Gold Eagle Town, was a town under the jurisdiction of the Order. It was located several hundred kilometers away from the grounds that held the headquarters and its facilities. The town was governed by the administration department, with silver guards patrolling its alleys, maintaining Order.
Other than the name, the silver guards, and the general administration, the buildings, or the people that had swarmed the region filling it with life had no relation to the Order. It was a town that was created out of convenience. There was only so much convenience and help the Order could provide within its walls when it came to accommodation, transport, and other services.
With the number of cultivators who swarmed through its doors, it could not cater to all their needs.
For example, a rank 5 clan whose prized member was involved in a case, which prompts a few of their members to make the trip with him or her. Once they arrive, it's unknown how long the case would take to be resolved, where will they stay as they wait. The inns and pavilions within the grounds of the Order were not infinite, and in as much as the Order encouraged the owners of said inns and pavilions to institute fair pricing, sometimes, fair was relative.
Not all rank 5 organizations were the same, they may not be able to afford the cost, and although the Order tried to address this issue by creating the green landscape that cost two low-grade spirit stones, its lack of privacy made it inappropriate for most, especially the low ranked organizations to whom it was primarily made for, who were always nervous due to its open nature where anyone could see them. It was an unnerving feeling for them as it made them feel like prey exposing itself to countless predators and the Order couldn't very well inscribe isolation arrays all over the place as it was a costly endeavor.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtAccommodations weren't the only issue, there was transport, while the Order did help somewhat through the use of its flying ferries, the continent was vast in size, and those who came were from all over, they could hardly transport them all, and those that they could was but a drop in the ocean. Cultivators would have to arrange their means both to and from the headquarters.
With numerous constraints and limited capabilities, the Gold Eagle Town was born out of that need. The Order provided 120,000 acres to mercantile and escort organizations that would like to either build a branch or a main headquarters there. The cost of building would be catered by those organizations, while the Order would provide the security and administration.
All organizations regardless of rank were subject to its rules within that acreage. The rules themselves were not that constraining as it was based on fair pricing and the prevention of both overt and covert struggles between those organizations. Whatever feuds they may have with one another they would have to forget it all the moment they stepped in that land. The acreage embodied the Order's will which was fairness to all in its absolute sense.
Though sentiment for the Order was mixed around the continent, when those organizations heard about the acreage of space they were leasing out, along with the promise of protection, countless organizations both the established and the new ones swarmed into the area, and the empty land was transformed into one of the most prosperous mercantile hubs in a few short months packed with any type of business that one could think of.
Inns, pavilions, escort agencies, banks, auction houses, alchemy, and weapon shops, all manner of shops sprouted within with major organizations like the White Rose Pavilion, Thousands Star Treasure Hall, Golden Bamboo Pavilion, Maple Leaf Manor, Gold Earth Bank, Black Talisman Tower and countless other rank 1 and rank 2 organizations opened branches or subsidiaries of their organizations there, while other organizations the ones that were more in rank 3 and lower established their main headquarters there. There was no place better for them to develop. The Order's presence ensured they would not be oppressed by the powerful organizations, not with the Order watching.
Because of those factors, the town was constantly brimming with activity at all times, drawing cultivators from all over, even ones who had no appointments with the Order would flock to the town. It was one of the safest and most convenient places to be in if one was looking for something.
When he was a few kilometers from the town, Yang Qing transformed himself. His green hair turned earth-brown along with his eyes, he changed his face to seem more ordinary, that one would miss it along a crowd, and his whole aura transformed into a simplistic one. He had the aura of a content simple farmer whose simple pleasures in life were tilling the land, enjoying his wife's cooking during breaks, exchanging laughs with neighbors over simple rice wine, and whatever little adventures his life as a farmer would give him, and that was enough. His robes had transformed too, into a light grey coat that complemented the air that surrounded him.
His transformation wasn't the result of some cultivation but was one of the benefits afforded to him by his yin-yang jade nature bones physique. His physique coupled with the purple-
grade art, the universal light of the myriad worlds worked seamlessly together to create the perfect transformation technique, which transformed not only his physical features but also his nature.
Right now he was exuding the presence of someone in tune with the earth element that he would be easily mistaken to have an earth-based physique. His physique and cultivation made him intimately familiar with most elements as it was the foundation with which they both operated under, the foundational building blocks of creation which was why the manifestation of his palace realm was the way it was.
His entire essence had been transformed in the process, and it was more natural because of his physique and art which made it almost impossible for anyone in the palace realm to see through it, as his qi, his soul, his blood, and his entire body exuded the flavor of the earth element.
Yang Qing didn't bother to disguise his cultivation base, and though he was reserved and stable with his aura, his cultivation base as a second-stage palace realm cultivator was there for anyone to see. Hiding his cultivation base would likely bring more trouble than avoiding it. In a world where strength was king, it was foolish to hide your cultivation base all in the name of blending in.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmIf he hid his cultivation base, some arrogant foundation establishment cultivator would likely come to bully him so that they could feel better themself and were more than likely to make a showing of it, drawing more attention to himself. Even reducing it to the core formation realm seemed silly to him because if he was forced to act and revealed the abilities of a palace realm cultivator, wouldn't people wonder why he was hiding it in the first place, drawing more attention?
It was easier to let his true cultivation base show to deter such troubles at the root. A palace realm cultivator appearing wasn't odd, but a palace realm cultivator pretending to be a qi refinement cultivator, now that was extremely odd.
Nodding in satisfaction at his transformation, Yang Qing made his way to the branch of the Gold Earth Bank that was in the town. Thanks to his green jade token, and the amount currently held with them, he was given great treatment as one of its moderately rich clients. He was even given a talisman that would grant him special access and notifications to upcoming auctions the bank held that weren't available to most, along with the promise of receiving special discounts across several businesses that they had a close association with.
Seeing the service and perks offered, Yang Qing couldn't help but regret why he had not acquired their services. Most of Yang Qing's earnings were spent within the confines of the Order so he never thought of putting them anywhere other than his storage ring and the vaults in his abode.
He had entertained the thought of having his earnings and treasures stored elsewhere like the Dragon Meadow, but unless one of their members approached you it was next to impossible to locate them, and later he thought of starting up with the White Rose Pavilion, which also operated banks amongst their long list of businesses, but after the auction embarrassment, Yang Qing swore to never give them his business.
After that, he never gave it much thought, but now, after experiencing the treatment provided by the Gold Earth Bank, he had to rethink it. While he didn't have millions in high-grade spirit stones, he did have monarch-grade treasures and artifacts, collections of blue-grade scrolls, talismans, and cultivation arts that were just as valuable.
"Maybe I could try the Thousand Star Treasure Hall.." thought Yang Qing, as he thanked the attendant of the Gold Earth Bank for giving him information on the escort agencies that were moderately priced but offered decent prices.
The attendant gave him an extensive list, and it came as no surprise that a few within the list would give him a decent discount because of his membership with the bank. Yang Qing looked over the list before he finally settled on one. It was relatively new when compared with the rest, which was one of the reasons Yang Qing chose it. Trying to break out and establish its foot in the industry, it was sure to go above and beyond for every new customer it got, compared to the long-
established ones.
While it was a work trip, Yang Qing never forgot it was his vacation, he was going to combine both and ensure he enjoyed the trip as much as possible, much better than during his evaluations where he had been on a deadline. All that trip did was saddle him with endless troubles, but now it would be different, there was no Ellie to disturb him and no Lei Weiyuan haunting him to finish his evaluations, it was just him and the comfortable skies, and he was going to make the most of it, and finding a good escort agency was the start of it.