After the Six Source Ancestral Land and the Source Realm formally signed a ceasefire and alliance agreement, Heavenly Palace Small City, just outside the Heavenly Palace Secret Realm, entered a new period of reconstruction and growth.
As people from the Ancestral Land emerged from the secret realm and settled in the city, Heavenly Palace Small City became a buffer zone and dedicated Trading Zone between the two powers. Emperor Realm cultivators came and went without pause, and the city gradually regained its former prosperity.
By rights, the Source Realm's peak Emperor Realm cultivators had no need to yield so much to the Ancestral Land. But among the Five Ancestors of the Six Sources stood the Ancestor of the Five Directions Dao.
His combat power was terrifying, and he killed without hesitation. He could slaughter peak Emperor Realm cultivators like ants. Few in the entire Source Realm dared provoke him lightly.
Though Lin Yi had spent the past few years in secluded cultivation and rarely concerned himself with outside affairs, his post as Heavenly Palace Small City's Law Enforcement Meta-Supervisor had been kept for him. No one had replaced him.
After leaving his place of seclusion in the White Tiger Realm and taking a short rest, Lin Yi set out for Heavenly Palace Small City.
The city had been transformed. Cultivators from the Ancestral Land now occupied roughly half of it.
The buildings in that half followed the Ancestral Land's style: tall, imposing, and grand, in sharp contrast to those on the Source Realm side.
The clothing of the Ancestral Land's people also differed completely from that of Source Realm cultivators. Their distinctive style made them easy to recognize.
As Lin Yi strolled through the city, he glanced around and found plenty of Ancestral Land cultivators moving through its busy streets.