3 2. Cloud City
Tyler White's felt so cold and his room was fully frozen. He felt very hungry so he poured out the ice crystal and put it back in vial.
He realized he had visitors in the yard. It was the Town Lord who came to check on him.
She became envious of his luck when she heard that he got a spiritual root. She congratulated him. He bid his farewell to the Town Lord and politely declining the dinner invitation. Well he would have accepted it if she was younger.
Tyler left the town. He recruited some hunters as temporary guards to guard him till he reached the cloud city. On the way he ate some Nevermelting Ice pieces.
The architecture of the cloud city was often simple and functional, with buildings made of local materials such as stone, mud brick, or timber. Streets were narrow and winding, with uneven surfaces that made walking a challenge. The city's layout was often dictated by the natural features of the landscape, such as hills, rivers, or valleys.
Houses were often built close together, with shared walls and little space between them. Most houses had only one or two rooms, and were built around a central courtyard that provided light and ventilation. Wealthier families might have larger houses with multiple courtyards or even two stories.
The reason why he reached Cloud City. This city is under Soaring Cloud Sect.
The Soaring Cloud Sect is one of the Top Sect in the continent.
A piece of meat was placed in front of Tyler White.
The fragrance immediately shot into his nostrils, giving him goosebumps. He felt incredibly good, and he was ravenous. The grilled meat had already turned a golden color, and there was a layer of fat around it.
He is now in a fancy restaurant. The took a bite, the taste exploded in his mouth.
"Yummy!"
"Thanks for the treat Mr.White." The table next to him are the temporary bodyguards he hired. They are also enjoying a lavishing treat. Tyler is paying for it. The last thing he cared about was money.
He called the waiter and gave a gold coin as a tip. Then he asked the waiter about cultivators.
He didn't see a single cultivator till now. He heard of some cultivators roam around Cloud City.
The Hired bodyguards left while thanking him.
Tyler stayed in a luxurious inn. He just ate some Nevermelting Ice pieces. He didn't know about the stages of spiritual roots that much. But he has a feeling that he can still evolve his spiritual roots.
The following day he went to each bar to find out news about cultivators or related things. He spent many golds to get clues about the cultivation sects and cultivators.
A month passed
A 'disappointed' Tyler is sitting in his room. He couldn't find anything about cultivators. He saw them 24 years ago. He was 16 at that time and was unable to cultivate due to lack of spiritual roots. Now he can cultivate, but there is no sign of cultivators at all.
According to the information he gathered, Cultivators stopped visiting the mortal Kingdoms 15 years ago.
He let out a sigh. Took a Nevermelting Ice piece, but didn't chew on it. His body can't handle the cold anymore. He might die if he takes another one.
He went down to the restaurant to have tea. It's a very costly one. The waiter placed the tea with a hearty 'good morning'. Tyler became a regular customer here.
He took sips on the tea, while reading the newspaper.
"Why are you trying to find cultivators?" He heard a voice.
Tyler looked around and there was no one.
"Hey! I am here. Shhh" He heard the voice again.
Tyler looked down. There is a photo of a guy moving like a video. He waved his hand at Tyler and said, "Hello".
"Woah!" He almost shouted.
"Keep your voice down. Kid." The young man in the paper said.
"Kid? I am 40 years old." Tyler's mouth twitched.
"Oh trust me. I might look like 20. But my age is higher than yours." The guy in the paper smirked.
"What... are you?"
"That's not the important stuff here. The important thing is that someone is asking around about cultivation world."
"Yes it's me!"
"About that, we used to accept disciples from the mortal world every year. But not anymore. 24 years ago we stopped doing that. We only recruit every five years. And we keep that silently. Your luck is too bad, because the last selection took out last year." The man in the paper shook his head with pity.
"You can wait for 4 years. Though No one is going to take you in."
"Because of my age?"
"Yes because of your age."
"Why?"
"Age is a crucial factor when selecting disciples. Younger individuals are often preferred, as they are considered to have more potential for growth and development. There are many Foundation Establishment Realm geniuses at your age. "
"Where is this 'cultivation world' you speak off?" Tyler asked.
"It's here."
"What?"
"The continent you are in is inside the Cultivation world. It's just- ok nevermind. If you can get here by yourself then you are qualified to know these things."
"Get Myself there? How?"
"If you can wait for four years, then wait and try your luck. If not, try to find a special formation. That looks like this." Then his image turned into a flower pattern as his voice resonated, "Find the formation, it's near the cloud city. There is a chance you might enter the sect."
Then the image stopped moving just with the flower pattern. He kept the newspaper and began to search for the formation.
---
'Near the cloud city' and the flower patterns are the only clue that can lead him to the Cultivators. He had to find the flower pattern that is hidden near the city. He didn't know why this mysterious guy helped him. But it's worth a try.
He opened the map of cloud city and province map and looked at the special places near the cloud city.
Volcano, lake, forest.
"I'll choose the volcano first."
The reason why he chose volcano is because of Nevermelting Ice. He was unable to eat any more of it. He feels that if he took another piece, he might freeze to death.
On the way to volcano he met some bandits, this time he didn't bring any body guards. The bandits stopped approaching him when he threw a TNT on to them. They fled when they saw 10+ TNT flying towards them. He bought one for safety and copied those.
Soon he arrived at the volcano.
There is a small way that leads to the inner area. Half a day later, he reached the hottest place his body could handle. Thankfully it's an inactive volcano.
He ate a piece of Nevermelting Ice.
An energy entered his body as his internal organs began to freeze. He fastly walked even further inside. The heat of the volcano helped him as it collided with the cold energy.
He felt warm.
He walked further inside.
He continued to explore the magma chamber from the inside. According to some books, this volcano has not erupted for 4000 years and shows no signs of coming to life anytime soon, so it is safe to enter, probably.
He saw many molten rocks, magma chambers, where mushy lava are residing.
He ate more pieces of Nevermelting Ice.
Soon he found a chamber that has a flower pattern identical to the pattern he is searching for.
"Am I that lucky? Haha.. if this is a novel, unlucky people would say it's plot armor." Tyler laughed. It's like hitting two birds with one stone. He found the formation on his first try and he also got a better environment to consume the Nevermelting Ice . He entered the chamber as he placed another Ice piece on his mouth. He searched for sometimes to find the formation. He decided to leave as he took another copy of Nevermelting Ice from the copper pot and placed it on his mouth.
Whoosh
An energy erupted from his body. The place around him turned into ice.
"Success!" He shouted. He ate another Nevermelting Ice. He only felt like eating normal candy. He didn't feel any effect. He used all the copies of Nevermelting Ice to its maximum potential.
He totally forgot that he created Ice inside a magma chamber. The Ice turned into steam faster than it could escape, creating a massive steam explosion.
Boom
Tyler White is thrown away to the ceiling. He can feel the death approaching him. He looked at the ceiling and found a familiar pattern.
"The Formation?"
Instead of getting meaty smashed on the ceiling he went through the formation.
---
A hall built by white jades. There is a formation in the center. A lazy guard half sleepy is guarding the room. Suddenly the formation lit up. The lazy guard immediately woke up from stupor.
A man flew on his back from the formation. He fell on the floor.
"Oh another found the teleportation formation from the mortal Kingdom?" The Guard's eyes shone as he said to himself.
He looked at the man warmly.
The man is none other than Tyler. The impact of falling is not that hard. He quickly rose up. He looked around and saw a white hall and different silver patterns in the whole room.
"This is definitely a plot Armor." He said to himself.
A middle aged man is looking at him warmly as he cupped his hands at him and said, "Welcome to the world of cultivation."
