“Is Li Qingshan in this city?” Gu Yanying swept around with her sharp, hawk-like eyes and asked through her soul sense.

  “Yeah.” Xiao An nodded and made her way into the city.

  The two of them were both dressed in long, white robes with golden embroidery. They had white cloth wrapped around their faces. The hem of their clothes dragged along the ground behind them, giving off the charms of the desert. However, the last thing that the cultivation community lacked were strange people, so they did not stand out amongst the passersby.

  Gu Yanying admired the scenery of the city gracefully. The rivers and streets that crisscrossed together and the delicate balconies and gardens scattered around made it far more than just a new sight with each step. Instead, it was a hundred new sights with each step. It was a prosperous city, but it definitely did not possess any of the vulgarity of human society like regular cities. Every single person here was a cultivator, and nothing they did resembled a mortal.

  She could not help but sigh in amazement. “This sure is a fine place! We were stuck in the dwelling and almost lost our lives. Who knows how easy he’s had it here. He might have met quite a few women too. Tsk, if I had known earlier, I should have served as a scout too.”
Xiao An said nothing, continuing along with fixed strides, stepping over the cobblestone path. She crossed a bridge and turned into a small alleyway before entering another major street. The speckled sunlight that poured in between the buildings flowed quietly on her white robes.

  Having spent all these days together, Gu Yanying had already grown accustomed to her behaviour. “His current situation is still unknown, so it’s best if we don’t go and unite with him rashly. Once we find him, let’s observe him for a while first. It would be best if he comes and finds us.”
“Yeah.” Xiao An agreed and continued onwards. A while later, Gu Yanying became doubtful. “First young miss, it’s not that I’m doubting your feeling, but while the path we take is different, we’ve been going in circles since just then.”
Xiao An said, “We are going in circles.”
Gu Yanying asked, “Where is he?”
“I don’t know…”
“……”
…
For once, Xiao An proactively explained, “There are too many cultivators gathered here and many formations in the way, so I can’t pinpoint Qingshan’s exact location. Your eyes are sharper, so look around carefully!”
“Thank you for your praise.” Gu Yanying covered her forehead and shook her head in a powerless manner. “I’ll use my ‘sharp’ eyes to look around carefully.” She extended a pair of fingers and pointed them at her eyes, turning her wrist around as if she was looking around.

  Xiao An said, “Be a little more serious.”
Gu Yanying’s eyes narrowed; her vision passed through many buildings and formations, sweeping past the gurgling river like a hawk. It crossed through the layered shacks and passed through the cracks between buildings.

  Suddenly, her eyes lit up. “I see h-”
Xiao An said immediately, “Take me there!”
Xiao An followed Gu Yanying and moved through the streets quietly and swiftly, like a pair of ghosts roaming during daytime. They arrived on the square under the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes very soon.

  Xiao An looked around in a slightly urgent manner, but she did not see Li Qingshan. “Where is he?”
Gu Yanying pointed at the Myriad rankings with a smile. “…-is name.”
A hint of annoyance flashed through Xiao An’s eyes before staring at Gu Yanying impassively.

  Whistle~ Gu Yanying whistled awkwardly and refused to face her. “At least it’s better than going around in circles in the city.”
Xiao An looked away, looking at Li Qingshan’s name on the Myriad rankings again.

  Gu Yanying patted her on the shoulder. “We’re already very close. The fact that his ranking is so high means he’s doing quite well. With the kind of person he is, he’ll definitely make some trouble. He’s not the kind to remain unknown. We’ll know where he is just by asking around.”
As a result, she narrowed her eyes slightly and looked around instead of listening. The noise on the square turned into thousands of words that entered her gaze, which even included some “crude” mental conversations between a few low level cultivators.

  In a single moment, Li Qingshan’s name actually appeared over a hundred times, and that did not even include the tremendous amount of communication through soul sense she could not capture.

  Gu Yanying smiled. “I knew it!”
The Myriad rankings was something important that all disciples paid attention to. It directly dictated their status. Becoming an inner disciple so suddenly, Li Qingshan had already caused an extremely great response in Myriad city. In particular, the square had basically become a place of rumours about him.

  “Did you hear about it? The Department of Military Provisions has sent someone to enlist that Li person!”
“How couldn’t I have heard of it? Do you really think you’re the only one who’s well-informed?”
“Hehe, that Li person is in trouble this time. How satisfying. He’s clearly been currying favour with the direct disciples. Does the Myriad sect even have rules left? He thinks he can get away with tending to plants in the Hundred Herbs garden, so they’ll force him onto the battlefield.

  “Yeah, it’s not just senior brother Ge. I heard a lot of other seniors are unhappy with him too. Probably even senior sister Ruan can’t shield him this time!”
Rumours always spread extremely quickly, and it was a hundred times faster when it came to cultivators.

  People who achieved success overnight were always the easiest to incur jealousy and discontent. It had been an extremely short time since Li Qingshan joined the sect, yet he had already made a leap that many disciples could never achieve in their lives.

  “He seems to be in some trouble, but there’s nothing strange about that.”
“Bird woman, we’re going to the Department of Military Provisions.” Xiao An merged with the flowing people quickly.

  “Bird woman!” Gu Yanying was taken aback before letting out a laugh, following along closely.

  ……
The Department of Military Provisions was located in the north-western corner of Myriad city. It was shaped like a large, military camp, not only possessing its own independent system of formations, but also with disciples patrolling and standing on guard. The camp was filled with cultivators that gave off a sense of bleakness, vastly different from the overall style of Myriad city. Crude, primitive halls of black stone stood in an arrangement that possessed no aesthetic appeal at all.

  The officer led the way. Wherever he went, others would stop and bow to him. From time to time, he would encounter another officer or two of the same rank, who simply nodded at him.

  Li Qingshan followed behind the officer silently. Suddenly, he became slightly excited, not because he had been influenced by the atmosphere here, nor because he was worried about whether he would be dispatched as a part of the fresh troops. Instead, it was a different feeling, both familiar and warm.

  However, just like how the atmosphere of the Department of Military Provisions did not match Myriad city, his current bearing did not match this place either. Apart from servants and attendants, most of the people here were cultivators who had returned from the battlefield to rest. Every single one of them was well-experienced and possessed a natural sense of pride.

  Due to the Qilin’s Conventions of Longevity, Li Qingshan’s appearance was as delicate and handsome as a young man’s, and also because of the Heavenly Tome of Liberty, all of his demonic thoughts had been depleted.

  Right now, he basically gave off an air of friendliness and seemed harmless. He also abided by the path of nature constantly, so he did not demonstrate his cultivation. His bearing was basically incompatible with this place, like a little lamb in the middle of a pack of wolves.

  As a result, none of these people looked at him particularly kindly. Most of them bore some contempt and disdain, even a little aggression.

  Li Qingshan only smiled and ignored it. These people did reek a little bit of blood, and their faces were very vicious, but they were clearly just some Foundation Establishment and Golden Core cultivators. There were not even a lot of Soul Nascence cultivators here. If they could kill with gazes, what was the point of cultivation? He could even smash the arrogant prick in front of him to a pulp within three moves. From this distance, just a single punch would be enough.

  He specially searched for the reason for his excitement, and his eyes suddenly lit up. He looked around. “Don’t tell me?”
A chill ran down the officer’s spine, which made him glance backwards doubtfully. Li Qingshan was currently looking around for something. Was it perhaps a false impression? He called out unhappily, “Stop looking around! Get going!”
“Yes!” Li Qingshan raised an eyebrow and became slightly irritated, no longer looking around. His eyes stayed fixed on the officer’s back. However, he clearly had a feeling that they were nearby.

  The officer stiffened. No, it was not a false impression! The coldness reached the depths of his bones at that instant. Even in the bustling military camp, he felt no safety at all. He felt like a vicious tiger was tailing him, readying to tear him to pieces at any time. He did not dare to stop or look back, walking along stiffly like a machine.

  A tall tower of black stone stood in the centre of the military camp. A short, burly man with a square face and large ears stood with his arms crossed at the top. He was the person in charge of this camp, the master of military provisions, Ge Xing.

  He looked down from above at Li Qingshan in the distance and asked softly, “How is he?”
Beside him stood a graceful woman with a tall, straight posture. She said in disdain, “Nothing impressive? He’s just lucky. Look at him, isn’t he very obedient now?”
It was true. In the eyes of others, Li Qingshan stayed right behind the officer, keeping his eyes to himself and following him blindly. He was as obedient as he could get. However, unbeknownst to them, the officer was soaked in sweat. Every single step he took was extremely difficult, like he would be killed immediately if he even paused for a moment, walking away like he was possessed.

  Ge Xing laughed aloud. His voice boomed out, “A lucky kid who defeated a Yin Soul cultivator as a Soul Nascence cultivator? A lucky kid that Le Tian views as a dark horse? A lucky kid who’s bold enough to openly provoke the first senior sister!”
The woman was left speechless before grumbling unhappily, “If he didn’t cheat, how could he become an inner disciple so quickly?”
“You’re just jealous,” Ge Xing said impassively, “When you joined the sect that year, you also placed first. After so much time and effort, you finally became a direct disciple, standing right behind me. Yet, he obtained everything so easily, even with several direct disciples showing him such special care, even treating him as an equal. You don’t find that fair, do you?”
“Yes.” The woman lowered her head.

  Ge Xing growled, “Even I don’t fucking find it fair. If I saw him for myself, I would have never taken part in this gamble. Sigh, it’s not your fault that you couldn’t tell. You just can’t apply normal logic to some people. We’ve all fallen for that bastard Le Tian’s trick this time. He messed up, so he wants to pull us down instead to make up for his loss.”
“This Li Qingshan has already undergone the fourth heavenly tribulation, and he practises the Heavenly Tome of Liberty that no one has practised before. Coupled with that huge sum of contribution, it’s only a matter of time before he became an inner disciple. Junior sister Ruan is not the kind of person to help others cheat. Pi Yangqiu is worried that I’d move against him, so he’s made this risky move like a scoundrel.”
“However, it is a good move. I’m not some gentleman either. I’m not going to just go down like this. However, I’m already beginning to wonder whether sending him onto the battlefield is the correct decision or not.”
“Senior brother!” The woman was surprised. “Why? Don’t tell me you’re afraid he’ll…”
“Shut your mouth. He’s not even a direct disciple right now, and even if he does become one in the future, I’m not going to be afraid of him. Look at your junior brother Liu.”
“Hmm? His expression seems a little unnatural. He’s not greeting anyone either. What’s happened?”
“Hehe, nothing much. He’s just been frightened out of his wits.”
“Frightened out of his wits!?”