A Trip to Heaven Dou City

As the group traveled south, disorder gradually crept into its ranks. Even with Tian Meng, a powerful Soul Emperor, and Leng Xiyue, the "she-devil," keeping watch, many still wanted to break away.

Leng Xiyue could not persuade everyone. More than forty believed she would lead them to a good life where they need not worry about food or clothing, and naturally continued following her. Another twenty or so were utterly obedient slaves who had almost lost all sense of self, leaving only instinct. The remaining forty mostly obeyed on the surface while resisting inwardly, and slipped away along the road whenever no one was watching.

Once the first escape succeeded, the others whose hearts were elsewhere naturally no longer wanted to stay, and left one after another. Leng Xiyue did not stop them. After all, she had only rescued them in passing and had no obligation to take them in. As for whether they would encounter danger after leaving, what did that have to do with her?

The group abruptly shrank to just over sixty. Leng Xiyue was in no hurry to reach Suotuo City, so she first made a trip to Heaven Dou City, bringing everyone somewhere to rest and freshen up. With a change of clothes, the young women who had looked like beggars were transformed. She then commissioned a rather splendid uniform of her own design, ordering several hundred sets to keep in reserve.

As the saying went, people relied on clothes just as horses relied on saddles. Whatever others thought, Leng Xiyue wanted to create something different. At least on her own little patch of land, she hoped to build a relatively equal environment where everyone who followed her could live a good life.

Next, Leng Xiyue sent Tian Meng to the Heaven Dou Empire's central trade guild to register a new trade guild named "Star Dream." Under its name, he bought up all kinds of minerals needed to make gunpowder, along with large quantities of low-grade metals.

Leng Xiyue never appeared in person throughout the process; Tian Meng handled everything. Every merchant treated this powerful Soul Emperor, who looked only about twenty, with unprecedented respect. Before long, the pile of Storage Soul Tools Leng Xiyue had purchased specifically for the minerals was filled to capacity.

"Host, what did you buy all this for?" Tian Meng asked curiously after bringing the purchases back.

The things Leng Xiyue needed were junk nobody wanted. Although most of these minerals were flammable and seemed suitable for gathering up and burning like coal, setting them alight directly actually released large amounts of toxic substances. Only a few alchemists bought them, and then only in small quantities.

The same was even more true of basic iron ore. Spirit City was, after all, an independent city where rare goods circulated. Such low-grade resources were difficult to move, and nobody would transport them there. Even in Heaven Dou City, all the minerals together had cost only twenty thousand Gold Soul Coins.

"Oh, these things have all sorts of uses. But Heaven Dou City is a place where fish and dragons mingle, so it isn't suitable for this kind of research yet. I'll show you when we get the chance," Leng Xiyue said mysteriously.

Naturally, she had not gone to such lengths to gather gunpowder ingredients simply to make money. She wanted to take things further in this field, such as developing cannons after firearms.

Once she had a weapon of massive destructive power like the cannon as her final trump card, she could bring some automatic rifles into the open. By then, cavalry charges would be rendered completely obsolete, and Qian Renxue, disguised as Xue Qinghe, could quite naturally request permission to form a new army. By recruiting ordinary people in large numbers, she could increase their class's overall influence within the Heaven Dou Empire. Only then would the new nation-stealing plan, with partition as its fallback, begin to take shape.

After giving each of the young women under her ten Gold Soul Coins to go enjoy themselves, Leng Xiyue finally had some free time. Traveling had been an ordeal for the young women, most of whom were ordinary people. They would rest for three days before continuing to Suotuo City.

Seeing that everything they needed had been collected, Leng Xiyue suggested, "Since we finally made it to Heaven Dou City, why don't we go shopping and have a look around too?"

"Sure." Tian Meng had no objection. The human world was still endlessly novel to him, and there were many things he had never seen. A chance to go shopping with Leng Xiyue was more than he could have wished for.

Other powerful soul beasts had lived through the changing ages and personally witnessed the rise and fall of various human civilizations. Tian Meng was different. His hundreds of thousands of years as a beast could be summed up in two words: staying alive.

Now he could live freely on this land as a human. That feeling of liberation from his identity as a soul beast-or rather, from the shackles of fate-would probably not fade even after decades.

Leng Xiyue did not know Tian Meng's past, but she knew that surviving this long as something on the level of "food" could not have been easy. Spending more time strolling around together and raising his affection was a good thing. She could think of it as taking a little brother under her wing.

With that, they set off. Strolling along and asking for directions, the two people and one soul soon reached Heaven Dou City's commercial district.

Unlike Spirit City, Heaven Dou City's commercial district was exceptionally tidy. Shops lined both sides of the road in orderly rows, without a single street stall in sight. Everyone passing through wore lavish clothing and looked like someone who had made it in life.

Leng Xiyue did not know what to buy. After all, she lacked practically nothing. Her original intention had simply been to stroll around while explaining the basics of human society.

At least, that had been her plan before arriving. Once she got there, however, the dazzling array of goods on either side of the street immediately caught her interest. Whenever she saw an amusing little trinket, she bought it, regardless of whether she could use it. It was not as though she lacked money.

The Storage Soul Tools were already full, so naturally Tian Meng had to carry these new purchases. This instantly taught him a lesson: never go shopping with a woman! Even if she was just a little girl!

As they walked and stopped along the way, Tian Meng was soon overwhelmed by his load. Seeing this, Leng Xiyue felt a little embarrassed and hurriedly pulled him into a decent-looking restaurant for a meal.

"Owner, do you have any special ingredients you keep tucked away? Tell me about them."

Seeing that Leng Xiyue and Tian Meng were both extraordinary in dress and appearance, the owner said with a cheerful smile, "Of course! We have excellent Snowfield Ice Silkworm Pupae. They're wonderfully delicious and even enhance your beauty. Many esteemed soul masters like you enjoy them."

"Uh... do you have anything else?" Leng Xiyue glanced at Tian Meng's increasingly dark expression and hurriedly changed the subject.

"Yes! Our Fried Scorpion is another specialty!" the owner said proudly.

As an herbivore, Tian Meng struggled to accept the meat humans enjoyed eating. He had only decided to give meat a try after mentally preparing himself, yet the owner had offered two dishes that struck him as utterly revolting. All his enthusiasm vanished at once.

"Xiyue, eat without me. I'll go look around on my own." With that, Tian Meng made his escape.