"Could there be a connection between the "him" and the Vastocean clan?" Dylan was obviously referring to his other self Dylan Vastocean.
He wondered, "But why would he be in Mystic Yellow State? If he is part of that clan, shouldn't he not be taken care of? There was no semblance of anything regarding the Vastocean clan in his memories though..."
"Anyways, every single one of them was basically a nuclear weapon in human form," Dylan said, closing the leather-bound chronicle with a heavy sigh and leaning back in his seat. "With monsters like this in their history, it makes complete sense why neighboring empires back off the moment these clans stop fighting each other and turn outward."
"The unfortunate thing is all of them are too strong and arrogant. I guess egoism comes with overwhelming power. They all believe themselves to be True Kings..." Dylan shook his head as he recounted one of the passages in a book he read.
"A True King will rise amidst the chaos filled by false rulers - He who emerges atop the clouds and sits at the highest peak of this Kingdom shall unite every color." He repeated.
Due to the prophecy, the True King Clans never welcomed the emergence of any of the newer True Kings as each believed that their King is the True King of the Prophecy. This is why these True King Clan are often at odds with each other.
"This feels like the warring states period of China or Japan..." Dylan sighed softly, shaking his head at the familiar patterns of human conflict across worlds."
True King Clans were practically religion for each state. Small scale skirmishes within the borders of each state often happen for the simple reasons that they are not from the same states. Wars among them have happened over the course centuries causing a great number of cultivators and civilians to die yearly.
"Additionally, with all seven prominent True King Clans controlling each state as their respective de-facto rulers, this puts the Imperial Clan in the Imperial Capital in an awkward and weak position," Dylan murmured, leaning closer to the historical commentary to double-check the political hierarchy.
The Imperial Clan, also known as Iridiana Imperial Clan, had existed before the True Kings. They truly were the strongest clan within Rainbow Cloud. But even the strongest clan could not do anything in front of the rapidly emerging True King Clans.
They had power to overpower one but they could not overpower all. For example, they had completely overpower Dracule Vlad, the first True King and even managed to make him flee. But then, Dracule Vlad went into hiding and started creating his own clan in the dark.
Once Maximus Fervor came into power and established his power, the Imperial Clan wanted to overpower him again but Dracule Vlad came into the picture and rose into power, creating a deadlock between the three powers.
Once the two Kings came into power, the Imperial Clan was smart to consolidate their power and reinforce the capital to a pseudo-eight state in the middle of the country. Otherwise with the emergence of the succeeding True Kings, they would have long been replaced or eradicated by the True King Clan.
"Although they are still the strongest faction with the most political power, it seems like they are only the rulers of Rainbow Cloud Kingdom in name now as they are only ruling the Imperial Capital at this point..." Dylan deduced.
"It seems like they are truly divided and the internal strife between the True King Clans and the Imperial Clan has been going on for thousands of years..." he muttered, resting his chin in his hand as he turned to the section on foreign relations.
"But, interestingly..." Dylan paused, his eyes widening as he picked up a military historical log detailing external conflicts.
Neighboring nations like Vulcania, Magma Titan Empire and Thalassia, the Naval Powerhouse have tried invading Rainbow Cloud in the past. They have observed their extreme internal strife that lasted for ages and deemed that this country was dysfunctional and divided.
Another reason for their invasion is the fact that this country has a supernatural history of consistently producing Immortal Saint powerhouses.
It is also theorized that these countries were also searching for the underlying reason of how the Rainbow Cloud Kingdom could consistently produce Immortal Saint power houses every millennium.
They believe that overtime the kingdom would eventually produce enough experts to conquer the entire continent.
The only saving grace from this was because the True Kings were not united and hated one another, causing any possibility of cooperation to be thrown off the window.
However, that was only the case internally. When any form of invasion happens, a truce between all True King Clan happens. Once that happens, an unprecedented defense force of Immortal Saint level powerhouses occurs and easily thwarts any attempts from neighboring countries!
"So this country is not weak because it's a backwater country or due to weak military strength... It's weak because it's divided..." Dylan concluded, closing the book with a heavy thud and leaning back in his chair to contemplate everything. "Economics and internal relations are isolated with one another. They have created their own autonomous regions. They can't pursue diplomatic relations because they are at odds with the neighboring countries..."
It was a terrifying design for a nation: a sleeping beast made of seven venomous heads that spent every waking moment trying to devour one another, yet snapped shut like a steel trap the instant an outside hand reached in.
"I have to eventually deal with these problems in the future." Dylan sighed as he thought about what he has to deal in the future. "It seems I have to really plan things out. If there's anything all of this told me, my ambition is not gonna be easy to achieve at all. I need to be careful when it comes to power struggles with cultivators."
"I think that's enough for the country. Now, time to go through the specificities within the Soaring Cloud City..." Dylan once again stood up and started going through books and records about Soaring Cloud City in the "Local Geography" Section.
After some time, Dylan eventually gathered all the notes that he needed for Soaring Cloud City.
"Due to the inevitably large size of the Soaring Cloud City, it's been subdivided into five districts. These are the North District where I am currently in, the South District, the West District, the East District and the Central District where the City Lord's Mansion is located. Each District has their own armies as well responsible for the wall they are supposed to defend." Dylan enumerated as he looked at the map of the city. He took note of the clear lines that distinguishes these districts.
"Each of these districts has hundreds of sects that have their own businesses but each district has one distinguishing sect that I need to take note of." Dylan looked at the profiles of the sects that were listed in the various concurrent records.
He then matched a note for each guild atop each section of the map he was using earlier, "In the North, it is the Thousand Treasures Pavilion. In the East and West, it is the Hundred Beast Guild and the Spear Dojo who leads those district respectively. The familiar Bob's Builders is the one that controls the south."
Then, his eyes landed on the middle of the city as he remembered City Lord Alistair, "And of course the one above them is the Soaring Cloud Army and the City Lord Mansion which are both under Alistair Cloudsoar's command."
"I think those are the important details that I need to take note of pertaining to the power dynamics within the city." Dylan felt that he had at least gone through the most important information that he needed to be aware of.
"I still have time so I can still go through other relevant information like the trends and culture of the city so I can eventually penetrate the market after growing within Cirrus Cloud Town." Since he had already everything he needed about the Cirrus Cloud Town from Dylan Vastocean's memories, he decided to continue his study on the state of affairs within Soaring Cloud City.
...
Dylan eventually finished his research and gathered all the data and information that he deemed necessary to know for personal reasons and for his business.
By the time he finished it was already evening, he bid farewell to the librarian and exited the city. As usual, he used his astonishing speed to immediately clear the distance from the northern city gates to the forest.
As soon as he entered the forest, he suddenly felt a strange sensation which made him slow down a bit, 'This is... killing intent?'
It was his sixth sense telling him that something was wrong. This was the same sixth sense that was honed over years of fighting gangsters, mafia, and the martial masters and had saved him countless times back in Earth.
At that moment, a figure suddenly appeared in front of him out of nowhere and slashed Dylan to which he was able to quickly respond and back off.
Another figure appeared on his back wanting to stab him but Dylan was able to quickly switch from simply leaning back to a back flip and evaded the attack by the skin of his teeth.
The blade whistled through the night air, leaving a sharp smell of ozone in its wake. On Earth, a knife fight was brutal and fast, but here, every stroke was backed by a unnatural density that made the surrounding foliage wither under the force of their aura.
'Cultivators?!' Dylan had noticed the evident glow of Innate Energy coming from their weapons. He got to see a glimpse of their attire. Unfortunately, they were wearing black masks and robes so he could not identify any of them, 'Assassins?! Is this Alistair's doing?'
As soon as he landed on his feet, two more people showed up beside him. An axe and a saber had already been swung into motion above Dylan, attempting to decapitate him.
Dylan immediately aimed for their stomachs with a double side punch. He felt like he had hit metal since it was reinforced with Innate Energy. But the sheer force that came from Dylan was enough to make the two attackers push back a couple of steps, causing their attacks to miss.
Dylan had also already retreated a few steps back and maintain a safe distance from the four attackers.
"Argh! That fucking hurt!" One of the masked assassins complained while holding his stomach.
"I thought you said he was cultivation-less and a cripple, how come he was that strong?!" The saber-holding assassin angrily complained.
"How the fuck should I know? I'm as shocked as you. That fucking muscle-head must have eaten a strength enhancing panacea or pill!" The axe-wielding assassin was also at a lost, feeling the brunt of Dylan's crazy physical strength.
"That voice... Is that Paul?" Dylan was able to recognize that voice from the axe-wielding assassin. His eyes sharpened as he finally understood what was currently happening.