Below the high platform on which the old man was floating in meditation, another middle aged man seeming to be in his forties was seated, as if waiting for something.
After some time, the floating old man slightly opened his eyes, a ray of golden light emanating from them as he looked down at the middle aged man.
"Daoist Lightspeed, what do you seek from this seat to be waiting here without moving an inch for hours on end?"
The old man asked in a ethereal, almost otherworldly tone of voice, a divine charm emitting from his voice.
Hearing his words, Daoist Lightspeed finally looked up and replied in a complicated but respectful tone or voice, "Great senior, my eldest disciple at the Ninth Stage of Body Forging Realm had gone down the mountain a few days ago to visit one of his former fellow disciples. He should have been back here by yesterday, but since then, there have been no sign of him at all. I fear something devastating has taken place. I ask the great senior to temporarily exempt me from my duties and allow me to go down the mountain to look for my disciple."
Hearing his words, the old man nodded slightly before speaking.
"I see. You may leave, but you must come back here and report to me if there's anything too serious. You must remember that there aren't just Loose Cultivators and mortals in the secular world."
His voice was filled with deep meaning, a serious reminder to Daoist Lightspeed.
"I understand, senior."
As Daoist Lightspeed said that, the old man waved his hand casually, signaling him to leave.
After Daoist Lightspeed's departure, the old man once again closed his eyes and got into a meditative stance, muttering to himself.
"I must break through to the Third Stage of Qi Refining Realm soon."
...
The sun started to set slowly, casting a orange glow across the pale blue sky as the shops of Body Forging Realm cultivators began to be closed.
Even in a cultivation city like the Red Dragon City, chances of being robbed or even killed weren't low on days when the 3 great factions of the city and the city lord mansion's patrol team were inactive.
It was specially so for Body Forging Realm cultivators who typically did not possess any great background or remarkable talents with inadequate strength. Most people already knew that Meridian Connecting Realm cultivators were connected to the Immortal Sect in some way or another, so casualties of Meridian Connecting Realm cultivators were low, but never zero.
The only ones truly safe in the Red Dragon City were the Qi Refining Realm experts, who could materialize Spiritual Energy and float in the air, performing many divine arts and destructive spells.
No one in the city could kill a Qi Refining Realm cultivator silently or instantly, as a conflict between two Qi Refining Realm cultivators will cause a commotion because of their destructive powers.
Thus, most Body Forging Realm cultivators who worked outside would start to go back to their own homes after the sun started to set.
The ones who remained were either strongest of the bunch or had a significant background.
After a few more hours, the sun had fun set, with the moon hanging high in the sky.
At this moment, in Lin Xuanhao's cave abode.
He exhaled deeply as he slowly opened his eyes, Spirit Qi churning around him.
"Phew. The Third Stage of Meridian Connecting Realm, achieved!"
He exclaimed to himself in a low voice as he stood up and began to stretch, feeling a strand of Spirit Qi in his third meridian.
The Nine Divine Meridians that existed within every creature weren't actually physical, but more of a spiritual manifestation of a path which led to the soul space in a being, where their soul resided.
That same soul space will be where the cultivator will form a Sea of Consciousness in later realms.
Lin Xuanhao, having reached the Meridian Connecting Realm, could already survive without food or water for around a month and be perfectly fine. Yet, he couldn't help but want to experience the delicacies of the mortal world again now that he had come back.
He quickly left the cave abode, not caring about the time as he knew that most restaurants would still be open by now, specially those owned by Meridian Connecting Realm cultivators or people with impressive backgrounds.
He had quite a few Spirit Stones on him which he could spend for a while.
Exiting the cave abode, he looked around only to find that most of the nearby shops had already closed, with only a few guards on night duty patrolling the city walls from time to time, their cultivation base ranging from the Seventh Stage of Body Forging Realm to the Ninth Stage.
He made his way towards the inner area of the city, where night lamps were still lit and the atmosphere was quite different compared to the outer area of the city, almost like the difference between a large city with active nightlife and the countryside.
As he slowly went forward, he started to encounter more and more people going in and out, with nearly all of them taking second glances at him because of his striking appearance, wondering who he was.
All these people were either Meridian Connecting Realm cultivators themselves or those with Meridian Connecting Realm cultivators as their backers!
Searching around, Lin Xuanhao finally spotted a restaurant which seemed to be fairly popular, with many people going in and out of it.
As he went inside, he could see that most of the tables were already occupied and went up to a waiter, at the Second Stage of Body Forging Realm.
The waiter, noticing Lin Xuanhao's otherworldly demeanor and majestic appearance, immediately came forward to greet him.
"Welcome, senior. Is there anything I can do for you?"
He asked politely, slightly bowing his head and cupping his fists.
"Is there any quiet place where I can eat here?"
As he said this, Lin Xuanhao took out another Spirit Stone from a small pouch attached to his waist. He had taken it from Meng Zhong back when he killed him and his Meridian Connecting Realm guard.
It was a lesser version of the storage pouch which could be opened by using Spirit Qi alone and not consume any Spiritual Energy which only cultivators of the Qi Refining Realm and above possessed. Thus, it could be used by Meridian Connecting Realm and even Body Forging Realm cultivators since the latter also had Spirit Qi enforcing their bodies.
Although the space inside was limited compared to an actual storage pouch, it was still 10 cubic feet in size and could fit in many items.
A storage pouch was made using various complex runes and formations to compress space into the pouch, which in turn was also made of special materials to contain the compressed space. Overall, it was an extremely complicated process which required the effort of either an Artifact Refiner who had knowledge of formations and runes or both an Artifact Refiner and a Formation Master.
The more space inside the storage pouch, the more advanced the cultivation of its creator would be.
Seeing the Spirit Stone, the waiter couldn't help but immediately perk up and spoke enthusiastically, "Yes, of course. Does senior wish to rest on the first floor? It is only reserved for great personas of at least the Meridian Connecting Realm, though it would cost a Spirit Stone.."
Before he could finish his sentence, Lin Xuanhao threw two Spirit Stones his way, which he quickly caught and held carefully. Then, after bowing slightly, he began to guide Lin Xuanhao towards the first floor as a few guests at the ground floor took notice of them, though they didn't say anything.
Lin Xuanhao couldn't bother to be stingy right now as he would only eat here this time during his stay, and he didn't really need Spirit Stones either.
Aa the appeared on the first floor, Lin Xuanhao noticed that there weren't as many people here as the ground floor, indeed. However, their presence was definitely more oppressive than before.
There was barely any Body Forging Realm cultivator here, and the average cultivation of a person was around the Fourth Stage of Meridian Connecting Realm.
However, no one could perceive through Lin Xuanhao's cultivation level because of his Providence which had already started to recover through his increasing cultivation level. This made him an eye catching person on the entirety of the first floor.
Soon, the waiter led him to an empty table as he sat down, with the former leaving after saying a few words and taking his order.
As he was waiting for the order, he suddenly heard a commotion from another table right in front of his own.
There, a seemingly young woman in her early twenties was chugging down Spirit Wine continously as the other people on the table tried to stop her but failed. They didn't even try hard enough to stop her despite knowing she was already drunk, as if they were afraid of something happening to her.
As if noticing Lin Xuanhao's gaze, she turned to look in his direction, her amber eyes slightly widening.