In every major city belonging to one of the bigger powers, there were diplomatic branches (consulates) from the other powers. These consulates were all like the ones from earth where people belonging to the inner circle of those others power would stay.
It's also where cultivators went to seek asylum if something went wrong and where currently, they were training.
On the same day as Hao Xuan arrived, two newcomers went to some of the more popular consulates and challenged their warriors. One of them was a Four-armed giant that cultivated the spear arts and challenged about 10 different consulates one after another. He won 8 out of 10 matches and accepted the offer from the warrior that defeated him, joining the Academy of Ascia.
The second person was a swordsman. He didn't arbitrarily challenge random powers and knocked directly on the doors of the most powerful organization in the entire continent, the Hall of Bellator itself!
With nothing but a sword in hand, he challenged their most promising pupils under the Profound Realm and defeated every single one of them in single combat. It a straight-up match of their skills and the mastery of their respective weapons and in front of his sword, no one could stand more than 10 seconds.
Even though these cultivators weren't the creme of the crop inside the Hall of Bellator, but could still easily hold their own when it came to. Yet this lonely swordsman proved himself to be the best among them with blood.
As expected, the news shook the upper echelons of all the major powers as soon as they found out. Each power respectively started its own investigation and found out a few clues.
The swordsman had made only one stop at a dumpling shop. There he rested and asked for directions to the Consulate belonging to the Hall. When asked why he gave one very simple reason.
"I want to test my sword. The Hall of Bellator seems like a good place to start."
The Hall of Bellator was where the absolute strongest warriors gathered. Be it weapon cultivators like Sword and Axe experts or those that seek the other Daos like that of killing and ruthlessness and the like, the Hall had been their home for eons and would continue to be for a long time coming.
To challenge the Hall just to test one's skills, well, it wasn't the first time someone had done that. Now and then someone would come along and do it but more often than not, fail.
Other than that, no one knew where he came from or what his actual goal was. But when the last fight finished, the swordsman quietly left the consulate with one sentence.
"I will be staying here for 1 month. I accept all challengers as long as they are below the Spirit Realm."
And then he proceeded to rent a room at a hotel one street away from the Hall's consulate.
Even though he never said anything arrogant, his actions spoke volumes.
"Come at me, I'm right here!" was the message everyone got. He didn't try to hide or run away, simply waiting...
****
By the time Hao Xuan and Ryfon came out of the gate, the sun was about to rise.
Sitting in the carriage as it flew over the city, Ryfon yawned and looked at Hao Xuan from the corner of his eyes. He wanted to say something but held back every time.
Hao Xuan who was sitting by the window with a lit cigarette in his hand took a puff and answered Ryfon's unasked query.
"I'm not sleepy. Just get me to the consulate and you can go do your thing."
Ryfon acted like a cat that had its tail stepped on and almost jumped out of his seat.
"No no, how could I be sleepy? Haha, I was just wondering if you were because I'm not. Not sleepy at all..."
He finished the comment with another yawn.
Hao Xuan stopped paying attention to the clown and closed his eyes.
The cigarettes did their job well. Whatever was inside them was working wonders. Every time Hao Xuan took a puff it would feel like someone was pouring cold water on his burning soul. It was an extremely pleasant feeling and he later realized that it even helped him regulate Qi a bit more smoothly.
Not to mention the slight buzz it created. Perhaps that was because of the addition of the drugs the royals used to get high. But whatever it was, it created a euphoric, relaxed feeling for a couple of minutes, making him feel like he was sitting by the side of a cold stream on a warm summer day.
He remembered Ysolt's warning just before he left...
"You have to extremely careful. This only helps alleviate the symptoms and if you get too lost in your emotions, you could accidentally pass through the veil without even realizing it. It's better if you simply try to ignore any strange things you see. The cigarettes will stop the hallucinations but it won't stop you from seeing things from the other side of the veil. That's a completely different beast I'm afraid."
"As long as you ignore them, it shouldn't be a problem. But the more attention you pay to them, the more they will flock over to you."
But that was much easier said than done. To Hao Xuan, everything was new and strange. How would he know if a weird looking creature was from the other side of the veil or just a beast or something he didn't know about? Was he supposed to just keep his eyes down forever?
"Hey," Hao Xuan suddenly looked over at Ryfon, startling him.
"W-What? I told you I'm not sleepy, why do yo-"
"How do people see the veil by accident?" just as Ryfon had started his own weird explanation, Hao Xuan interjected and asked his question before it was too late.
'Maybe I can stop it myself if I know how it happens...'
"The veil? Oh, Cornelia told me about that," Ryfon suddenly remembered. He gazed towards Hao Xuan with a relaxed smile, "In your case, it is happening because you can't control your soul. If your Physical center was okay that would still help but alas."
"Think of your body as a container for your soul. When the soul goes haywire, the body can still control it somehow. But now your body is like a cracked container. It's letting your soul out and expose it to things it should never normally be in contact with."
"To fix it, all you have to do is keep breaking through the Spirit realm to make the soul more stable, or breakthrough to the next Physique realm, but that's much harder and takes a lot of preparation. Relax, Guo Yang is one of the most talented individuals of this generation. He will help you breakthrough and teach you a few new things well," he ended the explanation with a pat on Hao Xuan's shoulder.
When the sun had just come over the horizon, the carriage finally came to a stop. Hao Xuan looked outside and saw a stone stairway not too far. It went up but whatever was up there was covered with dense fog.
Hao Xuan stepped out and took a look around. There was not a single structure in sight.
"Are we still in the city?"
Ryfon jumped down after him and fixed his clothes.
"Yup. But this is a different space. Each of the consulates from the 3 bigger powers exist in their own space pockets. It's not easy to get to them if you don't exactly where to go. Come, this way," he gestured towards Hao Xuan and started walking alongside the stairway instead of on it. With just a few steps he vanished into the fog.
****
Authors Notes:
Stairs: https://urlzs.com/jMF7m