Chapter 7: Entering the City

Chenjiao City is located on the border of the Seven Pagoda Federation, and Snakehead Town is a small town established more than twenty years ago during the war, although the surrounding lands have already been developed.

However, danger has never truly been eliminated; the town frequently experiences attacks from spiritual beasts.

With the recommendation letter, Duke boarded the specialized carriage of the Arcane Society.

It was a vehicle commonly known as the "Black Beetle Car," resembling a beetle the size of several houses. The front of the carriage had a thick smokestack, which emitted a continuous stream of black smoke when ready to depart.

Similar to the black smoke emitted from factory chimneys, this was due to the combustion of spiritually infused ore slag.

Factories and vehicles, being heavy consumers of spiritual energy, didn't rely on stored energy cards for power due to their impracticality and high costs. Burning spiritually-infused ore slag with a lower price was the normal operation.

As for pollution, 

Black smoke was the romance of the industrial revolution.

"Vroom, vroom!"

The Black Beetle Car's horn sounded, and the black smoke from the smokestack intensified. Then, several large solid tires, each the size of a grindstone, slowly turned, rolling over the road paved with gravel as the carriage headed out of town.

Duke sat by the window, gazing at the town receding in the distance, his emotions stirred.

Though Snakehead Town was called a small town, it was not much different from a small county. Seventy to eighty thousand people crowded within its borders, many of whom, including Duke, had never left this place.

This time,

It was his first time leaving Snakehead Town, heading to Chenjiao City.

The Black Beetle Car's speed wasn't fast, and the carriage was quite bumpy. Highways and even asphalt roads had yet to appear; all the roads were gravel roads.

These roads were referred to as "routes."

Because in areas far from towns, spiritual energy prompted the growth of all things. Even if humans cleared them repeatedly, countless spiritual beasts still lurked, damaging roads and attacking caravans.

Every journey was like an unknown voyage.

Clank, clank.

The carriage suddenly jolted violently, nearly tossing Duke out of his seat.

A voice inside the carriage cursed, "Can't they drive? Don't they know how to avoid potholes?"

Soon, an attendant came over to explain, "Sorry everyone, it seems that the road ahead was damaged by tunneling insects. The entire..."

Before she could finish her sentence, the carriage jolted again, and the attendant hastily grabbed onto a handrail to avoid falling. Once the ride steadied, she continued, "The whole road has been dug up by these insects. The road repair team hasn't had a chance to fix it yet. So please stay seated and wait until we get past this stretch."

"Damn tunneling insects!"

"When I go hunting outside, I'll definitely slaughter more of those tunneling insects!"

Passengers complained and cursed, blaming the 0-ring spiritual beasts known as tunneling insects. These creatures looked somewhat like cockroaches but were larger than cats and traveled in groups in the wild.

After a considerable period of shaking, the Black Beetle Car eventually stabilized.

Before long, Duke saw from the window that the carriage had passed another small town. Next, it would pass through four more small towns before reaching the final destination.

The carriage stopped briefly, with some people getting off and others getting on.

Soon, it resumed its journey, leaving the town behind, leaving the farmland, and entering the vast wilderness.

Duke greedily looked at the scenery outside the window. Compared to Earth, this place was filled with exotic scenery. The peculiar plants were overwhelming, and occasionally, strange and exotic creatures could be spotted.

Suddenly,

The Black Beetle Car came to a halt.

"Please remain calm and do not open the windows casually. Several spiritual beasts have blocked the road, and the knights accompanying us are dealing with them," the attendant smiled and reassured everyone. For her, this situation was quite common.

Duke didn't stay in his seat.

Like others, he ran to the windows near the front of the carriage to get a closer look.

He saw two armored knights facing off against several black spiritual beasts resembling leopards or wolves. Each black spiritual beast was the size of a young calf.

"It's a 1-ring spiritual beast, the Skinny Panther, only six of them. Not enough for the two knights to handle," a passenger remarked casually.

The standoff lasted less than three minutes.

Suddenly, one of the knights made a move. With a shield in one hand and a sword in the other, he charged into the midst of the Skinny Panthers, then swung his sword in a circle, unleashing a round blade aura.

The other knight took slow steps forward, maintaining a threatening posture toward the Skinny Panthers.

One on the offense, the other threatening.

The six Skinny Panthers dodged and bared their teeth, appearing to be eager to attack but primarily focused on evading. They didn't launch an attack against the two knights.

And soon, one of the Skinny Panthers simply fled.

The remaining ones roared a few times and then followed suit.

The spiritual beast attack came to an end just like that. The two knights chatted and laughed as they returned to the Black Beetle Car, and the black smoke billowed once more as the carriage continued over the gravel road.

Back in his seat, Duke was somewhat unsatisfied, still savoring the brief battle he had witnessed.

"That sword aura should be the knight's fighting spirit," he thought, recalling how his previous self had consumed the Blood Boiling Potion in hopes of opening the Sea of Blood, seeking to gain knightly talents.

Unfortunately, he hadn't succeeded.

"Speaking of which, whether it's the Sea of Blood or the Sea of Qi, both have been incorporated into the Spiritual Magic system, recognized as branches of the Sea of Spirit, places where spiritual energy converges."

He mentally conversed with Xiaoyi, "Xiaoyi, do you think I still have the possibility of opening the Sea of Blood and the Sea of Qi?"

"Xiaoyi lacks relevant information and cannot calculate the possibility at the moment."

"Alright."

Duke reluctantly gave up on his contemplation.

At this moment, he was merely a fifteen-year-old orphan, just taking his first steps into the world of cultivation, knowing nothing about the true Three Seas cultivation.

...

Half a day later.

Chenjiao City came into view.

And the first thing that caught Duke's eyes was the countless chimneys belching out billowing black smoke. However, when this black smoke reached a certain height, it seemed to encounter a constant wind that dispersed it, blowing it away from the city.

"It seems they have mastered some arcane wind-related magic."

The Black Beetle Car entered the station, surrounded by various specialized route carriages bustling with activity. After disembarking, Duke followed the crowd out of the station and then saw a tram passing by on the main street.

He quickly picked up his bag and ran to the nearby tram stop.

Although it was his first time in a big city, he had already inquired with Old Sam about the details of urban life, such as food, clothing, shelter, and transportation.

"Excuse me, how do I get to the Arcane Tower using the tram?" he asked a middle-aged woman at the station. There were no route signs at this stop, only one sign that said "West Station."

"The Arcane Tower, it's probably tram route seventeen," the middle-aged woman said, confirming with her companion, "Right? Tram route seventeen goes to the Arcane Tower, doesn't it?"

"That's correct."

"Thank you," Duke expressed his gratitude.

Tram route seventeen had a ticket booth, and the fare to the Arcane Tower station was five copper dragons. This was clearly not cheap, far more expensive than taking a regular human-powered rickshaw.

But Duke had money now, and he wanted to try something new.

The tram was very stable on the tracks, but the ride itself was quite thrilling. Pedestrians, beast-drawn carts, and freight carts all seemed to ignore traffic rules, darting and weaving through the streets.

Fortunately, the speed wasn't high, so even collisions wouldn't be fatal.

"Chaotic, dirty... yet full of vitality," Duke thought to himself.