Chapter 1060: Divine River Ferryman

Time in the Fifth Star Ring is calculated by the small whirlpools formed by the flowing crimson aurora in the sky.

When the number of aurora small whirlpools reaches one thousand, it is one year in the Fifth Star Ring.

Afterward, all aurora whirlpools dissipate, becoming flowing light, and a new year begins.

Now, in the crimson aurora of the sky, the 753rd whirlpool is forming.

In mid-air, Xu Qing looks up, gazing at this scene.

This is the thirtieth whirlpool day of his full-speed dash.

At his current speed, if it were on the Wanggu Continent, this time would be enough to fly back from the Human Imperial Capital Domain to Fenghai County.

But here, it is still at the edge of the southern part of the Fifth Star Ring.

The earth is still a swamp.

The Fifth Star Ring is truly too large.

"However, I have finally reached the destination."

Xu Qing withdraws his gaze and looks at the earth.

In the distance of the swamp stands a vast, majestic city.

This city is pitch black, and under the aurora, it is like a sleeping giant beast.

It looks somewhat dim, and its boundaries cannot be seen with the naked eye.

Its range is so large that in Xu Qing's perception, it is comparable to an entire province.

And in the memory of that Sovereign servant, this city... is actually just an ordinary small city in the southern part of the Fifth Star Ring.

There are many such cities in the south, and there are quite a few cities more shocking than this one.

Like the clan city where his family is located, it is much larger than this one.

As for other large cities, hindered by status and cultivation, that Sovereign servant had never seen them.

His life was actually spent in this remote corner of the south.

As for the family where his master, that Sovereign, was located, Xu Qing had more understanding after soul-searching and observing the outside world along the way.

This family in this outer southern region, although the range they control is not small and their ancestor's level has reached Quasi-Immortal Great Emperor, is not considered a hegemonic force.

There are a few similar families in this outer southern region.

"It seems my previous judgment had some discrepancies."

Xu Qing gazes at the city ahead, thoughts rising in his heart.

Because of his lack of understanding of the spirit mine, when he saw that a guardian was actually a Sovereign, he thought the strongest person in the opponent's family was likely the legendary Xia Immortal.

This made him incredibly vigilant.

But clearly, the Xia Immortal level, no matter where it is, is not a common status.

"But I must also be cautious; experts in this Fifth Star Ring are indeed like clouds."

Xu Qing takes a deep breath, his body flickers, and he heads straight for the city ahead.

With Xu Qing's current cultivation, changing his figure and aura, hiding his cultivation, impersonating that Sovereign's servant, and entering the city with his identity token, the process is naturally smooth.

He did not encounter any obstacles he couldn't solve.

So soon, Xu Qing's figure appeared within this huge city.

Looking around, there are countless people, and almost all of them are cultivators; there are very few mortals.

There are many shops.

Bursts of clamorous sounds constantly ring in his ears.

Even with Xu Qing's experience, entering the city and seeing so many cultivators, he felt somewhat dazed.

This scene, even in the Human Imperial City of the Wanggu Continent, he had never seen before.

There are truly too many people.

And a sense of strangeness also emerged in Xu Qing's heart unknowingly at this moment.

Human nature is like this; not only does emptiness make one feel strange, but conversely, the situation of having countless people but no familiar faces also produces a strong sense of strangeness.

However, Xu Qing has walked through too many places since he was young, so he soon calmed his thoughts, walked forward, and slowly blended into the crowd.

During this time, he was also observing the passersby.

Looking for the differences between himself and them in speech and behavior, and making self-adjustments.

Just like this, after half a whirlpool day passed, Xu Qing, whether in accent or behavior, was hard to distinguish from the cultivators here.

And through his understanding of the cultivators' discussions, he had more judgments about this Fifth Star Ring and this city.

Although these pieces of information were fragmented, at least in finding the required shops, they were enough.

Just like now, Xu Qing is standing outside a shop.

The style of this shop is a three-story palace pavilion, luxurious and atmospheric on the outside, with many cultivators coming and going.

Inside, one can see rows of shelves, placing magic treasures of different appearances, and each has a seal, not easily taken, but there are jade slips beside them, describing the effects of the magic treasures.

What is sold here is exactly magic treasures.

Walking on the first floor, Xu Qing's gaze falls on those magic treasures.

Gazing for a moment, a sense of emotion rises in his heart.

On the Wanggu Continent, magic treasures are rare, often the supreme treasures of a sect.

Like the blood-colored eye treasure of the Seven Blood Eyes.

Those that can circulate to the outside are even rarer, and even a fragment of a magic treasure is a precious item.

What circulates the most are just magic tools.

But here, they are everywhere.

"The shattering of magic treasures on the Wanggu Continent mainly comes from gods."

Xu Qing recalls Wanggu.

"If the Upper Desolate remnant face hadn't appeared back then, then the Wanggu Continent today, even if there were a gap with here, wouldn't be this huge."

"Additionally, there is another key reason why Wanggu's development is not as good as here..."

"That is, above Xia Immortal, for Wanggu, there is no path."

"But here, clearly the Fifth Star Ring found the path above Xia Immortal very early, hence the prosperity of today."

Xu Qing's gaze swept past, not staying too long; although magic treasures are good, for his current level, he no longer needs them.

So soon, Xu Qing walked toward the second floor.

There, he found what he needed.

That was a map of the Fifth Star Ring.

"The value of map items varies greatly; the more detailed, the more expensive the price."

On the second floor, a maid, noticing Xu Qing lingering by a jade slip of the Fifth Star Ring map, walked over quickly and opened her mouth with a smile.

"This senior, the map in front of you is very detailed for the southern region, but I must remind senior that map items sold by us are all rubbings and have restrictions; they are not allowed to be rubbed again."

Hearing this, Xu Qing withdrew his gaze from the jade slip in front of him and opened his mouth calmly.

"Just the south is not enough."

As soon as his words came out, the woman's eyes brightened, and her smile was sweet.

"Higher-level maps are also available; my Immortal Treasure Hall has countless branches throughout the Fifth Star Ring, so for map items, we are naturally comprehensive."

"I don't know what level of map senior needs?"

Xu Qing thought for a moment, looked at the maid beside him, and transmitted his words slowly.

"Including the entire Fifth Star Ring, as well as forces from all sides, geniuses, the more comprehensive the better."

Hearing this, the woman narrowed her eyes and carefully sized up Xu Qing, secretly thinking that this person likely wanted to participate in the Immortal Capital hunting; only this kind of person would buy such a map.

Because what they had to face was not just the opponent in the place they were in, but included the entire Fifth Star Ring.

Such people were all killers.

Thinking of this, the woman's attitude became more respectful.

"This kind of map, my Immortal Treasure Hall possesses, but the price needs to be settled with Immortal Jade, and the quantity..."

Xu Qing waved his hand, and a small mountain of Immortal Jade appeared in front of him instantly, then he put it away again, looking at the maid calmly.

The maid opened her mouth immediately.

"Senior, please go to the third floor."

Xu Qing nodded and walked toward the third floor.

On the third floor, there were fewer cultivators, and they were all in separate compartments, with some protection for privacy.

After following the woman into a compartment, the woman bowed and left; not long after, she returned with a tray in her hand.

On it was a white jade slip.

Xu Qing grabbed with his hand, and the jade slip flew over instantly; after it landed in his hand, his divine sense swept over it.

Suddenly, a vast map appeared in his mind.

This map included the four major regions of east, west, south, and north, and also had marks of various family and sect forces, and even some customs and practices.

And within it, there were also introductions to geniuses from all sides.

Extremely detailed.

It was just that many key pieces of information were blurry.

Clearly, there were restrictions, and they needed to be purchased before they could be seen clearly.

Xu Qing was satisfied in his heart; after withdrawing his divine sense, he did not waste time and traded for the rubbing qualification with a massive amount of Immortal Jade.

Afterward, amidst the woman's respect, he left the pavilion, walked into the crowd, and disappeared.

In the crowd, Xu Qing changed his figure several times, replaced his aura many times, and until he was sure that this purchase wouldn't cause any subsequent trouble, he transformed into an ordinary cultivator, moving forward while sensing the map information.

"The center of the Immortal Capital is sacred and cannot be explored."

"Around east, west, south, and north, there exist four major regions."

"These so-called four major regions can actually be seen as four large star domains, and each place itself is also divided into east, west, south, and north, just because it is overall in the Fifth Star Ring, so in people's address, it is mainly divided by the Star Ring."

"And these four large star domains each contain numerous sects and family forces..."

"Among them, the most orthodox are the Great Immortal Mountain of the Southern Star Domain, the Sword Immortal Gate of the Northern Star Domain, the Star Ring Tower of the Eastern Star Domain, and the Dao Immortal Sect of the Western Immortal Domain."

"These four major forces can be orthodox because they all have Lower Immortal ancestors who perform the responsibility of patrolling the heavens of the Immortal Capital."

"And the entire Fifth Star Ring, outside the Immortal Capital, has a total of sixteen patrolling Lower Immortals on the surface!"

"Besides those four, the other twelve transform into stars, walking within the aurora, guarding all sides."

Xu Qing sensed the map information in his mind, and finally had a large-scale judgment about the Fifth Star Ring.

At the same time, he also had a definite cognition of his own location.

"The place I am in is the edge of the Southern Star Domain of the Fifth Star Ring, extremely close to the Western Star Domain, almost bordering, separated only by a River of Divine Blood..."

"This river has a legend in the description, appearing to be formed by the blood of a god."

"It contains danger and strangeness within; unless one possesses the cultivation of a Great Emperor, it is impossible to cross."

"Thus, this Divine Blood River became a chasm difficult to pass between the west and the south."

"Ordinary cultivators wanting to travel between the two places can only take a boat..."

"And on this river, there is also a special profession, known as the Ferryman... and only Ferrymen can take people to pass through this Divine Blood River safely."

"Because every Ferryman comes from the Immortal Capital. They seem to be sinners, punished by the Immortal Capital to come here as Ferrymen."

"And crossing the river requires a fee; this fee is not spirit stones or Immortal Jade, but life."

"The first time crossing the river, the fee is six days of the river-crosser's life, because the time to cross the river also takes six days."

"As for the second time crossing the river, the fee will surge, requiring sixty years of life."

"There is no third time."

"Because the third time is a lifetime of life."

Xu Qing saw this, and waves rose in his heart. ===== CHAPTER 1063 =====