Aer walked up to the clerk at the Lion's Tail, putting on her best 'good customer' smile.

"Excuse me, would you happen to have any Saint-Level healing treasures in this store?"

The girl looked at her in shock, furiously shaking her head.

"N-No, young miss. We here at the Lion's Tail may be extremely renowned for our rare treasures, but you would have to bargain with the head of one of the great sects or guilds in order to attain such a thing. May I perhaps instead interest you in a Third Circle healing elixir?"

Young miss, huh?

Aer chuckled. "How many do you have?"

"Uh, young miss... Are you implying that you require more than one?" The clerk looked terrified at the prospect.

The Saint nodded, smiling in an attempt to ease the girl's nerves. "It's fine if you only have one, though! Every little bit helps!"

"Ah, well… we have two in total. Would you like both of them?"

"Yep! That'd be great!"

"Alright. That will be 80,000 greater spirit stones, or 800 peak spirit stones."

"Ah, um… would you guys happen to accept spirit jades?"

The clerk flushed, and Aer quickly put her hand out, reaching into her bag of holding.

“Sorry! Forget I said anything. 800 peak spirit stones…”

She rummaged around in her bag, coming up with barely a third of the amount.

“Here, uh, give me a sec. I’ll have them out in a jiffy.”

"Alright. Please wait here while I get the treasures. Not to intimidate you, but we have two peak Synchronization guards looking over the storefront, so please do not attempt to steal anything while I'm gone."

Aer smiled again, trying to look as harmless as possible. No reason to scare the poor woman any more than she already had.

“800 peak spirit stones, huh?”

She rarely had such large amounts of mortal currency on hand. Still, on this world, whipping out a spirit jade was like putting a giant target on her back. Maybe she could offer them a minor wind artifact to trade?

As she searched through her bag for a suitable item, she habitually reached out to sense the air near her immortal’s cave. Ah, there had been a release of air mana just a few moments ago. Was Rynn practicing a new technique? No — the currents were moving almost as if…

Her mana sense sharpened, and she felt dozens of foreign bodies surrounding the twins.

“Sorry for the wait, young miss. Here are the —”

The girl’s eyes widened as the Saint unleashed her aura, channeling mana through her limbs just to prevent herself from collapsing.

Aer frantically withdrew a spirit jade from her bag, tossing it at the clerk with an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I’ve got to go! That should cover everything!”

In an instant, she grabbed the two pearls, stuffed the remaining spirit stones in her bag, and disappeared into the air with a resounding crack.

***

Aer arrived at the scene with a muffled curse. Dozens of Hong clan Elders surrounded her disciples, preparing to incinerate them with a hailstorm of fire. She lifted a hand, ready to restrain them in the blink of an eye, but stopped herself. Was that… their mother?

"I thought that you would grow up to be the star of the clan, a prodigy not seen in generations! Instead, it looks as if you're nothing but an incompetent leech, just like your brother." "

Aer bristled, but not at the insult to her training. Scorched, angry skin covered the length of Seira’s forearms, still radiating heat from a recent attack. How could this woman attack her own child like this? Lightning gathered in her palm, but she once more stopped herself.

"I have no problems with being compared to my brother."

The ambient mana was dense, a clear effect of the numerous fire cultivators in such a small area. Yet, despite them being outnumbered, it was the twins that moved the energy in ripples, their collective will harmonizing with the fire in the air to produce something… new. Or, rather, perhaps she should say old.

Their mother lifted a hand, channeling mana into it to make it glow red-hot.

The Saint dug her nails into her palm, swallowing. Deep breaths. She knew of a similar technique, a lightning-based one that… she had used to torture information out of rival sects. Still she restrained herself from intervening.

She could save them at any time, but this desperation, this single-mindedness displayed by the twins? They had clearly felt the waves of battle earlier in this fight, and now they were feeling each others’ energy.

An open palm descended on Seira’s bowed form, and a sword came to meet it. Kiro flashed forwards faster than she had ever seen him, his killing intent so potent that it might have matched Aer’s own.

The young man fought against his own mother, matching her blow for blow even as his mana flow slowed to a trickle. Aer felt his rage, his protectiveness, his panic at having seen his sister in so much pain. She felt the ambient mana move with him, resonating is sync with his every beat. She felt Seira subconsciously join him, her green aura a stark contrast to the sea of red yet flowing in the same dance as all the others.

Then, their mother gained the upper hand, deflecting all of Kiro’s strikes with a conjured shield.

"Oh please! We are family! It was my duty as her mother to discipline her! I simply regret that I hadn't done it more, to rid her of your influence!"

His mother conjured a titanic flame-serpent, and Aer could feel the frantic movements of the ambient mana slow to a halt. There was no way for Kiro to deflect such a powerful technique, and if he dodged, it would simply hit his sister.

Then, Seira rose, glaring in defiance of her mother’s control. "I only have one living relative, and he's currently protecting me from you."

Her will reverberated with the mana, restarting its dance with a burning pulse. A moment later, Kiro’s will joined with hers, accelerating the harmony to a breakneck pace. And, as the song of energy reached a crescendo, Aer added to the chorus, driving their duet past the limits of ambient mana.

Kiro desperately channeled the remains of his core into Rain, but it wasn’t enough. The rune eagerly drank up his mana, but the bare drops he had left were not near enough to power such a powerful technique.

Aer hesitated, preparing lightning in her palm once more. Had their bond not been strong enough to react? She could have sworn that —

Something burst between the twins, and suddenly Seira’s mana came flooding into her brother. Aer grinned from ear to ear, pride welling up inside her even as she lamented Seira’s injuries. Seira’s core was also near-empty, but that wasn’t a problem. The Saint pushed her own mana into the rune, using her bond with the blade to accomplish a similar feat to what the twins were doing.

Lightning mana filled the gaps between fire and pseudo-destruction, activating the rune with a woosh.