Chapter 53: Heading North

Chapter 53: Heading North

Ten days later, the flying boat arrived at Five Peaks Market Town in the southern part of Jin Yun Valley.

In the past, Lan Chang'an had once fenced stolen goods here and helped Zhao Siyao repair a superior-grade magic weapon.

In terms of scale, Five Peaks Market Town was even bigger than Bamboo Leaf Mountain.

Lan Chang'an was familiar with the area and went straight to an ancient-looking building with hanging lanterns, the tallest building in the vicinity.

Faint zither music and fragrance wafted from inside.

"Hundred Fragrance Immortal Pavilion? Big brother! You're taking me to..." Li Erqing found it hard to believe and stammered, swallowing the last word.

The big brother in his eyes, who was down-to-earth and was diligent in cultivation and temperate in lifestyle, abstaining from lust, how could he come to such a place?

"This is also my first time coming here. I'm just taking you out for some entertainment," said Lan Chang'an calmly.

After entering the Hundred Fragrance Immortal Pavilion, Li Erqing realized he had misunderstood.Diiscover new stories at novelhall.com

This place was elegant and refined, truly meant for enjoying music and dance performances.

The first floor was like a theater stage, with a graceful female cultivator in a white veil playing the zither.

There was no hint of vulgarity, only elegance and nobility. The zither music was like flowing streams and high mountains, dispelling vexations and negative emotions.

"Honored guests, would you like to be seated on the first floor or go upstairs to a private room?" A middle-aged female cultivator greeted them with a smile.

Lan Chang'an said, "An upstairs private room, send us a skilled musician." Music was also one of the hundreds of arts of cultivation. A skilled musician could cleanse the heart, help break through mental barriers, and dispel inner demons.

"Would the honored guest like to have a zither, flute or xiao performance?"

Zither, flute and xiao were the most common instruments for music cultivators.

"Let's have a xiao performance, it has a more ethereal atmosphere," said Lan Chang'an, glancing at Li Erqing who had no objection.

Soon after, a beautiful young woman in a light green dress entered their private room and respectfully bowed.

This music cultivator was at the late Qi-Refining stage, with higher cultivation than Li Erqing.

Listening for half a day would cost dozens of spirit stones.

Of course, such soul-cleansing music performances were extremely taxing on one's magic power and mental energy.

Amidst the melodious xiao music that sounded like birds singing in the mountains, the two closed their eyes. Every part of their body and soul seemed to be caressed by a gentle breeze.

Li Erqing took a short nap.

He felt the various restlessness and melancholy in his heart dissipating like smoke from a stove.

"Big brother, are you really leaving the Mu Family? They treat you well there, and there's also the young lady..."

An hour later, after learning that Lan Chang'an was leaving, Li Erqing was briefly shocked, then reluctant to accept it. It took him a while to calm down.

"Don't overthink it. My leaving doesn't mean cutting off ties with all of you. As long as I'm still in the cultivation world of Liang Kingdom, we can still keep in touch." Lan Chang'an reassured him through voice transmission.

Under the soothing xiao music, although Li Erqing felt the pain of parting, he gradually became at peace with it.

Lan Chang'an had always been diligently cultivating without taking a wife or having children, so it was evident that he had a firm dao heart and lofty aspirations.

Such cultivators were not uncommon in the cultivation world, but those who could successfully build their foundation were extremely rare. Hard work did not guarantee success, in any world.

"Big brother, where are you going?"

"Huanglong Immortal City."

Over the years, Lan Chang'an had collected a lot of information and already had a plan in mind.

For wandering cultivators in the Liang Kingdom, the place with that had the best chance to build one's foundation was Huanglong Immortal City.

This Immortal City was established by "Huanglong Immortal", Liang Kingdom's foremost wandering cultivator, and was adjacent to the Black Fog Mountain Range.

Some of the materials for the Foundation Establishment Pill came from the Black Fog Mountain Range.

This Immortal City was considered the holy land for wandering cultivators, with various forces stationed there, including some second-rank pill cultivators capable of refining Foundation Establishment Pills.

A stretch of desolate, undulating mountains came into Lan Chang'an's view.

According to the map markings in the jade slip, he was now less than a thousand miles away from Huanglong Immortal City.

Along the way, Lan Chang'an maintained a steady, unhurried pace to conserve his magic power and spiritual sense.

Long-distance flight was very different from the extreme bursts of speed used by cultivators in battle.

High-speed flight, one's fastest speed, consumed tremendous energy - Qi-Refining cultivators could barely sustain it for half an hour.

The speed difference between the two states was at least several times over.

After flying a few more hundred miles further, an Immortal City located amidst the mountainous ranges gradually emerged from the mist, like a barbaric beast hiding in the haze.

Occasionally, cultivators could be seen flying through the air.

Most of these cultivators were in the middle or late Qi-Refining stages, with piercing gazes and vigilant faces.

Some of them emanated baneful auras, clearly having killed many people or fought numerous battles in the Black Mist Mountains.

"I've heard the atmosphere around Huanglong Immortal City is rather fierce. The quality of these cultivators is indeed a cut above." Lan Chang'an mused silently.

Hmm?

At this moment, Lan Chang'an suddenly sensed fluctuations of combat.

In the hills not too far away.

A group of cultivators were fighting, concealed by a simple formation.

If not for Lan Chang'an's powerful spiritual sense, he would not have easily detected it.

"Kill them all!"

On one side were two late Qi-Refining stage men, one tall and one fat, wearing bone masks and killing indiscriminately.

The other side had three cultivators who seemed to be a family.

A middle-aged couple with a teenage son.

"Sister Ying, I'll hold them off. Take Cheng'er and run!" The middle-aged man at the seventh layer of Qi-Refining shouted hoarsely, already severely injured with his magic weapon's light growing dim and riddled with gaps.

His wife looked to be in her late thirties, with a shapely figure and cultivation at the fifth layer of Qi-Refining. Their son was sixteen or seventeen, at the third layer of Qi-Refining.

The tall masked man, at the eighth layer of Qi-Refining, wielded a pair of curved saber magic weapons, pushing the middle-aged husband into a perilous situation.

"Tsk tsk, what a beauty! A bit old but with smooth skin and a nice plump ass. If you kneel and submit to me, I might consider sparing your life." the fat masked man leered, at the seventh layer of Qi-Refining. He wielded a medium-grade magic weapon hammer, shattering the last of the woman's talisman defenses.

"You scoundrels, hurry it up! Stop letting your filthy thoughts wander." the tall eighth layer masked man berated impatiently.

"Got it, third brother!"

The fat masked man sighed regretfully before unleashing his full magic power, his hammer magic weapon smashing the woman's head into a bloody pulp.

Amidst agonizing screams, the woman and teenager were consecutively killed by the hammer.

"Sister Ying! Cheng'er!" The middle-aged man let out a furious death howl, eyes bloodshot.

"You dare kill and rob so near the Huanglong Immortal City? Sooner or later..."

The family of three perished. Even if Lan Chang'an had wanted to help, it was already too late.

He sighed quietly, having no intention of avenging the deaths or upholding justice.

"Hahaha! What's a little killing and plundering? We've even attacked disciples from Jin Yun Valley before!" Just as they were about to leave, Lan Chang'an heard the fat masked man's arrogant laughter.

Lan Chang'an's heart stirred, and his flying boat came to a halt.

"Kid! What are you looking at?"

Inside the simple formation, the two masked men noticed Lan Chang'an passing by and stopping. They glared at him with vicious, threatening looks.

(End of Chapter)