi of the Frost River Sect.'

  After five years of Cultivating atop a frozen mountain, this half-mask gave Jun Li no discomfort, and her Qi could feed the ice and keep it solid for as long as she remained conscious.

  'Not bad… even that pair from the Emerald Blade Pavilion shouldn't recognize me at a distance.' With a final look into her improvised mirror of ice, Jun Li tossed it aside and fished out the Jade Slip that proved her identity as 'Kang Shi.'

  'Let's see if I can't slip into this 'Earth Dragon's Grave' without causing a scene…'

  … … … … … …

  Tucked deeply away in this craggy, wooded landscape, an assemblage of small buildings crowded together under a thick forest canopy that blocked out almost all sunlight.

  So discreetly nestled away was this encampment that even in the rain, one could walk about outside without fear of getting wet. Even knowing it was here, it took Jun Li some time to find this place.

  Peeking in from the edges of the encampment, she saw that, although not overcrowded, enough people were bustling about that, to Jun Li's eyes, it didn't seem like some sort of exclusive event.

  Of course, this was not the Earth Dragon's Grave she had heard of. It was merely a 'waiting room' for those privileged few invited to the main event.

  For those less fortunate Cultivators that lack the talent and backing to secure entrance to the Earth Dragon's Grave proper, this 'waiting room' was their main event.

  Here, resources flowed freely between the gathered disciples. From those elites steadying their Cultivations to enter the Earth Dragon's Grave, to the uninvited underdogs hoping to take a peer's place in the upcoming event via a public duel, everyone here had good reason to buy, sell, and trade precious Cultivation resources and treasures.

  After a few minutes of observation, Jun Li understood well why the pair she had met were so eager to find their way here. Although she did not know whether or not they were expressly invited to the Earth Dragon's Grave itself, it was clear that there were considerable benefits to be gathered here.

  Not hesitating any further, Jun Li strode into the encampment. Around her, everything appeared to be placed rather haphazardly, and no permanent structures appeared to be assembled, save for one large building that resembled something between a manor and a hotel.

  Bizarrely, that building did not appear to be 'constructed' per se. Instead, it appeared natural, as if it were some gnarled, impossible tree that had grown into the shape of a building, drawing Jun Li's curiosity. 'That's some pretty intense sorcery… I wonder who did that?'

  Around, the vast majority of the individuals Jun Li could detect were of the Crimson Palace stage, and all of them seemed to bear much more robust and stable Cultivations than that lackey she had dealt with in Lanxiu. 'They're not like the disciple from the Glass Cloud Sect, they've got some real resources behind them…'

  Bustling through the encampment, garments of icy blue, verdant green, and ruddy orange crowded about, all interacting with each other in a way somewhat unlike either allies or enemies.

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  The Frost River Sect, Emerald Blade Pavilion, and Tiger-Slaying Sect shared the Earth Dragon's Grave that was nestled between their three territories, perhaps fearful that if they attempted to seize it for themselves, the other two sects would use it as an excuse to gang up on them and push them away from the Grave altogether.

  'Hmm?' All of a sudden, a small commotion caught Jun Li's attention, and she turned her head to a platform that stood a short distance away from that tree-like building.

  "Ahh!? Qin Yihua is fighting?" An orange-robed disciple spoke, followed by a peer in green. "The hell? What idiot challenged that guy…!?" Apparently understanding the commotion better than Jun Li, many disciples paused what they were doing and hurried over to the stage.

  With no reason to hold back her own curiosity, Jun Li followed along as well.

  Atop that stage, two individuals stood across from one another, both in the green robes of the Emerald Blade Pavilion. One stood tall with his arms crossed and eyes closed, a massive sword slung across his back, and his long hair gently swaying in the forest wind.

  The surface of his blade was only as wide as a palm, but the length equaled the man's own height, only kept off the ground by the mild angle at which it was suspended.

  The sheer size of the sword made one wonder if it was kept on his person out of preference or because it simply could not fit in his Spatial Ring.

  Across from him, a visibly younger disciple stood with a light saber in his hand, going through some pre-fight stretches, limbering up on-stage with a smile on his face. His energy and eagerness made Jun Li doubt for a moment who that 'Qin Yihua' the crowd had mentioned was, as neither of the people she saw on-stage gave the impression of a loser-to-be.

  "Senior Brother Qin, thanks for accepting my challenge!" The saber-wielding youth spoke, quickly dispelling Jun Li's doubts.

  "It is no matter. I had a feeling you'd attempt something like this here." Opening his eyes, the man with the massive sword, Qin Yihua, smiled slightly, apparently familiar with his challenger.

  Fast enough to slip beneath the crowd's notice, an older woman appeared on the stage, a short sword affixed to the side of her robe, the verdant green robe of an Elder of the Emerald Blade Pavilion.

  Acting on a reflex that had been beaten into her by Zhu Enlai, Jun Li focused her senses the instant she appeared, and forcibly remembered every sensation she felt in the past half-second. 'From that direction…' Jun Li glanced off to a clear side of the encampment that led further into the forest.

  Jun Li had assessed the subtle movements of wind and ambient Qi that had been kicked up by this Elder's movements, simply to intuit where she had arrived from.

  It was something Zhu Enlai had taught Jun Li, as neither one of them enjoyed the sensation of higher-level Cultivators appearing and disappearing around them with high-speed Movement Techniques.

  Zhu Enlai had trained her intensively, and now she could tell not only where such a person had appeared from, but where they disappeared to. Now, this method had become a simple reflex for Jun Li. 'I have a feeling I'm not going to fall out of that habit any time soon…'

  Glancing between the two disciples on stage, this Elder wasted no time in speaking. "Your entrance slip?" Qin Yihua immediately responded, pulling a bright red Jade Slip from his Spatial Ring and tossing it to his Elder.

  Looking it over and reading its contents, the Elder nodded. "Good. Ready?" A few seconds passed, and even with no verbal response, the expressions of the two disciples could not be misunderstood. "Then, begin!"

  Eyes widening with frenzied energy, the saber-wielding youth shot towards Qin Yihua with unrestrained killing intent, his demeanor changing at a disturbing speed.

  In the eyes of much of the crowd, the young man's saber may as well have vanished into the air, becoming an invisible, lethal stream of wind.

  Yet, the instant his Elder had said 'begin,' Qin Yihua gripped the massive sword on his back and pulled it up and over his body, planting the hilt of his sword solidly into the earth and forming a guarding wedge to intercept the blow he knew was coming.

  With a resonant clash that caused the crowd's bones to hum in their bodies, the young man's saber impacted Qin Yihua's sword. In a split second, before the saber-wielding youth could even begin to redirect his blade, Qin Yihua's palm struck upwards, into the center of his abdomen.

  "Buried Hollow Palm - Shearing Landslide!" When Qin Yihua's palm impacted the young man, it slid up his body, bruising and displacing muscle and flesh alike, before his ribs took the brunt of the impact. With a 'crack' of bone audible to the crowd, the young man flew off the stage like a broken kite, trailing spat-up blood.

  Without even glancing in the direction of the match's loser, the Elder of the Emerald Blade Pavilion tossed that red Jade Slip back to Qin Yihua and vanished, as if nothing at all had happened.

  "Ahh…! Why'd that idiot even have to try?" Someone in the crowd groaned, and a disciple of the Emerald Blade Pavilion followed up. "Forget it! That guy with the saber was Gao Feng, the idiot does this shit all the time. Should have figured it was him, nobody else is dumb enough."

  "Seriously, if you're going to challenge someone for their spot, don't pick the strongest disciple from your sect…" Even as the crowd began to disperse, Jun Li remained still, many thoughts crowding her mind. 'He's good… that Qin Yihua is probably in the Late Crimson Palace stage…'

  Even from just that short exchange, Jun Li was able to gauge Qin Yihua's strength as a Cultivator and a swordsman enough to understand he wasn't someone to fight on a whim.

  Yet, she apparently had seen someone do just that, even knowing how strong he was.

  Deeply curious, Jun Li made her way over to where this 'Gao Feng' was laid out on the ground. He was alive and hadn't even lost consciousness, but he simply laid on the floor where he had landed, limbs spread out as though he had no intent on getting up.

  When he saw Jun Li peering down at him from behind her beastly half-mask, Gao Feng simply furrowed his brows and, with slightly wheezing breath, spoke. 'Leave me alone, scary-looking Cousin. I've no ears for your mockery, and I don't think I'll be ready for another spar any time soon…'

  Jun Li couldn't help but smile from behind her mask at his words. "Here, take this." Jun Li spoke quietly in an effort to obfuscate her real voice. As she did, she pulled a pair of pills and a small jade bottle from her Spatial Ring and dropped them on his chest.

  They were Blood Replenishment Pills and Bone Mending Pills, alongside a finger-sized jade bottle filled with her own, personally concocted "Icefloe Elixir." Something she designed during her five years of training as a supplement to increase the speed and ease of Qi Circulation.

  "Uhh?" Looking dumbly at the medicines he had been given, it took a moment for Gao Feng to realize that his benefactor had already begun walking away.