Reversing the Milky Way

According to the map in Bai Cheng's hand, if the map is marked correctly, the straight-line distance to Baifeng City is at least 300 li away. Moreover, if the map is marked correctly, there is a swamp between Baifeng City and Wuling Town, so the only way to get to Baifeng City is to detour to the southwest.

Bai Cheng put away the map and glanced at the sky. Although it was sunset, the main street of Wuling Town was still bustling with people.

Bai Cheng planned to find an inn to stay in first, since he wouldn't be short of a day or two. The main problem was that what happened today was too humiliating. Without strength or background, he could be said to be frustrated everywhere here. Although he had achieved second place in the Wuling Town competition, it seemed that the cultivators here did not take him seriously.

So Bai Cheng found an inn that was closest to the south gate of Wuling Town and stayed there. Fu Wenhao, who had been following behind him, also entered the inn with his two attendants.

After booking a room, Bai Cheng began to meditate and cultivate. After nearly three months of cultivation in the cave, he had developed the habit of falling asleep in meditation at night. This way, he could cultivate the spiritual energy technique while ensuring that his spirit got enough rest.

Bai Cheng had discovered this problem long ago. When he first came to this world, he thought that everyone needed to sleep to replenish their energy. However, after he practiced the Qi Condensation Technique, he found that the so-called sleepiness was just a rest command issued by the brain when a person was tired, which was a very normal phenomenon.

However, after Bai Cheng began cultivating spiritual energy, he discovered that when his body circulated through the microcosmic orbit while absorbing spiritual energy, he could eliminate physical fatigue. Moreover, the circulation of spiritual energy within his body could keep his body active, but his brain would fall into an imaginary sleep state.

In Bai Cheng's view, this can actually be understood as light sleep, which also explains why in novels, cultivators would go into seclusion for months or even years.

"Knock, knock, knock," Bai Cheng was brought back to his senses from his cultivation state as the knocking sounded at the door.

"who is it?"

"Guest, it is now the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), time for lunch. I've come to ask if you would like to have a meal?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng rubbed his stomach. As the aroma of food wafted into the house from downstairs, he also felt a bit hungry.

Previously, when he was cultivating in the cave, he only needed to eat a small amount of spiritual fruit to meet his needs for continuous cultivation. However, after leaving the cave, he found that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in ordinary places was not enough to sustain his body's needs. It was possible that his speed in circulating the Small Heavenly Circuit was not yet proficient enough to sustain his body's basic needs entirely with the spiritual energy he cultivated. Another possibility was that the spiritual energy in ordinary places was not dense enough. Moreover, the fragments in his body were constantly absorbing the spiritual energy within him, which made it even more difficult for Bai Cheng to cultivate the Qi Condensation Technique.

"Then just bring me two dishes."

As Bai Cheng finished speaking, the sound of footsteps leaving could be heard outside the door.

After a while, two waiters brought two dishes and a soup and placed them on the table in Bai Cheng's room.

"Please enjoy your meal, sir."

After saying this, the two waiters left the room. Just then, Bai Cheng suddenly called out to one of them.

"Wait, shopkeeper, I'd like to ask you about some things in White Maple City."

Upon hearing this, the waiter also put on a troubled expression.

"Sir, to be honest, I haven't been to White Maple City many times, but there's one very important thing: never provoke the cultivators in White Maple City."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng immediately nodded.

"This kind of thing is probably the same not only in Baifeng City, but also in Wuling Town."

The waiter sighed upon hearing this.

"Sigh, young man, some things are better left unsaid; keep them to yourself."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng closed his eyes and pondered for a while.

"However, young man, I am not from Baifeng City, so I only know roughly that Baifeng City is 680 li long from north to south and 920 li long from east to west. There are three major families and six major sects in it. The three major families are Xue, Lin and Bai, and the six major sects are Fengqing Sect, Badao Sect, Xuanwu Hall, Chiyan Hall, Lülin Sect and Jianying Sect. Moreover, there is a force in Baifeng City that is unparalleled in the world, and that is Tianxing Pavilion."

Hearing this, Bai Cheng seemed to be deep in thought. If he guessed correctly, the Xue family in Wuling Town was just a branch of the Xue family in Baifeng City. He already knew more or less about the Bai family. On the other hand, among the six major sects in Baifeng City, he had only never heard of the Green Forest Sect and the Sword Shadow Sect. He had seen the other four sects at the Wuling Town Grand Competition.

However, what concerned him most was the Heavenly Star Pavilion, a force he had never heard of before.

"Then what kind of power is the White House Academy?"

"The White House Academy? That's not a power. Unlike traditional sects, the White House Academy is just a place for cultivators to further their studies. It doesn't belong to any power. If you have to categorize it, it leans more towards the royal family. After all, every year people from the Heavenly Fire Academy go to various academies to recruit promising talents for further study. You should know that the Heavenly Fire Academy basically never recruits cultivators from the outside world. If you want to enter the Heavenly Fire Academy, then the various academies are the best stepping stones for cultivators."

Bai Cheng looked completely bewildered upon hearing this.

'No open recruitment? Then the first-place prize in the Wuling Town competition must have come from someone of considerable influence. If we had insisted on taking first place back then, it might have brought even greater trouble.'

Bai Cheng trembled slightly at the thought.

"Thank you for clearing up my confusion."

Xiao Er waved his hand after hearing this. "Sigh, what's with all this talk about answering questions? Most people in the entire Fire Cloud Kingdom already know about these things, so it's not exactly valuable information."

Bai Cheng frowned slightly upon hearing this.

"Valuable? Does that mean information here costs money too?"

Hearing this, the waiter also looked nervous. After looking around, he came to Bai Cheng's side and whispered, "Of course, some special information is worth a lot of money. Don't think that this information is of no use to us. For certain people, it is worth a fortune. For example, finding out someone's whereabouts, or certain pill formulas that they don't want to disclose, or maps or information about certain hidden places."

Bai Cheng trembled upon hearing this.

"Such a thing exists? Is there such a place in Wuling Town?"

Upon hearing this, the waiter's face showed a somewhat speechless expression. Bai Cheng, witnessing this, immediately understood. He took out three strings of copper coins from his backpack, waved them twice in front of the waiter, and then handed them to him.

Upon seeing the money, the waiter's expression changed drastically. He then whispered in Bai Cheng's ear, "At the end of the street in the southwest corner of Wuling Town's wall, there is a hidden stone gate. This stone gate is normal during the day, but every midnight, it is opened by a special person. Passing through the stone gate leads to a huge manor, and no one knows who owns it. There are many rumors circulating. Some say it's Mayor Xue, others say it's the Supervisory Bureau, and still others say it's a force planted here by a certain sect. There are all sorts of rumors, but no one knows who is behind it. If you want to go in and find out information, you must completely cover your face and not let anyone see your appearance."

After saying that, the waiter looked Bai Cheng up and down.

"But young man, even if you cover your face, I reckon some people will still recognize you."

Bai Cheng was also taken aback when he heard this.

"Why?"

"Of course it's your clothes. They don't look like what people here wear at all. You're probably the only one in the entire Wuling Town who wears this style of clothing."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng remembered that he was still wearing the casual clothes he had worn when he transmigrated. He had originally planned to buy a new set of clothes as soon as he arrived in Wuling Town, but he had been so caught up in today's events that he had forgotten about it. It was only after the waiter reminded him that he remembered the matter.

After thanking the waiter, Bai Cheng began to eat with relish after the waiter left.

After dinner, Bai Cheng planned to visit the place the waiter had gone to earlier. Before leaving the inn, he entrusted his luggage to the inn's caretaker and took ten silver coins with him. These ten silver coins were equivalent to a month's income for a late-stage Body Refinement Realm martial artist.

He first went to a tailor shop and bought himself three sets of clothes, but when he saw the clothes he bought, he couldn't help but feel a little confused.

These three sets of clothes felt better to the touch and were of higher quality than the clothes he had worn before. However, Bai Cheng still felt that they were not quite satisfactory, because his clothes would inevitably be damaged whenever a battle broke out.

Although these three sets of clothes cost him more than four hundred copper coins, so far, including his two hundred copper coins for a night's lodging at the inn, he has not spent more than one silver coin.

Thinking back to how the Rejuvenation Pill used to cost a silver coin each, I didn't realize it at the time, but now, after strolling around Wuling Town, I realize how extravagant I was back then.

After staring at the three sets of clothes for a while, he asked the tailor shop owner a question.

"Shopkeeper, do you have any clothes of better quality here?"

Upon hearing Bai Cheng's question, the tailor shop owner pondered for a moment before replying, "How good do you mean by 'good quality,' sir? As far as I know, while our clothes aren't expensive, the materials and styles are above average. If you're looking for truly high-quality clothing, a single garment would cost at least four or five hundred coins. However, judging from your steady and solid gait, your movements are fluid and efficient, suggesting you're a martial artist. For martial artists, the quality of clothing worn by ordinary people like us might indeed be insufficient, which is why you've come here..." Most people buying clothes are martial artists, but if you really want custom-made clothes and styles for martial artists, it's not impossible. However, you'll have to provide the raw materials yourself. After all, materials capable of withstanding such high-intensity impacts can probably only be found on spirit beasts of the second or even third rank or higher. Of course, you can also buy ready-made clothes, but ordinary tailor shops don't carry them. If you want to find them, you'll probably have to look in the Treasure Pavilion. Judging by quality, these clothes should already be at the level of low-grade treasure artifacts, but the price...

At this point, the boss looked at Bai Cheng with a meaningful expression.

'The quality is actually at the level of a low-grade magic weapon? You know, a low-grade magic weapon costs at least fifty silver coins, and clothing of this quality is probably...'

Thinking of this, Bai Cheng took a deep breath and, after leaving the tailor shop, headed towards the southwest corner of Wuling Town.

Not far behind him, Fu Wenhao and his two men were watching Bai Cheng's back.

"Second Young Master, shall we continue following them?"

Fu Wenhao shrugged.

"No need. This kid didn't take his backpack with him, so he'll probably come back. Let's go back to the inn and wait for him."

Upon hearing this, another subordinate reminded him, "Young master, it's already very late. If you don't return to the manor soon, the master will probably lose his temper."

Upon hearing this, Fu Wenhao gave a disdainful smile.

"Heh, what's there to be afraid of? He's been throwing tantrums for a long time now. We'll go back after we finish our business. What's the rush? If I don't kill him today, I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep tonight."

The two of them were taken aback upon hearing this.

"Young master, do you know what realm that kid is at?"

After hearing this, Fu Wenhao thought about it carefully.

"It seems to be the mid-stage of the Body Refinement Realm, but I heard from others that he can defeat cultivators in the late stage of the Body Refinement Realm, so you two need to be ruthless."

After saying this, the two attendants followed Fu Wenhao back to the inn.

As for Bai Cheng, although the inn he was staying at was directly south of Wuling Town, the entire Wuling Town was more than 80 li from east to west, and that place was at least 30 li away from where Bai Cheng was.

Although Wuling Town is a town, its size far exceeded Bai Cheng's imagination. Fortunately, the main streets of Wuling Town were full of horse-drawn carriages carrying people, and Bai Cheng had ridden in such carriages before.

Although running thirty miles wouldn't be difficult for him at his current level, Bai Cheng still took a carriage to his destination.

During his conversation with the coachman on the road, he learned that their profession, which involved running through the streets and alleys of the town, was called "cart driving." Most of the large animals used for these carts were Thousand-Seeking Spirit Horses, which were first-grade spirit beasts. If properly fed, these spirit horses could travel at least a hundred miles a day. Of course, some coachmen who were richer might use second-grade spirit beasts as their cart drivers.

On his way, Bai Cheng couldn't help but recall the phoenixes and red luan birds that had drawn the sedan chair when Xuan Taiming came to fetch the bride...