Outside Maple Leaf City, the imperial capital of the Byron Empire, an old carriage rolled leisurely down the broad road.
On the carriage bench sat a young man and woman. The latter was quite young, dressed in a pale yellow gauze dress with a cinched waist. She seemed to be talking about something amusing, her pretty face full of delighted smiles.
The young man wore a fitted azure outfit, with two black swords—one large and one small—strapped to his back. A faint smile rested between his brows as though he were listening to the girl, yet he gave off an absent-minded air.
With such wildly contrasting weapons, there was no doubt that this man was Leian.
As for the girl beside him, she was Aili, the maid he had hired before.
Ever since Leian had hired her, the young girl had developed an inexplicable affection for this small-town genius. When she learned that Leian was leaving, she stubbornly insisted on following him.
Leian had originally been unwilling to bring her along, but Barry and his wife were extremely fond of the girl.
Considering that he would certainly need someone to care for his parents in the future, and that having a familiar face in an unfamiliar place would be reassuring, Leian agreed to her request.
Naturally, before leaving, he had also given the girl's family a sum of money.
During their journey, Leian tested Aili's talent for cultivation. After discovering that she possessed superior dark-element affinity, he taught her a cultivation manual for Dark Battle Qi.
Because it was Leian's request, Aili trained with great diligence. Even Barry and his wife felt too embarrassed to slack off, which came as an unexpected delight to Leian.
Time passed quickly amid Barry and the others' anticipation and unease. By now, more than three months had passed since they left Qingshi Town.
Though they had encountered several bandits along the way, they were only level six or seven in strength, and Leian dispatched them with ease.
Now that the imperial capital was in sight, even Leian could not help feeling somewhat excited, let alone Aili beside him.
Soon, a section of wall built from bluestone appeared in their sight. It stood dozens of meters tall, its ancient surface covered in mottled marks that gave it a sense of immense weight.
As the carriage moved forward, the city gate gradually came into view, while the walls stretched out on both sides with no end in sight.
It was said that five or six million people lived in the imperial capital, which showed just how vast Maple Leaf City was.
"Truly magnificent. No wonder it is the capital of an empire!"
Under the watchful eyes of the guards, Leian drove the carriage swiftly through the city gate.
The moment they entered the city, all kinds of clamor flooded in from every direction. From time to time, they could even hear the roars of magical beasts.
Leian looked around and saw carriages flowing through the wide streets amid crowds of pedestrians. Among the passersby were many warriors carrying weapons, as well as magicians in elegant robes who exuded an air of nobility.
Occasionally, one or two magical beasts followed alongside these people. With only a casual glance, Leian spotted several level-seven magical beasts, including Saber-toothed Tigers and Golden-patterned Leopards.
"Wow, Young Master Leian, is that a Saber-toothed Tiger? It's so huge!"
Aili pointed at the Saber-toothed Tiger in the distance with one hand while tugging at Leian's sleeve with the other. Her little face was flushed red with excitement.
They had rested in several county cities during their travels. Although this was not their first time seeing magical beasts, those had previously been only rare level-five or level-six low-tier magical beasts. It was nothing like the imperial capital, where even high-tier magical beasts could be seen everywhere.
Ever since entering the city, Aili's little mouth had barely stopped moving. One moment she was praising the Saber-toothed Tiger for being tall and mighty; the next, she was admiring the Golden-patterned Leopard's beauty. Her big eyes could scarcely take everything in.
At the same time, Barry and his wife inside the carriage could not help lifting the curtain to look around.
The carriage followed the flow of people and soon stopped outside an inn.
It was a mid-range inn, perfectly suited to a level-seven warrior like Leian traveling with his family. After settling Barry and the other two in, Leian left the inn alone to take care of some business.
Since they were going to settle down in the imperial capital, a house was essential. Thus, the first place Leian visited was a real estate agency that handled rentals and sales.
After asking around, Leian finally found a courtyard he liked and successfully rented it.
Yes, rented—not bought!
Although he had obtained the Cleo Family's wealth, it only amounted to three or four hundred thousand gold coins after conversion. That might have been a considerable fortune in a county city, but it was insignificant in the imperial capital.
Though that money could buy a small house in the imperial capital's slums, the area was filthy, chaotic, and unsafe, so Leian immediately ruled it out.
The house he rented was a detached residence with a small courtyard, located at the edge of the imperial capital's western district. Its sale price was five million gold coins, while the annual rent was eighty thousand gold coins. Leian paid three years of rent in one go.
Five million gold coins might seem expensive, but in truth, large houses in the core areas of the eastern and western districts could cost tens of millions.
Of course, the most expensive properties were the manors in the eastern suburbs outside the city. Every one of them was worth over a hundred million gold coins, and they were unavailable even at that price.
It was said that their residents were either the empire's foremost nobles or Saint Realm experts. Ordinary people could not even get close.
After marveling at the imperial capital's extravagance, Leian took the key and continued down the street. Before long, he stopped outside a lavishly decorated building.
"Youquan Chamber of Commerce!"
Looking at the four words on the signboard, Leian pursed his lips and fell silent for a moment. Then he suddenly turned to look across the street.
At the end of his gaze stood a magnificent and solemn church. It belonged to the Dark Night Goddess Sect, a sect devoted to the Goddess of Dark Night and the only sect recognized by every nation across the Youquan Continent.
It was said that countless years ago, churches of the Dark Night Goddess Sect had spread throughout the Youquan Continent. Not only did every imperial capital have one, but county cities everywhere had churches as well. Even some populous towns had resident sect members, who were extremely enthusiastic about recruiting believers.
Yet at some unknown time, the Dark Night Goddess Sect was said to have undergone a change. After that, it was no longer as eager to recruit believers, and churches in certain remote regions had even declined and closed.
Now, only some prosperous county cities still retained churches.
Hashan County, where Leian had lived, had no church because its population was small and its location remote. It was only after leaving Hashan County that Leian truly sensed the presence of the Dark Night Goddess Sect.
After learning of the Dark Night Goddess Sect's standing, Leian understood clearly that the Goddess of Dark Night had to be a god-level expert, perhaps even the sole "ruler" of the Youquan Continent.
And since the Youquan Chamber of Commerce dared to use the name "Youquan," its background could not possibly be simple.
In fact, rumors about it did circulate outside. It was said that the supporter behind the Youquan Chamber of Commerce was Margaret, the Goddess of Dark Night's eldest disciple!
A powerful dark-element Saint Realm expert at the limit!
The reason Leian had come to the Youquan Chamber of Commerce was to purchase information about the Yulan Plane.
Especially information about "Beirut." Only by learning about this "future Chief God" could he roughly determine the current era.
And in Leian's eyes, only information sold by a chamber of commerce backed by a god-level expert was worth trusting.
Before you continue