Kyrian remained still for a few seconds.
Observing. Absorbing the atmosphere of the place.
The constant flow of people around him continued as normal. rchants pushed carts loaded with goods, so so heavy that the wheels creaked beneath the weight.
Cultivators walked through the streets, so in a hurry, others relaxed, all with their own destinations. Children ran between the stalls, laughing and playing, completely unaware of the magnitude of the place where they were.
As if it were just another ordinary city.
As if they were not standing on the back of a colossal creature crossing the skies.
As if all of this were normal.
But to Kyrian...
None of it seed normal. Not even a little.
He inhaled slowly. The air was different. Purer. Richer.
There was a density of Qi that he could now feel with his entire body instead of rely seeing with his eyes.
It was subtle. But constant.
There was probably an imnse Qi Gathering Formation throughout the city, sothing he could not see clearly, but that his new ridians perceived as a gentle pressure against his skin.
Like an invisible mist filling the entire city.
Kyrian closed his eyes for a mont. Simply feeling it.
The Qi flowed around him like a gentle current, not aggressive, not violent, rely present.
He could absorb it if he wanted to.
His ridians, those newly ford channels still in developnt, vibrated with the energy.
His gaze swept across the streets. Then he began walking. Without a destination at first. Simply exploring.
The first thing that caught his attention was the architecture.
None of the buildings seed to follow a single pattern.
In Red Smoke City, nearly everything carried volcanic influence, dark stone, slanted roofs, and smoking chimneys.
In the Cloud Empire, the buildings followed the imperial style, white, gold, and blue, with carved columns and curved roofs.
Here, it was different.
Every street seed to belong to a different region.
So buildings had curved roofs made of blue jade, so brilliant that they reflected sunlight like mirrors.
Others were built from black wood, dark and dense, with silver veins that glowed faintly.
So resembled military fortresses, with thick walls, watchtowers, and iron gates.
Others looked like ancient temples, with statues of unknown deities, burning incense burners, and hanging bronze bells.
It was as though architects from all over the world had left their marks upon this place. And perhaps that was exactly the case.
As he walked, Kyrian began hearing conversations.
Many of them. Hundreds. Thousands.
Various accents, so guttural, others lodic, others short and direct.
Different ways of speaking, so formal, so casual, so nearly incomprehensible.
For the first ti since leaving the Bloody Court, since beginning this journey toward the Central Territory, he felt as though he was seeing the true cultivation world.
Not rely an isolated region.
Not rely a handful of local forces competing for scarce resources.
But sothing much larger. Much more vast.
A huge comrcial square appeared before him.
Kyrian stopped.
And his eyes narrowed. The place was gigantic. Perhaps larger than entire districts within the capital of the Cloud Empire.
Hundreds of stalls occupied the square, so simple constructions of wood and canvas, others elaborate structures made of tal and crystal.
Thousands of people moved among them, buying, selling, negotiating, or simply observing.
The cries of rchants echoed from every direction.
"Freshly harvested spiritual fruits from the Eastern Region! Directly from the sacred forests! They restore vitality and extend life!"
"Storm Serpent scales! Perfect for light armor! Resistant to lightning and thunder!"
"Wood from the Southern Millennial Trees! Hard as tal, light as a feather! Ideal for weapon handles!"
"Crystals from the Frozen Depths! They contain pure ice Qi! Rare! Extrely rare!"
...
Kyrian walked slowly between the stalls.
And the more he observed... the more surprised he beca.
Many of the goods he simply did not recognize.
One stall sold translucent blue fruits. They looked as though they were made of crystal, their surfaces glowing with an inner light, while tiny particles of Qi floated around them like miniature stars.
Another sold black flowers that glowed softly in darkness, their petals seeming to absorb the surrounding light, creating small pockets of darkness in the air.
At a third stall, golden roots were arranged carefully upon a jade table, each the size of a finger, shining as though made from liquid gold.
Kyrian had never seen any of them.
Not even in the books he studied within the Bloody Court’s library. Nor in the records of rare herbs he had obtained in the Cloud Empire.
Nothing. That could only an one thing.
These materials ca from places far away. Regions he had never visited, perhaps had never even heard of.
Then his eyes stopped at a mineral shop.
And this ti, his surprise was even greater.
tals. Dozens of them. Perhaps hundreds.
So glowed with violet hues so intense that they seed to contain frozen lightning within them.
Others possessed natural patterns resembling lightning, silver veins running across their surfaces like scars.
There was a completely transparent ore, so pure that Kyrian could see through it as though it were glass, yet as heavy as lead.
Another seed to contain tiny stars within it, points of white light floating inside solid tal.
Kyrian observed them for a long mont.
Even though he was not a blacksmith, even though he did not fully understand forging processes or the properties of different tals, he could still feel it.
The absurd quality of those materials. The Qi emanating from them. Their density. Their purity.
A single piece, the size of his fist, would probably be worth more than several ordinary spirit weapons combined.
"Interesting," Kyrian murmured.
"Should I learn weapon forging as well?"
The question was not rhetorical.
"More knowledge is never a bad thing."
"Alchemy, formations, forging..."
"If I can combine all three..."
He stored the thought away for later.
Then continued walking.
Over the next several hours, as the sun moved slowly across the sky and the shadows of the towers stretched longer, Kyrian saw increasingly strange things.
A shop specializing in spiritual beasts.
Not common beasts like those he was used to encountering, wolves, bears, birds of prey.
Tiny creatures that fit in the palm of a hand, insects with shining carapaces, spiders that spun Qi-infused webs, scorpions with glowing tails.
Insects capable of producing extraordinarily rare poisons, poisons that could paralyze, kill, or even strengthen.
Birds whose feathers were made of spiritual energy, their wings glowing with a soft light, and every feather that fell transforming into a small Qi gem.
Crystal serpents whose transparent bodies allowed Qi to be seen circulating inside them like rivers of light.
Everything was different. Everything seed exotic.
As though this place had gathered fragnts of the entire world.
And then...
He finally found an answer.
User Comments
0 comments from readers