Chapter 793

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Protagonist:

Shen Yao

Shanglu? That was both unsurprising and surprising.

Earlier, when coming to Qingchuan, the name Shanglu had already entered Shen Yao's sight, because Shanglu had many exotic beasts, making it quite unique in Qingchuan.

Furthermore, Shanglu was special: the forces stationed here were not from any one side, but were managed by an Alliance Association composed of scattered cultivators. They did not treat Shanglu as their own property, but rather handled daily management, often saying that Shanglu belonged to no one and no force; once the time came, Shanglu would disappear.

Hmm

Disappear—Shaunglu City was alive!

"Rumors are unreliable; that was just information passed down from a thousand years ago," Lu Yan had been to Shanglu and felt it was not much different from other cities, an ordinary city of blue bricks and dark tiles.

As for the city being alive... such rumors were not uncommon in the Jiuzhou Continent, and to this day no city had truly grown legs and run away.

Shen Yao:...

Although but, rumors were eighty or ninety percent unreliable, but there was always some truth inside.

For example, Shanglu City: Shen Yao, through her special eyes, saw that the city was sleeping; it was alive, but not alive in the human sense.

'Host, what is this? So strange,' there was even shallow breathing; people in the city could feel a breeze on their faces, but this wind was not that wind—it was evidence that the city was operating discreetly.

'It should be some kind of spirit creature, somewhat like a strange treasure that has gained spiritual wisdom,' the spirit of Shanglu was a beautiful five-colored divine deer.

Hmm

The previous rumors were true; this city named Shanglu was indeed related to the five-colored deer.

Resting her chin and gazing steadily at Shanglu City drawing nearer in the distance, when the carriage reached a certain range, Shen Yao felt a tender, probing greeting from the depths of her soul.

Tsk

Was the spirit of Shanglu still young? Wouldn't that be bullying a child?

'System, it has always looked like this,' what did she mean by bullying a child? The spirit of Shanglu could not grow after forming, okay.

The system naturally knew the spirit of Shanglu was fixed at birth and would not change, but that did not stop it from saying something; as for the system chirping away there, sorry, Shen Yao claimed she hadn't heard it.

'You, you are'

The spirit of Shanglu spoke haltingly, obviously a side effect of not speaking for a long time.

'Obviously, I am a companion creature,' Shen Yao easily revealed she was not human, and did not forget to popularize the meaning of companion creatures to the other party, finally concluding that they were somewhat similar, except companion creatures were forced to bind souls with Awakeners, unlike the spirit of Shanglu which could live long.

Spirit of Shanglu:...

Some things did not need to be said further; the spirit of Shanglu appeared because it sensed danger in its location.

Confirming the danger would not harm itself, the spirit of Shanglu no longer interfered, struggling to support its tired self and saying a few words to Shen Yao before falling asleep again.

No other reason

Who let the development of this world diverge; the energy in the air could not fully supply the spirit of Shanglu to drive.

Most of the time, the spirit of Shanglu slept; only occasionally did it wake to stretch its bones, then choose a new place to camp.

This was the reason 'Shanglu City was alive'.

Soon, the carriage arrived outside the city gate of Shanglu; here were people queuing to enter and exit the city, most of them cultivators, a small portion ordinary people without weapons; the world outside the city was too dangerous, unless one was extremely confident in their ability or had to make a living outside, no one was willing to leave the city.

Shen Yao and Lu Yan got down from the carriage, followed by three contracted beasts.

Because the contracted beasts all chose to shrink their size, even though they carried an extraordinary aura, they caused no panic.

The Flame Lion continued to lie flat in Shen Yao's arms, the Swift Wind Wolf lay on Lu Yan's shoulder with eyes closed and curled up; the two handsome men and beautiful women walked swaggeringly into Shanglu City without the slightest trouble.

"The management here is loose," unlike Lin'an City and Ning'an City, where perhaps the Qingchuan Secret Realm had too much influence, people entering and exiting were carefully checked, fearing bringing something unknown into the city and causing unnecessary trouble.

Shanglu City had no such worry; the reason was said to be untraceable, anyway the Alliance Association in charge of management did not require this, and over time, cultivators coming to enter the Secret Realm would not actively seek trouble for themselves.

Actually it was still related to the spirit of Shanglu; the spirit of Shanglu could sense danger, unless one reached Shen Yao's level of being called a cheat, otherwise it would not affect the spirit of Shanglu, and those trivial matters would naturally not be noticed by the spirit of Shanglu.

After entering the city, they chose an inn to rest; Lu Yan generously rented the entire place, and also paid half a year's rent.

Half a year?

Wouldn't that be a bit long?

"The strange treasure's location is hard to determine," implying half a year might not be enough.

Lu Yan really wanted to see the true face of the strange treasure; this time coming to Shanglu City, he also had the thought of seizing the treasure.

Shen Yao did not think Lu Yan was absurd; such treasures appearing out of nowhere always belonged to the capable; besides, if Lu Yan could not, wasn't there still Shen Yao? As long as she secretly contacted the spirit of Shanglu, Shen Yao could know the exact location of the strange treasure.

System:...

The system condemned the host's backdoor behavior, actually unfair competition!

'What fair competition?' What fairness existed in the xuanhuan world? How could there be rogue cultivators? Killing and seizing treasures was the mainstream here.

Their room was clean and tidy, with a faint fragrance in the air.

Shen Yao walked to the couch, sat down, and lay flat, ignoring Lu Yan while closing her eyes to rest her mind.

Not everyone could ride in a carriage; even though the coachman was careful all the way, the jolting still made Shen Yao's bones and muscles sore and swollen.

The Flame Lion continued to be grabbed by Shen Yao to serve as a tool beast; the Flame Lion accepted it well, since it could not beat her, and the Great Demon King's fame spread far and wide.

Slept until dawn.

Shen Yao rose from the couch, stretching her bones and muscles while pushing open the door.

In the morning Shanglu City, a fragrance of plants and trees drifted; not far away at the Yanwu Chang, Lu Yan wore cultivation attire and practiced seriously; the Swift Wind Wolf crouched beside him, with a black feather snake coiled into a circle on its head.

The servants were busy preparing the morning meal; they had followed Lu Yan out for over a year, improving rapidly from initial chaos to current orderly stability.

"Go see the city later, how about it?" Shen Yao enthusiastically invited Lu Yan.

"I want to gather news," the sources of news in Shanglu City were many and mixed; Lu Yan still wanted to finish the important business first before playing and relaxing; besides, Shen Yao was unaffected even without him, "Wait until I'm done."

Shen Yao raised an eyebrow. "Fine."

But not accompanying her is fine, yet the money (Spirit Jade) cannot be lacking.

After finishing the Morning Meal, Shen Yao carried a bag full of Spirit Jade and went out to shop on the Street.

The Spirit Jade clinked and clanged as it swayed in the bag; Shen Yao was visiting Shang Lu Cheng for the first time, and without a guide to lead the way, she simply awakened the Spirit of Shanglu and asked where to go for shopping.

Spirit of Shanglu:...

Although it was not human, Shen Yao was really a dog!

The Spirit of Shanglu sulked for a long while before slowly pointing out the route to Shen Yao; just as it finished speaking and intended to return to continue sleeping, Shen Yao stopped the Spirit of Shanglu, "It's been a long time since I met someone I can talk to, why rush to do what?"

Chatting with her costs nothing, running so fast, is it afraid she'll dig a pit for it?

Spirit of Shanglu:...

"I need rest," it was the Spirit of Shanglu, and Shanglu was a city; to ensure the city's operation, the Spirit of Shanglu needed a large amount of energy to maintain.

"Your rest won't be off by just a day or two; if I miss this, I don't know how long I'll have to wait," Shen Yao said that companion creatures with her strength were not common, and if the Spirit of Shanglu didn't take the opportunity to chat more with her, it would be too late to regret.

The Spirit of Shanglu was speechless; it was a spirit body, not human flesh and blood, let alone countless years of solitary companionship had long made it accustomed to a silent world.

Shen Yao's arrival made the Spirit of Shanglu very uncomfortable, but the Spirit of Shanglu couldn't refuse too harshly; who made Shen Yao truly have the ability to threaten it.

The Spirit of Shanglu was timid; the longer it lived, the more it cherished its life, besides, it hadn't been long since the last Millennium Chaos, it would soon change to another place to live, and whether it would still be in Central Prefecture by then was uncertain, so why offend Shen Yao.

Suppressing the resentment in her heart and nestling awkwardly to accompany Shen Yao in conversation, even Shen Yao's pickiness when buying things, it would choose to echo.

Shen Yao:...

Look at her prestige; although there was no guide, she had the biggest boss of the entire Shang Lu Cheng accompanying her, so it wasn't in vain that she came out to shop on the Street herself.

The bag of Spirit Jade she brought was spent seven-eight, and her Jewelry increased with many specialties of Shang Lu Cheng.

Thinking that they would go to other places next, Shen Yao planned to let the Servants send a batch back to Lian Tang City first, to prevent carrying too many things affecting the Journey progress.

"By the way, do you know the Strange Treasure that can open the Secret Realm?"

Before entering the door to return Home, Shen Yao casually asked about news regarding the Strange Treasure.

The Spirit of Shanglu was silent for a while, and finally said, "You're interested in the Strange Treasure?"

Shen Yao smiled, "Just asking, why are you so nervous?"

Spirit of Shanglu:... Could it not be nervous, that Strange Treasure is its thing, okay!

"The Strange Treasure is useless to you," the Spirit of Shanglu did not want to say more on this aspect, spoke a few words of nonsense and then disappeared.

Shen Yao turned around and walked into the Small Courtyard, "Host, Lu Yan finding it somewhat difficult to get the Strange Treasure, the Spirit of Shanglu is unwilling to let go."

This Strange Treasure was obviously linked to the Spirit of Shanglu; Lu Yan relying on himself alone, the probability was not high.

"Host, you can help, " as long as her own Host took action, even the Spirit of Shanglu would be helpless.

"Hmph, previously you said I was bullying a child, " now the change was quite fast.

System:...

That was then, this is now; besides, it really wasn't that it rebelled fast enough, it was truly weighing two powers and taking the lighter one; it couldn't stand on the opposite side of the Host, the System could still distinguish the big and small cards.

Shen Yao's lips curved into a smile, thinking the System wasn't old and muddled yet; her interest in the Strange Treasure was indeed not great, but being able to make the Spirit of Shanglu so nervous, even just asking two sentences made it lose composure, showing the importance of this Strange Treasure still had to be raised a notch.

Casually stopping a Servant of the Mansion, Shen Yao asked if Lu Yan had returned.

Learning Lu Yan was in the Study, Shen Yao simply had the Servants send the Treasures she bought back to the Ku Fang of the Small Courtyard, while she herself directly went to where Lu Yan was.

Lu Yan thought Shen Yao hadn't shopped enough; unexpectedly Shen Yao mentioned the trace of the Strange Treasure, "One hundred percent in Shang Lu Cheng."

Lu Yan nodded, "Although the news I received mostly indicates the Strange Treasure is not in Shanglu, but the sources of these news are too singular, like a smokescreen released to stir up Wind and Rain."

The real purpose was actually to cover up the matter of the Strange Treasure being in Shang Lu Cheng.

Lu Yan was actually hesitant, but Shen Yao's words made him firm in his view; there was a group of people hiding in the dark stirring up trouble in Shang Lu Cheng, the greatest possibility was that they didn't have the confidence to seize the Strange Treasure in front of everyone.

Perhaps, he could really try; after all, the Strange Treasure was currently ownerless, anyone could get it.

"The guys who want the Strange Treasure are hard to deal with, more dangerous than you imagine," Shen Yao hinted to Lu Yan that continuing would be life-threatening.

Lu Yan really wasn't afraid of these; if he were afraid, he wouldn't have come out from Lian Tang City, rushing all the way to Qingchuan, it's just Shen Yao

"I'm very safe, no need to worry," no one could take her life.

In the following time, Lu Yan and Shen Yao were more like two Parallel Lines that occasionally intersected, each busy with their own affairs.

Only compared to Lu Yan's striving for every second, Shen Yao's side seemed particularly leisurely; the Flame Lion and the Gale Wolf lazily followed by Shen Yao's side, those who didn't know would think these two were both her Contracted Beasts.

"Roar"

"Awoo"

"Alright alright, I won't play with you then," really stingy.

Shen Yao raised her hand high; the Flame Lion and the Gale Wolf, like a gust of wind, hurriedly lifted their legs and ran away, afraid that if they were a step late, the Demon King would go back on her word.

Boredly tossing the ball of fur and such to one side, Shen Yao propped her chin, turned her body, and looked out the Window.

There weren't many people in the Small Courtyard, only rows of flowers and trees vying to bloom; Shen Yao's thoughts drifted further and further until the System suddenly screamed in her ear.

Shen Yao:...

Furrowing her brows, she rubbed her brow bone hard, "What's wrong again?"

"Host, ahhh! Shang Lu Cheng is going to run!" No longer caring about dignity, the System's Mechanical Sound appeared with cracks; afraid the Host wouldn't understand what it meant, the System constantly repeated the four words that the city was going to run.

Shen Yao thought she already knew Shang Lu Cheng was going to run; after all, the Spirit of Shanglu wasn't very honest.

But the System's "going to run," "meant right now?"

What situation could make the Spirit of Shanglu run away in advance? Could it be that the Millennium Chaos was coming?

"No no, it's that Strange Treasure; it might be really important to the Spirit of Shanglu," the System said it was just doing routine Surveillance, but by a twist of fate it stumbled upon a big Secret; if it hadn't run fast enough, it might have been killed to silence it.