Reaper of the Martial World

Book 9: Chapter 144: Mess (1)

The 30^th ranked quadrant, the Kitsune-Shruti lands, was in quite a chaotic state. However, the core territory of the Shruti hadn’t changed much. Though a solemn atmosphere hung in the air, making it obvious that the Shruti Empire citizens knew of their poor situation, life still continued.

Dyon casually walked through the cobble road streets, a black mask adorning his face. Luckily, the Lightning Willow Mask could change its appearance. Last time Dyon had used this feature, his cultivation was still sealed. In fact… That was the day he met Mia and Bella.

Thinking back to the memory, Dyon sighed. If things continued like this, his thoughts of Mia and Bella would influence his future cultivation.

He knew well that there was little he could have done to save them. Even if he went all out, how could he stop the Heaven’s will to rebirth the Dark Phoenix Clan?

The issue Dyon had with himself wasn’t whether or not he could have saved them, the real root of the disgust growing in his heart was that he didn’t do everything he could.

If he still failed in the end, so be it. But the fact he didn’t even try wasn’t something he could forgive.

Dyon refused to make the same mistake again. This was why he’d go all out to help Saru and her Shruti Clan. Wiping out the Kitsune Clan was just a cherry on top.

The capital city of the Shruti Empire was called Indra City. In Dyon’s mortal world, Indra was a Hindu protector god, but in Shruti lore, Indra was a five-headed white elephant.

As far as Dyon was aware, Saru was born with Indra’s Faith Seed, while the Shruti were humans with this beast bloodline running through their veins. Dyon could still remember when Saru tapped into this bloodline during his fight with her, it was quite a majestic sight.

Usually, white beasts were incredibly rare. Of them, Dyon could only think of an extinct dragon race and the celestial beasts. But, he didn’t think Indra was a celestial beast. At the very least, the Indra bloodline within Saru’s veins from Dyon’s senses didn’t come off as celestial.

In all likelihood, Indra was another exception along with that extinct dragon race. Though Dyon didn’t understand why the Heavens made white beasts so rare, he knew enough to know that Indra’s case was indeed a rarity.

This aside, Indra City didn’t impress. It didn’t have the cozy, feeling Enigmatic Sect territory had, nor the grandeur of Star Clan territory. Like any normal capital city, it was quite large, but though it was neat in some places, there was poverty and decay in others.

Dyon still didn’t dare to casually blanket the planet with his divine sense, but he could change the form of his divine sense into feeler lines, making them more difficult to detect while still allowing him to comprehend the goings on of the city. Since he wasn’t going all out with this change of form like he had in the Ancient Battlefield, he wasn’t worried about others sensing him.

He had no choice but to conclude his Soul Planet was far better.

Still, he didn’t quite understand why a 30^th ranked quadrant could have a capital city like this. In truth, it wasn’t terrible. It was still within the realms of acceptability, but it was just so… disappointing.

Dyon expected this sort of thing from capital city ranked in the 70s or 80s… but the 30s? Just what was Emperor Shruti doing exactly?

In the cultivation world, how could there be poverty on this level. The vast majority who had the right to live in the capital city should be at least Essence Gatherers, while those who weren’t should be children still cultivating to reach that point.

Why would an essence gatherer be sitting in a sewage infested wasteland of shacks, barely holding it all together? The simple answer was that they weren’t essence gatherers, in most cases, they had no cultivation at all.

‘Are they refugees from the Shrutis outer territories, maybe?’

Thinking of this possibility, Dyon nodded. That had to be it.

Dyon decided to give the Shruti the benefit of the doubt. The fact they were even allowing refugees into the city in the first place was a good a thing, if that was in fact what was happening. But… The age of the shacks and the attrition of the poverty-stricken areas told a different story. It hadn’t been long enough for it to reach that state.

Unfortunately, using divine sense feelers and being so careful, it was difficult for Dyon to gain a bigger view of the situation.

Soon, Dyon reached the outer palace walls. Much like a castle, Shruti Palace was split into outer, inner and core regions. Nobles of a certain standing were allowed territory in the inner region, those of even higher standing were allow in the inner regions, while the royal family took their positions in the core region.

In order to enter, one had to have a certain level of status. And though Dyon was certain he only needed to give his name to reach the core region, the less people who knew he was here, the better.

Before his cultivation breakthrough, it would have been impossible to sneak into this place. But now… It wasn’t much of an issue for him.

Without another thought, he stepped forward past the guards of the outer gate as though they weren’t even there. historical