Taiyun City

Chen Yan did not take the old man's words too much to heart, treating them as nothing more than a story he had just heard.

He was merely a small fry who had spent more than twenty Reincarnations and several hundred years before finally advancing to the Martial Spring Realm.

Someone could be born in the Martial Spring Realm?

Perhaps, but all of that was far too distant from him.

"Let's get back to the point, Senior."

Chen Yan urged the old man behind the counter.

The old man nodded, took out a booklet from beside the counter, and began flipping through it.

"Mm, among the sect missions currently posted for Taiyun City, there is only one that Qi Condensation Realm disciples can accept."

"What mission?"

"It is an attendant mission posted by Lu Li of Qingchan Peak."

The old man said.

Before the gates of the Empty Mountain Sect.

Chen Yan had no idea how many years it had been since he last came here.

He remembered that the last time had been when he tried to flee the calamity of the outer court together with Cheng Ziying.

According to the timeline, that would not happen for another two years or so. It was something that had yet to occur.

Chen Yan and Cheng Ziying had tried more than once to escape the Empty Mountain Sect, but every time, they had been intercepted and killed by a man carrying a broadsword and dressed in coarse cloth.

That man's cultivation had to have been at least at the Martial Spring Realm Mid-stage.

Chen Yan remembered the oath he had sworn to that man back then.

He had said that he would definitely kill him.

Now, after so many Reincarnations, even that bone-deep hatred of the past had gradually faded.

So too had his fear of Lu Li.

Back then, Lu Li had pierced him through with a Kongshan Finger. The sight of his organs and blood slipping from his body before his very eyes had been a nightmare Chen Yan could not forget through countless Reincarnations.

"Is this what they call enemies meeting on a narrow road..."

Chen Yan muttered to himself.

Lu Li was going to Taiyun City to visit the Cloud King's Mansion.

Some days earlier, an Attendant Elder from Xingtian Gate had passed through Taiyun City during his travels.

Xingtian Gate was also one of the Five Great Sects of the Chenping Continent, and its power was even greater than that of the Empty Mountain Sect.

For such a figure to stay briefly in Taiyun City for several days, Cloud King Qin Ming could not afford to slight him, so he personally hosted a banquet at the Cloud King's Mansion.

At the banquet, the Xingtian Gate elder unexpectedly took a liking to the cultivation talent of the young County Princess of the Cloud King's Mansion. He believed Qin Ming's daughter, Qin Yue, possessed the aptitude to inherit his Cultivation Method.

He wanted to take Qin Yue back to Xingtian Gate.

In the Chenping Continent, being favored by Xingtian Gate, one of the Five Great Sects, was an immense honor even for a county princess of a kingdom.

Yet the Cloud King fell into hesitation over the matter.

Because it truly was a good opportunity.

But Taiyun City, and even the entire Qingque Kingdom, lay wholly within the Empty Mountain Sect's sphere of influence.

That Attendant Elder from Xingtian Gate might truly have been thirsty for talent, but his actions were undoubtedly a slap in the Empty Mountain Sect's face.

Because Qin Yue was the County Princess of the Qingque Kingdom, and the entire Qingque Kingdom was wholly dependent on the Empty Mountain Sect.

Cloud King Qin Ming was a prince of the realm, so there were certain principles he understood.

Thus, Cloud King Qin Ming did not immediately decide his daughter's future. Instead, he wrote a letter to the Empty Mountain Sect's Consular Disciple stationed outside the sect.

The Empty Mountain Sect would absolutely not tolerate the Qingque Kingdom's County Princess joining Xingtian Gate.

But the Empty Mountain Sect was also reasonable, and it cared greatly about appearances.

If Qin Yue ultimately could not go to Xingtian Gate, it would undoubtedly mean she had lost a great opportunity.

After all, she could originally have become the Personal Disciple of an Attendant Elder from Xingtian Gate.

Although an Attendant's Personal Disciple was not considered an Elder's Personal Disciple, the position was still far more prestigious than that of an ordinary Inner Sect Disciple.

To compensate her, the Empty Mountain Sect decided to have an inner sect elder from Qingchan Peak accept Qin Yue as a disciple.

Lu Li had come today on behalf of Qingchan Peak to personally convey the Empty Mountain Sect's decision to Cloud King Qin Ming and County Princess Qin Yue.

But as a dignified Martial Spring Realm cultivator and an instructor at the Scripture Hall, going alone to Taiyun City would be somewhat beneath his status.

Moreover, Lu Li had only recently been transferred to Qingchan Peak, and his foundation within the Scripture Hall of Qingchan Peak was unsteady.

With no one around him he could use, he could only post a sect commission at the Shang Gong Hall and find several Qi Condensation Realm disciples to serve as attendants and accompany him to visit the Cloud King.

Before long, Lu Li and three other disciples arrived at the sect gates one after another.

Lu Li, dressed in a green robe, stood before Chen Yan. Compared to Chen Yan's memories, his appearance had not changed much. He was still refined and gentle.

The other three disciples consisted of two men and one woman. Including Chen Yan, there were three men and one woman.

All three were at the Qi Condensation Realm Early-stage. One man and the woman came from the sect's outer court, while the other male disciple came from Yuanhua Mountain.

That Yuanhua Mountain disciple seemed to look down rather heavily on the disciples of the sect's outer court, carrying himself as though he had drawn a clear boundary between them.

Only when he noticed the gilded Cloud Crane pattern on Chen Yan's cuff did he show Chen Yan a little goodwill.

It was laughable. He was about the same age as the other two outer court cultivators, and his cultivation was likewise only at the Qi Condensation Realm Early-stage.

They were six of one and half a dozen of the other.

"Since everyone is here, let us depart."

Lu Li looked at the four disciples before him and nodded slightly.

After leaving the sect gates and reaching the foot of the mountain, they rented several Spirit Horses from a carriage and horse stable below the mountain, then set out for Taiyun City.

Taiyun City was the largest city in the Western Regions of the Qingque Kingdom, an important hub city, and the city with the most Cultivation Families.

There were fifteen Cultivation Families in the Qingque Kingdom altogether, and seven of them were located in Taiyun City.

This was also because Taiyun City was very close to the Empty Mountain Sect.

Though these Cultivation Families were called mortal Cultivation Families, the strongest person in any one of them was generally only at the Qi Condensation Realm.

Yet to mortal martial artists, the Qi Condensation Realm was already akin to an immortal banished to the human world.

After all, a Body Tempering Realm cultivator could easily crush any Martial Dao Grandmaster in the secular world.

With skin impervious to blades and spears alone, they could stand in an invincible position.

Several hours later, Lu Li's group of five arrived beneath Taiyun City's walls.

The city walls were fifteen meters high and five meters thick. Two watchtowers stood before the city gates, used for pouring oil and hurling stones.

In truth, those defensive works were merely decorations.

Because the Qingque Kingdom's royal family was wholly dependent on the Empty Mountain Sect and valued the sect's interests more than its own.

Thus, throughout the Qingque Kingdom's three thousand years since its founding, the royal family's rule had always received the support of the Empty Mountain Sect.

Above the city gate, the three large characters "Taiyun City" were carved in black upon a brown background, their strokes flying like dragons and dancing like phoenixes.

"Greetings, Immortal Masters!"

When the soldiers guarding the gates saw Lu Li's party, they hurriedly cupped their hands and bowed.

It was not only the soldiers. After they entered the city, crowds surged through its streets.

Yet around Chen Yan and the others, a vacant space always formed on its own.

Not a single commoner dared approach them.

This was the heartfelt reverence mortal folk held for cultivators.