Mira’s group was currently flying through the air on Elenei’s back. Celaine and Maria had just gotten the Core Formation recipes from The Guardian, though they didn’t know it was from him as information just appeared in their mind about what items they needed to gather and what procedures they needed to take when they are ready to break through.

They only thought that this had something to do with Mira’s inheritance and technically they weren’t wrong.

Mira, however, received a message from the Guardian right after he sent those two their respective recipes.

“I provided the two of them recipes that should increase their potential and strength quite a bit when they breakthrough, but I want you to keep in mind that they will be nowhere near as strong as you, and that gap will only widen as you progress. Well, you’ll start to see a real difference when you ascend as the difference in strength between Mortal Realms can only get so large. For example, let’s say you and Maria are in the same cultivation Realm near the Peak of this Mortal World. You might be strong enough to destroy a large Mountain while Maria will only be strong enough to destroy a medium-sized mountain. In the end, you both are capable enough to destroy mountains, it’s just your attacks will be a bit more destructive. So, your little friends will still be able to help you in times of need in this Mortal World, but unless they find ways to keep up after you ascend, then they will only fall farther and farther behind.”

“Oh! One more thing. I know that since you and your friends grew up in the middle of nowhere, your knowledge of herbs, ores, beasts, and pretty much everything else is very limited. So, I took it upon myself to take the resources that you or friends might need for when you break through and put them in the Spatial Rings of who actually needs them. But I assure you, I didn’t touch anything else!”

“And just so you know, I didn’t put a time limit on your friend’s recipe. They can take all the time they need. Well, it wasn’t me who gave you your Core Formation Recipe and was instead the F.LD.I.L. That’s all. See ya~”

Mira always felt slightly irked listening to that man, but she didn’t say anything back and only slightly nodded.

She didn’t care too much that her companions had fewer limitations compared to her since she understood her position.

Instead, Mira felt somewhat glad that they didn’t have to go through the same crap she had to go through. She’s already gotten used to the mindset of going against the world, but Maria and Celaine are only little baby chicks in her eyes and wouldn’t be able to handle the stress that accompanies her goals and hardships.

She looked at the two girls, no, women in front of her and a sudden realization hit her that the three of them will be parting soon. She wasn’t quite sure how to feel about this as she’s gotten used to their presence over the years. Mira was never the over-emotional type, but there was one thought that rang in her mind.

‘It’ll definitely be a lot quieter without them around.’

She wasn’t sure if she was looking forward to it or not, but for some reason, the rest of the journey held a melancholic undertone whenever the three of them talked to each other.

***

Only a few hundred miles away from Mira’s group’s current location was a large City called Quake City.

This City is several times bigger than Lunar Fox City and the Sects that surround it combined, but there are a few odd things about this city.

For how large it is, the number of people that actually live there is very few. There are a few reasons for this, but one of the main reasons is that it’s a Mercenary City. Mercenaries come here to take jobs, exchange information, buy unique resources, or even indulge in their primal desires.

To put it mildly, Quake City is a place where people from all walks of life gather together to trade in various goods and services.

To put it bluntly, it’s a lawless wasteland where people can do whatever they want, when they want, without having to face any sort of consequences. Well, that is if they have the strength to back it up. There is no law enforcement, no families or Clans to keep any kind of order, and all sorts of atrocities happen in broad daylight yet nobody blinks an eye.

Weaklings have no right to stay in this place nor do those with righteous ideals. If you aren’t willing to kill then your only fate is to either be enslaved or killed.

However, there is one place that nobody tries to mess with and it’s said that anybody who does never meets a good end. Whether they die, are enslaved, or are used for some other purpose, nobody knows, but what they do know is that those who mess with this place are never seen again.

That place is the Mercenary Association!

Part of the reason nobody messes with this place is that everyone in Quake City knows that this is the only place they can make some money or trade for various items. Why would they want to destroy their only source of income? They may be stupid, but nobody is that stupid!

However, the main reason nobody messes with this place is because of how mysterious the Mercenary Association is. They randomly appeared in this place a few thousand years ago and ever since then they’ve basically taken control of the city. Of course, they haven’t taken control like how the leader of a Clan or Family might take control of the City they reside in. The Mercenary Association doesn’t care about the people in Quake City, they only care about profit and results.

In fact, that’s all they need to care about as the people of Quake City will sort themselves out without any outside intervention. Rules in this place would only hinder the growth of the city and the Mercenary Assosiation.

As long as the Mercenary Association profits, they couldn’t care less about what atrocities the people in the city perform.

What’s scary about this place is nobody knows the true strength of not only the employees of the Mercenary Association but the Head as well. Hell, they don’t even know if there is a Head of the Association as they’ve never seen or heard of anyone like that. The public can only speculate who it might be, but they’ve all come to the same conclusion. Whoever is at the top… is strong.

Aside from these few points, Quake City is actually very unique compared to its surroundings and even the rest of the Western Continent. It might not be so unique if it was on the Southern Continent or maybe the Center Continent, but here it is.

Quake City actually experiences earthquakes quite often. They appear anywhere from multiple times a day to once every few days, but hardly a week goes by when Quake City doesn’t experience an Earthquake.

Unsurprisingly, that’s where Quake City gets its name.

But what truly makes Quake City unique is everything around it. Quake City, from a distance, looks almost like a wasteland. Cracks in the ground, no grass or trees, hot and sunny all day for months on end, and tons of beasts that have a hard exoskeleton or shell.

However, Quake City is actually incredibly rich in resources and the Qi density of this place is much higher than the surrounding area.

All around Quake City are deep chasms and ravines in the ground that go down for tens or even sometimes hundreds of kilometers. Some people have also found a few chasms that are thousands of kilometers deep, but those are so dangerous that almost nobody takes their chances.

These chasms actually release tons of Qi which makes the surrounding area on the surface have a higher density of Qi than the surrounding area. This also means that the farther down you go in the chasms, the higher density of Qi and the more resources one might find.

This is the main reason why not many people actually live in the City as they are busy making caves in these chasms to cultivate in. Or they are out exploring trying to make some money.

On this particular day, the people of Quake City were experiencing their normal daily lives of debauchery and had no idea that a massive Phoenix just landed a few dozen kilometers away as a girl who looked no older than 8 years old got off the back and slowly made her way towards the city.