Chapter 243
We drink and gamble until the small hours of the morning, when the back alley Biker Bar starts to get really busy as the nocturnal sorts come in. It’s almost too packed to move, so we excuse ourselves outside, trading in the chips we have gathered for a couple of monster cores and some of the new city gambling currency they must have obtained while we were here.
Despite being filled with demons, and their sketchy reputation, the city doesn’t seem any worse than others we’ve been through since finding out that the population of Earth wasn’t alone in the universe. We start walking with no particular destination in mind, just enjoying the evening air. Taking a turn away from the hotels towards the sound of people and music, we find ourselves on a long strip of bars and brothels, presumably the hub of the city’s night life.
After walking past a few of them, I get curious about the sign all the brothels have on their door and go to investigate. ’Dual Cultivators Only. All Genders Welcome. Compliance Rating A’ is what the sign says. It’s like the food safety rating in a restaurant.
"Looking to cultivate sweet thing? We don’t get many Lycans, but I’m sure I can treat you very well. " Comes a sultry masculine voice from nearby, making Karl chuckle.
"Sorry, I’ve found my mate. We’re here from Arcana to see how well the agreement is being upheld." I explain and Karl joins us.
"Oh, not bad. I know a way where we can all cultivate together if you’re interested, but you’ll find the Queen has been very thorough in setting up the brothel system. There’s even a training academy down at the north end of the hotel strip that teaches basic Dual Cultivation techniques to cultivating visitors that don’t know."
So that’s how she got around the limited number of Dual cultivators, she simply trained more of them once she learned the method. There wasn’t any rule against that though, and as a secondary technique it won’t harm the cultivation of most methods, only help balance their Qi.
I’ll have to let Elder Song know of the Academy, he’s surely got more techniques for their school, and I know he wouldn’t object to the vacation once he’s finished whatever he’s working on.
Before I forget, I pull the Shadowed Blade Sect communication token from my storage rings and inform Elder Song of all the fun things we’ve found here in the Demon run Outpost. He says that they’ve got a solid month of cataloging materials before they can take a break, but he will add it to the list of information to be analyzed. That’s about all I could expect really, being on a new planet with so many differences from the standard cultivation worlds has given him a lot to take in.
We stop a few more places for drinks as we walk, fruity iced beverages and beers served through takeout windows seem popular here, and everyone drinks in the streets, but I wonder what they do in the winter. The prairies get to forty degrees below zero in the winter, and that’s not great for street facing vendors or the demons, who are used to warmth.