Longxing Fortress, on the Star Luo Empire's border, was an imposing military stronghold spanning tens of thousands of square meters. Squads of armored soldiers took turns patrolling its granite walls, which rose dozens of meters high.
Years of warfare had stained the grayish-white granite a grayish black with dried blood. Scars left by blades and axes were etched into the walls like patterns.
Behind Longxing Fortress stood a wealthy, bustling city. It had been named Longxing City because this was where the Star Luo Empire had defeated the army of its old enemy, the Heaven Dou Empire, years ago.
Longxing City had two iron gates, one to the east and one to the west, each twenty meters high. Beneath each gate, a dozen or so armored soldiers inspected those entering the city.
At this moment, the area beneath the eastern gate was divided into four clearly distinct sections. One had very few people; the occasional arrivals passing through it wore splendid clothes, while a few were Soul Masters whose imposing auras made them look exceptionally powerful.
The other three sections, however, had queues stretching like long dragons. There were potbellied merchants, pretty young married women carrying bamboo baskets, and young and middle-aged people dressed in coarse hemp clothes. Among these long queues stood an elderly man in a luxurious black robe, with white hair, a youthful face, and an exceedingly kindly appearance. He looked just a little out of place.
Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out ahead. The captain of the eastern gate's inspection squad exclaimed, "Esteemed Soul Emperor, Lord Chi Shi, the Mist Wolf King, welcome to Longxing City!"
"A Soul Emperor! A Soul Master of such a high rank!"
"Heavens, I actually have a chance to see a Soul Emperor in person!"
"I wonder whether this Lord Soul Emperor is still taking disciples."
The sudden bustle at the gate and its scattered chatter caught Qian Chongling's attention as he posed as an old grandfather. He slowly raised his head to look.
In the other section, where no one had been queuing before, a tall, thin middle-aged man now stood with a mist-emitting One-Eyed Wolf martial soul behind him. His Soul Rings were white, yellow, yellow, purple, purple, and black. He was indeed a Soul Emperor, though in old grandfather Qian Chongling's eyes, he was rather a weakling.
It turned out that this section was reserved for nobles and Soul Masters above rank thirty. After all, they could hardly make the "noble" Lords Soul Masters and aristocrats queue alongside commoners.
And that name, Chi Shi! Qian Chongling truly admired this Soul Emperor's parents for managing to come up with it! Could they have eaten shit themselves?
Qian Chongling could not help sinking into thought again.
The inspections in the commoners' queues moved fairly quickly. Before he knew it, Qian Chongling was next, but a small incident occurred just then.
"Sir, please have mercy. I'm only short one Silver Soul Coin. I'll make it up to you next time."
"Please let me through for now."
The pretty young married woman ahead of Qian Chongling lightly bit her lower lip as she spoke to the inspecting soldier. She looked on the verge of tears, so pitiful that anyone would feel sorry for her.
"Little lady, that's against the rules. The entry fee is one Gold Soul Coin, or ten Silver Soul Coins. You can't be short even a single Copper Soul Coin!"
The inspecting soldier propped up his chin and greedily swept his gaze over her body, lingering for quite some time on those rising and falling "pandas" in particular.
After a while, he gave a lecherous smile. "Well, it's not impossible, as long as..."
As he spoke, the soldier reached toward the young woman's neckline in full view of everyone. Yet not only did she dare not resist, everyone else acted as though they saw nothing.
At this, the soldier's smile grew wider. After all, he, Yang Wei, was the younger brother of the Longxing City lord's twelfth concubine. Otherwise, a cushy post like gate inspector would never have fallen into his hands.
Nor was this his first time doing something like this. Relying on his status, he had indulged in plenty of extortion, demands for food and gifts, and molestation.
His lecher's claw, worthy of An Lushan, was already about to touch the young woman's smooth, fair skin. Just as Yang Wei was about to get his way-
"It's only one Gold Soul Coin. I'll pay it for her."
Yang Wei froze. He raised his head to see which blind fool dared spoil his fun, only for two Gold Soul Coins to smack him straight in the face.
The gate abruptly fell silent!
No one had expected anyone to dare ruin the fun of the city lord's brother-in-law, let alone fling Gold Soul Coins directly into his face. This was an utterly blatant slap in the face.
Everyone thought the old man would fall into Yang Wei's hands and end up unable to live or die. Instead, Yang Wei's gloomy expression instantly became a beaming smile, a veritable Sichuan opera face-changing performance.
First came the lewd look of a man about to succeed in molestation, then the gloom of being interrupted, and finally a smiling face. The changes simply caught everyone off guard.
"Old sir, why were you queuing over here? I nearly failed to recognize you!"
"Quickly, old sir, please come in!"
Yang Wei flashed an impeccably professional smile, like a husky that had been running wild outside suddenly spotting its long-absent owner. He made everyone else think this old grandfather was an elder of his family.
Qian Chongling paid no attention to such a minor character. Still wearing his doddering old-man guise, he slowly walked inside. The pretty young married woman ahead was quick to read the situation. With light, graceful steps, she immediately fell into pace beside him, slipping her fair, delicate hand around his arm as though helping an elderly man cross the road.
Qian Chongling felt his arm sink into an exceptionally soft spot, clearly thanks to those plump "pandas." After a moment's thought, he shifted his arm slightly, earning himself an eye roll from the young woman.
The gate returned to its usual calm. Once Qian Chongling had gone far enough away, Yang Wei's disreputable friends spoke up.
"Old Yang, you seem off today. You let that old fellow go just like that? Is he an elder in your family?" another inspecting soldier asked.
The other inspecting soldiers also turned their heads at this. They were curious too.
"That old man isn't someone we can afford to offend! You fellows just don't keep your eyes sharp enough sometimes!" Yang Wei said, not ashamed in the least and instead rather pleased with himself.
"What makes you say that?" the inspecting soldier asked.
"We brothers will treat you at the Drunken Red Pavilion tonight!"
Seeing Yang Wei merely chuckle without saying anything, the soldier taking the lead understood what his buddy wanted.
Only after hearing this did Yang Wei speak. "Why did I say that old man was someone we couldn't afford to offend?"
"That robe of his, the one that only looked a little more luxurious than usual, was custom-made! You can only buy it in Spirit City, and even if you have the money, there's none available. That single robe costs a staggering fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins!"
"If I hadn't once seen my brother-in-law wearing something similar, I'd have caused a disaster today!"
A chorus of sharp gasps rose. Although Yang Wei had not spelled it out, everyone present was shrewd enough to realize that the old man was very likely someone important.
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