Climbing the levels of the Tianxia Capital was quite an odd experience. Each of the floors felt like a gigantic city, and after passing through the first ten they started to become far more varied. Some had huge open wilderness areas with immense nature preserves and wild animals roaming freely. Others were rolling farmlands on gentle hills, filled with crops and quaint little villages. There was even one with mountainous peaks, with sharp cliff-faces and fertile valleys. These themes seemed to also extend to the inner walls of the tower as well as the long ramps leading up to the next level. It was quite unusual to feel like being in the outside world, yet also knowing you were inside a gigantic structure.

Each level of the Tianxia Capital had a bright light source on the ceiling that moved across the sky every day, simulating the sun, as well as a dimmer one that could take different shapes to be the moon. From the crops that were grown, these light sources were very good at simulating the sun, and it made Sage quite curious how they created such a thing. It wasn’t just that it could grow plants, but could also help grow Spirit Plants. Such a thing was definitely not normal.

Sage climbed ten levels a day, only experiencing each of the floors from afar as he ascended the ramps through them. It was only on every tenth floor that he took some time at the beginning and end of every day to do some business and gather some information. Due to being worried about Guan Zhenyan’s demands he soon had more Spirit Stones in his possession than ever before, even with the consumption of a thousand Spirit Stones every day. Zhenyan was strangely quiet until one day after more than a year had passed. On the four thousandth, six hundred and twentieth floor, Zhenyan told him to leave the Quick Ramp. Surprised, Sage almost didn’t get off the ramp in time.

After this far, he no longer wasted money renting a carriage from others. He also wasn’t rich enough to pay for an indoor flight permit as it made the level access cost ten times more. Instead, he used his own vehicle, one of the most modern devices developed on the Inner World. It was the closest thing to an Earth car that he could find, but it was still quite different in many ways. The Steam Engines he’d created using Formation Arrays had nowhere near the power of a combustion engine of a similar size, but they could make up for it by using more expensive materials instead. The thing that had set the combustion engine apart from the steam engine in history was the change from large and heavy volumes of water and fuel in comparison to the far more energy packed fossil fuels.

Using arrays, the steam engines they built didn’t need to carry around large water reserves or fuel reserves. Instead they could use Spirit Stones to generate water and heat it without any other input. With more expensive materials they could create tougher pressure chambers in larger and larger volumes to generate immense amounts of power without exceedingly heavy parts. So, the vehicle he drove could reach very high speeds, especially as they found more and more substitutes for the materials that Sage was used to from Earth. In order for a car to go as fast as they did they needed special materials to act as bearings with high strength and low wear, materials that were strong and springy to be suspension, heat resistant for braking, and of huge importance the tires and road. Since a road couldn’t be counted on they had to focus more on off-road style tires and suspension systems.

The end result was more like the combination of an extreme off-road vehicle and a carriage than a car, and it was made from all sorts of unusual Demonic Beast parts, some retaining their natural looks and some highly processed, along with carefully integrated Magical Tools, and even many Blastids. It wasn’t actually that much faster than using high tiered Demonic Beasts to pull a carriage, but it also wasn’t that rare on the Inner World. It just felt more fulfilling to be behind a wheel rather than sitting in a carriage while a driver snapped the reins. It was also useful to garner a little attention when he went to gather information, though the reverse was true when he went to sell goods. He didn’t want to make it too obvious how much volume he was moving so he took the time to use a fake face and change of clothing.

Turning into the level 4,620 Sage was given an address by Guan Zhenyan. After making a quick stop to purchase a map of the level he directed his vehicle: the All-Terrain Steam Coach, or ASC, to the front of a large manor. Once there he was greeted by a set of guards and at this point when he repeated the man’s words to the guards, Sage realized that Zhenyan had not sent him here on friendly terms.

“Tell your Master that the Dream Dealer’s agent is here.”

The guard didn’t know what was going on, but they used some sort of communication device to relay the news at which point the guard gave him a very dignified bow and let him through the gates. Sage drove inside and after stepping out the ASC disappeared. He was met by a large group of ‘honor’ guards along with a richly dressed attendant who led him inside. He was brought to an extravagant waiting room that had a style that reminded him of India or the middle east, with colorfully patterned silks, and gold everywhere. A few elaborately dressed girls brought out a tray of snacks and served him tea. They even tried to offer him wine, but he declined.

A short wait turned into a long wait and Sage felt they were stalling. Of course, he wouldn’t blame them as the job that Guan Zhenyan had sent him here to fulfill was to collect on debts. That’s right, he was here in the Tianxia Capital to act as an enforcer. There were many people who owed Zhenyan and the ‘task’ he had to complete was to make them pay up. Even before Sage had ‘captured’ him, Zhenyan was not in the greatest condition and if these debtors refused to pay and forced a fight, it might leave Zhenyan in a weakened state. Even if he still had high combat power, he didn’t have a great recovery rate so it was best not to waste his efforts collecting on, comparatively, trivial debts. On the other hand, now that Sage was strong enough, Zhenyan wanted him to go and get what was owed.

After nearly an hour, the owner of the manor finally showed his face. Since this was the debtor on the lowest level of the capital, then it would make sense they would have the most reservations about refusing to pay. Guan Zhenyan passed him a token and Sage showed it to the manor owner at which point his eyes widened. Then he hid the momentary shock and bowed, “Forgive me, Sir. It is merely protocol to make sure someone isn’t trying to ruin the good name of the Dream Dealer.”

“Don’t worry, I understand. It’s been quite some time.”

“Thank you, Sir. Alright, come with me, I’ll take you to what you need.”

Sage we led out of the room and out into a large yard where immense stones were piled up into a large hill.

“Here you are, Sir. These stones contain precious minerals for the Dream Dealer.”

Sage waved his hand and the mountain of boulders disappeared into thin air, to the shock of the manor owner. Then he nodded and turned around, walking away with a final parting phrase, “I hope you didn’t leave anything out, or my next visit won’t be so kind.”