When the two reached the gates of Southern Sky City, they finally realized just how magnificent it was. The gates towered dozens of yards high, made entirely of some unknown black metal and etched with mysterious, peculiar patterns in dark red. Two cultivators in black leather armor stood at the entrance. When Li Xiaoya probed them with his divine sense, he discovered that both were at the core condensation stage. Yet neither guard inspected or questioned the cultivators passing through, allowing everyone to enter and leave freely. The city walls rose even higher, their enormous stone blocks bearing mysterious patterns much like those on the gates at intervals of a yard. Along the top of the walls were carved lifelike monkeys, each with a different expression, lending the city a touch of playful vitality.
"Oh! Southern Sky City really is an interesting place!" Li Xiaoya said to Liu Qingshan as he looked around.
"Of course. They say Venerable Southern City is a renowned artist in the Cultivation World. He designed and built all of Southern Sky City himself-even those patterns were drawn and carved by his own hand!" Liu Qingshan said with a smile.
"That really is something to dream of! If only I had a city like this!" Li Xiaoya said, his voice filled with envy and longing.
Talking as they went, the two walked through the gates. Inside, they found a passage some ten to thirteen yards high and equally wide. Its towering walls were covered on both sides with exquisitely detailed images, brilliant with color and lifelike in every stroke. Colored glazed tiles paved the floor, fitted together into patterns of all shapes and forms, while equally exquisite paintings adorned the ceiling. The entire passage was nothing less than a palace of art, carrying the mind away