Chapter 144 – The Capital
Aiko entered the capital without any issue. The main roads were built out of marble, while sidewalks were from normal stone slabs.
It was completely different from the previous city, as in this city everything looked expensive. The walls of every building were well maintained and the deeper into the capital you went, the more glorious the surroundings were.
Aiko stared around curiously, while they did get glances from passers-by, it was just that, a glance. They didn't try to engage with them nor stare at them openly.
The people of the capital knew Cultivators well, those bastards would punish them for the simplest mistakes and they called the punishment 'an honour that they are being educated'.
It was all one big joke to the mortals, but they didn't have the strength to push back against the Immortals. They couldn't use most artefacts, they didn't have a strengthened body or longer lifespan. They just had to wait for their impending death by either time, Immortals or Beasts.
The people tried to live in harmony, but the more one advanced their Cultivation, the better things they expected. Soon the Cultivators were punishing the greatest cooks or singers for not performing better or ageing on them.
Like this, a rift was created. The people could no longer sate the Immortals with their crafts, so Immortals had to pick up those crafts.
Singing, Calligraphy, Tea Ceremony and so on, were taken up by the Immortals.
This caused the landscape to change. Mortals were no longer allowed in the heart of the cities. They could only live on the edges, while Immortals occupied the most prestigious locations.
Mortals hated Immortals, but Immortals didn't care. Mortals had no real strength over them, outside of monarchs.
The Monarchs were mortals, but they were smart, very smart. Coupled with the Karma of the Empire, they could stand next to Immortals. They were able to negotiate with Immortals, since Immortals needed new blood for their Sects and for possessing new bodies so they could increase their lifespan.
The simple deal allowed Humans to mostly live in peace. The Immortals would take care of any Beast Stampedes. Some even took care of starvation, but those were few and far between. Cultivators mostly cared about monsters, since they could sell their bodies which were full of precious materials or tame them to sell them as Tamed Beasts.
Aiko walked around. She smelled Humans all around her and very few Cultivators.
She was now accustomed to smelling the Qi in Human bodies. As long as they didn't try to suppress it or conceal it in any way, Aiko would be able to sniff them out.
Aiko walked around the stalls, curiously looking at them. Some had trinkets, while others had nice ornamental Jades, but this kind of Jade was useless as it either didn't hold any Qi or could not be Inscribed/engraved.
Aiko soon got bored of those tasteless trinkets. She had plenty of time, so she didn't hurry and looked everywhere.
Most Human stalls were useless, but it did give her some inspiration if she wanted to create them themselves.
'I could also decorate the Massage Chair.' Aiko thought.
The current Massage Chair was pretty bare bones and not very appealing. Sure, it did its job really, really well, but that was useless since higher stage Cultivators cared about aesthetics way too much.
Aiko clicked her tongue. If she wanted to run a business in the future, she would have to decorate everything, in order to make everything appealing and come up with new ways to attract higher-stage Cultivators.
'Let's just hire someone that will do that for me...' Aiko blankly looked at the horizon. If you can't make something yourself, just throw money at it and it will solve itself in due time.
Aiko walked towards the heart of the Capital, called the Heavenly Divine Lake.
...
The scenery slightly altered. There was no longer marble under their feet, but a very basic Jade. The walls were no longer somewhat white, but white.
The point where the scenery changed was quite striking, since if you looked behind you could see the old marble and white-ish walls.
They didn't try to blend it in. It felt like they were declaring 'This is a different world, stay away!'.
Aiko shook her head. She looked towards the stalls on the 'new' streets.
These stalls were still operated by Mortals, but some of them were Cultivators. Those Cultivators were really weak and if Aiko didn't focus she wouldn't guess they were Cultivators.
She walked towards the nearby stall. People eyed her more openly now, but nobody dared to say anything, mostly because of her attendants, who had sharp eyes. Those eyes scared people as they felt they would die if they engaged with the Young Miss.
Aiko sighed. These trinkets were much better, but still far cry from something she would be willing to use.
She walked towards another stall, this one had masks. Aiko curiously picked a few and traced its grooves. They were uneven and poorly made, but the design itself was really nice.
"What do you think?" Aiko placed a Fox mask in front of her face.
"It looks good for concealment." The Blood Fox nodded.
"I think this would better suit you, Mistress." The Umbra Fox pointed at the Demon Mask.
Aiko looked at the mask and immediately snapped her face at the Umbra Fox. The Umbra Fox naturally and with fluid movements avoided Aiko's piercing and questioning gaze.
Seeing that she wouldn't be able to question this ruffian, she gave up and placed the mask down with a pout.
She pouted for a good half an hour before she found something more interesting than causing trouble for the Umbra Fox.
"The Inscription Palace?" Aiko tilted her head.
She was curious about this place, so she entered it.
The place was filled with Cultivators. They were bustling and haggling with the employees of this place.
Aiko curiously went around observing things. She didn't find anything nice that she would like, but that didn't stop her from enjoying the craftsmanship.
Some had captivating designs, while others felt completely foreign.
Aiko's curiosity was drawn here and there, so she walked leisurely around the Inscription Palace.
At this point, more people observed her. How she moved and behaved. How she inspected and expressed. They were curious and gloating about this little Young Miss who was ignorant about the world.
One gloating employee smirked and walked towards the group of females. "Welcome, what can I do for you?"
Aiko noticed his mocking expression and ignored him.
"I can guide you and teach you about our humble shop." He ignored the fact that he was ignored. "This one is an Inscription Pen made out of rare Ice Metal, while this one is an Inscription Carving Pen made out of rare Ghost Wood."
Aiko listened half-heartedly, but lost interest soon after. She was not interested in dumb people who thought it was a good idea to have an Inscription Pen, that was supposed to be used in paper and fabric, made out of metal and the Ice element!
That thing was completely useless since the Inscription Pen radiated Ice Qi, that kind of Qi would easily freeze paper and fabric, damaging it at best and ripping/destroying the product at worst!
And the Inscription Carving Pen made out of Ghost Wood was even more useless! Not only would it not carve any grooves into the metal, but it would even degrade the metal and rob it out of its Qi! Those two were completely useless Inscription Tools, yet this bastard thought they were some kind of treasure?!
The people gloated at them for ignoring the employee. They were here to watch a good show.
"Young Miss, it would be wise to listen to him, he knows his craft." One spectator chuckled with glee.
Aiko glanced at him. He had pretty much peasant clothes, his weapons were worn down and he was an old shrivelled fossil.
Aiko smirked at him like she was staring at some kind of homeless person.
"Here, maybe you will be able to finally wash yourself when you leave this building." Aiko smiled and rolled a Black Gold Coin to his feet.
The spectators around that person were holding in laughter.
Aiko ignored all of them afterwards, but that employee was still stuck to her.
"Could you leave us alone, we can't have a productive conversation with your lacking brain." Aiko dismissed him coldly.
The people rolled their eyes, but they also were happy inside. That employee would gloat at them when they didn't have enough money. It was nice to see someone put him down like that.
Aiko walked around some more with that annoying bug on her tail.
She observed everything and glanced around if she missed anything, but she spotted something interesting.
High up on the wall in the back of the shop was an extremely mesmerising Inscription Carving Pen. It was well-designed and Aiko had the desire to try it out, but it was too far away and high up.
The employee snorted. "That is not something a nobody should touch."
Aiko nodded. "That's right and that's why you should return to sorting this rubbish and leave us alone." Aiko pointed at the surrounding products.
"G-garbage?!" The employee was startled by this little Young Miss and glared at her. "These products-"
Aiko nailed his balls with a straight punch.
The spectators shivered and covered themselves just in case she would go on a rampage, but that didn't happen.
Aiko took out an expensive handkerchief and wiped her hand with it like she was wiping something disgusting. She then threw that handkerchief away like it was not hers, to begin with.
Aiko turned towards the stairs, she was curious about what was upstairs, but not curious enough to actually walk there. She didn't like stairs today...
"Customer, I will have to ask you to leave." Another employee came forward, staring at Aiko. Aiko stared back, unblinking.
"You can just clean up the rubbish, and don't say it's our fault when you did nothing to stop this shit from polluting the air inside this shop." Aiko snorted coldly at the self-righteous employee.
"There are high-quality products." The Employee spoke slowly. "And we employees are highly trained to satisfy our customers."
"So what?" Aiko tilted her head. "Just because you say garbage is a treasure, I have to believe it? Just because you say you are highly trained should I ignore the fact you are harassing others?" Aiko shook her head, the more she interacted with Humans, the stupider they were. Foxes might be complete degenerates, but at least she can hold some resemblance of conversation...
"There are high-quality products forged by great Forging Cultivators." Another employee tried to defuse the situation, but Aiko would have none of it.
"Oh yeah? Then tell me what's so good about this rubbish." Aiko pointed at a nearby Inscription Pen.
The Employee sighed, shaking his head. He would have to educate this little Young Miss and send her home before she causes more trouble. "This is well crafted-"
"Rubbish, now tell me what is this supposed to do?" Aiko cut him short.
"It cleanly creates grooves and removes imperfections in the metal." The Employee said, he was trying hard not to blow up.
"Aha." Aiko chuckled. "Have you heard that, customers? A WOODEN Inscription Pen that can affect metal! What a treasure! You can use it ONE time before it's unusable!" Aiko snorted coldly.
"Customer-" The Employee tried to warn Aiko.
"And this thing." Aiko pointed at the Inscription Carving Pen that was held by a beauty.
"While the craftsmanship is passable, the metal used will cause your hands to shrivel and turn old!" Aiko shook her head.
That beauty was observing the commotion partially and observed the Young Miss closely, she was quite likeable and spoke some truth, but when she heard that the Inscription Carving Pen in her hands would shrivel them. She was stunned and gently yet swiftly placed it back on the small pedestal.
"And this, Ghost Wood, not only would it not engrave the metal, but it would also degrade it and rob it of its Qi!" Aiko barraged those bastards until the manager came...
