One Last System

The carriage was luxurious... but that didn't mean it could shield its passengers from the noises associated with the travel. 

Even when the group of carriages managed to pass through the barrier borderlands and enter the continental highway, the constant noise of the wheels ticcing and taccing whenever they jumped lightly on the gap between the stones made it hard for Mia to focus.

"Right in your face!" Kathia giggled, shoving Dirk's hand away. 

"You bet!" Dirk replied, laughing out loud. 

Their banter lasted throughout the entire journey. It was the true reason why Mia couldn't have even a moment of peace of mind. 

"Still, I can't wait to get to the sect," Kathia uttered, her eyes brimming with anticipation. "All those opportunities, all those senior brothers..." she bubbled, only to giggle again. 

'They are not that bad,' she thought, turning her head to her travel companions, only to escape with them when the risk of someone noticing her stare became too great. 

Throughout this two-day-long journey, she got to talk with the others a little. They came from all sorts of origins.

Some had a humble upbringing, just like Mia or Arthur. Others came directly from other sects scattered around the world. Some belonged to the major families of the world outside the barrier. 

But there was one thing that connected them all. They were all sponsored by sects, not individuals. 

Yet, despite that fact, they accepted Mia as her own, claiming that it didn't matter what was the source of the sponsoring, as long as one was sponsored in the first place!

But this journey was about to come to an end. Two days long trip by a carriage was enough to bring them all the way from the Skyladder sect, through the hidden path passing through the borderlands all the way to the outskirts of the Tuxi sect compound. 

"Look, you can already see it!" Dirk shouted when he glanced outside the window. 

Ever since they left the barrier, all the other carriages that traveled alongside their own moved in different directions. Right now, there was nothing to stop them from adoring the view outside. 

"See what?" Mia asked, forced out of her line of thought. 

"What else if not the sect?!" Dirk asked, rolling his eyes before opening the window and hanging himself out of it. He was so excited that he almost fell out of it when the carriage bumped into something on the road!

"Huh?" Mia muttered before taking a glance herself. 

And there it was. A look far more magnificent than anything she expected to actually see. 

The Tuxi sect compound was vastly different from what she was used to back at the Skyladder sect. Rather than being inbuilt into some sort of a natural, geographical barrier, it laid directly on the massive, continental plain. 

'Just how big is it?' Mia asked herself, her eyes opening wide. 

Due to its flat foundation, the sect sprawled over a massive chunk of land. It had no walls to contain its vast area, allowing everyone to admire just how great it was. 

'This is the sect I will be training at,' Mia thought, her breath struggling to get out of her throat. 

Yet, the look from a distance was only the beginning. 

Soon, their carriage sank into the settled area. It passed through residential districts, attracting a lot of attention from people who lived by the sect. Then, it entered the buffer area, where normal people could interact and do business with cultivators. 

'Just by looking at this, I can tell that this place is far more sophisticated than the skyladder sect,' Mia thought, forcing her bottom jaw to move up, closing her mouth. 

One could judge the development and potential of a place just by looking at how great its infrastructure was. Depending on the size and upkeep of the roads, one would learn how vast their logistic network was, allowing them to judge the commercial intensity of any given place. 

'It's nothing like the sect back home,' Mia thought, awed by sight before her eyes.

Yet, even this wasn't the end of the surprises. 

After passing through the areas accessible both to the cultivators and the mortals, their carriage finally entered the land strictly restricted to the practitioners. Yet, instead of stopping there, it continued even further, all the way until they reached one of the few walled-off areas of the entire sect. 

"Welcome to the sponsored zone," the elder that operated the carriage said with a smile as he pushed the doors open. It was the sign that they were finally allowed to go outside. 

Mia waited for everyone to vacate the place before slowly leaving the magical vehicle. For the last two days, it was her home. But now, it was about to change. 

'I wish Arthur could see it,' Mia thought, her heart aching a little. She found it hard to enjoy her situation if she couldn't share that happiness with her beloved. 

"Don't make such a sad face," Kathia said, grinning from ear to ear. Just like everyone else, she struggled to hold her excitement back. "Whatever you have on mind, it can wait!" she said, before dragging Mia forward, towards the massive building that the elder announced to be their quarters. 

"You are free to do whatever you want for the rest of today; just make sure not to leave the area," the elder added, sending them off with a knowing smile. 

An elder or not, one didn't need to be a sage to understand the excitement of this group of young people. 

"Oh, regarding the lodging," the old man added, a mysterious smile appearing on his lips, "it's first-come, first-serve basis. Whichever room you will find in that building, you are free to claim!"

If there was some sense of organization and responsibility amongst Mia and her new friends, it all disappeared in the single instant the elder finished his sentence. 

Ony Mia remained by the elder's side, still unable to get Arthur out of her hand. 

"Lass, whatever you have on your heart, there will be the time to think about it," the elder said, noticing the anxiety in Mia's eyes. "For now, you should honor your sponsor by enjoying the life that he provided for you!"