Chapter 25 – Nephew Once More

  The dozen demonic beasts charged forward. The bigger one, whom Diyuan decided to call Greater Lionsmane Stalker, was at the forefront. It was three times the size of the regular Stalkers; its claws tore up the ground as it ran, and the elbow blades threatened to cut up the lesser creatures next to it. If he wanted to distract them from attacking the people in the ravine behind him, he would need to need the beasts to see him as their only threat.

  Diyuan ran forward and made Wind’s Edge appear in his hand. He jumped over the ravine openings in the ground to make his way to his opponents. He couldn’t realistically fend off the Greater demonic beast while letting the smaller ones run by, so he would focus on the little ones while taunting the big one.

  But just as he was about to throw his spirit artifact, something caught his eye from above.

  An umbrella spun in the air, flying towards the demonic beasts. Sharp tips were located on the edges of the umbrella’s canopy.

  “Hey, mortal! Step back!”

  Diyuan obeyed instantly. He halted his own charge and jumped back. The umbrella spun even faster and released a rain of blue spirit energy, shaped like thin needles that pierced the ground and several of the demonic beasts. Diyuan turned to look and saw two women coming his way. The fact that one of them had thrown the umbrella and attacked from this distance impressed him.

  In no time they came into range and ran past Diyuan. They were low level, being at level 1 Spiritweave and level 2 Spiritweave. One of them had a fan and waved it once, causing a gale of wind to hit the umbrella, which made it spin faster, releasing a new wave of blue spirit energy to attack. The other woman jumped up and caught her umbrella, though it seemed like she was weightless while she had hold of it. She flipped in the air and closed the umbrella, then dived into the ground with her unconventional weapon acting as a spear. It struck true on the Greater Lionsmane Stalker, exploding out a force of power. The few remaining lesser Stalkers were thrown back.

  The fan cultivator swung her fan again, causing a different kind of gale, sucking in all the demonic beasts together. She threw her fan, covered in blue spirit energy, and had it slice through all the remaining smaller demonic beasts.

  Those fan movements reminded Diyuan of his old rival, Gu Mugong.

  The umbrella woman’s movements were flashy and sturdy. She was the level 2 Spiritweave cultivator and she used her umbrella’s canopy as a shield when the greater demonic beast attacked. But its claws and blades could not pierce through the fabric. The level 1 Spiritweave fan cultivator started attacking as well, making it be a two versus one battle.

  Yet, despite all that, something else caught Diyuan’s attention. He was rather ashamed to admit it, too.

  The way these women dressed was…less than what he was used to.

  They showed far more skin than what anyone did back in the Shroud. Their top revealed eye-catching cleavage, and their robes had high slits that flashed their thighs pretty readily. In some cases, the robes flowed in such an easy way that the decorative shorts underneath were plainly visible. The women did not seem to care. Rather, the robes seemed to be designed to do just that.

  Diyuan was half memorized by the blatant show of skin and half paying attention to the unique combat style of an umbrella. It had a good combo with the fan weapon, where the two worked in tandem against the now-powerless Greater Lionsmane Stalker. The demonic beast tried to get around the umbrella’s shield by swiping out with its tail, but the fan would create a gale to circumvent it, or the umbrella would create a force that pushed it back. Whenever the umbrella wanted to pack a singular powerful hit, the canopy would close and she would wield it like a tipped sword.

  Seeing as how the greater demonic beast was getting wounded by these low-level cultivators, Diyuan figured he could have killed it on his own with just his Wind’s Edge. He made his spirit artifact disappear and watched them kill it at last.

  “Sister Xiaoya, did you see me! I didn’t hit you once with my attacks,” said the level 1 Spiritweave cultivator. She opened and closed her fan eagerly. The lower parts of her robes flowed with the wind, flashing the decorative shorts underneath. Diyuan averted his eyes.

  “I won’t praise you for that which should be normal, Sister Min.”

  But this Sister Min held her head up high, proud of her achievements. They both had somewhat matching colors for their garments, colored in a light blue and white. Each of them had ornaments in their hair, which glinted in the sunlight. They were both relatively young. Since they were in the Spiritweave realm, it became harder to tell their actual age, but at least it wasn’t as unusual as Captain Guang being nearly 40-years old but still at level 3 Foundation.

  They finally turned to Diyuan, noticing him.

  [He’s kind of cute,] said Min the fan user. [But he hasn’t thanked us once yet.]

  [He’s a mortal who had just thought he was about to die until we came. His mind is likely in shock,] said Xiaoya.

  Min took two steps forward and waved enthusiastically. “Hello. Hi. We’re from the Virtuous Wind Sect.”

  Diyuan saluted with a fist-in-palm. They didn’t know he was listening in on their private sound transmission. A neat ability he was able to do using limitless Mesmer’s Echo. “Hello. I am Yuhan Diyuan.”

  The two of them waited as if they were expecting something more, but Diyuan didn’t know what.

  [Odd. Let’s go visit the others and see if they’ll give us anything as a reward. Need those contribution points,] Min said.

  [Don’t expect too much. And don’t give them trouble if they can’t afford anything.]

  [Yeah, yeah.]

  Diyuan motioned to both of them. “Come, let me introduce you to the other escort guards. I’m sure they’ll be thankful for your intervention.”

  “That’s a good mortal,” Min said with a bounce as she moved in the direction he pointed her to.

  Diyuan kept his face controlled. He wasn’t sure how to take her attitude towards him. Xiaoya followed behind with more feminine grace, though didn’t bother to look at Diyuan as she passed him.

  He found it strange that they called him mortal when they were only at the Spiritweave realm. While it was true his cultivation level was technically lower than theirs, with him being level 9 Foundation, their senses of him should show that he was at least level 5 Foundation—just a step away from Spiritweave himself.

  The level differences didn’t matter to him; he was still capable of killing them both in combat if needed. He had watched how Xiaoya used her umbrella and thought of ways to counter it. Not that he would go out of his way to pick a fight. He wanted to be on good terms with the Virtuous Wind Sect. An actual sect might have a unique perspective when it came to understanding his Mesmer’s Echo, an arte that had a description that didn’t work, but did a great many other things unrelated to said description.

  They came upon Captain Guang and the others, who had hurriedly traveled further just before the fighting started. When they saw Diyuan and the two women come into view, they quickly stopped what they were doing and saluted.

  “We greet the Immortal Maidens!” Captain Guang shouted.

  [Yes, that’s how it should be,] Min said. She hopped down into the path below, her bare legs revealed during the jump. The escort guards all had their eyes facing the ground.

  Xiaoya jumped down as well, so Diyuan joined them.

  “It’s lucky that we came just in time,” Min said. She held up a pouch and let her fan slide inside. The pouch was far smaller than the fan itself, but that didn’t seem to matter. Some sort of storage bag, like the storage ring? “We saved one of your people from being mauled by the strong demonic beasts. Why are there people all the way out here? Mortals should know how dangerous the Burnt Lands is.”

  “Answer, Immortal Maiden,” Captain Guang said, still holding his salute position. “We wanted to avoid unnecessary trouble and took a different route to travel to Fengpo city.”

  Min tapped her chin. “Hmm. That doesn’t add up. Who would go into the Burnt Lands to avoid trouble?”

  [Sister Min, don’t forget that our Senior Sister said to not get involve with Fengpo politics,] Xiaoya said privately.

  “This…” Captain Guang didn’t know what to say.

  Silence passed, where no one spoke. Or at least it was silent for others. Diyuan listened in on the conversation between the two women from the Virtuous Wind Sect.

  [No, Senior Sister said not to cause unnecessary trouble,] Min corrected. [I’m pretty sure the person inside the carriage is the Madam Mei Yi, the one some people are claiming is a demonic cultivator. Can you imagine what kind of goodies we’ll get if we turn her over?]

  Senior Sister? It sounded like they used honorifics unironically on this side of the Shroud.

  Xiaoya had her umbrella resting on her shoulder. She spun it slightly. [She also said demonic cultivators don’t sprout horns; whatever is happening is politics that we shouldn’t care about. And this so called ‘beast wave’ could hardly be called that. Since this is your first time out for experience, it might be best if you didn’t cause any trouble. Otherwise, you and I both might be kneeling for an entire day.]

  Diyuan, who was leaning against the wall rather than saluting, spoke up for Captain Guang, who was now visibly sweating. “We heard that the Virtuous Wind Sect was supposed to be clearing out the demonic beasts, which was why we took this route.” The escort guards looked at Diyuan as he spoke, uncertain what to make of a stranger representing them. “We were a bit surprised to have been attacked by demonic beasts several times already. If we had known it would still be dangerous, we would have went elsewhere.”

  [He’s not cute anymore,] Min said with a frown.

  Xiaoya suppressed a smile. “A request came to have my Virtuous Wind Sect investigate a claim of a potential beast wave, but we’re not due to come for at least another month. I do not know why you thought we would already be here.”

  That information caught Captain Guang by surprise. According to the information that this Gaoshe person had given them, the Virtuous Wind Sect was supposed to have already been here.

  Diyuan saluted. “I see, it was our misunderstanding.”

  “Immortal Maidens…” Captain Guang reached into his pouch and pulled out a pill. “This isn’t much, but you have saved us truly. Please take this as our thanks.”

  The other escorts guards started to pull out their own small pouches or healing pills they didn’t use when they were injured previously; apparently the pills were reserved for injuries far greater than scratches.

  [Finally, a proper offering!] Min leaned forward to take a look at the pill Captain Guang offered. Diyuan noticed it only had one line on it. She must have thought the pill was too poor for her, since she scrunched her face. She walked away from him, not taking his pill, and looked at the offerings brought up by the others. But none of it caught her eye. She eventually reached Diyuan, who offered nothing, and gave him a dirty look before walking away. [Nothing! All junk!]

  [I did say to temper your expectation, Sister Min,] Xiaoya said.

  [Whatever. Watch this plan instead.] Min turned to the escort guards. “I won’t burden you too much, please keep your goods. Instead, I want to receive the demonic beast core of the Lionsmane Stalker that we killed above. I’m not a fan of cutting it out myself.”

  Captain Guang bowed lower, happy to finally receive a command. “We will do as you ask, Immortal Maiden.”

  He started barking orders to the other escort guards, who all then started to climb up the wall with their hands and feet. They spared a look at Diyuan, who kept leaning against the wall, not moving anywhere. Soon after, it was just the two women from the Virtuous Wind Sect, Mei Yi in the carriage, and Diyuan.

  [Why did you tell them to get the demonic beast core?] Xiaoya asked. [That Lionsmane Stalker was only at the Brute rank. Its core has just barely formed and isn’t good for anything.]

  Brute rank?

  Back in the Tribulation Shroud, there were no ranks for demonic beasts. They were considered as strong as whatever pocket world they were in. Typically, a Dharma-level pocket world would have Dharma-level demonic beasts, and that was that.

  Then again, they also had zero demonic beasts out in the open world. They had all gone extinct, so perhaps a ranking system was necessary to help categorize their strength.

  [I don’t actually need it. I just wanted them gone so I can…] Min looked over and got annoyed from Diyuan’s casual posture. [Why is he still here? You’d think this mortal would be dying to get our approval after we saved his life. I’ve never met such a rude mortal in my life.]

  [You’ve only been down from the mountain for a few days. You’ve barely met any mortals,] Xiaoya said.

  [Anyways. So listen to my plan. You know how Senior Sister said the demonic beast wave just happens sometimes and doesn’t need a demonic cultivator to trigger it? Well, what if we turn in this Mei Yi woman to the city? The concerns about a demonic beast wave will stop anyway, but we get credit and contribution points! Tell me I’m a genius.]

  Xiaoya visibly sighed, adjusting her umbrella to stay in the shade. [You might get contribution points, but you better believe we’ll be kneeling for days once Senior Sister finds out.]

  [A good trade, then. I just need to prove she has the horns everyone’s talking about and we’re good to go. No one can blame our Sect if we take her by force then.]

  As if I’ll let that happen, Diyuan thought.

  Min took the conversation as approval to do whatever she wanted. She basically hopped over towards the two-wheeled carriage. “Hey! You haven’t greeted us once yet. I find that to be suspicious. Is there a reason why you’re hiding?”

  Movement beyond the curtain. “Forgive me, Immortal Maiden. I am sick and didn’t want to spread my illness to others around me.”

  “That’s fine, but I’m an immortal so there’s nothing to worry about. Now then, let’s take a look…”

  Just as Min was about to reach out to pull at the curtain, Diyuan flicked his wrist.

  Fwip!

  Diyuan’s spirit artifact, the Wind’s Edge, was now edged into the carriage, just inches away from Min’s outstretched hand.

  Min pulled her hand back and shot a glare at Diyuan. “How dare a mortal attack an immortal!?”

  Xiaoya moved her umbrella, ready to throw it if needed. Diyuan heard the escort guards start to rush back from harvesting the demonic beast’s core.

  “Are you an immortal? Or are you a bandit?” Diyuan asked calmly, taking three steps to the side so that his spirit artifact lined up to him just right.

  Captain Guang arrived first. He jumped down the topside and immediately went into a deep bow salute. “Immortal Maiden, please forgive us if we’ve offended you!”

  “Knock it off, Captain Guang,” Diyuan said. “These two women intended to kidnap our charge.”

  The other escort guards arrived and jumped down as well, entering a bowing salute, but Captain Guang looked up at Diyuan with a confused expression.

  “How dare you accuse me!” Min’s face was getting red. “I am from the Virtuous Wind Sect. If I don’t have an explanation today, you better believe I will get justice against every single one of you! No one would complain if we executed you all today for attacking us!”

  “How dare I?” Diyuan took a step forward. “First, you sent everyone away to harvest a worthless demonic beast core. Everyone knows the bigger Lionsmane Stalker was only at the Brute rank.” Of course, Diyuan learned that himself mere minutes ago. “Next, you’re aware that we’re taking an unusual route to Fengpo city, where we believed this route was safer due to intervention by the Virtuous Wind Sect; and yet, you were about to force yourself upon our charge despite our caution. Such deceitful behavior by you does not match the righteous reputation of the Virtuous Wind Sect, so I cannot help but ask—who are you to pretend to be part of the righteous Sect?”

  [Sister Xiaoya! I’m about to kill this mortal! Convince me not to!]

  Xiaoya rested her umbrella back on her shoulder as she took several steps forward. The escort guards were still bowing low in a salute position, growing more concerned by the second. Diyuan stood straight, unbothered.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “It is not wise to offend who you shouldn’t offend,” Xiaoya said. “Throwing a weapon at an immortal may seem brave, but you should know we have powers that you cannot comprehend. Even if you tried to stab our eyes when we slept, it would not pierce.”

  “Yeah! You dare to make an enemy out of my Virtuous Wind Sect?” Min huffed up.

  “You’re right about one thing,” Diyuan said, raising a hand towards the carriage. The two looked at him with a confused expression. “It is unwise to offend who you shouldn’t offend.”

  He recalled his Wind’s Edge spirit artifact.

  The dagger flicked out of the carriage and spun. It flew through the air, cutting Min’s cheek as it passed, landing into Diyuan’s hand with a soft thwick.

  Min held up her hand to her cheek, feeling the warm blood that was now slowly flowing down.

  “A magic artifact!” Xiaoya blurted out, shocked.

  Min’s face became full of rage. She looked like she was about to start shouting, but held back as she looked at his weapon. A spirit artifact—the great equalizer when it came to closing cultivation level differences.

  Diyuan looked at his spirit artifact with indifference. “You say I would make an enemy out of your Virtuous Wind Sect; and yet, if your Virtuous Wind Sect cared about you, they would have warned you to not be involved with the affairs of Fengpo city. If they did tell you and you ignored the wise advice, would they really blame me if you died here and now?”

  Captain Guang’s eye went wide. “Y-you can’t say that to an immortal!”

  Min didn’t say anything, but her sound transmission to Xiaoya had a tone of wary. [Sister Xiaoya, what does he mean? Are there other sects here that we don’t know about? I thought the Supreme Sun Sect still had their doors closed.]

  [I don’t know, but Senior Sister did say to not get involved in general. If he has a magic artifact, there’s probably an immortal backing him that doesn’t want to publicly show he supports the Sunset Garden. It might not be good for us. I told you not to do it…]

  [No you didn’t! You just said we would have to kneel when we got caught!]

  And now for Diyuan to diffuse the situation. His goal was to be on good terms with the Sect, after all. He saluted to both of them, which made them look at him like he had grown horns himself.

  “But it would be understandable if we did something suspicious. If that is the case, please take this as compensation for causing the wound on your cheek. I may have been overly harsh to the maidens of the Virtuous Wind Sect,” Diyuan said. He made a pill appear in his closed fist and tossed it over.

  Min caught it, looking slightly interested in what it could be. It wasn’t anything special, just a proper healing pill.

  [Sister Xiaoya…this…this is a high-grade healing pill! Do you know how many contribution points I can get from this! Where did he get this from?]

  [Just more proof that he has a backer. Aren’t you going to use it to heal your cheek?]

  [I can heal it with any stupid pill. Selling this will let me buy so many other things.] Min looked up at Diyuan. “Ahem. We were both wrong, then. I will forgive you this once. I acted in haste, so what you did was understandable.” She looked over at the escort guards and identified the one who held the newly formed demonic beast core. She held up her hand and used spirit control to fly it over to her palm. She gave a glare at Diyuan. “And this is useful! For reasons you don’t know.”

  Min pivoted and started walking to the wall, preparing to jump.

  [Since when did a Brute’s core become useful, Sister Min?] Xiaoya asked with an amused tone. She walked up to Min and merely held up her umbrella. She floated up without effort.

  [Shut up. He doesn’t need to know I’m just pretending.]

  [You’re right about one thing: he is cute. For a mortal, anyway.]

  Once Min jumped up, the two women left the rest of them alone. After a moment, each escort guard breathed out a sigh of relief. Captain Guang looked at Diyuan like he couldn’t believe the wayfarer was still alive.

  Diyuan flicked his dagger to remove the little bit of blood that was there and made it disappear into his storage ring.

  Yibei’s eyes went wide. “A s-s-st-st-st-storage—”

  Captain Guang clasped his hand over the younger man’s mouth, muffling him. But that didn’t stop the others from now looking at Diyuan’s ring. Some of them looked like they had forgotten what it was they were supposed to be doing.

  “Captain Guang, we should get moving. It would be nice to reach the city before sunset after this additional delay,” Diyuan said.

  The older man finally came back to his senses, and starting barking out orders. He didn’t seem to care that a wayfarer had given him instructions and followed orders as if it was the natural thing to do. Before long, they were trekking along again, ready to reach the city in a few more hours.

  Diyuan walked next to the carriage window.

  “Young Master Yuhan…” Mei Yi said softly. “The number of people who would be willing to offend immortals for me is not many. If it pleases you, you may call me Auntie going forward, and I will call you Nephew. If there is anything I can do you for, you need only ask. You have done far more than what I could have expected.”

  “Auntie?” Diyuan smiled. He was reminded of when Uncle Xunran wanted to be called uncle after Diyuan offended a higher-level cultivator. Life repeated. “Well, I need a place to stay in Fengpo. I have no arrangements at the moment.”

  “I will find you the greatest of commendations. But I do have a word of advice, though I am sure you don’t need it.”

  Diyuan heard some scritch-scratch sounds inside. A moment later, a piece of paper was handed over through the edge of the curtain. He took it, noticing that her hands were delicate and normal; nothing that resembled the horns she had on her head.

  He read the paper.

  Storage rings are coveted by all – even immortals. To show it is to invite trouble.

  Diyuan nodded. If storage rings were rare on this side of the Shroud, he would need to take precaution. Such a thing wasn’t a problem in the Shroud; storage rings tended to be found in the weaker pocket worlds and never really ran out. In fact, he had more than one storage ring in his possession, where he kept many from the cultivators he had killed.

  Several hours passed as they made their way to Fengpo city. The dry wastelands transformed into greenery the longer they travelled. It gave Diyuan a moment to consider everything he had seen and experienced so far.

  Terms like “mortals” and “immortals” were used quite freely. Even someone at the Spiritweave realm had considered themselves an immortal. Their attitude towards those they called mortal was a bit hierarchal. Part of that reminded him of the old days, before the tribulation thunder destroyed the world. Back then, there was such a gap of treatment that even the heavens judged and destroyed everything when the mistreatment against mortals became so terrible that it couldn’t be ignored.

  If storage rings were rare, which came from low-level pocket worlds, then what was the pocket world situation like here? Were there multiple pocket worlds appearing regularly, like back home? Or was it rare, much like how spiritual energy in the air seemed to be thin?

  Other differences on this side of the Shroud needed to be noted. Talismans didn’t work. A three-lined perfect tier one pill got a Spiritweave cultivator excited for whatever reason, when it was the standard expectation for alchemists back in the Shroud.

  He had several next steps. First, a map of the area. Second, figure out why talismans don’t work—they were his key weapon if he needed to fight against someone higher than level 3 Spiritweave. Third, determine the rarity of spiritual resources, such as herbs used for alchemy. Fourth, get a feel on the relationship between immortals and mortals. And lastly, confirm if he should be interested in visiting the Virtuous Wind Sect, or if he should go elsewhere.

  While all that was happening, he would need to pay attention to his Foundation core. He also reminded himself that once he had recovered enough of his spirit energy, which had been drained inside the Carcass Grotto pocket world, he would try to absorb the Extinction jade tablet. Before he left the Shroud, a first look at it showed it would have taken him a long time to completely absorb it. However, he suspected he could drop it to just several days once he was at his peak again. That would be his final Foundation arte slot, since level 9 Foundation didn’t have a slot in itself.

  The city of Fengpo came into view. It was a walled city, which helped deter threats of demonic beasts. The city had multiple entrances, but different entrances were controlled by different factions. The south entrance they neared were guarded by men in armor and helmets. One in particular was a large and tall man, with two spears on his back. That man noticed them and quickly made way, his platoon of troops following behind him.

  Captain Guang and the other escort guards stepped away and saluted the incoming man. Diyuan did the same.

  “Madam Mei Yi, your Right Guardian greets you.” The leader saluted the carriage.

  He was level 5 Foundation from what Diyuan sensed. Which could be higher, he admitted. The size of the man made Diyuan think he could probably wield both spears in each hand at once if he wanted to. That would be a neat way to fight. What interested him more was how his basic standing stance was coiled with readiness. He had some martial skills.

  “Was the diversion a success?” Mei Yi asked.

  “Yes. However, we were ambushed. Left Guardian was injured and must…recuperate for several weeks. Gaoshe has betrayed us.”

  A brief silence followed as Mei Yi digested whatever the double meaning was for the Right Guardian’s words.

  “Yes, I suspected as much. We’ve learned the Virtuous Wind Sect was not due to defend the lands for another month. Fortunately, we had still prepared our diversion as a precaution. Ah, that reminds me, meet my new nephew, Yuhan Diyuan.” Mei Yi’s hand pushed the curtain slightly and motioned to Diyuan. “He is my benefactor and has saved us quite a bit of headache. He even threatened two immortals for my sake, if you’ll believe it. Please find him a room at one of our inns.”

  This Right Guardian looked at Diyuan for the first time, sizing him up and down. Diyuan didn’t know what he thought, but the big man simply nodded. “So it is Junior Diyuan. I am Zhai Tielong. A friend in crisis is a friend for life. I will ensure you are accommodated.”

  They continued into the city, where Guardian Zhai Tielong motioned to one of his platoon men, who was to set Diyuan up with what he needed.

  “Nephew,” Mei Yi called out as Diyuan was about to leave. “After I resolve my…physical ailment, I will call for you. Settle in and see a bit of the city.”

  Diyuan saluted as he watched Mei Yi, the escort guards, and everyone else leave. As they went, he decided to activate limitless Pungent Poison Purifier on Yibei. It might not do anything, but limitless Benediction Balm was still unavailable after fixing his cracked core. If the stutter was still there when he got his map, he’ll try the other method to heal it.

  He was now alone with one of the platoon men.

  The city of Fengpo. There were some things he had learned about it when he walked with Mei Yi. It was a bustling place, where all sorts of people lived. It was originally a small hub where immortals from different regions gathered to trade. Since there were demonic beasts in the western forest area and the southern dry lands, some mortals had expanded the hub into a livable area as they hunted for demonic beast cores to trade to the immortals.

  Mortals took it a step further and created a function that supported the trade. At the center of the city was the Infinite Wealth Auction House, which held a special immortal market once a month. And a Golden Auction once every six months.

  Diyuan decided that he would need to see what the auction house was all about. However, his thoughts kept getting distracted as he travelled down the streets of Fengpo city. When he had met Xiaoya and Min from the Virtuous Wind Sect, he had been surprised by their attire a bit, with all the skin they were showing. It turned out to not be unique to the Sect.

  Many women wore clothing that accentuated their bodies and skin. Some even wore garbs where their belly was plainly visible. There was another who wore something like the multi-layer robes, but it cut off at the thighs. They either wore some tight leggings that helped showcase their body in a way bare skin didn’t, or just kept to the decorative shorts. Diyuan came to learn quickly that the decorative shorts underneath was consider normal wear and not something that was shameful to reveal in public.

  If the goal was to draw the eye, Diyuan hated to admit that they succeeded. The clothing style was varied and fashionable that it made him want to soak in the sight. But that would also make him a pervert, he assumed. Meanwhile, most of the men had dull clothing. They would have certain armor pieces on their arm, shoulder, chest, or elsewhere, which Diyuan had identified to be crafted from the parts of demonic beasts.

  Armor in itself was seen as an unnecessary luxury in the Shroud, unless someone had come across a rare demonic beast and had all the parts they needed. Most of the time, the demonic beast parts were better suited for other things, considering its rarity. They would instead simply rely on their cultivation level or artes when it came to defense.

  The inn he was led to was high class. Everything looked cleanly furbished, shiny, and presentable. A dining area was to the side, with windows facing the streets. There was a second floor, which could only be reserved by those of high wealth or status. It was one of those rooms he would receive.

  His guide had introduced him as “the Madam’s nephew” to the man in charge of the inn, so Diyuan garnered a great deal of more attention and respect. The guide left, stating that he would leave the rest to the host.

  His room was large and had a place for meditation, where they placed a nicely designed mat.

  “Some immortals would come and stay here during auction periods,” the host explained when he saw Diyuan looking at the setup.

  “Who is Auntie Mei Yi in this city?” Diyuan asked.

  “You don’t know? The Madam is one of the most influential people in the city. She is the owner of the Sunset Garden and has control of basically everything south of the Infinite Wealth Auction House. We pay tribute to her, and those who are considered her family can stay here for free.”

  Diyuan knew that Mei Yi and the Niu family had some conflict, but hearing that she apparently had influence over half the city could pose a problem for him if he got involved in something he shouldn’t. He had aided her until now, but it didn’t mean he needed to continue to do so. Once he got what he wanted, he would depart.

  After the host left, Diyuan sat on the provided meditation mat and focused inward. His spirit energy was recovering even faster than before. At the current recovery time, he should return to his normal peak within two to three weeks. He was currently at a point where he should be able to use artes comfortably without a real concern if it came to it, but figured it would be best to not have any intensive fights for the time being. Once he returned to peak form, he would look to absorb the Extinction jade tablet.

  When he finished his introspective examination, he left the inn. He would first wander about and get a better feel of the city. At this point, the sun was hanging low in the sky, bringing evening into full swing. While his inn was classy and quiet, other establishments were rambunctious and could be heard through their open windows.

  His goal wasn’t necessarily to explore the city, but to listen in on conversations. He would pause on one street corner and extend out his hearing.

  The most common topics were the internal and external strife happening. The external strife was the so-called demonic beast wave. There wasn’t any real concern on this topic, as there were walls and forces at each gate. No one expected a full-blown siege, since Fengpo would be protected by immortals before it came to that.

  In fact, there was new news that the Virtuous Wind Sect would be coming in about a month, around the same time as the next six-month Golden Auction. Diyuan mused that this information would probably have been helpful to Mei Yi, and had likely been suppressed until now.

  But it was helpful to Diyuan. It wasn’t just the Virtuous Wind Sect that was coming, but all sorts of immortals from all around. Once they gathered, he wanted to get into contact with them all and confirm who might be best able to help with his situation. Therefore, simply waiting in the city for the next month would save him some trouble. As for the Virtuous Wind Sect, while the two woman he met already were from that sect, they didn’t seem to hold any real authority.

  The internal strife within Fengpo city was the conflict between the Sunset Garden and the Niu family. Diyuan didn’t hear how it originally started, but it escalated and there had been a battle outside the city. The patriarch of the Niu family was apparently injured when he fought one versus two against the Right and Left Guardian of the Sunset Garden. Injured, but still capable of great power if anyone tried to take advantage. The Left Guardian had been injured as well, so both sides expected a bit of a stalemate for the time being.

  There was a claim that Madam Mei Yi was a demonic cultivator. The Niu family used that rumor and tried to forcefully obtain evidence, which could be used to turn the city against her. Unfortunately for them, she was not with the Guardians during their ambush. Without strong evidence, it was hard for the public to pick any specific side, but it sounded like it was an unspoken (or spoken privately) agreement that the rumor started because of the Niu family.

  During his observation, Diyuan witnessed how the lower classed and upper classed people interacted. There was no such thing as a non-cultivator walking around by themselves. They were always attaching themselves to the hip of those stronger, acting as their servants or talking them up. It became apparent why, as establishments tended to fill up as the evening progressed and people made it a game to see who they could get kicked out.

  Groups of people would purposely find taverns or restaurants that were already full to the brim and demand a spot. They would typically aim for the weakest cultivators. It seemed to be common enough that those challenged might leave with only a little fuss, though the leader of the weaker group would then bully their own allies, as if it was their fault for being kicked out and losing face.

  Down the street a fight broke out. Diyuan went out to look and found that the same face-loss situation was happening, but this time it was between two level 2 Foundation cultivators. It became a small group fight, where the losing side was the one who had two non-cultivators among his group. He smacked them a little as they were forced to leave.

  It was then that he recognized something. Everyone in the city was weak. Their cultivation level rarely reached level 3 Foundation. And for those who were at that level, they walked about in large groups, acting like celebrities.

  But the entire attitude was odd. This was still Mei Yi’s territory, and Mei Yi herself was a non-cultivator. Would they treat her the same way as they treated the other non-cultivators? He doubted it. But it also made him curious if the situation was the same outside of her territory.

  So Diyuan wandered more to the east side of the city. He passed by areas that were already closed for the day, such as some school area, a dojo training area, and certain antiquity shops. There was also an escort agency with guards out in front. They dressed similarly to Captain Guang and his people.

  Additional conversation was heard along the way. Apparently some women were “missing,” and the gossip was that they likely ran off because of their marriage prospects, or secretly joined the Sunset Garden.

  Eventually, he reached what people had called “the Black Brigade” territory. At first, Diyuan thought it would be some military style force, but it turned out to just be bandits. Some bandit members were already walking in groups of two or three. They would pick people out from the crowd at random and demanded their “protection fee” to be paid upfront. This was apparently how they paid for their drinks—if they paid at all. Diyuan witnessed as some drank at taverns, got drunk, and left while ignoring the tavern owner’s look. Other patrons merely shook their head, as if this was expected.

  Diyuan decided it was best to avoid these ruffians by sticking to the rooftops. If they wanted to rob him up here, he would simply knock them down. None of them reached level 3 Foundation, anyway.

  Night settled as he continued to watch and got a feel for the city. The overall game for the Black Brigade was the same as everywhere else: to pick on those that were weaker. And if anyone had non-cultivator servants around them, they were purposely targeted, where the Black Brigade group would bump into the non-cultivator’s shoulder and demanded injury compensation from the group leader. That resulted in fights.

  The two women from the Virtuous Wind Sect happened to walk down the street that Diyuan was watching over. They apparently didn’t sense him up on the roof.

  [Ugh, we have no place to stay,] Min complained. [I don’t want to have another banquet with Martial Brother’s family again. All the males in the Niu family have eyes on us that are always lecherous.]

  [If we don’t stay, he might get offended,] Xiaoya said, still walking around with her umbrella on her shoulders.

  [Then let him! Bah, I hate mortal cities.]

  Min decided to take her frustration out on a random group from the Black Brigade party.

  “You, mortal! I’ve seen you rob the innocent. Hand it over,” Min said as she held out her hand.

  [And when did you see them rob someone?] Xiaoya asked.

  [They don’t know I didn’t. But they probably robbed someone. Ah—see! They’re giving me coin.]

  The bandit group ran off, all their pride and bravado completely gone. She held up the coin she had in her hand. Did they use coins as currency here? How did its value compare to that of a spirit stone? She was apparently satisfied with what she got and left.

  The bandits themselves, however, decided to make up for it by attacking and stripping a helpless man who was out doing night deliveries.

  Everywhere was lawlessness. There was no group that protected the weak, like his family’s Core Guards who enforced laws in all six Zhengyi cities. But even without the Core Guards, this attitude in general wouldn’t be allowed at all anywhere within the five clans of the Tribulation Shroud.

  Yet, Diyuan was conflicted. His religion stated that non-cultivators should be protected from cultivators, per Heaven’s law. While to be a cultivator was to go against the heavens in general, this was a law that shouldn’t be challenged. If tribulation thunder was still a thing, those that acted out the most in this regard would simply be killed by the tribulation thunder that came with a breakthrough to the Dharma great realm.

  But there was a punishment even greater than that, the punishment of a world destroyed.

  Although, the world wasn’t really destroyed in a true sense, was it? This place beyond the Shroud was like a new world all together. They had their own culture, with their clothes and how they addressed each other. Where was the so-called destruction? Such life wasn’t what he would have expected after everything he learned.

  Part of him desired to step in and get justice for the non-cultivators. But could he? Was it his place to do so? He was still merely a Foundation cultivator himself. It wasn’t like he had Ancestor Tianhou’s power.

  At the same time, before the tribulation thunder rained down on the world, no one stood up for justice. Not even the original Zhengyi clan.

  In the eyes of some, Ancestor Tianhou could be considered a tyrant for his actions. But he was also strong enough to force everyone to obey.

  What he wanted now was a map of the world. He wanted to see if this world beyond the Shroud had its own Tribulation Shroud surrounding them. The threat of the Shroud shrinking certainly helped to keep everyone back home in line. And even if there wasn’t a separate Tribulation Shroud surrounding Fengpo city and elsewhere, then he wanted to see how the people of the world viewed the current Tribulation Shroud that imprisoned the five clans. Maybe that would help him understand why the people in Fengpo were so open about looking down on non-cultivators.

  Diyuan sighed. If he was to act, he wanted to leave behind something to continue to act in his stead when he was gone. After all, he wasn’t strong enough to replace Ancestor Tianhou as the world’s tyrant.