"Man, I'm so tired."
David took a sip of coffee and muttered in a tired voice. He had huge dark circles under his eyes, looking like someone who hadn't slept for ages.
Because of yesterday's incident, David didn't sleep last night. In fact, he went through the book that he had purchased yesterday, and by the morning he was done reading the book.
Overall, it was worth 1,000 spirit stones. He managed to learn some crucial information.
A cultivator who hadn't managed to get into Deadwood Academy could take two paths: either to join an organisation or to wander around as a rogue cultivator.
Well, let's not even talk about being a rogue cultivator as it was pointless; no one wanted to be in their position.
So, after careful consideration, David decided to join an organization. Even the author of the book was in favour of that decision and had repeatedly stressed on that point.
The book had named three or four organization's that were active in the upper city.
The secretive Black Spades, the organisation was mysterious compared to the others. The author only knew that it existed but he didn't have any other information about it.
The Society of Enlightened: the tone of the author was a little strange when he had mentioned this organization.
Third was the North River Sect, about which the author was the most optimistic and had repeatedly expressed his regret in not being able to join.
And lastly, the strongest of them all, the Nether Cult. As the name itself would suggest, they mainly dealt with dead beings and therefore were not looked upon favorably by others.
If it weren't for the City Lord, the Deadwood City would have long been taken over by them.
Now that he had a general idea about the political situation of the city, David decided to move ahead and join one of the organisations.
Although the author hadn't explicitly mentioned the reason, he had repeatedly advised joining one of the organization's to make your journey smoother.
David had a gut feeling that the author could be trusted. Moreover, judging by the reaction of the shopkeeper and the green gowned lady, the author of the book had a great reputation. Therefore, his words could be trusted.
After finishing his coffee, David exited the building and started walking in the direction of the upper city. From the bank, the upper city wasn't far away.
Contrary to its name, the upper city wasn't really an upper city in a literal sense. It was called the upper city because that's where cultivators and wealthy people lived.
The upper city and lower city were separated by a huge circular wall made of sandstone for unknown reasons.
Walking for merely five minutes, he arrived near the wall and looked at the row of people standing in a straight line waiting for their chance to get inside after proper verification.
David found these scenes strange; they were treating people of their own city with such strict measures.
He hadn't been inside the upper city before, so he had indeed no idea what they were doing.
"Punk don't cut the line."
Somebody grabbed David shoulder from behind and forcefully pulled him back.
Unknowingly, while pondering he had walked ahead in the line.
David raised his eyebrows and turned his head to look at the person who dared to grab his shoulder.
His gaze met a burly man dressed in leather armor and with a couple of blood stains on his torso.
"Did this bastard think he could intimidate him?"
David angrily thought and brought one of his fingers to his lips in a gesture to silence the man.
"Was he a pushover?"
"Next?"
However, their little episode had to be interrupted; because it was the burly man's turn next.
The burly man looked at David coldly and moved ahead.
After some time, it was David's turn.
Standing in front of a three-foot-tall cube made of metal, David patiently waited for the procedure to finish.
Suddenly, his whole being was drowned by red light from all directions.
"Contamination level - 10%"
"Status - safe"
A man with a head full of white hair announced a plain voice.
"Next."
"This is your report, please carry it with yourself all the time. And in case you lose it, please contact the staff as soon as possible."
A woman dressed in official attire handed David a red slip, and spoke with an amicable smile on her lips.
David nodded, took the slip from her, and walked away from the cube.
He could finally enter the city.
David felt like he was trying to cross a border from one country to another.
After the test, he was on the other side of the wall.
Just as David crossed the boundary and entered upper city, he suddenly felt an oppressive feeling from all around him, as if the world itself was rejecting him.
He wondered what had changed; he had never felt such a feeling when he was in the lower city.
David found it difficult to breathe and in barely a moment, his clothes were drenched in sweat.
Huff! Huff!
He took in a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. After five minutes, his body had finally calmed down.
"Are you okay, sir? It seems this is your first time coming here."
A young melodious voice called out to David from his side.
David turned his head in surprise; he didn't feel the presence of anyone beside him. So, how can he suddenly hear someone's voice?
Beside him was a girl not much older than him, who was politely looking at his face.
The girl had oval face and almond shped green eyes that were focused on David.
She was dressed in a white robe that hid her curves perfectly. Her long blonde hair gave her an alluring appearance. Her cherry red lips opened as she spoke again.
"I can help you navigate through the city in return for a small amount of spirit stones."
Her voice had strange attractiveness that made it hard for David to resist her words.
He subconsciously nodded at her words.