Chương 25: 17.2. Travel To The Capital

Faust woke up early. He had a lot of ground to cover and he would fly through the night to reach the provincial capital of Azure Water province by morning, where he planned to take a flying ship to the Imperial Capital. Selecting some resources he thought he would need for the mid stage Open Palace realm, Faust poured all his coin savings into his spatial pouch. A grand total of 22 thousand imperial gold.

"Haah…" Faust exhaled as he looked over from the cliff face not far from his mansion. He admired the morning scenery, the golden rays of sunlight filtering through the mountains and making some places seem impossibly dark in their shadows. Breathing in the sharp morning air, Faust stepped on his flying sword and shot up into the air.

He had already made a letter for the administration office— which handled the more standard requests in a side building of the administration hall— for where he was going, for how long and why. A privilege of Inner Sect disciples. It was going to be a long flight. Long Tao ran. He ran fast as the wind, taking careful breaths and even strides over the relatively flat terrain of Soft Meadows. Sweat poured down his face as he squinted his eyes in focus, looking forward.

"KREEEE!!!" A giant green boar. Easily 8 meters tall roared behind him. The ground shook with every step, flattening a path through the golden weeds and pale lavender flowers. The old ghost floated beside Tao, rubbing his chin as he looked back.

"You know… There was no reason for you to wake it up when the mission was just to collect some spirit herbs nearby." He commented dryly. If he could respond, Tao would cry that this was unfair. He hadn't even done anything. The beast just woke up and charged at him. Unfortunately, he was preoccupied with maintaining his breathing pattern, lest he run out of stamina before the beast. But suddenly, Tao felt his foot hit something.

"AaaaaHH!" Tao plummeted into a narrow ravine head first, holding his hands in front of him.

"Hold the walls!" The old ghost shouted in his ear. Tao extended his hands and legs outwards, scraping against the wall as he pushed Qi into them to support his first level of body tempering. Rock, dirt and roots caught his hands, scraping skin off and fracturing bone until Tao finally came to a stop, holding the walls of the ravine while upside down.

"Haaa. Haaa.. Huuu…" Tao breathed raggedly, before stabilising, exhaling calmly and inhaling slowly. Readjusting his limbs, Tao slowly rotated himself until he was pressing against one side of the ravine with his legs and resting his back on the other side. He looked around. Dark grey stone surrounded him, with dark brown soil covering places and roots sticking out. The walls were sloped slightly, so he was a bit closer to lying down than his back being straight.

"Hmmm. There's a surprising amount of Wood Qi down here. Far more than up there." The old ghost added, looking around himself. Tao looked down, then, carefully, he turned and got a grip on the side of the ravine that sloped down steeply. He slowly began climbing down. Soon, despite the darkness, glowing moss appeared, along with deep green vines. The soil became a more perfect dark brown while the stone went from gray near the surface to almost black.

Eventually, squeezing through a gap, Tao landed on flat ground, where a small cave stretched for tens of meters. Glowing bluish white rocks were embedded into the wall and a small underground river flower through one side of the cave. At the center of the cave was a short, wide stone platform, covered in symbols. A skeleton in ragged clothes, torn and dulled by insects and humidity, sat cross legged, its skull hanging low as it stared at a pristine book sitting in front of it.

"..." Tao looked on, slowly stepping towards the skeleton, as if drawn by an inexplicable force. His boots squelched loudly on the mossy ground, covered in a thin layer of cold water.

"Hmm… It seems like… A Deity Transformation expert's corpse?" The old ghost examined the skeleton up close, floating away from Tao's side.

"Died of… Exhausting their natural lifespan? Ten thousand years? Only… A few centuries ago…" The old ghost continued. Tao stepped right in front of the corpse, half a step from the raised stone platform. He cupped a fist in his hand and bowed. The old ghost looked to the entrance where they had come from.

"An earthquake must have opened up that crack, revealing this place to the world." Tao reached for the book, reading the title.

"Devouring Heaven Art."

"An ominous title." The old ghost floated back to Tao's side, reading the book along with him as he flipped the pages. Tao narrowed his eyes and tilted his head.

"I don't get it." The first page, then the second and third. He could read the words, but he didn't understand at all what they were trying to explain.

"Hmmm… It appears to be unsimplified." The old ghost explained.

"Do you know what it says?"

"..." The old ghost didn't respond, then he disappeared into Tao's necklace.

"..." Tao's eyes twitched. He looked at the skeleton, then gave one more salute and bow before turning. The old man may not have known how to make his own techniques or decipher unsimplified techniques, but he knew two people in the sect who could. Tao crawled out of the ravine, poking his head outside. The green boar was gone. He sighed in relief, before pulling himself out of the narrow trench, so small it became completely invisible in the waist high meadow after just a few feet.

The sun began peeking over the horizon again. Faust yawned. He had been flying for nearly 24 hours without stopping— though he had certainly done worse to himself in the past. Still, it was jarring as always to see the sun rising after having not slept. His body perked up by itself and his eyes regained some vigor, as if responding to the rise of the sun. Looking out into the horizon though, Faust saw the provincial capital coming into view.

The road below him was already packed with hundreds of carriages and countless more people trying to enter the city, with another crowd of people already beginning to stream out. The forest dropped away in an instant, replaced by miles upon miles of farmland, as far as the eye could see. Slightly submerged rice fields filled the area, water flowing from massive stone channels that could only lead to the enormous Azure Water Lake that gave the province its name.

Faust also saw other people on flying swords, except instead of approaching the lower gate entrance at the wall, they all approached a floating wooden platform high in the sky. Faust lowered his altitude a bit and slowed down. He kept looking down at the line of wagons and people. For as large as the provincial capital was, it seemed a bit excessive for the line to be spreading more than a few kilometers. He rubbed his chin in thought. Soon, Faust came to land on the massive wooden platform.

A large stone courtyard was laid on top, several desks lined one end, in front of which were a few lines of other cultivators. Some ornate wooden buildings with gold shingled roofs and two rows of stone soldiers surrounded the stone courtyard to the left and right. Faust tried not to see through anyone since it was rude, but even with the clashing energies and Qi blurring the area, he could still see through people's realm as if by second nature.

Most of the people here were at the late stage of Qi Refining, where short trips by flying sword became possible, with many more at the peak stage. The rest were all at various stages of Meridian Opening. Faust picked a line at random and joined it. The Imperial scholars at the front were all at the peak of the Meridian Opening realm and their hands moved like lightning across the pages. He didn't think it would make much difference. For a while, the platform was silent.

The scratching of quills on paper was still audible over the quiet whispers between some of the people gathered.

"Fellow daoists, does anyone know why the Man Gates are so crowded? I saw the line before I even saw the farms." Someone whispered to no one in particular.

"The Ruby Demonic sect has been really active the last few months." Someone responded.

"The Ruby Demonic sect? I thought the Clear Mirror sect dealt with them over a century ago?"

"I don't know either, they've been out in force gathering sacrifices lately."

"Did anyone else hear they even made an attack at the Clear Mirror Sect Recruitment?" A third person chimed in.

"Seriously!? They even attacked the sect?" A fourth person.

"Hey! There's a Clear Mirror sect Inner Disciple over there." One of the first two people pointed out. Faust felt a few eyes turn to him and mulled it over. Since the sect was ultimately successful in repelling the attack with minimal casualties, it seemed fine to share a bit of news since it would probably travel this far soon anyways. Faust cleared his throat and spoke.

"There was an attack. I know the Inner Disciple who was the chief proctor even. But when he saw the outer sect disciples missing from the gathering he used a pupil technique and discovered the demons." Faust began. Countless ears turned up at the whispered conversation.

"After that, they made a deal with the imperial Scribe there to handle registrations, then, while everyone was registering, them and the other proctors marked all the demonic cultivators. After sending everyone into the forest, they hunted down all the demonic cultivators and were able to prevent any casualties from them." Faust finished telling the story, saying it was another Inner Disciple rather than himself.

"I see. Thank you fellow daoist!" A few people thanked Faust for sharing.

"So the attack was unsuccessful? I heard there was even a golden core demon there?"

"The chief proctor was paranoid and called for a core disciple as reinforcements." Faust answered, participating in the little gossip that was going on while people waited their turn to enter the provincial capital. The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Don't you know who I am!" someone suddenly shouted from the front of another line, their voice piercing the rather quiet atmosphere. Faust, along with every single person on the platform, turned to the source of the commotion. An old man with long white hair around the sides and a bald top was fuming while standing in front of a sweating Imperial Scribe, who adjusted their glasses.

"I'm sorry sir, but according to this list, the Low Tide sect hasn't paid its fee for city passes this year. You need to pay the entry fee or present a dedicated city pass."

"I am an elder of the sect! I personally saw the fee being delivered! Yet you dare say our sect hasn't paid its dues!" The old man smashed his fist against the desk, splintering its surface with a sharp crack.

"Sir… Please. I'm just an imperial scribe… I don't have any authority over this matter." The scribe fiddled with his glasses with one hand, while the other reached up with a cloth to wipe off the sweat. Faust looked the old man over and exhaled in relief. He forgot that the standards of an elder changed from sect to sect. He hadn't heard of the Low Tide sect, but he wasn't surprised. If an Open Palace realm old man was an elder, they were probably a Golden Core level sect.

"Fellow Daoist. Please follow the Imperial Scribe's instructions. Or I will be forced to intervene." A voice echoed across the courtyard from one of the surrounding buildings. Faust raised an eyebrow, he had read that Golden Core realm experts were stationed around Imperial City entrances, but this was his first time noticing their presence. The Low Tide Sect elder shivered, gritting his teeth and slammed some coins on the desk. Faust saw the few disciples in similar robes behind the elder and shook his head.

It would have been less of a loss of face if he had just paid up earlier. The old man took his disciples and walked past the imperial scribe, passing under a wooden gate and taking off on a flying sword again, into the city. The line continued in silence once more. Faust reached the front.

"Faust from Fallen Petal Ridge. Inner Disciple of Clear Mirror sect." Faust introduced himself and presented his sect token. The scribe briefly ran his hand across the token, checking it was real before withdrawing his hand and scribbling on a piece of parchment.

"The sect pays a tax for free entry for all its disciples so no fee will be required. Clear Mirror sect will also provide qi signatures if needed so that's not required either… May I ask your purpose for entering the city?" The scribe seemed to go through a mental checklist, cross referencing a few other books and scrolls.

"To take a flying ship to the Imperial Capital." Faust answered. The scribe nodded.

"Welcome to Azure Water city." He welcomed, waving Faust through. Faust cupped a fist in thanks before walking past, stepping up a few steps and passing under the simple seeming wooden gate before lightning atop his flying sword once more. Massive pagodas, each filled with people stretched up into the air, tens of stories. The so-called sky pagodas. Faust adjusted his flight, flying between them and joining the altitude where people were heading towards the city centre, with those heading out flying a bit higher.

Wooden pagodas rose either side of the road that cultivators were flying over. Unlike the Clear Mirror sect, people flew all sorts of things. Some people flew small boats, others reclined on large gourds or shields. Some people sat cross legged on a flying carpet while others flew large paintbrushes. Of course. Most people— Like Faust— just used a flying sword.

It was a simple self defense weapon that most people carried around anyways, which didn't look out of place in any setting and was just large enough to comfortably stand on. Faust slowed down and descended, letting some other impatient cultivators shoot past him as he descended to the ground, aiming for a gap in the crowd.

"Hup." Faust's foot hit the ground with a quiet tap. A few people jumped slightly in surprise, but walked around a moment later. Faust looked around. Buildings extended every direction round the road for tens of meters in the air with an explosion of colours across different tiles used for the sloped roof parts of each pagoda level. He took a deep breath while taking it all in. It wasn't Faust's first time here, but he hadn't come here anywhere near often enough he would get used to it.

He pulled out a map from his spatial pouch, looking through it. Despite the map being rendered in enough detail some of the lines were barely visible, it still only covered a small portion of the city.

"So I came from this direction… I traveled towards the center for a few kilometers… so I should be…. Here…" Faust traced his finger across the map, before landing at a specific point. He looked up and then back to the map. A merchant guild headquarters was marked on the map and looking up, he saw it in the distance.

Nodding to himself, Faust looked back at the map and traced his finger down the path he needed to go in order to reach the sky ship docks, then he tapped his foot and ascended until his flying sword flew out of its sheath. Landing on the sword, he directed it to rejoin the altitude lane of the other cultivators heading towards the city centre. Long Tao returned the spirit horse he had borrowed to the stable near Jade Road mountain, before beginning to rush up Jade Road to take the bridge to Diamond mountain.

"Argh!" Tao felt his back crack and fell to one knee.

"Careful kid. You just rode for almost a week on horseback. Don't cut your path off early because you break your back and have no money to fix it." The old ghost teased.

"How could a cultivator's back give out so easily???" Tao asked back, rubbing his back as he rose back to his feet shakily.

"You'd be surprised. Until the Essence Unity… Or would it be the Deity Transformation realm? Anyways, until you reach past the Nascent Soul, your physical body has a separate level of stamina compared to your mind and spirit. You may not feel tired and still have plenty of motivation, but your physical body has hit its limits since you haven't rested properly." The old ghost explained. Tao mulled it over.

"Is this another aspect of Taoism that you mentioned?" The old ghost nodded.

"It's part of Daoism and Taoism. Your true self is made up of Body, Spirit and Mind. Though the wording and definitions of each have changed over time, straying from the original Jing, Shen and Xin." Tao rolled his eyes.

"Why was it all so complicated? Apart from manipulating Qi for the first time by refining it in the Dan-Tian, everything else was simple." He complained, getting to his feet and walking at a slow pace.

"Manipulate Qi for the early stage; Refine chaotic environmental Qi into Spirit Qi for the mid stage; Store Spirit Qi in the body outside of the Dan-Tian for the late stage. I just have to perfect the refinement of my Innate Qi and I'll be at the peak of Qi Refining. Then it's just accumulating Innate Qi until I have enough to open the meridian nodes and channels… Right?" Tao asked. The old ghost raised an eyebrow. He felt the Faust lad would have exploded if he had heard that statement.

The sect master here was also a technique master and would probably boot Tao out of the sect if he had heard that. He shrugged to himself.

"What does that mean?" Tao asked. The old ghost looked at him for a moment.

"Heh." He gave an amused snicker, before returning to Tao's ring. Tao felt his eyes twitching. What the hell does that mean, old man!? He thought in his head before sighing. He looked up the Jade Road, then at how much farther he had to go.

"..." He realised he was gonna be walking for a while if he couldn't run. Still, before the sun began to set, Tao reached the mission hall, where he saw two familiar faces.

"Foria! Aneroze!" Tao called out, walking over. Aneroze looked over hastily, tilting her head so her nose faced upward and smirking, before covering her face with her fan.

"My, my, you're still alive. I thought Bu Buchaun's revenge would have claimed your life. Truly worthy of the title Iron Shell." Bu Bachuan? Revenge? Iron Shell? Tao repeated the words in his mind, then looked to Foria for help. She just shrugged at him. Tao turned back to Aneroze as he stopped in front of the two.

"What do you mean martial sister?" he asked.

"My, it's customary to greet someone with a salute. A cupped fist. I won't answer someone incapable of etiquette." Ah! The salute! Tao remembered and quickly gave a small bow with a salute, cupping his fist.

"Apologies, martial sister. Could you please enlighten your junior?" He effectively restarted the conversation. Aneroze folded her fan, tapping it in her hand with a light smile.

"Well, if you must know, martial brother, the whole sect knows how many people you've offended and are wondering how you're still alive. So they've taken to calling you the Iron Shell."

"..." Tao was speechless. Foria snickered, looking away to try hiding it.

"Are you serious?" Tao asked.

"Dead serious." Aneroze looked him right in the eye.

"But isn't that… A lame title? What's Faust's?" Aneroze looked to the side, holding her fan to her chin.

"Hmmm… My, I don't think he has any title. But the Sect Master is called the Dark Scribe of Heaven. There's my sister, the Roze clan's Brightest Flame. Damarius, the Shroud Piercer and Bu Yuanzhi, the Thousand Crane Master— but I can't recall any others off the top of my head."

"... Those names all sound cool." Tao complained.

"I think Iron Shell suits you." Aneroze said, causing Tao's whole face to twist slightly before he exhaled sharply and returned to normal. Foria patted Tao's shoulder.

"Don't worry. It's a cool name." Tao deflated even more.

"Pahahaha!" Aneroze laughed.

"Well! I think you deserve it after all the people you've offended."

"I didn't even offend anyone on purpose…" Tao rebuked incredulously.

"My, I think you offended quite a few. If not for your heroic spirit saving me from some lowlifes, I suspect I too would be waiting eagerly for the news of Bu Bachuan's assasination attempt."

"What?" Tao suddenly heard something ominous and it made him concerned.

"My, my, you didn't even notice it? Well, I don't know the details either, but apparently he sent someone to tail you and find an opportunity to kill you." Tao was about to ask if it was a misunderstanding, before suddenly remembering the massive green boar. It had suddenly woken up for no reason and immediately chosen violence, charging him down for tens of miles.

"Ah…" Tao found the inconsistency. He guessed the absurd number of venomous snakes everywhere he camped out was also suspicious.

"Now that you mention it…" Aneroze grabbed Tao by the ear, pulling him to her height.

"Now listen closely my stupid junior brother. Since you didn't die, don't make any complaints to the sect, lest you make him desperate. Just, subtly hint to Bu Bachuan that his assassin was weak. With that, he would choose to back off quietly if he's wise." She let him go. Tao rubbed his ear, looking at Aneroze, who opened her fan again and covered her lower face, masking her expression. Tao looked dumbly, then sighed. After being beaten half to death by Aneroze, he had finally admitted that maybe. Just maybe.

His social skills weren't as good as he thought. He suddenly understood the strange look his family servants had given him sometimes… When they were still alive. Tao shook his head free of the memories. He would settle that grudge another day. Instead, he remembered the reason he wanted to come find Foria later.

"Hey. Foria, you're brother's, a Technique Master, right?" Tao asked.

"I mean… He hates math with a passion and would rather die than admit he's a technique master… But according to the Technique Hall elder… he's a Technique Master." Foria responded.

"My… A technique master… That hates math?" Aneroze asked. Foria nodded.

"According to my parents. When they saved up and enrolled him in the town's literature academy. He hated mathematics with such a passion that it looped around into him mastering it out of spite. To prove how stupid it was."

"My… Did he succeed?"

"No. He just used it to mess with the teacher…. According to our parents. I wasn't born then."

"My, my." Tao rubbed his chin at the story, before shaking his head. He was getting distracted again.

"I found this technique in a cave. Could you show it to him?" Tao pulled the Devouring Heaven technique out of one of his several spatial pouches. Which he had started collecting after weirdos kept dying in front of him with all the contents inside.

"He's out right now." Foria responded flatly.

"Ah. He's still in seclusion?" Tao retracted his hands.

"No. He left for the Imperial Capital."

"Ah. When will he be back?"

"Two or three years. Maybe four."

"..." Tao looked at Foria.

"Are you serious?"

"..." Foria looked at him, then walked away, taking a mission slip to the counter. Tao guessed that meant she was serious. He looked out at the sky. Guess this technique is a bust. He thought. It wasn't like he could go ask the sect master. Faust walked across the top of another massive floating platform, scrutinising the silver ticket he had been given.

"20 gold for a single damn room." Faust muttered to himself before stopping and looking around.

"WHERE THE F#CK IS PLATFORM 13!?" Faust shouted, looking from one path to the next. The entire sky port extended like 3 kilometers in every direction. With well over a hundred flying ships docked. The whole layout was completely open, with no roof, just endless wooden walkways floating in the sky, interspersed with flying ships of various sizes tied to the piers. Faust kept walking until he found a sign with directions.

"<— Platforms 0 - 10 ""Platforms 15 - 25 —> " Faust's entire face started twitching as he gripped the metal ticket tight enough to start deforming it. He took a wild guess and continued head straight. Eventually, after walking to the very edge of the skyport, he found…

"Platform 13 ½""Platform 13 ¼""Platform 13 ¾" Faust stared at the platform labels. Somebody is going to die tonight… He took a deep breath. He wasn't even mad anymore. They weren't even in order. Walking up to one of the uniformed clerks standing near the entrance, Faust put on his most practiced smile.

"Excuse me. Is this platform 13? The fractions are throwing me off?" He cupped a fist as he approached.

"Eh? Ah!" The woman in a simple dark blue dress wearing a red necktie noticed Faust and quickly cupped a fist in return.

"Yes, customer. But you're a bit early. The ship hasn't arrived yet and will need some time to be unloaded and reloaded. Gate three quarters will be the boarding gate." the woman explained. Faust thanked her and turned away to sit down— Faust looked over the empty wooden walkway, which had a sufficient amount of space for people to gather and plenty enough for some chairs. Faust eye twitched. They couldn't afford signs, they couldn't afford chairs, would the flying ship even arrive at this rate?

Would they be unable to afford the spirit stones needed? He looked up to the sky. He regretted choosing to take a flying ship to the Imperial capital. He should have just flown by flying sword for a week and a bit without any sleep. After all, why shouldn't he?