Using the teleportation magic array—that was located in New Moon Village, Long Hua and Tian Cheng find themselves inside an abandoned building's first floor.
The building itself is a part of the wasteland area.
(I see.)
Staring down at the ground, Long Hua narrows his eyes. He can sense the presence of a well-hidden magic array beneath the floor.
Turning his attention away from the magic array, Long Hua dons the taotie mask, and swaps his current attire out for the archaic blue robes.
Having done that, he says—
"Right then, let's find a suitable place first."
Holding Kun in her left hand, Tian Cheng nods, while also thinking—
(With the amount of spirit stones in his pouch, it shouldn't be difficult for him—to hit the mid-stage of the Foundation Establishment realm.)
Moving out of the building, Long Hua immediately feels droplets of rainwater hitting the top of his head.
With an arm's length of distance between them, Tian Cheng follows after Long Hua, as they tread through the uneven grounds of the wasteland—to look for a suitable place to make a breakthrough.
The ideal location in Long Hua's mind would be some place far from the city, and is surrounded by tall buildings. Even if they weren't much, a location of that nature—would still provide a bit of cover from keen eyes.
Moving along, Tian Cheng subtly asks—
"Master, regarding the scale patterns that have appeared…?"
Recalling the photo that was taken last night, Long Hua answers—
"…I'm thinking my Relic isn't actually a Relic."
(Oh? So, he's at least realized that.)
"Shizun mentioned that I had a curse on me. This "Relic" is probably a byproduct of it."
(So far, he's correct. But this raises another question…)
Realizing that something was amiss, the Tian Cheng inside of the dreamscape constricts her eyes, while having her vessel ask—
"Then what about master's branding?"
"…"
Touching his neck, which is covered by a choker, Long Hua frowns.
Hidden beneath this choker is his bar code like tattoo—his branding as a Sinner. Had Tian Cheng not reminded him of this, he would have forgotten about it.
Maintaining his frown, Long Hua replies—
"You have a point. The fact that this bar code exists, means I'm a Sinner. But… I can't summon my true Relic for whatever reason…"
"Perhaps, it's because master isn't considered a true denizen of the Leng Bing Realm?"
Shrugging a shoulder, Long Hua replies—
"Maybe. Still, it doesn't really answer the question. Also, if I did have a Relic, I wonder what it would be?"
"What would master want it to be?"
"Hmm. A sword would always be nice."
"I see, a practical choice."
Realizing something, Long Hua turns his head to the side, and says—
"At some point, I should probably get you a different attire, or two."
"Reasoning?"
"Your current attire… Wearing it out in public is fine, but you can't possibly wear that—when on a job, can you?"
"By job, master means mercenary work from NPI?"
"Also, activities on the practitioners' side of things."
Understanding Long Hua's intention, Tian Cheng nods.
A person dressed in an archaic set of robes—with a maid following after him; this combination of theirs, can only be described as odd, regardless of which side of the activity sphere they appear in.
"Then I shall leave the choice to you, master."
"For the practitioner's side of things, you would need a robe of some kind, I suppose, I can ask Zhen-laoban for something later. Mercenary work wise, I guess I'll contact Yao Yao to purchase something to start off with?"
"The Moon Guard's attire may look odd, but their quality seemed high."
Having to agree with this, Long Hua replies—
"True. Maybe I should have nabbed one as material when I had the chance?"
"A bit late for that."
Maintaining their current pace of movement, the two eventually arrived at a four-way intersection.
The roads here are either riddled with cracks, or are covered in dense greenery. And the number of tall buildings nearby for covering seems perfect.
"…"
Sweeping an eye over the area, Long Hua moves to the middle of the intersection, and assumes a lotus seating posture, to which, Tian Cheng asks—
"Here then?"
"Yeah. Watch over the surroundings."
Nodding her head, Tian Cheng draws Kun out of its scabbard, whereas Long Hua draws Bai Zhe from his sash, and places it onto his lap.
Opening his storage pouch, Long Hua proceeds to dump out a vast amount of spirit stones.
(That new cultivation method that shizun gave me…)
Recalling the details of this cultivation method, Long Hua closes his eyes.
(Heaven Creation Mantra…)
This cultivation realm that he is making a breakthrough into—in accordance with this cultivation method, goes by a different name; the name being—
(First manifestation, bones manifest into vast lands.)
The Earthen Manifestation realm.