Sky's Edge City

Big Xiong could sense that the young man seemed to have designs on Ye Yunsheng, but seeing what he was like, he simply treated it as a show.

"A measly Dou Wang, what are you showing off for? You didn't even spare your Grandpa Xiong a glance. Tsk, honestly, you don't even know your own weight. Compared to my brother Zhao Li, you're simply worlds apart."

Ye Yunsheng saw Lin Feng accept the order and leave, then paid him no more attention. She turned back to look at Big Xiong.

For a moment, she seemed not to know how to begin, and even her words became careful.

"Brother Big Xiong, since he asked you to watch over this place, you must know some things. I wonder, has he been well all these years? Could you tell me about him?"

Big Xiong saw that the woman who had just been incomparably domineering, whose mere aura had pressed down on him until he could hardly breathe, had suddenly turned bashful, and Ye Yunsheng's sudden change left him utterly confused.

But Big Xiong had always been blunt and carefree, so he did not look too deeply into it. Only, Ye Yunsheng's lingering might was still there, so he did not dare run his mouth wildly. Whatever Ye Yunsheng asked, he answered.

He told Ye Yunsheng about Zhao Li's years of cultivation in the mountains, but with Big Xiong's eloquence, naturally he could not make it especially gripping. Yet this extremely plain story of his, Ye Yunsheng listened to with great focus.

When he spoke of the two years after Zhao Li left, however, Big Xiong was quite emotional—the storybooks Zhao Li had left him had long since been flipped through countless times, and now he was bored out of his mind.

"Brother Big Xiong, could you let me take a look at the storybooks you mentioned?"

Ye Yunsheng asked carefully.

Though she did not know what it was that could make Big Xiong sigh so heavily, she also wanted to see what magic the things Zhao Li had left behind possessed.

Big Xiong grew troubled. He certainly did not think anyone could resist the temptation of those picture books. If Ye Yunsheng read them and refused to return them, he would not dare ask for them back.

His bear brain thought it over, and in the end, he took out a few relatively less exciting storybooks, ones he had already read many times, and handed them to Ye Yunsheng.

Ye Yunsheng accepted them and began flipping through them with great interest. Yet once she started reading, she became engrossed. After finishing one book, Ye Yunsheng suppressed the urge to keep reading the other storybooks. She had her own thoughts about some of the stories in them.

"So he really was doing these things..."

Big Xiong saw this terrifyingly powerful girl fall into a daze, and he felt rather pleased. He shook his head smugly, giving himself a mental thumbs-up for his wit.

"Good thing old Xiong here is clever beyond compare and wise above all, and kept a hand back. Otherwise, I'm afraid not a single one would be left."

Ye Yunsheng came back to herself and asked Big Xiong more about Zhao Li. She looked at the storybooks in her hand, hesitated for a moment, then seemed to think of something and broke into a smile.

"His stories... in the future, I'll have him tell them to me himself."

Having made her decision, Ye Yunsheng returned the storybooks to Big Xiong. This made the way Big Xiong looked at her change quite a bit.

Big Xiong looked at Ye Yunsheng as though he were looking at an absolute ruthless person. It was just that Big Xiong did not know what Ye Yunsheng was thinking; otherwise, the way he looked at her might not have been only this strange.

The two chatted for a long while. It was always Ye Yunsheng asking and Big Xiong answering, and all of it was about Zhao Li.

After a long time, Ye Yunsheng bent at the waist and gave Big Xiong a salute, then took her leave.

"Brother Big Xiong, thank you. I still have other matters on this trip, so I'll be leaving first. Earlier, I was abrupt and a little impulsive. This is for you."

She left Big Xiong some pills, her figure faded, and she was already gone to who knew where.

Big Xiong froze at Ye Yunsheng's sudden bow, his body stiffening. He had not forgotten that Ye Yunsheng's strength was suspected to be at the Dou Zun level.

Seeing that she had already left, Big Xiong cursed himself inwardly before reaching out to accept the pills. Without even looking at them, he put them away. Over the years, Zhao Li had given him no small number of top-grade pills, so ordinary things could no longer enter the eyes of a certain Xiong.

Looking at the wild beasts still prostrate on the ground, Big Xiong's mood turned sour again.

"Hurry up and scram. Stop embarrassing yourselves here."

The beasts scattered, startling countless birds in the forest into flight.

Seeing that Nameless Valley had regained its calm, Big Xiong stared off in the direction of the Central Plains. A sudden emotion rose in his heart, and then he grinned foolishly. Shaking his head, he slowly and leisurely walked toward the depths of the mountain range.

"Brother Zhao Li, I wonder if you're doing well. You have no idea how fierce that sweetheart of yours is. I'm afraid you're in for some suffering."

Elsewhere, Zhao Li had left the Jia Ma Empire. He was still comprehending Space Rules, applying them in practice while traveling, and naturally knew nothing of what had happened in the Myriad Beast Mountain Range of the Great Qian Empire.

After leaving the Jia Ma Empire, Zhao Li headed south all the way. With his speed, he had already traveled over ten thousand li.

"Even at my current speed, getting to the Central Plains will take at least half a year or so. If anything else happens along the way and delays me even a little, that time will probably drag out even longer. Looks like I'll still have to find a city with a Spatial Wormhole. Maybe I'll even be able to comprehend some methods from it."

Along the way, Zhao Li had rarely entered cities. He crossed mountains when there were mountains and rivers when there were rivers, until he eventually came across a city. After making many inquiries, Zhao Li finally found a map. He compared it, made a rough estimate, and sighed inwardly.

Having made up his mind, Zhao Li took the opportunity to ask the old man selling maps about the nearest city nearby that had a Spatial Wormhole. He was a stranger in these lands, and relying on himself alone, who knew how long he would wander.

"Old sir, do you know where there's a city with a Spatial Wormhole?"

The old man did not even raise his head, continuing to draw his map. His utterly calm voice sounded.

"More than three thousand li to the southeast, there's the Sky Pillar Mountain Range. Within it sits Sky's Edge City. It's the only city within ten thousand li that has established a Spatial Channel."

He had seen no few young men like Zhao Li over the years. Without asking, he knew Zhao Li was certainly thinking of going to the Central Plains to make his way in the world.

"Sky's Edge City? Thank you for telling me, old sir."

Hearing this familiar name, Zhao Li was somewhat surprised. He murmured it, then cupped his hands and thanked the old man, preparing to leave. He felt rather emotional too.

The gap between the Central Region of this continent and its corners was indeed far too great. There were pitifully few established Spatial Channels. Zhao Li had already left the Jia Ma Empire over a month ago, yet he had not expected that he would still have to go to Sky's Edge City to find a Spatial Channel.

Hearing him, the old man raised his head and looked at Zhao Li. That high-spirited back reminded him that he had once been the same, full of vigor and ambition, wanting to go out and make his way in the world. But in the end, he could only slink away from that place where the strong and Geniuses gathered, return to his hometown, and open a small shop.

Seeing that Zhao Li was quite polite, he inexplicably said a few more words.

"It's good for a young man to be full of vigor and ambition and want to go out into the wider world, but you must have some self-awareness too, lest you end up like this old man, fleeing back in disgrace."

When Zhao Li heard this, he was somewhat stunned and paused. He had not expected that after being reborn in another world, there would still be someone advising him to think twice before "drifting to the north." Then he smiled, and his clear, hearty voice sounded as he strode outside.

"Thank you for the reminder, old sir. While I'm young, I want to go and see it."

The old man remained silent as he watched Zhao Li's departing figure. He himself had once been just like that. He shook his head and continued drawing the map in his hands, only murmuring under his breath, as if to someone unknown.

A distance of over three thousand li was something Zhao Li could cover very quickly.

Zhao Li stood in the air, overlooking the entire Sky Pillar Mountain Range from high above. Sky's Edge City sat right in the middle of the mountain range, like a heart, while the roads stretching in every direction resembled veins and arteries extending out from Sky's Edge City, binding the whole range together and weaving it into a complete city within the mountains.

Watching the people coming and going along the broad roads, with carriages flowing like water and horses moving like dragons, he could not help feeling moved.

"As expected of a great city with a Spatial Wormhole. To think they had the means to build such a bustling city in the middle of a mountain range."

Zhao Li did not delay. He headed toward Sky's Edge City, and with a few strides, landed inside the city.

After asking someone nearby about the location of the Spatial Wormhole, Zhao Li hurried toward the city center.