Chapter 339: Gaider Realm
"Are the both of you alright?" Compass Carburettor asked through telepathy as he sent Stencil into the safety of the Dimensional Space.
"Y-Yeah…" Grisha gasped for breath as she expended some Mental Energy to heal herself and Gana. She then checked Stencil's condition and kept her safe.
"Please don't travel dimensions again for the time being. I don't think we'll be able to handle the strain." She spoke.
"Don't worry, we'll be staying here for a long enough time." Compass Carburettor muttered as he looked around, noticing that he was in the courtyard of a house. He already obtained a gist of things from that Hatchling System.
The world he had arrived at was a cultivation world. But, it wasn't one where deities or the like roamed around. This world was more inclined towards wuxia than xianxia.
The reason he had arrived here was due to the existence of some treasures that were capable of curing Stencil, as that was the primary requirement he had for finding a world to head into.
Currently, the city he was situated at was called Gaoan City, located to the east of Stale Wind County. It was similar to one of those starting cities in cultivation novels.
And, the reason he had arrived here was that most stories would begin from such starting cities. Moreover, treasures and the likes would be unlocked one after another starting here. Currently, he had no idea if a System was in this world or not.
Without Info Scanner, he had no idea about that. That's why he had to exercise caution.
"But, I'll just deal with it if I'm discovered by a System. Getting paranoid about a 'What If?' situation would just make me lose sight of what I should focus on." He muttered, looking around to hear some footsteps approaching his direction as he condensed his pair of wings and flew out.
The moment he exited the compound walls, he retracted both the pair of wings and his Mental Energy Body Layer, returning to his original appearance as slowly began to walk away, turning around the corner before mingling within the crowd.
'I have to stabilise a footing for myself here first before gathering the clues related to those treasures.' He thought, looking around as he slowly walked into the market street.
The world he had arrived at was known as the World of Gaider, typically addressed the Gaider Realm by the populace. Multiple such Realms existed that were connected to one another by mysterious passages that only opened occasionally or when certain conditions were satisfied.
And the reason he arrived at the Gaider Realm was due to its possession of dozens of such passages. That allowed him to search around freely. And most of all, the strength of the cultivators in the Gaider Realm didn't surpass what he was able to handle.
The energy they cultivated was called Origin Essence. Compass Carburettor just attributed it to a mysterious energy type that was used in cultivation stories.
And those who cultivate using Origin Essence were divided into three stages: Origin Refinement, Martial Origin, and Martial Providence.
Those who begin the path of the cultivation would first awaken their Martial Spirits, ethereal entities that ranged from weapons to beasts.
Every Martial Spirit had a special power that they could imbue into the Origin Essence, allowing the cultivator to unleash various abilities. This was what happened in the Origin Refinement Stage.
In the Martial Origin Stage, a cultivator was able to fuse their Martial Spirit with a material, causing changes to its inherent nature and also allowing it to be manifested physically. This was where the cultivator's power spiked.
And finally, in the Martial Providence Stage, the cultivator was capable of transforming into their Martial Spirit itself, becoming powerhouses of their respective Realm.
This was the power structure of the cultivation world he had arrived at.
And, there were mysterious materials with special attributes that a cultivator could obtain once their Martial Spirit fuses with such materials after reaching the Martial Origin Stage.
His goal was to awaken a Martial Spirit for Stencil, make her reach the Martial Origin Stage, and fuse her Martial Spirit with a material that was capable of curing her mind. And to achieve this, he needed to procure a variety of resources to forcefully raise her cultivation.
"And in this world, access to mysterious Realms and the likes are only possible for certain cultivation stages. And if I wish to gain access, I have to do the same." He sighed, "There are places that can awaken one's Martial Spirit, but it's expensive. So first, I need to make money."
He looked around the market, soon finding an auction house that he entered.
"Sir, what may I do for you?" A lady arrived before him, cupping her fists as she probed his cultivation, noticing that he was just a mortal as her face sported disdain immediately.
"I came here to sell a treasure." Compass Carburettor said, hearing the lady snort in response.
She extended her hand, "What is it that you want to sell? Just hand it over to me."
'This is irritating.' He thought, placing his hand in the sleeves of his shirt before taking out a palm-sized yellowish-white object, giving it to the lady as he said, "Unbreakable Etherite. I'll be auctioning this."
"Unbreakable Etherite…?" The lady blinked in confusion before snorting, "Unbreakable my ass. As if a mortal can even determine that."
She dropped the object on the ground, stomping on it to see that it was undamaged. She frowned, motioning for a guard of the auction house that was in the Martial Origin Stage to attack it.
The burly man was seemingly in his late forties, condensing a heavy sword that he slashed out with, causing a massive crack to form on the floor of the building. But the yellowish-white object that suffered the brunt of the attack didn't even sport a crack.
Thankfully, he had caught it on time before it was flung out of bounds, staring at it in shock.
'Even if it's not unbreakable, the fact that a Martial Origin cultivator cannot even scratch is a testament to its hardness.' The lady grabbed hold of the item from the guard, 'And best of all, it's as light as a strand of hair. If I use this after reaching the Martial Origin Stage, I'll become tremendously powerful.'
'Besides,' She looked at Compass Carburettor, 'He's just a mortal. Appearance-wise, he's handsome. So, if he's from these parts, and belonged to any force with even a little power, I should have known about him. That just means that he doesn't have any backing. It'll be troublesome if others know about this material. So…'
She gazed at the guard, winking at him, making him understand what he had to do. Immediately, he condensed his large sword and swung at Compass Carburettor, aiming for his neck.
