The Dawn of the New World

Due to the unstable physical and Spirit centers, sometimes Hao Xuan's senses would become extremely sharp and other times he could be worse than a normal human being.

He walked behind Ryfon examining the lush green mountains to his left and right. The crunching of the leaves under his feet, the cold breeze on his face, the thick spiritual energy in the air, the many different trees, herbs, bushes, and plants all decorating the pathways added up to a somewhat surreal experience.

This place truly looked like a paradise.

They were walking in between these giant mountains on a path that strangely snaked through them. There were a lot of small birds flying around, eating, drinking, and pecking as they went along.

Hao Xuan reached out and broke a thin branch off of a young plant that was leaning into the pathway and put it in his mouth instinctively. It had a bitter taste that changed to sour and then sweet at the end.

Without even realizing it Hao Xuan had started humming the same melody he heard the young girl humming just a few minutes ago. Strangely enough, it really suited this place.

There were very few people along the way and the ones that Hao Xuan saw weren't cultivators but ordinary beings, some humans, and some others. There were even a few small trees moving around on their own (imagine Groot). They would stop now and then in front of a plant and inspect it before moving along.

"Who are these people? Why aren't there any cultivators here?" he asked Ryfon who was simply enjoying the weather while taking a casual stroll from the looks of it.

"Hmm?" he turned around and saw the folks Hao Xuan was referring to.

"Oh, those are just caretakers. Alchemists are very busy people and most don't have time to spend caring for every single herb that grows here so they hire ordinary, willing folks to do it for them. In exchange, they pay them a fair a bit and if any of their children decide to take an interest in alchemy, they help them out."

"So all these people live here?"

"Yup. Their only job is to take care of the plants. Food, housing, protection, everything is provided by Sanatio."

Hao Xuan took a look around at the peaceful scenery and let out a sigh.

"Not a bad way to live is it..." he mumbled to himself but Ryfon still heard him and nodded.

"Not at all. It is usually much worse in other places.."

They walked at a relatively brisk pace through one mountain after another for a good thirty minutes before coming to a halt in front of a valley. The main gate was some kind of a humungous tree like the giant sequoia back from earth.

There was an entrance at its base that seemed to have been made naturally.

Hao Xuan frowned upon seeing the entrance because it looked strange. He could see dozens of wooden structures on the other side with many people walking around but couldn't hear anything.

"Is that..."

Hao Xuan made his way around the tree and came back in front of the entrance within seconds, stupified. The village he was seeing in the tree's opening was nowhere to be found.

Ryfon chuckled upon seeing his surprised expression.

"This is a somewhat rare Sky grade earth treasure called a Tractus tree. It has a small inner world inside its body. The person we're here to meet is inside, come," he walked in without waiting for Hao Xuan who only snapped back to reality a few seconds later.

'So it's like the treasure first brother had?'

Hao Xuan followed after Ryfon and stepped into the body of the Tractus tree. All of a sudden the sounds of people chatting, laughing, and walking around came into his ears. He could still see them outside but not hear anything. It was like someone unmuted them all at once.

There were no guards, no beasts in the surroundings and people were just casually walking about like it was completely normal. The sky reflected the same atmosphere from outside, even the sky seemed real.

*Pfeee*

"Over here!" Ryfon whistled loudly and waved towards Hao Xuan, grabbing the attention of everyone around him. Slightly embarrassed, Hao Xuan walked over to him while keeping his head down.

"Inside," Ryfon held open a door and Hao Xuan quickly walked through. It was only after entering did he realize what kind of place this was.

It was a tavern filled with drunk men and women, the smell of booze, smoke, and something akin to tobacco was thick in the air.

"Your friend is here?" he glared at Ryfon.

'What kind of an alchemist would come here? Weren't they supposed to be busy people? Learned scholars and practitioners of medicine, alchemy, and what not?'

Ryfon shrugged and moved past him, going towards the bartender.

"Two of your best ales my love!" he winked with a coy smile towards the attractive girl behind the bar.

Hao Xuan came up next to him and said, "Make that one. I don't drink," coldly and stared at Ryfon menacingly. Ryfon tried to ignore him as much as he could but with him standing just a foot away, it wasn't easy.

He finally gave up when his ale arrived and took a sip before explaining.

"I've known the guy for over 20 years now. He is one of the best in his field but a bit, how should I put it...."

"Eccentric?" Hao Xuan finished his sentence with gritted teeth.

"Yes! Exactly! But he is a trustworthy guy, don't worry!" he quickly explained upon seeing Hao Xuan's wrathful eyes.

"C-Come, let's go see him.." with the giant glass of ale in hand he went towards the started walking down.

Hao Xuan let out a deep breath and followed after while mumbling, "Are any of you b*stards normal? Eccentric this, eccentric that. Freaks are what you people are.."

The stairs went much deeper than Hao Xuan had expected and it took them 30 seconds to going straight down to reach the ground. They 'landed' in front of a wooden door with a thick herbal scent escaping from the other side along with some shouting.

"Boss that's not cool! We had a deal, you said it would be a fair game!"

"It IS a fair game. What're you guys talking about?"

"We ALL saw you cheat. You're not even good at it. Why do you keep trying the same old trick every single time?"

"I have no idea what you guys are talking about..."

"Give it up or we go on strike! Enough is enough, what kind of an alchemist lies and gambles that much?!"

From the sound of it the conversation was going to come to an abrupt end so Ryfon ran towards the door and pushed it open.

"You b*stard! Where is my money! The Biric clan has had enough!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

'The hell got into this dumbass...' Hao Xuan ran after him into the room and saw 5 people standing around a table with cards scattered across the floor.

Ryfon was standing there with his chest puffed out, pointing at a man who had small horns coming out from the top of his head.

The man looked like he had seen the devil himself and started shaking uncontrollably.

"No please, I will get you your money! Please, have mercy in the name of the 'B.I.R.I.C' clan!"

He enunciated the Biric Clan's name letter by letter and when the other 4 people realized that, they looked at Ryfon with wide eyes before quickly running out.

"Yo-You should deal with the Biric Clan lord first, we will come back at a better time!"

No one tried to stop them and simply watched on as the sound of their footsteps echoed in the room for a few seconds before silence fell over.

The horned man let out a breath of relief and sat down on a chair.

"Phew, that was close. You came just in time. Things could have gotten worse if you were a little late," he said while taking out another chair and putting his feet up there, which is when Hao Xuan realized that the man's entire lower body was that of a goat. He was a Satyr!

Ryfon chuckled while taking another empty seat opposite to him.

"What was your plan if I hadn't had come?"

"Pretend to have a heart attack or something, I don't know. Is this him?" he asked while collecting the cards and some gold coins from the table.

"Yeah," Ryfon nodded and turned towards Hao Xuan. "This is Ysolt. One of the best alchemists in Sanatio."

Hao Xuan looked at "Ysolt" once again. He had a light stubble around his chin, pointy ears, and a horned forehead. He looked to be around 20 years of age but then again, looks were deceiving.

"This person is one of the best Alchemists? Are you serious?" Hao Xuan almost laughed out loud.