It was true that handing those bandits over would allow them to earn a sizable bounty, but it would also mean that they would have to hand over what they had looted from the bandits. No matter how much the bounty was, it was likely only to be forty to fifty Divine Coins.
That wouldn’t even hold a candle to what they had snatched directly from the bandits.
After assimilating Streak of Grey’s storage ring, Zhang Xuan found more than 400 Divine Coins inside, which meant that he had just earned around 600 Divine Coins from them. This was still excluding the pills, medicinal herbs, and weapons that they had collected.
Streak of Grey must have done quite a lot of bad things over the years, or else there was no way he would have been able to accumulate such wealth.
Given that he had left Streak of Grey to the City Lord Manor, which was a golden opportunity for the City Lord Manor to assuage the rising dissatisfactions with the City Lord Manor due to the tyranny of the bandits, as well his merit for saving the city lord’s daughter, it was unlikely that the city lord would be so thick-skinned as to ask him to fork out what he had taken from the bandits.
Taking all of these aspects into consideration, Zhang Xuan eventually made the decision to tie the bandits up and leave them there for the City Lord Manor to deal with.
…
“That fellow is sharp-witted!”
The two silhouettes in the shadows looked at the cloud of dust lingering in the distance and the despaired bandits in front of them before remarking quietly.
Tasked with protecting the Young Miss, they had been keeping a close eye out on the situation all this while.
Till now, they were still unable to figure out whether the young man was really that resourceful or that he was actually a powerful expert in disguise.
“Report this matter to the city lord!” one of the silhouettes in the shadows instructed. “Also, get someone here to bring these bandits back. We’ll be holding a public trial!”
“Yes, I’ll have it done!” the other silhouette replied before melding back into the shadows.
…
With steeds to ride on this time around, Zhang Xuan, Mo Yuan, and the others were able to proceed forward with unprecedented speed. It took them only an hour before the tall and sturdy city walls appeared in their view.
“This must be Twilight City!” Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up.
The city before him was far beyond the scale of any city he had seen previously, such that it was no exaggeration to say that it was even larger than Starchaser Island!
The grey city walls seemed to extend endlessly, and a massive formation shrouded the entire city, dyeing it with a color of mystery.
Mo Yuan nodded to affirm Zhang Xuan’s exclamation.
He had sustained heavy injuries from his encounter with Streak of Grey earlier, but as a veteran cultivator, he made sure to bring basic recovery items with him no matter where he went. After using those recovery items and recuperating for roughly an hour, he was already able to move around without much trouble.
Arriving before the city gates, Mo Yuan took out the special Access Token he had been given, and the guards permitted them entry without conducting any checks.
As soon as they stepped into the city, Zhang Xuan could sense a vast difference in the atmosphere.
The world outside was barren and vicious. Ferocious winds would often stir up out of nowhere, and the temperature would plummet to levels where it was hard for even cultivators to endure during nighttime. More importantly, spiritual energy was hardly existent in the atmosphere.
On the other hand, the interiors of the city felt warm like spring, and the spiritual energy in the air was concentrated and refreshing. It was just a single wall of difference, but it felt like he had walked from one world into another.
“This is an amazing formation,” Zhang Xuan remarked in awe.
It would take an extremely powerful formation to isolate the city from the outer world so thoroughly, such that the conditions between both places were entirely different.
Zhang Xuan knew that he wouldn’t be able to pull something like that off in his current state. Even at the very least, he would have to reach the levels of a Celestial God in order to do it.
“This formation is the key to sustaining the cities. Shortly after the receding of spiritual energy began, the Nine God Monarchs ordered the God Kings under them to construct these formations over major cities so as to preserve their conditions. Unless an equivalent expert were to make a move, or else it would be impossible to damage these formations,” Mo Yuan explained.
Zhang Xuan nodded in realization.
It seemed like he had made an underestimation. He thought that the formation was made by a Celestial God, but it would appear that one had to be at the level of the God Kings in order to create such a stable formation.
Zhang Xuan closed his eyes and took in a deep breath as he opened up his pores.
Spiritual energy from the surroundings immediately dived into his body, freeing him from the fatigue he had accumulated thus far.
“The spiritual energy of the Firmament is indeed formidable!” Zhang Xuan nodded in awe.
Just breathing in a little of it was enough to leave him revitalized.
It had been twenty days since he arrived at the Firmament, and despite stuffing himself with plants and various food, his cultivation still remained stagnated at where it was. This was his first glimpse of how potent the spiritual energy in the Firmament was.
It was not as concentrated as the Aura of Divinity that he absorbed back then, but it was sufficient for a low-tier God like him. It was definitely not something the mercury-like spiritual energy of the Azure could compare to.
It was already the middle of the night when they entered Twilight City, but the streets were still crowded with all sorts of people and vehicles.
Taking a swift look around, even the weakest cultivator that could be seen was at Semi-Divinity realm, and they numbered in the minority.
That explained why Mo Yuan was surprised when he saw him, Zhao Ya, and the others. It would appear that those in the Firmament were born with the cultivation of a Semi-Divinity, and as long as they could acquire some Aura of Divinity, they would be able to become a god.
As it turned out, powerful experts that appeared once every few millenniums in the Azure weren’t worth a thing in the Firmament at all.
“Brother Zhang, thank you for saving our lives!” Mo Yuan heaved a sigh of relief and he shot a look of gratitude toward Zhang Xuan.
He thought that Zhang Xuan was only an ordinary person that was lucky enough to catch Elder Yang Xuan’s eyes, but it was obvious that the latter had various tricks up his sleeves.
Even Wu Xiaoxiao’s opinion of Zhang Xuan had changed after the previous incident. From time to time, she would discreetly shoot a glance toward Zhang Xuan with a conflicted expression before turning away with a face reddened with embarrassment.
All this while, she thought that Zhang Xuan and the others were nobodies, and the only reason they were qualified to travel with them was due to their teacher’s standing.
Yet, with their own strength, they were able to subdue the notorious Streak of Grey, a criminal who was powerful and sly enough to slip past her father’s grasp numerous times.
Just thinking about how she had mocked them throughout the journey filled her with shame.
She realized that she was only lucky that Zhang Xuan and the others didn’t pay her any heed. Otherwise, even ten of her wouldn’t suffice as an opponent for them!
“We are grateful to you too. If not for you leading the way, we could very well still have been wandering aimlessly around the Grand Spirit Mountain right now,” Zhang Xuan chuckled.
He slipped his hand into his chest, took out a piece of leaf, and passed it over to Mo Yuan, “This is the other half of the note which my teacher passed to me.”
“Thank you,” Mo Yuan’s eyes lit up as he took the leaf from Zhang Xuan’s hands.
On the journey back to Twilight City, he had been modifying his cultivation technique based on the list of flaws Elder Yang Xuan had given him back then, and he immediately felt a clear improvement in his physical condition. His stagnated cultivation had grown a little, and his precision of control over his powers had sharpened a fair bit as well.
This was more than enough to show that Elder Yang Xuan was the real deal. His encounter with Elder Yang Xuan could very well be the turning point of his life.
Perhaps, only an expert of Elder Yang Xuan’s caliber could groom such extraordinary students. Take Zhang Xuan for example, despite being a realm weaker than him, the other party was able to subdue Streak of Grey.
At this point, Mo Yuan pondered for a moment before making an offer, “Since it’s your first time at Twilight City, I suppose you haven’t decided on any lodging yet. Why don’t you follow me to the Twilight Academy? I can arrange for some accommodations for you!”
“That would be imposing too much on you. You have been taking good care of us throughout the journey, and it would weigh on me to trouble you any further. Alright, it has been a long day for you and your students, so you should quickly head back and take a good rest,” Zhang Xuan replied with a smile.
The only reason why he traveled together with Mo Yuan was so as to ensure that he, his parents, and his students could get to the nearest city safely. Since they were already here, there was no reason for them to stay together anymore.
Furthermore, if they were to go with Mo Yuan, it would only be a matter of time before others learned that they were the ones who had subdued Streak of Grey. That would pose some inconvenience to them.
For one, even if the city lord was too embarrassed to get them to fork out the money and items they had taken from Streak of Grey, there was a good chance that the merchants who had been robbed by Streak of Grey in the past would still look for them in hopes of getting back the money they had lost. Things could really get ugly if they were to refuse.
Not to mention, Zhang Xuan didn’t wish to be put in the limelight, especially not when he didn’t have the strength to protect himself, his parents, and his direct disciples yet.
His priority at the moment was to become stronger and gain a better understanding of the Firmament before making any future plans.
“I see. If there’s anything you require my help for, feel free to look for me at the Twilight Academy,” Mo Yuan replied.
He thought that Elder Yang Xuan might have made some other plans for Zhang Xuan and the others, so he didn’t insist on the matter.
“Let’s go,” Zhang Xuan beckoned the others to follow him before heading into the bustling streets.
“Young Master, where are we going?” Sun Qiang asked.
“We’ll find a place to stay and gather some information on where we can acquire the Aura of Divinity. The priority at the moment is for all of you to reach God realm,” Zhang Xuan said.
Only after reaching God realm would Zhao Ya and the others have the strength to protect themselves in this world. Otherwise, they would be completely helpless against anyone who intended them harm.
“I understand,” Sun Qiang nodded.
He was exceptionally skilled at getting such miscellaneous stuff done, so it didn’t take him long to secure lodging from the group. It was a relatively spacious residence that could house all of them without being too squeezy.
It wasn’t too expensive either. The rent was only two Divine Coins per month.
It was through this that Zhang Xuan realized that the purchasing power of Divine Coins was far greater than he thought.
A single Divine Coin could be traded for a thousand Semi-Divinity Coins, and Semi-Divinity Coins were usually sufficient to complete most transactions in this world.
“It’s a pity that there’s no Aura of Divinity in the surrounding spiritual energy, so you won’t be able to achieve a breakthrough just by cultivating here. Nevertheless, the spiritual energy here is still very beneficial to your cultivation. The last few days have been rather difficult on you all, so make sure to rest early after you are done cultivating,” Zhang Xuan said.
It had been four hours since they had moved into the residence, and the crack of dawn could already be seen at the horizon.
After everyone was settled down, Zhang Xuan went into his room and sat down.
He immersed his consciousness into the storage ring he had taken from Streak of Grey, and a moment later, a heap of pills and medicinal herbs appeared in his hands.
This was the wealth that Streak of Grey gradually accumulated over the years through his plundering.
Through touching each and every one of the medicinal herbs, it didn’t take too long for Zhang Xuan to fully understand their properties. They were indeed all expensive stuff, but the Mayang Beast Blood that he needed wasn’t amidst the pile.
It was the ingredient he needed to complement the Greenbeast Ancient Grass in order for him to raise his soul cultivation.
He knew that it was unlikely for him to raise it all the way to the level of a Celestial God in one shot, but it would still be great if he could reach the level of a high-tier God realm through this.
The more he came to know about the Firmament, the more urgent he felt it was to quickly bulk up his strength. Unlike his time in the Azure, he was no longer alone. He couldn’t allow anything to happen to his direct disciples and his parents.
Since the ingredient he needed wasn’t inside, he quickly turned his sights to the pills. There was a diverse selection of them, ranging for recovery pills to those used for replenishing spiritual energy.
All in all, there were three bottles of the pills that replenished spiritual energy.
God Essence Pill, this was the name of the pill.
It could replenish one’s god essence, which was basically another name for the divine energy that Gods harnessed.
Other than that, there were also some books in the storage ring too. Zhang Xuan quickly went through them, and they broadened his understanding of the Firmament considerably.
Most of what he had heard from Mo Yuan was covered inside too, but of course, the information in the books was much more detailed.
He realized that the God Essence Pill was actually quite an expensive product. Due to the receding of spiritual energy, many medicinal herbs had withered and died, causing a great spike in the prices of pills. Pills that replenished one’s spiritual energy were especially in demand.
As a result, even though the God Essence Pill wasn’t particularly potent, it was still priced at a jaw-dropping one Divine Coin each.
Also, it appeared that the God Essence Pill was rather similar to the Immortal Pills of the Azure. It was also split into four tiers as well, namely low-tier, middle-tier, high-tier, and pinnacle.
Usually, low-tier God Essence Pills were enough for the cultivation of God realm cultivators. Only after reaching Celestial God realm would one require middle-tier God Essence Pills.
“Let me give it a try!”
Zhang Xuan placed a God Essence Pill into his mouth, and a great amount of spiritual energy was swiftly released inside his body. He quickly drove his divine energy to refine and absorb the spiritual energy.
Through the cultivation technique he had comprehended during his fight with Kong shi’s clone, Camaraderie of Brothers, he was able to assimilate the spiritual energy quickly.
One thing he had realized about comprehending the Pathos of Heavens was his emotions weren’t individual entities. Looking at the materialization of his emotions in the form of his cultivation technique, he could see that they were interlinked, weaving closely with one another to form a massive network.
Rather than simply stacking onto one another, each emotion he comprehended synergized with his previous enlightenments, causing the entirety of the cultivation technique to be raised to a new level.
Under the nourishment of the spiritual energy, he was able to swiftly reinforce his God realm cultivation, creating a firm foundation for him to advance to greater heights. Slowly but surely, his aura was growing stronger.
Second chappie~~
