Pocket Realm

"Evergreen Trading Firm?" Zhao Yun asked.

"Yes young master. This Evergreen Trading Firm is akin to a merchant association that is spread throughout the desolate land. Every kingdom would have atleast one of its branches and some strong kingdoms like the Rising Dragon would have more than one. There is also one in our Kingdom of Qin. It is said that there is a huge force behind it. "

Zhao Yun nodded. At the same time he decided to learn more about the powers of the world. He wanted to establish himself in this world. He knew that his mission was something he cannot accomplish all alone. As the saying goes 'know yourself and know your enemies and victory would be yours.'

He took a deep breath.

"Ok I would go to Trading Firm after my seclusion. You guys train hard and keep a low profile for now." He said.

"Yes Young Master." The crowd replied.

Zhao Yun smiled at his uncle and aunt.

Ancestor Zhao Lin was smiling from ear to ear. In the boy he saw the rise of the clan.

Zhao Yun bowed towards the old man and then left with his parents.

In the courtyard where Zhao Fan and Guan Rou lived, Zhao Yun made them sit.

"Son, I feel as if I'm in a dream." Guan Rou said.

Seeing the prestige and strength of her son, she was unable to bring herself to believe it.

Zhao Yun smiled. "Mom I got a big inheritance. So big that no one in this world can compare to it. But it also gave me responsibility corresponding to the strength it gave me."

"In the future I would need to travel around the world to gain strength and to fulfill the promises I made. I won't be able to accompany you guys. Would you blame me?"

Hearing this Guan Rou bit her lips. She knew that somehow her son had got something countless individuals dreamt of but she also knew how dangerous this world was. She couldn't bear to see her precious son leave her.

But before she could say something, she felt a big hand holding hers. She turned to see Zhao Fan smiling at her.

He said, "Son, I have always hoped that no matter what you do, you would excel in it. Now that you are doing such, I'm proud of you. So what we can't see each other. Atleast we know that we have a son out there fighting for his dreams, fighting for his friends and family. My only hope is that no matter what you do, keep a clear conscience. That's all I need. And remember when you are tired just come back home. Your mom and I would be waiting." Saying this although his eyes were red, there was a brilliant smile on his face. He was truly proud of his son.

Zhao Yun's eyes were a little red too. He knew that he was being unfair to his parents. But this was the world of cultivation. A baby eagle had to fly away regardless of its wish. He smiled and said, " Mom, dad I can't say when.. but I promise you there will come a day when we all will be together." He vowed solemnly.

"That's all we need." Zhao Fan smiled. Guan Rou also smiled but she had tears in her eyes.

Zhao Yun accompanied his parents for a while and then left decisively. He knew that if he wants to live with his parents then he should be strong enough to live carefreely in this world. At the same time he decided to find all kinds of treasures to boost the talent of his loved ones.

After he left, Guan Rou burst into tears. Zhao Fan consoled, " What are you crying for? It's not like he's abandoning us. All we have to do is believe in him."

"I do." She said, "I just can't bear to part with him."

Zhao Fan smiled and said, "Believe in our son. I believe he would be able to create a place where we all can live together just as he promised."

"Hmmm"

Zhao Yun went back to his room.

He rummaged through his belongings and found the book given by Elder Lan.

He immersed himself into reading it.

This was a book that was the outcome of the research of the family behind Yu Mei.

According to the book, the forces of the world were divided into stars.

From the weakest one star forces which have atleast one foundation establishment experts to the strongest nine star forces which had atleast 3 semi divinities.

If the strongest experts of a n star force exceeds 10 in numbers then would be a quasi n+1 star force.

This division was numerical and not comprehensive. It did not take into account the battle prowess of the experts and just the optical cultivation base. Thus this book was not ideal for one to gauge the strength of a force. But it gave a rough idea of the distribution of power.

The world was central continent of the mortal world. It had five continents and seven seas. The central continent was the strongest while the four continents surrounding it had more or less the same strength except for the Greencloud continent that Zhao Yun was in.

The Central Continent or the True Martial continent was the strongest and richest. It had inexhaustable deposit of various resources. The energy of heaven and earth was thick and the fate gathered there was massive. It had many 9 star forces and the strongest there were three quasi 10 star forces.

Frigid continent was north to the central continent. Barbarian mainland was to the west and Beast continent to the south. These continents were ruled by a Seven star force each while many 6 star forces were under them. The resources and fate of the continents were not enough to support the existence of 8 star forces thus seven star was the hegemon here. The last continent which was to the east was the Greencloud Continent.

It was the weakest of them all. The hegemon of this continent was at 6 star level. Legend has it that in ancient past a great battle occured here. Who were the participants, no one knows as all records and forces were destroyed. The fate and resources of the continent dwindled thus making it a place where no big force wanted to settle. This gave an opportunity to a small 4 star force Sword sect to settle here. After millions of year, the fate slowly recovered to some extent. Although it was only a fraction of its original, it was enough to sustain a six star force. The tiny sword sect developed to a six star force over the years. Now it was on its way to a quasi seven star with 6 martial saints.

There were twelve 5 star forces under it. Yu Clan, the clan behind Yu Mei was one of them.

"Five star force huh. Three martial Kings." Zhao Yun muttered when he read the information on the Yu clan.

He smiled a little when he thought of the little girl.

He shook his head to focus on reading.

The place where Zhao Yun was, was called the ancient desolate. This was precisely the location of the battlefield and thus the place with the lowest amount of fate and resources.

Zhao Yun sighed sorrowfully.

"Why are you sighing about such a good thing?" Ling Yun's old voice echoed in his mind.

"Hmmm?" Zhao Yun frowned.

"Elder is something wrong with my thoughts?" He asked respectfully. He thought that the place he was at was low on resources and also low in fate. According to him this was not a good thing.

"Of course! Everything is wrong with your thought process." The old man chided.

"Please enlighten me sir." Zhao Yun said.

"Where do you think the fate of this continent have gone to?" Ling Yun asked.

"Ummmm wasn't it destroyed in the battle?" He questioned.

"Bullshit" Ling Yun cursed. "Remember in this Universe, nothing can be destroyed from existence. Every matter turns into its true source and returns back to the void."

Seeing Zhao Yun listening attentively, Ling Yun continued, " For example, a cultivator in his lifetime consumes a lot of resources. When he dies, his qi returns to the void. The Qi in a cultivator is a refined one thus the Qi returning to the void is also refined and pure. Whereas his body or ashes turn into nutrients for the earth." The old man explained.

After a pause he continued, " Let's take this Black dragon mountain for example. It's Qi returned to the void. Thus the amount of heaven and earth energy here is purer and denser than other areas. Secondly, its body became a great nutrient thus enabling the growth of rare medicinal herbs."

"So that's it. But places like Black dragon mountain are very rare so where does everything else gone?" Zhao Yun questioned.

Ling Yun smiled. There was a hint of excitement in his eyes.

"That is the most important aspect. If my conjecture is correct then there must be a pocket space in this continent."

"Pocket space!!" Zhao Yun was shocked. He remembered something he read in the Book of treasures.

Pocket space are like a small world. They cannot be created artificially but needed certain conditions to be formed. As for why they were considered treasures was because one can imprint their soul mark at the core of the world. Then the pocket space would become a personal world. Just the thought of having a personal world was something even semi divinities would fight for.

Zhao Yun was extremely excited.

Ling Yun saw this excitement and said, "the pocket space is not easy to find. But we know that since the fate of this entire continent is gathered there, we have a great advantage."

"How do we search for it?" Zhao Yun asked.

"The day you reach Avatar realm, your soul Avatar being a perfect Avatar would be able to regain the long lost third eye of the humans. That eye is called the all seeing eyes. You would be able to see the flow of fate by then. Then we can search for the pocket world." Ling Yun explained.

In order to tell the boy the importance of the pocket world, he continued, "Remember, this pocket world would be extremely useful for you. If you comprehend laws and fuse them to this pocket world, it would evolve with your cultivation. Thus if one day you ascend the divine realm, this world can go with you. As it is formed by the natural laws of mortal plane, you would have a top level mortal world in the divine plane that even the strongest individuals won't have."

The more he learnt the more he wanted this pocket realm. The thought that he can only get it if he reached Avatar realm dampened his spirits a little, but the determination to get it burnt deep into his eyes. Just the fate in the world alone was worth it let alone other things.

Taking a deep breath Zhao Yun calmed himself down and continued reading the book.

The book stated that apart from these continents, the sea was home to countless islands and Beasts. No one knows how strong the forces there was.

He found that there were three types of forces in this world.

One was the sects. These sects would accept disciples. These disciples would be tied down to the sects. They would work for the sect while the sect would provide them guidance and resources. Thus it can be said that sects were institutions of equal exchange.

The second force was kingdoms and empires. As the name goes, these kingdoms and empires were ruled by emperors. In the kingdom, the word of the emperor was the law. There was no equal exchange as cultivators had to work for the empire. They would be rewarded as per their contribution with reward being land and treasures instead of cultivation resources. As the saying goes, population is the greatest resources. Empires were a collection of kingdoms. Empires and sects were enemies as their ideology differed. Ironically all these empires were ruled by the sects in Greencloud Continent. Whether it was the sword sect at the top or the Evergreen sect, a 4 star sect, in the desolate land.

Zhao Yun also learned that the the mysterious Evergreen Trading Firm was a resource collection and governing branch of the Evergreen sect.

The third type of the force was the Union of wandering cultivators. These Wandering cultivators were individuals who didn't belong to any of the other two forces. They had obtained their resources while adventuring. This third force was the biggest force. Sects and Empires targeted talented individuals. While Union was a place where fish and dragons mingled.

There was no such union in the Greencloud Continent thus making the wandering cultivators a disorganised bunch.

After learning all that, Zhao Yun also found out that Evergreen Trading Firm also had a function of selecting talents. They would search for talented individuals in the small kingdoms.

If a person had broken through to peak body tempering before sixteen, the Evergreen Trading Firm would contact him and invite him to join them.

If it was in the past, Zhao Yun would have jumped at the chance, but now he was not that interested.

"Are you an idiot?" Ling Yun exasperated berating sounded again.

Zhao Yun was stunned. He smiled bitterly and asked the old man for guidance again.

" Evergreen sect is just a four star sect. How much time do you need to reach Xiantian? May be just two years. Then you can easily conquer that sect making it yours. Furthermore that sect is all made up of alchemists. Where would you find so many Alchemy talents?"

The more he spoke the more excited he became. Afterall it was truly a cake waiting to be eaten and this idiot was planning to abandon it.

Zhao Yun was embarrassed.

"Listen boy." Ling Yun said.

"You have the inheritance of all nine major paths. You would need people to take that inheritance. You cannot be thinking of learning all that yourself would you?"

"N-no" Zhao Yun denied unnaturally.

"Sigh... What are you thinking. Following some auxillary path is enough. It would help you temper your mindset. But overeating will have adverse affect. Alchemy and weapon refining are fine. They would help you in times of need. Leave the other occupations to others." Ling Yun said.

Zhao Yun pondered for a while and nodded.

As for the Evergreen sect. He would think about it later.

For now his priority was to get used to his strength. Learn battle techniques and increase the strength of his family.

He meditated to digest his knowledge. Few hours later, he opened his eyes. His eyes were determined. He decided to join the Evergreen sect. Not only would he be able to get talents for his inheritances, he would also get the resources he can't while practicing on his own.

"Evergreen Trading Firm huh.. guess its time to visit it." He spoke while calmly watching the rising sun in the horizon.