Heading to Maozhou

"The might of a Golden Core cultivator was actually this great!"

Such were the thoughts of the cultivators, their hearts still reeling from the awe of his Thunder Art.

While the cultivators in the city were still marveling, the Golden Core cultivator cast a voice transmission art. His words rolled out in thunderous waves, reaching every corner of the city with perfect clarity.

"I am the Thunder Prison Commandant of Haiyanhui, dispatched by order of the Immortal Alliance to quell the Monster Uprising here. The monsters have now been exterminated. Fellow Daoists, you may safely emerge and head to the gates of Flowing Cloud City to rest. Reinforcements from my sect will arrive shortly to make arrangements for you."

After a brief silence, signs of movement gradually appeared within the city.

Only after seeing that the monstrous birds had indeed been reduced to charcoal did the cultivators in hiding dare emerge from the shattered walls and ruins.

The surviving cultivators were all disheveled and filthy, their bodies bearing wounds of varying severity and their faces deathly pale.

About a quarter of an hour later, a squad of cultivators dressed in Haiyanhui robes flew in from the northern horizon. With practiced discipline, they split into four groups and landed at the east, south, west, and north gates respectively.

These cultivators then began methodically treating the survivors' injuries and distributing clean water and medicinal pills. They even gave each person two hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones as relief.

After concealing his cultivation again, Mo Chen followed the refugees down from the mountain behind the sect and headed to the city gates for shelter. Along the way, he asked a cultivator beside him just what Haiyanhui was.

But upon hearing his question, the cultivator gave him a look of disdain. "You don't look like some venerable master who ignores worldly affairs. How can you not even know Haiyanhui? Haiyanhui is the governing sect of the eighty-nine commanderies in the Three Circuits of Lingnan, one of the seventeen members of the Immortal Alliance!"

"You don't even know that? What are you playing at, pretending to have fits?"

Mo Chen had come all the way from the mortal world, then spent his days tucked away in the Scripture Pavilion of the Twin Crane Sect. The books there contained cultivation methods and spells, or else anecdotes from the cultivation world.

To put it plainly, even the books about sects were merely chronicles of the Twin Crane Sect's history. They rarely mentioned the Immortal Alliance.

Mo Chen only knew that it was a sect beyond the usual ranks. Just how far beyond them it stood, he had no idea.

After being mocked, Mo Chen merely pursed his lips and took none of it to heart.

If I took everything to heart, wouldn't this eternal life of mine be no different from a prison sentence?

Once they reached the city gates, everyone formed queues of their own accord to collect the relief supplies from Haiyanhui.

"Tsk, two hundred Spirit Stones."

Mo Chen swept his spiritual sense through the Spirit Stones in the pouch. Remembering how he had scraped together three Spirit Stones a month not long ago, he could not help the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.

But there was no pleasing every palate. Some people actually thought it was too little.

From among the crowd, Mo Chen heard a few cultivators whispering complaints about Haiyanhui after collecting their relief.

"Haiyanhui is using this chance to quell the uprising to pocket every Magic Artifact, talisman, and Spirit Stone left lying throughout the city. What they've handed us is probably no more than a single hair off nine oxen. These two hundred Spirit Stones aren't so much relief as hush money. They're afraid we'll criticize them later."

The cultivator accompanying him glanced at the Haiyanhui disciples picking up Spirit Artifacts and Talismans among the ruins, then sneered. "So that's how it is! It seems Haiyanhui... isn't entirely open and aboveboard after all."

As the two spoke and chuckled in hushed voices, the Golden Core cultivator's voice rang out again from the sky. "Fellow Daoists, preliminary repairs to the Teleportation Array in the city center are complete. Anyone wishing to leave Flowing Cloud Immortal City may head there and depart through the array."

Upon hearing this, Mo Chen immediately rose and headed toward the city center.

Flowing Cloud Immortal City had just suffered a Monster Uprising and would probably become a focus of attention for some time. With his identity and secrets, he had to find somewhere else to lie low.

Following the stream of people, Mo Chen arrived at the repaired Teleportation Arrays in the city center. Five arrays stood in a row, their runes flickering and spiritual light flowing across them.

At that moment, a Foundation Establishment cultivator from Haiyanhui rose into the air and announced loudly to the crowd below, "Fellow Daoists, these Teleportation Arrays were repaired in haste. Their stability is currently limited, and their range is not great. These five arrays lead to Maozhou, Guilin, Shanglin, Gerong, and Wuxuan respectively. Please choose your destinations accordingly!"

Mo Chen had intended to weigh his options carefully, but he had not expected the teleportation fees to be so steep.

Even Maozhou, the cheapest destination, cost fifty Spirit Stones. As for the other immortal cities farther away, Mo Chen could not afford them.

If he insisted on going, he would have to dip into the two hundred Spirit Stones he had just received.

As for the Storage Bags belonging to Jiang Jiuyao and her companion, there were too many eyes here. People from the immortal city's marketplace and the sect were both present. He could not be sure that the pair's friends would not recognize their possessions.

Mo Chen paid the fifty-spirit-stone teleportation fee and stepped into the array bound for Maozhou.

Yet he had only just stepped inside when he heard another familiar voice.

"Oh? Mo Xiaoyi, have you ever heard the saying, 'Eat in Changzhou, dress in Banzhou, play in Kangzhou, and die in Maozhou'? Did you hear that Maozhou's coffins are second to none and decide to go take a look, Xiaoyi?"

Damn it, Zhou Ping didn't die either.

Only then did Mo Chen remember that Zhou Ping had been in another part of the mountain behind the sect. He had probably slept right through the monster uprising.

Most likely, the Golden Core Realm cultivator's voice transmission jolted him awake, and only then did he come out.

But Mo Chen had no desire to squabble with a man who was about to die. He still had endless days ahead to enjoy, while Zhou Ping probably had only eight or nine years left to live.

So Mo Chen made his expression even more respectful and his manners even more courteous, answering in a self-deprecating tone, "Exactly! I've heard that Maozhou's coffin craftsmanship is unrivaled beneath the heavens. My cultivation is poor, so I suppose I'm making preparations for the long term."

That was what he said outwardly, but the truth was that Mo Chen was genuinely poor. He could only afford this cheapest Teleportation Array.

Before long, once the array was full, the Haiyanhui disciple overseeing it handed everyone inside a talisman, then formed a spell seal!

Hum!

In an instant, the intricate array patterns lit up one after another. A dazzling burst of white light erupted, completely swallowing everyone within the array!

Just as Mo Chen felt the world spin and his stomach churn with nausea, the talisman the Haiyanhui disciple had given him suddenly began burning on its own. The spiritual energy it transformed into flowed into his body.

Much better. No more dizziness.

"So the Teleportation Talisman has this effect too?"

As the dazzling white light of the teleportation gradually faded, Mo Chen discovered that he was now standing atop a mountain peak steeped in natural beauty and spiritual grace.

Clouds and mist swirled all around, and even the spiritual energy seemed somewhat denser than in Flowing Cloud Immortal City.

The runes of the Teleportation Array beneath his feet had not yet fully dimmed, but many cultivators were already looking around curiously or stepping straight out of the array.

"Fellow Daoists, please leave the array promptly. Do not linger and obstruct the next group's arrival!"

A cultivator holding an authority token called out.

His voice was not loud, yet it was exceptionally clear. Evidently, it contained some kind of sound art that ensured everyone could hear him.

After this man urged them along, the refugees from Flowing Cloud City filed out of the Teleportation Array and dispersed into the crowds of Maozhou City.

Mo Chen descended the stone steps from the peak and discovered that Maozhou City actually contained several immortal mountains. Shops and towers of every kind had been built along their slopes, and a river wound through the city, twisting like nine coils of intestine.

After surveying the city, Mo Chen found that Maozhou City was far more prosperous than Flowing Cloud City. Given his secrets, he still needed to find somewhere to lie low as soon as possible and quietly build his strength.