Chapter 9 - Emei City
Emei City was a well known city in theNorthern Continent. The city was built by Mount Emei Sect right under the Mount Emei. The sect had inner and core quarters on the mountain, the outer quarters was on the foot of the mountain.
The city was bustling with activity. It was one of the most important trade cities in the east of the Northern Continent. The reason for that was the city was under the protection of Mount Emei Sect. Most of the shops and facilities of the city were operated by the outer disciples of the sect.
...
After leaving the forest, Long Yang found his way to the city. There was still a week until the recruitment test of the sect. Time was both short for preparing more and long for wasting more time doing nothing. So he decided to enter the city and explore, maybe he could sell the things he gathered from the forest and buy some equipment for the test.
When he reached the city gate he noticed there was a long line. Other than some obvious VIP people who come with carriage, most of the people were waiting for their check ups. Only thing he could do was to get in the line. While waiting he felt the odd gazes of the people around him on him but he could only ignore them since he was alone in the forest for almost five months. So his robes were damaged and filthy. When his turn has come, an hour had already passed.
He looked at the guard before him, who had a stern look and roboust body. He guessed the age of the guard must be somewhere in his thirties. He could feel the threatening aura around the guard, in the five months he stayed in the forest he got used to that feeling. And the threat he felt from the guard was almost on par with the middle level beasts in the forest.
'So even a guard of the city is a middle level cultivator huh...' thought Long Yang.
"Halt! Show your identity card and state your reason for visiting the city." said the guard solemnly. Even though it was the procedure to ask the identity card of the visitor, the guard was clearly more wary of him seeing his haggard look.
"I am here to participate in the upcoming recruitment test of the Mount Emei Sect. Sorry i don't have an identity card, i am from a village far from here. It was hard to notice the passing of time in the forest, i hope i didn't miss the test?" said Long Yang with an innocent face.
"You're also here for the exam? You're clearly not young. At least not young enough for a new disciple, are you a cultivator then?" asked the guard. His tone was much more gentler now.
"Hm." Long Yang nodded and circulated his Qi. After reaching the seventh layer, it was much more easier for him to control his Qi. He sent some of his Qi outside of his body and circulated around his body.
When the guard saw the show, a cold sweat could be seen on his forehead. He could feel how much dominaring the greenish Qi before him was. He tidied himself and respectfully said "Welcome fellow daoist, you can take your identity card from the registration building right behind the walls. You can see it when you passed the gate. I will fetch someone to help you to register.". There was a chance for the young man before the guard being a fugitive or bandit but the power of the young man was clearly beyond his jurisdiction. Only thing he could do was to monitor him until he register and pass the responsibility from himself.
Long Yang could guess the thoughts of the guard. Since the building was right behind the gate, it was unnecessary to fetch someone for help. But he was also aware of how suspicious he looked. So he nodded and decided to go with the flow.
The guard turned back and shouted "Hey, Dai Ai, come guide our visitor to the registration building.". Not even a ten seconds have passed, a man who was also in his thirties came running.
"Yes, sir. This way, sir." said the man with a short breath. He seemed to be used to these kind of things, so he came running as soon as possible.
...
Dai Ai was feeling down lately. He was running around for the past weeks for seemingly important people who came to the city for the test of the sect. Some were young masters of well known clans, those kind of people had an arrogant air around them. Even if Dai Ai was also a guard, they were treating him like he was their servants. They looked around disdainfully and were the most annoying kind of the visitors. Some were rogue cultivators who was also arrogant but of the more dangerous kind. They were roaming around the world and has overcome all kinds of dangers, so they were also looking around disdainfully, but they were not looking down of them, only they were seeing them as greenhorns. Who was sitting behind the safe walls of the city and under the protection of others. The rest were from other cities who came to the Emei City for give their shot in the test. They were much more approachable and naive. Most came to the city with hopes to change their situation in their respectful cities. Some were hopes of their family, some were just blindly chasing power.
When he saw the young man who looked like he was in his twenties with a haggard look, he didn't know in which category he should put him. But when he noticed the respectful look his senior gave to the stranger, he decided the young man was probably a rogue cultivator too.
"Yes, sir. This way, sir." said Dai Ai with respect, he couldn't afford to offend a rogue cultivator who had no restriction or fear.
The young man nodded gently and slowly started walking towards him. So he turned around and they passed the gate without any other problems.
The registration building was right in front of them so they went their way to there without speaking a word on the way. Dai Ai wanted to get over it quickly and the young man was busy with looking around curiously.
When they entered the building, he prepared to pass the responsibility but the young man looked way too dangerous to roam around, so he decided to stay a little bit longer. Only when he saw the young mans turn came, he left quietly.
...
Long Yang was overhelmed with how crowded the city was. Even the registration building was full of people. It was good that there was enough registers in the building. So his turn came quickly enough. When he went to the register he looked around and noticed the guard had already left. 'They're quite busy aren't they? At least it's good now they are not suspicious of me anymore.' thought Long Yang before releasing a soft sigh.
The attendant in the registration table was a middle aged woman with a gentle look. The woman smiled him and said "Welcome to the Emei City, is it your first time visiting a city under the jurisdiction of Sky Piercer Kingdom?".
"Sky Piercer Kingdom?" asked Long Yang with a dumbfounded look. He heard of it in the Everlasting City, but didn't know much about it. So he decided to feign ignorance and learn more detailed information.
"Sky Piercer Kingdom is the kingdom we are in. The kingdoms name comes from its tall mountains, which are also the locations of the sects such as Mount Emei Sect, Mount Hua Sect and Kunlun Sect. These three sects are also under the jurisdiction of a Middle Rank Sect which is named Crystal Palace Sect. When you register here, you will be also a citizen of the Sky Piercer Kingdom." explained the middle aged woman patiently.
"Thank you. I am Long Yang. I am coming from a remote village which is close to the Everlasting City. The name of the village is Chester. My father has passed away so i decided to come here and join Mount Emei Sect. I also started my cultivation journey while roaming the world. From some lucky encounters i am where i am now." said Long Yang. Most of the things he said were truths, he stayed with his father close to the village named Chester when he was young, but he decided to omit some parts such as Sun Clan.
While listening to him the woman started to commit the things he said to paper.
"Done. Please wait a minute i will get your card right now." said the woman and went to a door behind the register. And she returned exactly after a minute.
'Wow how efficient.' thought Long Yang. He was used to waiting from his past life on Earth and was ready to find a place to sit.
"Here, sir. Welcome to the Emei City. The fee for registration is ten silver." said the woman while passing him a wooden card. The card looked fragile from the outside but it was plated with an unknown material. It was unexpectedly very hard. Even with his cultivation and strong body he couldn't bend it at all.
After getting his card, he reluctantly passed the ten silver to the woman. Even after taking the pouch of the old man in the forest, he had 2 gold and 50 silver. He said his thanks to the woman and left the building.