Two Realms: I Will Become the Immortal Emperor

Chapter 359: Chapter 330: To Faqian City

After shooing the Little Chick back to Jinyun Valley and eliminating all traces of the bodies, Chen Che finally set off for Faqian City.

He had learned most of what he knew about Faqian City from Meng Qianxun.

It was a city built by Loose Cultivators, located outside the territories of the Primordial Sect and the Star-Picking Sect. Its sphere of influence spanned the lands of the Three States. Three cultivators at Golden Core Great Perfection jointly governed the city.

Since the three City Lords were all former Loose Cultivators and answered to no higher authority, the city was highly popular among their kind.

This was especially true for Evil Cultivators and Tribulation Cultivators.

Many stolen goods would openly appear for sale here. Chen Yin had mentioned coming here to search after the Thousand-Eyed Divine Statue was lost. Xiao Chan had also said that if he failed to obtain the Qingxu Guiyuan Pill, he would make a trip to Faqian City.

For a Cultivator, Faqian City was a paradise.

Spiritual Artifacts, Pills, Cultivation Techniques—as long as you had enough Spirit Stones, you could get anything you wanted, even the heads of the three City Lords.

At the same time, it was also a hell. Hunters were everywhere. Just one trip in and out was enough to get you targeted. If you weren’t strong enough, you would meet a violent end.

In fact, according to historical records, the city was once a black market.

As such, it was a chaotic mix of all sorts of people.

To Chen Che, the city felt like a notorious nightclub within the world of Immortal Sects. Everyone knew about it, but most people stayed far away. Similarly, Chen Che had known about this place long before he reached Core Formation, but he had never been willing to set foot inside.

But now, a bounty for his own head was posted in the city.

He was determined to go see it for himself and, while he was at it, investigate the person behind it. Chen Che guessed it was either True Master Duobao or Ye Yuanji. After all, they were the only two who held a grudge against him.

As for sending the Little Chick away, that was also to avoid exposing his identity.

The bounty was posted for all to see, and anyone in the city could accept it. Whoever succeeded would claim the reward. Therefore, he couldn’t rule out the possibility that others would try to claim it.

Therefore, Chen Che disguised himself before setting out. He changed into a gray robe, slung Dan Xuanzi’s Large Sword Box over his back, and put on a bamboo hat. He even covered his face with a broken piece of Thousand Eyes’ Face Armor. He cultivated a travel-worn appearance, making himself look a decade older than he really was.

Once he left the territory governed by the Primordial Sect, the population thinned out dramatically. It was common to travel for hundreds of miles without seeing a single soul.

Even the occasional villages he passed seemed to have been abandoned for decades.

This was because the wilds were teeming with Demon Beasts that mortals couldn’t possibly fend off. A single minor demon in the Qi Refining Realm was enough to throw an entire village into chaos. If they encountered an Evil Cultivator, it was no exaggeration to say that every living man and beast would be annihilated.

’This must be the true bottom of society...’

As he passed through a mountain village, Chen Che felt a profound sense of unease. A sweep of his Divine Sense revealed no one in the village. Yet, in most houses, cold meals still sat on tables and kitchen stoves. It was obvious the villagers had met with a terrible fate.

When passing through such areas, if Chen Che saw Demon Beasts causing harm to humans, he would deal with them along the way.

Of course, there were also mortals who gathered in cities, with hundreds of cities sometimes forming a single kingdom.

These cities had Grandmasters and Martial Artists, as well as a Demon-slaying Bureau dedicated to eradicating Demon Beasts, killing evil spirits, and hunting down Demons.

The mortals within these cities lived in relative peace and prosperity. However, the Cultivation Techniques they learned were mostly incomplete. Even the most talented among them would have limited achievements, never reaching the Qi Refining Fourth Layer in their entire lifetime.

There were more than ten such human kingdoms, but they became rarer the closer he got to Faqian City.

Apparently, these mortals also understood that Demon Beasts weren’t necessarily the most terrifying things in this world.

After traveling at full speed for about two days, the mortal kingdoms vanished completely, as if he had entered a no-man’s-land. He saw no mortals, and even Demon Beasts were scarce. All along his path were scenes of collapsed mountains, rerouted rivers, and a torn landscape.

Sensing the surrounding environment, Chen Che’s brow furrowed even tighter.

The Spiritual Qi here was not only scarce and chaotic, but also volatile. It was suffused with Evil Qi, Yin Qi, and other malevolent energies... The entire area was a filthy, chaotic mess, clearly the result of frequent battles.

’...It seems I’m getting close to Faqian City.’

Chen Che had a good idea of the situation.

Fighting was prohibited within Faqian City, but no such rule existed outside its walls.

Therefore, once someone left the city, old scores were settled. For the weak, stepping outside the gates was a death sentence.

Sure enough, as his gaze focused, Chen Che looked into the distance.

On the horizon, hundreds of miles away, a massive city seemed to rise from the endless plain, with numerous rivers crisscrossing around it.

It was Faqian City.

According to Meng Qianxun, there was a spring at the city’s center that constantly spewed forth Spiritual Qi, which was how the city got its name.

The city was also protected by a ’Seven-color Lotus Platform Array’.

This Array had no offensive power, but its defensive capabilities were superb, ranking among the best of even Tier Three High Grade Arrays. Not even a Nascent Soul Cultivator could break through it quickly. Years ago, the Star-Picking Sect had a falling out with one of Faqian City’s Lords and led an army to attack, only to be thwarted by this very Array.

Later, for some unknown reason, the two sides made peace.

It was this incident that made Faqian City famous overnight, turning it into a haven for Evil Cultivators and Tribulation Cultivators.

Consequently, even major powers like the Star-Picking Sect and the Primordial Sect had to abide by the city’s rules if they entered.

’I should get inside first and see what’s what.’

He checked his disguise one more time, confirming there was nothing about his appearance that could reveal his identity. Then, suppressing his aura to the level of Foundation Establishment Great Perfection, he headed straight for Faqian City.

Although the mask of Thousand Eyes was shattered and had lost its former power, it could still block probes from Divine Sense.

Since he was posing as a visiting Cultivator, he ought to look the part of a wandering Loose Cultivator.

RAT-A-TAT-TAT!

Outside Faqian City, the rain poured down in sheets.

The chaotic Spiritual Qi had also affected the region’s climate. Some areas were as dry as a desert, while in others, the rain was incessant.

In the winter air, the abundant moisture turned into a thin mist, shrouding half of Faqian City from view.

In the downpour, numerous Cultivators walked forward, their steps steady, their bodies repelling every drop of rain. They traveled either in small groups of two or three, or alone.

Someone was following Chen Che.

The man also wore a bamboo hat and had the same travel-worn look. He kept a distance of no more than a few dozen feet.

When Chen Che walked, the man walked. When Chen Che stopped, the man stopped.

He shadowed Chen Che’s every step, quite openly at that.

"How long are you going to follow me?"

Chen Che glanced back coldly.

After entering this region, the number of Cultivators had naturally increased.

But since he was new to this place, he had to be cautious and had no desire to travel with anyone. He hadn’t expected someone to deliberately start following him. The man tailed him without any attempt at concealment, making it look as if they were companions.

Chen Che was well aware of a certain type of scam—

Latching onto a stranger and acting like a familiar companion. Then, they would commit some crime in their "companion’s" name, leaving the innocent party to take the fall while the scammer made a clean getaway.

"Fellow Daoist, don’t take offense. I’m new here, and I’ve heard Faqian City is a real mixed bag. It’s easy to become a target if you’re alone. I saw you were by yourself, too, so I was thinking, why not travel together?"

The man quickly cupped his hands and explained, "We could watch each other’s backs, both inside and outside the city."

"Find someone else."

Chen Che shot him a cold glance and turned to walk away.

Lu Kai was exasperated.

He didn’t have the guts to approach anyone else. The other Cultivators either had "stay away" written all over their faces or were radiating dense Evil Qi. They were the types to carry a Soul-Calling Banner or wear a string of bleached human bones as accessories.

Only this Sword Cultivator in front of him seemed relatively normal, which was why he had decided to follow him.

He had thought the man would be approachable, but he had been rejected flat out.

"Fellow Daoist, please wait..." Lu Kai called out hastily.

"You can keep following me. See what happens."

Tilting his head up slightly, his eyes flashed from beneath the bamboo hat. With a flick of his long sleeve, he strode directly out into the rain.

Lu Kai froze, then stumbled backward several steps.

In that moment, he had felt a tangible, oppressive aura from Chen Che, like that of a Fierce Beast. His intuition screamed at him that this man was even more terrifying than the other Cultivators around. If the man wanted to, he could take Lu Kai’s life in an instant.

Lu Kai was, after all, a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator; he was no fool.

He immediately realized that this person’s power was far more profound than he had imagined. This was not someone to be trifled with. He had to get away from him, or he might end up dead without even knowing how it happened.

...

At the base of one of Faqian City’s enormous walls.

The buildings here were a hodgepodge of varying heights, resembling a refugee camp. There were men and women, old and young, mortals and Cultivators, and even barefoot toddlers aged three to five.

Clearly, these were the dregs of Faqian City, people who couldn’t even afford to live within its walls.

Through the city gates, however, one could see the incomparable luxury within Faqian City. The farther in one looked, the more prosperous it appeared.

As Chen Che passed, the people outside the walls sized him up with gazes of awe or envy. At the same time, Chen Che felt several scrutinizing stares. Following them with his Divine Sense, he discovered several Foundation Establishment Cultivators hidden among the crowd.

There were even a few Mid-stage Cultivators among them. One, even more brazen, swept a wave of Divine Sense over him without any restraint.

Clearly, these people were hiding here, searching for suitable prey.

Chen Che pursed his lips, his expression unchanging, and released the full might of his Foundation Establishment Great Perfection aura. The scrutinizing gazes instantly vanished as if startled, withdrawn in an instant, their owners not daring to take a second look.

The Mid-stage Cultivator who had so brazenly scanned Chen Che cried out in pain, clutching his eyes and scaring the surrounding Cultivators into scattering.

Just then, however, a child of about seven or eight years old hurried forward, cupped his hands, and said:

"Senior, is this your first time in Faqian City?"

"How did you know?"

Chen Che looked down at him.

The child was wearing thin, short clothes despite the deep winter. He was barefoot, his face was smudged with dirt, and he was shivering from the cold, his lips chapped and cracked. On the Earth Element Star, he would be in the second or third grade, an age for playing under the care of his parents.

"Cultivators who come here often don’t linger. They usually just pass straight through."

The child bowed and said, "I can be your guide. I guarantee your satisfaction..."

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