Chapter 323 - Divine Storm City

After bidding farewell to the town lord, Lu Tianzi and Nanlan Qianxue hurried out to catch up with Bocheng, who was already standing in the middle of an open courtyard just outside the main hall.

Beside him, a giant bird stood with its head held high.

It looked like an ordinary falcon, except the fact that it was at least ten metres tall. Its majestic body emanated an oppressive pressure that only the strong could withstand, causing the servants of the town lord's residence to subconsciously stay a good distance away from it.

It was actually an a.d.u.l.t Origin Core realm beast!

"It will be a long journey ahead, so let's ride my contract beast on the way back," Bocheng patted the giant falcon with a smug look on his face. "She is a Fatal Falcon, known for their rarity and how difficult it is to capture. Even so, I managed to obtain her as my contract beast as a reward for completing an extremely difficult mission given by the Divine Storm Sect."

In his mind, just saying this much should be more than enough to impress Nanlan Qianxue, who was but a mere First Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist from a nameless sect!

But much to his irritation, Nanlan Qianxue showed no signs of surprise. Instead, Lu Tianzi was the one to reply.

"Thank you for your consideration, Sir Bocheng," Lu Tianzi clasped his fists towards Bocheng in gratitude.

"Just get on," Bocheng answered coldly before tapping the Fatal Falcon once.

Understanding his command, the Fatal Falcon bent down, allowing the trio to easily get on its back.

Due to its size, the Fatal Falcon's back was wide enough for all three of them to stand on with plenty of space to spare.

After they got on, the Fatal Falcon spread out its wings that covered a stunning thirty metres from end to end. It flapped its wings thrice, stirring up a huge gust in the courtyard before the third flap finally propelled its massive body into the air.

The size of the Fatal Falcon did little to affect its speed.

Within seconds, they were already high up in the air and tearing through the winds. The view of Bog Town rapidly became smaller and smaller, until it eventually disappeared into the horizon.

Even Lu Tianzi could not help but reveal a look of surprise upon witnessing the sheer speed of the Fatal Falcon.

This was definitely many times faster than if they had to fly by themselves!

And if the Fatal Falcon was able to maintain this pace throughout the journey, then it really was much more convenient travelling around on a beast like this.

Perhaps he should consider contracting an aerial beast in the future as well…

"Fast, isn't she? Just so you know, this isn't even her top speed!" Bocheng said with a smug smile on his face after he noticed the looks of surprise on the duo. "At this speed, it should take us around three days to get to Divine Storm City. But if I wanted to, the time taken can even be cut by two thirds, allowing us to reach in just under a day!"

"Really?" Lu Tianzi exclaimed in surprise. "Can you show that to us?"

Bocheng felt the corner of his lips twitch.

Ignoring Lu Tianzi, Bocheng turned towards Nanlan Qianxue and said, "How about it, Miss Qianxue? Do you want to see it?"

"Yes, please," Nanlan Qianxue answered with a smile.

"Since Miss Qianxue wants to see it so much, of course I will not refuse," Bocheng smiled in return. "Hold on tight!"

Bocheng sent a signal to the Fatal Falcon with a few taps of his foot, and the Fatal Falcon sped up all of a sudden. The sceneries below shifted at an amazing rate as the Fatal Falcon brought them across mountains and rivers, even passing over multiple towns and cities of various sizes.

The Fatal Falcon's streamline body cut through the air seamlessly, but the three passengers on its back were not as lucky.

Against the howling winds that threatened to slam them off the back of the Fatal Falcon, the three of them had to use their Origin Force to form a layer of protection.

Otherwise, they really might just get knocked off their feet!

Of course, since all three of them were at the Origin Core realm, they would not be in any real danger even if they were to fall off the back of the Fatal Falcon.

"Hahaha! How is it? This is the true speed of my contract beast!" Bocheng laughed heartily.

"It really is amazing," Nanlan Qianxue replied in absolute sincerity.

She had never travelled at such a speed before, and her heart could not help but beat faster in exhilaration.

Nanlan Qianxue clenched her fists emotionally.

One day, she will definitely achieve such a speed by her own capability as well!

Bocheng smiled in satisfaction after hearing the answer he wanted. "This is but the tip of the iceberg. As an inner disciple of the Divine Storm Sect, there is much more that I am capable of! If you want to, I will be more than happy show you a world that you have never seen."

"Sir Bocheng, if I may ask… what will be the reward for us?" Lu Tianzi interrupted.

The reward had not been stated explicitly on the bounty list earlier, so Lu Tianzi could not help but feel curious about it.

Bocheng shot an irritated glance at Lu Tianzi. "Why are you so impatient? From what I understand, the elders are intending to grant you your rewards during the wedding, so just stay put and wait. Don't you worry, the Divine Storm Sect will surely not shortchange you!"

"The wedding?" this time it was Nanlan Qianxue's turn to ask.

"Oh, Bog Town's town lord didn't tell you about it? My apologies, I should have told you this earlier," Bocheng revealed a look of surprise. "The Divine Storm Sect is currently preparing for the wedding of the direct disciple of the sect leader. Because of that, the entire Divine Storm City is making preparations for it right now. From the looks of it, it seems like the elders are intending to make it the grandest event that the city has seen in centuries!"

Lu Tianzi could not help but sigh inwardly.

They were both here with Bocheng, but the treatment they were getting was so different.

This was the reality of this world – beautiful girls would always receive preferential treatment from guys.

But disregarding that, this wedding might serve to be a good opportunity for them as well.

Currently, they knew next to nothing about the central regions and the various major influences here.

But since a major influence like the Divine Storm Sect was intending to make the wedding as grand as possible, they would probably invite the major characters from other powerful influences as well.

As long as the two of them were able to attend it, it would surely be a good opportunity to figure out just how things worked here.

Who knows?

Perhaps this information would end up being more valuable than the reward itself!

Not many words were exchanged for the rest of the journey.

Once Nanlan Qianxue decided to sit down in meditation, Bocheng fell silent as well.

Day turned to night, and night turned into day once more.

During this time, the Fatal Falcon continued flying forward without rest, yet it was still able to maintain its top speed for the most part of the journey.

By the time its speed finally started to slow, the majestic Divine Storm City had already come into view in the distance.

It spanned an area multiple times that of the Scarlet Moon City, with pure white walls lining its perimeters, reaching up to at least twenty metres in height. The buildings within were lined neatly, forming streets that reached straight to the palace that stood in the centre of the city.

And just by itself, this beautiful palace took up almost half the area of the city.

It was a city of grandeur unlike any Lu Tianzi had ever seen.

Well, unlike those that he had seen in person, at least.

The only city that Lu Tianzi could compare it with was the Thousand Venoms City in Lord Er's memories. But even when compared to that, this Divine Storm City did not pale too much in comparison.

The Fatal Falcon landed just outside of the city gates, which were wide enough even for ten Fatal Falcons to wade in side by side.

But the thing that caught Lu Tianzi's attention was a huge group of people gathered outside the city gate.

There people were not lining up to enter the city. Instead, many of them have even set up tents for themselves, as though prepared to stay outside for a while.

Altogether, the tents numbered up to a hundred or more, forming into a community of its own.

Of course, these tents were set up a good distance away from the city gate, making sure that they did not block the way.

When the Fatal Falcon landed in the space between the group of tents and the city gate, many of those within the tents could not help but look over curiously.

Lu Tianzi took a quick look at them and realised that these people were not only all martial artists, but there was even a small number of Origin Core realm martial artists among them!

"Let's enter."

Unlike Lu Tianzi, Bocheng nonchalantly ignored the stares from these people, directly leading the way towards the city gate.

"Sir Bocheng, may I know what's with the people living outside the city?" Lu Tianzi asked while following his lead.

Hearing this question from Lu Tianzi, Bocheng surprisingly revealed a smile.

"The Divine Storm City is not a place where just anybody can enter. One has to be a martial artist from at least an Origin Core level influence, or have a recommendation from an elder of the Divine Storm Sect! Even so, influences from all over bring their young talents here in hopes of obtaining the recognition of an elder, hoping that they will be able to join the Divine Storm Sect. But how can it be so easy? The so-called talents in their sects are nothing when put under the stringent requirements of the Divine Storm Sect!"

"So that's why…" Lu Tianzi nodded. "What about those who are at the Origin Core realm?"

Even if the young talents had come from afar in hopes of obtaining the recognition of an elder of the Divine Storm Sect, there was no need to stay out here if they were from an Origin Core level influence.

That said, there was simply no reason for Origin Core realm martial artists to be staying out here!

Bocheng snorted, "Even among those who qualify to enter the city, many find it difficult to afford the rental charges within the city. All these rejects have no choice but to congregate outside the city instead. But you don't have to worry. With me around, there will be no issue with you entering the city!"

Disregarding Bocheng's prideful smile, Lu Tianzi was genuinely shocked at this point.

Even Origin Core realm martial artists found it difficult to afford the rental charges within the city?

Just how ridiculously high were the rental charges then?

For them to be able to charge such exorbitant prices, perhaps this Divine Storm Sect was actually far more influential than he had first imagined!