Chương 54: The Path Forward (Part IV)

Tears threatened to spill from Wang Chen's eyes as he looked at the city far ahead. Backing the sea, protected by cliffs on one side and connected to the Azure Magpie Forest at the front, Three Feathers City stood beautifully, gleaming under the sunlight. The city was enormous, as large as a kingdom's capital, and was known as one of the most important merchant hubs in the Golden Peng Empire. It easily fit hundreds of thousands of people.

"Father, we are here," Wang Chen muttered, his voice strained with emotions he had held back for too long. Originally, the Bai Clan's caravan was meant to arrive here before they were murdered by those four rogue cultivators. A soft hand touched his shoulder. Despite what she felt, Bai Xiaomeng offered Wang Chen a gentle smile. Her eyes were also filled with unshed tears, as she too had lost too many people on their journey. Throughout the past week, they had spoken more, though she remained distant.

Only now, as they approached the city the Bai Clan had once dreamed of living in, did they share this warm feeling. As they looked at each other, they were suddenly interrupted by a muffled voice.

"Keep going," Lucian said from inside the slightly opened silver box.

"We need to find a place to camp and wait for nightfall." Nodding to each other, Wang Chen and Bai Xiaomeng guided the horses away from the main road. The trio had spent some time talking about their next step, and the first hurdle they had to overcome was how to enter the city. Unlike most merchant towns, Three Feathers City received the majority of its trade through sea routes. Being directly connected to the Great Sea, it imported unique goods into the Empire and served as a cornerstone of the maritime economy.

Not only that, but there were rumors that no sect or clan could interfere with the city's affairs, allowing mortal merchants and companies to thrive within it, as well as rogue cultivators' organizations. The only drawback was that the city forbade merchants from transporting goods out of the city through the Azure Magpie Forest. Anyone wishing to export goods inland had to load their valuables into a ship and transport them to another coastal town!

This rule was treated almost as a taboo, to the point that successfully smuggling goods through the Azure Magpie Forest was unheard of. Throughout its two hundred years of history, some had tried, but either bandits or something else had stopped them. What mattered for Lucian and the others, however, was that while the city prohibited exporting goods by land, it did allow merchants to enter without issue. But only if they could prove ownership of their goods.

The Bai Clan had possessed documents and scrolls verifying ownership of their valuables, but most had been burned during the raid in their camp. Needless to say, Xu Hua had no proof of ownership for anything, much less for the Spirit Stones he had hidden. That meant that unless Lucian and the others found an alternative way, they would be stopped at the gates and forced to surrender their cargo. Such a peculiar system, Lucian thought. Most merchants I know would not care where the goods came from.

Wang Chen had mentioned that his father and uncles believed the City Lord feared someone would steal a sect's relics and then enter the city, causing mayhem. But Lucian knew better. Either thieves would have the resources to forge proof of ownership, or sects would claim whatever caught their interest, forcing the City Lord to comply. So no, Lucian did not believe the City Lord feared the sects.

In fact, he believed the City Lord should have power and influence to keep this city away from the nearby kingdom's claws. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. In his opinion, either one of the major sects could be behind Three Feathers City itself, or something else was holding them back. Well, it doesn't matter who is behind it, as long as they don't change their rules, Lucian thought.

They gather the rich and lustful alongside the poor and desperate, accepting everyone with open arms. This merchant city will be my cornerstone! An important thing to note was that while no sect openly interfered with the city, it did not mean there were no cultivators inside. In fact, there were many. Before the war, there were more cultivators in Three Feathers City than in most of the southern kingdoms combined.

Mortals would interact with them daily, and cultivators worked in dozens of jobs, including in the city guard. Everyone needed money to eat, after all. With the war, the influx had grown even greater, as rogue cultivators sought to board the first ship they could and flee as quickly as possible to the south. Because of that, the city's inspections were at an all-time high, and along the city walls, cultivators' corpses hung beside their wanted notices, listing crimes committed across distant kingdoms.

Night fell during Lucian's recollection of everything he had learned about Three Feathers City. While Wang Chen helped Bai Xiaomeng prepare the campfire, he left the sealed box and studied a map with his crimson vision. After absorbing Xu Hua's knowledge, Lucian had learned how to read and write flawlessly, so that was no longer an issue. In fact, his map was marked with circles and notes, places he intended to visit once his current plans were complete.

The most conspicuous one was to the north, where the flames of war burned the fiercest, while the two nearest ones were Three Feathers City and a nearby salt marsh. Lost in thought, Lucian didn't take his eyes off the map when Bai Xiaomeng and Wang Chen finished setting up camp and began preparing dinner. As usual, they made portions only for themselves, given that Lucian had never once eaten with them. Noticing him deep in thought, Wang Chen coughed to get his attention.

"What's the plan, Benefactor?" he asked, stealing glances at Bai Xiaomeng. Truth be told, Wang Chen asked that question because he knew she would join the conversation, and he missed hearing her voice. Folding the map, Lucian looked up at the starry sky, tapping his fingers against the fallen tree trunk he sat on.

"Burying our goods here won't solve our problem," he said thoughtfully.

"We won't be able to retrieve them later without causing a commotion. And I don't want to call too much attention so soon." Bai Xiaomeng and Wang Chen exchanged uneasy glances, not wanting to imagine what kind of commotion he meant.

"We could bribe the guards under normal circumstances, but with rogue cultivators everywhere, they will be on edge, not accepting a stranger's gold," he clicked his tongue. Humming softly, Bai Xiaomeng tried to contribute.

"Maybe we can hide some gold and Spirit Stones in our clothes and enter with those."

"Won't work." Lucian waved his hand dismissively.

"They can detect hidden objects. The front gate uses a Qi Condensation artifact designed to track valuables. You don't need to know what that is, just that currently I can't hide anything from them." Both Bai Xiaomeng and Wang Chen were surprised by how much he knew, unaware that Xu Hua had discovered this during his time in Three Feathers City. The two fell into thought, eating slowly, until Lucian suddenly sighed.

"Well, as I expected, the most efficient method is contraband," he said, tapping the wooden trunk twice.

"Finish eating and take a rest. After that, I need both of you to move the goods to the coast below the cliffs. I marked it on the map, along the path you should follow."

"What? But how—" Wang Chen began.

"It's either that, or you enter the city without me and find a smuggler at the docks to transport the goods by sea," Lucian said, shaking his head.

"Negotiating with them isn't the problem. Ensuring they don't kill you before or after seeing what we have is." Hearing that, Bai Xiaomeng quietly stood up.

"We will do as you instructed in the morning, Grand Cultivator Lu Xian," she said, bowing slightly before moving to her sleeping spot. Wang Chen followed her with worried eyes, unsure of what to do. Surprisingly, Lucian spoke, offering him advice.

"I treat you as a beast and an experimental subject, but never forget she doesn't," he said, his gaze fixed on the night sky as the image of a blonde woman surfaced in his mind. It was a way for him to mask his fake concern.

"She sees a person. You should do the same. If you don't see her like a person that can make her own choices, you will lose her." Shaking his head, Lucian stood up. He didn't care enough to say much else, as just by looking at Wang Chen's confused eyes, he saw he had achieved his goal. Next, he emptied his pockets of every valuable except two gold coins, got onto a horse, and rode toward Three Feathers City. His plans after finding a way into the city with their goods were simple.

Find and kill as many cultivators as necessary to achieve a breakthrough in the Qi Gathering realm. Gather resources and connections to learn more about this place and how he arrived here. And build a sewage system beneath the city. That last one was the most crucial in the long run.