Chapter 12: West City Gate (1/2)
Chapter 12: West City Gate
Travelling through the city, Xu Min felt as though everything was different from how it used to be. Although everything looked the same, small changes were apparent. The world seemed brighter in front of his eyes because the rising sun colored the sky purple and shined various rays of light down upon the buildings.
The city gate was located in the west area of the city. This was the wealthy area where the majority of the land was owned by various powerful families. This gate was mainly used by the families who went out to practice their martial art skills in the real world because there was a forest filled with demon beasts not too far from the city.
The outside edges of the forest mainly contained low grade demon beasts. Only rank one and two demon beasts would be seen in this area; however, the deeper into the forest one ventured, the stronger the demon beasts became.
Xu Min was well aware of his strength, and his aim was to camp on the outskirts of the forest, where he could focus on tempering his personality, perfecting his Shattering Palm, and learning Radiant Jade Shower.
Arriving in the western part of the city, Xu Min could not help but suck in a breath of air. He had never actually explored Honghe City, he only stayed at the docks and the poorer area where he and Wang Li lived. He never considered the other areas to be worth his time because all his spare energy was spent on cultivating.
Seeing the massive family compounds rise high into the sky made Xu Min aware of what a real successful family was. He had previously thought that the Zhong family was a family far above the others, but now, he saw mansions that were constructed from pure jade and marble, and some even inlaid with pearls. He finally understood that the Zhong family was truly nothing but a small family with merely one Advanced Stage Warrior.
Seeing these families, Xu Min felt relief in his heart. At first, he thought that the Zhong family was immeasurable, a force that he would find extremely hard to fight; however, after seeing the other families, he quickly understood that the Zhong family no longer dominated his mind.
Feeling liberated, a smile adorned this youth’s face as he traveled through the final part of the city. His eyes shone with confidence as he saw the west city gate ahead.
As he was about to exit the gate, Xu Min thought back to all the things which he experienced in the past five years. Five years… It had been a whole five years since he arrived at Honghe City. Those five years were spent training hard. As long as the sun shone, he would be working hard at the docks, moving crates to and fro. He constantly challenged his limits of how many he could lift, while at the same time, he increased his speed and efficiency with which he moved the crates.
Each night would be focused solely on cultivating. He would refine the essence of the heavens and the earth into Qi, which allowed him to train the Shattering Palm and increase his rank.
All these years, Xu Min worked incredibly hard, never once complaining about the work he was given, nor about the small chores he had to do at home. Everything was accomplished so that one day he could get his revenge.
Xu Min reaching the one star rank by the age of fifteen was an astonishing feat. It was enough to call him a genius, but it was not unprecedented in Honghe City.
Every major family had at least one or two young masters who would also reach the Warrior rank by the age of fifteen each year; however, they were born into a wealthy family. Their parents and clan would often give them medicinal pills, herbal baths, acupuncture, and various stimulants to allow their cultivation speed to soar.
For someone to become a one star Warrior by himself and not rely on medicinal pills, herbs, and the like was very rarely seen. Such a youth was, without a doubt, a true genius.
As he walked through the west city gate, Xu Min’s face had a smile. His heart was beating slightly erratically as he looked around observing his surroundings. When he had entered the city through the east city gate, he still remembered how the road had been filled with farmers and other commoners who were heading to town to sell their harvest.
The west gate was completely different from the east gate. A few caravans were visible. Each caravan belonged to merchants who traveled between the major cities of the continent. A few mercenaries and even fewer entourages that contained guards and what seemed to be young masters of the highly esteemed families within Honghe City were seen on the road leaving the city.
Xu Min was, without a doubt, the most poorly-dressed person of all the people at the west gate. Everyone around him stared at him with puzzled looks. His aura was that of a one star Warrior, but his face was still youthful. No stubble could be seen on the face, it still had the softness of youth.
Looking at the young man, many determined that he was a young master, who, for some reason, enjoyed dressing like a commoner. The rich youngsters in the city each had various hobbies, and seeing one dressing up like a commoner was amongst the least eccentric ones.
Xu Min was excited as he made his way through the gate. His eyes scanned the surroundings, and his smile remained on his face as he saw the desolate landscape in front of him.
In front of him was one large road. Everyone left the city by this road, caravans and mercenaries alike.