Lin Mu let out a small breath of relief.
"That's perfect timing" he said. "We've been here for over forty five days already. Another two weeks keeps us just under two months."
Daoist Chu finally lowered his jade slip. "Considering the low traffic to Fifteen Ryze World, this is faster than expected."
"Accelerated service helped," Elyon replied. "And your na did the rest. Looks like soone in the administration learned about you winning the tournant."
Lin Mu smiled faintly but did not comnt further. Titles and reputation had a way of opening doors, whether one liked it or not.
With the matter settled, the atmosphere in the courtyard relaxed almost imdiately.
"Well," Lin Mu said after a mont, "we have two weeks to spend."
Cattaleya's eyes glead. "You're thinking food."
"Partially," Lin Mu admitted. "But I want to explore the city properly this ti."
Daoist Chu chuckled. "I had a feeling."
And so, with no imdiate cultivation pressures hanging over their heads, the group set out to truly experience Khwanzim City.
The city of Khwanzim unfolded before them in layers.
Unlike many immortal cities that felt rigid and hierarchical, Khwanzim City felt... alive.
Wide avenues curved naturally around districts rather than cutting through them, and buildings flowed into one another with dod roofs, arched walkways, and sharp pyramidal peaks that caught the light in srizing
ways.
Water channels ran openly through the streets, not as sewage or drainage, but as living elents of the city itself, used for transport, aesthetics, and even cultivation.
Over the next two weeks, Lin Mu and his companions imrsed themselves fully.
They ate.
They wandered.
They observed.
Cattaleya treated the city like a hunting ground for flavor. Every morning, she dragged soone along to try a new restaurant, stall, or street vendor. From ocean beast skewers infused with mild strengthening effects to translucent soups brewed from jellyfish-like immortal creatures, she sampled everything with unrestrained enthusiasm.
ng Bai followed at first with excitent, then with growing concern.
"How can you eat this much?" He asked like many tis. as Cattaleya reached for her fourth serving.
"Body cultivator," she replied simply, already chewing. "Try again."
Little Shrubby was no better.
Once the beast discovered the local markets, he beca nearly impossible to restrain. Vendors stared in disbelief as a excited Shrubby enthusiastically pointed at herbs, roots, and fruits, occasionally even debating quality with seasoned rchants with Lin Mu acting as the translator.
To their credit, most rchants adapted quickly.
A beast that paid in high grade immortal stones was still a custor.
anwhile, Xiao Yin and Xiao Yang slithered through the city like curious children, marveling at everything from aquatic immortal beasts displayed in glass tanks to elaborate water formations used for street performances. At one point, they even tried to imitate a water dragon illusion, resulting in a soaked plaza and several startled pedestrians.
Lin Mu, however, had a different focus.
Books.
Libraries.
Shops.
Archives.
If there was a place that sold manuals, scrolls, jade slips, or fragnted records, Lin Mu found it.
He purchased books on cultivation techniques across all realms, from Spirit to Immortal. He acquired formation treatises ranging from foundational array logic to esoteric spatial constructs. He bought puppet manuals that traced their lineage back to the An clan, detailing everything from simple labor puppets to semi autonomous combat constructs.
Daoist Chu nearly choked when he saw the growing stack.
"You realize you've purchased enough material to bankrupt a small sized sect," he said dryly.
Lin Mu waved a hand. "Knowledge appreciates better than immortal stones."
rchants quickly learned his habits.
When Lin Mu entered a shop, the atmosphere shifted. Attendants straightened, managers erged from back rooms, and rare items that were never displayed suddenly appeared on velvet cushions.
"He always pays," one rchant whispered to another. "And he never haggles."
By the end of the first week, Lin Mu had beco known as the quiet but terrifyingly wealthy cultivator who bought books by the tens of thousands. Entire storage rings were filled with nothing but knowledge were handed to
him.
ng Bai watched all of this with awe.
"Master," he said one evening as they walked along a waterlit bridge, "are you
really going to read all of that?"
Lin Mu smiled faintly. "Eventually."
The second week passed just as quickly.
They attended puppet exhibitions hosted by descendants of the An lineage, watching humanoid constructs perform complex martial routines with flawless precision. Lin Mu studied the control chanisms closely, already envisioning how formation logic could rge with puppet cores.
They visited artisan districts where cultivators shaped water, tal, and light into living art. Lin Mu lingered there the longest, occasionally making subtle adjustnts that left masters staring in stunned silence.
They explored marketplaces built atop floating platforms, accessible only by water paths. Lin Mu bought rare ingredients. Cattaleya bought anything that looked like it could be eaten. The beasts bought... whatever caught their eye. At night, they returned to the White Bubble Inn, tired but content.
And slowly, subtly, sothing shifted.
The city began to rember them.
Not as tourists.
But as presences. Very rich ones.
By the end of the second week, Lin Mu stood once more at the edge of the inn's platform, gazing out over the ocean. The water answered him softly, waves
curling in greeting.
Two weeks had passed in a blur.
And soon, they would be moving again.
But for now, Khwanzim World had left its mark on them.
Just as they had left their mark on it.
The day of departure arrived quietly.
There were no grand send offs, no crowds gathering to watch them leave, no
long speeches or drawn out goodbyes. The Khwanzim World was not the kind
of place that clung to travelers. It was a world that accepted movent as a constant, as natural as the tides that shaped its shores.
Still, as Lin Mu and his companions walked through the Teleportation Hall one final ti, there was a subtle sense of closure in the air.
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