Chapter 42: Tong Tian City
The forbidden land of the Southern Continent was called the Barren Spirit Wasteland. It was said that this place had once been a beautiful land of mountains and rivers, home to the most powerful Sacred Land in the Southern Continent.
However, that Sacred Land was later wiped from history by the invaders from the outer realms. This place became the main battlefield, and in the end, the spiritual energy was depleted, and the Dao laws were completely shattered, with no possibility of repair, eventually becoming a forbidden zone.
It was said that when it was a battlefield, countless scars were left. Later, those pits and holes were filled with corpses, restoring a flat wasteland. If one were to step into it, who knows if their feet would be treading on corpses?
Not a single blade of grass grew in this wasteland. Standing outside, one could faintly feel the broken laws.
Mingyan had asked for the location of a nearby teleportation array, which was not far from the forbidden zone. So, Huang Feiyan had decided to come and take a look along the way.
They stopped outside the Barren Spirit Wasteland and looked in.
Outside the forbidden zone, there was a long stone tablet, connected to a huge formation that surrounded the forbidden zone, preventing entry.
In a place with broken laws, a cultivator would not only be unable to use Dao techniques, but would also be affected after leaving. Therefore, entering a forbidden zone was prohibited.
Of course, the restriction of this formation was not high. It was simply to prevent cultivators from accidentally entering. If one’s cultivation was high enough, they could force their way in, but they would have to bear the consequences.
Huang Feiyan sighed softly. “We didn’t bring back the remains of that ancestor. He was only a Human King. After hundreds of thousands of years, his bones have likely turned to dust, leaving no trace.”
Let alone them, even a Human King wouldn’t dare to easily enter this place after it became a forbidden zone. Although they couldn’t use Dao techniques, their physique was still at the Human King Realm, but entering would be affected by the broken laws, leading to a dead end in their cultivation.
Only a Great Emperor could enter these forbidden zones, but they couldn’t just ask the Empress to get them that Phoenix Feather, could they?
Even Yaochi couldn’t make the Empress do anything. She was a Great Emperor. Just being able to see her was a great honor.
From the naked eye, the forbidden zone didn’t look any different. It just looked like a desolate plain. But if one stepped into it, they would feel a world-shaking change.
The three of them didn’t linger outside the forbidden zone and soon left.
Three days later, they arrived at a giant city in the eastern part of the Southern Continent.
During this time, they had been traveling continuously, so now they planned to stay for a short while and gather some information about the Southern Continent.
For cultivators, knowing what was happening in the outside world was very important. This way, they wouldn’t miss any opportunities.
After approaching the city, Mingyan put away the carriage and came to the city gate with Huang Feiyan and Feng Shiyi.
“Tong Tian City.” Mingyan looked at the several golden characters on the city gate. “This name is so domineering.”
The huge city gate stood like two door gods, silent and majestic. Some sword marks could be seen on it. The city walls were so high that they reached into the clouds, with no end in sight, completely separating the inside and outside of the city, like two worlds.
The left and right sides were the same. The long and solid black city walls had some cracks, but they still stood tall, majestic and magnificent. It sat there like a behemoth, unshakeable.
The city walls were too high, so high that they couldn’t see the end. There were powerful laws circulating on them, emitting a faint glow.
Tong Tian City, although the name was extremely domineering, was indeed worthy of it.
“This is a city wall built during the dark era. A Great Emperor once inscribed patterns on it. It was also the main base for resisting the dark era. Countless heroes set out from here and went to the main battlefield to fight bloody battles.” Huang Feiyan introduced, “Even an Emperor-level invader from the outer realms would have to spend some effort to break through the city wall.”
“At that time, that Great Emperor used supreme means to block the border between the Eastern and Southern Continents. Then the Southern Continent became the main attack direction of the invaders. This place was once captured, but it was later retaken.” She said, “After the dark era ended, this city became the largest city in the Southern Continent. There’s a Sacred Land located here, and also a cultivation family nearby. Of course, the most special thing is that there are a lot of demons living in this city. It’s the fourth most populous place for demons in the entire Southern Continent.”
Mingyan nodded and walked in with Feng Shiyi and Huang Feiyan.
Feng Shiyi held onto his clothes and followed him.
She wasn’t much shorter than him, and she looked much older than him. Her timid appearance, following him, was quite eye-catching.
The three of them walked to the city gate and found that after entering, they didn’t directly enter the city. There seemed to be a rather vast space inside the city wall, with many cultivators stationed there, among whom there were some with extremely high cultivation.
Their expressions were serious, and they were sternly examining everyone, as if they were looking for something.
Mingyan frowned and subconsciously pulled Feng Shiyi closer to him.
However, the other party’s gaze swept over her and didn’t show any strangeness. Mingyan was relieved. It seemed they weren’t looking for her.
The three of them passed through the space inside the city wall and truly entered Tong Tian City.
Upon entering, a long, endless avenue stretched before them, lined with various shops. People, including many demons, bustled to and fro.
Although many demons looked down on humans, it was just that—looking down. It wasn’t so severe that they couldn’t live together.
Mingyan and his companions strolled through the city for a while, marveling at its immense size.
There were so many humans and demons living here… The city was so large that an ordinary person would likely take several years to walk its entire length.
It was truly massive. How had they built it so large?
When this city was built, it wasn’t just as a barrier to block the invaders, but also to shelter those who had been made homeless by them. Those people had settled here.
Huang Feiyan briefly explained that although the city had been captured back then, it had bought enough time to evacuate most of the people. Later, after it was retaken, everyone had returned, and they had lived here for hundreds of thousands of years.
The three of them strolled through the city for a while, found a tavern, and sat down.
There were many young cultivators in the tavern, most at the Yang Tomb Realm, with a few at the Qi Sea Realm, both humans and demons.
After they sat down, some people noticed them, but they didn’t attract much attention.
Mingyan’s name was quite famous in the Eastern Continent because he had defeated the little Kun Peng king, but he wasn’t so well-known in the Southern Continent. After all, the little Kun Peng king was a young expert from the Eastern Continent’s Demon Clan. Here, there seemed to be only one true powerhouse.
That was Gu Hanshuang.
“I heard Celestial Gu has returned from the Eastern Continent. She traveled around but found no one who could compare to her.”
“What a joke. What kind of talent does Celestial Gu have?” someone sneered. “How can those people from the Eastern Continent be her opponent?”
“I heard there’s a number one of the Demon Clan in the Eastern Continent. I wonder how strong she is.”
“She can’t be Celestial Gu’s opponent!” the person sneered.
Mingyan couldn’t help but look at the man. He truly admired Gu Hanshuang…
It seemed Jade Peony hadn’t made a public appearance in either the Southern or Eastern Continents. Everyone only knew of the so-called number one of the Demon Clan.
But Mingyan was certain the two had fought before, and it had likely been a draw.
Both Jade Peony and Gu Hanshuang had expressed a desire to cooperate with him to deal with the other… so they had likely fought to a standstill.
Listening to these people boast was pointless. There was nothing useful.
He listened for a while, but hearing nothing of value, he was about to leave when he saw a familiar figure enter.
He frowned and looked at Huang Feiyan, who, noticing his strange expression, also looked at the figure, her expression strange. “What is she doing here?”
“Weren’t there rumors that she was actually from the Southern Continent?” Mingyan said, looking at the figure. He frowned. “But this is too much of a coincidence. Tong Tian City is so big. How can we just run into her?”
The person who had entered was Jade Peony.
