Garakil

Due to its location in relation to Scaly Canyon, where dragon subspecies resided, Garakil was one of the most popular cities in the Merulla region. Garakil was the name of the first to discover the canyon, or at least the first to make it out alive, and his descendants later decided to control access to it. While this was partially driven by greed, the core reason stemmed from a beast tide that occurred many centuries ago. Some foolish explorer had angered one of the ruling sub-dragons in the canyon, and that ruler sent its brethren forward for the sake of revenge.

There were many speculations regarding what that explorer did, but the result was that while the sub-dragons were driven back, Garakil was nearly destroyed. Since then, there have been strict checks on who was allowed in and out of the canyon and what they were allowed to bring. As an inner section disciple of a high-rank average-level force like Storm Sky Manor, Shui would be able to enter with his manor-issued coat as proof of identity, but there were special artifacts that could detect the aura of sub-dragon eggs, and he would have to pay a tax if he tried to leave with one. He considered escaping the canyon through a different route, but he hadn't decided whether to do that or pay the tax yet. 

When Shui arrived near the gate of Garakil, there were many people in front of him, but based on how fast the crowd was shrinking, it didn't look like he would have to wait for long. Around the time when the sky had a fiery glow, Shui arrived at the head of the line. Before the gate were a pair of guards with Soul Realm cultivations and a dull grey orb placed atop a wooden stand. Shui sensed other guards on the other side of the gate, but it seemed that only two guards were responsible for welcoming people into the city. 

"Place your hand on the orb."

This orb seemed different from the crystals used to test talent or elemental affinity, but Shui had to be cautious since he was abnormal in many aspects and didn't want to be revealed here by causing the orb to have a strange reaction. Prepared to act as soon as anything odd happened, Shui placed his hand on the orb. After a few seconds, the orb glowed white and then went back to normal. 

"You can go in. If this is your first time in Garakil, then head to the building on your left after passing the gates."

Since everything went well, Shui was relieved as he passed the guards. Based on what he sensed when he placed his hand on the orb, it seemed to read his aura before making its judgement. The reading wasn't deep enough to tell his age or cultivation, but it could uniquely identify him. He would likely be able to fool it if he used his wood soul to blend into nature, but it would be effective for most cultivators.

After being allowed inside, he took a glimpse at the orb through the Sage God Eyes and was able to deduce that it matched his aura against other auras and flashed white because there wasn't a match. Assuming that the other auras were from people that had been banned from the city, the system wouldn't be able to stop fresh malicious actors, but it was sufficient to filter the confirmed criminals. As simple as it was, most cities had less security than this in the Merulla region, so it was something to be praised.

The directions of the guard at the gate had been sufficient, so Shui found and headed straight to the solemn building past the gates. Though the roads were busy, few wandered around this building, so Shui wondered what it was for. Upon entering it, Shui found himself in a wide room, and there was an old lady behind a desk at the opposite end of the room.

"Is your objective to enter Scaly Canyon?"

Shui wasn't too surprised that the old lady was able to guess his intention since most people visited Garakil for the same reason. What was truly unexpected was that the old lady was actually a Sky Realm expert. She hid her aura so those weaker than her would think that she was a mortal, but her efforts might as well not exist before Shui's eyes. He was curious about her reason, but not enough to breach the topic.

"Yes."

The old lady then took out a dark green stele from under her desk and placed it on top.

"Memorise what's recorded in this. I'll ask you questions when you're finished."

Shui approached to get a better look at the stele. It wasn't made from jade, but it had the same property of storing information in a spiritual form. There were many materials that had the same innate property, and it was even possible to artificially give materials that property, but jade was more commonly used due to historical customs. This stele was made out of a material that could last longer than jade, but overall there wasn't a significant difference in their ability to store information.

The stele recorded the rules and customs that one had to follow to enter the canyon. Some rules were fairly obvious, while others might be broken by an ignorant person acting normally. There were enough details in the stele to make a book as thick as the length of Shui's forearm, but Shui had a lot of experience reading, so he memorised the rules after a couple seconds. However, since other cultivators would have taken longer, Shui waited for another few minutes before announcing that he was ready. 

"Very well then."

The old lady didn't throw any trick questions, so Shui was able to get them all right on his first try. 

"Take this."

For getting the questions right, the old lady gave Shui a card that was made from the scale of a subdragon and had the image of a dragon head inscribed on it. Besides the material, the card didn't appear to have any special properties, and since dragon subspecies were frequently hunted, he figured that the material was used because it was a local specialty.

"Thank you. Is that all?"

"Would you like to buy a copy of the rulebook?"

"Ah, no."

"Then that's all. The true horror of dragons, you will learn in Scaly Canyon."

Seeing as there was nothing else to do, Shui left the building and went to a certain tavern. Once he entered the tavern, he looked around and then walked to the table, where a cloaked figure with a red mug awaited him. 

"Swords to kill," said the cloaked figure.

"And hands to craft," Shui responded.

After hearing his answer, the cloaked figure tapped on the table twice, and the other patrons immediately flowed out of the building like water down a river. Once the patrons left and the bartender went upstairs, the person across from Shui removed the head of their cloak and revealed the face of a young man with blond hair. On the surface, he seemed like a polite and helpful fellow, but there was a calculating look in his eyes.

"Please, how may I help you, Sir Protector?"