Ryu strode through the streets, heading toward the Circle of Elites with a purposeful gait. According to Granny Miriam, the Circle of Elites was the true hub of every major city. It was the place that had not only the best cultivation resources, but was also a gathering center for the powerful. As a result, it contained the best auction houses, inns, and practically anything else one could think of.
Ryu had two main purposes. He wanted to accumulate valuable ores and gather spiritual herbs. The herbs would help his cultivation. Unlike qi stones, consuming spiritual herbs wouldn't have any adverse affects on his foundation. Though, the reason others couldn't use this method was due to the fact spiritual herbs were usually more effective after being refined into pills. However, pills almost always had impurities, making them detrimental to consume in large amounts. Only Ryu who had the Incubator, or an individual from a prestigious family willing to wastefully use spiritual herbs could use this method of cultivation.
As for why Ryu wanted ores, that was simpler. He needed weapons.. But, he needed them to be forged to his specifications. At the moment, he wasn't worthy of a weapon forged with Breaking Ore. Plus, he doubted that any blacksmiths here had the skill to forge such a weapon. So, Ryu decided to find a few decent pieces of ore to commission a blacksmith to help him.
After using common grade weapons for more than three years now, Ryu felt it was time to graduate. In addition, if his next plan was to work out well, he couldn't allow himself to be handicapped by a weak weapon. Regular wooden polearms couldn't handle his strength any longer.
It would probably be cheaper to just buy weapons instead of commissioning their creation, but Ryu still hadn't given up on his dual wielding style. He wanted his weapons to be identical and perfectly balanced for that purpose. For obvious reasons, it was impossible for Ryu to find such a thing unless he commissioned them.
This aside, though Ryu didn't care very much for his appearance, he was still aware that entering the Circle of Elites bare chested and in beast skins would bring more trouble than it was worth. So, not long after he entered the center of the city, he directly entered what seemed like a well-established clothing store.
Maybe under normal circumstances the attendants would have turned their nose up at him, but since they happened to be women, they were too busy blushing to look down on Ryu. After entering the Qi Refinement Realm and maturing to the stature of a young man from a teenager, Ryu's charm had grown to a new level. It also seemed that he wafted a perpetual intoxicating aroma. Usually, it was useful in calming beasts, but it seemed to work on women just as easily. The smell of a nature.
Not even half an hour later, Ryu left the store in a set of sleek black robes with ten more in his spatial ring. It was made of inferior material compared to what he once wore on the Shrine Plane, but from what he understood, it was quite high class for the Pedestal Plane. Its major flaw, though, was that it wasn't very good for battles. It would likely immediately rip apart in an intense fight.
"Just who was that young man." The door attendant put her small hand over her chest. It seemed she had forgotten to breathe. "It's such a shame, the Heavens always harm the talented. So handsome, yet blind."
"I hear the Inner Ring selections are only a few years from now." A gossipy attendant butted in. "Many Outer Ring geniuses are starting Martial Journeys for the sake of gaining experience and improving."
"An Inner Ring selection? Why?" Another attendant asked in confusion. "They're usually only held once every few decades, but the last one was less than ten years ago."
"According to what I've heard, the Ice Devil Legacy World is opening on the Blossom Plane soon. The Core Region is thinking of fostering our Plane's geniuses to help."
An old woman who acted as a manager of the store snorted. "'To help', she says. You mean to act as cannon fodder so that those Blossom Plane geniuses can reap the true rewards. They're just herding the youth who should hold the future of our Plane up like cattle."
"Manager, you have to watch your words." The attendants looked around worriedly, hoping none of the customers heard the senile old lady. Talking ill of higher Planes like this was tantamount to a death sentence. But, it seemed the old woman was at the age where she no longer cared what happened to her.
Outside the shop's doors, Ryu heard all of these words thanks to his Spiritual Sense. 'Ice Devil?... I've never heard of it. It's likely not any worthy Legacy World, but this makes the path to a higher Plane far easier for me. I guess I should be thankful.'
One might think that Ryu was being ridiculous. Why did the fact he didn't recognize the name matter? It wasn't like he knew everything under the sun. But, the problem was that though he might not, he was very close to knowing everything about Ruins.
The obvious rebuttal was that Ryu hadn't been in this world for nine cycles a hundred million years. That time could easily bring about new information he was unaware of. But, the truth of the matter was that that length of time wasn't enough for an expert who could make Ryu's heart palpitate to appear. In addition, no one notable from Ryu's time went by the name 'Ice Devil'. Experts took their names very seriously since it was tied to their prestige and Faith, one wouldn't change theirs easily.
Ryu threw these matters to the back of his mind. The path he had chosen and this newly materialized path would definitely collide. He didn't need to chase the latter too fiercely. Everything would fall into place.
Soon, Ryu had oriented himself toward his next destination: Valor Auction House. This location handled two sorts of auctions. The first was a conventional, minimum bid and minimum bid increase system that took place as large gatherings. But, Ryu want to wait for one to be scheduled.
The second form auction displayed the materials for sale for a set period of time, usually anything from a few hours to a few days. Bidders would then walk around the display room and publicly attach their bids to the display items. The highest bidder would have their price displayed alongside the item. If no one beat it, they would claim the item once the auction ended.
"Welcome to Valor Auction House, is there anything I can help you with, sir?" A manager of the auction house approached Ryu as he entered after he immediately picked Ryu out as a valuable customer. It seemed Ryu's investment was worth it.
"Take me to your display room and I'll see if you have what I need." Ryu said plainly. "Though, if you have any valuable ores you haven't taken out, you can do so. I would also like to see your selection of Heavy Longbows. The sturdier, the better."
The manager hesitated for a moment, but stopped himself from asking something stupid. If he really asked Ryu whether he needed help with his blindness, wouldn't he be asking to die? Unless Ryu brought it up himself, he would be beaten to death before he said something about it first.
"Right away, sir."
