Guixu Relay Station.
A rotten tooth on the Star River Path.
When the black ship docked, the deck slammed into the gangway with a dull crack, like the sound of bones breaking. The gangway was piled with rust and dried mucus, remnants left behind by the wash of countless Epochs.
Chu Qing stepped out of the cabin.
He had changed into a set of black cloth robes and went barefoot.
With every step he took, the Dark Gold patterns faintly visible beneath his skin receded a little more. The pressure that had once been as unfathomable and unseeable as the Abyss was tightly locked within his marrow.
"Master, your Aura has been concealed." Nangong Xue followed behind him, her fingers tapping swiftly within her sleeve as several causality-shielding runes silently dispersed into the void.
Chu Qing did not look back, merely giving a hum.
His throat moved slightly.
This was Listening Wind Corner.
The Rogue Cultivator district at the outermost edge of the relay station.
There were no rules here, only a thick, inescapable stench of mold and blood.
Chu Qing led the women through the narrow alleys.
Broken bone ships lay scattered along the roadside. Several legless monsters leaned in the shadows, clutching blackened spirit stones in their hands, their pupils devoid of all light.
Chu Qing kept his gaze straight ahead.
His eyes swept over the signboards at the street corner before settling on a tavern called "Unfinished Building."
He pushed the door open.
The pungent stench of cheap alcohol rushed at him.
The tavern was dimly lit. Dozens of Heavenly Prides from different planes gathered around the tables. Some had six arms, while half of others' bodies had already crystallized. They gripped their wine bowls, making meaningless low growls in their throats, every set of knuckles clenched