After Chu Kuangren struck with overwhelming force and killed the Snow Dragon Three Heroes, not a single person present dared to act rashly again. Fear even rose in their hearts.
He had killed the Snow Dragon Three Heroes with ease and had a Supreme Being as his Dao Protector. As long as no Saint emerged, Chu Kuangren could practically swagger unchecked across the Azure Dragon Domain.
"Splendid, splendid!" Li Xingchen walked over, clapping, and said to Chu Kuangren, "Your strength has truly opened my eyes, Fellow Daoist Chu."
"Oh? Aren't you afraid, Fellow Daoist Li?" Chu Kuangren asked mildly.
"What is there to fear? The Snow Dragon Three Heroes offended you first. You killed them, and that's that." Li Xingchen's tone was utterly indifferent when he spoke of the Snow Dragon Three Heroes, as though he did not take them seriously at all.
In fact, the White Jade Tower in White Cloud City possessed some little-known foundations of its own. It would not necessarily come off worse against certain Supreme Being orthodoxies.
"If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving."
Chu Kuangren said.
"Fellow Daoist Chu, White Cloud City is nearby. My White Jade Tower has some standing there. Why not stay with me for a few days?" Li Xingchen asked expectantly.
Originally, he had only approached to greet Chu Kuangren because both his bearing and looks surpassed his own. But now that he knew the other man was Chu Kuangren, he genuinely wanted to befriend him.
The Supreme Dao Body, the eldest senior brother of the Mystic Heaven Sect-whether in status or aptitude, he stood among the very best on Firmament Star.
"The White Jade Tower... All right, then."
Chu Kuangren nodded.
He was out gaining experience anyway. Wherever he went, it amounted to the same thing. Since White Cloud City was nearby, there was no harm in taking a look.
He was also somewhat curious about the famed White Cloud Sword Venerable.
"Then let's go, Fellow Daoist Chu."
Li Xingchen hurried ahead to lead the way.
Along the way, Li Xingchen introduced Chu Kuangren to White Cloud City's local customs and the balance of power within it.
That included the White Cloud Sword Venerable, who interested Chu Kuangren most.
Li Xingchen said that the White Cloud Sword Venerable had been in secluded cultivation for sixty years, and no one knew when he would emerge. White Cloud City was currently managed by his three sons, who were known as the First Master, Second Master, and Third Master.
Although White Cloud City was a city, it covered an immense area, rivaling even some small countries.
As such, numerous cultivator organizations were entrenched within White Cloud City, including sects and clans, and all these organizations were affiliated with the city lord's residence.
There was, however, one extremely special place.
It was so special that even the city lord's residence had no authority over it: the White Jade Tower, to which Li Xingchen belonged.
Soon, Chu Kuangren followed Li Xingchen to the White Jade Tower, where a vast complex of buildings rising and falling in height greeted his eyes.
Grand palaces, exquisite towers, rockeries and gardens, dance pavilions and singing terraces-all were encompassed within this complex, like an immortal paradise in the mortal world.
Outside the White Jade Tower's main entrance.
Chu Kuangren could not help clicking his tongue in wonder. "In the heavens stands White Jade Capital, with twelve towers and five cities. Immortals stroked the crown of my head; with my hair bound, I received everlasting life."
Hearing this, Li Xingchen's eyes widened. He looked at Chu Kuangren admiringly. "What literary talent, Fellow Daoist Chu!"
"You flatter me."
Chu Kuangren replied modestly.
After all, he had been a bona fide humanities student in his previous life. Reciting a few lines of poetry to show off a little literary flair was well within his abilities.
"In the heavens stands White Jade Capital, with twelve towers and five cities. Immortals stroked the crown of my head; with my hair bound, I received everlasting life. What a fine poem, a truly fine poem."
Li Xingchen could not resist reciting it twice. The more he recited it, the more smoothly it flowed, and the more he felt that the poem had been tailor-made for the White Jade Tower.
Wasn't White Jade Capital the White Jade Tower?
Twelve towers and five cities-that meant the White Jade Tower had many buildings.
Immortals stroked the crown of my head; with my hair bound, I received everlasting life.
Immortals, immortals...
At this thought, Li Xingchen could not help glancing at Chu Kuangren. His bearing was ethereal and otherworldly, like an Exiled Immortal.
Tsk, tsk. Was Fellow Daoist Chu comparing himself to an immortal?
Such boldness truly was extraordinary.
Chu Kuangren had no idea how much Li Xingchen had imagined. He merely felt that the other man's gaze was becoming increasingly friendly and respectful.
The White Jade Tower operated various service businesses: restaurants, inns, gambling houses, and even brothels. It was the largest place of consumption in White Cloud City.
Inside, people came and went in a lively bustle.
"Greetings, young proprietor."
Someone bowed upon seeing Li Xingchen.
Only then did Chu Kuangren learn that he was the son of the White Jade Tower's master, its young proprietor.
Quite a few people also noticed Chu Kuangren and Lan Yu.
Even setting aside the fact that they were with the young proprietor, Li Xingchen, Chu Kuangren's extraordinary, otherworldly bearing alone was enough to attract considerable attention.
"Who exactly is that man? He's truly remarkable."
"Is he a friend of the young proprietor?"
"The young proprietor himself is already White Cloud City's most renowned handsome man. To think someone could be even better-looking than him."
"That silver-haired woman is an exceptional beauty too."
"They're far above the people the young proprietor brought back before."
The people around them discussed animatedly.
Everyone in White Cloud City knew that Li Xingchen loved befriending good-looking people. He brought back a few handsome men and beautiful women from time to time, and everyone had long since grown accustomed to it.
But the Chu Kuangren he had brought back this time was simply too stunning.
Compared with him, everyone Li Xingchen had brought back before became crooked melons and split dates, mediocre people who were not remotely in the same league.
Under curious gazes all along the way, Li Xingchen led Chu Kuangren and Lan Yu to a study, where they met the master of the White Jade Tower.
He was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his thirties, with a gentle, scholarly bearing. No aura emanated from him, making him seem like a man of letters.
But how could the master of the enormous White Jade Tower be an ordinary scholar?
Chu Kuangren could not help examining him with the Eye of Insight.
"Li Ye, cultivation: Supreme Being, skilled in calligraphy and painting..."
What he saw startled Chu Kuangren inwardly.
Sure enough, he was no ordinary scholar.
Good heavens, this was a Supreme Being!
Every Supreme Being stood at the pinnacle of the Venerable Realm. Across all of Firmament Star, they were among the strongest.
"Father, these are two friends I've just made."
Li Xingchen introduced them.
Li Ye raised his head to look at Chu Kuangren and Lan Yu. Surprise immediately appeared in his eyes, deepening the longer he looked.
With his powerful cultivation, he could sense an utterly terrifying Daoist rhyme within both Chu Kuangren and Lan Yu. They likely possessed some kind of top-tier Dao Body.
Chu Kuangren, in particular, shocked him even more.
Even he had never encountered that Daoist rhyme before.
"May I ask where you two young friends hail from?"
"I am Chu Kuangren of the Mystic Heaven Sect, and her name is Lan Yu. Greetings, Senior." Chu Kuangren cupped his hands in a slight bow.
"Chu Kuangren..." Li Ye murmured the name, then chuckled. "So you're the Mystic Heaven Sect's eldest senior brother who declared war on the world."
Chu Kuangren rubbed his nose, neither confirming nor denying it.
Well, that business about him declaring war on the world was now set in stone.
Still, thinking about it, it did seem rather stirring.
"That Supreme Being in hiding is your Dao Protector, I take it?" Li Ye had also detected the Seventh Ancestor's presence.
"Yes."
"Mm." Li Ye said nothing more about it.
Li Xingchen, however, spoke enthusiastically. "Brother Chu composed a poem for the White Jade Tower today. In the heavens stands White Jade Capital, with twelve towers and five cities. Immortals stroked the crown of my head; with my hair bound, I received everlasting life. What do you think?"
Li Ye's eyes lit up upon hearing it. He clapped his hands and laughed heartily. "A fine poem, a fine poem! To think you would give me such a magnificent gift upon your arrival at my White Jade Tower, young friend. Thank you so much."
He was skilled in calligraphy and painting. Though not particularly accomplished in poetry, he loved it dearly, and hearing this poem immediately gave him a favorable impression of Chu Kuangren.
"I'll write this poem out myself, then frame it and place it in the White Jade Tower's most prominent spot for all to admire."
Li Ye said delightedly.
Before you continue