After Black Iron City's war with the Three Sects ended, it also established friendly relations with the other three cities of the Southwestern Borderlands.
The turmoil along the border finally subsided completely.
The cultivators of the region all knew that Black Iron City had risen, and that from now on, the Southwestern Borderlands would be governed jointly by four major cities.
As a result, more and more cultivators came to Black Iron City to settle down, trade, and work, and the city grew increasingly prosperous.
The soldiers and civilians who had originally lived in Black Iron City were delighted by the enormous changes in their city.
They also felt boundless gratitude and affection for their new city lord, Gu Chenfeng.
Meanwhile, City Lord Gu, who had changed Black Iron City's fate, had long since freed himself from its tedious affairs and devoted himself wholeheartedly to secluded cultivation.
He did not remain in the City Lord's Manor to cultivate. Instead, he found a perilous, rarely visited spot amid the rugged mountains along the border, north of Black Iron City's territory.
He opened a cave abode there and laid down concealment and defensive formations, along with a Spirit Gathering Grand Formation. No one knew of this place.
Then Gu Chenfeng began his seclusion.
Every month, he fired up his furnace to refine enough spirit pills, and even Profound Pills, for an entire month's needs.
Besides cultivating the Heaven-Opening Creation Art, Starry Sky Divine Sense Art, and Azure Dragon Transformation Technique simultaneously each day to improve his cultivation,
he also studied and improved the various secret arts he practiced.
In particular, he focused on the Limitless Axe Technique and Feathered Myriad Sword Formation, his two most lethal methods at present.
Of course, puppet arts were another focus of Gu Chenfeng's cultivation.
Especially