Chapter 282: Psychedelic Cultivation (Please Subscribe)

At this moment, Changle City was bustling and perfectly normal, with all sorts of supplies being constantly transported in and out, flowing in an endless stream.

Here, there were many low-level laborers.

In truth, they were not much better off than those mass-produced cultivators.

Either they were tending fires and hauling firewood, suffering from the scorching heat of spiritual and earthly flames, and the spiritual firewood was so heavy that even passing it to feed the fire left them gasping for breath.

Or they were carrying large bags and buckets, hurrying back and forth between the kitchens and storage warehouses, through the streets and alleys, sweating profusely.

From time to time, they would be reprimanded or whipped by the overseers nearby.

Clearly, because there were no longer any shanty towns or production zones outside the city, this kind of grueling, exploitative labor had naturally been squeezed inside the city walls.

In Yunyi City, there were actually similar laborers within the city; Ren Li used to have this status, as mentioned during their previous reunion, and while the conditions were slightly better than here, it was not by much.

Previously, because that place had entered a state of combat readiness and Du En had come and gone in a hurry, he hadn't observed closely and hadn't seen much; it wasn't until now, arriving at Changle City, that he finally saw clearly this order so different from that of a small city.

As he moved forward, getting closer and closer to the inner city, the bustle and noise gradually subsided.

By the time he reached the inner city wall, the situation was already quite tranquil.

Because he would need to cooperate with the upper echelons here later, Du En revealed himself at this moment, and was immediately discovered by the patrolling armored guards.

"Bold! Who is lurking here?!"

"Du En, a traveling cultivator."

"Ah? Du, Lord Du!?"

The composition of these inner city patrolling guards was not like that of the small city, which was entirely composed of Foundation Establishment cultivators, because in this middle city, Golden Core cultivators were already visible everywhere; there was a trend of "Golden Cores walking everywhere, Foundation Establishment not as good as dogs."

Therefore, the squad leader among the guards here was at the early Golden Core stage, the commander was at the mid Golden Core stage, and the day-and-night duty officer was at the late Golden Core stage, who could also be considered a trusted aide of the inner city superintendent.

They had, of course, heard of Du En's name, and at this moment, they scrambled down from the city tower, and after verifying his token, they showed the utmost respect.

"For you to arrive here, why, why go to such lengths? Just send word, and we would have come out to welcome you!"

Du En's act of sneaking in had, to be honest, frightened this daytime duty officer, especially when thinking of the other party's "battle record" and the rectification that had only just barely passed not long ago, making him feel flustered and panicked.

"I just wanted to see the original, authentic scenery of the middle city; otherwise, how could it be called traveling?"

"You, you speak rightly; come, please enter and we shall talk inside."

The daytime duty officer agreed, welcoming him in while hurriedly reporting the news.

Before long, the inner city superintendent and several of his trusted aides, all of them Nascent Soul stage, arrived together, rushing over to take over the welcoming duties.

"Hahaha, Traveling Cultivator Du is a brilliant talent, young and promising. I, Zhang Qing, have long admired your great name. It is a pity we have never met, but to see you today is truly a great honor, a light in my humble abode!"

Zhang Qing, the inner city superintendent of Changle City, wore a dark green superintendent's robe, his face appearing round and slick. As soon as he opened his mouth, a string of flattery followed, with none of the arrogance of a senior at the late Nascent Soul stage, only a humble and polite attitude.

He could not help but be humble; the young man before him was not only highly regarded by their sect and had a promising future, but having clearly offended the great cultivator of Yunyi, he had gone to Yunyi City and returned completely unscathed, as if he had already resolved the grudge with that great cultivator.

Putting these events together, it made one's imagination run wild, and one could naturally have a relatively clear understanding of the degree to which he was valued by the sect.

Therefore, Zhang Qing naturally dared not be arrogant or reserved, treating him directly as a great figure of the same rank, being extremely polite.

The Nascent Soul aides behind him, seeing this, naturally followed suit, their tones humble as they took the initiative to pay their respects.

Du En responded to each one, calm but not cold, and without showing any rush, saying only: "I have troubled Superintendent Zhang and everyone to come and welcome me in person."

"No trouble at all, no trouble at all. Please, the City Lord has already learned of your arrival and is waiting at the residence. Let me take this opportunity to explain to you, Traveling Cultivator Du, the unique aspects of this inner city that differ from the small cities and border towns."

And so, Zhang Qing diligently led the way for Du En.

Walking past the inner city wall, they arrived inside the inner city.

The towns outside the city and the various heavy, grueling labors in the outer city were naturally used to ensure the production of Foundation Establishment cannon fodder, while inside this inner city, it was naturally a place specifically used to produce Golden Core foot soldiers.

Because the consumption of Qi is greater when breaking through to the Golden Core stage, and if it is insufficient or interfered with, the result is injury at best and death at worst; therefore, it is necessary to concentrate people in the inner city, where the Qi is more abundant and it is easier to monitor and control them.

These were just the general contents Du En already knew from reading the scriptures in the Southern End Library.

At this moment, following Zhang Qing's explanation, he learned of other circumstances.

"These low-level wretches, not thinking of repaying, not knowing how to improve, are always passive and lazy, and their will is unbearable to look at. Even with the aid of external forces like pills, it is actually difficult for them to break through, so it is necessary to concentrate and urge them, and then apply appropriate means to make them consciously cultivate and strive hard!"

Wisps of incense were lit and burning, shrouding the individual rooms in blue smoke, shadowy and indistinct, like chicken coops or dog kennels.

Upon hearing this, Du En raised his hand, drawing in a bit of the blue incense to sense it, and understood its general effect.

Hallucination!

These were all hallucinogenic incenses, fumigating those unwilling cultivators until they were dizzy, causing them to fall into illusions, thereby finding illusory cultivation goals and beginning to strive hard on their own.

Along the way Du En walked, he happened to see a scene of a Foundation Establishment perfection cultivator breaking through to the Golden Core stage.

"Hahaha, Xun'er, your husband has finally broken through!"

"In this Hanhai Cultivation World, there is finally a place for you and me. You wait, your husband, your husband, uh, this..."

Amidst the wild laughter and joy, when he probed the surrounding environment with his divine sense, the whole person suddenly went blank, as if struck by lightning, his heart and mind shaken, and the Golden Core he had just condensed was also shaking.

But in the end, it did not shatter.

Because right at his door, another kind of incense had been lit.

Soul-Calming Incense.

Therefore, in the end, he just slumped down dejectedly, his heart miserable, almost covering his face and weeping bitterly.

Du En withdrew his indifferent gaze and looked at the several Nascent Soul cultivators leading the way beside him.

Seeing him withdraw his gaze, several of them spoke up.

"For a person of such weak will to be able to break through to the Golden Core stage is already his good fortune!"

"Exactly! Our Immortal Sect goes to great lengths, cultivating them vigorously and teaching them earnestly, yet in the end, it is not as effective as the false illusions created by the hallucinogenic incense; it is truly infuriating!"

"Traveling Cultivator Du, please do not laugh at us. It is not that we are not attentive, but that rotten wood is truly hard to carve!"

(End of chapter)