103 Once again, that sword. (1/2)
After stepping through the gates of the tower, Li Yang entered a circular hall where the walls were lined with doors. The hall itself was sparsely decorated, with only a few wooden tables and chairs covered in silk placed around for people to sit on. Clearly, the ones who built this tower didn't want people to wait around in this hall for too long. There was an ornate spiral staircase to the right of the entrance, leading the way up to the higher floors of the tower.
Li Yang's gaze landed on the door located at the other end of the room, mainly because it was the only door guarded by two men. The two men had both reached the Immortal Rebirth realm, one the early and one the late stage, and both were clad in the orange robes of the Huo clan. Each carried a long halberd, crossing them in front of the door and preventing anyone from getting close to the door. One of the guards had black hair and blue eyes while the other had brown hair and black eyes, both of them having somewhat slim and toned bodies. There was no one else currently in the hall so Li Yang decided that he might as well ask these two guards.
”Is the array to head up to the Cloud God's Garden located behind that door?”
It made some sense for there to be guards in front of the spatial array, as there were differences between when people could use the array. Their job was likely to prevent people like Li Yang from using the array before enough people like him had gathered up. The blue-eyed guard swept Li Yang with a quick gaze and then nodded his head.
”Aye, but you'll need to show your token before we let you pass and use the array.”
Li Yang swiped his interspatial ring and took out his token, which was shaped like an orange cloud, showing it to the two guards. They only took a short glance at it before shaking their heads, the blue-eyed one speaking out again.
”With that token, you'll have to wait for more people with a similar token to gather. There are currently 48 people waiting so it should only take another two or three weeks. You can find an empty room in this tower to wait in, we will sound a loud bell when 100 people have gathered. Of course, you can try to charge past us, we'll even let you use the array if you can get past us and activate the array. But in accordance with the rules and our duty, we will try to kill you with everything we have.”
Li Yang looked the two guards up and down, gauging them with his eyes. But eventually, he gave a light shrug of his shoulders and headed for the staircase that led to the second floor. Trying to deal with two people at the Immortal Rebirth realm would be far from easy, there was no need to take a risk like that right now.
All the rooms on the first floor were locked and marked as occupied so he ascended to the second floor, which looked practically the exact same as the first floor, and found an empty room he could use. The rooms only contained a bed and a closet, not even a single table or chair. Li Yang walked over to the bed and sat down on it, crossing his legs and closing his eyes in quiet cultivation.
--
A week after Li Yang started quietly cultivating, a group of people arrived at Cloud King city, immediately drawing the attention of the citizens. The group consisted of five people, three men and two women, each of them clad in the light green robes of the Tian clan. Walking at the back of this group was the round-faced and black-haired Tian Gong, the green-haired and blue-eyed Tian Shui, as well as the green-haired and black-eyed Tian Zedong. All three of these people were at the middle stage of the Immortal Rebirth realm, yet they were walking respectfully behind the pair walking ahead of them.
The two walking at the front were the emerald-haired and brown-eyed Tian Zheng and the white-haired and emerald-eyed Fang Ying, both of them exuding an aura of elegance and dignity. With the silvery-gray wolf Langshen walking at Fang Ying's side, the two painted a beautiful picture that made it seem like they were to not be approached by anyone. One was the future leader of the Tian clan and the other was the woman who was to become one of his wives. With this group walking through the city, how could they not attract the attention of everyone?
Tian Zheng ignored the gazes of the surrounding people, chatting with Fang Ying while they were heading towards the five towers at the center of the city.
”We've almost reached the transportation tower, soon we'll be able to reach the Cloud God's Garden. Junior Sister Ying, would now perhaps be a good time for you to tell me why you wish to head up there?”
The moment they had entered this hidden realm, Fang Ying had immediately started rushing towards this city, saying that she had to get to the Cloud God's Garden. She had always kept a respectful distance from him, barely sparing him a second glance, so Tian Zheng saw this as a good chance to get closer to this future wife of his. But sadly, she had yet to even give him the slightest hint about why she wanted to go to the Cloud God's Garden. Fang Ying smiled slightly but didn't give Tian Zheng a proper answer.
”Why are you always in such a rush to pry into the privacy of a fair maiden? Won't you see why I wish to go there once we reach it? Are you perhaps so impatient that you can't even wait for a bit longer?”
The eyebrows of Tian Gong and the two others in the back couldn't help but twitch slightly when they heard Fang Ying's words, which could be considered somewhat insulting, but Tian Zheng still kept a graceful and charming smile on his face.
”Indeed, forgive me for my hastiness, it seems I am unable to rid myself of that nasty trait. I'll just patiently wait, that way I will be able to be perfectly surprised when I finally see what has riled up Junior Sister Ying like this.”
The group quickly reached the center of the city, the citizens and cultivators wandering around it making space for them. Tian Zheng glanced at the four other towers, his eyes narrowing faintly, a silent warning that the ones within the towers better stay quiet. The group stepped into the center tower and faced the two guards, showing them their tokens while Tian Zheng smiled sweetly at Fang Ying.
”Junior Sister Ying, I have notified the other disciples that we will be heading up to the Cloud God's Garden, I imagine that more of them should be arriving fairly soon. What do you say we wait for them here and travel up in one group?”
The Cloud God's Garden was after all one of the better places in this hidden realm to gather resources, having more of his fellow clan disciples arrive would only make things better for them. But clearly, Fang Ying did not share his sentiment.
”You may wait for them if you wish, but I will head up immediately.”
Fang Ying did not even give Tian Zheng a chance to prepare a counterargument before she brought Langshen and stepped past the two guards, entering the empty room that laid behind the door they were guarding. Tian Zheng could only let out a breath and follow Fang Ying, the three others swiftly following him into the room, the array that covered the entire room quickly activating after being fed some Spirit Stones.