Pentagonal Dune Town

Pentagonal Dune Town.

This town lay at an intersection between five cities, shielded from the weaker demonic beasts in the surrounding salt desert by five large salt dunes. A few hundred miles further out from each of these dunes lay a city, making Pentagonal Dune Town a popular resting location for cultivators who were travelling between the five cities.

This region was situated over ten thousand miles into the outer sect - it took Yaan around a day to travel to this place from Grand Ti City. The environment was no longer so hostile due to heat, but it was still arid thanks to the salt desert. Naturally, ordinary life was not very abundant in these inhospitable lands.

When Yaan arrived in this town, he showed the aura of a Qi Gathering Realm cultivator. He also adjusted his aura after some trial and error, making it such that people would casually overlook him for the most part. He realised that a child cultivator, travelling alone through the unforgiving desert, was too unusual in the eyes of regular people. He would stand out even if he suppressed his aura to a much lower realm, but after making further adjustments to his aura, people unknowingly overlooked the strangeness of the lone child who entered the town with no luggage or belongings.

For two days, Yaan stayed within one of the larger inns in this town, spending most of his time drinking the locally produced salt tea quietly within the downstairs restaurant area. He silently drank his tea and listened as others came and went from the inn, gradually coming to understand the nature of the people here.

The people were all very business savvy, they were outgoing and unafraid of being straight forwards, even when dealing with cultivators stronger than themselves. For the most part, their lives revolved around trading and dealing with the various travellers coming and going from the town.

Whilst he quietly observed his surroundings, Yaan also casually assessed his own cultivation. He came to understand that his Vital Qi was truly a force to be reckoned with…

This power had replaced both his blood and his Innate Qi, it was both physical and spiritual, it was unique in this regard. His Qi Channels and blood vessels were now one and the same; his heart pumped out Vital Qi which fed every cell throughout his body, before eventually making its way into his dantian. Within the dantian, the stream of Vital Qi was replenished by the Vital Qi Core, a large bloody core situated within the 9th Layer of the Qi Palace. As for the Qi Palace itself, it was no longer pitch black, but blood-red in colour.

When he realised that his cultivation would take some time to understand properly, Yaan decided to drop this matter for now so that he could focus on his present situation. He forgot about his cultivation, turning his attention towards this small town.

The strongest cultivator to ever appear in this town was only at the Innate Qi Realm. This was normal, since nobody with strength exceeding this level would bother with a settlement like this.

Yaan also learned that even in the nearby five cities, Qi Temple Realm cultivation was exceedingly rare, perhaps only the city lords had this level of strength.

For the most part, if someone was able to enter the Fragment Sect's inner sect, they would do so. Unfortunately for most of the residents in the outer sect, the entry requirements to get into the inner sect were very strict. They could only enter with 1st Layer Qi Temple Realm cultivation if they were under 50 years of age, whilst each higher layer cultivation base also had its own age limit.

When it came to Spirit Core Realm powerhouses, anyone could enter the inner sect, but how common were those individuals?

Anyway, out here in this small town, such an esteemed matter like the inner sect entrance exam was too grand for the townsfolk to even consider. Really, the Fragment Sect itself was such a goliath in the eyes of these mortals and weaker cultivators, that it was basically an existence only spoken of in legends.

Yaan was yet to ask his question of dao to any of the town residents. Before asking, he first wanted to understand the context behind their answers, and for that, he decided to learn about the culture here.

Everyone living permanently in this town earned a living through the travellers from the five cities. Innkeepers, merchants, traders, cooks, waiters, small business owners, these were all common professions.

Cultivation was present and known here just like in most places throughout the outer sect, but not everyone had the talent to become a cultivator. There were many mortals living in this town, but because mortals would struggle to travel across hundreds of miles of desert, the travellers were almost all cultivators. From what Yaan had seen, he estimated that around one twentieth of the townsfolk were low level cultivators, whilst the rest were all mortals. Despite this, the native townsfolk still dealt with the travelling cultivators effectively and without much difficulty.

This town reminded Yaan of a small mortal nation that he had once visited in the Ghu Province. That nation was also a trading hub for travelling cultivators, whilst the native residents, both mortals and cultivators alike, handled various business matters with the travellers to bring prosperity to their nation.

In some places, cultivators possessed a status far beyond that of mortals, but in places like this, the difference was not so pronounced. Being a cultivator didn't assist their business much, whilst the town was small enough that the native residents would not exclude one another just because they were a mortal or a cultivator.

For the most part, the cultivators here either worked in governing the town's affairs, dealing with the more troublesome travelling cultivators, or defending the town against the few surrounding demonic beasts. They were well respected within the community, but this respect was not to the extent of blind reverence.

When they were constantly dealing with so many travelling cultivators, the mortals became accustomed to such individuals, losing much of their fear and reverence towards those stronger than themselves.

"Little brother, what are you doing in this place alone all the time? Don't you have anywhere else to go?"

As Yaan was quietly keeping to himself and thinking about this small town, he glanced up towards the smiling inn keeper. The inn keeper was a mortal woman wearing clean cloth clothing, she was probably similar in age to Yaan himself.

Of course, from her perspective, she was an adult whilst Yaan was a child. Out here in this small town, a cultivator talented enough to maintain their youthful appearance was basically unheard of.

"I'm fine, there's no need for you to worry." Yaan replied with a light smile. The woman looked concerned, placing her hands on her hips as she looked down at Yaan sternly.

"Are you sure? Ever since you arrived at the inn two days ago, all you've done is drink salt tea! I wasn't going to say anything, but…little brother, are you really ok? It's fine if you don't have enough money, I'll cook you up a meal anyway, alright?"

So this woman was worrying about him because she hadn't seen him eat anything for two straight days. Right, for a normal mortal child, this would indeed be quiet concerning…

"Hmm?" Yaan blinked, drawn out from his musings as he thought of something.

"Food…" Suddenly, Yaan felt dazed.

When was the last time that he had eaten?

'Not counting the years I spent in the True-False Illusion World, I actually haven't eaten anything other than pills and potions since I left North Ghu City! And when it comes to ordinary mortal food, I haven't eaten any ever since I departed from the Heavenly Path Sect…'

When Yaan entered the North Ghu Inheritance, he had still needed to recover his energy through the consumption of either food or resources. Back then, he relied on pills to recover his energy and cultivate. When he realised how long it had been since his last actual meal, he felt slightly stunned.

It was at times like this that Yaan truly realised just how far he had strayed from ordinary mortal life.

As the inn keeper turned away with a sigh, Yaan called out to her.

"Wait. I can pay…bring me the pentagonal platter."

Hearing this, the woman looked back and raised her eyebrows in surprise. The pentagonal platter was an expensive meal, she doubted that this child who only drank cheap tea would be able to afford it.

"Little brother, this meal is…" She trailed off slightly, stunned when Yaan flicked her a single gold coin with a smile.

"Please prepare it well."

"Y…yes, of course!" After saying this, she hastily nodded, before rushing off to the kitchen to inform the chef.

It was only natural that she was surprised. It wasn't that she had never seen gold before, it was just shocking that this child, who had previously only been drinking their cheapest drink, would suddenly splash out on their most lavish meal!

Their inn was renowned for this meal, it took some time to prepare, but it was well worth it. As the plate was laid down in front of him, Yaan slowly picked up his cutlery whilst examining the contents on the table before him.

Compared to the spirit beast meat that he had consumed in the past, every ingredient in this meal was vastly inferior. Even so, he didn't hesitate to begin eating.

Yaan inhaled deeply as the aroma of steamed vegetables and roasted meats entered his nose. He carefully cut through the meats, smiling to himself as memories of the past, back when he was weak and needed to eat food on a daily basis, came back to him.

After his first bite, Yaan silently chewed for some time, before sighing and turning to gaze out of the wooden window. In the street outside, the people went about their usual daily lives, oblivious to the fact that a powerhouse elder of the core sect was watching them walk by.

These people were very close to him, but Yaan felt a sense of distance in his heart.

"This mortal food…it's good…"