A Stroll Through the Prefectural City, Ice Hunting at the Market

In the teahouse's private room, the stove blazed, shutting out the noise and bitter cold beyond.

Chu Bai carefully put away the deep-blue Jade Slip bearing the Swimming Dragon Water-Splitting Art and the sea chart. His gaze settled on Xia Xing's earnest face across the table as he tapped a finger against the tabletop.

"Brother Xia, this gift is too generous."

"Compared to saving my life, what are a few worldly possessions?"

Xia Xing waved it off, then leaned forward eagerly. "Brother Chu, now that your supplies are ready, and you've only just arrived, why not stay at my place for a few days?

Sea Radiance Prefecture may be on the frontier, but the Sea-Opening Festival is just days away. The city has a specialty Spirit Cuisine called the Spirit Fish Feast, made from a hundred kinds of fish caught deep in the Frozen Sea. It's delicious and nourishes water-element spiritual roots. You could rest up and wash away the dust of your journey."

Faced with his old friend's warm invitation, Chu Bai did not accept at once. He turned slightly and looked through the half-open window toward the towering city wall, half-hidden in northern mist.

"I ought not refuse your kindness, Brother Xia. But..."

Chu Bai pressed a hand lightly to his chest. There, invisible to the naked eye, the Golden Shackles pulsed faintly with his breathing, giving off a heat and weight only he could feel.

"I bear the Merit Office's sentence. Exile for thirty thousand li is no empty threat."

He turned back, his voice calm but firm. "Director Zhu placed these Golden Shackles on me himself, both as punishment and as a means of supervision. They constantly suppress my Spell Power. Only by measuring the earth with my own feet, tempering my body and Divine Soul