Not offended in the slightest by the guard's focus, Bai Lin had the same thought as Wei Wuyin. She joyfully waved her wing, using its end to point at the two guards, "See!" She teasingly laughed.
Wei Wuyin wryly smiled. He hadn't thought he would be recognized by two gate guards, but if it happened, he didn't have any issue with it. While he was joking with Bai Lin, he didn't mind if his identity was known or his whereabouts. While others might consider this reckless, considering his weakness and vulnerability to Ascended, especially Earthly Saints, he had his reasons.
However, his thoughts and Bai Lin's were frivolous.
"You're so handsome! What rank are you?" One of the guards excitedly approached, asking with bright and curious eyes. This confused Wei Wuyin instantly. Rank? He shot a glance to the other guard who was checking a black jade with his spiritual sense. Sometimes, he lifted his eyes to inspect Wei Wuyin and frowned before placing his spiritual sense into his jade again.
He was clearly looking at something, trying to match Wei Wuyin to something. If Wei Wuyin hadn't heard the other guard, he would think he was being compared to some wanted criminals.
"What do you mean by rank?" Wei Wuyin slid off Bai Lin. When he arrived close to the guard, he could feel two's heartbeat accelerating in pace and strengthening in beating force. They were anxious and in awe.
The guard started. A light of bafflement surged in his eyes, "You're not part of the ranking?"
Wei Wuyin asked again, "What ranking?"
"..." The two guards exchanged a look towards each other. The guard that was checking the black jade frowned heavily, shaking his head again. "He's not on the rankings."
Wei Wuyin felt somewhat annoyed. But he patiently asked again, "Can you tell me what ranking you're talking about?"
The guard was disinterested. It was as if Wei Wuyin's looks, while incredibly impressive, lost a large portion of its greatness after learning of his absence from this ranking. Such cognitive change made Wei Wuyin speechless.
The other guard coughed lightly, "Entry cost is one astral stone." The tone of an official and duty-bound guard resounded. Wei Wuyin furrowed his brows. He didn't hesitate to bring out an astral stone and gave it to the guard. He was about to bring Bai Lin into the city, but the guard stopped him with a held-out arm.
"Since the fat bird is entering, so you owe three astral stones," The guard pointed out, and the other chuckled smugly. Bai Lin's eyes glinted fiercely. She wanted to strike, but Wei Wuyin gave her a pat.
Wei Wuyin then briskly nodded, bringing out a two more stones. Afterwards, they entered the city without issue or an in-depth identity check. Within the city, Bai Lin walked beside him, her wide frame and tall height was noticeable consuming up space. A few residents of the city stumbled upon seeing her.
"Hey! Mister!"
When Wei Wuyin only got a little bit in, his eyes inspected the unique architecture of the city, he heard a voice behind him. The houses were built using a type of obsidian. This material had a faint glimmer of earth and metal energies, intermixed perfectly without any rejection.
He didn't think the voice was directed at him. After all, he just got here.
"Mister! Mister!" A chubby young boy with clear eyes and average-looking clothes befitting a low-class member of any society shouted out. He arrived in front of Bai Lin, huffing and puffing as if he had just run a marathon. His brown-hair was slick with sweat and his baby fat jiggled on his face with every exhale.
Wei Wuyin halted his steps and observed this chubby young boy. From his life aura, he was older than Wei Wuyin, roughly eighty years old. However, from his appearance that seemed to be thirteen or fourteen, his cultivation must've reached the Astral Core Realm at that age, rapidly decelerating his aging looks from time.
This wasn't the first time Wei Wuyin had met such a scene. There was once a girl in the Bloodforge Continent that was over thirty but looked like a little girl yet to hit puberty. And that girl wasn't in the Astral Core Realm. The aging of cultivators, even their natural bodily functions, like menopause of women, were affected by their rising cultivation and lifespans.
Still, society evened out eventually, and those at his age were considered a part of the junior generation due to the standard difference. From the Chosen King Competition's age requirement, five hundred years old, it was clear those at that age were still considered juniors.
If the average lifespan of a mortal was translated with the average lifespan of a cultivator at the Astral Core Realm, then five hundred years was around early-twenties at worst.
"Huff! Huff! Mister!" The young boy called out again.
Wei Wuyin faintly smiled. This kid was at the Astral Core Realm already. How could he be exhausted due to a small exertion? It was a cute act, but was he a target to be scammed?
"Where's the emergency?" Wei Wuyin smilingly asked.
The young boy shook his head, wiping the sweat from his brow and catching his breath. "I saw what happened at the gates, are you really not on the Immortal Hero Ranking?"
Immortal Hero Ranking?
Wei Wuyin's eyes grew curious. "I'm not. Is that strange?"
The young boy nodded vigorously, "It is. You're so good-looking. Are you really weak?" He eyed Wei Wuyin up and down.
Wei Wuyin lifted his left eyebrow, "To some, I'm weak. To others, I'm quite strong. What's this Immortal Hero Ranking?"
"..." The boy's eyes grew dispirited, a little dissatisfied by Wei Wuyin's acknowledgement. With an inward sigh in his heart, he put on a smile and said with an enlivened tone: "The Immortal Hero Rankings is established by the Golden Gate Pavilion. They rank all the outstanding male cultivators in terms of looks, talent, cultivation, backing, and more!"
Wei Wuyin finally understood. It was the male equivalent of the Immortal Saintess Ranking. But he was intrigued by this topic, "Is the Golden Gate Pavilion's list officially recognized here? Aren't they based in the Aeternal Sky Starfield?"
The boy laughed proudly, "The Immortal Hero Ranking is throughout all starfields, not just the Aeternal Sky Starfield! Don't think our starfield is lacking, we occupy numerous spots!"
Wei Wuyin realized the reach of the Golden Gate Pavilion was far larger than just a single starfield. He wondered if the Golden Life Pavilion had the same reach, but when he recalled the Golden Auction and how the Ninestar Sainthall claimed victory in it, he realized that was likely the case. His interest in grasping the means of the Golden Life Pavilion was once more invigorated.
"So, what scam are you running? And what is this?" Wei Wuyin directly asked, lifting his hand to touch his right thigh. He pulled away and extracted an invisible worm-like creature that looked remarkably like a leech. Just now, this animal slithered its way from his shoe to his leg and settled there.
The invisible leech turned translucent and flickered visibly until it camouflaged again.
The boy's expression changed. "What's that!" He pointed behind Wei Wuyin with an aghast expression, as if he just saw an extremely frightening monster. With horror in his eyes, he trembled very realistically.
Wei Wuyin lifted his brow. This kid's acting was quite good, but wasn't such tactics a little…
Seeing his act didn't work, the boy's expression became dark. He looked defeated, lowering his shoulders in defeat as if accepting his fate. "You see, that is…"
BOOSH!
With blitzing speed and pulsing air pressure, the boy executed a movement technique and rushed into the nearby crowd. He ran without looking back. His movements were swift and precise, navigating through the crowd and even using a strange art that created projections of himself. These projections split into many different areas.
Wei Wuyin was amused. Even Bai Lin just looked on, smiling as she watched the boy run off without losing his trail. The two exchanged a glance, finding this entire situation outrageous. Wei Wuyin didn't move. He waved his hand slightly.
"Ahhhh!" Tumbling in front of him, the boy appeared and face-planted on the ground. The boy lifted his dirty face to see Wei Wuyin, and he was aghast. "You lied!"
"Lied?" Wei Wuyin chortled. What did he lie about?
"Yes! You said you weren't on the Immortal Hero Rankings, but your cultivation isn't low at all! With your looks, how could you not be on it?!" The boy raged, throwing a tantrum as if he was the victim.
Wei Wuyin shrugged his shoulders indifferently. "Answer me: what scam are you running?" He couldn't figure out what the boy wanted, and after noticing the invisible leech, he realized the boy was definitely about to leave. He didn't like waiting and seeing, and he had other things to do. Furthermore, he felt that everything he encountered was slightly strange. The guards, for example.
They were excited and then deadfaced.
His importance in their eyes faded. No, that wasn't quite right, but he couldn't pinpoint the exact emotion. Furthermore, the boy revealed disappointment after learning he wasn't on the Immortal Hero Ranking. What was this nonsense? Clearly, a scheme was afoot.
The eighty-year old boy snarled. He didn't even try to fight, believing that escaping wasn't likely, but Wei Wuyin certainly wouldn't kill him here in the city limits. So he just pouted and crossed his arms, dirty face and all.
Wei Wuyin slightly furrowed his brows, narrowing his eyes. "Are you going to answer me?"
The boy huffed and puffed, turning away. So what if you caught me, you're not going to do anything! His attitude was quite clear. There were even a few spectators who watched this from start to finish, commenting and glancing at Wei Wuyin before either minding their own business or enjoying the show.
Bai Lin lifted her wing.
WOOSH!
Pah!
Wei Wuyin stood before the boy, his arm stopping Bai Lin's lethal wing-slap. She was about to turn this boy into crushed meat, if he was lucky. The boy was older than them both, so she didn't view him as an immature child to be pitied or given a gentle lesson.
"You said we can kill!" Bai Lin complained mentally.
Wei Wuyin sighed. His act of stopping Bai Lin had been quite subtle, and Bai Lin's physical strength was impressive, but his own wasn't anything to sniff at. Of course, if she used her full power, then even a true Ascended couldn't save this boy.
"Give me a second," Wei Wuyin urged. He reached and grabbed the head of the young-looking, eighty-year old boy, his eyes flashing with Seven Source Light. The boy's eyes went blank, and Wei Wuyin directly interacted with his memories. From life to now, he viewed it all.
"Huh," Wei Wuyin tilted his head. He removed his hand, frowning as he did so, allowing the boy to regain the light in his eyes. With a pondering expression, he walked away ponderous, his thoughts deeply engrossed by what he just learned.
WOOSH!
BOOSH!!!
Wei Wuyin turned around to see a gigantic hole in one of the stone buildings, its edges painted with a bloody wetness and fragments of white bone and crushed flesh. Wei Wuyin turned to Bai Lin who waved her wing with a little flexing, "I still got it!"