Nuoding City

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Nuoding City (诺丁城)
Status	City with a City Lord's Mansion, city guard, Spirit Hall branch, library, commercial district, labor market, medicinal-herb trade, and underground black market
Government	Governed by City Lord Alfred; the city guard serves as its core armed force 18 19
First Appearance	Chapter 1

Overview

Nuoding City is the settlement where Lan Tian registers as a soul master, establishes Lan Tian Medical Hall, and later becomes the city's Chief Physician. Its official institutions, merchants, and medical trade provide him with protection, income, and access to cultivation resources. 1 18 19

After receiving imperial recognition as Baron Lan, Lan Tian makes Nuoding City his long-term base. He develops an eight-hundred-mu fief north of the city, leases an additional five thousand mu of surrounding wasteland, and builds a large medicinal-herb enterprise supplying the city and other regions. 49 78 95

The city is smaller and less prosperous than Heaven Dou City; Lan Tian compares its central district unfavorably to the imperial capital's gate plaza. Nevertheless, he regards Nuoding City as peaceful, free, and suitable for steadily building his strength, reputation, and resources. 25 32

Administration and Security

• City Lord Alfred governs Nuoding City and appoints Lan Tian as Chief Physician after witnessing the value of his treatment for wounded guards. 18 19
• Nuoding City Guard patrols the city and its outskirts, responds to threats, and brings injured personnel to Lan Tian Medical Hall for treatment. 4 17
• Renn leads the city guard's third squad and later offers Lan Tian the guard's protection and assistance. He is subsequently promoted to squad leader. 17 18 36
• The Chief Physician appointment grants Lan Tian official protection, a salary, access to the City Lord's Mansion storeroom, and responsibility for treating guards and the City Lord's Mansion when needed. 18 19
• Alfred supports Lan Tian's successful application for a baronial title by providing an official guarantee and seal, recognizing his years of medical service to the city guard and City Lord's Mansion. 47 48
• As an imperial baron and the city's Chief Physician, Lan Tian becomes one of Nuoding City's most influential figures; Alfred and the dean of Nuoding Academy are regarded as the principal local figures able to stand on equal footing with him. 49 93
• The City Lord's Mansion approves Lan Tian's one-hundred-year lease of five thousand mu of wasteland surrounding his fief, viewing the arrangement as beneficial to the city's accounts and future medicinal-herb production. 78

Locations

Spirit Hall Branch

Nuoding City's Spirit Hall branch registers soul masters, performs their required tests, issues badges, provides subsidies, and grants temporary passes for entry into Soul Hunting Forest. Lan Tian registers there as a level-twelve one-ring soul master and later obtains a forest pass there. 1 4

The branch is a two-story stone building located slightly west of the city center. Its deacons later update Lan Tian's registration to a level-twenty-three two-ring Soul Grandmaster and subsequently issue his three-ring Soul Elder badge and subsidy. 34 35 47

Nuoding Library

A city library accessible through a gold card given to Lan Tian by Louise. Lan Tian uses it extensively to study foundational knowledge of the world, soul masters, and medicinal materials. 3

City Lord's Mansion

The City Lord's Mansion is Alfred's administrative residence and the center of Nuoding City's official authority. It manages the city guard, grants Lan Tian's Chief Physician appointment, supports his baronial application, and handles his lease of surrounding wasteland. 19 47 78

Lan Tian is familiar enough with the mansion that its gatekeepers recognize and respectfully receive him. 47

Lan Tian Medical Hall

Lan Tian purchases a small storefront in the city's core area and converts it into a clinic after obtaining his first soul ring. The hall becomes known for surgery and the healing skill Endless Life, treating civilians, merchants, hunters, and city guards. 1 2 17

• The clinic's reputation grows after Lan Tian saves Connor from a Hedgehog Soul Beast spine embedded in his chest. 4 6
• It later serves as the practical base of the city's Chief Physician. 18 20
• During Lan Tian's journey to Sunset Forest, urgent patients are redirected to Old Chen Medical Clinic. 23
• Lan Tian repeatedly returns to the hall after journeys outside the city, treating it as his original home base and maintaining its courtyard for Blue Silver Grass and medicinal cultivation. 32 45

Blue Medicine Hall

Blue Medicine Hall is a herb, pill, and acquisitions shop established by Lan Tian and managed publicly by Louise. It occupies the former Spring Return Hall storefront in Nuoding City's prosperous central commercial district. 93 94

• The hall purchases valuable medicinal herbs, ores, soul beast materials, and other goods directly from hunters, herb gatherers, and local sellers. 94
• Lan Tian establishes Blue Medicine Hall as the sole retail supplier for the city's herb trade, offering local merchants herb supplies at prices ten percent below their prior import costs while allowing them to determine their own resale prices. 94
• It also wholesales the first-grade Soul Recovery Pill, which restores a portion of Soul Power and physical strength for low-level soul masters and can relieve fatigue in ordinary people. 94
• Within half a year of opening, its herb and pill trade is flourishing in Nuoding City and beyond. 95

Henry Family Trading Firm

The Henry Family Trading Firm is a long-established and reputable local merchant firm operated by Louise's family. It hosts the gathering at which Lan Tian announces Blue Medicine Hall's herb-supply arrangement to nearly twenty members of the city's herb trade. 7 94

Medicinal Herb Shops

Nuoding City has medicinal-herb businesses ranging from routine suppliers to a large shop operated by Shopkeeper Chen. The shop stocks common herbs as well as rarer items, including hundred-year lingzhi, and supplies Lan Tian's medicinal-bath experiments. 11

Before Lan Tian expands his own cultivation and commercial operations, the city's shops generally cannot provide the older and more potent medicinal materials required for his later cultivation. 35

Labor Market

Nuoding City's labor market provides workers for construction and land reclamation projects. Lan Tian hires one hundred and ten workers there to construct walls and develop his fief. 52

Black Market

Nuoding City's underground black market operates behind an abandoned warehouse in the western part of the city. It opens at dusk on even-numbered days and is frequented by illicit dealers. 8

• Lan Tian buys one jin of hundred-year Whale Glue there for one Gold Soul Coin. 8
• He also uses the market to seek cultivation materials not readily available through ordinary channels. 8 12

Baron Lan's Fief

Lan Tian's fief lies approximately forty li north of Nuoding City, slightly northwest of the official road to Sunset Forest. Originally an idle eight-hundred-mu fief reclaimed after a former baron's death, it contains gentle slopes, fertile soil, and a stream. 49

• Lan Tian divides the original fief into approximately seven hundred mu for medicinal-herb cultivation, ninety-nine mu for Blue Silver Grass cultivation, and one mu for residential buildings. 52
• He develops the fief into an estate with workers, housing, protective walls, medicinal fields, and a managed herb-production operation. 51 52 80
• The estate is overseen by Old Ke, who organizes workers and field operations in Lan Tian's absence. 54 63 80
• Lan Tian later leases an additional five thousand mu of connected wasteland north and west of the fief for one hundred years, creating nearly six thousand mu of contiguous land around Nuoding City. 78
• The expanded land is enclosed by walls, plowed with Lan Tian's Soul Tool plows, and planted for large-scale medicinal-herb production. 80

Commerce and Social Life

Nuoding City contains a core commercial area where shops can be bought and sold, blacksmith businesses, medicinal-herb shops, and merchant networks. 1 3 11

• Henry, Connor, and visiting merchants host a banquet that connects Lan Tian with regional traders and Spirit Hall steward Charles. 7
• Merchants at the banquet report increased soul beast activity around nearby cities, including crop destruction and sightings of powerful soul beasts. 7
• Connor's praise of Lan Tian's medical work helps spread the clinic's reputation across several cities. 6
• News travels rapidly through the relatively small city. Lan Tian's advancement from a commoner and one-ring soul master to a baron becomes a widely discussed local event. 16 51
• The city center contains its most prosperous commercial streets, where the best shops, restaurants, and herbal pharmacies are concentrated. 93
• Louise's family becomes Nuoding City's largest merchant family through its trade in Lan Tian's high-quality medicinal herbs. 93
• Blue Medicine Hall reshapes the local herb trade by providing lower-cost, reliable supplies and creating a direct purchasing channel for hunters and herb gatherers. 94 95
• The city benefits financially from Lan Tian's five-thousand-mu land lease and the expansion of his herb-cultivation enterprise. 78

Connection to Soul Hunting Forest

Soul Hunting Forest is accessible from Nuoding City and is a frequent destination for local soul masters, hunters, and herb gatherers. Lan Tian repeatedly travels between the city and the forest for medicinal ingredients, combat training, and soul-hunting work. 4 10 11 14

• The forest lies approximately thirty li east of Nuoding City and functions as an official trial ground, with ten-year soul beasts and ordinary wildlife in its outer areas and hundred-year soul beasts farther within. 4
• Entry requires a temporary pass from the Spirit Hall branch. 4
• The city guard patrols routes near the forest and has driven off soul beasts threatening travelers. 4
• Roads between the forest and the city can be dangerous; Lan Tian encounters highway robbers while returning from training. 12 13
• The fief north of the city is situated near the official route that Lan Tian uses when traveling to and from Sunset Forest. 49

Notable Residents and Associates

• Alfred — City Lord of Nuoding City; appoints Lan Tian as Chief Physician, supports his baronial application, and approves his long-term wasteland lease. 18 19 47 78
• Renn — Captain within the city guard and leader of its third squad; brings wounded guards to Lan Tian, offers official assistance, and is later promoted to squad leader. 17 18 36
• Louise — Wealthy resident who becomes Lan Tian's first patient and helps promote his clinic. She later becomes his business partner and the public manager of Blue Medicine Hall. 2 3 51 94
• Henry — Louise's father; hosts a banquet for Lan Tian and rewards him for saving Louise and Connor. His family firm later hosts Blue Medicine Hall's meeting with the city herb trade. 7 94
• Connor — A wealthy merchant from the west whose successful treatment helps establish Lan Tian Medical Hall's reputation. 4 6
• Grant — A local acquaintance who makes a living around Soul Hunting Forest, supports Lan Tian during medical emergencies, and remains one of his trusted contacts. 22 23 32
• Shopkeeper Chen — Medicinal-herb merchant who supplies Lan Tian with ingredients. 11
• Old Chen — Physician operating Old Chen Medical Clinic, which receives urgent patients during Lan Tian's absence from Nuoding City. 23
• Boss Shi — Blacksmith who forges Lan Tian's surgical tools and weighted rings. 3 4
• Elder Zhao — Spirit Hall branch deacon who recognizes Lan Tian's cultivation progress and assists with his rank registration. 34 35
• Old Ke — Steward of Baron Lan's fief who manages workers, cultivation work, and estate affairs. 54 63 80