Chapter Sixty-Seven: Cloudstream City

Perhaps it was due to the nature of their spiritual roots, but at night Liu Pan always preferred to sit in the cool shadow of a tree with the firelight at his back, while Liu Kuang liked to be as close to the fire as possible, almost wishing he could merge with the flames themselves.

Summer had passed, and most of autumn as well. Though the weather had grown steadily cooler, neither of them had changed their habits in the slightest. One sat bathed in the fire’s glow, the other wrapped in the tree’s dim shadow. At first, Liu Kuang had asked Liu Pan if he wasn’t cold leaning against the trunk in the night, but after Liu Pan’s denial, he’d tried it himself and concluded that Liu Pan’s sense of temperature was far from ordinary.

Tonight, though Liu Pan had said they would leave the next morning and should get some rest, for some reason neither of them could sleep. Each drifted into thought in their respective realms of light and shadow, lost in whatever was on their minds.

At dawn, as the sky began to brighten, Liu Pan and Liu Kuang each mounted their flying implements and set off toward Cloudstream Sect.

Earlier, after leaving Whitewood Town, since the recruitment for Cloudstream Sect’s new disciples was still some time away, the two had not gone directly to the sect. Instead, they found a stretch of monster-infested forest and entered to train.

This was a good chance to improve their cultivation. After all, the minimum requirement for Liu Pan to join Cloudstream Sect was to become an outer disciple; with his previous second-level martial apprentice strength, it would have been a stretch.

Cloudstream Sect was truly far away. Even with a rough map and a general sense of direction, traveling day and night without pause, it took nearly a month to reach the sect’s territory.

Arriving at last, Liu Pan still felt a bit disgruntled. He thought he’d made the Tianfeng Continent too vast in his own writing—he should have shrunk the map tenfold, which would have made it easier to find places. Of course, this was a complaint he could only keep to himself. Now that he had transmigrated into the novel, there was no way to conjure a computer connected to Earth’s internet to revise the plot and settings.

Truth be told, if he really could get his hands on a computer with an Earth connection, his first move would be to download a signal-detection app and search for the strongest network signal, hoping to trace it back and find a way home.

And if he could return, the first thing he’d do would be to check how things were going on Earth, whether his counterpart there was already gone...

Thinking of his other self on Earth, Liu Pan fell silent. It had been nearly half a year since he’d crossed over into the book, and he truly had no idea what was happening back there. Perhaps his other self really was gone by now.

Still, as a fantasy novelist, Liu Pan was not swayed by pessimism alone. Having read so many fantasy stories, he knew well that “anything is possible” was practically a law of the genre. So even if he grew silent, he would not despair.

Cloudstream Sect recruited disciples not only by sending scouts to smaller sects to select promising candidates, but also by setting up an open recruitment post in Cloudstream City outside the sect’s gates.

In fact, most major sects liked to establish towns right at the foot of their mountains or nearby. On one hand, these settlements supplied the sect’s daily needs; on the other, they allowed the sect to open pill and artifact pavilions, or even merchant guilds, to trade with the outside world and gain more resources for cultivation. As for recruiting disciples, that was often a happy byproduct. With the sect’s reputation drawing talented youths from afar, it would be a loss not to accept those who came knocking at the door of their own accord.

Because life under the sect’s shadow offered so many advantages, these towns attracted great crowds, and thus were always bustling.

The moment the silhouette of Cloudstream City appeared in the distance, Liu Pan’s eyes filled with anticipation.

Cloudstream City, built by Cloudstream Sect, was naturally governed by the sect as well. Guards stood at the gates, patrols moved through the streets. Most of those performing such duties were low-level cultivators; while many were just martial novices, they were cultivators nonetheless.

Having cultivators administer a town was unthinkable elsewhere, but for a city nestled at a major sect’s foot, it was hardly surprising. These towns had already begun to integrate martial cultivation into daily life, and the number of cultivators far surpassed that of ordinary towns—one could almost call it a half-martial city.

Though they had passed through many towns on their journey, Liu Pan was still struck by awe upon entering Cloudstream City. Liu Kuang was no less amazed, for it was his first glimpse of such a place.

It was only after stepping into Cloudstream City that Liu Pan truly and deeply felt the gulf between this world of martial cultivation and Earth’s technological civilization.

Everywhere—the attire of the people, the pavilions and towers, every brick and tile, every blade of grass—seemed to possess its own unique aura.

Cloudstream City was vast, able to accommodate hundreds of thousands without feeling crowded. Though the city’s layout closely resembled Liu Pan’s own descriptions, seeing it for himself was still incredible; it was a world wholly unlike Earth.

Staring in a daze at the city’s splendor, Liu Pan felt nothing but shock and confusion. For a moment, he found himself unable to take a step further, seized by a sense of aimlessness, of not knowing where to go.

In the end, it was Liu Kuang, born and raised in this world, who recovered first. Glancing at Liu Pan, then sweeping his gaze around, he asked, “Where to next?”

Where, indeed?

Hearing Liu Kuang’s question, the confusion in Liu Pan’s eyes slowly faded. After a moment’s thought, he replied, “Let’s find a place to stay first. I’m not familiar with this city. We should gather some information, figure out when and how Cloudstream Sect is recruiting, and then make further plans.”

Liu Kuang was momentarily surprised by this answer; it was the first time he’d heard Liu Pan admit to unfamiliarity, to needing to “gather information”—words that belonged to the realm of not knowing.

“Knows everything, yet knows nothing at all?”

For the first time, Liu Kuang realized firsthand that even Liu Pan did not know everything.