Playing the Devil

The side room was much smaller than Yao Qi's own room, but it was still spacious. The room was exceptionally simple and filled with the scent of medicine. Its only splash of color was a pink mosquito net.

In one corner of the room, a woman dressed in white was huddled there, looking at Ling Li with fear-filled eyes.

This woman in white was naturally Little Doctor Fairy. Normally, Little Doctor Fairy already possessed an otherworldly temperament that easily stirred people's protective instincts. Now, with fear written all over her face, she looked even more pitiful and delicate, instantly sending the beastly urges of certain people with peculiar tastes to the max.

"You devil, don't come any closer!" Seeing Ling Li slowly approach, Little Doctor Fairy could only shrink farther into the corner and threaten him weakly. The fearful yet innocent expression on her face perfectly conveyed weak, pitiful, helpless, but edible.

"A devil? Thanks for the compliment."

Ignoring Little Doctor Fairy's threat, Ling Li slowly walked up to her, pulled out the hands she had hidden behind her back, and, under her despairing gaze, took away a packet of powder and stored it in the System Space. Then, beneath Little Doctor Fairy's humiliated and furious glare, he searched every part of her body. Only after placing more than ten packets of differently colored medicinal powders into the System Space did he say, "Little girl, poison is dangerous. It isn't suitable for you."

Ling Li had taken away Little Doctor Fairy's poisons not because he feared she would use them against him. With the Dou Qi Garment, he was not afraid of such things at all. Rather, if those poisons triggered Little Doctor Fairy's Calamity Poison Body, that would be truly disastrous. At the very least, Ling Li was not confident he could escape.

"Danger eliminated. Now, let's get down to business." Ling Li licked his lips, his gaze toward Little Doctor Fairy growing heated.

"What are you doing? Don't come over here!!!" Little Doctor Fairy sensed that something was terribly wrong, but she could only threaten him helplessly.

"What am I doing? Didn't you say I was a devil? I'm going to do what a devil should do." Ling Li said this as though it were only natural. He twisted Little Doctor Fairy's hands behind her back, pressed her to the ground, and then pounced on her.

Five days later,

Black Rock City was one of the few major cities in the Gamma Empire second only to the imperial capital. Its thirty-meter-high walls were entirely built from a special kind of black stone. It was said that such walls could withstand even the full-force attack of a Dou Wang expert, though no one had ever verified whether that claim was true.

At the gates of Black Rock City, a squad of soldiers stood guard. Behind the battlements atop the walls, quite a few archers and crossbowmen were hidden as well. If anyone attacked the city, these archers and crossbowmen could immediately fire down from above and turn the enemy into sieves. Because of such tight defenses, entry into major cities guarded by heavy troops required an entrance fee ranging from one Silver Coin to one Gold Coin.

After paying the entrance fee, the Horned Horse Carriage Ling Li was riding in smoothly entered the tunnel-like passage through the city wall. Darkness abruptly enveloped the surroundings, with only the light at the exit still visible.

After dealing with the Wolf Head Mercenary Group and the Myriad Medicine Pavilion, Ling Li naturally followed his original plan and headed for Black Rock City. His luck was not bad; on the way, he had come across this Horned Horse Carriage bound for Black Rock City. Of course, hitching a ride still required paying a fare.

His year and a half in Qingshan Town had been fairly good. His only regret was that he had not found the one million Gold Coins Yao Qi had mentioned. Still, Ling Li had never forced matters when it came to getting something for free. Finding it would naturally have been good, but failing to find it was no loss to him.

A moment later, the view suddenly opened up. The clamor made Ling Li, caught off guard, feel as though his head were swelling. A gigantic city, dozens of times more prosperous than Qingshan Town, appeared before his eyes.

Somewhat dizzy, he rubbed the space between his brows. The sudden noise made his head spin. Since arriving in this world, Ling Li had spent most of his time in the quiet Monster Beast Mountain Range. Even Qingshan Town, which he occasionally visited, could still be considered crowded, and the mercenaries there had booming voices, but it absolutely did not create this kind of deafening bustle.

Only after recovering for quite a while did Ling Li begin to survey the city through the carriage window.

After seeing Qingshan Town, Ling Li had thought that this world had put all its technological development into Dou Qi cultivation, with everything else remaining at an ancient level. But the sight before him once again overturned his understanding.

The architectural style in Black Rock City was rather strange. There were classical Eastern pavilions and small Western-style villas. Looking toward the center of the city from afar, there was even a towering spire resembling the Oriental Pearl.

As the carriage traveled down the main road, shops from every trade and profession lined the way. Thanks to their prime locations, these shops were doing quite brisk business. Ling Li even saw a building fashioned after a Western pantheon, built entirely from pure white jade. Though jade was not valuable on the Dou Qi Continent, and stronger fire-element cultivators could even purify jade, Ling Li, retaining the experiences of his previous life, was still astonished.

"Sir, are all the major cities in the Gamma Empire this grand?" Ling Li asked somewhat absentmindedly. A city like this was not shabby in the slightest; it was extravagance taken to the extreme.

"Little brother, this is your first time in Black Rock City, isn't it? This old man was shocked too when I first came here. Compared to our town, a place like this is practically heaven," the elderly driver said with a chuckle.

"The reason Black Rock City is so prosperous is mainly because the great alchemists live here. To make travel easier for the great alchemists, the Empire even specially stationed a civilian Aerial Transport Team here."

Alchemists were the most honored profession on the Dou Qi Continent. They could refine all kinds of miraculous pills, allowing the medicinal effects of herbs to reach their fullest potential or even increase severalfold. Coupled with the harsh requirements for becoming an alchemist, alchemists were absolute elites in this world.

As for the Aerial Transport Team, it was established using third-tier Flying Demonic Beasts raised by the Empire as mounts. The fundamental reason for raising these Flying Demonic Beasts was warfare, but during peacetime, they were turned to civilian use. Because Demonic Beasts were extremely difficult to tame, there were only a few such Aerial Transport Teams in the entire Gamma Empire, showing just how much importance the Gamma Empire placed on alchemists.

"Still, although this old man has driven carriages for most of his life, I've never visited any major city other than Black Rock City. I've heard that the imperial capital is several times more prosperous than Black Rock City..." The old man shook his head. With his experience, it was difficult for him to imagine a city even more prosperous than a paradise like Black Rock City.

Before he could finish, the Horned Horse Carriage gradually slowed and finally came to a smooth stop. The old man also stopped speaking and looked at Ling Li with a smile.

"Little brother, we're here!"