The Growth of a Titan-Chapter 408- An Outing In Martial Alliance City

As Mar-Yue was pulled into the open yard behind the manor, she glanced around in curiosity.

Sol pulled her over to the table and hurriedly made her sit at the small table. He then side-stepped and quickly sat across from her.

Leaning on his elbows, Sol smiled, and his eyes twinkled as he looked at Mar-Yue.

Mar-Yue was amused by Sol’s over-enthusiasm at her being here.

"The manor is quite big, and the architecture is also something I haven’t seen before in the Eternal Desert."

Mar-Yue spoke her thoughts aloud as she looked around a bit more.

Sol nodded.

"It’s big, too big that I found it uncomfortable staying inside alone. That’s why I built a small stone house further into the forest."

Sol pointed in a certain direction as if the small stone house was visible from here, though only a four-meter wall was visible to them.

Scratching his cheek, Sol said.

"I built it to resemble the house I once lived in with my father in my village."

"It’s wonderful."

Mar-Yue said with a smile as if she had seen the small stone house.

Still smiling, Sol asked.

"Is this your first time visiting Jianghu?"

Mar-Yue nodded.

"I was always in the Eternal Desert; this is the first time I’ve left."

Sol nodded repeatedly before he suddenly jumped up and said.

"If that’s the case then let’s go see the Martial Alliance City!"

Sol then grabbed Mar-Yue’s hand and led her back to the front gate.

Mar-Yue couldn’t help but giggle. They just sat down but in the blink of an eye, they were on the move again.

As the couple left the manor, Woo-seong silently appeared behind them having dressed in the Irregular Innate Dharma’s red robes.

It didn’t take long before the three reached the Administrative Mountain and slowly walked down the Heavenly Staircase. They weren’t in a rush.

Remembering the Heavenly Staircase, Sol asked Mar-Yue how she was able to enter the Academy. She answered that Mar-Dule gave her an identity jade slip for guests who wanted to visit the Academy.

Sol recalled that Mar-Dule was the Head Disciple of the Runes and Formation Pavilion, he had the authority to issue such a jade slip.

Sol had initially thought that Mar-Yue had climbed the Staircase. Since that wasn’t the case, now he wondered what would happen if she did, whether she could successfully climb it or not. Though he didn’t voice his curiosity.

"Is the Academy always this desolate?"

Mar-Yue asked as the they were almost about to reach the bottom of the Staircase. She was glancing at the few disciples they passed on their way down.

Sol shook his head and explained the situation.

"So that’s the case, it looks like this Tournament is going to be a grand event."

Sol turned to Mar-Yue and asked.

"Are you going to participate in the Two Continents Tournament?"

Mar-Yue shook her head.

"My brother is already participating so any opportunities he acquires will eventually benefit our Barbarian Race, there’s no need for me to participate. As for the honor of getting a top position in the tournament, I don’t really care for such things."

Sol nodded in understanding. He had realized that Mar-Dule was like the face of the Barbarian Race, while Mar-Yue was their secret weapon. Not entirely in terms of talent or her future strength, but rather her identity itself.

Aside from Mar-Dule, she was the only one who had the Giant Race’s pure bloodline.

They just reached the bottom of the staircase, when the silent Seong-woo suddenly asked.

"The brother you mention, is it that bastard Mar-Dule?"

Mar-Yue turned to Woo-seong and nodded.

"Ah, no wonder you both have the same name, I knew it wasn’t just a coincidence!"

Woo-seong then took a closer look at Mar-Yue’s face and indeed she did resemble Mar-Dule somewhat. Those deep blue pupils were quite eye-catching on both of them as well.

Though Woo-seong recalled Mar-Dule’s eyes didn’t have that color before.

"Huh? When was this erected here?"

After reaching the bottom of the staircase, Sol saw a stone monument a few meters away from the staircase.

There was also a cherry blossom tree behind it. Its thin branches were droopy as they accommodated the flowers that had a faded shade of pink.

It was the middle of the fourth month of the year, so spring was already underway allowing the flowers to bloom and create a beautiful sight.

Sol’s footsteps quickened as he went around the stone monument to see what was on it. Mar-Yue was unintentionally dragged along as they were holding hands.

"Ah, why isn’t there anything on it?"

Sol said dumbfoundedly when he saw the blank surface of the monument.

This side of the monument had a smooth jade green surface, while a few branches of the cherry blossom tree had extended down to cover the top.

With a rough estimation, the monument itself should be around twenty meters in height, with the cherry blossom tree being a bit taller.

"Was it not always here?"

Mar-Yue asked, and Sol shook his head in response. freēwēbnovel.com

"It’s newly built, even this tree was recently planted here. Woo-seong, do you know anything about this?"

Sol turned to Woo-seong, but Woo-seong shook his head with a frown.

Both Sol and Woo-seong were always in the Academy, they kept track of the news circulating outside but this monument wasn’t mentioned.

"There are a few strange rune inscriptions on it. if I’m not mistaken it’s more like a Divine Artifact than anything else."

Mar-Yue said, and Sol nodded in agreement.

"Perhaps it was placed here by those at the top of the Academy and it’s hiding some great secret?"

Sol speculated and his eyes flickered as he tried to deduce the function of the runes on the monument.

"If that’s the case then it would probably remain a mystery to us."

Mar-Yue said, but meanwhile the couple was discussing the origin of the stone monument, Woo-seong suddenly looked to his left and right. Afterward he left and came back dragging a youth who looked to be around thirteen or fourteen.

The youth was wearing the Elemental Innate Dharma Pavilion’s multicolored robes while a nervous expression played on his face as Woo-seong dragged him over.

He was a new disciple that just entered the Academy, but it wasn’t hard for him to figure out Woo-seong’s identity with a glance.

Being new to the Academy, he didn’t dislike Woo-seong like the older disciples, but that didn’t stop him from being nervous nonetheless.

However, upon being dragged over he saw Sol and his eyes lit up.

"It-It’s actually you Senior Brother Sol, you were awesome in the Martial Hall Pagoda!"

All the nervousness the youth was feeling suddenly disappeared and was replaced by excitement.

Sol looked over at the newcomer and smiled. At the same time, Woo-seong pointed at the stone monument and asked.

"Brat, what’s with this stone monument?"

The youth wanted to continue gushing over Sol, but his nervousness returned somewhat because of Woo-seong and he stammered.

"That-It’s for the Two Continents Tournament. This is where the rankings will be displayed in real-time. This isn’t the only stone monument either, they’re planning on building more across the Eastern Continent. There are even rumors going around that they’re going to build some on the Western Continent as well."

Upon hearing this, Sol and the others realized the Two Continents Tournaments weren’t just going to be grand, it was going to be heaven-shaking.

Woo-seong couldn’t help but clench his fists while battle intent flickered in his eyes.

"Brother Sol, can I have your autograph?"

The youth asked excitedly, but Woo-seong quickly stepped forward.

"Okay, you can leave now."

"Huh? But-"

"No, Brother Sol isn’t taking any autographs at the moment, maybe next time."

Like a celebrity guard, Woo-seong shooed away the dejected disciple. He then stood walked behind Sol and Mar-Dule as they continued towards Martial Alliance City.

The Martial Alliance City was considered the center of Jianghu, and compared to the other Cities it was larger by a few times.

Each of the Holy Sects and Great Clans had a branch here.

As for the other powers, they consider this place to be a goldmine. If they could set up a few shops here then even if they weren’t extremely popular, their income as a whole would multiply by several folds!

From this one could see the amount of wealth that was flowing through this City’s undercurrent.

But sadly for these smaller powers, the Holy Sects and Great Clans owned most of the land in Martial Alliance City. Even if they didn’t own shops on this land, their price to use the land was too sky-high for smaller Sects and Clans to afford.

Only a few well-connected Sects and Clans could benefit from this huge goldmine.

The Martial Alliance City as a whole was separated into the Outer Circle, Inner Circle, and Core Circle.

The Core Circle was where the Academy was located, while the Inner Circle was where the residents of the city lived, as well as where the Sects and Clans set up shops, inns, and restaurants.

The Outer Circle was where visitors to the city mostly stayed. If one visited this region, one would see a lot of inns here, more than in the Inner Circle. There were shops here as well, but compared to the Inner Circle the items sold here were of lower quality.

Sol brought Mar-Yue to the Inner Circle to look around as this was her first time in a city like this.

Truthfully, this was also his first time looking around Martial Alliance City as well, so he too was observing the surroundings with intense curiosity.

Woo-seong had to be the one to step up and show the couple around since he was more familiar with interesting places in the Inner Circle.