Nuoding City was a small city.
A small city was not necessarily small in size. A city's classification was directly tied to the number of powerful Soul Masters living there and the prosperity of its commerce.
Some sprawling cities with tens of thousands of residents were still classified as small cities because of factors such as limited commerce and a scarcity of powerful experts.
Nuoding City itself was not small, but it was too far from the central metropolitan regions. In the eyes of the nobility, it was no different from some impoverished backwater.
At the city gates, guards blocked Qin Yuan's way.
"From out of town? If you want to enter, you'll have to pay an entrance fee of one Silver Soul Coin!"
Charging entrance fees was common. In the past, Qin Yuan had never updated his Soul Master booklet, presenting himself as a Soul Elder while also collecting a subsidy from Spirit Hall.
But during his three years in Spirit City, his Soul Master booklet had been updated several times.
Wouldn't a peak Spirit Saint attract attention by coming to a small city like this?
As for paying an entrance fee? Heh, Qin Yuan was no sucker.
He ignored the guard, merely casting him a glance before walking straight into the city.
"A Nuo, what happened? Why didn't you collect the entrance fee?" Another guard noticed what had happened and came over to ask.
The guard named A Nuo felt his heart pounding with dread and gasped for breath. "That man is dangerous. He must be a Soul Master-and an outstanding one at that!"
Qin Yuan paid the little incident at the gates no mind.
As usual, after entering the city, he found a teahouse, resting his feet and drinking tea while asking around about the situation