He kept quite still and said nothing. For an entire hour he did not move a muscle, and in the meantime he was carefully attempting to cultivate with the deep moves of his own sagacity.
He could scarcely feel the feelings of the Qi's movement. To the point he had entirely emptied his mind to grasp even the smallest thread of it.
That's when it happened. A jostle, A slight movement– there a slight amount of qi he stirred, little by little, entered within his small dantain. The thread of it extended outward and began to condense itself toward his dantain.
"An hour at best." Xiaowen said, "It took me an hour to get qi to gather within my dantain…" He looked around the dump, "That should be a world record."
He stood. He had entered the first stage of Qi Condensation after an hour. He felt that his dantain was weaker than he was used to but it was stronger than the one he used before.
He found that this place used the same system of powers. Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, followed by Golden Core and at the peak of it all Immortal Ascension stage. Where between each are 4 Stages until someone would rank up. Early, Middle, Late, and then peak.
Xiaowen had the respectful title of Golden Core in his previous life before he unfortunately was murdered by a no good– Good person. The man he remembered was a part of another immortal sect, a genius that he couldn't compete with.
That thought left a bad taste in his brain, if his brain could ever taste things. How many times has it been since geniuses passed him and talked down to him? He shuddered. As if a thousand mice had passed him by on his way to the door.
His stomach croaked and the door as if it was a gate swung open. He didn't know whether anyone was outside. He had no plan, the uncomfortable room perhaps weakened his senses for too long– or the mice were too distracting.
The door opened into a shadow-covered alleyway where the smell of sewage and waste permeated from even the cleanest of spots.
He shot a glance toward his left then right then straight ahead. He couldn't make out a second shadow hidden between another shadow.
He looked up and found that the sun was up. Perhaps, the people around had been removed. His fingers wrapped around the edges of the wooden door behind him and threw it into its spot.
Then the amber eyes of his practically pulled in its environment, a detail wasted would spike him in the back– or stab him in the back quite literally.
There were crates, perhaps, something hid beneath them. But with a terse pull it felt impossible to even lift them. They were bolted down to their wooden frames.
Walking away from the frame of the door provided his eyes with better candy. Another alleyway cut through this alleyway like a four way fork in a road. Except the buildings came closer and shutters opened practically to vent out heinous stench and to toss out literal shit.
Ironically enough, the people had the decency to decorate their windows and curtains with colorful cloth.
"At least have some proper etiquette and shout out 'hey hello' as you toss your shit." Xiaowen tipped toed between the sewage waste, "This city is unclean, I wonder what the open streets look like."
Xiaowen's qi was too weak to sense anything around himself. He had to rely on his own body's natural five senses. He peered down the four alleys and chose one, with a hand resting on his chin.
"What should I do now…" He thought lightly, "Perhaps– let's just go back home. I remember how comfy that bed was. I wished I had something like that in my previous life."
Xiaowen walked down the alley with the thoughts of going to sleep.
…
A group of people walked down the long streets of the city. Each one wore black robes and fashioned onto the robes was silver armor. Then off their waist hung their weapons. The tallest of them a man with particularly sharp features, swiveled his head back and forth as if he was searching for something.
"Are you really looking for him?" A middle-aged woman in the pact asked, "He should already be dead."
"I'll forget the treason you just said." he responded, "The prince is an important asset of the country. If he is not found. Then as a country we have lost something vital."
She sighed. A young man who she didn't know spoke, " We're looking for the second prince right? And he's an important asset to our country?"
The sharp man glowered at him suspiciously, "Did you perhaps have something to do with the prince's disappearance? Is that why as a loyal knight to our country you cannot have the slightest of thoughts when the man you were supposed to protect goes missing in a day?"
"Hey!" He raised his arms, "I have nothing to say. It's a hundred percent my fault he disappeared from my sight. Not like he hasn't done this before…"
"Yeah, he's always done things like this." The middle-aged woman agreed, "His Highness was a vicious person. In all regards. It wouldn't surprise me if he ran away and got killed by one of those nobles he offended."
"I'll act li-"
The sharp faced man was cut off by a cry of horror, "What the hell!" a feminine voice spoke rapidly.
"Calm down." a man's voice eerily familiar spoke softly then muttered, "I didn't think this through…"
"Help! Somebody! Help!" The women screeched forward and leapt into the streets from an alleyway.
The guardsmen all spun their heads in her direction. From the alleyway, they could see a dirtied man covered in blood walking forward while attempting to gently calm down the hysteric women in front of him.
The sharp faced man gave a sauntered frown, "Hold there." He told his colleagues and then worked his way to the man with his hand fiddling with the handle of his sword, "Halt! I am from the tailed guard heed my warnings or I shall take your head."
The bloody and dirtied man paused as he took a stride. His figure stayed in the alleyway for a moment more before a smile spread across his face, "What is the tailed guard of the royal family doing out on the streets?"
"None of your business." He stated, "Now raise those hands of yours and don't resist when I hogtie you."
"You're going to hogtie me?" they responded with a sneer, "I'd like to ask why you'd do that."
The guardsmen's face twitched. The blood that was smeared against his rather elegant clothing gave a certain tinge of unease. "It's obvious why."
"I don't believe so. I think you're arresting me because of the prince." He took a cautious step forward with his hands raised.
The guardsmen drew his sword and pointed it at their chest and looked him over, "Whose blood is that on your face."
"Mine." He quickly responded. "Does the tail guard always go out with their best? I mean it's plenty fine with those few behind you, however. I never realized someone of your caliber would come out… especially just for a few rounds of guarding."
"What are you getting at?" The guardsmen spoke.
"Nothing really. Just that I wouldn't send out my best to run around a few errands. ." he smiled. "Do you know that I'm a part of the high class nobility? I could even be considered royalty even."
"What?" His eyes jolted.
"It's true." He confirmed, "I'm a part of the royalty. High High Class royalty. Perhaps, this might work in your mind." He gestured toward his bloodied clothing, "Come on get a closer look. I'm not as strong as you perhaps can sense."
The sharp faced guardsmen had already confirmed that, their cultivation being only at the Initial Qi Condensation.
He took a sharper glance and his eyes widened.
"You're looking for the prince aren't you?" Xiaowen's eyes curled into fox tips, his mouth curled from ear to ear and his hands pinched his shoulder shirts so the guardsmen could get a better look at the royal symbol that crossed his left breast.