013 The Grand Elder of the Mystical Turtle Sanctuary

Liam followed after Ralph, they were maneuvering around little always, on top of buildings and even in the underground sewers. It seemed to Liam that Ralph had the whole city memorized and all of its little secret passages. Maybe that's why they haven't caught him by now.

Whenever Liam tried to ask Ralph any type of question, he got shot down. Ralph did not allow him to speak until they reached their destination.

Ralph jumped from the roof of the three-story high building that thy were on and he landed in a little alleyway in between the building that they just jumped off and a big 13 story high pagoda.

"We're here." Ralph said.

Then Liam saw as he moved to the side, a window on the ground and Ralph proceeded to enter in. Liam did not know what he should do, but he ended up following after Ralph.

"Close the window behind you. Ralph reminded Liam.

Liam turned back and climbed on a table that was put against the wall so he could reach the window. They were in a basement. The window outside was on the floor but inside it was at the top.

"Don't worry, it's safe down here. they can't find us. The alleyway that we came from is closed off, it technically doesn't exist. You can only enter above like we did. And this basement is long abandoned." Ralph said to Liam as he sat on an orange sofa that seemed too big for his small frame. Dust covered almost the entire interior of the room. Only the sofa and a mat in front of the sofa were kept clean.

As Liam looked around, he saw all types of machinery and deps, frankly, he had no idea what they were used for and how they worked. Compared to the technology that they had in Coraopolis, this seemed like stuff out of this world. The technology in Liam's old home was comparable to the primitives, Stoneman, maybe on the brink of discovering the first metal. While the technology found in that room was at the beginning levels in the medieval period.

Ralph noticed Liam looking around and he could guess what he was thinking. "I don't need the rest of this room. I only require this mat to cultivate and this sofa to rest.

Cultivate. Liam only ever remembered seeing that word when his father gave him and his sister a book on his thirteenth birthday. He was told to study what was inside the book and practice with it a lot, to make his family proud. He had learnt the technique inside the book in only a week, but it required several sleepless nights and a lot of hours spent studying it.

Then he started practicing and reached the first level in just 2 weeks, the second 2 months later and the third another 6 months after. The book did not mention any levels above those.

"Since you are going to remain quiet now, I'll start the conversation. What realm are you in. I can't see, so that means you must be stronger than I am." Ralph said to Liam, still sitting on his sofa.

"What are these realms that you speak of?" Liam was un sure what the blond boy meant.

"You mean you don't know? Did you fall and hit your head somewhere, now you can't remember anything?" Ralph questioned Liam but when he saw that Liam was remaining quiet, he decided to explain.

"At what human realm are you? There are 9 human realms followed by 7 king realms and some say there is a realm after that, the 3 celestial realms, but that is just a myth." Ralph explained as he waited for Liam to tell him what level he was at.

"How do I know on what realm I am?"

Ralph sighed and got up from his sofa, blew a strong gust of wind on one of the machines in the room, clearing it from almost all of the dust. "Throw a punch at it as hard as you can, but don't use any special techniques. It's not very accurate but it should do the job"

Liam did as Ralph said and he threw a punch as hard as he could.

Ralph read the machine that did not use any sort of text only a weird bar that went up and down with weird colors. "Ninth human realm. There is no way, that punch was stronger than anything that I can throw but far from the ninth human realm and someone his age has no chance of getting that high. Something must be wrong with the machine." Ralph tapped the machine in a few places before telling Liam to try the same thing yet again.

Liam punched the machine again, then he moved to the side so Ralph could take a read at it.

"Fourth human realm, that sounds reasonable. So, you're one realm above me." Ralph smiled at Liam. "That's pretty impressive for your age."

Liam was getting quite comfortable around Ralph, as time went by.

"Oh, and I forgot to mention. You can cultivate but try not to raise your realm. Higher realms attract more attention from others and that is the opposite of what we want. I have been in the third human realm for over four years for that exact reason." Ralph said to Liam.

"But if you're strong enough, won't you just be able to do whatever you want, be free. Why restrict your growth, I don't understand?" Liam was rather confused by Ralph's words.

"That takes a long time, and almost no one reaches that level. maybe one in a billion. Even if you're born talented with a cultivation technique to bring you to such a realm. And you we're born in a rich family with a lot of power, the cultivation world is unforgiving and scary. The mortality rate is unlike any other thing that you could choose to do. That is why there we're so many runaways in the first place. It takes a toll on your mind." Ralph looked a bit grim, but after he finished, he forced out a smile. "Why don't you tell me a bit more about yourself."

"I do have somethings to ask of you, that have been on my mind." Liam started saying so he could grab Ralphs attention. "Do you know anything about The Mystical Turtle Sanctuary?"

"You mean the highest ranked cultivation sect in the southern continent? Of course, I know about them, what would you like to know that isn't general knowledge." Ralph said casually

"I don't know much, just heard about them before. What do you know about their Grand Elder?" Liam asked a bit nervous. He had no Idea how this world worked and what he was getting himself into, everything was still unknown to him. He was a bit scared as he was asking about a man that managed to make tens of thousands of people kneel in his presence. As many people as the whole of Coralopolis. Earlier that day he didn't know that other people even existed, it was all just too crazy.

"Of course, I know Grand Elder grant, water element user, likes fried squid, peak of 9nth human realm, has a pet ruby turtle at the 7th human realm named Rosie. Hiding around in a city lets you hear about a lot of things. What would you like to know?" Ralph revealed such personal and also general information. Liam was rather surprised.

"So, Grant, Grand Elder of the Mystical Turtle Sanctuary kidnaped my sister from me." Liam muttered beneath his breath. "The hooded man in my sea of soul won't answer or react to anything I say, so I don't know if he is capable of healing my sister but that may be the only good news."

"I have no reference to how strong a ninth human realm being is, but the Grand Elder of the best sect in the whole of the southern continent should be strong enough. How strong of a being was he expecting me to find to save my sister if he isn't strong enough." Liam continued to blabber but at least he came to a peace of mind, knowing that his sister is probably still alive and doing better.

"Can I get as strong as him?" Liam asked Ralph after a few moments.

"Liam, the end in most people's cultivation journey is set from the day they were born. Even in the best conditions with no threat, the best cultivation technique out there and everything that you could probably need. you can't surpass your limit. It is considered amazing if you can reach the fifth human realm, geniuses at the seventh, prodigies at the eight and 1 in ten million maybe reach the ninth. In the whole of the southern continent, only the current king of the royal family has reached the first king level and he is a genius that hasn't been seen for generations even in the royal family. I told you, drop your ambitions. Try to live a good and long life. You'll earn good money with your strength at the fourth human realm." What Ralph said was very disheartening to Liam. That man said that he had a very average spirit root.

Liam did not know what that meant but the man said that it was surprising that he ever even reached the fourth human realm. "Is there really no way to save my sister? Why has this world decided to separate us? Cruelty like this is matched only by death."