A dark blue metal flying vessel rose into the air outside Kapa City's northeastern gate. Pale blue flames jetted from its stern, trailing a long streak through the dim daylight.
A long line stretched outside the gate, made up of Lowgods and Middle Gods who had come to Kapa City from all over, obediently waiting to pay the entry fee.
The air stirred up by the Metal Flying Vessel's takeoff swept over their heads. Many instinctively looked up, their eyes full of envy.
Anyone who could afford to operate a Metal Lifeform of this caliber was at least a Highgod-a height they might never reach in their lifetimes.
"That Metal Flying Vessel looks expensive. I wonder when I'll ever be able to buy one," a Lowgod man murmured, looking in the direction where the Flying Boat had disappeared.
The burly man ahead of him turned to size him up and scoffed. "You? You couldn't afford one even if you cultivated for another few hundred million years."
"You!" Mocked in public, the man's face flushed crimson, and his clenched fists crackled.
"What's all this arguing? It's your turn! One Nether Stone to enter the city!" The Prefecture Soldiers showed neither of them any courtesy. With a casual flick, they sent out a pulse of divine power that shook both men until blood seeped from the corners of their mouths.
Neither dared make another sound. They obediently paid their Nether Stones and hurried through the gate with their heads lowered.
The Prefecture Soldiers who had struck watched the two bedraggled figures retreat, their mouths twisting into sneers. "Hmph. Who do you think you are? A mighty Five-Star Demon isn't someone the likes of you can latch onto!" The nearby Prefecture Soldiers laughed along, then went back to calling out to the next