135 China

"No." Ed shook his head and activated his powers to clean up the mess of spilled alcohol and glass. "I was just surprised since I know her."

"Oh, right. As a practitioner of the Mortal Dragon Technique, it makes sense that you know her already." Tai smiled. Of course, he knew more about Ed than he liked to let on, but there was no need to advertise the fact. "Well, no need to spoil the good mood over spilled milk. Come, let's continue drinking everyone." He rose his glass cheerfully while pouring a new glass of wine for himself.

"Isn't she a bit too young for you?" Rubi muttered under her breath while scowling.

Tai frowned. "While I like to joke that I'm 18, I really am only 22. A five-year gap is a bit much, but for espers that can live for centuries it hardly matters." He took a big swig of his wine. "Rubi, I told you from the beginning that things would never work out between us. Even if my heart wasn't already taken, my father would never approve."

'Eh?' Ed's eyes widened in surprise. 'I thought for sure he was 29. He looks way too old for his age...'

"Humph." Rubi's chair screeched as she stood up and left the room. An awkward silence followed as the other espers stared quietly at their own cups of alcohol.

"Fine." Tai let out a long sigh. "This news was certainly shocking for a few of us. Let's end the dinner early and get some rest for our arrival tomorrow."

The espers nodded and said their goodbyes, returning back to their rooms.

...

Ed sat in his room, his mind too preoccupied to meditate. 'Why did I react like that to the announcement?' He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall behind his bed. 'Was it really just surprise at the news? No... I'm not the type to normally have strong reactions like that. Do I really have to hand Yuki over to him though? Wait, she's not even mine to hand over... I took the shocking device out of her head after all... Actually, it wouldn't be weird if she hated me after all of that, but she still chose to help me before leaving for China. She liked me when she first lost her memories, but that's probably changed by now, right? Ah, but I don't have time to date even if she did like me. I've got too many things to work on as is, and she'd just get in the way. Guess it's better to just let Tai have her.'

Having made up his mind, he finally managed to enter meditation, but unbeknownst to himself, he had unconsciously melted the wall behind him in his subdued rage.

Entering the black void, Ed planned to focus on meditating on the golden faith energy again, but to his surprise, he felt one of the 49 paths actively tugging him. It was something he had never experienced before, and he let his curiosity get the better of him as he took a look. He wasn't worried about soul cracks, as he could always just cancel the meditation before making any major gains with the 49 paths.

Once surrounded by the different elemental paths, he felt a path of fire calling for him once again. Walking towards it, he saw a familiar red flame. 'Hmm? Did it change its mind about connecting with me?' He wondered as he reached his hand forward. He touched the flame, and it felt warm and kind. But a moment later, something he had never expected happened. "Ouch!" He shouted as he pulled back his hand. "Little fucker!" He cursed. 'It freaken bit me! How does a flame bite someone?!'

The red flame hovered in front of him, neither retreating nor advancing. The feelings it radiated were still the same, as if nothing had changed at all.

Ed reached his hand forward again, and the process repeated itself. "Tsk." He clicked his tongue. "Fine, forget it." He turned around, leaving the 49 paths behind. 'Is biting someone considered kindness in some weird culture?' He wondered as he left.

The night slowly passed as Ed meditated upon the weaker lives within the golden faith energy. Soon, morning came, and the ship arrived at China.

...

Ed went to the deck and saw the crew busy at work. The ship had already parked at a port city, and the espers on board were carrying all of their goods off the ship, which mostly consisted of the flesh and hides leftover from the mutants they had hunted over the last month.

Flair and Tao were waiting atop the deck, awkwardly trying to stay out of the way of the workers. Upon seeing Ed, they hurried over to him. Haru also spotted Ed, and joined their group as well, acting as if it was only natural. Hina nervously trailed behind Haru for some reason, but Ed didn't bother questioning it.

"Ed." Tai smiled as he returned to the ship, having just finished unloading some goods. "Welcome to my homeland! You absolutely must come to the Fire Dragon Sect with me so that I can show some proper hospitality!"

"That..." Ed hesitated, unsure if he should make the detour. While it was true he wasn't necessarily in a rush, he wasn't the type that liked to delay things if possible. "How far are we from Captain Fang's sect?"

"It's a pretty good distance." Tai replied. "We're currently in the Jilin province of northeast China. The Fire Dragon Sect is located here at the Longgang volcanic fields. The Purple Origin Sect is located west of Beijing at Mount Dongling. If you flew between the two, then you could probably cover the distance in a day or so, but I wouldn't recommend it. As a sect-less foreigner, you'd probably be attacked multiple times during the trip."

"How would they even know whether I belonged to a sect or not?" Ed frowned as he crossed his arms. "Seems like you recruit plenty of foreigners to me?" He glanced towards the espers of various colors unloading the ship.

"This is really a small number in compared to the total." Tai shook his head. "You must remember that China has the largest population in the world. But as for how they'd know..." He reached into his neck and pulled out a rectangular jade object. "Each sect assigns identity tokens with inscribed portraits to their members, and the sect leader personally adds a unique identifying signature. So, they're very difficult to forge, and even if someone stole one, it wouldn't work for them unless they can change their looks to match it. Every province you fly over will have cultivators stationed at various checkpoints that will check all unfamiliar espers' identities."

"Sounds like a hassle." Ed sighed. 'Must have been a cakewalk for Dupe though. I wonder how many clones he has hidden throughout China?'

"How about this?" Tai grinned. "You come to the Fire Dragon Sect with me for a few days, and then we'll head to the Purple Origin Sect together. I'll be sending an entire wedding procession over anyways, so you might as well just tag along."

"That's fine." He nodded, unconsciously clenching his hands. "I'm kind of curious what the Fire Dragon Sect looks like anyways."

"Great!" Tai clapped his hands. "We'll feast once we arrive, and I'll introduce you to the Sect Master. I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to recruit you, haha." He turned and left, calling out orders to the various crew members as they unloaded the ship.

...

After several hours, the ship was finally unloaded. Ed exited the ship and winced at what he saw.

"You've got to be kidding me?" Flair muttered under her breath.

"I think they're serious..." Ed sighed.

In front of them were multiple carriages being pulled by ordinary horses. It looked like something straight out of ancient times and seemed completely lacking for the journey they were about to make.

Tai's core members were passing orders to the others, directing them into various carts and carriages. However, most would have to walk, as they simply didn't have enough room.

Tai walked over to Ed's group. "I've personally selected a quality carriage for your group." He smiled as he looked them over. "As for you Ed, please come join me in my carriage."

"Sure..." He responded, still half-expecting to find out that Tai was pulling an elaborate prank on him.

"Excellent." Tai nodded. A man came up and led Flair, Tao, Hina, and Haru away towards a carriage. Ed and Tai walked near the center of the group where a tacky carriage awaited them. It was painted red and orange, with gilded patterns flowing throughout it. The best way one could describe it was as if someone had drawn golden lines atop a pumpkin and lit it on fire. Well, that was Ed's opinion anyways. 'Is this considered high-class here...?' He wondered.

Stepping into the cart, a more normal interior revealed itself. Wooden walls, leather benches, and some drinks atop a small table. There was a window on each side, allowing them to easily view their surroundings. The two sat down, and the cart began to move as the horses' hooves thudded against the ground.

"You're probably quite confused, right?" Tai knowingly smiled as waved his fan against his face.

"That's to say the least..." Ed looked out the window, which mostly consisted of wilderness as they moved. He couldn't make heads or tails of how an ordinary port like this survived without any type of city or walls supporting it.

"This port is private property of the sect. There are some other ones with actual cities." Tai explained. "Normally, the sects try not to interfere with the mortal realms as much as possible. Of course, we assign the rulers of the provinces we control, and the sects come together to assign a new leader over the Communist Party of China if ever needed. But things tend to run themselves for the most part."

"What about the mutants?" Ed asked. "Ordinary people can't survive their encounters with them. Especially if your entire country is..." He looked down at the carriage in disgust. "As technologically primitive as this."

"Mm." He nodded. "And that was indeed the case for a long time. China was one of the countries hit hardest by the apocalypse. Our huge population was nearly impossible to feed after the apocalypse took technology from us. Even if we managed to implement any kind of feasible steam technologies like other countries, they were soon torn down by the hungry rioting masses. From what I've been told, it wasn't a pretty situation."

He pointed out the window at the various carts and carriages. "Because of this, technology has become somewhat taboo in the current China. Both cultivators and ordinary humans fear an over-reliance on it causing a similar large-scale disaster in the future. After all, who's to say another apocalypse won't come someday?"

"But that doesn't explain how they survive." Ed frowned. "Even if all of that is true, you just said that espers stay away from the mortals. How do they survive the mutant floods without any technology?"

"Well, that's where the sects come in." Tai smiled. "It is our duty to effectively govern our territories, and the Purple Origin Sect acts as an enforcer if we slack off. There's a total of eight sects in the country, and each one holds massive numbers of forces that have been raised over the past several decades. We assign missions to our cultivators to clean up different forests, valleys, mountains, and more of any threatening mutants. In exchange, the cultivators receive contribution points they can exchange for knowledge, training, weapons, and even technology. It actually makes for a pretty good system."

"And you've managed to rid the entire country of its mutant problems with just this?" Ed skeptically rose an eyebrow. "Even with technology, cultivation, and whatever else, I don't see how that's possible."

"Well, originally you'd be right. At first, the system didn't work. It took a lot of time to get to this point. And the cities aren't truly unprotected, as there are always long-term mission assignments to protect them, though travel between cities is still quite dangerous for mortals. Sometimes the sect masters themselves have to act if there's a particularly strong mutant. Truthfully, this wouldn't be at all possible without the Purple Origin Sect's overwhelming strength. They singlehandedly united the country at its darkest time, and they continue to be the only sect an entire league above the others."

"Yuki's sect?" Ed questioned. "Is it OP Baldy that makes this all possible?"

"No." Tai shook his head. "OP Baldy has never actively helped the Purple Origin Sect. From what I know, he doesn't view himself as a true Chinese, though I don't know the full details. The one that made this all possible is his father, Fang Chonglin. He is the most powerful esper in China, and the other sects have to unite just to keep him somewhat under control."

"Sounds complicated." Ed sighed. "Seems like every country has their own share of problems. Can't say I'd be too thrilled about living in the stone ages."

Tai chuckled. "Well, it's not quite that bad. You'll see the positive sides once we reach the Fire Dragon Sect."