Chapter 173: Map

"Those who leave will no longer be considered residents of Qingguang City and cannot settle there."

"Those who do not leave, whether mortals within ten years or cultivators within fifty years, may not depart Qingguang City without my permission."

After making his final additions, Ye Qingxuan withdrew his gaze.

Once his city is established, he will need these people in the short term and naturally will not allow them to leave easily.

However, once his city develops, whether these people stay or go will be of little consequence.

Hearing Ye Qingxuan's words,

a clamor immediately rose within the city.

Although the mortal residents of Qingguang City hesitated, none chose to leave.

They possessed no cultivation base; even if they left Qingguang City, they would have no way to find a stable place to settle again.

Moreover, Ye Qingxuan had just saved their lives, so they did not feel fear.

Thus, virtually all the residents of Qingguang City chose to stay.

The rogue cultivators within Qingguang City, however, fell into conflict.

The sudden appearance of a strange powerful figure taking over Qingguang City made the current situation unclear.

Furthermore, these rogue cultivators had no long-term fixed residence to begin with.

Therefore, most of them felt little attachment to Qingguang City.

Most rogue cultivators chose to leave, while a small minority chose to stay.

Due to the issue of staying or leaving, a very few cultivators even argued: "Old Li, are you and your wife really not coming with us? You intend to stay in this Qingguang City?"

Old Li looked at his pregnant wife beside him, a hint of tenderness flashing in his eyes.

Turning his head to look at the line of friends before him, he said firmly, "Old Wang, stop trying to persuade me. I have made up my mind to stay."

Old Li's name was Li Yuan, and Old Wang's name was Wang Xing; both were Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The two of them, along with several other friends, had come to Qingguang City decades ago to develop.

Among them, Li Yuan had found his lifelong partner, Mu Qingqing, within Qingguang City over ten years ago.

Therefore, Li Yuan still held some affection for Qingguang City.

Moreover, his wife Mu Qingqing was currently pregnant and unsuitable for long journeys.

Leaving Qingguang City did not guarantee finding a better place to settle.

In Li Yuan's view, Ye Qingxuan, who had saved Qingguang City, possessed considerable cultivation power; staying in Qingguang City and joining Ye Qingxuan's ranks might be a good choice.

Ordinary great cities guarded by Nascent Soul ancestors were not places one could enter at will.

For cultivators wishing to settle in such great cities, merely renting a cave dwelling required paying an exorbitant amount of spirit stones annually.

Although most cities in the Dongji Domain were inhabited by a mix of cultivators and mortals, there were still clear distinctions.

The areas where mortals lived did not have abundant spiritual energy.

The cave dwellings where cultivators lived were nodes connected to and opened up by spiritual veins.

Naturally, the cost of living in these two areas differed.

Now that there were few cultivators in Qingguang City, staying there might allow him to secure certain benefits for his unborn child.

Therefore, weighing all these factors, Li Yuan decided to stay in Qingguang City and not leave.

Seeing Li Yuan so resolute, Wang Xing did not persuade him further. He sighed and said, "Sigh, very well! Then take care. We will leave first."

Having spoken, Wang Xing and the other friends quickly left Qingguang City.

Watching his departing friends, Li Yuan simply gently embraced his wife in his arms and said nothing.

Soon, the decision regarding the rogue cultivators' stay or departure was made.

The rogue cultivators willing to stay in Qingguang City amounted to less than two-tenths of the original number.

As for the hundreds of guard cultivators of Qingguang City, they looked at each other without making any private decisions.

Finally, they all fixed their gaze on Zhou Qingguang, Heifeng, Qingyu, and Xueyu. Feeling the guards' gaze, Zhou Qingguang was also hesitant.

He wanted to leave Qingguang City yet felt some reluctance.

But if he did not leave, he would live under someone else's roof in the future, without freedom.

Moreover, Zhou Qingguang worried that if he led most of the guard members away, Ye Qingxuan would suddenly strike to kill.

Just as Zhou Qingguang hesitated, Ye Qingxuan suddenly spoke:

"What should I call you?"

Hearing Ye Qingxuan suddenly speak, Zhou Qingguang immediately came to his senses and said nervously, "Junior Zhou Qingguang!"

Ye Qingxuan nodded: "Do you have a detailed map of Xingluo Prefecture?"

Although he had taken over Qingguang City, Ye Qingxuan did not intend to establish his foothold in the Dongji Domain based on Qingguang City.

Beneath Qingguang City lay only a fourth-grade spiritual vein, which could not satisfy Ye Qingxuan.

Therefore, Ye Qingxuan planned to choose a new location to build a new city.

The choice of location was of utmost importance; naturally, Ye Qingxuan would not foolishly run around the world, searching blindly like a headless fly.

If he could obtain a detailed map of Xingluo Prefecture, it would undoubtedly save Ye Qingxuan considerable time.

"Senior, this junior only possesses an incomplete, rough map of Xingluo Prefecture, not a detailed one."

Although Zhou Qingguang did not know what Ye Qingxuan intended to do with the map, he still honestly took out a map and handed it to Ye Qingxuan.

Ye Qingxuan took the map and glanced at it, his brows furrowing slightly.

This map was indeed very rough, recording only one-third of Xingluo Prefecture.

Furthermore, the recorded terrain was extremely crude; apart from over a hundred major cities or famous mountain ranges, other areas lacked detailed markings.

Glancing at Zhou Qingguang, Ye Qingxuan asked again, "Do you know where a detailed map of Xingluo Prefecture can be purchased?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qingguang pondered for a moment and replied:

"Qingli City has it; Qingli City is the seat of our Qingli Commandery. The Treasure Pavilion there sells detailed maps of Xingluo Province, but the price is somewhat high!"

"Qingli City?"

Ye Qingxuan looked down, found the location of Qingli City on the map, and unconsciously asked:

"Does Qingguang City have a teleportation array to Qingli City?"

"No."

Zhou Qingguang shook his head somewhat awkwardly.

Because he was unwilling to submit to other major powers, no major power was willing to build a teleportation array for Qingguang City to connect with them.

So far, there is not a single city in Qingguang City that has a teleportation array leading outside.

Xingluo Province does have five neutral major cities garrisoned by Nascent Soul cultivators, open to all factions.

As long as one is willing, once the population of a controlled city reaches over one million, one can connect its teleportation array with these five top cities at any time.

However, building a long-distance teleportation array requires at least a Fifth-Rank Array Master to arrange.

Zhou Qingguang did not have the spare funds to arrange a long-distance teleportation array.

Hearing Zhou Qingguang's answer, Ye Qingxuan was not disappointed.

Looking at the distance to Qingli City, Ye Qingxuan dropped a Sixth-Rank puppet in the center of Qingguang City, left a strand of spiritual sense, and shouted loudly: "In three days, this Seat will return. Those who wish to leave, seize these three days."

He, Ye Qingxuan, also had his own pride.

He would never force those unwilling to bow to his banner.

Once the city he established developed, Ye Qingxuan believed that those who left today would eventually regret it.

Having spoken, Ye Qingxuan directly left Qingguang City and fled toward the direction of Qingli City.

(End of Chapter)