The Ancient City area consisted entirely of an old yellow-stone town, covered in marks worn by wind and sand. The teleportation formation at its far end stood on a yellow-stone altar atop a hundred steps. To reach that altar, one had to pass through a towering city gate.
Flying over would make one an obvious target. But on foot, there was only a long, narrow gateway passage below, where an ambush would be all too easy.
Carrying eight large backpacks, with sand and still-wet blood on him, Qi Dian cautiously advanced through the shadows of the city wall.
After a long stretch of observation, he slowly stepped into the passage.
Bang!
Before he made it halfway through, a burly, ferocious-looking man landed at the opposite exit. He wore a black headscarf and a full beard, with a face that looked good for a minimum ten-year sentence.
"Eugh-" Qi Dian exclaimed with genuine feeling.
He turned to retreat, only to discover that a group had lined up behind him at some point. They were several Third Realm independent cultivators who all looked fairly capable, holding various magical artifacts and looking thoroughly vicious.
Their leader was a black-clad young man carrying a Gold-Threaded Ring-Handled Broadsword on his shoulder. Rubbing the back of his neck against the blade's spine, he called across the passage, "Chang Daniu, we agreed the ones flying overhead were yours and the ones walking below were ours. You aren't trying to steal our business, are you?"
Both groups were small bands of independent cultivators local to Jiangcheng City, and both happened to have come here to blockade the teleportation formation. Since their leaders already knew each other, they had negotiated amicably and agreed to block one side each.
"Heh heh." The burly man opposite gave two sinister chuckles-perhaps they