7 007: Sparrow City

Later that night after Arthur tamed the One Fanged Viper that he named it with Xiaoqing, he went back to the cave.

Xiaoqing drolls when it sees the delicious meal which was ready to eat when its eyes fixated onto the Lion beast carcass. But Arthur flicked its forehead before the snake made a movement.

"That's mine, I will give you more food once we arrive in Sparrow City! Go inside my domain and don't get out until I say so, you understand?" Arthur opened a small, colorful portal to his [Spiritual Domain] so Xiaoqing could conserve its stamina and energy when he needed it.

The white snake's eyes were teary after it got scolded by Arthur, it nodded and went to [Spiritual Domain] obediently. The portal closed once Xiaoqing entered the [Spiritual Domain]

However, he just realized that the Black Iron Claw Lion's carcass had started to withered due to the humid weather in his area.

Thus, Arthur prepared his luggage, and washed the tunic Hanfu that he stripped from Ling. Arthur didn't want to waste any more time and wore the Hanfu even though it was still wet. 

"This'll do for now, as long as the scent is gone. It will dry itself as I ride the horse to Sparrow City." He thought.

He was thinking about storing the Lion Beast Carcass inside his domain, so it wouldn't attract others' attention when he arrived in civilization, however a notification soon followed his thought as if the A.I read his mind also.

[You can only store tamed beast inside your Spiritual Domain]

He was so frustrated and scratched his head. "Haiyaa... I have to buy at least an Earth Grade Spatial Ring to store this thing!"

There were grades for each item in the Argoth Continent. Started from Mortal, Profound, Earth and up until Primordial Grade item. However, the Spatial Ring was considered a highly valued item since it was hard to make and the necessary material to make one was also scarce and hard to get. Therefore, the price for a Spatial Ring was easily monopolized by the merchants since the demand was high.

Even so, a Spatial Ring would be treated as family heirloom because it stored the fortune of a family that had been accumulated over the years.

Hence, Arthur couldn't help it but to prepare himself for the upcoming threat once he arrived on human civilization.

Soonly enough, after he properly mounted his luggage onto the warhorses' back, the two warhorses were ready to embark and eager to traverse the land. He named the warhorses after the great warrior in the past. Guan Ning for the one who carried the Lion Beast Carcass, and Guan Yu for the one he rode for.

"To sparrow city, you know the way right?" Arthur asked Guan Yu.

The warhorse neighed and nodded its head.

With Xiaoqing at his disposal, he could at least defeat a Low Tier 3 Star Realm Warrior. Thus, he began his real journey upon the Eastaros Plain where all sorts of Cultivators were existed and dominating more than half of that Sub-Continent for hundreds thousands of years

***

Arthur cautiously navigates his way through the bewildered jungle. Thanks to Guan Yu's keen sense, they could avoid unnecessary encounters with another beast that strolls around his vicinity. He often took a little detour when he found a track of beasts markings.

It almost took a whole day for them to reach the outskirts of Sparrow City, the south most city that functioned as the gate travel atop the Dragon's Spine Wall.

Although the Sparrow City was the first city on the Dragon's Spine Wall and relatively small if compared to other cities, its size was so massive. The city was highly populated by immigrants who wanted to pursue their dream of living the good life in one of the cities in Dragon's Spine Wall.

Upon his arrival at the city's gate, Arthur was welcomed by thousands of other travelers who queued to enter the city. There were a dozen city guards donned with metal armors and spears checking the traveler's identity and what businesses they had before allowed to enter the city. Of course they weren't only checking the traveler's identity, those guards taxed each traveler with a ridiculous amount of money, which was several times more expensive than it should be.

Originally, the tax was only 10 silver coin to enter the city, but those guards were charged the tax ten fold.

The rich and wealthy traveler who was able to afford such money, the poor and commoners who had gambled their fortune to just travel to the city had to walk away with a tail tucked between their feet. They wanted to retaliate but the guards were far stronger than them.

Arthur didn't have time to wait for the queue, so he walked to the front confidently without a single remorse. The traveler who passed by Arthur wanted to stop him and swarmed him. However, when they saw the Lion Beast's carcass on Guan Ning's back, they quickly stepped back. Without even asking left or right, they knew that Arthur is a powerful cultivator whose able to kill such a beast.

One of the guards immediately yelled at him due to his insolence. "Hey you! White Hair! Back to the lines!"

Arthur took out the Commision Paper from the Mercenaries Guild and stated what his business was. "My name is Arthur! I've been commissioned to bring this Black Iron Claw Lion to Lord Liu Bu, Sparrow City Mercenaries Guild Leader!"

One of the guards with a muscled body approached to verify the paperwork. "May I check the paperwork?"

Arthur showed the paper to him as he slightly bowed from his horse's back. He wasn't foolish enough to give the paper into the guard's hand since the paper was his only ticket to redeem the rewards.

The guard's eyes were gleaming when he read the reward, 100 Gold Coins would be nice to add up to his daily incomes since the gate tax they accumulated was handed directly to the Baron's Office. A vicious plan started running in his mind.

"Let him in!" said the guard.

The other guards questioned the latter's decision, however, when they saw the beast's carcass, they immediately knew what they had to do when Arthur passed the gate.

Those eleven guards opened the massive double metal door by cranking the big wheel which controlled the mechanical function of the door.

Arthur caught their awkwardness and immediately realized why the guards let him in so easily.

Arthur snorted and talked to himself.

'Hmph! You think you could steal my hard earned prey? Foolish human, I will feed you all to my beloved Xiaoqing!'