Chapter 84: Eternal Dao City

Eternal Dao City

If Qin Fengyu knew Qu Tanyue, she would probably know who Ruan Ci learned bad from. She said this sentence casually, but Ruan Ci reflected for a long time whether she was subtly influenced by Qu Tanyue, learning his sweet-talking appearance to deceive people. Although this is actually not bad, she still wants to master all her changes.

The night passed without words. The next day, Li Pingyan called the two women to the Qingcheng Gate. He had integrated deeply at this time and could see the passage inside the Qingcheng Gate, but in Ruan Ci's eyes, there was no difference inside and outside the city gate. Li Pingyan frowned, "Later I will get the road guide and give it to Ci Junior Martial Sister, you see if you can refine it."

A month has passed, whether it is taking treasure medicine or naturally integrating with spiritual energy breathing, many cultivators have tried to pass through to the depths. The fact that more than twenty people died outside the city a few days ago only stirred up a tense atmosphere at that time, but after one night, many bold cultivators have sneaked back and are preparing luggage near the Qingcheng Gate.

"A few days ago, I heard that several Sheng Sect disciples had already gone in." Li Pingyan had stayed at the Qingcheng Gate for a period of time, and as a Mao Sect disciple, he was well-informed, "Just relying on breathing spiritual energy to integrate naturally, naturally the larger the throughput, the faster the integration. Those small sect disciples are because their own cultivation is too poor. If they rely on themselves, it will take three or four months to integrate, plus the time to rush back to the shore, there is almost no time to seek treasures, so they can only bet on luck and increase risks. Only in this way can they barely not lose."

If it were Ruan Ci and Qin Fengyu's qualifications, they should have integrated long ago, but they saw through the essence of the Hengze Heaven, which made the shadow residents very close to them, but also made them incompatible with this place. Ruan Ci had the help of the Donghua Sword, which was better, but Qin Fengyu's speed of absorbing spiritual energy was always slow and difficult. Ruan Ci actually had another doubt in her heart, that is, if they go to the depths of the Hengze Heaven, if the spiritual energy gets closer and closer to the old universe, will it become a place of absolute spiritual energy for Qin Fengyu.

As long as you go out for adventure, you can only see the steps. Ruan Ci saw a few small cultivators walk into the Qingcheng Gate, talking and laughing with the shadow soldiers guarding the Qingcheng Gate, as if they were very familiar, and soon each got a token, as if it were a road guide. These people walked forward, and their figures gradually disappeared—in her eyes, they disappeared into the city gate and did not appear on the open space behind the city gate. But in Li Pingyan's eyes, they walked into the blue stone road in the Qingcheng Gate and went to the city behind the city gate.

"These eight city gates are actually the portals of the Hengze Heaven city to the outside world... The small towns on the periphery can only be said to be the markets attached to the city... No wonder it is so simple, and the scale is not large, and there is no city wall."

Ruan Ci couldn't help but whisper, and Li Pingyan also said, "Not bad, these small cultivators have used treasure medicine, are treated as their own people, so they can successfully get the road guide, and we have to show our magical powers."

While talking, a white-haired cultivator walked into the city gate, gesturing and communicating with the shadow soldiers. The shadow soldier looked unhappy, made a driving gesture, and the spear pointed at the white-haired cultivator. Li Pingyan couldn't help but reveal a solemn expression, but Ruan Ci didn't notice anything. She was incompatible with this layer of the world and naturally couldn't sense the changes in the energy field.

"Is it hard to fight?" She asked Li Pingyan. Li Pingyan whispered, "At least for that person, it should be a difficult opponent."

The white-haired cultivator retreated a step after measuring, but did not give up, but took out the spiritual money of this place from his arms and sent it to the soldier. The shadow soldier counted the amount, looked at the white-haired cultivator again, took out a token from his arms, and threw it to the white-haired cultivator at will. The white-haired cultivator walked forward in a panic, and soon his figure disappeared.

Such a vivid picture, Ruan Ci almost laughed out loud, saying, "Why is there such a thing everywhere?"

Li Pingyan laughed, "Isn't this very good? Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many cultivators coming to the Hengze Heaven. If you can't beat the gatekeeper, you can buy the road with money. That's why everyone has been working hard to kill demons and sell money for the past month. If you are confident that you can fight a way out, you can also exchange the talisman money of this place with others for spiritual jades and Baozhi coins, which is always a steady profit."

He also earned a lot of spiritual money and could have bought the road directly, but at this time he said, "I'll try to fight first, and then try to see if I can buy two more road guides."

This favor must be recognized by the two women. Qin Fengyu pulled Ruan Ci's sleeve, and Ruan Ci said, "Then I will give the spiritual money to Senior Martial Brother Li first."

She also kept an eye on it. If Qin Fengyu could integrate, she would give spiritual jades directly, but if Qin Fengyu went to the depths of the Hengze Heaven and found it increasingly difficult to absorb spiritual energy, then spiritual jades must be used by her first.

Li Pingyan shook his head, "Ask if it works first."

He patted his lapel and walked toward the city gate, said a few words to the soldier, then retreated a few steps, and arched his hands to salute. The soldier did not salute back, but patted his shoulder twice, thinking it was a greeting, lit the spear, turned into a stream of light, and rushed toward Li Pingyan.

Ruan Ci was not in the energy field, and watching the two fight was like scratching an itch through a boot, completely confused. But the other cultivators beside the Qingcheng Gate all showed solemn expressions, and some made defensive postures. Clearly, the spiritual pressure fluctuation from the place where the two fought was enough to make people uncomfortable.

These two flew to the sky and escaped to the ground, shuttling back and forth around the Qingcheng Gate, fighting for half an hour. Li Pingyan landed on the ground, his face a bit pale, but he was still intact. The spear in the soldier's hand was broken. He showed an appreciative look at Li Pingyan and took out a token from his arms and handed it to him. Ruan Ci had sharp eyes and saw that the color of the token seemed to be different from the one the white-haired cultivator just got. Qin Fengyu also whispered, "The road guide he got should have other uses. After entering the city, he might be recruited by the city lord. I heard from the senior martial brother in the sect that there are several types of road guides in the Hengze Heaven, and each has different uses."

After Li Pingyan got the road guide, he didn't leave, but talked to the soldier in a low voice, and took out the talisman money, handed it to the soldier, and pointed to Ruan Ci and the two women from afar. The shadow soldier also followed to look, grabbed the talisman money, but shook his head and said a few words to Li Pingyan.

Li Pingyan retracted his hand and put the talisman money into his arms. He walked back to the side of the two

Ruan Ci took the travel permit and channeled magic power into it, but it remained empty and unresponsive. She then took the permit and walked into the Qingcheng Gate, but there was no change. The Qingcheng Gate still stood as a large gate on the open ground; walking from here to there was merely walking from one end of the open ground to the other.

Qin Fengyu also conducted a test, with the same result as Ruan Ci. Li Pingyan said, "It seems we can only separate for now. When the ninth month arrives, I will return in time, and we shall meet here again."

Unable to enter the city gate, they could only wait here. Fortunately, eight months for a Foundation Establishment cultivator was nothing more than a few sessions of closed-door cultivation. Qin Fengyu did not object, but Ruan Ci pondered for a moment; she could not resist the temptation of the ancient universe and really wanted to go inside to investigate. "Wait, let me try; perhaps there is another way."

Li Pingyan and the other looked over in confusion. Ruan Ci gritted her teeth slightly and took a silver hairpin from her Qiankun bag. "Let me see if this works."

She inserted the silver hairpin into her hair, and she felt the aura field around her emit a light tremor with a 'boom'. For a moment, all the shadow-dwellers near the Qingcheng Gate seemed to fix their gaze upon her. The scenery around her was extremely profound, just like when she was in the Qinghua Myriad Things Heaven and was attacked by that imaginary number; it was as if she were looking at this place through countless layers of glaze. The scenery was distorted yet brilliant, and countless spatial scenes were superimposed inside and outside the city gate—

However, this lasted only for an instant. The next moment, the silver hairpin on her head grew slightly warm, and she was back where she stood, only the surrounding scenery had become vivid and was no longer as dim as it had appeared before. Those shadow-dwelling residents had all turned into solid forms, though they did not speak; their dim eyes all turned to look at her, staring intently.

Looking inside the Qingcheng Gate again, it was completely different from before. It was a thoroughfare made of refined gold, extending from the horizon, passing through the city gate, and reaching into a brilliant and magnificent city. There were many people coming and going in the city; even from this one glance, one could imagine the splendor of the city.

"Junior Martial Aunt," Qin Fengyu tugged at her sleeve, but her voice sounded as if it came from far away, stirring up slight ripples. The next moment, as Ruan Ci poured her spiritual sense into it, things returned to normal. "You... have you really thought this through?"

Ruan Ci then noticed that it was not just the shadow-dwelling residents staring at her; the Langhuan cultivators were also looking over in surprise. It seemed the scene of her inserting the hairpin had drawn everyone's attention, and many eyes revealed a burning heat, likely having realized that this silver hairpin was a rare treasure and wanting to find a way to seize it.

This alone would not have been enough to make Qin Fengyu worry, but she could not follow Ruan Ci into the Hengze Heaven. In just one month, the Sheng Sect disciples who had arrived included disciples from the Zhi Sect and the Green Lotus Sword Sect, which was impressive. Qin Fengyu had crossed swords with the disciple suspected to be from the Green Lotus Sword Sect and had her own judgment of both sides' strength. Clearly, she did not think Ruan Ci could win against that person.

Even Ruan Ci herself did not think she was without rivals among the Foundation Establishment stage. After all, her cultivation was at the fourth level of Foundation Establishment, still in the early stage. Even if she had some unusual aspects, which core disciple of the Sheng Sect did not have their own encounters, and which one was not special? She had anticipated that this trip would be dangerous; if not for that, she would not have made up her mind only now to take out the silver hairpin that had inexplicably disappeared and then inexplicably returned to her Qiankun bag.

But since she had taken it out, her mind would not change. She nodded to Qin Fengyu and smiled, "Things have come to this, is it possible to be at peace just by staying behind?"

Qin Fengyu's face was filled with worry, but she did not continue to object. When going out for training, the greatest taboo was making decisions for others. After all, she could not guarantee that Ruan Ci would be safe if she stayed, so she only said softly, "Remember what I told you."

She was telling Ruan Ci to be careful of Li Pingyan. Ruan Ci smiled slightly and said, "I understand. You also remember what I told you; don't die inside this Qingcheng Gate, so that I can't find you when I come out."

For cultivators of the Central Continent, life and death were trivial matters. Qin Fengyu chuckled and said no more. Ruan Ci said to Li Pingyan, "Shall we set off?"

Li Pingyan had already put away his look of shock and smiled, "Let's go!"

He was very tactful and did not ask about the origin of the silver hairpin at all. The two walked side by side toward the city gate. When they reached the inside of the gate, two soldiers lowered their spears and said to Li Pingyan, "Travel permit!"

Li Pingyan took out his travel permit, and only then were the spears raised. Ruan Ci followed behind Li Pingyan as they walked forward, but the soldiers acted as if they did not see her, only their eyeballs followed Ruan Ci's silver hairpin as it moved, looking quite comical.

Ruan Ci walked into the city gate tunnel and could not help but look back, but at this point, she could no longer see Qin Fengyu and the others. Looking back, she saw that thoroughfare extending from the auspicious clouds; within the auspicious clouds, treasure light shone everywhere, and one could faintly hear the cry of a phoenix passing across the horizon.

She withdrew her gaze, followed Li Pingyan through the tunnel, and looked up, unable to help but let out a long sigh, "This city... is so majestic!"

The Shangqing Sect had also put on a grand display to welcome the Green Sword back to the mountain, and Ruan Ci was not a country bumpkin who had never seen the world. However, the Purple Essence Mountain and the Three Elements Marsh could not compare to the towering golden city before her. This golden city sat high on the clouds at the horizon, as if connecting heaven and earth. The array of palaces and pavilions was magnificent, faintly circulating the spiritual charm of the Great Dao. Upon closer inspection, they were all magic treasures cast into a single whole!

Even without mentioning that, the intimidating aura emanating from the buildings alone made one feel the urge to kneel and worship. One could tell at a glance that it was even more noble than the Purple Essence Mountain. Although Ruan Ci had never seen it before, once she stepped into this place, a realization faintly emerged in her heart: this place... this place was clearly...

"Strange, according to what the senior said, this Qingcheng is not like this..."

Beside her, Li Pingyan was also muttering to himself, "This place looks like... it actually looks like..."

"Haha!"

A mocking voice came from behind, "Can't you even tell that?"

"This Qingyun City is the residence of the Dao Ancestor! The Eternal Dao City!"

The residence of the Dao Ancestor?!

The two turned back to look and saw several soldiers with left-lapel robes walking over enthusiastically, surrounding Li Pingyan, "Little brother, you've come just in time! The North Gate is short of people. Since you have a first-class token, come with us quickly to repair the magic formation. The Dao Struggle is right before us, and we cannot afford the slightest negligence—"

They were very enthusiastic toward Li Pingyan but still turned a blind eye to Ruan Ci. Ruan Ci followed behind Li Pingyan, and these soldiers did not stop her, which made the scene appear somewhat eerie. Ruan Ci followed Li Pingyan while thoughtfully muttering a few words that concerned her greatly.

"Residence of the Dao Ancestor... Eternal Dao City... Dao Struggle... Dao Struggle?"

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Updated, sorry for the long wait everyone. Yesterday I was basically drifting in and out of sleep all day. I didn't feel as bad after getting up, but my nose was still very congested. I slept very poorly last night; I would fall asleep for a while and then wake up with a stuffy nose, crying.

And I didn't write yesterday, ahhh, my buffer of chapters...

. Thanks to the little angels who gave me overlord votes or poured nutrient solution between 2020-09-10 12:24:51 and 2020-09-11 12:01:21~

Thanks to the little angels who gave landmines: Yuan You Tao (4); Shijiu Que, Yu Wanyao, ch today did you die yet, Yan Ruzhi (1);

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Thank you all very much for your support; I will continue to work hard!