So.. its been a few days since i managed to get a system and since i managed to extort those hillbillies and I've been taking the time to process everything thats happened these few days as well as plan out my future plans. The Existence of Akatosh now changes a lot of things in my original planning as i dont really need to find a QI cultivation method due to the system providing its own method in terms of EXP and what not. After i finished slacking off i decided to consult Akatosh about the future plans. Among the functions of Akatosh theres a storage space function and mapping function. The items i managed to get off the hillbillies i gave directly to Akatosh so it can sort them out and after buying a map i gave it to Akatosh to expand its mapping scopes. Sadly the Mapping functions requires me to get maps myself and Akatosh then would merge them into a global map though that is still quite better than doing everything myself.
Armada:" Whats our current funds and stuff in the inventory Akatosh?"
Akatosh:" Congratulations host! You have broken the record of being the poorest System holder since time immemorial!"
Armada:" ... Akatosh Go fuck yourself please. I've been fucking robbed by the damn orphanage and all i've got on me is the stuff we got from Skipper."
Akatosh:" Apart from miscellaneous items that have been discarded, we have gained 35 gold coins and a mortal level Iron sword. The sword is only a threat to mortals and not cultivators but its better than nothing."
hmm so all we've got is 35 gold... That amount money to commoners and mortals is considered quite good, an average family of 4 can live off that for around 5 years. But if im planning on starting the path of a cultivator? its worth nothing. Cultivators deal with Spirit stones as currency while gold to them is nothing at all...
Armada:" Alright that should be good enough to cover our travel expenses at least but we still need to find a way to get some spirit stones. Enough about money for now, where do you suggest we head off to now? we shouldn't stay in this town any longer as theres no need for us to."
Akatosh:" According to the map Host has submitted we are currently in a small town on the southernmost border of the Tang Empire. For now Host should consider heading north towards the City of Lingyi as its a Mid-tier city where the entrance of mortals isnt barred, the journey should be around 3 days long. There Host should decide on his own a method in order to gain some Spirit Stones as well as seek opportunities to court death in an attempt to increase Host's cultivation."
Armada:" Alright then to Lingyi city it is."
The way cities are divided in most of the cultivation world is quite simple really. Cities with only mortal inhabitants and anything smaller than a city is considered low tier. Cities with a mixture of mortals and cultivators is a mid-tier city and as for the top tier cities they are usually only cultivators except for a few mortals who's jobs would be related to shop keeping, public service related jobs and what not. As for the Officials theyre actually a mix of mortals and cultivators but usually cultivators end up having the better positions. The reason for this entire division isn't due to flat out discrimination but it is to try and separate the mortal world and cultivation world as much as possible. To a cultivator killing off mortals is as easy as breathing and in order to try and decrease conflicts the city division was made. Till now no one is sure if the top tier cities became top tier due to cultivators originally living there or if its a top tier city hence cultivators went there. It's basically a question of what came first the chicken or the egg at this point but as a cultivator full city usually has a larger influence than mere mortal cities the upper echelon of society is based there.
In the Tang empire there is a plethora of Low-tier mortal cities, Above which are 9 middle tier cities, one of which being Lingyi City and above the middle tier are 3 Upper/top called Chengdu City, Yanjing City, and Louyang City. As for the final boss and the "holy land" of cultivation in Tang empire, its the Imperial city.
As to the reason we ended up going to Lingyi city is due to the fact as i am right now i cant go to any top tier cities unless i go there for a job as a mortal and doing so would give me a lower status and hence more problems in the future. However in Lingyi although the status of a mortal is lower than that of a cultivator i can still slack off and have free time instead of being forced into a job just to be able to enter the city.
Now finished with the planning i went ahead and rented a carriage and started off my journey.....
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And ofcourse... How could there ever be a journey in a Xianxia novel without fucking BANDITS...ffs...
Bandit1:" STOP THE CARRIAGE IF YOU WANT TO LIVE."