Alex sent out his spiritual sense to the max to check out the forest while the group of 5 showed him the path out of the forest.
As he looked, he realized that there had been a lot of trees cut around that area. The feeling in his body regarding the ingredients was also a lot more tamer.
It was almost like the area around him was devoid of ingredients aside from a few uncommon ones.
As he walked, Ning slowly plucked the remaining ingredients from all around him as he brought them towards himself. He used this as an opportunity to make sure his Qi worked properly.
'Although I'm not back to my best yet, it's close enough,' he thought. He just needed to cultivate for a month or 2 casually, and he would be back to peak form. Maybe even better.
"What's your name?" Alex asked the leader.
"It's Yun Jiang, senior," the leader said.
"Yun Jiang," Alex said softly as if to see how well he could pronounce it. "So, what are you guys doing here?" Alex asked.
The leader shuddered and slowly turned around to say, "It's the last day of the week, senior."
He didn't explain any further as if that information alone was supposed to be enough of an explanation.
"I… am not from around here. Can you explain a bit more?" Alex asked.
"Oh," the leader looked at him with shock. However, even with shock, he didn't dare get slow in his explanation.
"Every end of the week, the cultivators from the Riverweed town are allowed to enter the northern forest to harvest what they can. Ores, plants,… beasts, we are allowed to take these things back with us once a week," the leader said. "That's our only source of money."
"So you were planning to sell Pearl," Alex said. Pearl purred a little from atop Alex's thin shoulders.
Alex caught Pearl and put him in his robes such that only his head was sticking out. This was likely more comfortable for him than the shoulders.
The leader showed an embarrassed face and said, "y-yes, senior."
Alex turned to the left. Far away, he could see a few other groups of people as well, wearing bluish robes with a white sash around the waist.
"How many sects do you have in the town?" he asked.
"3, senior," the leader said. "Our Thousand Papers sect, Fire Spirit sect, and a Metal Jade sect."
"Those men, which sect are they?" Alex asked.
The leader looked to the side and only then saw a group of blue-robed figures far away.
"Those are the Metal Jade sect disciples, senior. They are an artifact sect, so they must be searching for materials for themselves," the leader said.
"And your sect?" Alex asked.
"Our Thousand Paper sect is mostly focused on the talisman, senior," he said. "Similarly, the Fire Spirit sect focuses on alchemy."
Alex's eyebrows raised a bit when he heard 'Alchemy' but he didn't let the surprise linger for much longer.
"How good would you say your town's sects are compared to others?" Alex asked.
"There is no comparison, senior," the leader said. "Our sect is at the outer edge of the empire, so our knowledge and skill are quite lacking compared to those at the center of the empire."
"But you guys still stay here," Alex said. "Is it because of the forest?"
"Yes senior," he said. "The forest is large and gives us a lot of ingredients. So while we aren't as big or strong as the sects at the center of the empire, we are still doing quite well for ourselves."
"I see," Alex said as he nodded. "What was the last good thing that came out of this place?"
"Last good thing, hmm," the leader thought. "There was a rumor about a True Heaven grade artifact being sold. But, it was done in secret by the Metal Jade sect, so we aren't sure."
The girl with the bow and arrow moved over to the leader and whispered something into his ears.
Alex heard it clearly, but he still waited for the leader to say. "It also seems that not so long ago, one of the elders at the Fire Spirit sect made a 42% Harmony pill. The name of the pill wasn't promoted, but the news of the pill's quality still got out."
"42% huh?" Alex realized that this place wasn't as great as he would've expected. It was just slightly better than an average alchemy sect back in the crimson empire.
'I will likely have to go deeper into the empire to find more,' Alex thought.
As they walked, Alex started noticing more and more. There were so many people wearing so many colors that it became hard to keep track of the different people.
'He did say that cultivators only get to enter at the end of the week,' Alex thought.
"Do your sects control this area of the forest? Or do you have a town lord?" Alex asked.
"We have a town lord senior, but our sects also have a say in what happens in the town," the leader said.
"So the thing about cultivators only being allowed to enter once a week, who set that rule?" he asked.
"Oh, it was a joint rule, senior. At first, there was no restriction, so very soon, the forest started to die so fast that there would barely be any resources in a few years. So, to preserve that, the elders came together and made the rule."
Alex nodded when he heard that. 'No wonder there is barely anything around here,' he thought.
"Are you an elder?" he asked.
"No, senior. This one hasn't reached 30 years of age yet," the leader said with a hint of pride on his face.
"I see. Not bad," Alex said. He realized by the context that one had to likely reach 30 years of age to become an elder in this place.
'It seems cultivation base doesn't matter to them. Or… at least True Disciple realm cultivation base doesn't matter,' Alex thought.
After a while, the group arrived at an open area. They had finally left the forest at last.
In front of Alex, he could see a massive city with newly built walls around it. There were houses outside of the walls too, and they looked newly built as well.
The stone walls let people walk in and out of the city.
'Such a big city and they still call it a town?' Alex thought. He wondered how big the cities of this empire would be then.
"Alright, you guys can leave now. I pardon your offense of trying to attack my brother," Alex said.
The leader and the other 4 looked elated. They quickly bowed and gave their thanks before scurrying away.
Alex looked at the 5 of them walk away and smiled a little.
"It's quite fun acting like an expert, isn't it?" he said while patting Pearl on his head.
"Meow!!" Pearl meowed from his clothes, asking him to pet him more.
"Alright, Alright," Alex said and pet him a bit more.
He then looked at his frail body and said, "I need to put some food in me to gain back my muscles. Without it, I will be stared at by everyone."
With that, Alex walked towards the Riverweed town and walked in through the gate.
The town looked not very different from the cities back in the crimson empire. It was almost as big as the Scarlet city and had sects in it that would qualify to compete against The Tiger sect or the Hong Wu sect.
Alex was surprised that even a town at the edge of the empire was almost as good as one of the better cities in the Crimson Empire.
That just went to show how great the Luminance empire was. Not to mention, this was supposed to be the weakened continent.
Alex couldn't wait to see the other continents. 'I'm getting ahead of myself,' he thought and walked through the town.
The houses, buildings, shops, all looked similar in design to ones from back in the Crimson Empire. Maybe even a little more outdated.
Alex was surprised. He knew that cultivators didn't like changes and liked to keep things as they were, but… did that really put them further behind than an isolated empire?
A True realm cultivator could live up to 400 years normally, and 500 years if he forced it.
A Saint realm cultivator could live up to 1000 years normally, and almost 2000 if they forced it.
With the number of people alive in this continent likely having been born before most of the people in the Crimson empire, he could see why the development was held back.
He walked through the busy street and came across a looking building that caught his eyes. The building itself was normal, but it was the name that caught his eyes.
Riverweed Branch of the Alchemy Guild.
'They have an Alchemy guild here as well?' Alex thought. He remembered the Alchemy guild in the Crimson Empire, but he never really took part in it.
However, this time, it might actually be a good idea to find himself a place since no one else would back him here.
But first, Alex needed food. Thinking that he left the place. He would come back here later.
Alex walked through the streets, ignoring the curious looks of the people who saw his skinny body.
Finally, he came across a rather grand-looking restaurant called the Three Faction Alliance Restaurant.
Alex smiled and walked in.
