New Territory

I leave the castle to see my family outside. They are staring at me.

"So we are going to become nobles right?" Says Mane.

"Yes," I reply.

My father hugs my mother when she shows me a worried face. "Don't worry too much. We are headed towards a better future." My father says.

My mother nods.

...

There is still a long way to go. I am currently too weak and have too many more enemies to eliminate. This is just one checkpoint, there are many more to go...

This festival, why is it organised when the true danger is not eliminated yet. This peace isn't forever.

From the looks of things, Orland and that old lady from the Nelson family are most likely cultists.

My family went back home to pack up. As for me... I have something else to do.

I went to the Alchemist Association, it's empty. Most of the people here have gone to attend the festival, only one single boy can be seen drooling on the counter, half awake half asleep.

"Hi, Allen," I say.

"Ah- uh ah... What? Oh, it's you, the famous hero. What brings you here?"

"I want to make a foundation establishment pill but I don't know how to. Mind if I go into that library and take a look?"

Allen stands up. "Sure."

"By the way, why aren't you attending the festival, it's one specially created because of you." Says Allen as the both of us walk up the mundane stairs.

"I have no reason to. I need to get stronger quickly, on the other hand, pills are the only way."

...

"I see."

The cultivation method I am using is getting too inefficient, I need to find a better and faster method.

"By the way, don't rely on pills that much. If you force too much cultivation into your body within a short amount of time, your meridians won't be strong enough to accommodate the circulation of immense mana. Not to mention the chance of your Dantian being too small and unable to contain all the mana... You know what happens next." Says Allen.

"I know."

We reach a large golden door that automatically opens once Allen waves his hand.

"It's usually closed right now but I will make an exception for you." Says Allen.

I enter the room to see another world. My mouth drops open.

What the...

A giant library. No, "giant" isn't the right word, "gargantuan" is.

This room is circular, the walls are filled with shelves stacked on top of one another to the point it looks like the inner part of a tornado of bookshelves.

The large area in the middle part is used for reading, floating capsules of chairs and tables are laid out neatly in rows from the ground to the top.

Beside the door is a device with a screen on it. Allen touches the screen and a book shows up on the screen asking "Are you requesting this book?"

Allen taps yes and a random book glows at one of the top rows before it floats down to Allen's hand.

"Magic is convenient, isn't it? Just think of what you are finding while you touch this and it will instantly find what you are looking for. Still, not everything is here." Says Allen.

Allen passes the book to me and I accept it. "This book contains information on making pills from the Qi Condensation to the Nascent soul. It looks really easy but is hard to execute. However, it should not be a problem for you. If you want to start practising, I have the materials gathered at the cauldron room you used for your examination, just try not to waste materials."

And Allen left the library.

I walk to the first capsule nearest to me and went into it. Sitting down, I open the book to read it.

...

Making cultivation pills is mixing different materials that absorb mana from the surrounding, thus having mana, into one small ball. The higher the realm, the harder it is to make the pill due to the increasing abundance of cultivation needed.

I look through the procedure and went into the Cauldron room. Picking materials that have high cultivation yet are suitable with one another and mixing them.

I increase the intensity of the fire. Since I only want the cultivation accumulated, I need to burn away all the other properties of the materials while mixing them.

After a while, a glow starts to slowly emit from within, I take off the cover to find a few perfect Foundation Establishment Pills.

I heave a sigh of relief and went to make 2 more batches. Totalling up to 30 Foundation Establishment Pills.

This can save me a lot of plot points from buying them in the store.

Allen came in at the right moment and witness the pills.

"Wow, you did it again..."

I gave Allen his share and store the rest.

"If you have anything else you want to make, come visit the Alchemist Association!" Says Allen as I leave.

I nod and wave my hand.

--------------------

The next day

--------------------

I carry the large box of clothes and store them in the storage ring.

I've also created mana storage and stored whatever I deem important in it. The mana storage is very small at the moment and I only can store a slight amount of things.

I wipe the sweat off my forehead using my wrist. This wooden cabin that was my childhood... I will miss it.

My mother opens the door. "Are you ready Loi?"

"Yeah."

I follow my mother out to see a few people in suits. A white carriage is stationed outside of our cabin.

We step into the carriage and the coachman clicks his tongue. The horse starts to move, carrying the carriage along.

After a while, I notice that we are going west of the capital.

...

Wait... Don't tell me.

I open the window that leads to the driver and asks "Sorry, where are we going?"

"Albion. Don't you know? The Igniz family owned that land."

My expectations were low but for them to own that barren wasteland...

Albion in the future will have absolutely no nature with every river and soil polluted with corrupted mana. The villages were forced to move out of Albion due to the toxin and it just became an area the owner owned.

I avoid this area greatly, thus, not even bothered to know who owns the great mess.

I'm not surprised. Igniz's family is selfish, to the point of destroying natural land for their greed.

As we move closer to Albion, my family smells something funny in the air. "What is this smell?" My mother says before she closes the carriage windows. The driver starts to wear a mask.

I look out of the window to see smoke coming out of a pipe that is attached to buildings. A mana processing plant. It is a building that is used to condense mana crystals to form valuable minerals.

I knock on the window of the coachman and tell him to stop.

?

"What's wrong?" My mother asks

"Don't worry, it will be quick. Take a short break, you will get motion sickness at this rate." I say as I alight the carriage.

I walk to the processing plants and enter the building. The workers stop working to stare at me.

???

Some workers walk to me and say "Hey, you shouldn't be here."

I ignore them and look around. Even the work environment is disastrous here, such a small environment but cramped with many workers. The air here smells like shit and is suffocating.

"Oh? Look who this is?"

An irritating bitchy voice I do not want to ever hear came from the top.

I look up to see a blonde-haired woman with green eyes dressed in a luxurious dress decorated with jewellery standing on the platform. Behind her is a shorter girl with her head looking down, she has the same eye and hair colour as the bitch in front.

I sigh.

Azure family. The Azure family is a famous merchant family. Their ancestors were dubbed the title "Gods of Merchant" and their legacy has been passed down for many generations in their families.

However, it seems that the current generation of the Azure family has forgotten that the origin of their family is one of a commoner and has become increasingly arrogant.

This woman, Lupus Azure, and the girl behind, Nami Azure. I suppose you can say they are my "childhood friends"...

"What are you doing here, peasant Loi?" Says Lupus. "Oh? Are you here for Nami again? Didn't she already reject you?"

...

In the past, I've developed a crush on Nami, I can't remember why. What I do remember is that she accepted my feelings and made some sort of promise to marry in the future. However, she chose fame and power and decided to abandon me.

Not that I blame her, I've already tasted the bitterness of what it is like to be powerless.

"Do you want to be rejected again-"

"Shut up, I am here to do only one thing, shut this place down," I say.

!!?!??