"Roasted Lightning Bird wings! Crisp outside, tender inside-one bite and you'll ascend!" An enthusiastic cry rang out from a street corner.
A youth in colorful robes stood behind the stall, gently waving a feather fan. Golden, glistening bird wings sizzled on the grill, their fragrance wafting everywhere.
Not far away, an old man with white hair and a white beard had set up a medicine stall, displaying all kinds of spiritual medicines.
"Thousand-year Blood Ganoderma, ten-thousand-year Snow Lotus Seeds! Cure every illness and prolong your life!"
The ancient city's streets gradually grew lively, carriages, horses, and pedestrians weaving through them in an astonishing spectacle of prosperity.
The wares being hawked truly lived up to their names. Thousand-year Blood Ganoderma, roasted Lightning Bird wings-every one was a genuine treasure of heaven and earth.
The ancient city was astonishingly prosperous. Its markets brimmed with the bustle of mortal life, even more intensely than many mortal capitals, leaving newly arrived cultivators dumbfounded.
Jiang Zhu strolled through the markets, observing the sights of the city. Prices here were outrageously high; even an ordinary item cost a piece of Divine Source.
On reflection, however, that was hardly surprising. This place lay within the Vast Starry Sky, where transporting supplies was difficult, hence the high prices.
"Who are you?"
Jiang Zhu, who had been sightseeing with a skewer of roasted wings in hand, abruptly looked behind him, his gaze shooting toward the newcomer like lightning.
A thin, middle-aged cultivator was furtively following him.
"Shh, fellow Daoist, keep your voice down," the cultivator whispered. "I'm here to sell secret manuals."
"Not interested," Jiang Zhu replied coldly.
"These aren't ordinary cultivation manuals. They're secrets to staying alive, containing inside information about the Trial Grounds."
It turned out that he was a native familiar with the terrain. His cultivation