Mage's Cultivation Journey 30

After the sudden and mysterious death of a Bone Forging expert, no one attempted to stand in front of us. The talk of searching us disappeared just as quickly.

I expected that result. After observing the locals for so long, I had long deduced that martial prowess was a currency of its own, one that came with great prestige. Albeit, what just happened with my unlucky challenger was too much even by the local standards.

That was where my seemingly effortless take-down paid off. Thanks to my control, no one knew that the attack had taken half of my internal energy reserves, which was my limit of keeping inside without risking an accident. After all, without meridians to support me, for all intents and purposes, I was still an Initiate, and I had limits to my capacity.

Unlike the locals, I could recover the internal energy I spent in minutes rather than days, but that would be noticeable; which would ruin the whole point of my bluff. The next time they wanted to test, they couldn’t just send another Bone Forging expert. They had to send at least an Organ Refining one.

And, according to what I was able to unearth, no local force could afford to lose an Organ Refining expert. With Connate Realm experts rarely showing themselves openly, Bone Forging experts were the leaders for every faction, too much to risk.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t have dared to return to Dongxi.

With the crisis over, I turned my attention to the details of the city. The first thing I noticed was the opulence. Compared to some of the wonders I had seen, Dongxi was nothing, though it was a hard comparison. How could an ordinary city compare to the great flying diamond cities of Mage Lords, or the dimensionally warped walls of the academy?

The opulence surprised me because of the contrast with the outer city.

Considering the state outside, I expected the walled parts of the city to be suffering somewhat. Thin people, maybe some distress, some panicking figures. There were none. It was like we had stepped into another world entirely.

I expected the Liao family to be fueling the situation for their own opportunistic aims, but the extent of it surprised me. It was a momentary flicker, though. I had been subjected to much crueler sights.

The same didn’t apply to the kids. Both Yu Xing and Su Mi watched their surroundings with fuming eyes, to the point that I felt the need to distract them. “It has been a great choice coming here, young master,” I said, my tone excessively sarcastic. “Look how warmly we have been greeted.”

Hun Chu opened his mouth. “I’m sorry, great—” he started, but I cut him off.

“Don’t speak unless spoken to,” I cut him off, my tone even sharper. Yu Xing looked surprised at my outburst, but Su Mi subtly poked him, warning him to play his role. Good.

“Don’t insult my friends, steward,” he replied, which gave him a better outlet for his anger. We traded several barbs until the kid stopped looking at civilians like they had murdered his family.

The way Hun Chu sweated in panic while we fought was entertaining.

That argument might have distorted Yu Xing, but it wasn’t enough to keep me from properly examining the area. The buildings were clean, well-maintained, and expensive. Many were made from hardwood, decorated with semi-precious stones. The roofs were carefully fitted and shaped, looking like works of art. Mediocre works of art, but still…

Though, the thing that surprised me the most was the signboards. Every building had its name with a fancy, carefully drafted script; but the thing that caught my attention was the feeling they radiated. Not all of it, only some of them, usually belonging to the richer buildings.

But, I could feel a hint of the meaning even without reading the words. Though, only a few of them were clear, most of them felt muddled even with my mental power.

It must have been the true power of calligraphy. I had experienced it during my own writing, but back then, it was even more vague. Su Mi didn’t seem to be much other than calligraphy experts being as valued as experts in other, more practical fields, like blacksmiths.

Their value, I didn’t feel particularly on the manuscripts we purchased about the martial arts, but I suspected it to be more about their low quality than anything else. It was clearly more complicated than just writing well, as shown by my own practice.

Soon, I realized we weren’t taking a straight path. Hun Chu was being subtle, but he took a path longer than necessary, likely to give his superiors a chance to learn about what had happened at the gate, and adjust their plans.

It also gave me a chance to better understand the city.

However, as I walked, I noticed something else. The number of guards patrolling the street. Unlike the gate, they were not just from three factions, but many smaller families as well. However, that didn’t mean the three main ones were absent. The most crowded was still the Liao family guards, followed by the Azure Blade Union and the Iron Mountain Alliance.

None of the patrolling guards was strong. Only a fraction of them were martial artists, and even then, only Initiates. I assumed the stronger ones either patrolled during the night, or directly responded to incidents.

Then, I turned my attention to the goods. Weapons of each type were sold openly, not just swords and spears, but also various more exotic weapons like chains, spiky gloves, and many others.

Though, another interesting detail, none of the shops sold metal armor, limiting the goods to leather armor at best. That, I assumed, was due to practical needs, until I noticed another group of patrolling guards.

They carried the official sigil of the city, and all but one of them were at Skin Refinement, led by a Bone Forging expert. They wore thick, bulky armor, one that would make them a dangerous opponent to target with my needles.

Only after seeing these elites, I realize the lack of metal armor had another, likely political, reason.

Interesting, but not enough to pique my curiosity for more than a moment. It was clear that the official mayor of the city had paid very little attention to how the city was managed; likely due to their limited local power.

But, once we passed through a street filled with stalls selling medicinal goods, I turned my attention to them. They were far more relevant to me than the local power structure. Unlike the limited number of plants we were able to discover in the wild, I could see a huge variety of plants, some flesh, others dried or otherwise preserved; but all radiating a certain energy.

“Blackroot ginseng, ten years old,” a merchant proclaimed, slapping the table. “Only four hundred taels. Don’t miss it!”

I didn’t stop but examined the structure. The ginseng was radiating energy on the surface, but underneath the surface, I could feel certain parts of the plant were already dead, likely suffering from some kind of parasite or disease.

No wonder the merchant was trying to sell it desperately.

That was not the only plant that was being sold. There were many stalls, though their prices were often in the tens of taels of silver. It was still significant enough. Back in the village, ten taels would see a household for a year. Here, it merely purchased one of the cheaper plants.

Soon, we arrived at our destination. A large, walled compound near the center of the city, taking over several blocks. The walls were tall, imposing, and guarded by a sizable team of martial artists, none of them weaker than Muscle Reinforcement, with a significant minority already in Skin Refinement.

I didn’t need to ask any questions, as its identity was clear at the entrance. Iron Mountain.

The name was proudly displayed on a signboard, the characters radiating an aura stronger than any other piece of writing I had seen on the way. It displayed reliability and confidence, but also a subtle threat; that any attacker would shatter themselves at the outskirts of their presence, hapless.

I admired it. It was surprisingly beautiful … for an indirect death threat.