Elder Fei looked like he'd swallowed a particularly sour viper. The news of an unusual Ki signature, coupled with the inexplicable trouncing of their star pupil by this… thing, had thrown the Jade Serpent Sect's morning routine into disarray. Disciples muttered amongst themselves, casting wary glances at Sun, who was now idly examining a beetle crawling on a nearby log, occasionally flicking it onto its back with a grimy fingernail, apparently deeply engrossed.
"This 'unusual Ki signature'," Elder Fei finally growled, his gaze still fixed on Sun. "What more can you tell me, Disciple Wang?"
The breathless messenger gulped. "Elder Xiao said it was… faint, but incredibly pure. Almost… primal. Like nothing from any known cultivation manual. He lost the trace near the Blackwood Gorge."
Blackwood Gorge. Not too far from here. Sun mentally filed that away. "Primal and pure, eh?" he interjected, without looking up from his beetle. "Sounds like someone dropped their celestial laundry."
Lin Fengyi, her face still flushed with humiliation but her eyes now burning with a fierce, analytical light, spoke up, her voice tight. "Elder, this… individual. His methods are unorthodox. That feeling in my arm… it wasn't a Ki strike. It was… something else."
Sun finally looked up, a mockingly innocent expression on his face. "Indigestion? Happens to the best of us. Especially after dodgy roadside noodles."
"Silence, vagrant!" Fei snapped, though there was a new note of caution in his voice. He clearly didn't want a repeat of Lin Fengyi's public dismantling. "You appeared shortly before this news. And you possess… peculiar abilities. Explain yourself."
Sun stood up, brushing dirt from his tattered trousers. "Explain myself? To a bunch of green-clad lizards who can't even handle a simple burp-and-trip maneuver? Please. My life story would bore you to tears, and frankly, your attention spans look worryingly short. How about this: I'm a traveler. I'm hungry. You have food. Let's negotiate."
Negotiate. The word hung in the air. Sects like the Jade Serpent didn't negotiate with vagrants. They commanded, or they exterminated.
But Sun held all the immediate, awkward cards. He'd embarrassed them, and no one was keen to test whatever bizarre trick he'd used on Lin Fengyi.
"What do you want?" Elder Fei asked, his voice heavy with reluctance.
"Food. A waterskin that doesn't leak. Maybe a blanket that hasn't been slept in by a family of plague rats. And information," Sun said, ticking items off on his fingers. "About this world. Specifically, places where the… 'Ki' is stronger, or where weird old rocks like to congregate." He decided to keep the "Echo Resonance" bit to himself for now. No need to give these ants a textbook they couldn't read.
Lin Fengyi scoffed. "You expect us to simply provide for you, after your insults and your… assault?"
Sun raised an eyebrow. "Assault? Honey, if I'd 'assaulted' you, you'd be a decorative smear on the landscape. I was just… vigorously recalibrating your arrogance. And yes, I expect you to provide. Call it a… consultation fee. For showing you the glaring holes in your precious 'Jade Serpent Style'. Free of charge, mind you. I'm feeling generous."
After a tense, muttered conference between Elder Fei and the other instructors, a grudging agreement was reached. They couldn't risk further public humiliation, nor could they outright attack this unpredictable entity without understanding his capabilities. Plus, the news of the strange Ki signature had unsettled them; perhaps this vagrant knew something.
Sun was provided with a pouch of dried meat (tough and stringy), a waterskin (still slightly leaky), a roughspun blanket (suspiciously lumpy), and a basic map of the local region scribbled hastily on a piece of parchment. Elder Fei, through gritted teeth, also provided some rudimentary information about the current martial landscape: the uneasy truce between the major sects – Jade Serpent, Crimson Thunder Dojang, Iron Peak Clan, Whispering Willow School – the scarcity of true cultivation resources, and the constant skirmishes over Spirit Stone mines or ancient ruins rumored to hold fragments of "Old World" power.
"The strongest Ki convergences are jealously guarded," Fei said, his tone warning. "The Blackwood Gorge is considered haunted, ill-omened. Best stay clear."
"Haunted, you say?" Sun's eyes lit up with a gleam that made Fei distinctly uneasy. "Excellent. Ghosts rarely complain about my table manners."
As Sun prepared to leave, stuffing the subpar provisions into a makeshift satchel, Lin Fengyi approached him, her expression unreadable.
"That… technique you used," she said, her voice low. "The Ki disruption. What was it?"
Sun paused. He looked her up and down, a glint of something almost thoughtful in his eyes. "Kid, you wouldn't understand it if I carved it onto your forehead with a rusty spoon. Let's just say it's about understanding the music, not just bashing the drums." He then winked, a deliberately crass gesture. "Stick to your snake dances. Maybe one day you'll get the wiggles right."
He turned and strolled back into the forest, leaving behind a thoroughly bewildered and deeply resentful Jade Serpent Sect. Lin Fengyi watched him go, her fists clenched. The humiliation stung, but beneath it, a seed of profound curiosity, and perhaps even a sliver of grudging respect for his sheer, baffling effectiveness, had been planted. This "vagrant" was unlike anyone she had ever encountered.