Paraj

Shui tried to subtly lead the conversation towards where the pair came from and their past, but Adrian would always block his attempts. If he pushed for an answer then they couldn't risk lying to him, but he didn't want to make Emily hate him. And so, their topics stayed trivial and eventually they left the forest and spotted that famous city.

Shui had expected a well-designed city considering what he had heard about it, but it was far more luxurious than he imagined. Firstly, the tallest building where the core functions of the city were handled, was decorated with high-quality spirit gems. Furthermore, it wasn't the only one. For every tall building and even the wall itself, the materials used were expensive and craftsmanship was excellent. And since all of these materials were used in the formation of grand arrays which protected the city and improved the quality of life of the citizens, it was strangely hard to call it all a waste.

'It looks like the rumour that this was more extravagant than the royal palace might be correct.'

Whether this was the first time they saw it or not, everyone looked at the city with admiration. However, rather than those who had been here before, it was Shui who stopped staring at it first. Among the things he had seen it was without a doubt the most impressive, but once the realisation that he could still destroy the city came into his mind his excitement went down. The city was likely strong enough to endure an assault below the level of Kings, but as Shui could see its weak points, it wouldn't be as effective against him. Yes, the materials used were excellent, but Shui felt that he could have used them more efficiently which sounded quite surprising since not too long ago his arrays could only work against Sky Realm experts at best.

What Shui had forgotten to take into account was that due to the Primordial Library his knowledge in arrays, alchemy and other fields was growing without him realising. The next time he took up a hammer and began to forge, he would realise how much he had grown.

Moving on, once he was satisfied with the amount of time he spent looking at it, Shui glanced at Emily and noticed that she was clenching her fists tightly. Emily gazed at the shining city with not only admiration, but also determination. To her, passing the exam and becoming a fully recognized tier 3 array master was only the first step. If she wanted to take revenge for her master, then there was a long way to go.

Once everyone got their fill of the sight, the group set off once more. After getting on the main road, they only needed to keep going forward to reach the city, but going there on foot wasn't a very pleasant experience. One reason for that was because carriages would always pass by them and cause incidents like what was about to happen.

They walked on the left side of the road in the same two groups of three. With Adrian on the left, Emily on the right and Shui slightly behind, a carriage was passing them.

"Get out of the way peasants!"

Despite the fact that there was plenty of space for the carriage, the coachman with a balding head arrogantly shouted at them. If he was by himself that would be enough for Shui to consider taking action, but he couldn't bring any trouble to Emily so he followed them as they shifted over more to the left. If it ended there then it would be fine, but as the carriage was passing by their group, the coachman purposefully drove the carriage through a small puddle. Thankfully, Shui acted swiftly to protect Emily from the mud with a barrier.

"Tsk, tsk, what a rude man. To think he would try to dirty a lady," said Shui as he shook his head in disappointment.

"It can't be helped. This is what the weak have to endure. Still, thank you. I sure owe you a great deal after the number of times you've saved me," said Emily.

"No, I was just following my whims and my conscience. Your smile is all I ask for."

As Emily chuckled at his reply, Shui hid his sadness. He thought it was a shame that his cute little sister had grown up this much. And the worst part was, she had likely been forced to grow up.

While Shui pondered on her background again, another carriage passed them by, this time without any trouble, still it irked him.

'I know it's first come first serve, but this is a bit annoying.'

Shui didn't want to raise a fuss, but seeing more and more carriages pass them tested his limit. At first he was just going to ignore it but then an idea came to mind.

'Now how should I..., that option did exist, didn't it. I suppose it's time.'

Secretly, Shui tapped into his phantom palace, more specifically the room near his dantian where the speed essence rested. After reaching the Earth Realm, he felt like he could finally begin comprehending the art left behind by the God of Speed, The Way of the Untouchable. He was still in the beginning stage so he didn't even have the basics down yet, but through his studies he was also able to figure out how to use the speed essence better.

Shui muttered, "Speed Zone."

This was his first domain, an application of his knowledge of laws to create a field that provided him with the advantage. Although he had a higher mastery in martial arts than speed, he could visualize the speed domain better so he awakened to it first.

Domains could be split up according to their range, with zone being the smallest and universe being the largest. A zone covered a twenty metre radius which would be enough for close range.

His Speed Zone was simple, with it Shui could adjust the speeds of those under its effects. Thanks to this ability he was able to force any incoming carriages' speed down to theirs so that others couldn't overtake them. Sure they might suspect something, but only someone far above him in power or one who possessed insight into the laws of speed or a similar law would be able to break this domain, and if they weren't already close behind them, they wouldn't matter anyway.

As Shui had hoped, they arrived at the line in front of the imposing silver gate without being overtaken again, so he dispelled the domain. Keeping the domain up drained his soul so although he could keep it up for longer, he wasn't eager to. The line was processed quickly so the six of them patiently waited for their turn to come.

Less than an hour later, Adrian and Emily reached the front of the line and faced the guard in charge of letting people go through the gate. He ran his eyes over them and asked, "What is your reason for coming to Paraj?"

He didn't bother to hide the disdain in his eyes, but neither Adrian nor Emily got upset. After all, not only was he at late Earth Realm, as a guard of Paraj his status was much higher than theirs.

Taking this into consideration, Adrian responded, "I'm here to accompany my junior sister on her way to the Array Association so that she can take the official array master exam."

Once Adrian mentioned that Emily was on her way to becoming an array master, the guard looked at her once more. He could push them around as he was employed by the city, but if this girl became an array master then it wouldn't be a bad idea to sell her a favour, he thought. However, while he was checking her out for a second time, a carriage behind them forced their way to the gate and someone in the carriage shouted at the guard.

"Hurry up! Don't make us wait."

The voice came from an arrogant youth with sharp eyes. Rather than reprimand him for cutting the line, the guard's first response was to check who the carriage belonged to, a sign that he was a true veteran. Once he spotted the crest on the carriage, the guard quickly pushed Adrian and Emily aside and welcomed them.

"My apologies, please go ahead respected guests."

As the carriage went in, the young man who had called the guard glanced at them, and his eyes stopped on Emily. Shui didn't plan on causing any trouble, but at this time that depended on what the arrogant youth did next.