Chapter 389: A Completely Different Alien City

A silver nine-tailed fox demon, trailing a long fox-fire tail, plunged straight into the dense, silent atmosphere, while Yuan Hao Zhenren and Xuanche, flying on swords, followed closely behind like meteors; they entered the deceleration phase near the equator and soon encountered a massive, thick layer of clouds.

The clouds rushed toward them like endless curtains, growing darker the deeper they went, with sunlight gradually fading behind the cloud layer; the nine-tailed fox, carrying Yu Sheng, navigated the depths of cumulonimbus clouds rich in water vapor and tiny ice crystals, while Erin clung tightly to Yu Sheng's arm, hanging onto the latter like a koala, her eyes wide as she gazed at the scenery beyond the fox's back—wild winds howled, bright arcs of lightning occasionally burst within the clouds, and in the sudden flashes brought by thunder and lightning, a torrential rain poured down, surging in the sky like an overturned ocean.

The two poles of this planet are cold and dry, while the equator is shrouded in an almost eternal rainy season; a thousand years ago, pioneers came to this planet for its rich mineral deposits, building the initial arrays and mines amidst the pouring rain; now, although many of those magnificent excavation facilities have been decommissioned, their main frames still stand firm and resilient in the equatorial downpour, rising into the clouds like monuments.

And many of the cities subsequently built on this planet were established mostly around those ancient giant excavation stations, lurking like ant nests in the shadow cast by those refining towers and orbital elevators that blocked out the sky.

The fox demon burst out from beneath the clouds, pierced through the rain curtain, and flew toward Mocheng, the largest city on the equator.

A massive structure as huge as a tower reaching the sky rushed past nearby; on the giant tower, one could still see rusted transport mechanisms and complex pipe systems worn by wind and rain, and many similar Gao Ta could be seen standing scattered among the mountains and plains; enormous cable structures and ancient transport tracks pierced through the earth and sky, connecting one another between those giant towers, with some tracks extending to the ground, linking the great Dacheng built between twelve refining towers.

Lights still illuminated most of the ancient refining towers, creating streams of light connecting heaven and earth in the night-like rain curtain; from time to time, medium-sized Xianzhou or oddly shaped small flying vehicles could be seen passing through the rain, entering and exiting the airspace above the city along the routes indicated by those lights, appearing quite busy.

Hu Li followed suit, entering the route under Yu Sheng's guidance and approaching one of the "air gates" into the city—here, a large ring-shaped facility floated near an extended platform of one of the ancient refining towers; the ring itself was constructed from many glowing rune bricks, loosely floating in mid-air, while cultivators clad in black rain capes stood in the half-sky, vigilantly watching flying vehicles (and mobile immortals) of all sizes pass through the ring and enter Mocheng.

Those rain-caped cultivators wore insignias of the Mocheng Air Traffic Control Bureau and all wore exceptionally wide, pitch-black bamboo hats; faint light shimmered along the brims of the hats, emitting energy fields that blocked the extra-cold rain curtains in the air; the ring-shaped facility nearby in the half-sky could automatically record flying units entering and exiting Mocheng's airspace and conduct basic security checks—if one did not enter the city through these rings, it would trigger the city's great protective array and bring soldiers to pursue.

Yu Sheng's group passed the checkpoint smoothly—the combination of a silver nine-tailed fox and two sword-flying immortals (one of whom was riding a chainsword) drew some attention from the rain-caped cultivators but caused no trouble.

Just as the group had passed through the ring and was preparing to descend into the city, some noisy commotion made them stop.

A rune stone brick on the ring suddenly lit up, sounding a sharp alarm; two rain-caped cultivators immediately stepped forward and stopped a middle-aged man wearing a gray short shirt, with messy hair, standing on a flying sword.

The stopped middle-aged man made a loud fuss.

Erin instantly popped her head out from under Yu Sheng's arm, leaning forward to look at that platform: "There's drama to watch!"

Yu Sheng also turned his head to look, just in time to hear one of the rain-caped cultivators sternly interrupt the middle-aged man's commotion: "Do not fly a sword while drinking; do not drink while flying a sword—this fellow Daoist, the rune stone has detected that you have been drinking; arguing is useless, come with us."

The middle-aged man in the gray short shirt immediately widened his eyes, looking extremely unconvinced: "I am the Wine Sword Immortal! Do you understand? I am officially registered in the Taixu Lingshu as a legitimate Wine Sword Immortal! Drinking is part of my sect's cultivation! I have a certificate!"

Upon hearing this, the two rain-caped cultivators instinctively exchanged glances; one hesitated for a moment before speaking: "Then show us your certificate."

The middle-aged man who claimed to be the Wine Sword Immortal handed over a jade tablet.

The rain-caped cultivator took the jade tablet, infused spiritual energy to verify it, and immediately shook his head.

"That makes it even worse, fellow Daoist; the transport artifact you registered as a Wine Sword Immortal is a purple-gold gourd, not this flying sword."

"I was in a hurry to leave and mistakenly took my daughter's item," the Wine Sword Immortal scratched his hair, looking somewhat embarrassed, "I was just about to go find her to get my gourd back..."

"Then you should have entered the city by land," the rain-caped cultivator shook his head, "the transport tool does not match the one permitted by your certificate; fellow Daoist, you must come with us even more."

Wine Sword Immortal: "..."

The small chaos at the checkpoint ended quickly; Yu Sheng and Erin simultaneously withdrew their gaze from the drama.

"You guys are quite strict," Yu Sheng couldn't help turning his head to say to the two immortals beside him as they continued flying toward Mocheng, "I was wondering how the 'No Sword-Flying After Drinking' rule would handle someone like the Wine Sword Immortal; turns out even the Wine Sword Immortal needs a certificate here?"

"Of course a certificate is required," Yuan Hao Zhenren, who was floating in the air on his chainsword nearby, laughed upon hearing this, "otherwise, some alcohol-loving cultivators would get drunk daily, fly their swords recklessly, and claim to be Wine Sword Immortals when stopped for inspection; wouldn't that cause chaos?"

Xuanche on the other side also chimed in: "Exactly; the Great Dao is myriad, and anything in the mortal world can enter the Dao; the Wine Sword Immortal is indeed an ancient and orthodox lineage, but having said that, walking this path is truly not easy—one must have sufficient aptitude, a suitable nature, a bit of luck in the tribulations of the mortal world, and finally, a good body..."

Yu Sheng was stunned: "A good body?"

Xuanche nodded: "Yes, otherwise one might drink oneself to death before reaching Foundation Establishment."

"... So after Foundation Establishment, one is not afraid?"

"Even after Foundation Establishment, one can drink oneself to death—but usually there is still time to use pills to cure it," Xuanche said solemnly, "Our Qianfeng Lingshan's specialty, the 'Wine God Powder', specializes in treating such cases; we have long-term cooperation with major immortal breweries across the world—they sell wine, we sell medicine; all cultivators who enter the Dao through wine are our clients."

Yu Sheng was left speechless: "Ah, this... is this reasonable? No, the Wine Sword Immortal, in my impression, shouldn't be that kind of unrestrained and free-spirited figure, naturally refined after being tempered by the mortal world... the kind of sage who sees through the world? How is it like this in your place..."

He couldn't organize his words for a long time to express his current confusion tactfully, but obviously Yuan Hao Zhenren had understood his meaning; the old master just smiled slightly and spoke calmly: "Correct, the 'first one' was like that."

Yu Sheng: "..."

"But after the first one spent a lifetime comprehending this 'Dao', starting from the second one, it is no longer so," Yuan Hao Zhenren shook his head gently, seeming to sigh yet carrying a calm composure born of detachment, "'Dao' is mysterious and profound; 'comprehension' relies heavily on opportunity, but 'cultivation' is reproducible... Fellow Daoist Yu, what you described belongs to the original, simple pastoral times, but the pastoral times of our Taixu-Feiyu civilization circle... ended thousands of years ago."

Yu Sheng said nothing, only raising his head thoughtfully to look at the alien scenery amidst the pouring rain before him.

The spiritual ore refining towers built a thousand years ago pierced the clouds; the vast, brightly lit city lay prostrate upon the earth; Xianzhou bearing Star Express markers descended from the clouds, fully loaded with alien crafts from the Algrede Star Domain; in the hazy illusions above the city, projections of Xianshan and auspicious clouds displayed the scenery of a tourism promotional video released by the distant capital planet.

Yu Sheng felt some emotions rise in his heart, yet he didn't know what exactly he was feeling.

They landed in that great city—various sizes of "Xianzhou Platforms" were built among the towering high-rises; Hu Li randomly chose one to descend, and on the way from the Xianzhou Platform to the neighborhood, she ended up with her mouth full of advertisement papers.

Some promoted hotels, others recommended duty-free malls, some advertised supermarket sales, and there was even one specifically for fur care and maintenance for Xian beasts; the last one distributing ads was a young girl; seeing a silly silver nine-tailed fox walk down from the high platform, she was completely shocked, then boldly approached and stuffed a flyer into Hu Li's mouth; the flyer announced a new tail care promotion in the store, charging only the price of one tail regardless of how many tails a single guest had...

Upon hearing this, Hu Li was about to go immediately; fortunately, Yu Sheng persuaded her to stay back—after all, running a small business was not easy for them; if a silly fox went there and caused a "ten thousand tails paying homage," the shop would likely go bankrupt immediately...

"This really isn't the same style as Qianfeng Lingshan; from the art style to the atmosphere, everything is different," standing on the streets of Mocheng, Yu Sheng looked at the streets with vehicles coming and going in the rain curtain and the hazy high-rises in the distance, unable to help but sigh, "If one ignores the stylistic details in certain architectural parts, this place even reminds me of Jiecheng... even near the 'parking lot', people are still handing out small advertisements."

"If one must say, a 'sect headquarters' like Qianfeng Lingshan is the exception," Yuan Hao Zhenren smiled and shook his head, "there only cultivators gather; even in the Enlightenment Hall, all are practitioners who have entered the path; but in the Feiyu Star Domain, most are ordinary people who have only undergone basic cultivation and possess weak spiritual power—although by external standards, our ordinary people here are somewhat extraordinary, ultimately, the cities where they gather are still different from 'Xianshan'."

"Where are we going next? Benefactor, I'm hungry," Hu Li mumbled, her speech slurred because she had many small advertisements stuffed in her mouth.

"Master has already arranged accommodation for us," Xuanche immediately spoke up, "near the city center—there is food there as well."

Hu Li immediately tilted her head back, swallowed the stack of small advertisements, chewed them, and swallowed them down, happily saying: "Great, great, let's go eat first!"

(End of Chapter)