Chapter 352. Traveling Mountains Merchant Group. Real Body Cultivation.

By the time they reached a city, It was dusk. The sun was already hiding on the horizon, but the light of the day still illuminated the place.

When they observed the different infrastructures built in the city, it looked strange. Even though it followed the basic city surrounded by walls, the materials used for all the buildings seemed different.

It was a solid material similar to dirt but looking strong. Moreover, the houses past the walls had rounded roofs. Yasenia was accustomed to flat or pointed roofs, so seeing circular ones was a first. "That's interesting."

Andrea commented. "That material... I think I've seen it somewhere. Right! It is [Living Dirt]."

Evelyn raised her eyebrow, "Hoh~, that sounds interesting. How does it work?"

Andrea explained. "The reason it is called like that is that it can multiply, grow, and become sturdier the longer it absorbs energy. Moreover, the Earth attribute users can bond with [Living Dirt] and force it to change forms. However, to do so is difficult. [Living Dirt] grows continuously, and it is theorized that reaching past a point can gain sentience and, in extremely rare cases, sapience."

Kali was surprised. "That sounds dangerous to use as a "House building" material. What if the house suddenly devours its residents?"

Yasenia smirked and said. "It needs a lot of time for that."

Andrea looked at Yasenia and asked curiously. "You know about it?"

Yasenia laughed. "I can't differentiate it at sight like you, but I've read about it. It was one of the materials used in the past on our Continent. However, it was used when the Beast-Humans still had a footing in our Continent. So it was very long ago. I heard that humans didn't like it because they feared what Kali said."

Angel tilted her head. "Does it have any drawbacks besides that?"

Andrea shook her head. "It doesn't. Moreover, I remember doing a thesis about it and presenting it to my Master."

Yasenia asked. "Aunty Irina?"

Andrea nodded. "I spoke about how we could use their energy-absorbing trait to create "Cultivation Houses" or "Energy Absorbing Structures." However, she said that it was impossible because some technologies had been lost, and we couldn't create very efficient tools to do so. I wonder if any of the books I bought in the Lost City will help once she sees them."

Yasenia got thoughtful. "If we can do so, or even grow a conscious [Living Dirt], we could use it as a guardian. Who would expect the house to attack?"

Cecile narrated in her indifferent voice. "A pair of unaware robbers enter the house, not knowing that they've, in truth, entered the stomach of the monster about to devour them alive."

Evelyn shuddered, thinking of the situation. "That sounds scary as hell."

Angel nodded, "Especially if Cecile narrates it."

Cecile blinked, "How do I make it scarier?"

Kali held her laugh. "Well, your tone of voice can be terrifying when complemented with a scary tale."

Cecile nodded as calmly as ever. "I see." Then, a mischievous glint flashed in her eyes. "Angel, I'll tell you scary stories every night from now on, okay?"

Angel shook her head as quickly as she could. "Nonono, I'm okay without them!" Cecile smirked, clearly amused. Her smirk brightened her facial features for that instant, making the others somewhat dazed.

Yasenia coughed and said. "Focus, we are approaching the city. Although I don't feel any danger, we can't relax in an unknown place."

They all nodded and followed behind Yasenia.

They all stayed quiet, and they approached the wall.

After exiting the forest to the cleared area around the city, they saw a queue that clearly connected with the only visible entrance toward the city. At this distance, they already couldn't see the city beyond the wall because it was actually extremely high at almost one hundred meters in height.

Angel knew a little about defensive architecture because formations needed knowledge of those if they wanted to deploy city-wide formations. Therefore, she frowned because they were too tall. "If the walls are this tall, it will be much more difficult surrounding the city with protective formations."

Evelyn said. "Maybe... They don't have any city-wide formations and have used a literal wall to protect themselves?"

Andrea and the others looked at Evelyn, feeling that that was too ineffective. Andrea said. "I mean, if I put enough strength, I can jump over that wall without touching it. Not to mention, if beasts like Sierra appear, they could climb it in two or three jumps."

Sierra nodded. "That's right. Although I'm big compared to all of you and can jump less, my bodily strength is much higher."

Cecile looked at Sierra, "I want to fight you later."

Sierra looked toward Cecile and smirked. "Do you dare only use your physical body?"

Cecile snorted. "Is there something I dare not do?"

Sierra taunted. "How about making Yasenia sad?"

Cecile's lips twitched. "Is there something I dare not do if it isn't related to Yasenia?"

They all laughed.

Shortly after, they finally arrived at the back of the queue. However, they were looking at the people in line to enter the town with strange faces.

The main reason was that the creatures in the queue turned to look at them, didn't turn back, and continued to look at them. Their gazes were strange.

Angel suddenly asked in a low voice. "Umm... Why do I not see any humans?"

Evelyn whispered back. "I don't know."

Not only were there not humans, but most of the creatures present were beast humans! There were some beasts, but ninety percent of the people there were humanoid beast-humans.

Kali blinked, confused. "Do you think they are looking at Yasenia?"

They all nodded. Andrea said. "It should be, right? I mean, look at her."

The sun was almost hiding, so the light from the day was disappearing.

In this dim scenery, Yasenia's white dots that connected in small constellation-like patterns glowed in a beautiful and soft light. Her golden Sun and Moon on each wing also had a light glow, creating two golden spots below her.

The starry blue scales and a long tail with golden rings grabbed the attention, and her beautiful and lean body and dragon face made one wonder what kind of artwork did she sprung out from.

Yasenia felt her dears' gazes like pins, and she had the urge to apologize. Cecile sighed. "Well, no matter her form, it seems that she will gather eyes."

Yasenia almost hid her tail between her legs because of her guilt. However, the steps approaching made her regain her bearing.

Yasenia looked at the approaching person and saw a middle-aged man with a pair of black furry wolf ears and a short bushy tail behind him. They tried to analyze his strength, but they couldn't sense a cultivation level. They blinked, confused. Angel even asked, "Am I blind, or does he not have cultivation?"

Andrea also frowned. "That's strange. I feel that he is not a mortal, but I can't sense his cultivation."

Evelyn commented. "Based on the aura's strength he has, he must be on the first or second level of the Body Modification Realm. Therefore, unless he has a heaven-defying technique, he shouldn't be able to hide his cultivation from us."

Yasenia warned. "Be careful. Let's try to ask about it in a roundabout way. Also, even if he wants me as a slave or something, don't become angered."

Cecile said flatly. "You are asking for the impossible, my love."

Yasenia sighed with a smile. "Okay, don't show that you are angry then. Is that better, sweetheart?"

Cecile and the others nodded.

Their conversation was fast, so the man reached after it happened and didn't hear anything. He wore an elegant blue robe and had some Earth-ranked items on him. Earth Rank items were a luxury for someone at the Body Modification Realm. Therefore, they could guess that he wasn't a nobody.

The middle-aged man raised his left hand and grabbed the air when he reached in front of them. Then, he lowered it.

They looked at him, waiting for him to speak, but they noticed a small frown appear for a second. It disappeared quickly, but they knew already that they'd done something wrong.

He looked at Cecile, taking her as the head of the group, and spoke. "Hello, seniors. Let me present myself. I'm Gavan from the Traveling Mountains Merchant group. I've approached this time because I see that all of you have some interesting items at your disposal. Would you like to negotiate about it?"

Yasenia and the others blinked, surprised. 'He speaks the same language as in the Sky Continent?'

Valeria saw that they were confused, so she explained. 'The language of your Sky Continent is very common in the Universe. The only reason Lost Town didn't speak it is that it was a place that was created shortly after the Heavenly Calamity, so it still had the previous main language. As I said before, this place appears quite new, so it would've been bad luck if they didn't speak the most common language in the Universe.'

They nodded, accepting her explanation.

Since the man spoke to Cecile, it was her who answered. "Hello, we are an unaffiliated group of independent Cultivators. We would love to do trade, but we've no knowledge of the market in this area. You see, we come from afar, so we are new to this place." Cecile wasn't an expert in these things, so she had asked Yasenia to guide her speech.

The middle-aged man frowned. "You come from afar? With just five of you?"

Cecile tilted her head and thought, 'Five? Isn't this man a merchant? Why can't he count up to eight?'

Yasenia was also confused. However, she answered via Cecile. "Well, as you can see, we are eight, sir. Besides that, our strengths are quite high. We had almost no trouble traversing the forest."

The middle-aged man looked at Andrea, Angel, and Evelyn with clear disdain and said. "What can humans do? Their bodies are so fragile that they snap at the smallest forces."

Yasenia didn't like his eyes, but she decided to make Cecile talk respectfully. "Sir, we have no reason to lie. Anyway, we've gained items from deep in the forest, so we would like to sell them. Since you are from a merchant group, how about you help us enter the city, and we speak about the prices inside?"

He retracted his gaze from Andrea, Evelyn, and Angel and looked back at Cecile. Then, he said with a doubting expression. "Miss, with all due respect. There are even Mystical-ranked beasts in the forest."

Valeria instantly communicated with all of them. 'That's similar to a fourth-ranked beast. Moreover, you can't detect his cultivation because he is cultivating in a different manner. He is actually a body cultivator. Not one of the false body cultivators in your Sky Continent. He seems to be cultivating a real pre-Heavenly-Cataclysm method. Strength-wise, body cultivators can reach strengths as high as energy cultivators.'

Mirrory was genuinely surprised. 'Impressive. I thought that real body cultivation manuals had disappeared. Learning it has many benefits, so I recommend staying in this place longer than planned and gathering the best method if there is more than one.'

Their eyes opened wide. Yasenia thought, "If I can get this cultivation and give it to mom, she

may be able to cultivate both of them and become even stronger."

Mirrory said. 'We'll explain in detail later. Now focus on what he has to say.'

Cecile said. "We can protect ourselves from Mystical ranked beasts. However, everyone has their secrets, so I recommend not digging further. Anyway, you've approached us intending to buy an item. What is it?"

The middle-aged man looked back at Andrea, Angel, and Evelyn and said. "Them. I want to buy those slaves."