We arrive by the kingdom with ease. By The gates of Sword Metropolitan, I stand proudly as I hold the two runts' hands. I cannot bear losing them. They are just kids. It is not like I have any experience babysitting some.
I know they are cultivators, but I am a responsible adult.
The boar was no more. I abandon it the moment we get about half a kilometer to Sword Metropolitan. I must say, the traffic in the royal capital is very city-like. The last time I peek here through Mind's Eye in checking Lu Gao's and Lurker's progress, it was like this.
It is as if Lu Gao's speech about moving lots of the population and turning them into pilgrims didn't happen at all. "Listen the two of you… While we are here, I want you two to address me as grandpa…"
The two meekly nod as we wait in the long line. The last time Lu Gao and Lurker were here, they did some trick to cut in line. But I am not like that. I am a stickler for rules. So no matter, how long we wait, we will wait.
I have so much patience I was able to weather it through. After five hours, we finally get inside the city. I see the deadpan faces of my two grandchildren. It looks like we are heading for the inn. I do have some money in me.
As we make our way to the most luxurious inn according to hearsay, I see the many stalls in our path. All of them are mortals, but to cultivators, what they are selling must be novel as I feel quite some cultivators clamoring in the said stalls.
I find this world's economy very curious. The population of this world skews on a rising trend of mortals, and with them holding much of the currency of the populace, I find it weird that they don't hold as much power as cultivators. It is understandable as those cultivators have powers, but that doesn't really explain it.
If there is just one rich mortal, I imagine them having as much influence, but in old Fu Shi's memories, I don't recall even one mortal who owns a merchant banner. The richest mortal that this old body knows is one that supplies lumber.
I guess that is how much allure longevity has for mortals to abandon their mortality if they find the chance to do so. And I guess that is how tempting money was for cultivators to sometimes seek wealth. Why cannot they focus on just one thing? Look, I am very mortal after all.
Finally, we arrive at the Dragon Inn, the most luxurious inn in the whole Sword Metropolitan. From the outside, it looks like a very grand castle. As we enter, I see eyes on us, but I ignore them.
With my shabby old appearance and rags for clothes, I cannot blame them. I don't really like wearing the spiritual artifacts I have at home. I find them stuffy. Come to think of it, Lu Gao's clothes are sleek and have the smell of wealth to them. It seems he and Lurker didn't waste their chances on buying some stuff since they were here. In smelling of wealth, Yin Shu similarly has a luxurious cloth draping her. Though it was just recently in the pilgrimage, she manages to maintain an apt appearance.
We seat at a table for three. I gesture to the waiter of the Dragon Inn, and as you can expect from their services, he was fast.
"What can I get you, old sir?" The waiter warily looks at me but stops doing so when he sees the two children with me. I feel that he is more cautious than usual. So with my Mind's Eye, I look at my surroundings.
I realize the inn is full of cultivators. Outside too seems to be teeming with cultivators like on the path to here and even from the long line of traffic outside Sword Metropolitan.
"Is there some sort of event? It looks like the city is welcoming a lot of cultivators."
The waiter puffs his chest and boastfully mentions the King's Challenge. "Every decade, the king issues a challenge to the sect masters in his kingdom. No one knows the cultivation prowess of the king, but the spectacle of his fighting has been a kind of festival for the kingdom. Aside from being very handsome and powerful, the spars he engages with prove to be valuable for the challenges too."
I nod at the waiter's words, so I toss him a gold piece as his reward.
The waiter becomes more enthusiastic and continues telling stories. "Last decade ago, the king made an announcement that he will also take challenges from the younger generation if they do receive their sect master's recommendation. Each sect master, they have two spots which the king would allow. That's why there are so much more cultivators today!"
I nod at the waiter and toss him again a gold piece. I am that generous… No, not really, I think… I just like the feeling of tossing a gold piece. When the waiter was about to talk more, I gesture to him to stop, for I am ready to take my orders already.
"Give us your best food… Make them nutritious and delicious for my grandchildren…" I tell him, and the waiter bows to me respectfully. He scurries off immediately eager to fulfill my orders.
In inns, there is no lack of troublemakers. I tossing two gold pieces is enough to make a hotheaded fool come at me for greedy reasons.
A young man with clean robes comes to our table and respectfully greets Lu Gao. "Young master, our sect master wishes to speak with you. Would you please allow him your greetings as a junior?"
On second thoughts, it might not be my tossing of gold pieces that is the reason for attracting trouble. Sure, I'd like to be a show-off once in a while, but I cannot have anyone troubling my disciples.
I wasn't even able to make a move as Lu Gao reasons in a very calm manner. "Forgive me, but I am with my grandfather. It is disrespectful of me to leave this table just to greet a stranger I have no intention of befriending."
To the young man, this feels like a rude rejection. How dare he rejects his sect master!? His emotions flare up, and with his 4th stage cultivation base, he pressures Lu Gao.
This annoys Lu Gao as the prickling sensation envelops him with hatred. "Do you really wish to continue?"
The young man places his palm on Lu Gao, and with condescending eyes, he pressures him more. "I admit, so young and you already have this level of cultivation. It makes me envious yet I wonder, just what hit your head for you to associate yourself with this dirty mortal."
The young man directs me with an angry gaze, but I don't care. I care however that he is bullying my disciple. Again, before I unleash my powers, Lu Gao makes his move faster than I do.
With a very casual move, Lu Gao places his palm over the young man's chest. "Impact…" With a whisper, Lu Gao unleashes a greater skill from the Mage branch under the Force category.
With overwhelming force, the young man feels incredible weight impact him in a microsecond. In the blink of an eye, he finds himself lying smashed into the wall. Tables and wood scatter everywhere. The pain didn't register much, but it is painful nonetheless.
Truthfully, it didn't deal any fatal damage to him as he has superior cultivation however the flashy display of his defeat is too much that he feels shameful enough to desire revenge ten times over.
I see the young man's reason vanishing. I spur my mind, and at a moment's notice, If the situation calls for it. I'll act. I divided the skills of my players into stars. The one-stars are the core skills which are the players' first skills that will become the basis of their builds. Meanwhile, the two-stars are the greater skills that were born from the principles of core skills.
Through my Mind's Eyes, I see Lu Gao's qi. Looks like the boy doesn't have anymore from his tank.
I eye the young man whose qi is about to implode. Before even the young man makes a move, an elderly cultivator comes in between him and us.
"I am the Sect Master of the Sun's Scripture Sect…" The elder introduces himself respectfully to Lu Gao and Yin Shu, not bothering to even place me in his eyes. "Forgive my disciple too for his impertinence, but I really just want to talk with you, young master… and so is the young lady with you…"
Immediately, I see a private message on my system. Lu Gao with his smart thinking uses the forum to message the System Administrator to ask me what he should do. Lu Gao's act of using the forum this way reminds me that I should make a Forum account for myself.
I reply to Lu Gao to do whatever he wants through the forum.
Lu Gao smiles and announces himself to the watching crowd. "I am Lu Gao!"
Immediately, the whole inn devolves into a loud clamor at hearing his name.