The city of Veritas was bustling as a port of trade. It was one of the major hubs on the eastern coast of Sarth. While it was full of people, a sharp eye would notice it was predominantly humans with a few aether children mixed in. The few demons were like a disease in the crowds.
People went out of their way to avoid them and several armed guards seemed to never be far from those same demons, but the thing that drew the eye was the collared individuals. Usually they followed far more well dressed members of the crowd, but the ratio between collared and collarless was 1 to 2 at a rough guess.
They were slaves. Some were serving a sentence for crimes, but even though some were human, many more were aether children. It would have been nice if it was simply a form of punishment, but the reality was not the case. Labor was needed to gather resources and maintain clans or sects.
Lind's first impression of the Saint Kingdom was not good to say the least. He was currently wearing light blue robes and his hair was dyed midnight black. There was little he could do about his eyes, but in the Saint Kingdom it was far more common for green eyes to show up. His dark green would still be a key feature, but Shoti had sent out enough decoys to keep seven kingdoms busy.
It showed how seriously the Heavenly Maiden Sect took his protection. Solon and Bord had even escorted a caravan back to the Divine Sword Sect supposedly for Lind to spend more time with his friend.
Over his nearly 3 years since leaving the Frey clan, aside from elixirs, cultivation, and mastering his staff technique for tempering, Lind had been studying languages. While the 3 continents had some prevalent languages for communication or trade, many of the great powers strove to exalt their own language as the best.
Lind had been from a small power but the Lotus Academy was one of the rare few places to safely access a Ruin consistently. As such, it had the most robust language study available for such a small power.
The Heavenly Maiden Sect, for obvious reasons, has mastery classes in most of the common languages, but Lind had nowhere near the time to touch on them all. So he had focused on the Saint Kingdom and the Divine Sword Sect. Also, he had taken the basics of the Demon Empire as a safety measure.
Thankfully, most of the languages had similar roots from something called the language of Origin, but several epochs had passed and large variances had come about. As such, even though it should be close, the language of the Saint Kingdom sounded like it was very rough to Lind's ears. It was difficult to make out something as simple as a table sounded more like bleh to Lind.
He had spent the 3 months traveling south mastering the context and getting lots of practice. Thankfully, as a cultivator, Lind had a sharp mind and compared to the profound elemental energy or cultivation itself, languages were far easier.
Lind was moving down the main street that was a well beaten stone road coming from the large harbor that made the majority of space in this city. Veritas had far more inns and stalls for trade than any other city he had been in.
He almost turned to talk to QIng or Shoti but they were long gone. They both had duties to resume and they were focusing on their cultivation for the future. Lind was already behind and they would keep moving ahead of him if he did not find a way to break through safely.
Lind sighed and made his way to the harbor. He had refused the kind help of the sect as that might leave a trail to follow, whereas if Lind did it himself it would be very hard to follow him. Despite the leaks and likely suspicions involving him, he really had a heart demon issue that was public so his stay at the Heavenly Maiden Sect was safe.
He had left enough elixirs to make it seem like the guest elder was still producing while Lind had publicly left. It was all to buy time as the moment any hint of his grade 3 ability leaked, many forces in the Floating Isles will send tier 1 Sky Realms to find him.
Lind felt like his badge was a target but he had some assurances in the form of the Sapphire Auction House and Heavenly Maiden Sect. The biggest question mark was how far either would go. Between the 2, the Heavenly Maiden Sect had already gone far, while the Sapphire Auction House was highly dependent on the benefits once all facts were revealed.
Lind pushed all his worries aside as he finally took his first real look of the coast. As a boy on Earth, he had been to the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Michigan for his coastal experiences. A lake was much calmer than the ocean, but the sand was the real difference. Lake Michigan sand was darker and also had to endure winters under ice and snow, but the Gulf of Mexico was so much lighter and seemed finer to Lind.
He also figured the salt water made a difference with the smell, but to smell it again actually gave him a strong feeling of nostalgia. Lind smiled as he took in the shouting and rapid activity all around him. Massive boats that looked very different from Earth were everywhere and every size. The smallest could easily hold 30 people, but the largest towered far above any design Lind had ever seen.
He had watched videos of aircraft carriers on television, but Lind was willing to bet that some of the ships in his sight would be on par with those at least. Why they were so large had to do with their destinations and defenses.
This was not a world of fighter jets or submarines. Thus accurate maps of the open waters were not available, but the dangers in them were far higher. Aether Beasts upto the 1st tier of the Sky Realm could live deep down and decide to rise up to slaughter any poor fools on the surface.
The boats were decked out for massive cargo hauling and to take large numbers of people. Some things were similar to Earth but getting a ticket was not as easy as Lind hoped from what Qing told him. If Lind had gone under the banner of the Heavenly Maiden Sect, he would have easily booked passage on one of the massive ships, but all agreed that came with a risk of being found out.
Lind instead went to the medium to large ships. The only issue with that was he might have to agree to guard the vessel and being at the 7th tier of the Soul Realm did not exactly make him desirable.
Lind avoided those actively looking for World Realm passengers. There was no point in wasting anyone's time. He made sure to stay out of the way of carriages and lines of men hauling goods to be sent out into the greater part of the Saint Kingdom.
Lind was also trying very hard not to look at names. People were fine and normal, but the Saint Kingdom seemed hellbent on trying the sense of good taste. Veritas, by itself already problematic if the people knew what it meant, was part of the Empire of Justice. Lind thought it was a joke when he was first told about it.
Kingdom of Fairness, Council of Equality, and it went on in various languages, some of which Lind recognized as Earth origin, to some theme of righteousness. From what he had learned. The Darkmoor Kingdom had been touted as a place of fairness and survival of the fittest but a group of human kingdoms disagreed with this representation.
For reasons passing understanding, they felt the need to rename their powers and built up the Saint Kingdom. It was not quite human supremacy, but despite having the core value of a just existence and valuing its citizens beyond their resource contributions, the reality was far from that.
Lind saw a long line of slaves being unloaded from a rather ratty boat that made him frown. There were young children of all races mixed in with adults. They were in dire need of a bath or hope from what Lind could see. His fists clenched but he was powerless.
The arrogance of this entire kingdom for over 3 months he had been traveling through it was just a play. The truth was the Saint Kingdom was neither better nor worse than the Darkmoor Kingdom. The only major difference Lind could see was in Ryu. The Crown Prince was a living example of what the Darkmoor Kingdom espoused. Strength deserved respect and conflict is the purest path to power.
The Saint Kingdom sadly reminded Lind too much of home in its public face versus reality. The rhetoric was what mattered to the cultivators more than the truth. An irony considering the name of the city he was now in. Lind moved on and was now reaching areas a bit more patched up than the main harbor.
Hawkers were calling out fish for sale as well as some resources that could only be found by the coast. Lind had pulled out a sizable sum of mid to high grade World Stones with a healthy side of Soul Stones to not draw too much attention. His storage ring still had plenty of room to spare even with all his materials as well in there.
He had a few treasures to hide the existence of the ring, but he was prepared to lose them too. Thus far he had not been accosted despite the large crowds. Lind was actually impressed to have not met even 1 bandit in his entire journey.
There were the usual beasts, mostly boars and wolves for this part of the world. Lind knew bears were more common up north. He had not seen them, but supposedly there were foxes not far from Veritas that had fur the color of their elements. He had wanted to see them at least, but he pushed it all aside.
Lind was about to turn around when he saw a young man with a bruise on his cheek sitting in a stall. His clothes were heavily patched and filthy. His aura was in the peak of the 2nd tier Soul Realm. Lind looked around and noticed large men and rough looking women that reeked of blood, yet this slim boy sat there as if everything was normal.
Lind's instincts were warning him, but the pale yellow eyes were so forlorn that he could not turn away. He was still too soft. A smirk crossed his face as he slowly walked towards the booth and read the sign.
[Help needed for journey to Petra in Indelia. Soul Realm and above welcome]
Lind felt a little stunned to read that sign. Only someone desperate or trying to trick a person would use such a sign. Lind had been warned that some slavers took people off the coast of the Saint Kingdom to 'properly' capture them and then turn the boat around.
Lind kept his senses open and a hand on the short form of his staff. The young boy looked into his eyes and tears formed as he barely shook his head. Lind only smiled as he leaned over and noted that some of the people around were keenly interested in Lind.
"Are you hungry?" Lind's question caught everyone off guard. The boy looked floored while the 2 men nearest the stall nearly fell over in surprise. Lind smirked as he moved his free hand and slapped a gold badge down. The atmosphere changed instantly.
There was one thing the Saint Kingdom never allowed. Grade 2 and above specialists were treated with respect. Anyone caught obstructing them would be severely punished. The main reason for this was Indelia. The Stardust Emporium was a major trading partner with everyone but they took a very dim view of production masters being assaulted.
Normally, this would be easy to hide, but any grade 2 and above cultivator master at Veritas could register themselves without any other person known. A few millennia ago, a slaver ring was caught with a peak grade 2 formation master.
Not only was the slaver ring destroyed in less than a day, but the Saint Kingdom, Darkmoor, and the Demon Empire were faced with massive reprisals from the Stardust Emporium. It was said that Darkmoor expunged all slavery that year from their kingdom. The Demon Empire no one knew the full extent, but examples were certainly made.
The Saint Kingdom, however, simply made an edict. Production masters were to be left alone. In practice, the farther one was from a major harbor, the less safe one was as who could prove anything unless it was caught? Lind knew his golden badge was a risk in the sense it gave those looking for him a possible lead, but his changed appearance and the fear in the eyes of the rough crowd made him relaxed.
The boy stared at the golden badge in awe.
"I will ask again, are you hungry?" Lind smiled as the boy's face broke out into joy and nodded vigorously. Lind glanced around and took the boy with him to the nearest tavern. The shadows and ruffians parted like Lind was a pariah but respect was in their eyes as they bowed.
Lind could not deny a small joy in this but he also kept himself humble. Away from Veritas, he would be as much a target as anyone else. He followed a pleasant smell and went towards the tavern it came from. He needed information and this boy would be a good start.