A ping of vibrations and beeping noises from the communicator woke up Draco, "Get ready, we'll leave in a while." A voice announced in his mind.
Disrobing and stepping into the bath, he turned on the steam shower and then the foam wash. A jet of foam sprayed from the nozzles; After scrubbing his body clean, Draco turned on the cold shower. A very cold stream of water washed the foam and rejuvenated Draco's mind at the same time.
He walked out from the bath into the drying room, where warm jets of air dried him and his hair.
He entered the small dressing room, which had a large mirror. Looking at himself, though he wasn't too egotistical or attached to his body, he felt he was particularly handsome and majestic in this new one.
Draco picked up the oral cleansing spray, and after a few sprays, he set it down. Since Draco gulped on nutrition fluids, this wasn't necessary but he wanted to have a fresh breath throughout the day. After styling his hair, he sprayed on an antiperspirant spray and sprayed on an exotic-smelling perfume.
He picked new robes from his storage ring and donned them; while the disciples were each given four sets of robes, Draco, the Elders, and the Sect Master had a few dozen.
Returning to the bedroom, he saw the used robes getting picked up by the maid robot, which put them in the laundry bin and carried them off. The room was already thoroughly cleaned and tidied up.
When Draco doesn't have to step out of the spaceship, which was spotless and sterile, he didn't have to follow this regimen of taking a bath.
But if he ever stepped on a terrestrial surface for any duration, he had to follow this regimen or his OCD would kick in.
When he went down into the courtyard, he saw Old Zhou and Old Jiang waiting for him dutifully.
'Wow, they're so dutiful.'
Before Draco could even descend the stairs, Old Jiang spoke, "We've informed the Sect Master, we can depart immediately."
Seeing that his followers are not only dutiful but sensible as well, Draco grinned. Every Young Master dreamt of having such followers who didn't dally.
Seemingly having come to a decision. He approached them, and in his Young Master pose, began to speak, "Jiang Hao and Zhou Hao, I'll take you guys somewhere, but keep in mind you'll be witnessing Heavenly secrets; if you reveal them to anyone, the heavens will be angered and the Heavenly Dao will strike you dead. I trust you guys, but I have to warn you nonetheless, are you ready?"
Old Jiang and Old Zhou looked at each other dazed, they understood it was a Heaven-defying secret they were about to witness, but what was this about Heavenly Dao, wasn't that only in novels and stories told by mortals?
Arthur's voice sounded in Draco's mind, "Bahaha, dumbass there's no Heavenly Dao or Yin and Yang bullshit in this world, it's all relegated to novels and stories here too."
Draco who was now practiced enough, wasn't flustered "What I mean by Heavenly Dao is the Altar's Will. Let's go."
They walked out of the palace.
Draco talked to Arthur covertly, "Calling me names... You don't seem to remember I'm the Captain. I'll have to Discipline you later."
The voice didn't have a shred of panic, "Pfft, We'll see about that Young Master Liu."
Draco harrumphed. Neither of them was angry; they both enjoyed this banter very much.
When they exited the palace, as there was a clear line of sight, they were beamed up into the ship.
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They reappeared in the ship's Command Bay, as Arthur greeted them. The old fellows were thoroughly flustered to meet the Altar's spirit again.
Draco spun a story, explaining they were on an invisible Flying Artifact that always watched over him, and that this was the Altar's gift for him.
With some mental gymnastics of their own, they were immediately convinced, deciding to dedicate themselves more deeply to this Young Master.
Two minutes later, the scene on the screens changed, revealing an extremely large and sprawling city. The city had many entrances, with people going in and out.
"Clear Jade City is nearly 120,000 Square Kilometers, and its perimeter wall is around 1200 Kilometres long. There are several entrances and they seem to charge an entrance fee as well, though I'm not sure of further details. I'll port you outside of the city; you can start flaunting." Arthur ended his exposition grinning at Draco.
Draco along with old fellows reappeared on land, some distance from the city.
Unable to stop his curiosity, Old Jiang asked Draco in puzzlement, "Young Master, why does the Altar's spirit act so familiar with you... almost like you're old friends?"
Draco looked at him and began to spin another tale, "The one you saw was a spiritual clone of the Altar's spirit, it's been my guardian even before I was summoned to this world."
Old Jiang and Old Zhou looked at each other, bewildered.
"Then do other worlds have the Altar as well and is there cultivation in these worlds." Old Jiang wanted to satisfy his curiosity.
"These things are related to Heavenly secrets. If I reveal too much in a short period, you will be stricken dead... However, you'll get to know in due time as you follow me."
Nodding at Draco, Old Jiang seemed to calm down hearing the answer.
Since it wasn't too far, they decided to walk.
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As they got closer, the busy trail of people and carts going in and coming out could be seen, the tall walls of the city were imposing and a decorative banner hung above the gate, 'Welcome to Clear Jade City.'
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
They stood in the queue designated for people who were visiting for the first time. 15 Minutes later, it was finally Draco's turn.
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At the security window, the guard manning it finished noting the details of the previous person in line and lifted his head to greet the next ones. Three hulking men stood in front of the security window.
The young man in the middle grunted in displeasure at the poor reception; this turned the newly recruited guard's legs to jelly, the young man's peering gaze continued until the poor guard fainted.
The guard captain for the morning shift quickly ran over to check what the noise was, only to see the guard collapsed on the floor, he quickly called someone to whisk the collapsed guard away.
As the captain looked at the three men standing in front of him, he was flustered. He has never seen such muscular and towering men.
Although they didn't radiate any spiritual energy, their scary aura gave him chills; he understood the reason for the earlier occurrence.
Their dark black robes and the regal air around the young man in the middle told him they were big shots. He politely escorted them to the security quarters.
After offering them some tea in apology for the minor incident, he briefly talked about Clear Jade City. He then got to the point, mentioning the fees for entering the city.
A one-week stay in the city was priced at 100,000 Spirit Stones. The captain has been in this post for many years now. No matter how rich or how powerful their cultivation was, they all flinched after hearing the price, but this regal giant of a man didn't bat an eyelid.
The suave-looking man immediately asked if there was a permanent city token. Slightly taken aback, the guard quoted the price of 200 Million Spirit stones. The guard was further perplexed as he saw mock disappointment on the young man's face.
"Is there a higher tier, I don't want to walk in the next time I arrive. Just quote the highest tier you have." The young man said nonchalantly, drinking his tea.
The captain gulped nervously before replying, "There is a Clear Jade Citizen token, priced at 2 Billion Spirit stones. You can fly into, and in the city or land your spirit boat at the exclusive citizen dock. You can also buy a residence."
The jump from 200 Million to 2 Billion was truly ridiculous, the guard captain expected the young man to fly off the handle; he had seen many Sect Masters from prestigious sects lose their shit when they heard the price.
The young man frowned. Seeing this, the captain was ready to perform his duty of justifying the price and slowly convincing the young man. But before he could begin his spiel, the young man's question turned his world upside down.
"Is that the highest tier the city has to offer?... Disappointing." The young man plainly stated in a calm voice.
The guard captain was convinced, this was a true BIGSHOT.
"Young Master, please forgive me for not recognizing your might, I've embarrassed the city and myself, let me offer you a token of apology," the captain rushed out of the room and arrived with a lavishly decorated bottle of wine.
"I hope you can forgive my unintentional slight by drinking a toast, Young Master." The captain quickly poured some wine into the gorgeous crystal glasses and offered it to the young man, who graciously accepted with a gentle smile. The two men standing on either side refused.
With a quick toast as an apology, the captain started to describe the salient features of the city and the various tokens, seeing as the young man was listening, he continued but kept it brief.
He then introduced the absolute highest tier that could be negotiated by the security department. Clear Jade City Purple token; which gave the owner of the token and his sect or family the right to purchase properties and operate businesses within Clear Jade City.
Each token also allowed 50 people belonging to the sect or family to stay and work for their respective businesses, free of charge. It also had a long list of perks and privileges.
The quoted price of 15 Billion Spirit stones was truly ridiculous.
The look of satisfaction on the young man's face told him everything the captain needed to know.
He brought a contract draft and registered the name and details of the young man. He made three copies, one was given to the young man, one was kept in the security department and the last one was to be sent to the Council office.
After refilling the crystal glass once more with wine, he requested the young man to wait for a while and hurried out of the room.
As he climbed the stairs to visit the token room, he looked at the details of the young man and pondered in amazement.
'Liu Draco, that's a unique name... Celestial Sage Sect, I've never heard of it... It must be an extremely powerful hidden sect with hidden experts like the young man... Even the detection Artifact failed to identify his cultivation... He's definitely a dragon among men!'
The cause for this misunderstanding was the robes Draco was wearing; while the new Sect robes had EM elements to improve spiritual energy absorption, Draco's robes had four times the number of elements.
Together with Draco's exceptional muscle density and muscle mass that were literally out of this world, all the spiritual energy released by the Artifact was fully absorbed by Draco's body. This led to the Artifact malfunctioning.
With the aid of a special Artifact, a blank Purple token was invisibly imprinted with the details of the young man along with his preferred title, which was embossed in golden letters, 'Young Master Liu'.
The captain hurried back, and delivered the Purple token with both his hands, like it's a frail jade that would shatter at any moment.
When the time for payment came, the captain provided a special storage bag for the money to be deposited in. Draco transferred 15,000 Spirit crystals into the bag.
The captain used a special Artifact ring on his hand to confirm the presence of 15,000 Spirit crystals. He was surprised again; even if a transaction was in the billions, due to the existence of storage bags and storage rings the limitations of volume and quantity didn't apply, so even the largest sects would use Spirit stones or High-grade Origin stones at the most.
Spirit crystals were always used as a reserve currency and for cultivation as they had very concentrated and pure spiritual energy.
Just as the captain was about to congratulate and thank the young man, the actions of the young man left him in a daze.
As he recovered from his daze, the young man just exited the room. When he looked at the table, a small pile of Spirit crystals were glowing in splendor. He recalled the young man's words again, "...A token of my appreciation."
Appreciation!
He immediately ran out of the room and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Young Master! Please wait!"
He profusely thanked the young man, nay, Young Master, with all his might. If it wasn't for the Young Master urging him not to, he wanted to kowtow in gratitude and acknowledge the Young Master as his ancestor.
After introducing himself as Feng Yun, he allowed the Young Master to leave only after he was assured that he would be the first to be contacted in case the Young Master needed anything.
After respectfully escorting out the peerless Young Master, he ran back to his room. He heaved a sigh of relief only after confirming there weren't any missing.
200 Spirit crystals! 200 Million Spirit stones! That was a life-changing amount for even a Sage cultivator, let alone an Origin Stage Arcanist like him. His initial thought was to quit the job and live his dream life in some corner of the city.
But he quickly realized that he wouldn't be of use to the Young Master if he quit his job. Gritting his teeth, he proclaimed in his heart to do his utmost to satisfy the Young Master's requests in the future.
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Walking into the city, Draco stretched his body as he grinned.
'That was truly satisfying! No wonder all the young masters in the dramas and novels acted like this! What a great feeling this is...'
From the corner of his eye, he observed Old Jiang and Old Zhou looking at each other.
He quickly began to weave another tale, "As the prophesied Son of the Heavens, I should always strive to dominate and not hide my majesty lest it damage my Dao Heart."
Not waiting for their reply, he began to walk forward.
But Old Jiang and Zhou had some doubts, 'Dao Heart, isn't that fictional gobbledygook... Maybe the Young Master was using it as a metaphor... Yes, it must be related to the Heavenly Secrets.'
Being expert gymnasts, the old fellows nodded, having arrived at a conclusion through their mental gymnastics.
As Draco looked at the Purple token, spiritual energy beamed into his mind, projecting a detailed map of the city, after memorizing some key locations, he placed the token back in his storage ring.
Realizing he could fly, he motioned for his dutiful guards to follow him.
Riding their swords, 20 minutes later, they arrived at the central district.
As they came flying by, the variety of sights- magnificent buildings, parks, streams, and lakes, along with the bustle of businesses, people, and spirit boats flying overhead, truly impressed them.
Even at his top speed, it took Draco 20 minutes to arrive at the central district. He couldn't help but mutter, "What a sprawling city!"
He identified the landmarks he saw from the map, and headed in the direction of the Star Pavilion; if the map's labeling was to be believed, this is the best and most luxurious hotel in Clear Jade City.
Landing some distance from the Star Pavilion, they stowed their swords away and walked towards the lavishly designed building, which had a golden banner with the words 'Star Pavilion'.
Entering the Star Pavilion, the first thing he noticed was the marble floors polished to a mirror shine. The pillars and arches were tastefully decorated with lilies and roses, their pleasant and captivating fragrance filling the reception hall.
Draco nodded, 'It seems the map is true... This is really opulent...'
Approaching the counter, with a regal air, he requested their best and largest room.
The lady at the counter was stunned for a brief moment, the man in front of her had a handsome exotic face and was tall and towering. He had a particular air about him that indicated he wasn't someone to be trifled with.
Asking for a moment, she checked the record books, and with a smile, spoke in a pleasant voice, "You're really lucky Sir, this is the only palatial room that's vacant. Let me register..."
She was cut off by a grating voice.
"Hold on... I want that room." A young man with a folding fan in his hand walked to the reception desk, he also had a few lackeys following beside him.
Before the reception lady's frown deepened, the young man fished out a Green token, it was a permanent city token, allowing the holder to stay for as long as they wanted.
As the lady tried to respond, she was stopped in her tracks by another shrill voice.
"This Young Master wants the room. You can all scram!"
A gaudily dressed man, with a veiled woman in his hand, walked towards the reception desk. He set a token on the desk with a loud thwack.
It was a Black token, it was the Clear Jade City citizen token.
The two newly arrived young men looked at each other and then looked at Draco, who was unfazed and stoic.
Deep inside, Draco was laughing wildly.
'A chance to subtly slap faces had arrived! What a godsent opportunity!'
Like an experienced Young Master, a look of contempt graced Draco's face.
He gently placed a token on the desk.
It was a Purple token!
With practiced precision, Draco scoffed lightly.
Everyone at the reception desk was tongue-tied.
'Mhmm, I love their disgraced expression... I'm really well-suited for this.'
The lady calmly registered his details and had an attendant escort Draco to his room.
Before leaving, Draco looked at the two young masters one last time, this time an exaggerated look of contempt and disdain appeared on his face.
At this sight, the two young masters went black in the face.
~~~