Chu chu...
Morning had already arrived. The crisp call of birds echoed faintly through the sky.
High above the clouds, Su Chen was already mid-flight, heading toward Mist Island. Before leaving, he had made another round of searching for Ye Chen, but—unsurprisingly—found no trace of him.
"I'll keep my speed average. Not too fast, not too slow," he murmured to himself, letting the wind whip past his face.
At this pace, it would take him about three days to reach Mist Island.
"There's still quite some time left before the disciple selection for Thousand Peaks Pavilion begins. I can afford to rest and cultivate in one of the nearby cities."
With that thought, Su Chen calmly soared across the sky, letting the wind currents carry him forward.
Three days passed in steady travel.
Eventually, a sprawling city came into view—Yuxian City, the closest settlement to Mist Island and one that operated under the jurisdiction of the Thousand Peaks Pavilion.
As Su Chen came within ten miles of the city's perimeter, he began to descend from the high heavens. At the same time, he subtly increased his speed.
Swish!
A streak of light cut through the sky as he rapidly approached the city's main gate, coming to a smooth and cautious landing before it.
"This gate… it's the largest I've seen in my entire life," he muttered, narrowing his eyes as he took in the sheer scale of the structure.
He hadn't dared to fly directly into the city. After all, above Yuxian City hovered a massive formation, barely visible to the naked eye.
"If I try to fly through that… I might turn into roast Su Chen," he thought, wisely deciding to walk like a normal human being.
With that sobering thought, he began walking toward the entrance like everyone else. The gate was bustling with people coming and going—cultivators, merchants, wanderers—each passing through with varying degrees of urgency and ease.
Surprisingly, there were very few guards stationed at the gate.
"Must be the authority of the Thousand Peaks Pavilion," Su Chen mused. "With them in control, who'd be foolish enough to cause trouble here?"
As Su Chen stepped through the city gate, he felt a faint wave of energy brushing across his body.
It was subtle, like a soft ripple passing through his skin.
"Huh?" He paused slightly mid-step but quickly realized nothing had happened. No explosions, no alarms.
He shrugged and continued walking.
"Probably a detection formation. Maybe it's meant to catch demonic cultivators sneaking in."
The moment he entered Yuxian City, the chaos of urban life hit him like a spirit beast charging full speed.
The place was bustling.
People were everywhere—cultivators, merchants, servants, and civilians filled the wide stone streets. There were houses of every shape and size, rows of inns and hotels lining the roads, and even a few brothels tucked discreetly into the alleys on the city's side streets.
The population was huge. The noise, constant. The choices, overwhelming.
Su Chen stood still for a moment, a bit dazed.
"…Where the hell am I supposed to go?"
He sighed. He wasn't familiar with the city's layout, and he certainly didn't know where to find a decent place to rest or cultivate. His outsider aura could make his existence vivid to cultivators of the same level and lower, so he suppressed it—hoping that guides in the city would be able to find him.
"I should at least find a guide…"
With no real direction in mind, he began wandering the street like a lost soul in a busy marketplace—until a small voice suddenly called out from behind him.
"Hey, big brother! Do you need a guide?"
The voice was light and cheerful.
Su Chen turned around.
Behind him stood a small girl, maybe ten years old at most. She was adorable, with bright eyes and an eager expression. But what truly surprised Su Chen wasn't her appearance—it was her cultivation.
"Sixth level of the Qi Refining Realm?" he blinked.
That was impressive for a child her age.
With her cultivation alone, she could already be called a genius—more than qualified to enter Thousand Peaks Pavilion. Perhaps she was a local.
"Huh… yeah," Su Chen nodded and replied to her.
"Fifty low-grade spirit stones," she said with a sweet smile, holding up five fingers to emphasize the number.
Su Chen raised an eyebrow, but then gave a faint nod.
"Let's go then," he said simply.
"Great! This way, big brother!" the girl chirped, cheerfully leading the way.
Su Chen followed behind her, walking through the busy streets.
As they weaved through the crowd, taking narrower roads to avoid the busiest areas, she glanced back at him.
"Hey, big brother, did you also come here for the disciple recruitment of Thousand Peaks Pavilion?" she asked curiously.
"Yeah," Su Chen replied casually.
As they moved along, the girl began pointing things out like a seasoned local. She showed him the city's major hotels, inns, personal courtyard buildings available for rent, and even the fighting arena and central market—though the market was closed today, likely for some maintenance or preparation related to the upcoming recruitment.
Su Chen eventually settled into a decent inn that came with a private courtyard, renting it for five middle-grade spirit stones per month. It was one of the places his little guide had introduced to him.
After confirming the room, Su Chen took out a middle-grade spirit stone and handed it to her.
"I don't have a change…" the girl muttered, scratching her head as she looked toward where Su Chen had been standing.
But he was already gone—vanished like a ghost.
From somewhere nearby, a calm voice drifted to her ears:
"Keep the change. You can buy some candy with it."
She smiled at the sound and waved in the direction of the inn, even though he was no longer there. Carefully, she tucked the spirit stone away and skipped off toward the inn's management office.
A moment later, she barged in, plopped herself into a chair, and shouted toward the manager:
"Hey, you fatty! Hand over my share for this month!"
Her tone was anything but polite—it carried the weight of someone chasing down a debt.
The innkeeper, who looked like he had indeed borrowed money from her, flinched at her voice.
"Hey, hey… this is your share," said the manager of the inn, fumbling a bit as he pulled out a small storage ring. He was a slightly overweight man, already in the Core Formation Realm and at least four hundred years old—but despite his cultivation and age, he still spoke politely in front of this little girl.
With both hands, he respectfully handed her the ring.
She snatched it mid-air and gave it a loud, theatrical kiss.
"Ahh… the fruit of my labor," she said with a dramatic sigh, cradling it like a newborn.
The innkeeper raised an eyebrow. "Fruit of your labor? All you did was point a guy toward a room."
"That's called guiding," she said, puffing up her cheeks. "And it's a specialized profession! High demand, low supply!"
"You bullied a customer out of one middle-grade spirit stone for a two-copper service."
She grinned. "Correction: I charmed him. And besides, he gave me a tip for candy. I'm adorable. It's an investment."
The innkeeper grumbled under his breath, rubbing his temples. "I must've committed sins in my past life…"
"You must've committed gluttony in this one," she shot back with a smirk, pointing at his belly.
He narrowed his eyes. "Little brat, I'm still your boss."
"And I'm still your investor," she said smugly, spinning the storage ring on her finger. "Don't forget who helped fund your last formation upgrade."
The manager sighed in defeat. "One day, I swear, I'll grow back my dignity."
"That's cute," she said, already skipping out of the room, humming.