Moonwatch Immortal City

Zhu Yinhua's face fell, and his enthusiasm waned at once. "Fine, tiger hide it is."

"You there, fatso! Swindling people again? Stop right there! Watch this master skin you alive and pull out your tendons!"

Lu Xiaotian was just about to take the booklet bearing the words Immortal City Regulations on its cover when a thunderclap-like roar rang out. Looking up, he saw a middle-aged Daoist in blue robes charging toward them with a longsword in hand, killing intent billowing around him.

"Little brother, put the booklet away. I'm leaving first." At the sight of the newcomer, the fat on Zhu Yinhua's body quivered. He stuffed the booklet into Lu Xiaotian's hand, snatched up the tiger hide as though afraid it would be taken from him, and vanished into the grass in a puff of smoke. His movements were extraordinarily practiced, and his speed was astonishing.

"That damned fat man got away again." The blue-robed Daoist stamped his foot in frustration, filled with endless regret. Stopping before Lu Xiaotian, he asked, "Little brother, did you see which way that fat man fled?"

"No. He ran too fast, and there was too much grass around to make it out clearly. Is that man surnamed Zhu your enemy?" Lu Xiaotian was full of questions.

"Not exactly an enemy. That damned fat man is simply rotten to the core. He specializes in cheating and swindling low-level Rogue Cultivators traveling from mortal kingdoms to Moonwatch City. I saw him take something from your hand. You got fooled too."

"This copy of the Immortal City Regulations should be somewhat useful, and it wasn't expensive." Lu Xiaotian took out the booklet.

"Not expensive? It still costs one Spirit Stone. Once you reach the Immortal City, there are notices about the city's rules right at the gate. That damned fat man merely copied one out by hand, deliberately made the consequences sound terrifying, and used it to deceive low-level rogue immortals passing through who had never visited the Immortal City. And that map scroll is nothing unusual in the Immortal City either; one low-grade Spirit Stone can buy one. That fat man sold me one for three Spirit Stones! He cheated me out of all my savings and left me unable to take a single step in the Immortal City." The blue-robed Daoist was so angry that he kept stamping his feet, his face flushed red as he grieved over those extra Spirit Stones.

Lu Xiaotian was dumbfounded. He had already witnessed the black-robed old man's deep cunning, Situ Jing's boundless arrogance, the Situ Clan's utter disregard for human life, and Lü Bifeng's shrewdness. But this was the first time he had encountered someone so shameless. Fortunately, the blue-robed Daoist had appeared in time. Otherwise, he might have been cheated out of at least another one or two Spirit Stones.

"Since that fat man surnamed Zhu has been running this scheme for so long, he should know the terrain around here extremely well. And he runs very fast. If you truly want to find him, you might try changing your appearance and disguising yourself as a Rogue Cultivator heading to Moonwatch City. That may work."

"Thank you for the reminder, little brother." The blue-robed Daoist thought it over and immediately looked delighted.

"May I ask, brother, how do I get to Moonwatch City? How far is it from here?" Lu Xiaotian asked.

"Follow this official road straight ahead. In about two hours, you'll come to a great snow mountain shrouded in clouds and mist. There is also a small path up the mountain. Cross it, and you'll see a towering city—that is Moonwatch Immortal City."

Lu Xiaotian cupped his hands in thanks. After parting with the blue-robed Daoist, he headed in the direction indicated. His heart surged with excitement. From the inn waiter's conversation and what he had just seen, he could tell that he was indeed not far from the Immortal City. If this were not near the Immortal City, how could he have encountered two cultivators in one day, both stronger than him? Before this, while traveling through several mortal kingdoms and meeting tens of thousands of people along the way, he had found it difficult to encounter even a single cultivator.

Sure enough, after following the blue-robed Daoist's directions for two hours, a range of rolling mountains blocked his path. Clouds and mist coiled around the mountainsides, displaying the mountains' great height. Tigers roared and apes cried among the peaks, while the cold wind howled. A narrow goat trail twisted upward, rugged and winding, its end nowhere in sight.

Lu Xiaotian used the Wind-Riding Art to travel along the mountain path, but he moved much more slowly than on level ground. No wonder mortal people who wished to reach the Immortal City had to be peerless martial artists or have a cultivator protect them all the way. Otherwise, the bitter cold of these snowy peaks alone would freeze them into ice sticks. Only peerless martial artists with profound internal strength could barely endure it. Even for him, at the Second Layer of Qi Refining, crossing these undulating, towering snow peaks was no easy task.

After several days, Lu Xiaotian finally reached the other side of the snowy peaks. "Moonwatch City!"

Two hundred li later, when a towering, colossal city stretched across the horizon before him, Lu Xiaotian felt not only excitement but utter shock. The enormous bluish-gray stone blocks were of some unknown material, yet each appeared to weigh at least several hundred thousand jin. Looking out, he could not see the end of the city walls at all. Had he not seen it with his own eyes, Lu Xiaotian would never have imagined that such a vast city existed in the world. Its grandeur was magnificent, solid as a mountain range.

After the shock faded, Lu Xiaotian arrived at the city gate. By then, several hundred people were already lined up outside it.

It was Lu Xiaotian's first time seeing so many cultivators, and he was astonished beyond measure. Only ten or twenty people in the crowd had cultivation similar to his. As for the others, he could not determine their exact cultivation. Yet from the spiritual pressure emanating from them, Lu Xiaotian knew they were far stronger than he was—at least at the Qi Refining Middle Stage, perhaps even formidable experts at the Qi Refining Late Stage.

At the massive city gate, more than a hundred guards clad in armor and carrying sharp weapons stood watch with stern vigilance. Every one of them was at the Qi Refining Middle Stage or above. Their armor was blue-black, and each bore an ancient shield-shaped emblem on the chest. Lu Xiaotian had no idea what it meant.

The spiritual pressure they gave off made one's heart tremble involuntarily. Their weapons, meanwhile, came in every variety rather than a uniform style—sabers, spears, swords, and halberds alike. Some glowed fiery red, others earthy yellow, each emitting different spiritual fluctuations. They were more than a little stronger than the blue longsword at Lu Xiaotian's waist, the one he had taken from Situ Jing.

At the slightest disturbance near the city gate, these guards would step forward to suppress it.

Several soldiers at the front inspected each person wishing to enter the Immortal City. A young man who looked like an officer had planted a long spear in the ground and was reclining leisurely in a lounge chair, seeming to nap as he rested.

When the soldiers conducted their inspections, everyone ahead presented a palm-sized wooden plaque. Lu Xiaotian grew uncertain. Did entering Moonwatch City require some special proof? He did not have such a wooden plaque.

"Your turn. Show your identity plaque!" After the time it took to burn an incense stick, it was Lu Xiaotian's turn. The inspecting soldier spoke to him.

"I... I don't have an identity plaque." Lu Xiaotian's heart tightened. If this had been a mortal city, he would never have been so nervous, but every soldier before him had cultivation far above his own.

"No identity plaque? Did you lose it, or is this your first time in Moonwatch City?" The officer who had seemed to be napping rose from his lounge chair and asked.

Lu Xiaotian answered honestly, "It's my first time in Moonwatch City."

The officer opened his eyes, and a flash of red light passed through them. Lu Xiaotian felt as if the man could see right through him. The Spirit Eye Technique. This officer should be a fire-attribute cultivator, but his cultivation was far higher than Lu Xiaotian's. That was why the Spirit Eye Technique made Lu Xiaotian feel as though thorns were pressing against his back.

"Go register with the clerk over there and collect an identity plaque." The officer did not make things difficult for him. After sweeping him once with the Spirit Eye Technique, he lay back down.

Lu Xiaotian nodded. On the other side of the soldiers sat a man dressed like a clerk, with brush and ink laid out before him.

"Name. Place of origin?" The clerk lifted his eyelids and glanced at Lu Xiaotian.

"Lu Xiaotian, from Liang Province, North Liang Kingdom."

"Where is North Liang Kingdom?" the clerk asked in surprise.

"Probably some small mortal kingdom. There are hundreds, even thousands, of mortal kingdoms across the Central Continent. Who knows which ones get destroyed, only for new kingdoms to arise?" A soldier beside him burst into laughter.

"True enough. As long as it's entered into the register, why bother with so much?" The clerk also shook his head with a laugh. He took out a black plaque identical to the others', wrote Lu Xiaotian's name on it, and handed it over. "Be careful not to lose it. The first one is free, but if you lose it, you'll have to spend Spirit Stones to replace it. Also, if an emergency arises inside or outside the city, entry and exit will be strictly inspected. Without an identity plaque, you'll have a great deal of trouble."

"Thank you for the reminder." Lu Xiaotian quickly thanked him as he accepted the plaque, inwardly heaving a sigh of relief. Now he could be considered free to enter and leave the Immortal City. A faint spiritual fluctuation seemed to emanate from the identity plaque; it should have been made from some kind of spiritual wood.

Once past the city gate, he saw the rules and regulations of Moonwatch City displayed prominently on the city wall: fighting within the city was forbidden, climbing the city walls without permission was forbidden, and so on. Flipping open the copy of the Immortal City Regulations in his hand, he found, just as expected, that it had all been copied from there. Having been cheated for nothing, Lu Xiaotian secretly felt vexed. Though the tiger hide was not worth much, he disliked the feeling of being played for a fool.

Within Moonwatch City, streets stretched in all directions. Most of the people coming and going were cultivators, and those stronger than him were everywhere. Back in mortal kingdoms, he had always stood above others. Now, anyone he picked at random was stronger than he was, and Lu Xiaotian felt a measure of disappointment. Still, having come from a poor family, he quickly set his mindset straight.

Having just arrived in Moonwatch Immortal City, Lu Xiaotian eagerly surveyed the city.

Large and small shops lined both sides of the streets. Their layout resembled that of mortal cities, but the goods they sold were vastly different.

As he passed a shop called Duan Clan Weapon Workshop, he saw sabers, spears, arrows, and all kinds of weapons displayed in dazzling array. The spiritual pressure they emitted made Lu Xiaotian's heart quiver. With such divine weapons, a single light slash could easily cleave a person in two. Compared to mortal sabers and swords, they were as far apart as heaven and earth.

A hiring notice also hung before Duan Clan Weapon Workshop. It read: artifact refiners skilled in forging spirit artifacts, and artifact refining apprentices wanted.

Besides weapons, there was also He Clan Pill Workshop. Lu Xiaotian had previously learned from Lü Bifeng that cultivators in the Qi Refining Early Stage used Qi-Gathering Pills, those in the Qi Refining Middle Stage used Qi-Replenishing Pills, and upon reaching the Qi Refining Late Stage and great completion, they used Origin Qi Pills.

Yet aside from these few kinds, the pills displayed at He Clan Pill Workshop were all things he had never heard of. They were mainly used for cultivation and healing. There were also spiritual wines and spiritual teas that helped one rapidly restore spiritual power.