Immortal City
In northwestern Yan Province, where three mountains met, stood a large immortal city spanning a hundred li, known as Azure Luan Immortal City.
Two hundred years ago, Azure Luan Fairy, a once-in-an-age prodigy among Rogue Cultivators, formed a high-grade Golden Core. The spiritual cloud that appeared as she formed her core covered a thousand li, shocking the world. The three great Nascent Soul immortal sects offered Azure Luan Fairy a position as a True Disciple, but she politely declined.
Not long afterward, Azure Luan Fairy traveled to the Savage Wilderness of northwestern Yan Province. She slew five third-tier Demon Kings in succession and rescued more than eight thousand young and able-bodied humans whom the Demon Kings had been keeping.
The Demon Race of the northwest flew into a rage and unleashed a massive Beast Tide across the region, intent on devouring every human there.
Armed with nothing but her sword, Azure Luan Fairy fought her way across more than thirty thousand li, through over a hundred battles great and small, before finally putting an end to the calamity.
After the war, Azure Luan Fairy founded an immortal city where the three mountains met and settled the people who had escaped the jaws of the Beast Tide there.
Two hundred years had passed, and Azure Luan Immortal City was now the largest gathering place for Rogue Cultivators in Yan Province, with a permanent population of as many as a million.
Beneath Azure Luan Immortal City lay a third-tier mid-grade Spirit Vein, enough to supply the cultivation needs of up to ten Golden Core cultivators.
Today, besides its city lord, Azure Luan Fairy, Azure Luan Immortal City had three Golden Core Attendants, all Rogue Cultivators who had made their names many years ago.
Azure Luan Fairy had now reached Late Golden Core. Because she often went into seclusion to cultivate, she had entrusted the city's daily affairs to her eldest disciple, Lin Jingchen.
Lin Jingchen had just passed the age of a hundred and had already reached Foundation Establishment Great Perfection. Lin Jingchen was held in high regard in Azure Luan Immortal City.
Besides Lin Jingchen, Azure Luan Fairy had three other personal disciples, all Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Although Azure Luan Immortal City was a holy land for Rogue Cultivators, it did not exclude immortal sects or cultivation Lineages. Most immortal sects in Yan Province had established branches in the city to sell their own specialties and purchase various resources.
Azure Luan Immortal City had no curfew, and anyone who was not a Devil Cultivator could come and go freely. Golden Core cultivators, however, had to report to the city lord's manor if they wished to enter, and they were not permitted to stay for long.
Azure Luan Immortal City had few rules, and the most important was this: anyone who killed in the city would die! After Azure Luan Fairy suppressed and killed a Golden Core True Person and more than a dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators, this rule had become deeply ingrained in everyone's minds, and no one dared break it.
One afternoon, warm sunlight fell upon the gates of Azure Luan Immortal City and a middle-aged Qi Refining cultivator with a weathered face.
That middle-aged cultivator was none other than Mo Wen.
Half a month earlier, Mo Wen had left Red Leaf Market and set out for Azure Luan Immortal City.
On the eight-thousand-li journey, seven groups of Bandit Cultivators had intercepted him and tried to kill him, and first-tier Demon Beasts had attacked him dozens of times. In his most dangerous encounter, he had run into a Foundation Establishment Devil Cultivator and had been forced to reveal his full strength, only narrowly escaping.
In any case, he had finally arrived at Azure Luan Immortal City and was about to begin a new life.
As Mo Wen entered the gateway, he made a point of glancing at a bronze mirror embedded above it. The mirror was a third-tier Law Treasure, the Devil-Detecting Treasure Mirror, capable of detecting Devil Qi hidden within Devil Cultivators at the Golden Core realm and below.
It was the first Law Treasure he had ever seen, so he could not help feeling curious.
In this cultivation world, Law Artifacts could be divided into five tiers, from lowest to highest: first-tier Law Artifacts, second-tier Spirit Artifacts, third-tier Law Treasures, fourth-tier Spirit Treasures, and fifth-tier Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasures. Whether there were higher ranks above Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasures was not something ordinary cultivators could know.
After entering the city, Mo Wen found that, despite the crowds, everything appeared orderly, with no excessive disorder. There were also quite a few mortals in the city.
Mo Wen made a point of observing these mortals and found that they seemed to be in fairly good spirits. Even when speaking with cultivators, they did not appear overly humble, merely treating them with considerable respect.
"This holy land for Rogue Cultivators really is nice!" Influenced by his previous life, Mo Wen had never liked the way cultivators put themselves on a pedestal and treated mortals like ants.
Mo Wen had not walked far down the street before he spotted an agency that specialized in renting out residences.
As soon as he reached the entrance, a female cultivator with a fresh, pleasant bearing welcomed him inside.
"Fellow Daoist, what grade of residence are you interested in?" the female cultivator asked after serving Mo Wen fragrant tea and preserved fruit.
"I've only just arrived and don't know much about the market here. Could you explain it to me in detail, fellow Daoist?" Mo Wen said amiably.
True to her profession, the female cultivator immediately launched into a fluent explanation.
After listening to her, Mo Wen gained a general understanding of Azure Luan Immortal City.
Azure Luan Immortal City was roughly divided into four areas: the commercial district, the residential district, the entertainment district, and the cave abode district. The commercial district occupied the southern city and had nine shopping streets and a street-stall plaza. The residential district, home to Qi Refining cultivators and mortals, occupied the western and northern parts of the city. The eastern city alone was divided in two: the outer section was the entertainment district, with restaurants, pleasure houses, gambling dens, beast-fighting arenas, and so on. The inner section was the cave abode district, set aside specifically for direct-line descendants of cultivation Lineages and Foundation Establishment Rogue Cultivators.
Mo Wen was currently displaying a cultivation level of Qi Refining Great Perfection. Cultivators at that level were not uncommon in Azure Luan Immortal City, but they were unquestionably among the highest-ranking Qi Refining cultivators and would not be looked down upon.
"Tell me more about the cave abode district," Mo Wen said.
He had quite a few secrets now and did not want other cultivators to discover them. The cave abode district not only had a better Spiritual Qi environment but also had the protection of second-tier formations, guaranteeing both privacy and security. As for the rent, with his current talisman-making skills, he could certainly afford that paltry sum!
"The residences in the cave abode district come in three grades: A, B, and C. Grade A cave abodes have the densest Spiritual Qi, equivalent to living atop a second-tier high-grade Spirit Vein, and rent for six thousand low-grade Spirit Stones a year. Grade B cave abodes have slightly less Spiritual Qi, equivalent to only a second-tier mid-grade Spirit Vein, and rent for three thousand Spirit Stones a year. Grade C cave abodes have Spiritual Qi equivalent to only a second-tier low-grade Spirit Vein and rent for fifteen hundred Spirit Stones a year."
"There's also a difference in the area these cave abodes occupy. Grade A cave abodes are the largest, covering as much as three mu. Grade B is slightly smaller, at only two mu. Grade C is the smallest, at only one mu," the female cultivator explained patiently.
"I intend to rent a grade C cave abode. Do you have any good recommendations?" Mo Wen finally made his decision.
Seeing how readily Mo Wen had made up his mind, the female cultivator was even more delighted and immediately laid out all the advantages and disadvantages of the cave abodes she had available.
After some consideration, Mo Wen ultimately chose a cave abode near the entertainment district. His main reason was that there were more cultivators in the entertainment district. If anything out of the ordinary happened, it would be safer to blend into the crowd.
Then came a series of steps: inspecting the property, signing the contract, paying the rent, and so on. By the time he had finished everything, night had fallen. Fortunately, Azure Luan Immortal City had no curfew. It was brightly lit at night, and there were nearly as many people on the streets as during the day.