Only someone like a Core Formation Lord could lay claim to a genuine 3rd-order Spirit vein.
Aksai’s Emerald Cove had a 2nd-order Spirit vein. However, since it had been created recently, it was still in its nascent stage.
The 2nd-order aura it emitted was not stable, and one needed the help of a Yantra to create an ideal environment for Spirit cultivation. Even then, it was not at its ideal peak.
Although Emerald Cove was still a lot better than ordinary land, it was not the best choice for Foundation Building cultivators.
Even someone like Aksai, who was in the Spirit Refining Perfection stage, would not stay in a land with a nascent 2nd-order Spirit vein and decide to have their breakthrough there. This was because they needed a stable Spirit vein to increase their chances of breaking through to the 2nd Spirit cultivation realm.
Had Aksai decided to stay on Emerald Cove for his breakthrough event, his chances of successfully building a foundation would have halved just because of the nascent state of the island’s Spirit vein.
This was why Nuya had to leave Emerald Cove. Aksai was in a similar situation as well. Otherwise, he would not have left the comfort of his own island to achieve a breakthrough.
Compared to the newly born Spirit vein of Emerald Cove, the Spirit vein in White Mountain City had already matured to perfection.
Additionally, a 3rd-order Array Formation had been created using the Spirit vein as a power source. This Array Formation not only protected the city from external threats but also allowed the city administration to regulate the Spirit essence concentration within the formation’s sphere of influence.
A 3rd-order Array Formation was like a world of its own. Using the formation’s operability, the effects of the Spirit vein could be enhanced manifold. White Mountain City had done exactly that, making it an ideal choice for drifting Spirit Refining Perfectionists.
White Mountain City was arranged in the form of three concentric circles created by the inner, middle, and outer city walls.
The area between the outermost and middle city walls was referred to as the outer zone of the city. The area between the middle city wall and the innermost city wall was referred to as the middle city region. The area within the confines of the innermost city walls was called the inner city zone.
Thanks to the formation’s controlling abilities, the outer zone of White Mountain City had an aura similar to a 1st-order Spirit vein. This zone was relatively cheaper to live in and larger in size. It had the highest population concentration in the city.
The middle region of the city had the Spirit essence concentration of a 2nd-order Spirit vein, making it an ideal choice for many Foundation Building Experts. This region was also preferred by Spirit Refining Perfectionists like Aksai when they wanted to achieve a breakthrough into the Foundation Building realm.
The innermost region of the city was reserved for the Core Formation Lord and his disciples who were all in the Foundation Building realm at this point.
Thanks to his 3rd realm cultivation base, the founder of the neutral state Haan Di and White Mountain City was still alive and residing within this region. He had accepted many disciples, and under normal circumstances, nobody except the Core Formation Lord’s disciples was allowed entry inside.
***
Aksai was in White Mountain City to eventually occupy a cave inside the middle region of the city. There, his chances of achieving a breakthrough were at their highest.
However, this was not yet the right time for him to live in the middle region of the city.
Firstly, it had a very high tax rate for those wanting to make it their home. Aksai needed to spend loads of spirit stones as an annual fee to rent a cave in the middle region of the city.
Secondly, Aksai was still not ready with his preparations. He needed Base Building objects as well as the Foundation Establishment Pill before he attempted to achieve a breakthrough.
Of course, Aksai had already started preparing for this event. He had collected many of the ingredients he needed and had concocted some of them using his alchemy attainments. However, there were still many ingredients that he required–ingredients that could only be easily and collectively obtained from White Mountain City.
The Neutral State Haan Di was a very peculiar zone. It connected all five kingdoms that surrounded it and shared borders with the Demon’s Lair, ruled by demonic and heretic cultivators.
Being a neutral state, Haan Di welcomed almost everyone within its borders. As long as Spirit cultivators were not blacklisted by the neutral state, they could enter any city inside by disclosing their original identities.
Due to its neutrality, Haan Di had become a hub for all sorts of Spirit cultivators from every corner of the subcontinent to gather and interact. Each region had its own special cultivation resources, and these unique and rare resources flowed into Haan Di without any problems.
White Mountain City, as the capital of Haan Di, obviously had many forms of cultivation resources pumped into its markets. Spirit cultivators here were so used to getting things from White Mountain City that any cultivation resource not available in the city was considered extinct.
White Mountain City had various tiers of markets catering to all kinds of Spirit cultivators with diverse needs. It had become an ideal choice for alchemists, Array Formation experts, and artifact forgers to get their raw ingredients.
But that was not all.
The five big sects from the five big kingdoms also managed a collective isolation dimension with its entrance located in Haan Di. This isolated dimension was considered a treasure trove for all Spirit cultivators. It was used to cultivate various precious and unique cultivation resources that were otherwise hard to obtain.
This isolated dimension provided an ideal environment for 100-, 200-, and even 300-year-old cultivation resources to be cultivated. A lot of these special cultivation resources were needed to create Base Building Objects.
Even the super rare Foundation Establishment Pill’s production was dependent on the harvest of the five big sects obtained from this isolated dimension.
Ideally, these resources were reserved for Spirit cultivators belonging to the five big sects. Even if one could get them through some backdoor channels and auctions, the price would be steep.
However, in White Mountain City, these cultivation resources could be found relatively easily. One did not need to be connected to the Big Five sects; they just needed sufficient spirit stones to get their hands on them.
***
“Hmm. This city is full of surprises.”
As he enjoyed his meal, Aksai kept reading all the information available in the introductory book about White Mountain City. He paid special attention to the markets specializing in peculiar cultivation resources, noting their details in his neural link fabric so he could visit them in the future.
“Nobody is allowed to roam the city at night after the curfew has been initiated,” Aksai murmured to himself as he closed the introductory book.
“Looks like I’ll need to find a place to stay in a few hours. After taking care of accommodation, I can then think of attending the regular auction events inside the city,” he concluded as he got up from his seat.
Placing some spirit stones as payment for his meal plus a generous tip, Aksai left the tavern, heading off in a particular direction before disappearing into the sea of people.