Heaven Dou City

"Old Goose, Tianya, what's wrong with you? Wake up!"

The moment the explosion ended, Bule did not look in Ning Chen's direction. Instead, he hurriedly turned to his two good brothers beside him.

But the two were already barely clinging to life. Unless a legendary Nine-Heart Begonia Soul Master came to treat them immediately, there was absolutely no chance of survival.

"What a pity. It looks like they won't be waking up."

At the instant of the explosion, Ning Chen had hidden behind a towering tree. Only after it ended did he emerge and walk up to Bule and the others.

"Who exactly are you? Why are you doing this to the three of us? What grudge do we have against you?"

Bule turned around, enduring the agonizing pain in his body as he rose to his feet. He stared at Ning Chen, rage nearly bursting from his eyes!

"That's right. What grudge do you have against me? Why did you keep coming after me again and again?"

"Bullshit! We've never even met..."

Before Ning Chen had finished speaking, Bule cursed furiously. But halfway through his words, he froze and could not continue.

Ning Chen had removed the Human-Skin Mask's disguise, revealing his true face.

Bule recognized Ning Chen at once. The fury in his eyes rapidly faded, replaced by utter disbelief.

"Do you recognize me now?"

Ning Chen smiled at Bule, his smile brimming with mockery and satisfaction. "Now you should understand that you brought all of this upon yourselves."

"You little bastard! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

The mockery and satisfaction in Ning Chen's smile instantly stabbed into Bule's heart. He could not accept that it was because of him that his two closest friends had ultimately died.

Boundless resentment began to grow within him as he howled and roared.

He wished Ning Chen would die immediately and accompany his two closest friends in death.

"What? You can be thrilled when you're killing others, but when someone turns around and tries to kill you, you can't accept it?"

Ning Chen laughed. "A beast like you truly deserves to die."

"Ah! Why? Why wasn't it you who died?!"

Bule roared madly. "I should have killed you! I should have killed you! I never should have spared you back in the Star Dou Great Forest!"

"What a pity. Your wishful thinking will never come true."

The Fourth-Level Fierce Slash Blade appeared in Ning Chen's hand. "Go regret it in hell!"

He swung the Fierce Slash Blade, and the scorching Flame Slash instantly cut Bule's body in two at the waist.

The two halves of his body collapsed weakly. In the final moment before his consciousness faded, Bule looked toward the silent Tianya and Ekao and murmured, "Old Goose, Tianya, I'm sorry..."

To Ning Chen, Bule's trio had been nothing more than a minor interruption on the road.

Their only use had been to briefly test the effectiveness of the Human-Skin Mask and the Azure Flame Pearl.

So far, both had worked unexpectedly well.

The three corpses lay silently where they were, while Ning Chen had long since vanished.

Relying on his map, Ning Chen traveled at full speed. The acceleration of his fourth-level Wind-Chasing Boots was activated, while the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's second soul skill was continuously released.

Ning Chen raced onward, at times exceeding the speed of a Soul King and rivaling weaker Soul Emperors.

Suotuo City was more than two thousand kilometers from the Heaven Dou Imperial City.

He had to pass through many cities along the way, and Ning Chen sold his three outdated second-level Soul Tools in three separate cities.

He earned a full thirty thousand Gold Soul Coins.

Soul Tools were extremely scarce now. Ning Chen's Second-Level Flame-Slashing Blade, Earthguard Armor, and Wind-Chasing Boots were attack-type, defense-type, and utility-type Soul Tools respectively, all exceedingly rare in this era.

Ning Chen had only earned thirty thousand Gold Soul Coins because he was in a hurry and did not want to wait. Otherwise, selling them for forty or fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins would have been easy.

With thirty thousand Gold Soul Coins in hand, Ning Chen would not lack money for a long time.

He had already thoroughly mastered the Heavenly Craft Pavilion's Introductory Guide to Dao Refining. Once he reached Heaven Dou City, he planned to begin crafting the Windrider Airship, which possessed flight capabilities and would greatly enhance both his survival and mobility.

Although the Heavenly Craft Pavilion's Introductory Guide to Dao Refining did not include methods for making low-grade storage bags, Ning Chen had already accumulated a certain foundation in artifact refinement.

Furthermore, he had nearly finished dismantling and studying that storage Soul Tool ring, so he could also try refining storage-type Soul Tools.

Soul Tools such as the Fierce Slash Blade were still far too conspicuous in this era.

Heaven Dou City was a chaotic mix of all kinds of people. If he continued acting as casually as before, he might very well attract the attention of someone with ulterior motives.

Storage-type Soul Tools, however, were different. As the most common category of existing Soul Tools, they were still precious, but far more inconspicuous than offensive artifacts such as blades and swords.

After traveling with intermittent stops, Ning Chen finally arrived at the Heaven Dou Imperial City after nearly half a month.

From afar, Heaven Dou City's outline resembled a colossal beast crouching upon the plains. Its city walls were far beyond anything Barak City could compare to.

The walls were built entirely from massive stones, their surfaces smooth as if cut by a blade. Under the afternoon sunlight, they gave off a cold, solemn gleam.

As he approached the city gates, the oppressive sensation rushing toward him grew even stronger.

The gate passage stood over ten zhang tall and was wide enough for six or seven carriages to travel abreast.

A row of fully armed city guards stood on each side of the passage. Their armor was bright, their long halberds grim, and their eyes swept sharply over the crowds entering and leaving the city.

The flow of people entering the city formed long lines. Carriages, horses, and pedestrians came and went without end, yet everything remained orderly, completely unlike the lax gate controls of Barak City.

The instant he stepped through the gate, a wave of noisy heat rushed straight at him.

The main road was astonishingly broad, more than twenty zhang wide. Its surface was paved with neat bluestone slabs and was so clean that there was scarcely any litter in sight.

Shops lined both sides of the street in dense rows, their signboards and banners layered one upon another.

Standing at the broad intersection just inside the city gate, Ning Chen gazed at this true imperial capital and could not help feeling a little moved.

Barak City was already considered prosperous, but compared to Heaven Dou City, it was like a county town beside a provincial capital.

Although Suotuo City was wealthy, it lacked the weight and grandeur of an imperial presence accumulated over centuries.

Compared to the Balak Kingdom, it truly possessed the majestic bearing of a celestial empire.

"So this is Heaven Dou City..."

He murmured softly, then stepped forward and merged into the crowd.

As the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire, it was not only prosperous and bustling, but also home to a mixture of countless factions.

The imperial family, Spirit Hall, the residences of the major sects, and innumerable high-level Soul Master Academies were all gathered here. At least thirty percent of the Heaven Dou Empire's high-level Soul Masters could be said to have congregated within this city.

Ning Chen's Soul Elder-level strength would count as fairly decent in Suotuo City or Barak City, but in the Heaven Dou Imperial City, it was truly nothing special.

His face had long been concealed by the Human-Skin Mask, transformed into someone else's.

As long as he did not use the Human-Skin Mask's power to alter his body and only changed his face, there was no half-incense-stick time limit.

He only needed to continuously maintain the input of Soul Power, and Soul Power was what Ning Chen lacked least.