Looking at the city before him, Thiago could see that the walls were so massive that they seemed to be made of solid stone, rising higher than the tallest trees, and moving his gaze from the walls to the interior revealed by the open gate, he saw a sprawling city with a mix of high and low buildings made of unknown materials.
Some of the buildings were several stories high, while others were shorter and more modest. The city was bustling with activity and Thiago could see people going about their daily lives.
"Okay, let's move on, it's our turn now," Li Wei reminded Thiago, who had just been observing the city and hadn't answered Li Wei's first call because he was too engrossed.
"Oh, yes, I'm coming," Thiago replied quickly, looking away and moving to the now empty space in front of the gate where the other people had been standing, who had now gone through the gate into the city, where a guard was already getting impatient because Thiago had been a little late.
Fortunately, it had only been a few seconds and had not mattered much. The guard was a relatively young man, maybe twenty, a little overweight, with brown hair and a stern expression on his face.
When the guard scrutinised them a bit, he seemed to recognise Li Wei, as he was a person who was often in and out of the city due to his odd jobs for the guild. Seeing that it was Li Wei, the guard's expression became more amiable, and he even greeted Li Wei cordially: "Oh, so it's you, Li Wei, have you won anything today or have you come back empty-handed?"
They seemed to have a good relationship, which surprised Thiago a little, as he had not expected the guard to know Li Wei, which might make it easier for him to enter the city, as he had no idea how strict the entry requirements were.
"Haha, today I made great progress and found all the herbs in one go, all thanks to the brother behind me," Li Wei replied with a friendly smile.
"Oh, the brother behind you helped you?" the guard shifted his gaze to Thiago, whom he seemed to have unintentionally ignored until now, and a boy of only about 1.60m came into view, making him doubt Li Wei's words a little, as he thought Thiago was more of a child than an adult, simply because of his height.
However, he did not say what he thought out loud because he could never be sure what was true and what was not, so he was not stupid enough to offend someone for no apparent reason, which made him smarter than at least ninety-nine percent of all cultivators, at least in this case.
"My name is Thiago," Thiago explained as he saw the guard scrutinising him.
The guard, who had already noticed that he was blocking the entrance to the city with his action of chatting with Li Wei, did not bother with Thiago any longer and only nodded briefly before speaking: "Brother Li Wei, since this is your friend, I will make it easy for you, he only needs to pay the entry fee of one spirit gold instead of having to fill out that kind of form, which you know is quite burdensome.
"Well, thank you, I will take you out for a drink sometime to repay you," Li Wei replied happily, showing once again that he was a person who greatly appreciated favours and would try to repay them as soon as possible.
In fact, he knew that what Bai Haoran, that was the guard's name, was doing right now, letting Thiago into the city without filling out the necessary forms and clearly stating his identity, could get him into serious trouble, but he was doing it anyway, which made Li Wei admire his courage.
It had to be added that Bai Haoran was also doing this because he thought that Thiago posed no threat to the city, anyway, having been fooled by Thiago's small height. If Thiago had the appearance of a normal adult cultivator, Bai Haoran would never dare to take the risk of getting into serious trouble for someone he did not even know.
Thiago, who had no money with him, saw Li Wei take out a golden coin with intricate symbols from the pocket in his trousers, and he could actually feel a slight fluctuation of mana from the coin, but it was really only a tiny fluctuation that could only be detected by extremely sensitive cultivators.
It seemed that was how the spirit gold got its name, Thiago reasoned.
But seeing that Li Wei's bag contained many more of these coins, Thiago was sure that they were not of much value at all, despite their rather good-sounding name and the word gold in their combined name. Still, it had to be remembered that this was a world of cultivation, and gold was unlikely to be of much value. Only if the gold had a certain mana content, like most of the ores and materials in Red Star that were used to forge weapons and other structures.
"Okay, you take this identification plaque, which shows that you have entered the city through the proper channels and have paid the entry fee," Bai Haoran said to Thiago after Li Wei had given him the coin, while stretching out his arm to give Thiago the plaque.
Thiago, who said a short "thank you" to be at least a little polite, took a quick look at the plaque and saw that it was made of a metallic material, or at least it seemed to be, but Thiago did not have much knowledge of the ores of this world, so he could only describe it as such.
There was nothing written on the plaque, just a crescent moon engraved on it, which probably represented the city, since its name was Half Moon City.
What Thiago also noticed directly was the faint spiritual fluctuation that surrounded this tablet; it was probably used by the guards within the city to check if this was a real plaque or if it had been counterfeited for whatever reason; if they wanted to check, all they had to do was to have an artefact that corresponded to this exact spiritual mark left on the real plaque.
Coming out of his thoughts, Thiago put the plaque on his robe, where it stayed easily, as it seemed to stick to the fabric of his robe quite well.
Having finished that, Thiago turned to Li Wei who already signalled for them to pass the gate, so he did not hesitate the slightest and entered through the city gate before them.
The streets of the city were buzzing with activity and Thiago could see countless people going about their daily lives. Merchants sold goods from all over the country, while the sounds of craftsmen and artisans at work filled the air.
Thiago could see Cultivators of all levels, from lowly disciples to more powerful Elders, moving through the crowds with ease.
The streets were wide and paved with smooth stones, with vendors selling everything from fresh produce to intricate handicrafts. Thiago could see various cultivators in distinctive robes, their auras indicating their level of cultivation, though most people's auras were muted.
The city was filled with the sounds of people and the occasional roar of a wild beast, either being used for transport or slaughtered by a street vendor selling its fresh meat.
Despite the varying heights of the buildings, the city had a general air of grandeur and sophistication. The architecture was intricate and beautiful, with each building bearing unique designs and motifs. The colours of the buildings were vibrant and striking, ranging from warm earth tones to bright jewel tones, depending on the owner of the building.
Looking closer, Thiago could see that the city seemed to be divided into different districts, each with its own unique architecture and culture.
There were districts filled with towering pagodas and temples, while others were dominated by grand mansions and palaces. There were districts dedicated to trade and commerce, others were centres of learning and knowledge, and still others were completely poor and seemed to be home to lower existences.
As Thiago gazed upon the city, he couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder and excitement. He knew that there was so much to explore and discover in this cultivation world, and the city before him was just the beginning...
"Wow!" Thiago couldn't help but murmur as he looked at such a scene, not really understanding why, since it wasn't the first time he had entered a city. His previous city, where he had lived, had been even more crowded and busier.
'I guess it is because everything here is so different and seems so magical to me, who is used to the modern cities of the twenty-first century,' Thiago guessed the reason for his reaction quite reasonably, as it was quite obvious. Who would not be overwhelmed by a fantasy city like this for the first time in their life?
Seeing Thiago who seemed so overwhelmed just by seeing such a scene, Li Wei could not help but laugh as he said: "It seems like you really have lived in a forest all your life, haha, look, this is not even one of the biggest cities in the Great Flame Kingdom, this is just one of the many cities in this kingdom. Even though I have never been to one of the larger cities, I have heard how incredible and large the capital of the kingdom is. I wish I could visit it sometime, but the distance is just too far from here for me to be able to get there easily".
"Well, yes, I am really ignorant, I know, but what you said really makes me adjust my mentality a bit, because I had thought that this city was already amazing, but now I am even more curious about the capital." Thiago replied as he collected himself after Li Wei's reminder.
"Well, I will show you around now, or do you want to look for an inn to rest first?" Li Wei asked quite attentively, which made Thiago think quite highly of him as well, but he quickly replied that he did not need to rest now and wanted to take a look at the city.
"Then I will start now, Alright then follow me," Li Wei said as he already started walking in a certain direction, making Thiago a little bit surprised before he promptly followed him through the masses of people that were present in every square and street in the area at the moment.
Thiago, like a child seeing something for the first time, looked around curiously, almost losing sight of Li Wei a few times.
A few minutes after they had crossed the busiest square, they reached a rather empty street, where Li Wei was also waving to him, standing next to the entrance of a medium-sized, three-storey building with "The Gilded Dragon" inscribed above the entrance, allowing Thiago to roughly guess where Li Wei had taken him.
It must be a tavern or something like that, Thiago thought, before walking over to Li Wei, who spoke at this point: "I thought you might want something to eat and drink, so I brought you to my favourite place, which is this tavern here.
He paused for a moment and continued: "Although its name is a bit ostentatious, it's really quite good and affordable," and when he reached the last part he seemed a bit embarrassed as it indicated that he did not have very much money.
"Well, thank you, I'm actually quite hungry now, and this tavern seems to be quite okay, and since you're the one who has to pay the bill, I dare not be picky, haha". Thiago replied, showing at the same time that he had absolutely no problem with eating something cheap.
"Well then I'm glad, so let's go in now." Li Wei urged Thiago while he was basically already half through the door which he seemed to have opened ion barely not time.
It seems he is the one who is really hungry, how amusing,' Thiago thought as he guessed the real reason why Li Wei had brought him to this tavern. However, he did not care as they had known each other for less than a few hours, so why should he expect the other party to be so generous and thoughtful? It was perfectly normal to think of oneself first, and the fact that Li Wei also offered to pay for him, well, not really offered, but he did not refuse either, so it was basically the same, at least in Thiago's perception, who seemed to have become a little tyrant.
Not thinking about it any longer, Thiago quickly followed Li Wei and followed him to a certain table, observing his surroundings at the same time...
...