"Your first question. This is not a bridge world. In fact, you will be surprise if I tell you where we are right now. Welcome to Eldorin. As for your second question, that will take a lot more explanation. Why don't I settle you down first? I bet you will have a lot more questions by the time we reach the location you will be staying and I can explain things over a nice pot of tea?" Conrad answers.
Conrad's answer to her first question gave Aynur another shocking surprise. Even if she is asked to guess a location, Eldorin wouldn't even be at the bottom of her answer list. Her knowledge on this subject matter might be limited but she knows very well Eldorin is one of the sect's minor worlds. As far as she can remember, this minor world is only accessible for a short three months period every five years. Even then, it still takes the joint effort of fifty cultivators in the fourth major realm to open a portal. Off course, the sect has the means to open a portal to Eldorin at any time in case of an emergency. However, this can only be done in the immortal realm and it takes two king realm experts to pull it off.
Even if this time of the year might coincide with the three short months every five years, her initial guess on what it takes to activate all the gateways on this world is way off the mark. A level seven spirit gathering array will never work. The amount of spirit energy needed to activate all gateways will be absurd. In some way, Aynur felt it is plain extravagant and wasteful too. It is obvious there is a major gap in her knowledge being away from the sect for more than two thousand years. The sect must have found a solution to fuel the ridiculous spirit energy needed.
"This is a minor world. Regardless of what new technology the sect now possess. I highly doubt it is enough to provide all the spirit energy to activate the gateways." Aynur voices her doubt.
"Oh, but you forget the fact that we have a lot of idle yet powerful cultivators stuck in the sect." Conrad laughs out loud. "The sect has sent a large number of them down here to Eldorin. Being left to their own device, it could lead to quite a lot of mischief. Let's just say unofficially, that's what got all twelve pavilion masters exiled to the lower realm. The grand elder has had enough of the mayhem they caused."
"My master is down here in the lower realm!?" Aynur excitedly asks. "She always complains I am always up to mischief. Next time, I can just claim I learned it from her."
"Best you don't. I had to endure hours of bragging how my master managed to outwit his peers. At the same time, I need to be smart enough to sidestep the embarrassing moments when my master got outsmarted in return." Conrad explains as he leads her along until he stopped in front of a strange looking metallic carriage.
With four wheels and four doors similar to a carriage, Aynur is confident she is seeing some sort of new spirit vehicles. It is not difficult to guess when there are hundreds of these strange looking spirit vehicles moving around as far as she can see. With her incredible eyesight, she can see that although these strange vehicles come in a number of different width, length and height, there is always at least one person sitting at the front of the vehicle.
"Take the seat next to mine." Conrad instructs as he opens the vehicle's left door.
*****
"Is the wheel where you channel spirit energy into the vehicle?" Aynur asks. Conrad seems very at ease driving the vehicle and there is few contact point she observe where spirit energy ca be channelled.
"I am not channelling spirit energy right now but I do have an option to do so. It is actually done form the pedal I am stepping on." Conrad explains. "The vehicle is actually powered using spirit battery."
That is another answer that totally caught Aynur off-guard. Spirit battery is a new novelty that has gain wide spread fame in the lower realm just slightly more than a year back. From what information she managed to gather, it is a new invention coming from the Dwarven Federation. Demand has far outstripped supply ever since the product enters the market. The wealthy clans are willing to pay a hefty premium for each spirit battery they can get their hands on. She can fully understand the craze over the product. A single brick of spirit battery provides a third major realm cultivator with at least ten percent more spirit energy reserve and when it comes to second major realm cultivators, it easily triples or quadruples their spirit energy reserve. Any cultivator in possession of one or more spirit battery will have an added advantage over a cultivator without one in battle.
That is only for spirit batteries sold through regular trade channels. What are being sold at auction houses are even more impressive. Those found in auction houses can easily double the spirit energy reserve for a third major realm cultivator. As for spirit batteries that even a fourth major realm cultivator find useful, Aynur has heard of it but has never seen one being sold at the auctions she has attended to date.
If each and every single spirit vehicle she saw is powered by even a single spirit battery, that would mean there are more than a hundred spirit batteries on this very location alone. It is also an extravagance use of spirit batteries. She starts to suspect the sect has its own stable supply channel and can easily get their hands on more spirit batteries. Now that she thinks about it, the sect used to have a great trading relationship with the Dwarven Federation. It shouldn't be difficult for the sect to buy from the dwarves.
"This is one very extravagance use of spirit battery. Every cultivator that owns one treat it as a treasure. The dwarves must have been generously selling a large number of spirit batteries to the sect." Aynur guesses.
"Why would the sect need to buy spirit batteries from the dwarves?" Conrad laughs out loud. "We invented it. The sect can make as many as we ever need. I don't mind telling you what is being sold out there is only the most basic product. Not only that, it is not even base on our most advance breakthrough. Oh, those that are being sold at auction houses are genuine Dwarven products."
Aynur is rendered speechless because Conrad keeps revealing facts that would never have crossed her mind normally. "The dwarves can also make them. Is this a technology jointly developed in collaboration with the dwarves?"
"The sect invented it. The dwarves quickly copied the idea when we first introduce and sold them spirit batteries." Conrad answers and when he notices the injustice on Aynur's expression, he quickly added. "You don't have to feel bad for our sect. The idea behind spirit batteries is bound to get copied. I bet those human sects in the immortal realm are already working on their own version. It's been almost a year now. I'm pretty sure they have probably already come up with prototypes of some sort."
"Rest assured, the sect will never be on the losing end. When it comes to customized or high-end products, we can never defeat the dwarves. The sect is more than happy to give up that segment of the market. What we want is the rest of the market. Let's just say our sect has even more technology breakthrough than you can ever imagine. We can produce spirit batteries cheaper, faster and in larger quantity than anyone out there. At this point in time, I can say with full confidence that even if we include all the foreign races, the sect will still be the best at it."
"Look at the building complex right in front on your left. The whole complex is filled with spirit batteries. It is one of the main energy sources to activate all the gateways on this location. The spirit batteries you have probably seen until now is tiny in comparison. Each of the spirit batteries in that building complex is the size of an elephant."
"You must be kidding me, right?" Aynur cautiously asks. She is still in the midst of processing everything Conrad just revealed. She then makes a random remark expecting Conrad to debunk her. "Given all the shocking facts you have just told me. Are you going to tell me that the sect has also invented a new technology to gather spirit energy? Sect disciples are no longer needed to help activate those gateways?"
"You just guess correctly." Conrad answers and when he notices another shift in Aynur's expression, he asks with a smirk. "Oh, you were actually expecting me to say there is no new technology there, right? Sorry to disappoint. The sect did invent a new technology to produce spirit energy. Look around you. Do you see any powerful cultivators standing guard over any of those gateways? I can tell you there are an army of powerful cultivators assigned to the site for security but definitely none being put on standby to activate portals."