Anthony woke up refreshed. Sunlight filtered in from the window in his room. He could hear Da Ren snoring away in the adjacent room.
Da Ren had rented rooms at the Folded Crane Inn, located on the fringes of town. It was cheap but provided a small room with a clean bed.
Anthony donned his clothes and exited his rooms. He made his way down the dimly light interior hallway and knocked on the door of Da Ren's room.
The snoring immediately ceased and Anthony could hear Da Ren shuffling around inside. The door flew open and a sleepy looking old man greeted him. "My lord, you are up so early."
Anthony laughed in reply, "I could barely sleep, I was too excited. I could hardly wait to break through to the next rank."
"Of course, my lord," Da Ren replied. "Allow this servant to dress and we shall go and find a Common Grade Qi Breakthrough Pill."
Anthony nodded and Da Ren closed the door. Barely a moment had passed before a dressed Da Ren exited, "Follow me, my lord. I think you will be impressed with the market district."
They exited the inn and into the crowded street. Kids played with each other on the corners, couples chatted happily while they shopped. Anthony saw a mother scold her child for hitting one of his friends. There was a lively air to the people who lived here.
Da Ren led Anthony down the street, where they made several turns before ending up in front of a small, ornate wooden gate. Hanging from the gate was a sign that read, "Market District." Da Ren looked at Anthony expectantly.
Beyond the gate, Anthony could see hundreds of vendors, buying, selling, haggling with their many customers. The sound hit him first, a cacophony of shouts that made distinguishing any individual voice impossible. He could smell roasted meat along with the sweet smell of honey. Some of the vendors were selling food, other vendors sold tools, still others weapons.
"This is amazing," Anthony exclaimed in a hushed voice.
Da Ren nodded in satisfaction. "It really is a sight to see, my lord. But we have no time to waste, the pill masters must have just opened their shops. They sell out quite quickly," he said, guiding Anthony through the crowd.
"Hey! Watch where you're going," a snarky voice said as Anthony bumped past him.
Anthony turned and faced the voice. It belonged to a thin, sour-faced young man. He wore brilliant red robes and was flanked by two large, hairy men clad in leather armor.
"My apologies, young master, we were in such a hurry that we have inconvenienced you," Da Ren quickly said, not wanting the situation to escalate.
The young man was not satisfied though, "Do you know who I am? I am Li Huang, the son of Li Du. My father is a powerful man, second only to Lord Ironfist himself." He harrumphed, "I will not be satisfied until you get down on your knees and lick my foot."
Anthony glared at the young man, he opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by Da Ren.
"Apologies young master, but we must be going now," Da Ren said hurriedly, grabbing Anthony and tearing off into the crowd.
Li Huang was incensed. "Stop them," he cried at his two bodyguards.
The two men looked at each other with exasperation but took off after the fleeing duo with lightning speed. Li Du was not a man to be trifled with and his son was everything to him. Li Du had spoiled Li Huang senseless, resulting in a lazy young man who was still in the E-2 rank, even after years of the best solutions and pills available in Bamboo Root Town.
Da Ren shoved his way through the crowded street, muttering quick apologies along the way. He constantly shot a glance back at the two bodyguards. "This way, my lord," Da Ren said, shoving Anthony into a small shop.
"Hello, welcome to Chen's Sex Shop, we have all your all sorts of accessories like **** plugs, whips, chains, gags-" the store attendant said cheerfully.
"Not this store, my lord," Da Ren said uneasily. He pushed Anthony back into the street. "Come, we must find a good place to hide."
He looked around, finding a shop with a sign that read, "Xiao Pei's Armor." Da Ren grabbed Anthony by the arm, "This way, my lord."
The pair quickly crossed the street and entered the store. After entering, Da Ren stole a peek outside and scanned the street for any sign of the bodyguards. Seeing that the coast was clear, he pushed Anthony deeper into the store. There was no attendant present, which was fine, the fewer people who saw them, the longer it would take for Li Huang's men to find them.
"We'll hide here, for now, my lord," Da Ren said in a hushed voice.
"Why was that Li Huang so irritable, Da Ren?" Anthony asked. Never in his life had he met someone so quick to anger.
Da Ren gave a thin smile. "He is the only son of the head of the Li family. They are the strongest family in Bamboo Root Town and Li Du, the head, is only one rank weaker than Lord Ironfist."
Anthony thought for a moment, "Doesn't that make him as strong as you, Da Ren. He's a martial expert as well?"
Da Ren nodded, "Yes, Li Du is a martial expert, but he is far more skilled in combat than I am. Rumor has it that he has formed an Earth Qi core and has practiced his Human ranked skill, Earth Splitting Fist, to the Mastery stage."
Anthony gulped, "You have no confidence in taking him?"
Da Ren shook his head sadly. "My lord, I would say that Li Du's true strength is just slightly weaker than that of a knight's. He is incredibly skilled in combat and it is said that in his youth, a wandering monk once challenged Li Du to a duel and was killed in one move. To this day Li Du has slaughtered hundreds, perhaps thousands of men in such a way."
Anthony had seen the tremendous strength that Da Ren possessed. How strong would someone have to be to make Da Ren doubt himself? "Is that way you ran away from the bodyguards?" He asked.
"Yes, my lord, you are quite perceptive. Those bodyguards were most likely warriors, hired muscle to keep that idiot son of Li Du's safe. They are mostly for show, the threat of Li Du coming to your doorstep and slaughtering your family is enough to deter people from harming Li Huang," Da Ren commented.
A lazy scion who used his father to get his way. That sounded like a lot of his classmates from his high school, Anthony thought. His heart burned bitterly as he recalled being picked on constantly.
Ten minutes had passed before Da Ren stole another look outside. "I think they have left, my lord. We must hurry, this little detour of ours has cost us precious time."
The pair took off once more, Da Ren stealing glances behind them, wary of the two bodyguards who might have still been lurking. They arrived at an ornately decorated stall, with a small crowd gathered around it.
Da Ren pushed his way through the crowd, Anthony closely behind. They made their way to the front of the crowd and Da Ren addressed the man running the stand. "Zhen Zhu, it is good to see you, my friend," he said with a smile.
Zhen Zhu, an overweight man with a balding head looked up from the stand, where he was currently counting the coins a customer had given him. He broke into a wide grin when he saw Da Ren. "Da Ren, you old goat, I haven't seen you in ages."
He turned and faced the crowd. "I'm sorry folks, that all for today, I shall have more pills, potions, and poultices tomorrow!" he shouted.
Murmurs and groans could be heard, but the crowd quickly dispersed, leaving only the three men.
Zhen Zhu then turned to face Da Ren, "What can I help you with, old friend."
"I am in need of a Common Grade Qi Breakthrough Pill," Da Ren said. "My lord has reached a bottleneck." He gestured at Anthony.
Zhen Zhu studied Anthony for a minute. "Only an E-1? At his age? And what's this about 'my lord'?"
Da Ren gave a weak smile. "Old friend, my lord here is a from the other world, he has spent less than a day of meditation and has already reached the bottleneck. The rate at which my lord cultivates can only be matched by the most peerless of geniuses."
Zhen Zhu's eyes shot wide open. "Come, let us discuss this somewhere private." He looked at Anthony. "If what you say is true, then I believe we have ourselves a dragon in the making."