It only took a simple introduction for the guards to allow them passage into the city with trembling voices. He finally understood what the others had said about being well known disciples of Master Fan Guo.

They were currently walking leisurely on the edge of the fairly wide roads. Sidewalks, Qian Shi had called them. Apparently the middle of the road was generally reserved for horses and other transport animals or cultivators who were running. Larger animals also used it too. In fact, Ruo Long was currently flying above the main road, though he stayed close to them, happy to chip into the conversation. As for the subject of said conversation, it was rather simple.

The Divine Guo Settlement.

Everyone had called the place The Settlement on the mountain. The same continued when they were on the road. Which made it a little confusing when he saw the actual name displayed so boldly.

“Master absolutely hates the name,” Qian Shi said, struggling to control her laughter. “This place used to be just a tiny village plagued by powerful beasts and even some demonic sects. When Master came here, he cleared everything too powerful and declared the human village under his protection. His presence allowed the place to prosper and grow. In their thanks, they named the city after him.”

That was interesting. Though something seemed off.

“Why would they give the place a name he hates if they were thankful?”

“See, that's the fun part. Master and the original leader of the town had an… interesting relationship. .Supposedly he did something to annoy her so this was her payback . He tried his best to get them to change the name and stop its spread, but once unleashed, the wave could not be stopped. So it ended up sticking even after so many years.”

Huh.

Ji could not claim to understand the reasoning behind the entire debacle. He chucked it up to human quirkiness. They continued on, and he was thankful for their slow pace, as it allowed him to explore the city better.

Ruo Long had said The Settlement was merely a small city whose primary resource was Master Fain Guo’s presence. Ji did not care about any of that though. Small city or not, it was far larger than anything else he had ever seen. From the ground at least. He suspected the city they had flown over was bigger, but he had not gotten a close look at it.

Here, he could actually explore. And explore he did. There were lots of unfamiliar things, from different shops selling more things than he could name to spirit beasts walking with humans.

For a village rooster like him, the rush of so many people moving everywhere was nearly overwhelming. At least he was no longer surprised by the next pair of human and spirit beast chatting that they walked past. In the village, there were no such things as cultivators or spirit beasts. The humans owned everything and all other animals were either used as food, security or put to some other purpose. Whatever it was, it did not change the underlying truth: animals existed to appease the whims of humans.

He lived in a compound that housed humans and non-humans alike as seeming equals, but somehow, he had come to think of it as a situation completely divorced from the reality of the world. Surely, when he got to a settlement, it would be the same as always. He supposed spirit beasts being intelligent and powerful in their own right changed things.

When he expressed some of his thoughts aloud, Qian Shi pointed out that though spirit beasts were theoretically considered equal to humans, they generally did not mix and stayed in separate cities. Cases like this, where different species lived together in relative peace were rare, though they seemed to be increasing on the whole.

He pondered on that and continued looking around at the various buildings and people as they walked. After a certain point, he noticed a certain change in the environment. The houses became bigger and more pleasing to the eyes. He noticed fewer people on the streets and his limited knowledge of human clothing told him their clothes seemed more complex and intricate.

Even the spirit beasts they passed all wore clothes. In the more crowded parts of the city, most of them did not seem to bother with clothes, particularly those covered by feathers and fur. He did notice some type of monkey that was wearing clothes, but that was something of an exception.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“We’re currently in the upper districts of the city,” Qian Shi once again came to his rescue with information. “It's where all the wealthier people stay. Cultivators, top government officials and wealthy merchants. The only sect in the city is not close to this district.”

That piqued his interest. Mei had given him a few scrolls to read that gave him a clearer understanding of how the empire worked. So he was not too surprised about the kind of people that lived in the upper district. The mention of the sect however, was interesting.

Some people considered the presence of a sect the mark of a proper city. Bigger cities tended to have multiple sects, while some smaller cities struggled to get a single one. There were also sects that had many different branches around the empire. Those were usually the larger sects and this settlement was likely too small for them, according to what he knew.

Sects were generally responsible for training cultivators who served as a major part of the empire’s defence and It was usually in a cities best interest to attract them. When a sect registered with the empire, the city received allocations and other benefits based on the number of cultivators they had and their levels. It was a fairly complicated system that he did not fully understand, if he was being honest.

Regardless, he had heard a lot about sects and how central they were to cultivators in general, so he was excited to see one. Qian Shi also seemed to share his eagerness, though it seemed to have more to do with seeing someone in particular than the sect in general.

They reached a fountain that stood in the middle of an intersection. One road led to a large building that was the tallest he had ever seen, save for the main house on the mountain top. It was apparently the office of the City Lord. There were a few smaller buildings around it and together, they formed the heart of administrative power in the city, controlling everything from the very centre of the city.

The other road went on for a much longer distance and was the path they took. Ji finally caught sight of a massive compound that rivalled his Master’s after they had walked for what had to be at least half an hour. None of the buildings were as large as the City Lord’s office, but they looked formidable in their own right. At least what little he could from behind the walls.

When they got to the gate, they were stopped by two men who were clearly cultivators. They wore similar clothes and held what he recognised as spears.

“Halt,” one of the guards said cautiously. Ji could sense the nerves radiating from him. “What is your purpose for visiting the Divine Mountain Sect? We are currently not accepting new disciples.”

Qian Shi rolled her eyes while Ruo Long merely sighed. The other guard slapped his companion on the back of his head and bowed to them.

“Apologies for my fellow disciple’s conduct, seniors. He is new and doesn’t know of the chosen disciples of The Great Divine Fan Guo.”

Ji noticed the look of panic that filled the first man’s face and shook his head. To think a day would come when humans would be scared of him. He quickly killed that line of thought. They were scared of his Master, who was a powerful human. It would not do him well to get arrogant. That was not the rooster his uncle raised.

They were quickly let in without much problem after that. He noticed the second guard staring at him for a moment but simply shrugged it off. It was to be expected, after all. He had not left the mountain since he was picked up by the old man, so it made sense that he was unknown.

The first thing he noticed when he entered the compound was that the qi around him was noticeably thicker than in the rest of the city. It was still a far cry from the mountain top, but it was enough to mean that cultivating outside the sect would be a lot slower. The next thing he noticed was all the people moving around.

They all wore similar clothes and from what he could sense, seemed like they were in the Qi Condensation realm, much like the guards outside. Most of the people were humans, but he noticed a few spirit beasts. The people they passed seemed to recognise them and either bow or scurry away when they got close. He heard whispers of things like ‘Divine’s Disciples” and ‘Awakened’.

They soon passed the people he thought were likely outer disciples and moved on to deeper in the compound with fewer people and better looking buildings. He narrowed his eyes at that.

He was starting to notice a trend here.

A gathering of people in front of a large field caught their attention, and they went to check it out at Qian Shi’s suggestion.

The people they met had worn clothes that were similar to each other, but different from those they passed. The crowd parted when they saw the trio, allowing them to view what was happening on the field without obstruction.

On one side of the field stood a woman with the same uniform he suspected marked her as an inner disciple. She stood in a way that was reminiscent of the fighting stances he had occasionally seen his Master adopt. On the other side of the field was a snake with pitch black skin. He was not sure how, but he instantly knew the moment he saw the snake that he was not looking at a spirit beast.

Something about the snake resonated with him in a strange way and he immediately knew what he was looking at. How could he not, when they were so alike. The fact that he had never reacted that way to either Shi or Long merely confirmed what the snake was.

A Beyond grade Awakened.