Far into the distance, a large blue-striped liger could be seen battling a young man clothe in many types of beast fur. Swiping its menacing claws at the boy, it would be instantly countered by the young man in one, quick movement. For some odd reason, the liger gave a quick taunting glance at the young man, turning its tail and fled with extraordinary speed.
"Damn! That blue striped liger got away and it dared to mock me before it fled!" exclaimed the young man standing at 1.9 meters.
"That fat blue-striped cat is a ranked 9 beast, it should of develop some sort of intelligence yet it still played around with me. Am I easy to bully? Especially by a weird fat cat? I've never felt so irritated through my million years of cultivating yet that thing could infuriate me. I better not meet it again or I'll give that damn cat a good thrashing if I can't kill it!"
The young man cursing nonstop is naturally, Silver.
After two more days of travelling, since his scuffle, a massive white dome glistening under the sun appeared before his eyes. Immediately, upon seeing the dome, Silver threw his incessant cursing to the back of his mind, calming himself as he strolled towards the city.
"Finally . . . I'm back to White Lotus City," Silver murmured while heavily exhaling as he got closer to the gates.
Reaching to the front gate, the guards that stood beside it halted Silver facing their palms out gesturing him to stop.
"Young warrior, it is 3 moon coins* to enter the city. Unless, you have proper identification in proving that you're a citizen and resident of White Lotus City," informed the guard, Almef, looking rigorously up and down at Silver, feeling a vague familiarity.
'Isn't this that old man who survived in the squad Kong Xing's parents were in? His true feelings maybe hidden but I can sense a strong regret emanating within his eyes,' thought Silver, taking his eyes of the old guard. He turned his attention to his rucksack, searching for his identification ring and presented it to Almef.
Every White Lotus City citizens wore an identification ring to ensure those who harm the the city could be easily tracked while singling out any suspicious person without the ring and proper identification.
A few thousand years of history and many attempted incursions, White Lotus City's security greatly improved and tighten over the centuries. It's actually one of the many unique aspects of the city that made it such a popular place to trade and live in. Especially its culture and deep history.
Silver carefully held the identification ring in front of Almef, who brought out a blue and green gem with intricate arrays on it. The gem, known as the Azur gem, a common mid-tier gem, usually had fixed inscriptions made into them such as the Identifier inscription. As the gem got closer it began shining brightly, almost touching the identification ring.
These identifying inscriptions ensured that the ring rightfully belong to the citizen it was made for. A drop of blood of any citizen, including those who want to become one, is branded within the ring to ensure their citizenship of White Lotus City. Most newborns, born in the city, would instantly get a ring no matter their status.
Everytime the Identifier gem comes close or in contact with the ring, the gem will have four functions. If the the gem gives an Azure glow, without any impurity, they are a citizen of that city. If there's any impurity, likes spec of different color, there's a good chance they're possessed or controlled by an unknown entity. If the ring does not activate, it is considered fake as there is an complex array within the inscription. The complex array must be exact and cannot be off even by a miniscule fraction.
Many medium and large cities, in the Arctic Tundra Continent, used this type of inscription while those that didn't are naturally small cities, villages and towns without resources and powerful backing. Although there is many fakes, some are stolen from but can be easily found out by the identifier 4th function. It will immediately turn red for a split second, then turn to it's usual azure color. Only inspectors are trained to notice the sliver of red, even when distracted.
The distribution of identification rings that are unused were kept in a secured treasury. Elite guards switches shift around the clock, with .001% chance of slipping pass them during the change. Every unused ring were counted and recorded constantly by every shift. Especially the inscription manuals and how to make them were tightly guarded in a unknown, hidden area. If one aims to steal and escape, avoiding the elite guards, are basically called legends since stealing a ring, manual, or even infiltrating is immensely difficult.
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Inventory done by the elite guards will immediately notify and issue out a city-wide search for the perpetrator within seconds if they notice any discrepancy.
Using the thousands of arrays connected throughout the city, even if you are the top of the cream thief, it'll be hard to conceal yourself within and escape. Finding the ring can be spotted easily as the same Azur gem, using a different inscription, are fixed in all of the gates and inner city walls. A red glow will shine like a bright star if an unused identification ring is being smuggled out.
It would only be a matter of time to find the perpetrator, even if they abandon their task.
Once caught, depending on their background, those who smuggled either had to pay a fine or be brought with the death penalty. Not even the citizens would get away from such penalties if it were known that they lended their ring to any suspicious individuals and groups.
Carefully inspecting the ring, ensuring everything seems in order, Almef and the other guards moved to the side of the gate.
"You've passed your inspection, please proceed," informed Almef gesturing Silver to enter through the gates. As he watched Silver pass through the gates, he remembered something from few years ago:
'This young warrior seems familiar. He looks like that young boy when I delivered his parents remains for. He's all grown up, stronger than that crying face that wept for many days. His parents were amazing warriors… I wish they could see their child now.'
Almef stood by the gate's side reminiscing the past. Although he wasn't close to Kong Xing's parents, he admire their tenacity and bravery to the end. They sacrifice themselves just so the rest could live and inform the general. He was the only person left from that suicide mission as the other had died from a disease a year ago. The army had barely gave them remuneration for Kong Xing's parents service, so him and the other member added a quarter of their share to help the kid out.
Almef exhaled heavily, focusing his attention back to his guard duty.
Silver felt amazed when he stared at his ring. All of these interesting and unique aspect of the identification ring was something his past life didn't have. One of the main reason such an item, like this ring, was sought after is due to the fact a space array is can be inscribed into it. Thus allowing the wearer to have a storage space that could hold 10 or up to 1000 cubic meters of materials. To inscribe a space array, they must be embedded using a high-tier stone called, Violet Wave Jade.
Although no living being could be stored in there, except those heavenly storage treasure, the ring had a great amount of use. Sadly to inscribe the space holding inscriptions, it costed 8 million sols for just 10 cubic meters, any more would just be astronomical. Just a measly 200 grams of Violet Wave Jade is placed at a terrifying price of 15 million sols. This inscription and material alone could make any filthy rich families cry and beg to lower the cost.
Luckily, he had nothing to worry as he could make many of these without any problems. Millions years of experience and knowledge allowed him to create those fable storage treasures that allowed life.
Silver continued down the busy streets after putting away his ring. He gathered up his thoughts and mentally listed of what to keep and sell. From his 3 years of hunting and training, he estimated a small fortune with the materials obtained. To get stronger, he need resources and a heavenly amount of it.
'I need to amass a fortune right now. The Chaotic Void Skills states before reaching the King Realm, I must have formed my void constitution. Just the materials needed to reform is frighteningly expensive, truly difficult to find. I need to secure a position to a well known merchant to obtain such materials,' speculated Silver deep in thought. He felt miserable, as he use to be extremely rich and powerful.
In his old world, finding all the mentioned materials were easy but now he cultivated a heaven-no- universe-defying manual yet the conditions needed is appalling.
'I can only make my first step here in White Lotus City, but I have to remain low-key. It's best to find a sect to apply for. I need more information but where?'
Silver continued strolling the busy streets of White Lotus City, enjoying his surrounding while casually checking out the shops that he could sell items to. Most of the shops couldn't buy his material as they didn't have the funds, so they pointed down to a large building down the street.
After getting the directions, Silver continued to the said place.
If one was standing above the busy streets of White Lotus City, they could see streams of citizens intentionally avoiding Silver at the very last second. Only with a keen eye, you could tell he was using a profound and strange style of footwork avoiding everyone at hair-thin distance
In the last 3 years of training, Silver honed his special movement skill, [Star Mirage Steps], barely reaching the peak of Perfection. He was close to touching the boundary of 'One with Oneself'. Like a mirage, sifting through the streams of individuals as if it was an illusory dream, his destination Gold Spring Merchant Association.