Entering the City

Chen Jiao City is located on the border of the Seven Towers Federation, and Snakehead Town is a town established over twenty years ago during a war of expansion, even though the surrounding territories have already been developed.

But danger has never truly been eliminated, and the town is frequently attacked by spirit beasts.

With a letter of recommendation, Duke boarded a special vehicle belonging to the Spirit Society.

It was a special route vehicle commonly known as a "Black Beetle," shaped like a beetle several houses large. A thick smokestack stood upright at the front, and when it was about to depart, the smokestack would emit continuous black smoke.

Similar to the black smoke from factory chimneys, it was caused by burning spirit-infused slag.

For factories and vehicles, which are major consumers of Spirit Energy, powering them with Spirit Storage Cards is unrealistic and prohibitively expensive. Burning cheap spirit-infused slag is the standard operation.

As for pollution.

Black smoke is the romance of the industrial revolution.

"Woooo!"

The Black Beetle Car let out a whistle, and the black smoke from its smokestack intensified rapidly. Then, several solid tires the size of millstones slowly rotated, crushing the gravel-paved road and driving out of town.

Duke sat by the car window, watching the receding town with mixed emotions.

Snakehead Town, though called a town, is actually no different from a small county seat, with seventy to eighty thousand people crammed into it. Many, including Duke, had never left.

This time.

It was his first time leaving Snakehead Town, heading from Chen Jiao City.

The Black Beetle Car didn't travel very fast, and the carriage was quite bumpy. There were no highways or even asphalt roads; all roads were made of gravel.

These roads were also called routes.

Because in areas far from towns, Spirituality spurred all things to life. Even after humans cleared them out repeatedly, countless spirit beasts still lurked, destroying roads and attacking convoys.

Every outing was like an unknown voyage.

Clang, clang.

The car body suddenly jolted violently, almost throwing Duke up.

Someone in the carriage cursed, "Can't you drive? Don't you know there are potholes to avoid?"

Soon, a crew member came over to explain, "My apologies, everyone. The road ahead has likely been damaged by Digger Worms. The entire..."

Before she could finish, the car body jolted violently again. The crew member quickly grabbed the handrail to steady herself. Once it stabilized, she continued, "The entire road has been dug up, and the patrol and repair team hasn't had time to fix it yet. So please, everyone, hold on tight. It will be fine once we get past this damaged section."

"Damn Digger Worms!"

"When I go out hunting, I'll kill a few more Digger Worms!"

The passengers complained, cursing the 0-Ring Spirit Beast, the Digger Worm, a creature resembling a cockroach but larger than a cat, that roamed the wilderness in swarms.

After a good while of bumping, the Black Beetle Car finally stabilized.

Before long, Duke saw from the car window that they had passed another small town. They still had four more towns to pass before reaching their final destination.

They stopped for a while, with some people getting off and others getting on.

Soon, they set off again, leaving the market town, leaving the farmland, and driving into the vast wilderness.

Duke greedily gazed at the scenery outside the window. Compared to Earth, this place was filled with exotic charm. Strange plants captivated his eyes, and occasionally he could see bizarre beasts.

Suddenly.

The Black Beetle Car stopped.

"Please remain calm, everyone, and do not open your windows casually. Some spirit beasts have blocked the road, and the Great Knight accompanying the vehicle has disembarked to drive them away," the crew member said with a smile, reassuring the passengers. This situation was commonplace for her.

Duke didn't stay in his seat.

Like everyone else, he ran to the window near the front of the car to watch the commotion.

He saw two Great Knights in armor confronting several black spirit beasts that resembled leopards or wolves. Each black spirit beast was about the size of a calf.

"They're First Ring Spirit Beasts, Lean-Cheek Black Panthers. Only six of them, not enough for the two Great Knights to handle," a passenger said casually.

The standoff lasted no more than three minutes.

Suddenly, one of the Great Knights moved. Holding a shield in one hand and a sword in the other, he charged fiercely into the Lean-Cheek Black Panthers. Then, with a sweep of his single-handed sword, he unleashed a circular sword energy.

The other Great Knight slowly advanced, maintaining a threatening presence towards the Lean-Cheek Black Panthers.

One attacked, the other threatened.

The six Lean-Cheek Black Panthers dodged while baring their teeth, seemingly eager to fight, but ultimately focused on evasion and did not attack the two Great Knights.

Soon, one of the Lean-Cheek Black Panthers simply fled.

The remaining Lean-Cheek Black Panthers let out a few roars and also fled.

The spirit beast attack ended anticlimactically. The two Great Knights returned to the Black Beetle Car, chatting and laughing. Black smoke billowed upwards, and the car continued to crush the gravel road.

Back in his seat, Duke savored the brief battle he had just witnessed, feeling somewhat unsatisfied.

"That sword energy should be the Great Knight's fighting spirit," he thought, recalling how his predecessor had taken a Blood Boiling Potion in the hope of opening his Blood Sea and thus gaining talent for Knight cultivation.

Unfortunately, it was unsuccessful.

"Speaking of which, both the Blood Sea and the Qi Sea have been incorporated into the Spiritual Arcana system, recognized as branches of the Spirit Sea, and also as places where Spirituality gathers."

He communicated with Xiao Yi in his mind, using his thoughts: "Xiao Yi, do you think I still have a chance to open my Blood Sea and Qi Sea?"

"Xiao Yi lacks relevant data and cannot calculate the possibility at this time."

"Alright."

Duke gave up thinking helplessly.

He was currently just a fifteen-year-old orphan, having barely stepped onto the threshold of cultivation, and knew nothing about the true Three Seas cultivation.

Half a day later.

Chen Jiao City was in sight.

What first caught Duke's eye were the billowing black smoke from countless chimneys. However, when this black smoke rose to a certain height, it was as if a constant strong wind dispersed it, blowing it outside the city.

"It must be a constant arcane related to wind."

The Black Beetle Car drove into the station, which was bustling with all sorts of special route vehicles. After Duke got off, he followed the crowded people out of the station and then saw a trolley bus passing by on the street.

He quickly grabbed his bag and ran to a nearby bus stop.

Although it was his first time in a big city, he had already asked Old Sam about the details of food, accommodation, transportation, and living in big cities.

"Excuse me, which bus goes to the Spirit Tower?" he asked a middle-aged woman. There were no route signs at this stop, only a sign that read "West Station."

"Spirit Tower? I think it's route seventeen," the middle-aged woman said, then asked her companion, "Right? Route seventeen goes to the Spirit Tower, doesn't it?"

"Yes."

"Thank you," Duke said gratefully.

Route seventeen had a ticket seller. It cost 5 Copper Dragons to go to the Spirit Tower station, which was clearly not cheap, much more expensive than taking a regular human-pulled rickshaw.

But Duke had money now, and he wanted to try something new.

The trolley bus was very stable, but the journey was quite thrilling. Pedestrians, animal-drawn carts, and trucks almost ignored traffic rules, charging wildly and squeezing into any gap.

Fortunately, the speed was not fast, and collisions wouldn't be fatal.

"Chaotic, dirty... but also full of vitality," Duke thought to himself.