Ascension: Online

"So, to begin, Evergreen Peak is split into four quarters," Long Yaqing said as we walked on the concrete ground, through the town-esque municipality. "The quarter we're in right now is usually referred to the DN Quarter by the disciples, and it stands for 'Daily Necessities Quarter'. Groceries, tools, clothing — basically anything you can find in a department store are sold here. You can buy them with gold, just like if you were in a real city or town."

"I see… what are the other quarters?" I asked.

"Well, if you come up the front gates of the sect and arrive at the Temple of Flowers — that's what it's called, by the way — the four quarters will be to your left, front-left, front-right, and right respectively. It really isn't that hard to figure out."

"Ah, okay…"

So, it seems the three girls and I were each exploring a quarter right now. How nicely divided.

"To be honest, there really isn't much to show in this quarter, but… I will point out a few good shops that have low prices. Follow me."

I did as told, following closely behind as he turned left into an extremely long alleyway that seemed to lead to the edge of a cliff. Of course, that was only natural, since this floating rock was essentially a mid-air island. It had borders — this cliff was just one part of it that marked the boundaries of the peak.

Still, it felt weird looking down a road, lined with buildings of all kinds on either side, lead to nothing but a fall to your death. The view would probably be good though. This peak wasn't high enough to see the top of Astrasil, but it's not like that massive tree was the only impressive scenery around here.

"This is the groceries aisle. Food and drinks, you can find them all in here," Long Yaqing explained. "Most of the stuff here cost more than what you would expect at a normal grocery store, but there is one store at the very end of the aisle that not many people go to. It has prices far lower than the rest of the market. But… other than the fact that it's far more convenient to just buy at a shop closer to the main road, there's also one more reason why not many people choose to go there."

"Oh?" I tilted my head. This was interesting information.

"It's the owner. He's a bit… weird. He has this quiet and gloomy air to him that seems to strangely effect people around him too, making their mood drop depending on how close they are to him. That's also why he set up his store at the very end of the road — purposely so that not a lot of people would go there. At least, that's what I've heard."

"Then why open up a store at all…?" I couldn't help but wonder aloud.

"To make a living," Long Yaqing sighed. "That old man doesn't want too many customers, be he still wants some — enough to keep him alive."

"Huh…" I was still confused.

"You don't understand — everyone working here in the sect have some sort of close relationship with it. Not just anyone is allowed to set up a store here. And from what I've heard about that man… he used to be one of the Ten Elders. I don't know why he isn't anymore, but it seems he doesn't want to just leave the sect either."

"I… see," I murmured, slowly gaining interest in this mysterious old man.

"GRAHH!" a loud, angry roar suddenly came from ahead of us, and I stopped.

"Uh… what was that?"

Long Yaqing, who didn't seem surprised at all, shrugged. "Oh, that was him. The old man. I forgot to mention, but he screams like that whenever someone tries talking to him."

What the hell…?

"Er… do you know his name?"

"No, I don't, but why do you even want to know?" he snorted haughtily, shaking his head. "I just told you, he starts screaming like a feral dog whenever someone tries interacting with him. You heard it yourself."

"Hm…"

"Anyway, we're almost there, so shut up. Don't say a word unless you want him to start roaring again."

I zipped my mouth shut obediently as we got closer to the end of the road, where the old man's store was. On the way, another disciple passed by us from the other direction, a depressed look on his face. He was probably the one who triggered the old dude's yelling just now.

This stall we were heading for was separated from all the other ones on this road, built a good few meters away, possibly to prevent the old man's mysterious 'depression' aura from spreading to others.

As soon as we passed the final attached stall on our left-hand side, I noticed Long Yaqing's expression darken, a slightly sad look taking over his face.

Was it that bad…?

As for me, I kept a completely neutral expression, since I was unaffected by sadness. After all, I had already lost that emotion from consuming a Blight.

We strode right up to the front of his stall, and I noticed tears in my companion's eyes.

What the…

He quickly wiped them as I turned to the old man sitting behind the counter. He wore dirty, ragged dark green clothes, and had disheveled grey hair that covered one of his eyes. He sat on his stool, both feet on it, as he buried his face into his kneecaps, as if afraid to be seen.

Long Yaqing, fighting back the urge to break down in tears, sniffed a few times before pointing at the prices.

"As you can see, newbie… sniff… these costs are much lower than the other stores. The only thing is… agh… sniff…"

He wiped his eyes with his uniform's sleeve and quickly retreated a short distance away.

"Damn… the sadness aura is too strong," he spat, then turned to me. "Hey, newbie! Do you want to end up with depression or som- huh?"

Afte realizing how perfectly neutral I was, Long Yaqing couldn't help but gasp from a short distance away.

I stared at the old man behind the rack filled with extremely fresh,tasty-looking fruits and vegetables. To my surprise, he appeared to be meeting my eyes with his own. Neither of us spoke, but the two of us seemed to both be trying to guess at each other's true nature. I was curious about this weird power of his, and he was confused as to why I was completely unaffected by it.

After a while, however, I retreated at last, the old man's gaze following me as I left.

"Let's go, Senior Brother Long," I said to Long Yaqing. "I can't buy anything right now since I gave all my money to you, but… thanks for showing me this place. This will definitely come in handy once I get some funds again. Now… what are some other good shops?"

However, instead of responding, he merely continued to stare at me, slack-jawed.

Damn… I was so busy trying to search for any sign of clues about that man that I forgot to act like I was affected by his aura as well… now this guy knows there was something abnormal about me.

"You… do you not feel sad at all, after getting so close to that old geezer?" he asked, completely disregarding my previous question.

"Uh… I do. It's just… I've never cried since my parents died," I bullshitted. "I don't know why… maybe I just spent my entire life's worth of tears on that day."

"The hell…?" he seemed unconvinced, but he couldn't exactly pry about it any further either. Spinning around and turning his back to me, he continued. "Ah… whatever. It's not like you'll tell me the truth anyway. Just… follow me. There are a few more good places around here."

After that, Long Yaqing continued to show me several shops with high quality products but low prices, but none of them were quite as the same as that mysterious old man's small grocery store.

All in all, I discovered the four best places in the DN Quarter of Evergreen Peak to buy each category of items:

Groceries — the old man's unnamed shop.

Health-related products — Nature's Pharmacy.

Tools and machinery — Kell's Workshop.

Clothing — Azrine Outfitters.

In addition, I also found out that the other three-quarters of Evergreen Peak were for entertainment, sect-wide institutions, and restaurants respectively.

According to Long Yaqing, each peak had its own private facilities reserved only for disciples of that peak. These facilities included libraries, prime cultivation spots, and certain training sites that provided special benefits.

I wonder… as a direct disciple of Elder Ning, which peak would I be assigned to?

For now, however, I was curious about the sect-wide institutions. He didn't go into detail since apparently, he had something to do, so the whole thing about 'spending several hours with me' was a lie. Not that I believed him in the first place.

Well, this was fine, anyway. I was planning on heading for the quarter the sect-wide institutions were in — that was also where Hina-nee was, so I could meet up with her with any luck and explore together with any luck.

As it turns out… I was starting to get excited about my new life at this sect.