Moving into a new apt in Upper East side this weekend. Thanks to all the old and new voters and commentators!
Lineir saw a bright point of light which rapidly engulfed his entire vision.
Shuuup
His feet planted in solid concrete after a short moment and he yanked his arm back from Xiao Gui who had landed first and was already walking forward.
"This is Brightsoul City. It's in the Grand Nebula Region of the Higher Realms. The information dealers here are some of the oldest and most reputable ones in the entire area. Come on, follow me." She looked over her shoulder and Lineir hastily stumbled forwards. His usual grace was lost amidst the incredibly tall and expansive buildings. The architecture was many levels about anything he had ever seen before. White blocklike skyscrapers shot upwards uncountable kilometers into the atmosphere. Except...instead of a blue sky, one looked out into the starry void of space and peered into countless bright stars and colorful planets. It was like the white skyscrapers were literally piercing the Heavens and entering directly into space! Countless races, most humanoid wandered the wide streets, and on high-hanging terraces one could catch many socialites all of which were at least at the Divine Realm and many of them reached the Celestial Realm. Lineir counted upwards of a hundred presences which were beyond his power to even scan with his Divine Sense and knew he was in the presence of many high level experts.
"This-this is amazing!" His eyes opened in wonder as this time his horizons had truly been widened. This...this put Snowfall Citadel to shame, this was a true city of the Higher Realms! Xiao Gui sighed,
"Alright alright Lineir take a moment to take it in. I can see you haven't seen a Space Haven City before. Anyone who sees one for the first time would have the same reaction so I suppose I can't really blame you." She grinned as she swept her hands around, "Behold! Brightsoul City! A Rank 9 City fully capable of supporting over nine hundred million lifeforms at full occupation! This teleportation square alone probably cost more than you've ever seen in your life, that's how rich and expansive the city is! There is not even a tariff because the one who rules this place is magnanimous and believes that free trade will ensure that his city will prosper. He's not wrong, out of the many Rank 9 cities, Brightsoul is truly like its name, a beacon of hope in the dark!"
Lineir took a deep breath after looking around for a bit. He was a Late Divine Realm cultivator, but to be honest he still felt like a young man inside and was overawed by this great work accumulated from many, many generations of effort. Keep in mind, this is something which no mortal realm could ever create, not in a thousand years. Or many thousands of years at that. After all the generations in the Higher Realm were not measured in decades but eons!
"Ok, lead the way!" Lineir calmed himself and prepared to wander deeper into the city. Together the duo saw amazing things which could only exist in the most eccentric mortal's dreams. Shops full of foods which did not belong to any known foodgroup, people of all races and cultivation levels, and above it all, the endless skyscrapers which towered high into the vast expanse.
"Weapons!"
"Elixirs! Get them here!"
"Slaves!"
"Drinks!"
Numerous hawkers which had rented a space called out to the duo. At every turn someone was trying to sell something. After all, the whole point of such a city was to connect cultivators so they could do business and collaborate. Naturally that meant that the number of sellers would be massive!
"What currency do the sellers deal in here?" Lineir asked as he considered rummaging in his pockets to exchange for some of the goods. Xiao Gui shook her head,
"They deal in many currencies, especially treasures. The most common in this city is the Brightstone Crystal Coins which are issued by the treasury here. However, it is up to the individual seller to choose what to accept besides the official currency. You can try your luck but I doubt you'd have anything of value to the people here. Unless you have some particularly unique treasures, usually nothing below the Divine Class will interest them." She looked at Lineir expectantly and nodded to move on. Reluctantly Lineir turned his gaze from all the shiny stalls and continued down the road.
"Here we are." Xiao Gui guided them towards a rather strange building. It was made of a completely black metal which completely blocked Lineir's Divine Sense. It was quite large and he saw many hooded figures wandering in and out. "This is the greatest information center in the city. For the right price you can learn almost anything here. Let alone a 2nd Ranked Sect, even many 9th Ranked Sects would be listed here."
Lineir looked dubiously at the building.
"Uhm...I don't have any of the local currency. I have some treasures though. Do you think they would be interested?" He grimaced, he hadn't thought of this earlier. He'd never been to a place so high that they might not be interested in bartering with him. Additionally, he rarely interacted with other cultivators outside of a combat situation.
"Ugh I don't even want to know what you have. Maybe if you sold that weird sword of yours or my father's armor. But I would kill you if you even considered that. I'll cover you this time. But you'll owe me!" Xiao Gui smirked as she shook her fist and the sound of jingling coins. "I was here a little while ago so I happen to already have exchanged for some Brightstone Coins. Let's see what's up with this Netherworld Refinement Sect."
They headed inside. Entering into a yawning rectangular hole Lineir felt a slight spatial disturbance. His Divine Sense was suddenly restricted to the room he was in. It absolutely could not penetrate the walls at all.
"The walls here are made entirely of Darksteel. It's purity and rank is low obviously for such a large structure, but combined with the glyphs, only an extremely strong cultivator can use their Divine Sense in here." Xiao Gui saw Lineir squinting and immediately knew why. A second later a hooded black robed young woman came in and served them a cup of fine tea,
"Hello young sirs, what are you looking for today?" She motioned for them to drink expectantly.
"I'm looking for the spatial coordinates on the Netherworld Refinement Sect as well as the level of their strongest ancestor. They are a 2nd Ranked Sect which specializes in the dark arts." Lineir said and the hooded young woman pointed them to a booth on the side.
"2nd Ranked Sect? Please enter here and someone will be with you shortly." She ushered them in and the two sat in darkness for a few moments. Inside the booth, velvety folds of some fine material which utterly cut off sound to the outside world obscured their vision. Lineir felt odd sitting in complete darkness next to the enigmatic Xiao Gui who seemed to not care whatsover.
"Hello esteemed customers. I have your information. As it is pertaining to a 2nd Ranked Sect we charge 50 Brightsoul Coins for this service. Are you still interested?" An old geezer's voice sounded from behind the dark curtain and a small depository opened in the curtain. Xiao Gui removed the payment from her spatial ring and placed it on a small silver tray which slid out and then they were plunged back into the dark. Suddenly the dark curtain began to swirl and revolve as points of lights appeared. It was a dark nebula! In this nebula, their point of view zoomed in extremely quickly and they were left looking at a certain blue planet which then zoomed in once again and they were left looking at a extremely sect which covered many thousands of kilometers on the surface.
"Very well, this is the information you requested. The Netherworld Refinement Sect is located on the Daarkhur Planet in the Medius Region. I have included a free spatial coordinate jade which will allow you to easily find them. Their public known combat strength is listed as a thousand outer sect disciples below the Divine Realm, 250 Divine Realm Inner Court Disciples, and 50 Celestial Realm Direct Disciples. They have 30 Elders many of which are at the Advanced Celestial Realm, and the top ten are reputed to have entered the Initial Celestial King Realm. Their highest ranking ancestor, Dai Pu Lu was last publicly seen 30 years ago and was reputed to be at on the cusp of breaking through to the late Celestial King Realm at the time. Whether or not he made it through is not known but our sources indicate that approximately 10 years ago there was a great event of celebration in the sect and a massive build up in soul collecting activities. It's highly likely that if Dai Pu Lu did not die in his secluded cultivation, he has since broken through. That is all we have, I hope you are satisfied esteemed customer. Is there anything else you would like to know?" The old man waited as Xiao Gui looked at Lineir and they shook their heads. From somewhere across the screen which had faded to blackness, the voice bid them adieu and they headed out. There was no trace that anyone had been outside the booth at all when they came out, and after a minute a maid escorted them out. When they left they were sent out of a different entrance to make it more difficult to track them.
"Alright, I have the teleportation coordinate. It's not too far, but traveling by hand would be a bit tedious. Their planet actually has a teleportation square which links with here so let's use that." Xiao Gui led them back to the teleportation formation and they paid a small fee of five Brightstone Coins which allowed them to piggyback on the powerful spatial disruption.
Vroooooom!
Riiiip!
Lineir greatly anticipated the landing which was very smooth using a spatial formation. When they arrived he squinted his eyes taking it all in. The city they had landed in was much more normal. There was a normal blue sky and a sun and it made much more sense than Brightsoul City which had been a total shock.
"Mmm is that the crest of the Netherworld Refinement Sect?" Xiao Gui pointed to a layer of hanging flags draped over a nearby building and Lineir nodded,
"Yup a red and black beetle like creature, that's it." He mentally prepared himself for what was to come. There were a lot of unknown variables in this mission, especially considering he didn't know his partner well. If she turned out not to be useful he would be up against many strong cultivators and even potentially a Late Celestial King Realm ancestor. However with the Midnight Armor and his power increases, this would be a great opportunity to test his combat power and stabilize his cultivation.
"Mmm this is the only teleportation square on the planet. Hehehe if that's the case.."