Chapter 430: Gelu Town

"Who on earth are you people?" Aiweier looked at the battle that had just drawn to a close, staring at Lingyun and the other two in astonishment.

"The world is a dangerous place; it's just like the disguise tool you're wearing on your hand—we've merely hidden our true strength," Lingyun said with a faint smile. "Otherwise, a Ninth-Rank Warrior as young as you, much like your identity as a Spirit, would attract the covetous eyes of who knows how many people."

Afterward, Aiweier watched, dumbfounded, as the aura emanating from Chen Jing and the other person dropped again and again, finally stabilizing at the level of the Sixth Rank.

"But why did you choose to be Sixth-Rank Warriors?" Aiweier asked with some curiosity.

"Too strong won't do; it will invite covetousness. Too weak won't do either; after all, beauty moves men's hearts, and since all three of you are so beautiful, it's inevitable that some blind fools would come sniffing around," Lingyun shrugged. "Besides, a Sixth Rank can be raised to a Seventh Tier at any time, stepping into the ranks of high-level warriors. Facing high-level warriors of this age, even those with ulterior motives would have to weigh their own strength and consider whether there is some family backing us."

Listening to Lingyun's words, Aiweier couldn't help but widen her eyes, clearly not having expected that such a tactic even existed.

"If we keep moving forward, we can leave the forest and enter a small town, provided this town hasn't disappeared," Lingyun said, looking at the map in his hand.

"The style of this map of yours looks very ancient!" Aiweier remarked, examining the map in Lingyun's hand.

"That's right, this map does indeed have a very long history," Lingyun nodded. "I hope that town is still in its original location."

The map in Lingyun's hand was a military map he had dug out from a corner of his Heart Realm; because so much time had passed, Lingyun could not be certain of the town's location.

"Lingyun, haven't you noticed that our journey here has been a bit strange? Logically speaking, a forest with such abundant resources should have many adventurers frequenting it; how is it that we haven't seen a single soul until now?" Chen Jing moved closer to Lingyun and asked with a frown.

"When things are abnormal, there must be demons at work. Let's be careful!"

In fact, the reason there were no adventurers in the forest this time had something to do with Aiweier. After learning that Spirits were hidden in this forest, the Slave Hunting Team to which Daoba and the others belonged had placed a blockade on the area, forbidding anyone from entering. Under the armed suppression of the Slave Hunting Team, many adventurers were angry but dared not speak out, and could only temporarily leave the forest. This was the reason Lingyun and his party hadn't seen any adventurers in the forest during this time.

"Look, is that place ahead the town Lingyun mentioned?" After walking out of the forest, Aiweier suddenly pointed to the buildings looming on the horizon in the distance.

The gazes of Lingyun and the other two followed the direction Aiweier was pointing, and there was indeed a building there.

"It seems so; that place should be the one we are looking for." Lingyun squinted at the distant town. After all, a thousand years had passed; he had no idea what the town had become.

"To think this place is the legendary thousand-year-old town—Gelu Town!" Walking down the street, Aiweier looked at the scenery of the town with curiosity.

"Thousand-year-old town? Gelu Town actually has such a title?" Lingyun raised an eyebrow.

"Of course, Gelu Town is the most famous town on the outskirts of the Magic Beast Forest, and its name was even given by people from the Lingyun Mercenary Group. For these thousand years, this town has maintained an important geographical position; it is not only the most important material trading point outside the Magic Beast Forest, but also the first fortress to resist beast tides, having successfully repelled attacks from beast tides emerging from the Magic Beast Forest many times," Aiweier explained to Lingyun from the side.

"Has a small, ordinary town from back then grown to this extent now?" Lingyun sighed softly, not knowing what he was thinking.

Although the name Gelu Town contains the word "small," its area is not small at all. On the main street, one could see people carrying weapons at any time. These people were clearly adventurers, and most of them had strength no lower than the Third Rank. It should be said that anyone below the Third Rank entering the Magic Beast Forest was no different from serving themselves up as a meal.

"Hey, listening to your tone, why do you sound like an old man? Don't tell me you even witnessed the founding of this town!" Aiweier looked at Lingyun and said with a grin.

"Uh..." Lingyun's expression was somewhat subtle.

His connection to this town was indeed quite deep, and Aiweier had actually guessed correctly; he had indeed witnessed the founding of Gelu Town, and he had even named it himself. However, there was no point in mentioning that now.

"Looks like we can find a place to have a good rest!" Chen Jing stretched and looked at the inn in front of them.

Because there was a Spirit with them, Lingyun and his party could no longer enter the Cloud Realm to rest at night. Now that they had found a town, being able to find an inn to take a proper bath and then have a good sleep was indeed an exciting thing.

"However, we should go and prepare some currency, right!" Su Wanyue reminded him. "After all, we didn't bring any money when we left!"

"Money is not a problem." Lingyun tossed a magic core in his hand; this magic core was something he had obtained from the head of a Demon Beast. No matter the time, this kind of magic core, which possessed significant magical power, was a hot commodity.

"Lingyun, look, there is a shop over there that seems to be buying all kinds of materials." Aiweier's gaze fell on a shop with people coming and going.

"This emblem is... an iris?" Lingyun looked at the pattern on the shop's sign, a flash of surprise in his eyes.

"That's right, it's an iris! Legend has it that this flower didn't exist on this Continent at first, but was summoned by the Lingyun Mercenary Group from another continent," Aiweier said with some excitement. "Before the people of the Lingyun Mercenary Group fought the final battle against the Lord of the Demon World, they gifted the iris and its seeds to their good friend, the then-famous Jueyun Sword Saint of the Continent. Later, this flower became the emblem of the Jueyun Family."

"Jueyun, is it?" Lingyun chuckled softly, not knowing what he was thinking of.

"The Jueyun Family is considered a very famous major family on the Continent today, and their reputation for doing business has always been very good; there have basically been no instances of the shop bullying its customers," Aiweier explained from the side. "Their family is also one of the few families that can trade with our Spirit race."

"Since you've said so, let's go to this one!" Lingyun withdrew his gaze from the iris on the sign and stepped toward the shop.

Not long after, Lingyun walked out of the shop with a small money pouch in his hand.

"Lingyun, how did it go?" Chen Jing came over and asked.

"The price was very fair. Now we can go find a place to stay," Lingyun said calmly.