At this point, Kai's caravan had almost reached its final destination. Over the past few days, Kai had seen so many amazing things.
As they entered beyond the first wall, through more gates, Kai saw incredibly vast farmlands and lots of livestock. As they drove along the road, hundreds of villagers were working on it all. Occasionally they passed through small towns and villages. It seemed that Kai wasn't wrong in saying that the City of Shadow could fit an entire country.
There were even quite large and beautiful towns in the outer ring. But when they entered the inner ring, the atmosphere changed drastically. It seemed like everything had turned into an endless and vast city!
There were different buildings, huge crowds of people, and networks of roads everywhere. It seemed that all the roads eventually flowed to the five main roads that led straight to the Shadow Sect.....
The architecture was also very beautiful. Originally, Kai had thought that perhaps the City of Shadow would be more similar in style to Astral City, where everything was done in black colours. But as it turned out, he was wrong...
Everything in the City of Shadow was mostly made of white or light coloured stone. Even the slabs and stones on the road were made in light colours. When the sun rose, it all seemed amazing! The city radiated an aura of holiness and purity.
Of course, this was not the case everywhere. There were some rather dirty and unkempt parts of the city. Still, it wasn't easy to maintain such a vast expanse of land with an incredible number of people.
As they travelled along the roads of the city, Kai saw many different buildings. Many of them had purposes that Kai had never heard of before. Many of them were brand new. It was as if Kai had entered a completely different world.
But what was most amazing was the number of martial artists! They were literally everywhere here! In the past twenty-four hours, he had seen so many people at the Cultivator stage. Even the villagers had well-developed bodies. In backwaters like where Kai was from, they would be considered Warriors.
Looking at all of this, Kai realised that just the separate strength of the outer and inner ring was incredible! Then what was going on in the Shadow Sect itself?
Kai thought that after the greatness of the Border Beast City, he was prepared for anything. Not now, he felt like a savage again....
- Listen, Brick... And those guys in black robes... - Kai said thoughtfully.
Over the past few days, he had seen people in black clothes sometimes. They stood out from the crowd, as they all had the same uniform format. And when the people around them saw them, they were treated with more respect. Kai also noticed that there were slight differences in their clothes.
- О? Those are the disciples of the Shadow Sect! The ones in pure black robes are the Disciple Helpers. But you should have noticed that even they are being treated with the utmost respect. The status of the Shadow Sect is simply unshakable! If you have any affiliation to it, you will be respected in Shadow City! - Brick said solemnly.
- I've also noticed people wearing the same clothes, but with the Shadow hieroglyph in different colours... Does that mean something? - Kai asked interestedly.
- Oh yes, it means something! - Brick said seriously, "It's a status indicator! Apprentice assistants do not have a distinctive hieroglyph. The main disciples have a purple "shadow" hieroglyph on their chest, in the heart area. High disciples are honoured with a white hieroglyph! - Explained the captain.
- I see. And I was wondering why I saw only a few of them during the whole journey.... - Realising the reasons, Kai began to nod.
He wondered if there was any difference among these black-clad masters. Since the white shadow hieroglyph he had only seen a few times. It seemed that the proportions of the Higher disciples were much smaller. Well in the end, it wasn't strange.
- By the way... You said there are also personal disciples... What colour are they? - Recalling their long ago conversation, Kai asked.
- Hehehe. And it's not that simple with them... They're black in colour, except it doesn't say Shadow! - Trying to intrigue, said Brick.
- Enough with the comedy, tell me already... - Kai replied, rolling his eyes.
- Eh... You don't even give me a chance to have fun... - Brick said with feigned sadness, shaking his head at the same time.
- If you say so, I'll give you another barrel of wine... - Looking obliquely, Kai said.
- Oh-ho-ho! I wish I could do that right away! Hahaha. - Brick laughed, - In general, Personal Apprentices are given their personal nickname! - He explained.
- I don't understand... How? - Kai asked.
- Hmm... Those who become Personal Disciples are considered to be amazing individuals... Each one of them is incredible in some aspect of their own. It makes them stand out from the crowd. Even when they are still High Disciples, they already have nicknames. And when they move up to the status of a Personal Apprentice, they get to wear their title proudly on their chest! - Brick explained, "For example, there is an incredibly strong girl called Charming Shadow... There is also one of the strongest Personal Disciples called Lonely Buddha. These are the kind of people everyone in Shadow City knows! It's best to avoid them and don't get into conflicts with them... Their status is not lower than the Core Elders. - Brick said in thought.
- I see your point. Thanks for the warning... - Kai replied.
During this trip, he had learnt a lot of useful information. He and Brick were always talking about different things. And when Kai wanted to know something specific, Brick would tell him everything he knew.
There were some things he didn't understand. For example, he didn't know the gradation of powers in the Shadow Sect. He only said that beyond the Cloud Sphere, there seemed to lie a Sphere of Attraction, but he didn't realise what it was.
Although Brick had been in the Cloud Sphere himself, he was already in his late fifties. Which meant that he no longer had any chance of breaking through higher... The Shadow Sect was joined by people who entered the Cloud Sphere before the age of seventeen. Brick was very far from such results. In Shadow City, he couldn't be considered a strong master.
While they were talking, the caravan slowly began to move off the main roads moving into narrower alleys. After about ten minutes, they finally came to a stop.
- Well lad, we've arrived! - Brick said with a laugh.
- Thank you for everything! - Getting off the wagon, Kai said gratefully, - By the way, this is for you and your guys! Hehehe. - Laughing said Kai and took out about ten barrels of wine, placing them near the wagon.
- Whoa! Wow! You know how to honour us! Haha. - Rubbing his palms together and laughing, Brick said.
- I couldn't leave without thanking you! - Kai smiled.
- Boy, if you want to see us again, you are always welcome! Come to the Shadow Rabbit Tavern, northwest of the inner ring. When we're not camping, we stop there! - Brick said good-naturedly.
- Thanks, I got it! Hang in there lads! Hehehe! - Kai shouted and waved his hand to the whole caravan.
After saying that, he said goodbye to Brick once more and moved towards the main roads. Kai wanted to find an inn first. Although they had stopped at rivers on the way to wash up, Kai wanted to get into hot water. He shouldn't have a problem with renting one. He'd already asked Brick what currency was in common use here....
Fortunately, energy crystals or bartering goods was also basic. Before drinking with Diso, the latter had taken Kai to the vault and given him a great variety of goodies. All the wine in Kai's ring also came from there.
Because of that, Kai realised that renting a good inn wouldn't be difficult for him.
Stepping out onto a wider street, Kai began to look around the neighbourhood. There were a huge number of people wandering everywhere. There were vendor stalls everywhere, various restaurants, and people beckoning passersby in. Kai even saw strange people who offered to predict your fate, based on the month of your birth.
"What kind of idiots fall for that?" - Kai thought as he walked past.
It was now early morning, and Kai decided that he had nowhere to rush. He made the decision that he would head closer to the so-called restricted area. It would be much easier that way. When he wanted to enter there with a letter of recommendation, he wouldn't have to spend a lot of time travelling.
"There are quite a few cultivators here... And there are even masters in the Cloud Sphere... Essence Eyes!" - Pondering this, Kai activated his ability.
He looked around at the people, assessing their strength level and energy density.
"Hmm, although many are at a good level, they are hardly martial arts masters... Their foundation is fragile and most likely only achieved through pills and doping." - Realised Kai.
There were far more resources in the City of Shadow. Wealthy merchants could afford to eat the best food and take good pills. In this way, they could rise in cultivation. Although they didn't become warriors, they were good at improving their health and lengthening their lives.
This was also one of the revelations that Kai learnt from Brick. It appeared that the higher the cultivation level, the longer a master could live. Although this was obvious, but for some reason Kai had never thought about it.