Chapter 665: Chapter 333: Return to Qinglian Spirit City_2
After all, this was a blessing obtained after the loss of his Nascent Soul Dao Fruit; if it was inferior even to the Nascent Soul Dao Fruit, there would be no point in talking about blessings.
Afterward, Lin Yi left the Cliff Cave Mansion, restored everything to its original state, and headed outside. Indeed, after more than a year had passed, some of the terrain he remembered had changed.
However, this was not an issue for him at all. Aside from the advancement in his own cultivation levels enabling him to find traces of the exit, he also had the Eye of Emptiness and the Minor Blessing State to rely on.
He glanced deep into the Green Mist Area and then set off towards the exit. Since the clone of Invincible East had gone inside for an adventure, there was no need for him to take that risk. It was more prudent to play it safe.
Before long, Lin Yi had emerged from the Green Mist Area. Throughout this process, there were a few who were blind to their own death, wishing to kill others to steal their treasures, but he easily eliminated them.
The Elemental Flying Sword that he had nurtured in his Dantian along with the division of Nascent Soul into a clone had entered the body of the clone. Now inside his Dantian, there were only three wisps of breath, nothing else.
He couldn’t help feeling that after many years of hard work, he had unwittingly prepared a bridal gown for his clone.
At the entrance to the Green Mist Area, there were quite a few cultivators coming and going, but those who emerged from the inside were, more or less, injured, and some had become insane.
Lin Yi took to his Flying Sword and headed towards Green Mist City. At the city gate, he did not see the figures of Tian Ba and the clone of Hua Tuo.
He could vaguely sense that these two clones were no longer around Green Mist City, but had ventured out to even more distant places.
He didn’t know how these two clones had solved the issue of their identities, but since each clone had its own path, there was no need for him to worry about it.
At the city gate, he explained his situation to a Cultivator of Huashen acting as a guard, passed the Demon detection of the Tai Xuan Mirror, paid the entry fee, and was led by a Nascent Soul guard to the office set up by the Dao Palace in the city.
The Dao Palace controlled nine Spirit Cities, while other cities within the Human race were controlled by other factions. However, the issuance of Identity Jades and the Transmission Hall were still under the control of the Dao Palace.
Upon arriving at the office of the Dao Palace in Green Mist City, Lin Yi successfully passed the identity verification. He had already concocted his own backstory as a local cultivator from the Spirit Profound Realm.
He also changed his name and was now called Mu Yun, as he temporarily did not want to use the name Lin Yi.
After he received his Identity Jade, the welcoming Cultivator of Huashen, seeing that he had been in seclusion for such a long time, kindly provided him with a Jade Slip containing major events from the past millennium.
Furthermore, he told him that cultivating in seclusion outside was a waste of time and dangerous. It would be better to go to the Border Spirit City to earn merits and enter the Dao Palace, where the advancement would be much quicker than outside.
Lin Yi agreed happily, took his Identity Jade, bid farewell, and set off on his journey to Qinglian Spirit City.
The reason for picking an affiliated Spirit City rather than the Main Demon-Slaying City was that the main city had a high frequency of battles with the Demon Tribe, and the forests of the Demon Tribe were sure to be guarded by many Monster Beasts.
He definitely planned to enter the Demon Tribe Territory first and then transform into a member of the Demon Tribe. As for what Demon Tribe identity to assume, he would decide upon reaching the Border Spirit City.
After several city transfers, Lin Yi teleported to Qinglian Spirit City. Before entering the Spirit City, although the inspection was not as strict as in Tai Xuan Divine City, it was still more meticulous than that of other cities.
Stepping out of the Transmission Hall, he couldn’t help but take a deep breath. After more than five hundred years, he was finally back in Qinglian Spirit City once again. This time he was here as his real self, no longer under a false identity.
As the proverb goes, “Time flies, and the world changes,” but this seems not to apply to the Cultivation World, for Qinglian Spirit City appeared to have hardly changed at all. The perpetual hostility among the three races of the Spirit Profound Realm was the same.
The higher the realm one reached, the faster time seemed to pass. In the Lower Realm, a century of seclusion was considered very long, but in the Upper Realm, two to three centuries of seclusion were nothing.
Lin Yi wandered around Qinglian Spirit City and found that its layout was exactly the same as before. However, Elder Peng was no longer in Qinglian Spirit City; after his recuperation was over, he had gone to the Spirit City of Demon Purging due to the more severe situation with the Demon race.
He did not rent a Cave Mansion but instead found an inn at the edge of a marketplace to settle down. The inn was also filled with rich Spiritual Energy, but it was, admittedly, a bit more expensive than a Cave Mansion.
After all, the purpose of his visit to this Spirit City was to infiltrate the Demon Tribe. Therefore, there was no need to waste Spirit Stones on renting a Cave Mansion. After resting here for a few days and creating his virtual identity as a member of the Demon Tribe, he would head to the Demon Tribe Territory.
After arriving at the guest room, Lin Yi opened the window. He was on the top floor, facing the gates of Qinglian Spirit City. The gates were currently closed tight. According to the innkeeper, the Demon Tribe was attacking outside.
At that time, he had shattered the Fox Demon Heart with his words, granting Qinglian Spirit City twenty years of peace. Now, more than five hundred years had passed.
Using the Eye of Emptiness, Lin Yi observed the situation outside the city gates. This time, it wasn’t the Fox Demons leading the attack but the Apes, and their assault was even fiercer, causing increased injuries among the cultivators.
After watching for a while, he retracted his gaze and focused on contemplating his next plan.
According to the secret information he had obtained through special channels, there had been more than one Heavenly Tribulation in the Demon Tribe Territory over the past few centuries. However, it was unclear whether these were the Heavenly Tribulations of human ascenders from the Lower Realm or the Demon Tribe’s Transformation Tribulations.
Moreover, the interval between the Heavenly Tribulations was not fifty years, but one hundred.
Regardless of whether there were ascenders from the Lower Realm among the Demon Tribe, he had to make the trip. He could not simply watch White Painting be tormented to death.
Besides, it would be a waste not to shear the wool from the old demons of the Demon Tribe, given his ability to create a virtual Demon Tribe identity.
By the time he had sheared enough wool from the Demon Tribe, he might have reached the Transcendance Tribulation Stage, and his title in the Path of Survivor could advance to the next stage. It was very likely that the restrictions on his Demon race identity would be lifted.
Then he could go to the Demon race, find a way to shear the wool of the terrifying Demon Beasts within the Dark Abyss, and finally, having gathered the wool of all three races, proceed to Crossing Tribulation Ascension and then resolve the human race’s crisis.
Lin Yi retracted his gaze, closed the window, and opened another window facing the bustling marketplace. At this moment, he couldn’t help but think of the young girl who had guided him back then.
He could vaguely recall the girl’s name, which seemed to be Nie Xiaoling.
Now, with more than five hundred years gone by, if Nie Xiaoling were still alive, she must have reached the Golden Core Realm.
However, in this Spirit Profound Realm, threatened by demons, the Golden Core Realm, which could be called a true Sage in the Lower Realm and lead one of the Ten Major Sects, could be considered very weak.
After resting in his room for a while, Lin Yi left and headed to the marketplace. Several Qi Refinement and Foundation Building cultivators gathered around him, offering to be guides.
Yet, these cultivators did not crowd together in a disorganized manner. Instead, they asked politely in turn, unlike before when Nie Xiaoling was pushed to the back and knocked to the ground.
He asked out of curiosity, “In other city marketplaces I’ve been to, the people swarm up all at once. Why do you have such order here?”
“To answer the elder, it’s the teaching of Elder Nie that allows us all the opportunity,” one of them replied.
Hearing this, Lin Yi’s expression changed slightly. Could it be that Nie Xiaoling was still alive? However, with his current identity, it wouldn’t be convenient for him to get close. He took out some Spirit Stones, “This Elder Nie you mentioned, who is that, what’s the name?”
“To answer the elder, Elder Nie’s full name is Nie Xiaoling. She used to be a guide like us before she broke through to Golden Core. Now she is a healer among the guards of Qinglian Spirit City. Her Water Element Technique is very powerful,” a girl promptly responded, her face full of admiration for Nie Xiaoling.
Lin Yi couldn’t help but feel surprised. He had not expected Nie Xiaoling to become a healer. Although the injuries that a Golden Core could heal were limited, she still wanted to contribute to the human race with her abilities.
“I understand. You can divide these among yourselves,” he said as he handed the Spirit Stones to a Foundation Building cultivator.
“Elder, we do not need those. These were simple questions. We only charge for guiding,” the Foundation Building cultivator declined repeatedly with a wave of his hand.
Without insisting, Lin Yi nodded and said, “Alright, it’s my first time in Qinglian Spirit City, so choose someone to guide me.”