Chapter 407: The Beggar of Immortal City

However, these formation arrays are immensely powerful, not far behind even the ultra‑strong boundary of the Immortal Realm.

The stacked houses, comparable to a bustling community the size of a small world, made everything seem utterly incomprehensible.

On the outskirts of the Everlasting Immortal City, countless peripheral towns float in the air; calling them towns is only relative— even the smallest peripheral town is no smaller than a small world.

The towns come in all shapes—circular, spindle‑shaped, plate‑shaped, ship‑shaped, star‑shaped, tree‑shaped, and so on—truly myriad and bizarre.

Among all the small towns, a conspicuous patch of green stands out especially.

"That's Green Forest Guard City!" Qin Wu pointed there. "There's a teleportation point inside, also a hub for this starry sky."

Wei Yuning's eyes burned forward as he thought, "Green Forest Guard City, I'm coming, Qiu Hu, I'm coming!"

The rest of the journey consists of a series of small teleport arrays; although the distances are shorter, they actually consume more time. Because the star‑power convergence points here are scattered, not every segment has a usable teleport, so one must rely on Great Translocation or the Immortal Shuttle to make progress.

And Wei Yuning's companions vary in strength, some even being beast cultivators, so riding the Immortal Shuttle is the only option.

After walking, stopping, and wandering for about three days, Wei Yuning's party finally reached Green Forest Guard City, a city built upon a colossal tree. The tree is so massive—covering more than half a small world's area—that once inside, apart from the blue‑green sky, one can't tell that the ground beneath is merely the tree's branches.

The teleport array of Green Forest Guard City is a large teleport hub for the nearby starry sky; although it isn't directly linked to the Edge‑land starry sky array, it has direct teleport channels to surrounding towns and even the interior of Immortal City, making it a true transportation hub.

Qin Wu, the local big‑wig leading the way, guided everyone through the bustling square, which to Wei Yuning resembled the familiar sight of a train station during the Spring Festival travel rush.

"Brother Qin, what are these people doing?" Wei Yuning asked as he walked side by side with Qin Wu, suddenly spotting many cultivators sitting under the shade of trees in the square. In front of them lay a series of shabby pots containing fragments of spirit stones; a quick glance revealed that all the spirit stones were low‑grade.

This is the vicinity of Immortal City—quite shabby, isn't it!

"They're all cultivators who can't make a living, begging for travel funds here before they leave!" Qin Wu said evenly.

"I think… they're at least at the Fusion Stage, right?" Wei Yuning asked tentatively.

"If their cultivation were truly that low, there'd be no issue. These departing cultivators are at least at the Golden Core stage, yet they lack survival skills. In every small place they're still at the inner‑sect elder‑ancestor level, unwilling to lower their pride for menial chores, so they have to leave!" Qin Wu said with a disdainful expression.

"I've heard Immortal City issues all kinds of mercenary contracts—can't they take those?" Wei Yuning asked, recalling that the mercenary system is the biggest feature of Immortal City.

"There are too many mercenaries, and good contracts are only available to connected families or truly capable individuals; outsiders find it hard to obtain them!" Qin Wu blinked and said, leaving the meaning implied.

Wei Yuning looked at these great masters of the cultivation world with sympathy, feeling a new worry; indeed, Immortal City is not easy to live in. Without the support of Bi Yi Island, it would truly be troublesome.

The companions, hearing the two's conversation, felt mixed emotions; they had originally come to Immortal City simply to escape the dark army, yet now the first problem they face is not safety but survival.

With that in mind, they hurriedly followed the city lord's steps; at least by following him they wouldn't starve.

He led the group away from the square, walked along an endless‑looking long street for a while, then turned into a narrow alley where Qin Wu finally stopped.

"There are several reasonably priced inns nearby; you can stay here for now. If you go deeper into the alley, there are affordable eateries, and meals won't cost many spirit stones. I'm not familiar with Green Forest Guard City either; I only know this area, so I can only bring you here." Qin Wu looked at everyone with a hint of apology and said, "City lord, may I have a word?"

Wei Yuning nodded, followed Qin Wu a few more steps, and arrived under a massive tree bearing thick red leaves. The alley's trees are unusual—nearly half of them are of this red‑leaf variety.

Along the side were a few stone benches and a stone table, perfect for resting. As they walked, such furnishings appeared everywhere; they seem to be one of Green Forest Guard City's street‑scene hallmarks.

The strong sunlight, mild climate, abundant vegetation, and air infused with wood‑type vital energy that nourishes the flesh indeed make it a highly livable place.

For Wei Yuning, the drawbacks are clear: there's none of the lively, complete spiritual Qi found in the living‑spirit world. Yet for wood‑root cultivators, it's a very good short‑term training ground.

"Puppet person… do you need me to find someone to deliver a message?" Qin Wu glanced into the distance, and without waiting for Wei Yuning's reply, continued, "I forgot to tell you, the Immortal City identity card I gave you is of a temporary residence type, a notch above the lowest tier, granting you eligibility to accept missions issued by the inner city of Immortal City. Once you accumulate enough inner‑city mission points, you can upgrade to a higher tier; after reaching the fifth tier, you can truly become a resident of Immortal City."

Wei Yuning finally understood; no wonder Qin Wu was so straightforward. After all, Qiu Hu had once said that each Immortal City resident can only be granted one residence qualification.

He now has no inclination to blame Qin Wu; at least what he gave is useful, allowing him to take missions in the inner city.

"I'll just treat that as a dream; he never contacted me again!" Wei Yuning, having already settled terms with the puppet person, naturally didn't want any further complications.

"But if you don't inform the higher‑ups of Immortal City, what will you do if something happens?" Qin Wu insisted. He had a gut feeling that Wei Yuning wasn't lying; although he wanted to avoid such an overwhelming responsibility, as a member of Immortal City he had to ask.

"I don't find the puppet person's threat particularly frightening; he merely mentioned that it would slow down teleportation time! Just hear me out, don't spread rumors. I just want to quietly cultivate here without trouble!" Wei Yuning hesitated, then added, "If you really want to know what they asked me to bring, I can tell you. But think it through—once you know and don't relay it to Immortal City's ruler, you'll bear the same responsibility as I do!"