Chapter 148: Life 66, Age 30, Martial Lord 1

Words : 1653 Updated : Oct 11th, 2025

My time in Yellow City proceeded smoothly, and I didn’t encounter any of the problems that I had expected. Based on the description of there being no rules on Dragon Peak, I had thought that there might be rampant theft and murder everywhere. However, reality did not comport with these expectations. From what little I saw of it, Yellow City seemed like it was just a smaller version of Mortal City. In retrospect, this shouldn’t have come as too much of a surprise. If there were unbridled chaos, people wouldn’t have any opportunity to learn or grow. The reality was that the lack of sect rules simply led to local powers establishing their own authority over territories within the city. This information could be useful for any future lives that I would be spending within the Nine Rivers Sect, but it didn’t change my plans for the rest of this one. Even if the city was safer than I had imagined, I wasn’t willing to stick around for any surprises from the PangBo Merchants. Besides, I would have to reach Profound City before I could continue advancing anyway. Walking the path to the next city might be dangerous for the unprepared, but I much preferred the uncertain dangers of the path to being within the reach of people who could infect my soul with demonic insects. So, the day after I advanced to Martial Lord, I left Yellow City through the eastern gate and began heading further up the mountain. This path was similar to the one that I had used to leave Mortal City. The main difference was that I was climbing the mountain instead of merely heading toward its base. After several minutes of walking, I reached a fork in the road that led to three different tests, just like last time. The Path of Soul continued around the mountain, remaining at the same elevation. The Path of Body was a steep climb up the mountain. The Path of Mind led to a cave opening a few dozen meters away. I was told to take the Path of Mind, but I wanted to check something before I did. I followed the Path of Soul and found the marker stones that signified its entrance. I approached the stones and tried to pass an arm through the opening. A barrier appeared and blocked my hand before it could cross the test’s threshold. The Nine Rivers Sect had shown multiple times that they valued diversity in a cultivator’s abilities. This barrier demonstrated that sentiment yet again. While one was able to advance to Yellow City with only a single area of expertise, if they wanted to reach Profound City, they would need to be proficient in at least two different disciplines. To proceed to Earth City, they would almost certainly need to be masters of all three. The only lingering question was what tests existed after that point. Gaining this insight was valuable, but it wasn’t what I had come for. I returned to the fork and headed down the Path of Mind. I entered the cave opening and walked carefully through the tunnel beyond. The passageway appeared to be a natural opening created by water seeping through the mountain over several millennia. The stones had a dampness about them that indicated an ongoing process of erosion. However, there was an artificiality about everything. The passage was too flat. It didn’t slope in any direction like a normal cave would. If this place had ever been natural, then it had been carefully modified by cultivators from the sect to better suit their needs. This first tunnel was not very long. It ended in an atrium with eight stone arches. Beyond each arch, tunnels continued into the mountain and curved out of sight. Across the top of each arch was a label for each of the different professions I had become familiar with such as alchemist, refiner, and illusionist. I spent a long moment staring at the archway labeled ‘Gu Keeper.’ That was not a path I had any desire to explore. I naturally walked towards the arch for alchemists, but only a few steps away, I halted in my tracks. I felt a twinge from my spatial affinity. Staring deep into the arch, I understood what it was trying to tell me. This wasn’t a simple passage into the mountain. It was a portal to somewhere else. Knowing that walking through the arch would teleport me somewhere didn’t change what I needed to do, so I stepped through confidently. However, as I walked, I mentally noted that this wasn’t simply a tunnel into the mountain. I might not even be on Dragon Peak anymore. I wasn’t sure what I could do with that knowledge, but it was something to keep in mind. The next cavern I entered was a large square room hewn out of the surrounding stone. Across from me was a closed wooden doorway. To my right was an alchemy workbench that held a small cauldron and several herbs. To my left was another stone arch. Before investigating the workbench, I wanted to examine the archway. Again, my spatial affinity indicated that this was a portal to somewhere else. Beyond the opening was an immense cavern that was overgrown with vegetation. Through this passage, I could hear countless insects and other animals that lived in the subterranean jungle as well as the sounds of running water in the distance. I could also hear what sounded like the chaos of a battle hidden within the dense foliage. “See you soon!” When I passed through the tunnel and entered another similar stone room, I groaned as taunting laughter echoed out of the arch to my left. I began to fully grasp the intent behind the ‘Path of Mind.’ It wasn’t simply a test of one’s skills. It was a test of skill while under pressure from idiots intent on robbing and killing. The second test was to make a slightly harder pill with only a single set of ingredients provided. It wasn’t clear what quality of pill would be considered good enough for a pass, but I couldn’t allow myself to slip up even once. It had only taken me a single glance to know that there was no way I would survive in the ‘holding area’ for 48 hours against that group of bandits. I once more set up a barrier formation in front of the stone archway, took a deep breath, and mentally blocked out everything around me as I got to work. The next three tests were all similar. One set of herbs and one pill I had to make. After I made it, the door to the next area would open. Once I passed the third test, my ‘friends’ outside gave up on taunting me personally and simply relied on their sound formation to provide a distraction. When I arrived at the sixth test, things changed slightly. Instead of a set of herbs prepared and waiting for me on the workbench, there were two large chests stuffed with various ingredients. The instructions told me what I needed to make, but I would have to personally sort through the multitude of herbs to find exactly what I needed. This change would mean a sharp rise in difficulty for a normal alchemist. Not only would they have to already know the pill’s recipe, but they would also have to be able to identify the correct herbs from within an assortment of similar-looking ingredients. However, this wasn’t enough to cause me any problems. My Rank 4 alchemy knowledge was solid enough that I was able to quickly find what I needed and make the pill. Before I turned it in, I turned to the bounty of extra ingredients remaining in the two chests. I picked up one of the herbs and stuffed it into my storage space then looked around to see if this caused any problems. When nothing lit up and no buzzer sounded, I felt I was free to continue plundering. As I reached to swipe a few more handfuls, I froze. I had noticed that the first herb had never appeared in my storage space. I carefully picked up a second one and tried to place it inside. The herb disappeared from my hand, but it did not appear in my storage space. I didn’t believe for a second that the sect had a way to prevent me from putting things into the space or stealing things from within it. My storage space was supposed to be shielded from the Heavenly Dao. There was no way the sect had an automated system in place that was more powerful than the Heavenly Dao. I stared at the box of herbs and looked closely at them using energy vision. The more I stared, the more I began to notice a faint sheen covering everything. It wasn’t just on the herbs. It was on the chest, the workbench, and even the walls. Everything looked normal. It just had a faint tinge of something overlaying it. “An illusion?” That would explain why the herbs couldn’t enter my storage space. They didn’t really exist. I tested this by placing a few of them into a normal storage bag. They went in and came out without any problem. “A normal person might waste time trying to steal everything in here, but the moment they leave, it all disappears because it never existed in the first place.” As I muttered my thoughts aloud, the idiots outside laughed and taunted me even more. I didn’t pay attention to what they said, so I didn’t know if they had already known this or not, but I didn’t care. I turned to the formation plate and placed the pill I had made atop it. It lit up, and I proceeded to the next test.

Chapter 148: Life 66, Age 30, Martial Lord 1

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