186 Temporary cards

The following days were spend in the company of his family. He played with Jane, annoyed Celine, and ate the good food Madam Tanner made. The only form of training he did was to continue improving his magic mesh. Something that had a good effect on its performance as well as his control over mana.

But every good relaxing time would have its end. And this time it came in the form of his master Miss. Klein appearing in front of his villa, together with Serge.

"Master.", he greeted her, already knowing the reason for her to appear here. And as expected her words after greeting him confirmed his guess.

"Get ready. We will go to the upper realm.", she told him with annoyance dripping out of her voice. It seemed like she wasn't happy about going to the meetup. Maybe it had something to do with the reason that she was teaching at such a low ranked school like theirs? A question he had never dared to ask her.

Ivan had already prepared everything since he knew beforehand that he had to leave soon. So the only thing left was to inform Madame Tanner and then he was ready to go.

After doing so he returned to the door and told his waiting master, "I'm ready."

"Great, then let's get this shit behind us."

She then led the two disciples of her to the car she had arrived in, which was a combi that provided more than enough space for them.

"Sit down in the back.", she ordered them before getting into the driver seat.

"What happened for her to be so grumpy?", Ivan whispered towards Serge. Their master's temper seemed to be even worse than he had ever experienced.

"I don't know.", Serge answered him, whispering as well.

Not daring to ask they could only sit in silence while she drove the car towards the Tower of Ascension. With her aggressive driving style, it didn't take them long to arrive there. After parking the car inside a huge parking garage they alighted and then took the elevator to the ground floor of the building. This elevator didn't go any higher. It was only responsible for bringing the people from the garage towards the entrance hall and back.

When they entered the entrance hall they were astonished by its size. It was less like a large hall and more like a city in itself. In fact, space inside seemed disproportional to the outside size, indicating the use of some kind of space-related technology or magic.

Miss. Klein ignored all the buildings along the street and directly led them to a huge one at the center. This building consisted of a hall as well as rows of elevators. But the most impressive thing was a huge gate in the center, which Ivan guessed would lead towards the upper realm.

This gate was surrounded by a low barrier and the entrance was guarded by two fierce-looking guards. There was also a counter at the side to which their master lead them. After greeting the person on the other side she then pulled out a card with complicated musters on it and said, "These two are my students, please make them a temporary entrance card."

The service person nodded her head and after pressing some buttons two cards were laid down on the counter. They had much less complicated musters than Miss. Kleins and seemed to be more fragile as well.

"These are your temporary entrance cards. You can use them to enter the upper realm and when you leave they will vanish. They can also be broken to directly teleport you back if you are in a dangerous situation. After one month they will brake automatically and you will be teleported back.", she explained.

"They can also emit a force field in case of an emergency, which might be able to save your life. But if they do, they will of course break."

It seemed like these cards were designed to provide as much safety as possible to those using them. After accepting them Ivan and Serge thanked the woman and followed Miss. Klein towards the gate.

"Ok. Here are some things you have to look out for.", Miss. Klein told them in a serious voice, "First of all, remember that you are somewhere else and the traditions might be different than what you are used to. So it is important that you keep quiet and don't make a mess. Not only might it be unasked for but it will also be dangerous. Up there you will be extremely weak compared to just about everyone."

Her reminder was very important since both of them were unfamiliar with the exact situation in the upper realm. "Remember that even little children might be stronger than you since they are more used to the atmosphere there and might already have trained further than you."

"The atmosphere?", Serge asked confused.

"Yes. There is a huge difference between the atmosphere here and up there and the reason is the amount of qi in the air. Here it is extremely thin, nearly absent in fact."

"Then will this have an influence on us?"

"Yes. The higher density will result in some pressure on your bodies. That is also the reason that normally only people with high enough stats are allowed in the upper realm."

"So the one month limit is to protect us from damage because of the pressure as well?"

"Yes. A long time exposure to the pressure can lead to lasting damage. One month has been deemed to be safe."

"Then can't we get used to the pressure? And how do the children born there can handle it?", Ivan asked curiously.

"No. Because they are born there, they are better adapted to the situation so there is no problem for them. Besides that, at around seven or eight they will have already finished Flesh Refining. And only after reaching Qi Gathering will they have entered the road to cultivation. So just about every adult will have reached Pathway Refining."

Her words made the dangers clear to them. They were only in Flesh Refining and that seemed to be equivalent to the strength of a seven or eight years old. Sure, because of magic and more practice as well as a larger body, they would have the advantage against someone like this. But against any adult, they wouldn't be able to compare.

"Then how will those who go to the upper realm do well?", Serge asked. Wouldn't they be weaker than even the most common adult?

"If you enter with maxed stats you can speedily absorb the qi and reach Qi Gathering in a few days, because of the stable foundation and the use of mana."

"So mana can be used to absorb qi?"

"Yes. And currently, that is the most useful use of it, that is known. That is the reason people from our realm can compare to those born above. Their speed in cultivating is faster than theirs with the same potential."

"Then can't they use mana as well?"

"In their eyes, it isn't worth it. For the true talents, the time used for developing their mana would be better spent on training their qi. And the others also think they would be wasting their time. Especially since it is harder to train your mana source if the qi pressure is higher.", her explanation gave them a good insight, how it was in the upper realms.

"So basically, just think of anyone you meet as someone that can easily kill you. So don't make a mess and keep quiet when meeting someone, except when you are asked to talk. There is also a huge emphasis on hierarchies and generally, older people are to be respected and those stronger have to be called seniors as well."

With the given information they should be able to stay out of most problems.

"The pill refiner meeting will be at my sect, so as long as you stay on the premise you should be alright."

"Oh, right. Serge, you will be my assistant for the time while Ivan will enter the youth competition.", she then threw a bomb onto them.

"Huh?", both of them exclaimed at the same time.

"Didn't I originally say that I would only take you, Ivan? Originally I planned to just take you with me as an assistant since I thought that would be a great opportunity to learn. But later I got the news that this time there will be a competition for beginner pill refiner. This should be a great opportunity for you to collect experience."

"Can I really take part? Shouldn't they be much better than me?", Ivan was very unsure of his prospects.

"It will be fine. You can just participate in a relaxed manner. There is no need for you to stress out.", Miss. Klein reassured him.

Although it was well-intended and it also worked it also made him slightly upset. Her words seemed to indicate a severe lack of expectations.