Wu Zhe, Xu Shazi, and Huo Jian eventually set out after finishing their discussion over the steps Wu Zhe had laid out.
They headed straight for the gates of the cultivator district, but as they approached, they were stopped once again.
"Apologies, cultivators," the guard said. "But I cannot make a second exception."
"There's been a murder in the past week, so security in the cultivator district has been tightened. So please come back once you've obtained a cultivator identification."
Wu Zhe stared at the guard for a moment before turning away.
A cultivation identification.
There were several ways to obtain one. The most straightforward was to register your cultivation stage at a government office and receive an official ID. However, it came with strict requirements, one of which was reporting your every breakthrough to the government.
Failure to do so would be considered falsifying one's cultivation, a crime that came with severe consequences.
