---
Tyler White felt so cold, and his room was fully frozen. He felt very hungry, so he poured out the ice crystal and put it back in the vial.
He realized he had visitors in the yard. It was the Town Lord who had come to check on him.
She became envious of his luck when she heard that he had gotten a spiritual root. She congratulated him. He bid farewell to the Town Lord and politely declined the dinner invitation. Well, he would have accepted it if she were younger.
Tyler left the town. He recruited some hunters as temporary guards to escort him till he reached Cloud City. On the way, he ate some Nevermelting Ice pieces.
The architecture of Cloud City was often simple and functional, with buildings made of local materials such as stone, mud brick, or timber. Streets were narrow and winding, with uneven surfaces that made walking a challenge. The city's layout was often dictated by the natural features of the landscape, such as hills, rivers, or valleys.
Houses were often built close together, with shared walls and little space between them. Most houses had only one or two rooms and were built around a central courtyard that provided light and ventilation. Wealthier families might have larger houses with multiple courtyards or even two stories.
The reason he reached Cloud City was that this city was under the Soaring Cloud Sect.
The Soaring Cloud Sect is one of the top sects on the continent.
A piece of meat was placed in front of Tyler White.
The fragrance immediately shot into his nostrils, giving him goosebumps. He felt incredibly good, and he was ravenous. The grilled meat had already turned a golden color, and there was a layer of fat around it.
He was now in a fancy restaurant. He took a bite; the taste exploded in his mouth.
"Yummy!"
"Thanks for the treat, Mr. White." The people at the table next to him were the temporary bodyguards he had hired. They were also enjoying a lavish treat. Tyler was paying for it. The last thing he cared about was money.
He called the waiter and gave him a gold coin as a tip. Then he asked the waiter about cultivators.
He had not seen a single cultivator till now. He had heard that some cultivators roamed around Cloud City.
The hired bodyguards left while thanking him.
Tyler stayed in a luxurious inn. He just ate some Nevermelting Ice pieces. He did not know much about the stages of spiritual roots, but he had a feeling that he could still evolve his spiritual roots.
The following day, he went to each bar to find out news about cultivators or related things. He spent a lot of gold to get clues about the cultivation sects and cultivators.
A month passed.
A 'disappointed' Tyler was sitting in his room. He could not find anything about cultivators. He had seen them 24 years ago. He was 16 at that time and was unable to cultivate due to a lack of spiritual roots. Now he could cultivate, but there was no sign of cultivators at all.
According to the information he had gathered, cultivators had stopped visiting the mortal kingdoms 15 years ago.
He let out a sigh, took a Nevermelting Ice piece, but did not chew on it. His body could not handle the cold anymore. He might die if he took another one.
He went down to the restaurant to have tea. It was a very costly one. The waiter placed the tea with a hearty "good morning." Tyler had become a regular customer here.
He took sips of the tea while reading the newspaper.
"Why are you trying to find cultivators?" He heard a voice.
Tyler looked around, and there was no one.
"Hey! I am here. Shhh." He heard the voice again.
Tyler looked down. There was a photo of a guy moving like a video. He waved his hand at Tyler and said, "Hello."
"Woah!" He almost shouted.
"Keep your voice down, kid." The young man in the paper said.
"Kid? I am 40 years old." Tyler's mouth twitched.
"Oh, trust me. I might look like 20, but my age is higher than yours." The guy in the paper smirked.
"What... are you?"
"That's not the important stuff here. The important thing is that someone is asking around about the cultivation world."
"Yes, it's me!"
"About that, we used to accept disciples from the mortal world every year. But not anymore. 24 years ago we stopped doing that. We only recruit every five years, and we keep that silent. Your luck is too bad, because the last selection took place last year." The man in the paper shook his head with pity.
"You can wait for four years. Though no one is going to take you in."
"Because of my age?"
"Yes, because of your age."
"Why?"
"Age is a crucial factor when selecting disciples. Younger individuals are often preferred, as they are considered to have more potential for growth and development. There are many Foundation Establishment Realm geniuses at your age."
"Where is this 'cultivation world' you speak of?" Tyler asked.
"It's here."
"What?"
"The continent you are in is inside the cultivation world. It's just—ok, never mind. If you can get here by yourself, then you are qualified to know these things."
"Get myself there? How?"
"If you can wait for four years, then wait and try your luck. If not, try to find a special formation. That looks like this." Then his image turned into a flower pattern as his voice resonated, "Find the formation. It's near Cloud City. There is a chance you might enter the sect."
Then the image stopped moving, leaving just the flower pattern. He kept the newspaper and began to search for the formation.
---
'Near Cloud City' and the flower patterns were the only clues that could lead him to the cultivators. He had to find the flower pattern that was hidden near the city. He did not know why this mysterious guy had helped him, but it was worth a try.
He opened the map of Cloud City and the province map and looked at the special places near the city.
Volcano, lake, forest.
"I'll choose the volcano first."
The reason he chose the volcano was because of the Nevermelting Ice. He was unable to eat any more of it. He felt that if he took another piece, he might freeze to death.
On the way to the volcano, he met some bandits. This time he did not bring any bodyguards. The bandits stopped approaching him when he threw a TNT at them. They fled when they saw 10+ TNT flying towards them. He had bought one for safety and copied those.
Soon he arrived at the volcano.
There was a small path that led to the inner area. Half a day later, he reached the hottest place his body could handle. Thankfully, it was an inactive volcano.
He ate a piece of Nevermelting Ice.
An energy entered his body as his internal organs began to freeze. He quickly walked even further inside. The heat of the volcano helped him as it collided with the cold energy.
He felt warm.
He walked further inside.
He continued to explore the magma chamber from the inside. According to some books, this volcano had not erupted for 4000 years and showed no signs of coming to life anytime soon, so it was safe to enter, probably.
He saw many molten rocks and magma chambers where mushy lava was residing.
He ate more pieces of Nevermelting Ice.
Soon he found a chamber that had a flower pattern identical to the pattern he was searching for.
"Am I that lucky? Haha... if this is a novel, unlucky people would say it's plot armor." Tyler laughed. It was like hitting two birds with one stone. He had found the formation on his first try, and he also got a better environment to consume the Nevermelting Ice. He entered the chamber as he placed another ice piece in his mouth. He searched for some time to find the formation. He decided to leave as he took another copy of Nevermelting Ice from the copper pot and placed it in his mouth.
Whoosh.
An energy erupted from his body. The place around him turned into ice.
"Success!" He shouted. He ate another Nevermelting Ice. He only felt like he was eating normal candy. He did not feel any effect. He had used all the copies of Nevermelting Ice to their maximum potential.
He had totally forgotten that he had created ice inside a magma chamber. The ice turned into steam faster than it could escape, creating a massive steam explosion.
Boom.
Tyler White was thrown away to the ceiling. He could feel death approaching him. He looked at the ceiling and found a familiar pattern.
"The formation?"
Instead of getting smashed meatily on the ceiling, he went through the formation.
---
A hall built of white jade. There was a formation in the center. A lazy guard, half asleep, was guarding the room. Suddenly the formation lit up. The lazy guard immediately woke up from his stupor.
A man flew out on his back from the formation. He fell on the floor.
"Oh, another one found the teleportation formation from the mortal kingdom?" The guard's eyes shone as he said to himself.
He looked at the man warmly.
The man was none other than Tyler. The impact of the fall was not that hard. He quickly rose up. He looked around and saw a white hall and different silver patterns throughout the room.
"This is definitely plot armor," he said to himself.
A middle-aged man was looking at him warmly as he cupped his hands and said, "Welcome to the world of cultivation."