Novel Full Chapter 409: Sky Family
Chapter 409: Sky Family
A massive stone monument stood at the center of a circular plaza, so tall that Kyrian had to tilt his head back to read the inscriptions at the top.
The stone was black, so black that it seemed to absorb the surrounding light, creating a small shadow around its base.
But the inscriptions were golden, shining with a light of their own, visible even from a distance.
Kyrian approached. And began to read.
His eyes moved across the inscriptions, every character, every word, every sentence.
A few seconds later...
A strange expression appeared on his face. Not shocked. Not surprised. Something closer to understanding.
"Sky Caravan..."
That was the name of the city. Or rather, the name of that gigantic wandering city.
The inscription continued.
According to the text, engraved in ancient calligraphy with characters Kyrian recognized from historical scrolls, the city continuously traveled through the Five Great Regions of the world.
Without a fixed destination. Without a territory of its own. Constantly moving. For tens of thousands of years.
Kyrian fell silent.
Tens of thousands of years.
That meant the city had existed long before the rise of countless empires and powers, before the Blood Court, before the Cloud Empire, before so many others he knew.
Before countless wars. Before countless sects.
It had simply continued traveling. Watching the world change. While remaining the same.
But it was the next piece of information that truly caught his attention.
"The Sky Caravan is governed by the Sky Family."
Kyrian frowned.
"Sky Family?"
He had never heard that name before. Not even in the stories that circulated among cultivators.
Nothing.
He continued reading.
And then his eyes froze.
"1° Level Power."
The world seemed to fall silent for an instant.
First level. The first.
Kyrian reread the inscription. Then reread it again. And once more.
"First level."
There was no mistake.
His heart sped up slightly, an involuntary reaction, pure adrenaline.
Because for the first time...
He truly understood where he was.
The Verdant Sword Sect, where he had begun his journey, was a 5° level power.
The Blood Court, where he had learned more as a cultivator, was a 4° level power.
The Cloud Empire, where he had participated in the grand auction, was a 3° level power.
Each step represented an enormous difference.
A difference so absurd that lower powers could never, ever challenge higher ones.
’A direct confrontation would not be a battle.’
’It would be an execution.’
And now...
Without realizing it, simply by following the path before him, he had entered a city controlled by a first-level power.
A force that stood at the absolute peak of the cultivation world.
At the same level as the greatest sects described in legends. The dynasties that ruled entire regions.
The clans whose names were spoken only with reverence.
Kyrian remained staring at the monument, thoughtful.
Because that also meant something else.
The experts of that family, the Sky Family, were probably far beyond any cultivator he had ever encountered.
Far beyond.
The most powerful being Kyrian had ever seen was the Fire Spirit, that creature of living flame that guarded Ming Hai’s tomb and had implanted the Bone of the Heavens into his body.
In fact, Kyrian remembered years ago when he encountered the enormous ice bird beyond the Mountains of the End. At the time, he had no idea, and even now he had no idea, how powerful that being truly was.
So he considered the Fire Spirit the strongest being he had ever met.
’But not even it...’
’Not even it would be as powerful as the leader of a 1° level force.’
Kyrian did not know.
He could not even imagine.
What did it mean to stand at the top of the cultivation world? What did it mean to be first level? What did it mean to command a city that had wandered the skies for tens of thousands of years?
’I have no way of knowing,’ he thought.
’Not yet.’
’But one day I’ll be strong enough to know...’
His gaze lifted.
Far away.
Above the buildings.
A gigantic tower dominated the horizon. It was impossible to ignore. It seemed to touch the highest clouds, its peak disappearing among brilliant formations visible only as a diffuse glow in the sky.
Built from white jade and golden crystal, materials that reflected sunlight in dazzling fashion, creating a halo of light around the structure.
Its summit vanished among shining formations, runes Kyrian could not decipher, circles that rotated slowly, and lights pulsing at different rhythms.
Like a spear piercing the heavens.
Even from kilometers away, even with the vast city standing between them, the presence of that structure was overwhelming.
Then Kyrian realized.
"That’s where all those people were pointing."
Some looked toward it with reverence, their heads slightly lowered, their eyes cast down.
Others with admiration, eyes wide, mouths open.
Others with nearly religious respect, as though standing before something sacred.
The tower.
The residence of the Sky Family.
The center of power within the city.
The heart of the Sky Caravan.
...
Kyrian continued exploring.
But now he paid even closer attention.
Because he knew he was surrounded by individuals who might belong to the most powerful forces on the continent.
Perhaps in the entire world.
He observed their clothing, embroidery he did not recognize, and symbols he had never seen before.
He observed their postures, some relaxed, others tense, all confident.
He observed their gazes, some curious, others indifferent, and others evaluating.
’Any one of them could be someone important,’ Kyrian thought.
’In their respective regions.’
’In their respective forces.’
’Here... they are merely visitors.’
’Like me.’
In another area of the city, he found a market specializing in artifacts.
And once again he was impressed.
Flying artifacts, ranging from simple wooden boards capable of carrying one person to complete ships with masts and sails.
Defensive artifacts, shields that expanded from bracelets, armor that fit inside rings, and barriers that could be activated with a single thought.
Spatial rings of every size and capacity.
Portable formations, jade discs that could be activated in seconds, creating walls of energy or deadly traps.
Spirit puppets, wooden or metal dolls that moved on their own, some the size of rats, others the size of men.
Everything was for sale.
And these were not ordinary items.
Many possessed a quality superior to anything he had ever seen before, the brilliance of their Qi, the precision of their runes, and the density of their energy.
The prices, naturally...
We’re absurd.
A single defensive formation, a small jade disc that fit in the palm of a hand, cost more than an entire small sect could gather in years of resource collection.
Even Kyrian, who possessed a considerable amount of spirit stones after looting the old man’s ring, felt a slight shock as he looked at some of the price tags.
"Eighty thousand mid-grade spirit stones."
"One hundred and twenty thousand."
"Three hundred thousand."
This was wealth on an entirely different scale.