Chapter 25: The Road that Beckons

Cao Tai POV

As we leave the village with a detailed map of Hou, I gaze at the map, sure it may be detailed, but the Realm is reasonably large, considering that there are at least 9 more. (It's roughly the size of Australia or Greenland)

The towns are obviously concentrated on the coasts, but there are some major hubs in the middle of the land, and alas, the imperial city, located on the North-East section of the island, and we are located on the opposite side, Practically as East as you could go, on a peninsula.

This towns location wasn't made on accident, it was placed here because of how easily it could withstand a siege, no wonder the Imperial Authority is nonexistant, they just can't reach there and don't bother to fix that problem.

And for a course, well, if we actually had a spare map, I would burn this one to symbolize that we don't have one, but I think going North-West is a good plan, after all I really don't think it's good to be near Auburn's Sphere of Influence, especially now that they started doing Non-Human Progroms, but if I ever wanted to take over Auburn I definitely have a group of people who would definitely take up arms if I can convince them, not to mention that the smell of death in the air always puts people on edge, something will give, eventually.

As I tell them our destination they shrug and we walk down the path... [Queues 'Life is a Highway' by Tom Cochrane]

As we travel down the path there were many different ways of greeting us, most villagers spit on the ground we tread, it took quite a bit of convincing to not make Violet burn everything, but they still burned... a little bit.

But there were some oddities, and when I mean oddities, I mean extreme oddities, they were entirely made of Foxen, in a rush to leave the vicinity of the city of Auburn, some villages were already burned down, their inhabitants leaving recently.

Also the farther we went from Auburn the more curved the roofs became, unlike before where the were going at a straight, constant, boring angle. These roofs were like exponential graphs made of wood while the walls were made of what they called wood extract, but it looks like paper, so I'll call it that.

There were some exceptions of course, in one village this merchant wanted to show he was wealthy so he made his walls out of white skins, lets just say as soon as I found that out I was disgusted.

One thing that was always different was that the guard stations were always made of stone or another element that needed to be dug for.

<1 Week Later>

After covering enough ground in between us and Auburn, yesterday we set up camp and over the past week I managed to cultivate the whopping total of roughly 40 thousand Magical Essence.

Today was different though, we were going to visit a nearby monastery named Hermitage of Qi, which is hypocritical considering it's size, partially why we are going to investi- I mean visit it.

As I enter the monastery I'm greeted by an open gate, made of thick spruce wood.

Then once entering the gate I was greeted by what would be expected of a fortress monastery, several large pagoda with the largest in the center, outside there were monks sitting down Lotus position, with a stick in their hands, some of them glowing at varying degrees, before flicking off once more, interesting, is this application of magic?

'Hey system, what is this Hermitage about?'

<... ... ... >

WHAT!? I- I only have that much cause I completed a quest I should say 'No' but...

'Very well,' Darn, me and my curiosity, oh well, it'll probably be worth the price, if it's not I'm going to hunt the source and kill them.

<15 Dollars spent, Remaining Balance: 36 Dollars and 37 Tokens.>

A window opens and it displays:

{Hermitage of Qi:

Founded after the 9th Imperial Edict (An Edict that demanded the separation of all magically talented beings to separate zones, like ghetto's, but better) This monastery's goal is like dozens more on the continent to become strong enough to return to the cities due to how high their Density of Magical Essence is.

This hermitage specializes in making warrior monks, whom are mercenaries on other Realms, known for their zealous fervor for gold, it is believed the worship a god that demands god or they are just extremely greedy, they have a reputation to do anything for the right amount gold.

Status of this Hermitage:

Leader - High Monk Ni Mao (Cultivation Realm 12)

Enemies - The Imperial Faction

Current Amount of Disciples - Roughly 170

Current amount of Monks in service - Roughly 1,200 }

Interesting, the council made an Edict forcing the Magical community to split from other communities, this partially makes sense but one thing that raises serious question marks is how the Sorcerers, Monks, etc. actually went along with this?

'Hey system, is there an Imperial Guard who uses magic?'

<Yes. [If you would like more information, pay 5 Dollars] >

Well that puts things together, but that doesn't mean its completely clear, I still won't be tossing 5 Dollars down the drain for that though.

With this new wealth maybe we can get some perks from them, and maybe a guard or two, but I doubt it.

When a shaved man with quite some years on his face walks up to us, "No loitering here, find somewhere else."

I bow before asking, "Hello Elder, I wish to purchase your weapon enhancing technique, how much would it cost?"

His expression takes a 360, and he puts his hands together rubbing them together as if it's cold, the widespread display of greed, "It's chilly outside, how about you enter and we can speak of business over some tea?" The monk motions to the door and begins to open it.

I then consider whether I should just beat it out of him or not, better to save some cash right?

"Excuse me sir, are you ok if my wives come along with us?"

I look behind me partially expecting them getting ready to kill me but as the other half of me suspected, they were over the Moon to think that I saw them as a wife or concubine, 'Haiz, Whatever gets them to get along'

The monk nods and as he guides the way I walk beside Violet, "Hey, do you think you could take this guy on?" I mutter

Violet snorts but nods, "He's only Cultivation 7, this won't cause a problem."

I nod, "Wait for my signal, and also, remember that you are my wife, so pretend to be respectable, I don't want to lose face here" Violet nods, and places a neutral face, trying her best to make me proud.

We enter a room with a polished wooden table made from an orchid tree or another tree that has a light brown color. The monk gestures towards the nearest side of the table before getting some tea, not sure what to do, I look at Violet.

She sits down and gently but firmly drags me down, sensing my confusion before leaving her arms on her lap, Sasha follows her suit.

I sit down in Lotus position like the disciples did in the front, the monk shortly returns with 2 cups and a tea kettle in hand before offering me one of the full cups, I take it but don't take a sip, in case there is something that will make me more susceptible to his future ripoff.

"This technique has been passed down from generation from the dawn of time, it is also our sacred Hermitage's sacred technique, for this reason you must pay us 500 silver" The monk says.

Wow, I should be a lie detector, he keeps on lying, I highly doubt this technique is older than this Hermitage, I sincerely doubt everyone would be training the sacred technique, due to secrecy, for that reason I also doubt they would do it in the front as well. And he better be hoping that the real price isn't 500 silver or we will be robbing him.

"Woah woah friend... let us enjoy our tea before we speak. Also, I'm not asking you to flash me the scroll containing the technique but I need you to show me proof that you actually have the scroll."

He nods and exits the room, returning shortly and rustling his sleeve, hearing the noise of a paper like substance I nod and take a sip of tea.

As we finish he calms down a little and says that he's willing to settle for 350 Silver coins, still too much, but enough that maybe I could haggle it down to a price that I'm willing to pay for it. [I'm going to skip them haggling cause I suck at it]

He was unwilling to go lower than 250 Silver Coins in exchange to an accelerated copy, I place the coins on the table, he puts his hand over the pouch and nods before pulling out the copy and quickly scribbling things into it and placing it on the table.

I turn to kiss Violet before pulling out and whispers, "Now"

Slightly sad, but nodding in understanding she quickly turns on her aura and focuses it all on the monk, now that I think about it, he never said his name...

"Now remove his memory for the last hour and lets leave" I say, grabbing both the coins and the scroll, I won't be robbing him since I don't know if they have a way to track that.

As we walk out the slobbering mess lays there.