Lotus City

"Lotus city. Even if Senior Brother Lian is not from here, I believe that you walking on the road here means you should have heard a little about it, but let me tell you a few things I know about Lotus city."

'The fact that her misunderstanding regarding me is very much helping me is heavenly. This girl must be an angel.'

"Please, go on," Leo said.

Hearing this, Jing Rui nodded at him with a smile before continuing on with what she was saying.

"Lotus city is a very popular place in the Winter Kingdom of the sacred dynasty. In fact, it's one of the most important locations of the kingdom because of how much impact it has on the kingdom's economy."

Jing Rui obviously wasn't done yet as she took a pause for Leo to take in what she was saying, and after a few seconds more, she went on from where she stopped.

"The reason why Lotus city is an important asset to the kingdom and quite popular is because of its location in the heart of several other cities around. Due to this, Lotus city works as a trade path and stop for merchants who are looking to do business."

"Is Senior Brother Lian following me? I hope it has not been too difficult to understand what I'm saying with how I'm explaining," Jing Rui said to Leo. The expression on her face looked like she lacked confidence in being of help to Leo to better understand his location.

"There have been no problems at the moment, so please continue with your explanation. I find it very easy to understand what you're saying, and you're also interesting to listen to. Thank you," Leo said sincerely as he mixed in a little compliment.

Thankfully, Jing Rui seemed to like what Leo had just said, as her face beamed with a smile and her steps looked like they had more skips in them.

Leo had also been truthful in his comment. He still didn't know a lot about his location, but at least now, compared to a while ago when he was completely ignorant about this place, he knows a little more to not be completely in the dark again.

Though he was still cautious, Leo felt gratitude towards Jing Rui for taking her time to explain things to him, even though the root was based on a misunderstanding.

Leo felt thankful to Jing Rui because he couldn't think of a way he'd have gotten this much information about the city he was heading to with others on the road without drawing attention to himself.

While various thoughts ran through Leo's mind about the new information he had just gotten, he quietly continued to listen to Jing Rui.

"There's also another reason why Lotus City is popular, and that's because of the cultivation organisations in it," Jing Rui stated. This time her tone sounded different from her usual cheerful and bubbling tone. It was still the same but there was a hint of reverence, awe, and respect the moment she mentioned cultivation.

'Cultivation organisations huh? It's basically confirmed then. I'm in a cultivation world.'

As Leo thought of this, various emotions welled up in him. A subtle sense of excitement, expectation, and anticipation coursed through him as he looked at the city walls ahead of him that got closer and closer every second as he took a step forward.

Just like he never thought transmigration was a thing that could happen at one time in his life and considered it fiction, even after transmigration into a magical world with magical entities known as pets that granted humans power, he also never expected a world with cultivators to exist. Sure, he still wasn't sure what this world was, and if the cultivation here was the same as he read in novels, there should be some similarities.

As more thoughts started to flood Leo's mind, he tried to keep them and his emotions in check as he continued to listen to Jing Rui.

"Aside from the cultivators residing in Lotus City, ranging from the rogue cultivators and affiliated ones, we have 13 recognized forces in Lotus City."

'13?! Isn't that a bit too strong?! ' Leo's heart shook a little as he heard the number that came out of Jing Rui's mouth.

Though he had no idea of the power held by these 13 forces Jing Rui was talking about, 13 seemed like a lot and felt intimidating just listening to it.

'It seems I've somehow been dropped in a place filled with experts. Ugh. I wonder how this will affect me.'

After hearing about the number of forces in the city he was heading to and the fact it was related to cultivation, which he had always fantasised about in the past, Leo paid more attention to what Jing Rui was saying.

Thankfully, she didn't divert from what he was interested in and started dishing out more valuable information from her mouth.

"Lotus City is a place filled with strong people. From what I've heard, it's not only known in the Winter Kingdom alone but also in other places in the Sacred Dynasty."

"The 13 main forces in Lotus City, in addition to the city lord forces, are the three guilds, four great sects, and five great families."

It was here Leo got confused, which caused him to mutter aloud subconsciously enough for Jing Rui to hear.

"Three guilds, four great sects, and five great families?"

It was after the words came out of his mouth that Leo realised he had subconsciously voiced his thoughts out.

As he was starting to think he had made a big mistake, as it also showcased how ignorant he was about the city, Leo thanked his subconscious action a moment later when he heard the next words Jing Rui spoke.

"Yes, Senior brother. Let me clarify them for better understanding," Jing Rui said.

At this point, in Leo's eyes, it felt like Jing Rui was emitting a golden radiance from her body like some holy being descending from heaven.

'She truly is an angel! See all this information I'm gaining without even risking anything!' inner Leo cried.

Knowing she was about to give more valuable information, Leo paid full attention.

"The three guilds, which are actually organisational branches just like the four great sects located in Lotus City, are the Alchemy Guild, the Refinement Guild, and the Mercenary Guild."

"These guilds are popular in the Coiling Serpent continent as a whole, so I'm sure Senior brother Lian doesn't need me to talk about them, right?" Jing Rui stated as she turned to look at Leo.

"You're right. Please go on," Leo said with a nod.

'Even though the names of the guilds give an image of what they might be about, I'm not sure of anything, but there's no need for me to show that. From Jing Rui's words, it seems like everything she has been saying is common sense here, so there's no need for me to draw suspicion to myself if I don't understand a thing when I can still gain other valuable information.'

'From what I've learned now, it seems the continent I'm on is called the Coiling Serpent continent. Quite an odd name, but for a continent to be a thing here, this world must be huge.'

'Then there's the Sacred Dynasty and Winter Kingdom.'

'According to how I understood Jing Rui, the Sacred Dynasty here is like a country on Earth, and the Winter Kingdom is like a state. I guess like Empire and Kingdom too.'

'Then there's this Lotus city that seems to be quite a big shot in this part of the world. I'm a little concerned about this, but there's not much I can do, so it's no use worrying.'

'Moving on to the three guilds in Lotus city: the Alchemy Guild, the Refinement Guild, and the Mercenary Guild. If I use my common sense as a veteran novelist, then the Alchemy Guild is probably where the members are focused on the refinement of elixirs and pills.'

'The Refinement Guild is probably where weapons, armors, and other items are made and exchanged, and the Mercenary Guild should be the place to hire cultivators for work. I recall Jing Rui saying something like rogue cultivators, so they might be the most populated members in the Mercenary Guild.'

As Leo thought about several things, he also made sure to pay attention to what Jing Rui was saying to him. He could think later, but he had to drain this girl to his satisfaction.

Drain information from her, of course...

"After the guilds in Lotus city are the four great sects. Like the three guilds, it only has a branch here. Only the five great families have their headquarters here and branches in other cities. Are you still able to follow, Senior Brother Lian?" Jing Rui asked, taking a pause for Leo to digest all she had said.

"Yes, I am. Thanks for asking," Leo stated as his eyes practically urged her to continue from where she stopped.

Seeing this, Jing Rui smiled and continued speaking.

From her actions and how it seemed like she didn't need a break from all she had said, Leo had a slight suspicion that maybe Jing Rui just really likes talking a lot.

"The four great sects in Lotus city, importantly the only branches in the Winter Kingdom as a whole, are the Azure Serpent Sect, the Crimson Sect, the Dual Harmony Sect, and the Beast Kin Sect. In actuality, they aren't the only sects in Lotus city; they are just the major ones."

'Putting aside the Dual Harmony Sect and Beast Kin Sect, the first two sect names sound intimidating, so it's not really surprising why they're the major sects, even if I don't know about them. For all I know, I'm judging a book by its cover.'

'However, what Jing Rui is saying is making me quite curious about the powers of the forces here. How powerful are they, and is the cultivation system here something I can relate to with what I've read in the past?'

'Sounds like a silly move since novels are purely fictional, but that was what I also thought of transmigration.'

Jing Rui continued speaking.

"Like I said before, in addition to the city lord forces, the three guilds, and the four great sects, we also have the five great families. "

"The Su family, the Feng Family, the Mu family, the Liu family, and the Bai family."

"Something all the big forces have in common from what I heard is that they have experts in the Golden Core stage. I heard Golden Core stage experts are capable of levelling mountains with a palm, so one can only wonder how powerful the Lotus city focuses are," Jing Rui said, her last sentence in a whisper and with what looked to be excitement in her tone.

'Levelling mountains with a palm? That's incredibly powerful. Just what sort of world did I find myself in?' Leo thought as he searched through his memories to see if there were experts of this level back in the pet world, and he found out that they were a lot and not in low numbers.

'Perhaps the pet world and this world are not superior to each other. I need to investigate more, but I suppose that will be later,' Leo thought as he recalled something Jing Rui had just said.

'Golden Core stage, huh? Now that sounds familiar,' Leo thought and continued to listen to Jing Rui as she still wasn't done yet.

"That's all I know about Lotus city as a whole," Jing Rui said. Just as Leo was about to express his gratitude for the valuable information he had received, Jing Rui spoke again.

"Ah, I haven't spoken about the individual sects, right? Does Senior brother want to hear it, or there's no need?" Jing Rui asked.

"Please, go on," Leo stated as a drop of sweat fell from his forehead. This girl was...

Hearing Leo's words, Jing Rui, with her ever-present smile and still energetic demeanour, spoke again.

"There's not much to say about the sects, as I also know a little myself, and that's based on what I've heard. The four sects—the Azure Serpent Sect, the Crimson Sect, the Dual Harmony Sect, and the Beast Kin Sect—all have specialties that differentiate them."

"The Azure Serpent Sect specialises in water cultivation techniques, the Crimson Sect specialises in fire cultivation techniques, the Dual Harmony Sect specialises in dual cultivation where their cultivation is heavily dependent on dao companions, and the Beast Kin Sect specialises in forming bonds and taming beasts."

Among the four sects that Jing Rui spoke about, one grabbed Leo's attention the most when he now understood what went on there.

'I take it that the Beast Kin Sect members are like the beast tamers in my world in this world. I wonder if our methods are similar in any way. I should try to know more about this sect if the opportunity arises and nothing unexpected happens by then,' As Leo thought of this, he turned to look at Jing Rui.

'Before all this, she really seemed to have been interested in knowing which sect I 'had' in mind, so I wonder which of the sects she's interested in.'

Just as Leo was about to voice his thoughts, Jing Rui suddenly pointed ahead in front of them and spoke.

"We've reached the city gates, Senior Brother Lian!"