Stonehold City

It took Adrian and his servant a few days to leave the Misty Mountains. They hadn't gone deep into the mountain range because of his meager strength. Still, that didn't mean they stayed at the peripherals. 

They traveled for about a week before they reached the city closest to the Misty mountains, Stonehold city. This city, situated near the misty mountains, served as the central hub for all those who wanted to enter the misty mountains.

Thousands of people were entering and leaving the city at any time. This made it a lively and prosperous place even though it was located near such a dangerous location.

As Adrian and his servant entered the city, they could see countless people buying and selling even though it was already nighttime. Many people were still selling their wares, and business was booming.

Such scenes were present all over the city, and this made Stonehold city very prosperous. This was even more true for the family that ruled the city, the Richards family.

The Richards were a large-sized family that controlled Stonehold City and a few smaller towns in the vicinity. They were under the jurisdiction of the Vyre family, one of the twelve great families. With the amount of noble families present in and around the city, it was only with the support of the Vyre family that they were able to develop inside Stonehold City to such an extent.

They had to pay a specific amount of tax to the Vyre family to obtain their help. Even so, the amount of money they made was still tremendous. The Richards were one of the wealthiest large families in the southern region.

This meant that Adrian was currently in the territory of another rival family. However, he wasn't too concerned. There was no previous enmity between the Thornes and the Vyres. They barely interacted much with each other besides the regular trade between different cities. 

Adrian stared at all of this with a calm expression on his face. A city like this would not arouse his interest. After growing up in the House of Thorne, he had gained a certain tolerance towards material things. He has seen many such cities and even those that were bigger than it.

He and the servant walked towards the nearest inn in the city. Because they were only going to stay for the night, he did not pay much attention to where he stayed.

Normally, as the young master of the Thorne family, the Richards family would have hosted him at their home and even thrown a massive banquet for him. That was how important he was.

As they booked their rooms, the servant instructed the waiter to bring their meals to their rooms. Adrian didn't even have to say anything. It was all taken care of by his servant. That was the privilege of the powerful.

Adrian's extraordinary temperament made people take a second look at him and try to guess his identity. Even the innkeeper was more respectful as he gave them the keys to their rooms.

They both turned around and immediately headed to their rooms under the gazes of the many patrons. Soon, they heard and knock on their door and opened it to realize it was the innkeeper who had brought them their food.

After eating, Adrian retired to his bed and soon fell fast asleep. Early in the morning, Adrian woke up again and started cultivating as usual. After a few hours of this, he walked out of his room to find his servant already waiting for him.

After having a light breakfast, they left the inn after paying for their meals and continued their journey. It took them two days to leave the city, but they were finally on their way back to the House of Thorne. This was also helped by the fact that they didn't enter the inner and core regions of the city, only sticking to the outer regions.

Because of the distance from Stonehold city to the Thorne city, they decided to rent a carriage. However, this was no ordinary carriage. It was being drawn by a magical beast.

From the aura being released from it, this beast was a rank 2 beast, equivalent to a cultivator in the foundation establishment realm. They opted for this choice in order not to attract attention as there were many such carriages coming and going from the city.

Of course, Adrian left all of this to his servant. Such menial tasks were beneath him and not worth his attention. The servant hurriedly sat in front of the carriage beside the driver, who was also the master of the magical beast.

Such professions, especially in Stonehold city were common place. Those with limited strength and desires would rather, tame a beast and use it to make money. The driver of this carriage was no different. With his own strength at the later stages of the foundation establishment realm, he was lucky enough to encounter this horse like magical beast on an adventure into the misty mountains.

 The rest of the journey back was long but uneventful. It took them about a month of nonstop travelling before they finally got to the outskirts of Thorne City. However, the closer they came to the city, the more Adrian felt a sense of dread. He initially dismissed this feeling as excitement for returning home but gradually, it kept getting worse. The initial joy he felt for returning home had long faded away and was replaced with anxiety.

He didn't know why he was feeling this way and tried to calm himself down several times but was unsuccessful. The content of the note flashed in his mind and he subconsciously touched the pendant around his neck. He was certain his recent anxiety had something to do with the pendant around his neck. This just made him hurry even more as he urged the driver to move faster.

When they finally reached the city and were about to enter, Adrian saw something that made his anxiety spike. The outskirts of the city were covered in arrays, arrays that were definitely not there before. This made him certain that something had definitely happened. He just didn't know if it was good or bad.