Chapter 1275: Temporary Parting

"The City Lord ordered the two of us to assist Commandant Zhao, so we will naturally lend a hand." A faint male voice came immediately from inside the city gate, followed by the appearance of a Confucian scholar in white robes and a monk draped in a green cassock.

The one speaking was precisely the Confucian scholar, who appeared to be in his forties.

Commandant Zhao did not dare to be negligent toward these two cultivators; he hurriedly offered thanks with a smile on his face.

The scholar and the monk each took out a mirror and a copper bowl, then began to chant incantations while forming hand seals with one hand, simultaneously tossing their magic tools into mid-air.

Instantly, the two magic tools spun around in the air. The mirror sprayed out a stream of green mist, shrouding the giant turtle at the very front, while a sheet of yellow light flew out from the round bowl, sweeping over several giant wolf riders nearby.

After only a moment, the green mist and yellow light flew away, pouncing toward other targets further back.

In this manner, the two cultivators inspected the turtle-drawn carts one by one, the green mist and yellow light flashing alternately; not a single person was spared.

In the blink of an eye, over thirty carts and more than two hundred people had all been scanned by the two types of light, and no issues were discovered.

"Good, you may enter. By the way, I'll tell you this: Lady Fang has already booked the largest inn in the west of the city, the Ruyun Inn. After you finish delivering the goods, you can go directly there to rendezvous." Commandant Zhao's expression softened; he did not make things difficult any further and, after saying this casually, raised his hand to let them pass.

The scar-faced man was startled, but immediately cupped his hands in a salute and led the caravan into the city gate.

Only upon entering the city gate did one discover that the size of the stone city was far beyond Han Li's original estimation.

Looking out, there were countless houses in the city, and it seemed impossible to see the end of it. However, it seemed the city had been planned during its construction; even though the styles of the houses varied and the materials used—stone, wood, and so on—were vastly different, everything was arranged neatly, leaving behind blue-stone streets several yards wide.

At this moment, such a large city was bustling with activity; all the streets were swarming with people, appearing extremely crowded.

Han Li was stunned at this sight, but he immediately noticed that most of the people walking on the streets carried weapons like blades and swords, and everyone's expression was solemn.

The blue-shirted young lady in the carriage sighed softly to herself upon seeing this:

"It seems the beast tide is real. Otherwise, the people who originally lived in the villages outside the city wouldn't have all flooded into the city. In this way, the pressure on Anyuan City will be even greater."

Upon hearing this, Han Li suddenly realized the truth.

With so many people, it was naturally inconvenient for the caravan's turtle-carts to pass through. Fortunately, Commandant Zhao had anticipated this and had specially sent several soldiers to clear a path for the caravan, forcibly dispersing the crowd to make way.

Even so, the turtle-carts did not move very quickly. After traveling for a full hour, they finally crossed over ten long streets, turned onto a much less crowded street, and eventually stopped in front of a multi-story archway.

Behind this archway were several heavily guarded warehouse-like buildings, and guards holding various weapons could be seen everywhere nearby.

Things were naturally much simpler below; the people from the Tian Dong Trading Firm handed over their goods one by one to the warehouse official responsible for inspection. After Zhang Kui received the receipt, he let out a long sigh of relief and led everyone straight toward the west side of the city, as the Commander Zhao had instructed.

Han Li, who had fully recovered his ability to move, was naturally among them. However, halfway there, he suddenly suggested to Zhang Kui that he wanted to stroll around the city and would rendezvous with the Tiandong Trading Firm group at the Ruyun Inn a while later.

Upon hearing Han Li's words, Zhang Kui frowned. After a moment of consideration, he agreed, but he offered a few words of caution:

"Brother Han, you haven't met the Lady yet and aren't officially part of the trading firm, so I shouldn't be too restrictive with you. But you must have noticed that Anyuan City is currently a mix of good and bad people and is quite unstable. Besides, this is just a remote little city; I imagine there isn't much to see. If Brother Han has matters to attend to, do go to the inn as early as possible after you're done."

Although this team leader Zhang looked fierce, his words were extremely tactful.

Han Li smiled slightly, gave his word, and drifted away. After turning a street corner, he completely disappeared from sight.

Watching the direction in which Han Li had disappeared, Zhang Kui rubbed his chin with his thick, large palm, a look of contemplation on his face.

"What is it? Is Benefactor Zhang worried that Brother Han won't return?" Nan Qizi, standing beside the scar-faced man, suddenly asked with a smile.

"We've already signed the blood curse document, so why would I worry about that? It's just that this Brother Han seems to be a person of great background; he's a bit hard to fathom." Zhang Kui came back to his senses and gave a wry smile.

"To have such astonishing body-refining techniques at such a young age, it's naturally unlikely he comes from an ordinary background. But observing his behavior, he truly doesn't seem like someone from within our Tianyuan Realm. That much is likely true," Nan Qizi said with a smile.

"Oh, I naturally realized that too. But as long as he doesn't get involved with the other major powers within our Tianyuan Realm, we don't need to care if his background is truly problematic. If we cultivate him well, this person might really be able to cultivate the fifth layer of the Diamond Art. If that happens, he will certainly become a great help to the Lady." Zhang Kui's expression turned solemn.

"The fifth layer of the Diamond Art? Benefactor Zhang really dares to think that. That is an existence capable of going head-to-head with our Core Formation cultivators without falling behind." Nan Qizi glanced at the scar-faced man, revealing a half-smiling expression.

"I am indeed being a bit extravagant. But this person is so young and already has his current cultivation; who can guarantee he won't cultivate the fifth layer of the Diamond Art within a hundred years? In terms of opportunity, he seems to have much better chances than ordinary body-refiners like me. Otherwise, I wouldn't have let him sign the blood curse document without hesitation back in the Qingluo Desert." Zhang Kui also chuckled.

"That makes sense. Alright, let's not talk about him anymore. My fellow disciples and I were hired by Lady Fang to look after your caravan. Now that the goods have been safely delivered, we have fulfilled our agreement. It is time for us to take our leave." Nan Qizi bowed slightly and calmly spoke the words of departure.

"Oh, you Daoist masters aren't going to see the Lady again...? In that case, safe travels!" Zhang Kui did not feel surprised. After a brief, unsuccessful attempt to persuade them to stay, he offered his farewells.

As a result, these few cultivators from Mount Goulu left the group and went far away.

"What a pity. If only our trading firm could have its own cultivators." A rider nearby suddenly sighed with emotion once the Daoist masters had gone far away.

"Our own cultivators? That's just daydreaming. Although our Tiandong Trading Firm is known as one of the three major trading firms in the Tianyuan Realm, the spirit stones we earn each year aren't enough to hire cultivators year-round. Low-tier Qi Refining cultivators have strength similar to ordinary body-refiners like us, so hiring them isn't of much use. As for Foundation Establishment cultivators, the spirit stones consumed in a year are staggering; our trading firm can only afford to hire them occasionally when we encounter big business. As for Core Formation cultivators and above, that's not even worth thinking about. High-tier cultivators can find rare materials anywhere or refine magic tools and spirit items; the few spirit stones our firm provides are far from comparable. Even if our firm truly worked hard to cultivate mid-tier cultivators, they would eventually leave." The big man sighed softly.

"That's true. Even the outstanding ones among our body-refiners, once they achieve success in their cultivation, will immediately rush to dangerous lands outside the borders, searching everywhere for those few types of spiritual herbs that can spontaneously generate spiritual roots, hoping to become cultivators. After all, once one becomes a cultivator, not only can one practice immortal arts, but the longevity is something one cannot resist. Over so many years, I don't know how many of our body-refiners have been buried outside the three realms because of this. Yet, those who follow one after another to go outside the borders are still countless." The rider also sighed with emotion.

"Alright. These matters have nothing to do with ordinary people like us. Let's hurry back to see the Lady." Zhang Kui waved his hand, not wanting to discuss this any further.

The rider immediately shut his mouth.

Thus, the group also left this place and was soon submerged in the sea of people on the street.

At this moment, Han Li was already standing on a nearby street, looking up at the seven scorching suns in the sky, and let out a long, somewhat depressed sigh.

From the moment he emerged from the Qingluo Desert and entered the grasslands, he immediately felt the astonishing spiritual energy permeating the air everywhere.

The concentration of spiritual energy in this realm was indeed several times higher than in the mortal world. If he could find an even better place for cultivation, it wouldn't be impossible for the spiritual energy to be over ten times denser.

But unfortunately, his Nascent Soul had dissipated, and he still had the restriction planted by the Ice Phoenix on him, making it impossible for him to absorb even a fraction of this spiritual energy.

This naturally left him feeling somewhat helpless.

He walked along the street, observing the passing pedestrians and the various shops on both sides.

These shops were basically the same as those in the mortal world, with nothing particularly rare.

Suddenly, his footsteps stopped. His gaze landed on the storefront in front of him. After a moment of hesitation, he walked inside and began to look at the items displayed in the shop.

On all four sides were sandalwood tables, upon which various weapons like blades, spears, axes, and halberds were displayed, gleaming with cold light. It was a shop specializing in weapons.

It wasn't large inside, with only two clerks attending to customers, but there were quite a few guests looking at items in the shop. These people were naturally all mortals.

Han Li had walked in because he saw that while the shop looked unremarkable on the outside, its business was so good, and he had felt a stir in his heart.

"This guest, what have you taken a liking to? How about this Gold-Backed Nine-Ring Blade? This blade is forged from black iron; not only is it sharp enough to cut through iron like mud, but it also has considerable weight. It is the best weapon for dealing with wolf beasts." After introducing items to another person, a clerk finally noticed Han Li's presence and hurriedly came over, offering a fawning smile.

What he pointed to was a large ring-blade Han Li was currently observing. It was pitch-black and looked extremely heavy at first glance.

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