Paraj's Big Auction

A few days after the end of the preliminaries, and the day before the main evaluation to reselect the array masters on the Alterna Kingdom Minor Ranking, there was another big event about to occur. It was an auction that the city would co-host with Coin Storm Auction House. This event was more highly anticipated than the preliminaries and the evaluation, in addition to attracting a wider audience, so this was one of the times when the city saw the most visitors. However, unlike in other cities, this did not lead to an increase in conflicts due to arguments between visitors and locals, but no one was sure what would happen at the end of the event. It would be nice if things closed on a civil note, but depending on the situation, a bloodbath could occur even if the city was serious about preventing one.

Around the time when the sun began to fall, Shui was by the entrance to his room in Myriad Flower Pavilion, waiting on Emily. After the death of Adler, they had no need to be worried even though Paraj began investigating, so Emily took her time and finally decided not to enter the main evaluation. However, she hadn't tried to finish her transformation into an array grandmaster either. Instead, with Shui's advice, she had taken a day to break through to the Earth Realm.

After absorbing the innate insights of Dull Harmony, Emily could tell that she was ready to breakthrough to the Earth Realm, but she delayed it because she wanted to focus on the preliminaries. Regardless of whether she moved on to the main evaluation or not, Emily planned on making her breakthrough since it would improve the strength and flexibility of her soul. However, she had no one to guide her in taking the next step, that was where Shui came in. Although she did think about asking Astar to help her, Shui was her first choice, mainly due to her trust in him.

"I would say there are two paths you can take pertaining to what you use as the core of your phantom palace. You can use an array flag or another object with significance in arrays, or you can choose to build your foundation on the five elements, with something like an elemental crystal."

Emily was aware of the first path, as it was common for array masters to use arrays as the basis of their phantom palaces, but she wasn't sure of the other option that Shui provided.

"The five elements? I understand the theory better after absorbing Dull Harmony's innate insights, but I only have a good affinity with fire and earth."

"Your affinity doesn't matter, what's important is your comprehension. Do you understand the difference between an array master and an array grandmaster?"

"Yes. It's in the quality of the soul and the connection to the natural laws, right?"

"Exactly, you should have noticed by now that you're beginning to form a connection with the natural law of the five elements. This is a divine law so it won't be easy, but the benefits will be well worth the struggle. You can still create a connection to the natural law of the five elements if you use an array as the basis of your phantom palace, but the other way will make it easier for you to progress as a tier 4 array grandmaster."

Once Shui's explanation was over, Emily had a pensive expression as she pondered. The Mortal, Soul and Earth Realms were sometimes referred to as the fundamental realms, and the Earth Realm was considered the most important of them since one's phantom palace would grow in importance as one progressed on the path of cultivation. As a cultivator, using the five elements for her phantom palace was clearly the better choice, but she valued her identity as an array master more. However, after being introduced to the law of the five elements by Dull Harmony, she couldn't deny that the idea fascinated her.

Emily thought about it for a few hours, but she made her choice on the same day and finished her breakthrough in time for the auction. She didn't tell Shui what material she used as the core of her phantom palace, but her cultivation didn't have any disturbing flaws so he didn't ask. Even among family, there was no need to expose one's entire hand.

In present time, Emily appeared before Shui in a robe similar to what she wore to the banquet. He wished she would have chosen something cuter, but he knew how troubled she was about how she looked because of her new title.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes, let's go."

The two left the room and went down to the lobby, where they met with the siblings of the Sphere clan. As those who stayed at this inn had fat pockets, the majority were going to the auction as well, so the lobby was more packed than Shui had ever seen it since his arrival. However, it seemed there was some form of unwritten rule as no one crowded the exit, and everyone stayed in groups or by themselves until they felt that it was their turn to leave.

When Shui and Emily reached the siblings, they started off with greetings before Alicia brought up Emily's cultivation.

"I see you've broken through, congratulations."

"Thank you."

Alex also congratulated her, then he asked, "You haven't made any progress in your array techniques; are you still planning on joining the main evaluation?"

"No, but I didn't want to rush. For now, I want to focus on familiarizing myself with the natural law that I'll use as the core of my future arrays."

"That's good. It seems I can look forward to my new rival."

"I just hope that you can keep with me."

Emily's arrogant side tended to come out more when she spoke with Alex, but this was part of her charm so it came off as cute rather than offensive. Shui didn't tell her, but whenever she stuck her chest out with a smirk on her face, he was struck with the urge to grab and lift her into the air.

When the time came for them to leave, Alicia led the way to the exit. The venue of the auction was easily reachable by walking, but for several reasons, they had a carriage waiting for them outside the inn. The carriage itself was stuck in a line of carriage traffic, but people crowded the roads as well so it was hard to say which route would be faster. However,

"Oh my, great heavens! Is that the Little Puzzle Princess?"

"I believe it is."

"She's with the two from the Sphere clan."

"And that must be the mysterious prince."

Emily felt a burden of fatigue the moment she was recognized, but she smiled through it when she noticed Shui's puzzled look as he heard his new title.

"Is this your first time hearing it? Since you're the handsome young man who saved the princess, they started calling you a prince."

Emily showed him a teasing look as she thought he was experiencing her pain, but she underestimated the thickness of Shui's skin.

"Is that so? Prince, huh? It could be worse."

"Huh?"

Unaware that Shui already had a history of strange titles, Emily looked at him with bafflement as he pulled her towards the carriage.