Chapter 849: The City Of Rogue Cultivators
Huixun City!
One of the famous big cities in Zhangzhou and was also known as the city of rogue cultivators.
This was because the big city did not belong to any forces but was established by 2 formidable rogue Venerable Ones from Zhangzhou.
There were also strongholds of different forces in the city, but the ones that were really in charge were those 2 rogue Venerable Ones, who were the city’s dictators.
Perhaps because the city was built by rogue cultivators, it had an unusually strong business atmosphere. Most rogue cultivators were willing to spend more time traveling to the city to trade.
Ou Yangming traveled over land and water with Xue Haiya and his juniors before they finally arrived at the majestic city.
The city was built on a plain, but steep mountains and a boundless dense forest could be seen behind the city.
Seeing as Ou Yangming was rather intrigued, Xue Haiya immediately explained, “Brother Tianrui, Huixun City’s the top city for all rogue cultivators, and it was built here so that it’s convenient for everyone to hunt.”
“Hunt?” Ou Yangming asked curiously.
“That’s right.” Xue Haiya did not have a high cultivation base, but he was rather well-informed. He blurted without any hesitation, “There wasn’t a city here in the past as there was only a small town, which was an important entrance to the Forest of Death. Hence, anyone that wants to enter the forest will make their final preparations here.”
Ou Yangming turned to look at the dense forest far behind the city.
Xue Haiya laughed and continued, “That’s the Forest of Death. It’s full of danger, but there are also numerous opportunities inside. Not to mention rogue cultivators, even people that come from small clans like us will also want to journey into the forest.”
“Have you been there before?” Ou Yangming could not help but laugh.
Xue Haiya nodded slowly. “I went there once with some brothers from my clan when I was younger. It’s… Quite dangerous inside indeed.” Lingering fear could be seen on his face, which was evident that he never forgot what he encountered there even after all these years.
“Big Uncle, I didn’t know that you had such an experience. Why didn’t you tell us before?” Xue Xuanle asked curiously. She looked excited as she added, “I’d like to go there and take a look too.”
Xue Yuan expressed loudly, “Big Uncle, me too.”
“You…” Xue Haiya did not know to cry or to laugh. “What do you regard that place as? Hmph, you’re being reckless!”
After scolding his juniors, he sighed. “The Forest of Death is full of danger. Not only will one need to fight against various queer living beings, but one can’t lower one’s guard against humans too. Ah, I had just become a Spiritualist when I entered the forest back then, but I almost lost my life there.”
The faces of Xue Xuanle and Xue Yuan changed. They had not experienced how dangerous the Forest of Death was, but they became alert after hearing Xue Haiya’s solemn description.
Ou Yangming nodded as if he was deep in thought. He became slightly curious about the forest as well.
Perhaps the dangers inside would be lethal to Xue Haiya when he was a Rudimentary Spiritualist, but Ou Yangming and his 3 hidden spirit beasts would not care about those threats.
Nonetheless, since 2 Venerable Ones built a city here, it was enough to prove that the Forest of Death had plenty of benefits. Ou Yangming would not intervene in anything, but he figured that it would be fine for him to conveniently rake in some profits if he passed by.
Xue Haiya lamented for a brief moment before he curbed his thoughts. “The powerful spirit beasts inside the Forest of Death will even appear out of the blue to attack, causing heavy casualties among the rogue cultivators in the town. This was why when the 2 rogue cultivators advanced into Venerable Ones and swore to build a city here, they were instantly approved and assisted by countless other rogue cultivators.” He looked up at the towering walls and added, “This city of rogue cultivators never relied on any influential sect, and it’s the pride of all rogue cultivators.”
Ou Yangming was surprised to see how the middle-aged man’s face was glowing. “Senior, you’re… Not rogue cultivators though?”
Xue Haiya was stunned for a while, then he smiled bitterly and responded, “Brother Tianrui, disciples from small clans like us aren’t actually much different from rogue cultivators.” He sighed and continued, “If we really had an influential sect as our backing, why would the Teng family dare to…” At this point, his voice became softer, and he also began to choke with sobs.
Due to the Teng family’s sudden attack, the Xue family was nearly wiped out. Although some people managed to get away, one could imagine what happened to the old, the weak, the women, and the children that were left behind in the clan.
Xue Haiya and his juniors did not have the time nor energy to think about this when they were fleeing. Perhaps they had been avoiding this thought on purpose.
Once they arrived at Huixun City, where their safety was somewhat guaranteed, they could not control their emotions anymore.
Apart from Xue Haiya, even Xue Xuanle and Xue Yuan were somewhat influenced by him too.
“Since we’re here now, let’s quickly enter the city,” Ou Yangming instantly said. He paused for a while before he added, “Our loss will outweigh our gain if we get caught now.”
Xue Haiya and his juniors became alert right away. They curbed their thoughts and quickened their pace as though someone was really chasing behind them at the moment.
Huixun City was indeed worthy of being one of the top cities in Zhangzhou. They were not troubled at all when they entered the city.
There were several guards at the main gate, and they released auras of Spiritualists. Therefore, they were sharp enough to spot Xue Haiya and his companions, who seemed to be in a hurry. Even so, the guards did not stop them nor did they question them.
When Ou Yangming and the others entered the city and could no longer see the guards, the young fellow could not help but ask of or curiosity, “Senior Xue, the guards here are Spiritualists? Isn’t that too much?”
Ever since entering the Spiritual Realm, Ou Yangming had met numerous powerhouses, but Spiritualists were also considered kings of kings even in this realm.
It was true that there were many Spiritualists in large-scale forces but as compared to the overall population of a single force, the ratio was less than 1 to 10.
If the comparison was done on the entire race, it would be even more exaggerated.
Given a city of such a scale, if even the normal guards at the main gate were Spiritualists, Ou Yangming did not know how he could deduce the city’s real strength anymore.
Xue Haiya chuckled and replied to him, “Brother Tianrui, those guards are part-timers, so they’re not the followers of the 2 governors.”
“Oh…” Ou Yangming responded neither rashly nor rudely. He was still puzzled.
The middle-aged man explained, “This is the city of rogue cultivators, so the governors aren’t very strict with the management here. Instead, many rogue cultivators in the city got together and formed all sorts of organizations after a long time, and acted on their initiative to send Spiritualists to guard the entrance in turns.” He was rather envious as he stated, “This is the rogue cultivators’ way of expressing their support toward the governors.”
It was then when Ou Yangming came to a sudden realization. Indeed, if a certain force were to send Spiritualists to guard the entrance, it would be too much and impractical.
On the other hand, if all of the rogue cultivators in the city took turns to do the job, it would carry an entirely different meaning.
In any case, it was clear that the 2 governors, who were also rogue cultivators, had truly won the hearts of all.
“Big Uncle, we’ve entered the city now. Where should we go to find our people?” Xue Yuan was rather eager.
Xue Haiya told him, “Don’t be in such a hurry. Since we’re in the city now, as rampant as the Teng family is, they won’t dare to do anything here.”
Ou Yangming nodded in agreement. Regardless of who the governors were, they would not allow outsiders to fight and cause havoc in the city, after all.
Xue Yuan flushed and said, “Big Uncle, I… I just want to reunite with our clan members as soon as possible.”
The young lady twitched her mouth and thought, ‘Instead of wanting to reunite with our clan members, you actually just want to regain your sense of security by being with them.’ Nevertheless, she was also thinking the same.
It was true that they had been safe and sound so far because they were protected by Ou Yangming’s formation, but deep down they were more willing to trust their people.
Xue Haiya naturally knew what they were thinking, but he did not expose them. “Wu Xiaohuang, who’s the patriarch of the Wu family from Huixun City, is Grand Elder’s best friend. Since Grand Elder ordered us to break out in separate groups to come to Huixun City, I’m sure he wants us to seek shelter in the Wu family.”
“Seek shelter…” Xue Yuan furrowed his eyebrows. Due to his natural gift, he was considered to be quite spoiled.
This was also the reason he understood it would not feel good to lodge under someone else’s roof.
The only thing was that he no longer had a choice at this time.
Ou Yangming grinned and noted, “Senior Xue, since you already have somewhere to go, I’ll be parting ways with you now.”
Xue Haiya responded at once, “Brother Tianrui, we haven’t repaid you for your saving grace, so how can you leave so soon?” He grabbed Ou Yangming’s hands fervently and expressed sincerely, “If I let you leave now, Grand Elder will surely reprimand me for being immature. Brother Tianrui, no matter what, I must invite you to come with us so that we can thank you properly.”
Ou Yangming nodded after some thought. “Since you don’t find this troublesome, Senior Xue, let’s travel together.” In actuality, he did not really intend to leave. However, if he were to be thick-faced and insisted on following them even in Huixun City, he might arouse suspicion. Now that Xue Haiya was asking the young fellow to stay, he conveniently agreed to it.
Xue Haiya beamed. “It’s no trouble at all, it’s no trouble at all. In fact, I couldn’t have asked for more.”
On the other side, Xue Yuan scoffed and looked away.
When they were still pursued by the Teng family outside the city, Xue Yuan had been controlling his emotions because they needed to rely on Ou Yangming’s formation. Since they had entered the city and were safe, the young fellow’s importance decreased linearly, which was why Xue Yuan did not want to see him anymore.
After all, Ou Yangming had a similar cultivation base as Xue Yuan, but he was younger and was adept in formations. Given that the young fellow was a formation master that could kill an Intermediate Spiritualist, he would certainly steal the limelight from Xue Yuan, thus the young man was not fond of him.
Xue Haiya frowned and glared at Xue Yuan to warn him not to act rashly. After that, he turned around and led the way with a smile.