Wu Zhe stared at it, curiosity appearing across his otherwise expressionless face.
"What is this…" he muttered, tapping it lightly with his finger.
The orb gave no reaction.
After a brief pause, he picked it up and tossed it into the pouch without much thought. Then, mounting the horse once more, he continued on his path.
Hours passed.
The darkness gradually gave way as the sun began to rise, casting light across the land and revealing his surroundings.
"Ah, there!" he said, spotting a dirt road. Wu Zhe followed it, pressing onward.
More hours passed as he continued along the path. Somewhere along the way, the dirt road had turned into a paved one, making the ride much smoother.
A few more hours passed as he continued along the path.
Finally, he saw multiple roads converging into one, leading to a fortress nestled within a colossal mountain range, jagged and rocky, its peaks piercing high into the clouds. The fortress walls rose at least two hundred feet, blackened and scarred from countless assaults. Massive draw gates opened, covered on each side by towering towers that seemed to pierce the sky. The land near the entrance had begun to darken, as if the earth itself were corrupted.
The city's exterior exuded the stench of death, wrapped in the uneasy silence of a frontier long scarred by the Blighted Wilds.
As Wu Zhe approached the gates, he saw a long line of carriages waiting to enter. He fell in at the back, inching forward slowly, when a sharp shout rang out, cutting through the air as if directed straight at him.
"Halt! Where's your identification?!" a guard barked, stepping into his view with a spear in hand.
Wu Zhe stared at him, recalling from his memories that cultivators were granted special privileges compared to normal citizens in the Great Luo.
He subtly extruded his Qi, and the guard immediately saw it.
"My apologies, cultivator…" the guard said, bowing.
"Move! You may enter, cultivator," the guard shouted to the line of carriages, gesturing for Wu Zhe to enter.
Wu Zhe couldn't help but chuckle as he tugged the reins and moved forward. Inside the city walls, he saw houses with an ancient-look.
As he approached Xiongwei, the atmosphere shifted long before the walls came fully into view.
The air grew heavier.
What stretched ahead of him was no ordinary city, it was a fortress forged for by countless beast invasions.
Massive walls loomed in the distance, all damaged with marks of past battles. Armored figures lined the outer roads, as a constant presence. Their gazes were sharp, and their hands never far from their weapons. This was a place where hesitation meant death.
The streets were not lively, they were very tense.
Instead of bustling merchants calling out deals, there were lines of stalls. Stalls of selling weapons, armor, medicinal herbs, and beast materials. Transactions were quick, voices low. No one lingered.
Men carried hammers and thick beams on their shoulders, while carriages and others dragged heavy planks and stones along the streets.
"Move faster, maggots! If we don't fix the outer walls by tonight, you'll be the first ones thrown out there!" a man barked. Unlike before, even he carried a weapon at his waist, here it seemed no one was unarmed.
A sudden shout spooked Wu Zhe horse.
"Watch it!"
A young boy had stumbled into the road, frozen as Wu Zhe's horse approached. Before anything could happen, a woman rushed forward, dragging him away with force rather than panic.
"Are you trying to die?!" she shouted at the
child, not even looking back at Wu Zhe.
Wu Zhe simply rode past.
As he moved deeper into the city, the makeshift stalls began to thin, replaced by sturdier shops built from stone. Large signboards hung overhead them, displaying the shops of weaponsmiths, armorers, alchemists, pharmacists, clothing shops, blacksmiths, bakeries. Even a few small taverns and other shops lined the street, their smoke curling into the sky. The air was thick with the scent of metal, herbs, and roasting of meat, a reminder that, though life here was hard and gruesome, there were still traces of life and livelihood amid this frontier.
As Wu Zhe observed everything around him.
Wu Zhe guided his horse through the streets, finally stopping in front of a shop marked by a crude engraving of a slain beast. He guessed this was the place where materials harvested from dead monsters were sold.
He pulled his hood over his face, covering his face, then reached into the pouch behind him. Stepping down from the wagon, he moved without drawing attention, just another figure in a city full of survivors.
Inside, the shop was quieter, but no less guarded.
The woman behind the counter looked up, her eyes immediately narrowing at the sight of him, the rubbish looking clothes, the hidden face, the sword at his side.
Her hand subtly shifted beneath the counter.
"State your business," she said flatly, her tone cold. "And be quick about it."
A brief pause.
Then, she said more sharply.
"For your information, I don't deal in stolen goods."
"You misunderstand me miss. I'm here to sell these." Wu Zhe said intentually looking down so she couldn't see his face, he placed his pouch in front of the lady.
The lady's eyes glinted eying the valuable things stored. "Oh, my apologies, sir! How much would you like for these?" she asked, now in a more pleasant tone.
"Name your price, and I'll decide," Wu Zhe replied.
"One hundred gold coins for all?" she suggested.
"Hmm… let's make it one hundred and twenty," Wu Zhe said, tapping one of the materials.
"One hundred ten?" she countered.
"One hundred fifteen is the lowest I'll go," Wu Zhe said firmly.
"You've got yourself a deal sir!" she said, smiling widely.
The lady went to the back and returned with a pouch. "The coins are all in here." she said, placing it on the table.
"Thank you..."
"Actually, ma'am, I'm new to Xiongwei. Do you happen to have any recommendations for a place to rest? And… are there any good-paying jobs that involve killing specifically?" he asked. Though he held memories of the killed, none of the options in his memory appealed to him, so it made sense to ask directly.
"Hmm… There's a tavern down the street called the Golden Lantern. Ten bronze coins per night. Rooms are decent, and the service is quite hospitable," she replied.
"Hmm…" She paused, lost in thought. "As for the kind of work you asked about… you could try the Beast Hunting Guilds. With the recent surge of monsters from the Blighted Wilds, they've been desperate for recruits."
She glanced at him before continuing, "Or, if you prefer something more structured, the family's is always recruiting. The Lady of the Jue, who arrived not long ago, has invited any cultivators to join her ranks…"
"I see… Ah, one more question," Wu Zhe said. "How many bronze coins make a silver? And how many silver make a gold?"
The woman raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it obvious? Twenty bronze coins cost one silver, and twenty silver coins cost one gold coins," she said, eyeing him suspiciously at what seemed like a naive question.
Wu Zhe asked the question not out of ignorance, but to verify the memories and information he'd inherited were trustworthy. This was a new world after all, and a new system so he couldn't afford to be using wrong information. With the woman confirming it, he felt confident that the memories in his mind was accurate, and could be to be used to his advantage.
"Ah, one more question."
"Do you happen to know what this is?" he said, taking out a core.
"Impossible… A beast core!" the lady exclaimed, her eyes glistening as she stared at it.
"Sir! Do you wish to sell it?" she asked, not once taking her gaze off the green core.
"No. I merely wanted to know what it was."
"That, sir, is a beast core. Judging by its size, it came from a juvenile beast. Beast cores are quite valuable, they can be used for cultivation or as an energy source. I strongly recommend keeping it hidden… many would kill for something like that..." she said, eyeing him with worry.
"I see. Thank you for your help, ma'am. Don't worry, I'll keep it to myself. Ah if I ever need to sell more materials, you'll be the first shop I come to," Wu Zhe said, forming his hands in a respectful gesture, and smiling brightly.
As he left, his smile faded back to his usual expressionless face. He mounted his horse and rode off, keeping a careful eye out for the Golden Lantern.