"My friend wanted to meet you," Fan Jie continued, respectfully gesturing to the person beside him. "I’d like to apologize for the rudeness of bringing him here without prior notice. Don’t blame Han Bai and Meng Song. The decision was solely my own. They protested against it, and against my better judgment and theirs, I decided to act against their wishes to accommodate Daoist Tang Xiadan, who wanted to personally thank you for the gentle yang pineapples and the silver ice tear guavas he had bought from you at the auction.

"Their quality moved him to want to thank you personally, and given the nature of the request, I felt compelled to fulfill it. Gratitude, as I have come to learn," he said slowly, "has its greatest effect when expressed boldly rather than implied." He paused. "Still, regardless of my thoughts or intentions, my actions were improper, and so I’d like to apologize and at the same time shamelessly ask for your understanding," Fan Jie added, cupping his fists in apology.

Yang Qing wasn’t sure if there was any sincerity in it, but he accepted it nonetheless. "There is no need to apologize, Owner Fan Jie. If anything, I am the one indebted for the Vast Blue’s generosity and how accommodating you have been toward me," Yang Qing said sincerely, rising from his seat to cup his fists at Fan Jie.

Fan Jie’s motivations and actions aside, Yang Qing was genuinely thankful for how the Vast Blue had treated him, more so in the matter of the heart-quenching mulberry dew. Divulging a customer’s details wasn’t something many merchants would do, and if they did, a sufficient price would have to be paid for it. Neither Li Gang nor Han Bai nor Meng Song had asked anything of him, and they were well within their rights to demand a significant price or reject his request altogether. For that, Yang Qing felt he owed them. Well, not Fan Jie, but the others, certainly. Actually, given Fan Jie’s temperament, Yang Qing wasn’t entirely sure that cunning owner had even been made aware of his real reason for being here. He felt likely not.

Yang Qing then turned toward the middle-aged figure and cupped his fists. "As Owner Fan Jie has likely told you," he said, flashing Fan Jie a quick, meaningful smile before bringing his attention back, "my name is Yang Qing, and it is I who should be thanking you for your more than generous offer, Daoist Tang Xiadan."

"No, no, it is I who should be thanking you. Fan Jie wasn’t exaggerating — I have never seen gentle yang pineapples of such quality. If anything, the amount I bid for them hardly seems fair, which is precisely why I pressured Fan Jie, Meng Song, and Han Bai to bring me here. I should be the one apologizing for the intrusion," Tang Xiadan said, cupping his fists toward Yang Qing before moving to introduce himself. "My name is Tang Xiadan, a wandering explorer and devout student of wonder," he added.

"I’m a student of that school myself," Yang Qing replied, smiling as he made a welcoming gesture toward the table. "There is still wine to share."

They all nodded and took their seats. Han Bai and Meng Song settled on the futons to Yang Qing’s left as they offered apologetic nods, Fan Jie took the one to his right, and Tang Xiadan took the one directly opposite him.

Meng Song moved to serve, but Yang Qing politely stopped her and offered to do it himself. A white ivory gourd appeared in his hands. "I did promise to treat you, didn’t I?" he said to Han Bai, who flashed a rare small smile at the reminder. "I look forward to it," Han Bai said.

Yang Qing went on to pour his cherished wine, starting with Han Bai, then Meng Song, then Tang Xiadan, whose eyes never left the gourd, before finishing with Fan Jie and finally pouring one for himself.

Raising his cup, Yang Qing smiled at the group. "To the spirit of gratitude, new friendships, and the endless wonders of the world."

And to savoring your expression when that wine hits your tongue, Owner Fan Jie, he silently added, glancing sideways at the corner of his vision as he brought the cup to his lips.

That Tang Xiadan truly is not a simple figure, Yang Qing pensively thought, watching as the latter’s gaze remained fixed on the gourd, surprise continuing to bloom within those beetle-like eyes.

The Empyrean World Jade Wood that made the gourd had a subdued aura that rendered it no different from ordinary jade wood to the naked eye. Looking at it, one wouldn’t think it was a saint-grade material only a level below the Ten Thousand Dao Jade Leaf tree among jade trees.

What it gave off was the aura of ordinary jade wood, and it would take the seasoned senses of a domain expert to see past that. Even Yang Qing himself hadn’t known the nature of the material, and it had taken a gold eagle guard at the middle stage of the domain realm and a special inquisitor of the same cultivation base to part that fog for him, to reveal that the gourd he had naively assumed was made of ordinary material had in fact been crafted from the wondrous saint grade Empyrean World Jade Tree.

Given how shaken and enamored Tang Xiadan seemed, it appeared he had seen through the gourd’s true value, something his compatriots to his left and right showed no signs of having done.

Yang Qing didn’t know if Tang Xiadan had seen through it completely to the point of discerning its true nature, but given his reaction, even if he didn’t have the full picture, he had clearly gleaned enough to know the item wasn’t ordinary. And yet, as far as Yang Qing could tell, Tang Xiadan was not a domain expert.

While Yang Qing couldn’t tell his exact realm, he gleaned enough to know Tang Xiadan was at least a palace realm expert. As for not being able to pinpoint the stage, he attributed that to Tang Xiadan being at a higher stage than him, more than likely in the late stages of the palace realm. Had he been in the middle stages, Yang Qing felt confident he would have been able to tell, just as he could with Meng Song.

It was the same with Han Bai. Just like with Tang Xiadan, he couldn’t accurately grasp his realm beyond knowing he was somewhere in the palace realm. Fan Jie was another matter entirely. Try as he might, Yang Qing couldn’t feel any cultivation fluctuations from him whatsoever, as though the man had no cultivation base at all. No doubt the work of some concealing treasure, which, though decent, was likely not a particularly powerful one. After all, given how thorough the Flying Shadow Hawks’ report on the Vast Blue was, whatever treasure Fan Jie was using to obscure his cultivation had done him precious little good against their eyes. They had seen through not only his realm but had even gauged how many years he had left.

Yang Qing was tempted to conveniently blurt that number out just to unnerve Fan Jie, but decided against it, his focus occupied by their new guest.

How was a late-stage palace realm expert able to see through something that would have required the senses of a powerful middle-stage domain expert?

Mmh. Yang Qing’s soul jerked as he felt his physique suddenly stir, triggered by something emanating from Tang Xiadan. Usually, when such a thing happened, it was because something yin and yang related was at play, and given the strength behind the tug, Tang Xiadan likely had quite a powerful yin or yang-related item on him. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

This is interesting, thought Yang Qing. He might not be able to discern the cultivation realm of those with a significantly higher base than his, but if something was yin or yang related, even at the saint grade, it could forget about escaping his senses. After all, what did peerless in Peerless Jade Physique mean? It meant without equal, and for a Peerless Yin and Yang Jade Nature physique, that meant standing unrivalled in the domain of yin and yang.

Yang Qing couldn’t help but revise parts of his earlier guess on Tang Xiadan’s reasons for bidding on his items. It still hadn’t changed in his mind that Tang Xiadan had done so with an agenda, but with the way things were panning out, that agenda now seemed to have little to do with him being a judge and more to do with the gentle yang pineapples and silver ice tear guavas. After all, those two items had been soaking in his yin and yang essence for a long time, and in terms of purity, they were no less than whatever item Tang Xiadan had on him.

Supreme Yin, Yang Qing thought as his physique immediately identified the qi signature of whatever Tang Xiadan carried that had set it off.

Maybe out of coincidence, or some heightened intuition, Tang Xiadan suddenly switched his attention from the gourd to Yang Qing, looking even more flabbergasted than before, confusion and wariness flickering beneath the surface as his gaze settled deeply on him.