The border of the Gaia State & Jade Lotus Domain.
Wei Wuyin had decided to firstly drop them off. In the end, he didn't want them accompanying him. Not to mention, their weight slowed down the crane's traveling speed.
The Jiao Ning trio was shocked that Wei Wuyin had made them a priority. They had assumed he would go to the Golden Milk City first, and then send them away.
Jiao Ning had an odd expression. Was this it? As she fantasized various scenarios, she had left her heart open to all sorts of possibilities, but none of those scenarios happened.
"Is he tired of me?" She felt somewhat down. She attributed Wei Wuyin's desire to hurriedly drop them off by her own inability to seduce and please.
"You all can leave," Wei Wuyin casually said.
Dai Qiuyue looked at Wei Wuyin's visage and felt like she was losing an opportunity. She couldn't help but ask, "Will this be the last time we see each other?"
"..." Zhang Mu frowned as he saw Dai Qiuyue's eyes and how she looked at Wei Wuyin, but he didn't say anything. The way he softly bit his lower lip, however, was very telling of his current emotions. He swore to himself that he would one day become a God level figure.
"If our sects ever go to war again, probably not," Wei Wuyin jokingly said. However, the expressions of the three changed drastically. They had almost forgotten! Wei Wuyin was a Mortal God of the Scarlet Solaris Sect, their enemy!
Perhaps it was because of his calm, casual way of interacting with them or him having saved their lives several times, did they forget who he was!
Seeing their dejected expressions, Wei Wuyin sighed. He couldn't give them anything like a transmission crystal or some way to contact him. If he did and the sect found out, theirs or his, it could lead to assumptions of spying or being a traitor. Otherwise, he would give them a transmission crystal to keep in contact.
In fact, he decided to avoid too much contact and send them to the border mostly because of this. If they stayed for too long, developed true feelings, then if their sect ever went to war, Wei Wuyin would suffer internal conflicts.
Now, as they didn't have much interaction, Wei Wuyin could still coldly kill them one day or watch them die if required. His session with Jiao Ning was one of mutual exchange and temporary lust, it held very little importance in his heart.
He also felt that she had a potent yang inside her body from constant contact. She could be married or have a lover already. Of course, he didn't judge. If he was nearly crippled and was given the same choice, he would choose to save himself and send loyal thoughts to the back of his mind.
After all, without strength, how can you keep what you have? Mei Mei knew this, and that was likely why she received the help of the Helios Witch. The cultivation world was just too cruel.
After dropping them off, he gave them a few pills, elixirs, and a bit of wealth to make their way. While he didn't have any feelings for them, he didn't leave them high and dry.
As he flew away, they all looked towards the sky with varying emotions.
"Wei Wuyin...God Wei…" Dai Qiuyue softly said as she looked towards that fleeting figure. She got lucky, and she knew that. It was her who set up a plan to rob the Ash Dragon City, so she knew the responsibility of it all fell on her shoulders.
Zhang Mu clenched his fists. He had interacted with a Mortal God up-close and saw one die. His horizons had been broadened and his will for power awakened in his heart. As his eyes looked at Dai Qiuyue, a passionate gaze filled with resolve appeared.
Jiao Ning bit her lips and said, "Let's return." Her fantasies were impossible. They were enemies to begin with, and why would he ever fall for her because of one session of relations? She realistically set her goal to continue with her life and hope her children could reach the Mortal God level one day.
-----
A city with grey walls that were thirty feet high and several meters thick appeared on the horizon. On the back of the white crane, Wei Wuyin had finally arrived.
He looked at this city and spotted a glimmer of gold. He already knew where this originated from. A statue that reached two hundred feet high was constructed from gold. It was of a cow and looked incredibly realistic, like taxidermy was used before being dipped in gold. Even the hair follicles were there. While they were stiff, they existed.
"Golden Milk City, the City of Nourishment. It is Gaia State's most well-known trade city and possesses a black market suitable for all types. It has a no-extradition policy against the Earthly Titan Sect, so many criminal cultivators reside within and hide from the sect.
"They know this, yet can't do anything about it. That's because they possessed the backing of a Godlord!" His eyes brightened as he recalled the various bits of information regarding the city. The total number of Godlords known in the Five Great Sects amounted to six, with the Sky Sword Sect possessing two.
However, while there were no more than three hundred Mortal God level figures in the entire Wu Country, there were exactly nineteen Godlords.
Godlord Lin was a mystery, as even he hadn't heard of her before. It's possible she originated from another country, power, or was a lone cultivator outside of the Wu Country.
The Wu Imperial Clan had the highest number of Mortal Gods and Godlords, with about one hundred and thirty and eight respectively. Their total strength eclipsed the entirety of the Five Great Sects. If you included Wu Xinghong, Ancestral Elder of the Scarlet Solaris Sect and member of the Wu Imperial Clan, then they had nine Godlords total.
However, with fourteen, there were still five Godlord characters left unaccounted for. There were three lone cultivators that established cities of their own, and the Golden Milk City was one of them. The others were in the Aqua Echo Domain and the Sky Sword Domain.
The last two established clans, the Ji Clan and the Bai Clan. They lived in their own domains, but they were much smaller than the Five Great Sects, but had better cultivation environments.
Wei Wuyin expected there could be more, but those are all that had been made public and were active in their operations.
When Wei Wuyin arrived before the gate, he saw many cultivators flying in the sky on mounts. They exited and entered the city in vast quantities. The high amount of traffic gave Wei Wuyin a look of awe. The population was dense and its people lively and vibrant.
In his life, he hadn't traveled outside of the Scarlet Solaris Domain. Even his Clan was a subordinate of a subordinate of the Scarlet Solaris Sect and within their territory. Therefore, his horizons were being broadened with each mile.
The freedom and variety made his heart grow wild with excitement. While finding Mei Mei was a priority, it had never been his top-most priority. He wanted to cultivate and see the world.
After all, it had been a year or so since he made the massive leap from a second phase expert to a Mortal God level character who had killed two Mortal Gods. It was a wild ride, and knowing that there were calamities that could descend and take his life at any moment, he wished to make the best of his time.
Who wouldn't?
As he entered the flying gateway that resembled a circular ring, he was paused at the gate by a guard on a platform embedded in the ring. He stopped at the platform.
The gate guard's eyes seemed arrogant, but he didn't attempt to extort Wei Wuyin. Instead, he said, "Price of admission for all Qi Condensation experts is one essence stone."
This took Wei Wuyin by surprise, but he softly sighed. This wasn't the only guard on the ring as others arrived too. When they arrived, many had already prepared an essence stone.
An essence stone was a tremendous amount of wealth and could total an entire First Stage of Qi Condensation expert's wealth. At least, the average cultivator at that stage had no way to enter.
He removed an essence stone and handed it over with a hint of unwillingness. The guard retrieved the essence stone, took out a tool with a spiritual formation inscribed within and briefly waved it over the stone. The stone flickered with a faint white light, and then he waved Wei Wuyin forward.
"They have to verify the authenticity of the stone?" Wei Wuyin proceeded forward as he couldn't help but be shocked. He hadn't even known an essence stone could be faked. With his spiritual sense, he would never mistake a true essence stone for a fake.
The skies of the Golden Milk City had aerial lines that directed traffic. Wei Wuyin quickly understood the logic and traveled accordingly. This was the first time he had seen sky roads, but he had read about it.
Sky roads had a formation that separated aerial travel from grounded travel and unless in designated locations, one couldn't recklessly land. In fact, if they tried, a formation would produce wind energy that would keep one afloat and ensnared.
That person would be met by the local authority and be given a hefty fine on the spot. You had to stay above a certain altitude. He followed that rule as he looked around.
The foot traffic and roads were heavy and wide. The buildings were mostly square in design, and left him in awe. The buildings were very close, with narrow alleyways between them. It seemed space was important here, so much so that traveling outside of the main roads was restricted.
He also located several figures above the sky roads, they hovered around and glanced downwards from time to time. They were the Golden Milk Authority. They upheld its laws and prevented crimes.
Since criminals had a habit of entering and staying, they kept an iron fist on their rules.
He flew for a bit until he found a mount stable nearby. It was wide and spacious with various avian and four-legged beasts idling about, eating, walking around, or sleeping. He directed the crane downwards and landed at the designated spot with a bright orange circle.
A middle-aged woman arrived swiftly. She smiled and Wei Wuyin looked at her with interest. This woman had a good set of breasts that, while covered, didn't hide its size. Her looks weren't bad either.
"Greetings! Thanks for choosing Orange Circle Services! If you would…" she started to quickly explain prices, discounted deals, and various packages within, clearly ignoring Wei Wuyin's inspecting gaze. Quite the professional.
He then learned that he had to pay by the hour, with deals starting at subscriptions for a full day. He realized that air travel was likely the most suitable form of transportation, so hourly pay was normalized. However, for those who want to house their mounts and have them taken care of for extended terms, they had that option too.
He smiled and chose the three full days package with all features, including top quality feed, resting area, and spacious storage. The white crane cried in delight and caused Wei Wuyin to pet her softly, "Only the best."
The middle-aged woman's attitude brightened and she seemed more friendly, "that'll be two essence stones or two thousand Milk Coins."
He didn't hesitate and paid in essence stones. For the white crane, this was a small price to pay for top-quality treatment. However, it was still a frightening amount of wealth.
He also learned that essence stones weren't the most common form of currency in Golden Milk City. There was another currency called Milk Coins, but he didn't like it very much. Outside of Golden Milk City, they were essentially worthless.
While you could exchange essence stones for Milk Coins, you can't do the inverse. You could only get food and other services available. It was a privatized currency with limited uses, but unless you paid for everything with essence stones, services were far more expensive with Wu Country's currency.
After settling everything, he also received a complementary map and locations of interest. He realized that these locations were shops and restaurants, and only a few were listed. They likely pay a small fee to be added to this map, so those who use this service will be more likely to use their service.
This was the first time he was exposed to such business practice. The world was truly expansive and filled with all sorts of things.
He left through the streetway and located a shop, "Surabhi Emporium. Weird name...I haven't heard that naming sense before. It is the largest and central store of goods. They also bought products at a decent price. If they bought everything I have at a good price, I won't need to go to the Black Market."
He made his way there, his eyes wandering to and fro.
Ohn!