Everyone sitting around the fire, even Kai, turned and looked at me. I looked around and then pointed at myself. Then I realized why they were looking at me and I got excited.
“Oh! I can go into the hidden realm and find the ginseng!” I said. It sounded like an adventure!
“Are you sure? Hidden realms are always places filled with hidden dangers and rewards. There’s no guarantee that the ginseng is even in there or that it is old enough.” Zi Fu said, looking at me.
I thought about it.
“Well it could be dangerous, but I have confidence I’m stronger than most foundation establishment realm cultivators! And I have a few tricks up my sleeves to find treasures and medicinal herbs!” I said, a pep in my voice.
Out of nowhere, Zi Fu knelt to the ground and kowtowed to me.
“I would be eternally grateful if you could go into the hidden realm and search for a ten thousand year old spirit nourishing ginseng.” He said.
I stood up from my seat and put both of my hands on his shoulders, sitting him back down on the seat next to me. I was blushing furiously at this point.
“Okay please don’t do that. I’ll gladly help you, that’s what friends are for!” I said. Zi Fu looked at me, confused and then looked at Jia who was holding her face in her hands and shaking her head.
“Then to repay you for your help, I’ll offer to train both you and Jia in your martial arts and qi control until we reach Lu Bian city and afterwards until you return back to your sect. I believe that symbol on your robes is from the Blooming Violet sect on the eastern continent. Traveling there after you finish your business in Lu Bian city should be no problem and it’s the least I can do.” He said.
I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth and agreed to his offer.
With that decided, we went to sleep, with Zi Fu offering to take first watch.
In the morning, we all ate our food and Zi Fu seemed more chipper than the night before. That was great!
We decided that steward Xiang would drive the carriage while Jia, Zi Fu, and I trailed. Over the next two weeks he trained us in our fighting styles and we both increased our abilities by leaps and bounds under his tutelage.
We were never able to beat him during spars, even when he lowered his cultivation down to match ours. He was a wind cultivator and even when I used my daggers he still outsped me during training, but training with someone so strong helped both Jia and I greatly.
After the two weeks had elapsed, we made it to Lu Bian city.
Lu Bian city was situated in the middle of a giant plain surrounded by forest, similar to Cheng Lian city. I suppose it made sense, it made defending against demon beast attacks much easier. The city was circular, most likely to provide adequate coverage and sightlines to the various guards posted on its towering walls. While it mirrored Cheng Lian city in many ways, the general style of the architecture was much more akin to that of Wongye city than anywhere on the eastern continent.
We joined the line of people looking to enter the city, but the line was extensively long. I asked Xiang about it.
“Ah yes, that would be because of the hidden realm. Entry to the hidden realm is heavily restricted by Lu Bian city. Few spots are given to outsiders. Most of the spots to enter the hidden realm go to the noble houses within the city, and Sword Dao Palace” He said.
“Well how am I going to get in then?” I asked him. I couldn’t get the ginseng without being able to enter the hidden realm.
He looked at me, confused, but explained anyway.
“Worry not, miss Astra. That will certainly be taken care of by the Zhou family.” He said. I thought back and remembered that Kai wasn’t just a little kid, he was the young scion of a noble house.
“Oh yeah! Kai’s a bigshot, I forgot!” I said. Kai blushed at the look of awe I gave him and turned away from me.
Xiang, clearly tired of waiting, told us all to give him some time and rushed to the city gates. When he returned a few minutes later he beckoned us to follow him with our carriage and we skipped past everyone waiting in the line, much to their chagrin. Some who were waiting in line jeered at us, but i just stuck my tongue out at them and chuckled as they grew red faced and had to be held back by their compatriots.
When we reached the front the guards both bowed down to Kai who was sitting on the coach box next to Jia.
“Welcome home young master Kai.” They said in unison before letting us into the city.
“Wow, Kai, getting us the royal treatment!” I said, teasing the boy. He blushed again and studiously ignored me, doing his best to look like the young scion of a noble house. Steward Xiang directed us through the city until we reached a large compound in a section of the city that was much less densely populated with buildings. Instead of a quantity of buildings, their quality is what increased as each new building or manor we passed grew in size.
The compound was guarded by no less than six guards at the gate who were initially wary of our group approaching, but when they saw steward Xiang, two of the men ran inside hastily. By the time we had reached the guards, a middle aged man and woman and a little girl were standing just inside the courtyard inside the compound. Kai, not willing to wait any longer, ran to his parents and jumped into a big hug with them, his little sister getting dragged into it.
The family hugged for some time and I started tearing up. It reminded me of my parents and how much I still missed them. I looked over to Jia and she had a solemn look on her face. I frowned and realized that, besides her father, I didn’t know much about Jia’s family.
After the hugging ended we were invited into the family manor for a meal and given rooms to sleep in. We tried to refuse, but the Zhou patriarch was having none of that. We were treated to lavish foods and a bath that could rival the bath in Jia’s father’s palace.
We bathed and dressed in some of the fancy sect robes we brought with us and joined the family for dinner.
It was a lavish affair with all kinds of foods I had never eaten before. We let Kai tell his parents all about our journey. I think his mother was ready to faint at multiple times in the story but when I took over for Kai when the shipbreaker kraken attacked the ship, she needed to be supported by her husband to prevent her from falling to the ground.
We finished the rest of the story including how Zi Fu saved us from the Zodiac Mercenaries. Both Zhou Fei Fei, and Zhou Gang thanked Zi Fu to which he gave his patented ‘don’t be like that’ speech he kept giving us while we were training. The man clearly had issues taking praise.
After we finished telling our story, Zhou Gang got more serious.
“These continued attacks by the Zodiac Mercenaries must have been perpetuated by one of the rival houses here in Lu Bian city. Though I do not know why they are targeting my family, we cannot simply take this lying down. I will thank you again for keeping Kai and Xiang safe during your journey, but I’m afraid the trials for our family are not over yet.”
I looked over to Jia and made the best puppy dog eyes I could make. She rolled her eyes and sighed.
“Can we do anything more to help your family?” Jia asked and Zhou Gang perked up.
“Actually you cannot, but Astra might.” He said.
I gave him a confused look and he explained.
“You see, recently a hidden realm has opened near Lu Biao city. The city lord is aged and nearing the end of his life despite his high cultivation. He has no living heirs due to many accidents and nefarious plots in the past.
He has been trying to decide which of the three noble families of Lu Biao city to elevate to the position of city lord. Our Zhou family, the Fan family, or the Peng family. Normally this would be decided by Sword Dao Palace, but they haven’t deigned to directly interfere in the politics of cities under their control for centuries.
The city lord has decided that each family will send one representative to enter the hidden realm alongside the myriad Sword Dao Palace disciples. Whichever representative returns with the greatest amount of treasures would decide which family takes over. The hidden realm prevents anyone above the foundation establishment realm or the middle of the body training realm from entering. Thus we were going to send one of our strongest foundation establishment realm guards. But considering how well you’ve fought and protected our young Kai from strong foes and monsters, I think it would be wiser to send you in instead.” He said. I blushed at the praise but nodded my head.
“Of course, I have my own reasons for wanting to enter the hidden realm!” I said. He smiled at me.
“Wonderful! We will provide you with as many cultivation resources and healing pills as you may need while you’re inside the hidden realm. The competition begins in a week’s time so you have that long to prepare. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to help.” He said.
I thought about what I needed to do before going into the hidden realm and that naturally brought me to think about my cultivation. I was still only halfway through to the bottleneck to the highest stage of the foundation establishment realm in my spirit cultivation. It would be nice if I could reach the highest stage, but even if I was cultivating on myriad petal peak all day it would take many weeks to breakthrough. That reminded me of a question I forgot to ask Xiang.
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“Xiang, when we were traveling through Wongye city, I noticed that the density of elemental qi within the city was much higher than back on the eastern continent. Why is that?” He thought for a moment and then answered.
“The answer to that question is twofold. Firstly the western continent has always been more abundant in elemental qi than the eastern continent. It’s one of the reasons many on the western continent consider cultivators from the eastern continent as lesser. Secondly, here on the western continent, it’s quite common for city lords to enlist the help of a formation master to set up a grand formation around the city to promote the generation and gathering of elemental qi from the surroundings. This usually results in the surrounding areas being bereft of the normally high density elemental qi, which damages the environment, but the cities become havens for cultivation. I’ve heard that the formations in place in Sword Dao Palace are even stronger and more grand than those used in cities.” He said.
“Does that mean that there’s somewhere in this city that I can cultivate all of the elements?
“Unfortunately not.” The patriarch said.
“There’s no convenient source of metal or water qi near the city, and the amount of wood qi that can be gathered from the surrounding forests is regulated by the city lord to prevent negative environmental effects.” He continued, dashing all of my hopes of quickly breaking through to the next stage.
“That being said, I’ve been told by early scouts who have gone into the hidden realm that it is a perfect balance of all of the elements inside. Hidden realms are notorious for their high qi density due to the centuries and sometimes millenia they spend growing their reserves while they are closed. You should be able to cultivate freely in the hidden realm. The competition will last for an entire week, ending when the hidden realm is determined to close.” He said, which brightened my spirits. I might be able to break through while inside the hidden realm!
We had dessert and talked more about the hidden realm and Zi Fu had a lot of good insights to how I should search for treasures and medicinal herbs while inside.
After we finished eating, we took our leave and went to bed. It had been a long trip and we hadn’t had the chance to sleep in a bed that wasn’t constantly rocking due to the waves of the ocean in ages. I flopped down onto the fluffy bed and almost instantly fell asleep.
I woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and ready to begin preparations for the competition.
I meandered through the Zhou family compound until I alighted upon an interesting looking building that stood out from the rest in the city. It had various bundles of herbs and grasses hanging from ropes around the outside, the and whole building reminded me a lot more of the eastern continent than the western. I opened the door and a bell chimed, sounding my arrival. A wizened old woman looked up from the desk in the back of the building and used her hand to open one saggy eye to get a better look at me.
As I approached the counter, I could hear vague sounds coming from the back of the shop behind a closed door. Sounds of bubbling and hissing mixed with the creaking of wood surrounded me and the entire building reeked of medicinal herbs and burning grass. Once I was close enough the old woman finally spoke.
“Ah, a guest! Come, come. It's been so long since we last had any new visitors.” She said as she motioned for me to come even closer. I walked right up to the counter at the back of the shop, noting the myriad medicinal herbs stored in glass jars and vials on the shelves around the desk. I thought I recognized some of them as the herbs I’d retrieved for the Blooming Violet sect’s pill hall in the past.
“Hi, I’m Astra!” I told her. A look of recognition crossed her face.
“Ah yes, the girl who will be helping our family in the competition, of course, of course. My name is Zhou Li Mei. I take care of this apothecary along with my husband Zhou Tao. My husband is a core grade alchemist and provides many of the spirit pills the family uses.
The patriarch has asked that we provide any pills you need for the competition. What kind of pills were you thinking? Healing pills? Qi restoration pills? Berserker pills?” She asked.
I thought for a moment.
“I don’t know almost anything about pills, though it sounds interesting, I might try learning it someday. What kinds of pills would you recommend for me to take into the competition?” I asked her. She smiled at me.
“Of course. For a week within the hidden realm I would recommend a full seven healing and qi restoration pills. Using more than one healing or qi condensing pill within a day is dangerous and could have severe negative consequences for your body so i’ll give you one for each day you’ll be in the hidden realm. Are you interested in any pills to increase your cultivation?” She asked. I was cautious about using those kinds of pills.
“I heard that those kinds of pills can be harmful to a culativator’s foundation.” I said. She nodded.
“That’s true. There are some detrimental effects, but there’s always a price for power. It all depends on what you’re willing to spend.” She said. I thought it sounded wise. What would I be willing to pay for a substantial increase in power? Would I be willing to risk my future growth? I shook my head. No. I couldn’t put my future at risk for something like that.
“No thank you, what other pills would you recommend? Do you have anything to help me increase my cultivation speed? I asked her. She nodded her head.
“Of course. We have many qi gathering pills. What elements would you like pills for?” She asked.
“Is there any issue with taking more than one pill at a time?” I asked. She shook her head.
“Unlike with healing pills and qi restoration pills, the medicinal effects of the various elemental qi gathering pills are not detrimental if you take more than one at a time, though taking more than one for the same element will only extend the effect slightly. It won’t increase the amount you can gather of that element.” She said.
“Then I’ll take enough qi gathering pills for the entire week I’ll be in there please! One for each element!” I said. Zhou Li Mei’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head.
I left the apothecary with a spring in my step and a bag filled with medicinal pills. Li Mei had looked much more tired after I left, I guess making new friends at that age was tiring!
Next stop was the library. I wanted to see if the Zhou family had any books on formations I could learn from. I asked directions from one of the servants around the compound and headed there next. Their library was bigger than any library I had ever seen. The public library on Setria 9 was underfunded and didn’t have a lot of educational books so I was excited to see what kind of knowledge was stored away in the Zhou family’s library.
I walked into the massive room and was amazed at how clean everything was. Books weren’t coated in dust, they didn’t have pages torn out or chewed on. It was incredible. I asked the librarian for books on formations and they led me to a nook in the back corner of the library.
I grabbed a few books on formations and started reading them. They were too bland for me to pay attention to them for too long though.
My head started hurting and then I got an idea.
“Text, can I put books into the inheritance for you to load into my brain?” I asked in my most hopeful tone.
“ANSWER: Items cannot be put into the inheritance. The inheritance is not a storage space.” Text said. I frowned. That was unlucky.
I tried my luck at reading the formations book again but after a half an hour my head was killing me and I couldn’t think about it any more. I put the book down and decided I would just cultivate in my room until it was time for the competition. I spent the remaining days before the competition either eating, sleeping, cultivating, or training with Jia and Zi Fu.
By the time the day of the competition arrived I was feeling close to the bottleneck to the highest stage of the foundation establishment realm. I was excited to finally break through once I was inside the hidden realm. I joined Jia, Zi Fu, and the Zhou family in walking to the location of the hidden realm. We got to see a bit more of the city than when we had first entered. I hoped that after the hidden realm competition was over Jia and I could do some sightseeing.
I knew we had arrived at the destination of the competition because of the large crowd surrounding a raised platform. On top of the platform was a large wooden structure with four distinct groups of people standing on it.
Two of the groups looked much like our own party, a noble family and their entourage. The second group was a large number of Sword Dao Palace disciples judging by the symbols on their robes. The last group was an elderly man in cultivator robes sitting on a throne surrounded by guards. When we approached the platform, everyone in my group bowed down and I joined them out of courtesy. No point getting on someone’s bad side before the competition started. We joined the other groups on the raised wooden platform and then a voice rang out.
“Welcome all to the hidden realm competition. The results of this competition will determine who the next city lord of Lu Bian city will be. Each of the three great families of our fair city will send in a representative. That representative will do their best to collect treasures within the hidden realm. When the hidden realm closes in a week’s time, the cultivators inside will return and at that time the representative who has collected the most, or best, treasures within the hidden realm will be crowned the winner!” The elderly man on the throne said. Despite his frail appearance his voice resounded through the gathered crowd and still sounded fairly strong.
I was getting excited at the prospect of going into another hidden realm and couldn’t wait for the competition to start.
“The three representatives should now join the Sword Dao Palace disciples in standing on the teleportation platform below me. The teleportation to the entrance of the hidden realm will commence shortly.” He continued. I quickly said my goodbyes to my group and walked onto the stone platform, Shimmer in tow. I looked around and saw mostly disciples of Sword Dao Palace.
I felt this weird itching sensation and looked around to find a cultivator in traditional cultivator robes for this region staring at me. I felt uncomfortable but waved at the man, wishing him good luck in the competition. He said nothing and just continued staring at me. Creepy.
I felt another glare on me and looked around this time to see Fan Chen and his group of cultivator cronies staring daggers at me as well. ‘Let’s just hope I don’t run into them in the hidden realm’ I thought to myself. As I completed that thought I felt the formation below me activate and felt that familiar sensation of falling before appearing on an identical stone platform in the middle of a glade. In front of us, a shimmering portal was opened up, the edges warping space and making anything behind the portal appear distorted. Inside the portal I saw heavy jungle and could even see a stream in the distance.
“Text, how come the Blooming Violet sect transported us directly into the hidden realm while this time we were just brought to its location?” I asked, murmuring so as to not draw attention to myself.
“ANSWER: Hidden realms are other realms entirely separate from the user’s realm. The portals leading into the hidden realm are often unstable and any spatial fluctuations could be in danger of closing it. If the hidden realm doesn’t close often, then the portal to enter it is more stable and less prone to closing when interfering spatial fluctuations are present. The hidden realm in the Blooming Violet sect is one of these more stable hidden realms.” Text answered. I supposed that made sense.
I was broken from my musings by a voice sounding out over the glade.
“The Sword Dao Palace disciples will enter the hidden realm first, then ten minutes later we’ll let in the representatives of the noble houses of Lu Bian city. When you go through the portal you will be transported to a random location within the hidden realm. Sword Dao Palace disciples, go ahead through the portal.”
Fan Chen gave me one last glare before entering the hidden realm with his friends. After all of the disciples had entered the shimmering portal only the creepy guy and I were left standing on the stone platform. I could still feel him staring at me, but I did my best to ignore him and just sat down on the ground and began cultivating.
Before too long it was time to go into the hidden realm. I didn’t want to get separated from Shimmer so I dissipated her, promising the fox I would call her out as soon as I entered the hidden realm.
We were both let into the shimmering portal, I entered first and when I stepped through the portal I felt this strange disorientation and was forced to close my eyes. When the feeling went away I opened my eyes and was now standing within the jungle.
“Text, be on the lookout for treasures and especially that spirit nourishing ginseng and other medicinal herbs.” I told Text. Text acknowledged the order, I summoned Shimmer, and I picked a random direction to start walking through this mysterious new realm.