Flying over peaceful peasants tending their fields, I was surprised to find that they were all cultivators, without exception. Most of them were only at the second or third, maybe the fifth level of Qi Condensation at most.
“There are so many cultivators here” - I said in amazement.
“Yes, the capital region of the Golden Dragon Sect has such a high concentration of natural Qi that even an ordinary peasant can become a cultivator” - Mu Niam explained.
“Teacher” - I spoke up, - “I’ve been meaning to ask, why do you kill all those disciples at the forest camp? Wouldn’t it be simpler to pick fifty people and train them properly to get the best results?”
“Hmm… and why does that interest you?” - The alchemist frowned.
“It’s a total waste of resources. You select cultivators, spend pills and time on them, and then simply wipe out almost all of them. Plus, you take gifted children from peasants. The longer this goes on, the lower the chances of new talent being born.”
“Lower chances? I’ve never thought of it that way. But that might not be a bad thing. You know the Forbidden Tomb is controlled by the spirit of an ancient cultivator, right?”
“Yes.”
“Well, one day he appeared before the leader of our sect and demanded that every month we bring him a hundred cultivators at the fifth level of Qi Condensation (5) — ones who were talented, lucky, and… malicious. People like you” - Mu Niam added with a smirk. - “He specifically said that for any cultivator to get an audience with him, they must survive twenty competitors. He promised to teach those cultivators secret heavenly and demonic techniques and reward them with valuable artifacts.”
So that kindly “grandfather” wasn’t actually kind at all. If only I knew what he wanted from me.
“That’s why we’re forced to recruit a thousand people, train them, and set up trials where only the strongest, meanest, and luckiest survive. But of course, there’s another reason, too. Our Heavenly Blades Sect doesn’t have that many resources for cultivation. You know yourself how dire the conditions are for the Outer Court disciples. If we had twenty times as many, they’d simply devour all the available Qi, making our lands even poorer. So, only the Inner Court and the Royal Palace have what you’d call true cultivators. And that means you’ll have to work hard if you want to become one of them. Otherwise, even a Grandmaster Alchemist title won’t protect you forever.”
Overall, the situation became clearer. Even that absurd situation in the Outer Court now made more sense. All the disciples there were basically cannon fodder, and only a few who broke into the Inner Court had any right to be called real cultivators.
“So here, there are so many cultivation resources that the sect authorities don’t mind if peasants cultivate?” - I asked, watching the residents of another village as we flew over it.
“No” - Mu Niam replied with a sneer. - “There’s so much here that peasants become cultivators without even trying. If we were to eliminate such wild cultivators, this entire country would end up empty.”
“I see. Is that our destination shining over there?” - I pointed to the horizon, where a golden spot gleamed in the sunlight.
“Yes, that’s the Ancient Tower of the Golden Dragon Sect. You can’t see it from here, but its walls are covered with dragon images. And it’s precisely inside that tower where you’ll find the entrance to the Dragons’ Dungeon.”
Much to my surprise, it took us only an hour to reach the capital. The Ancient Tower was indeed tall, rising nearly four kilometers above the ground. Around it sprawled a massive city — huge even by Earth’s standards. Endless crowds milled in the streets, while the tangle of alleyways and narrow lanes suggested some parts of the city weren’t designed for “land dwellers” at all, since you could only access the buildings by flying.
There were also a vast number of flying cultivators all around. They didn’t exactly blot out the sun, but if you looked up, you’d see at least a couple hundred of them at a glance.
Near the tower, the sprawling slums, stretching for many kilometers, gave way to more respectable homes. A clear boundary separated the wealthy from the rabble. I even saw a wall built along that boundary. Also, there wasn’t a single flying cultivator anywhere near the tower.
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We touched down at the border of the city’s inner district and continued on foot. The street we were on was curiously empty, although just a few blocks away, it was wall-to-wall crowds.
“In Dragon City, you cannot fly” - Mu Niam answered my unspoken question.
“The sect forbids flying around the tower?” - I clarified, giving the structure another look.
“Haha, no. They wish they had that kind of authority. Let me clarify: in Dragon City, it’s simply impossible to fly. The tower is surrounded by a special space that forces down anyone who tries. Sometimes, that forced landing ends with a crash so hard the cultivator is smashed to bloody pieces. So, if you’re out in the open space, it’s wise to look up from time to time, haha.”
We moved on and reached the wall, whose immense gates loomed before us. From about a hundred meters away, I sensed we were entering a zone of strange pressure. Evidently, that’s why no one could fly here. I decided to test how my “flying shields” might fare, so I began creating them half a centimeter above the ground.
It could hardly be called flight, and no one around us even noticed, but after just a couple seconds of this “hovering” I felt someone glaring at me. Instantly, I recognized the use of the “Malicious Gaze technique” the one that disregards Heaven and Earth. So, I activated my own version and stared at the tower — the source of the pressure. A moment later, I felt a ripple of surprise, and the pressure vanished. Thinking over the result, I also deactivated my Malicious Gaze and continued on foot like an ordinary mortal.
We arrived at the arch of the gate, where several “guards” stood. Their basic level hovered around the third level of Core Crystallization (23), while their commander proudly sported the fourth level (24).
“Halt!” - the commander ordered, extending his palm toward us. His voice was like trumpets and the roar of drums. - “Present your pass.”
Mu Niam stopped and held out a jade seal.
“I am Mu Niam, a second-rank Grandmaster Alchemist from the Heavenly Blades Sect. These are my bodyguards and Tan Ji Tao, my disciple, a first-rank Grandmaster Alchemist.”
“A minor Grandmaster Alchemist at the Qi Condensation stage? How far your Heavenly Blades Sect has fallen! Go on” - said the guard with a dismissive wave, handing back the seal.
“Pfeh!” - I snorted contemptuously, glaring defiantly at the guard.
“Got something to say?” - the guard asked with a frown. - “Speak your mind, don’t hold back.”
“At what age do they become grandmaster alchemists in the Golden Dragon Sect?” - I inquired arrogantly.
“Our youngest grandmaster alchemist reached that rank at the age of one hundred, on the sixth level of Core Crystallization” - the guard declared proudly, puffing out his chest.
“It took him a hundred years to learn how to make the simplest pills? Shameful! Absolutely shameful! I’d be embarrassed to even bring that up in conversation. Let’s go.”
“What?!!” - the guard went red in the face, barely containing his rage. A bit more, and he’d be spitting blood. These cultivators are so fragile.
“Ho-ho-ho!” - Mu Niam laughed in satisfaction as he passed through the gate.
But as soon as we entered, a man in flamboyant clothing (as ornate as my grandmaster alchemist robes) came out to meet us.
“I heard you insulted the alchemists of our sect” - he addressed me in an angry voice.
“Since when is speaking the truth considered an insult?” - I sneered, looking him in the eyes.
“The level of our grandmaster alchemists is far higher than that of your Heavenly Blades Sect.”
“How will you prove that? And what difference does it make if it’s higher or lower? One hundred years to become a first-rank grandmaster alchemist? What could you possibly be studying for that long? It all comes down to talent — either you can make pills, or your hands grow out of your ass. In that case, not even a hundred years of practice would help.”
“Hah-hah-hah-hah-hah!” - Mu Niam couldn’t resist a mocking laugh.
“You!!!” - the flamboyantly dressed man cried out. - “Do you have the guts to back up your words in a fair competition against one of our sect’s grandmasters?”
I feigned fear, stepping back, then held my head high again.
“A competition? Pfeh! We’re in a hurry. We don’t have time for such nonsense. What do you think, Teacher?” - I asked Mu Niam, giving him a surreptitious wink.
“We have time before the portal opens, so a small contest won’t hurt.” - At these words, I made a terrified face, but Mu Niam clearly wasn’t buying my act, he gave me a sly grin. - “However, my disciple is right. A mere contest without any stakes is pointless. Do you have the courage to make a serious wager, Grandmaster Alchemist of the third rank, De Lu Lu?”
I looked our new acquaintance with fresh eyes. So, he was an alchemist and third rank at that? Now I saw why he’d gotten so irritated.
“What do you want, Mu Niam?” – De Lu Lu asked.
“A map of the Dragons’ Dungeon” - he blurted out at once with glowing eyes.
“That’s a pretty high price” - the alchemist said with a scowl. - “What would you put up on your side?”
“I have this Crystal of Spring Forest Qi!” - My teacher pulled out a large emerald-green stone that radiated some very interesting Qi.
In the Dimension of Ancient Qi, I’d found an entire crate of such crystals. I kept the largest ones for myself and handed over the smaller ones to the sect as spoils. I received one of the tiniest ones as part of a reward, but now Mu Niam was showing off the biggest crystal from that collection — approximately three by four centimeters in size. Meanwhile, in my “collection” I had stones that were easily around ten centimeters across.