Volume 1, Chapter 362 – Shenfeng City

Wu Lingkong was wearing a dark green long dress of floral brocade, cinched at the waist with a green silk sash. Her hair was arranged in cloudlike coils, and on her feet were a pair of over-the-knee boots.

Even though she had shed her military garb, giving her a little more of a young woman’s softness, her movements still carried a brisk, dashing competence beyond ordinary people.

After so long apart, her cultivation had also improved considerably. She had already stepped into the Earth Fiend Realm.

Shi Lan somewhat awkwardly wriggled free of Wu Lingkong’s bear hug. She still was not quite used to that sort of excessive intimacy.

Wu Lingkong did not mind. She reached out and compared their heights, then could not help looking puzzled. Before, Shi Lan had clearly been about the same height as her, but now Shi Lan stood more than a head taller.

“You’ve gotten so much taller.”

She had been too excited just now and had thrown herself straight at Shi Lan. She had not even noticed that her face now only reached Shi Lan’s chest.

“It’s because of the cultivation art I practice. My body was reforged, and my frame opened up a bit.” Shi Lan gave a slight nod, a faint smile on her lips.

Seeing how spirited Wu Lingkong looked, she, too, finally felt relieved.

Wu Lingkong looked Shi Lan up and down. After confirming that her complexion truly showed nothing amiss, she let out a long breath and began speaking about what had happened when they left Xianwu City.

“At the time, you were unconscious and wouldn’t wake. I wanted the clan elders to bring you back with us to the Central Heaven Domain, but some people got in the way.”

Wu Lingkong did not say who those people were, but Shi Lan knew perfectly well. They were none other than those great powers of the Heaven-Man Realm.

At the time, she had only just used Wuxu’s hand to kill a Demon Emperor. There was no way those people would have been willing to let her leave so easily.

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“Later, after we returned to the Central Heaven Domain, the clan issued a prohibition and did not allow us to go to the Chengtian Domain. I only went back once the demon scourge had been pacified, but I still couldn’t find any trace of you.”

Shi Lan shook her head slightly. By the time the demon scourge had been put down, her True Martial Undying Body had already reached minor completion, after which she was ambushed, fled into the Demon Domain, and then ran into a whole chain of further ordeals. Naturally, Wu Lingkong would not have been able to find her.

The life-and-death trials she had gone through in those years could hardly be put into words. Shi Lan simply picked through them and gave Wu Lingkong a rough outline.

Even after many details had been left out, Wu Lingkong still listened in alarm.

Only after the excitement of their reunion began to fade did Wu Lingkong notice Tianbai crouched on the table. Her eyes lit up at once, and she reached out, pinched the back of Tianbai’s neck, and lifted him up.

“Where did this little fellow come from?”

“Wuuu…”

Tianbai behaved very obediently and did not struggle. He merely stretched out a paw toward Shi Lan and muttered inwardly,

“Though this human is very weak, she is a friend of the Honored One…”

“I picked him up on the road.”

Shi Lan stood up, rescued Tianbai, and tossed him onto a nearby chair. Since she and Wu Lingkong were both members of the Demon-Suppressing Army, it was better not to tell her about wandering around everywhere with a shape-shifted Demon King in tow.

After years of bloody war, the hatred between the human race and the demon race could no longer be resolved. Who knew how many of Wu Lingkong’s elders, comrades, and juniors had died at demon hands?

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Even if Tianbai was different from the demons she knew, a demon was still a demon in the end.

“By now, your name has probably spread throughout the entire Vast Land of Shenzhou. Twenty-seventh on the Heavenly Prodigy Ranking. I wouldn’t even have dared imagine it.”

At the mention of the Heavenly Prodigy Ranking, Wu Lingkong grew excited again. Top five among the human race in talent. What kind of concept was that?

It meant Shi Lan was extremely likely, in the future, to ascend to the Emperor Realm and become an Empress!

When the two of them first met, Shi Lan’s cultivation had still been a notch below hers, but now she had already stepped into the Myriad Phenomena Realm. That rate of progress was simply terrifying.

Looking at Shi Lan’s delicate features, Wu Lingkong could not help feeling a trace of disappointment rise in her heart.

For now, it was still all right. But if in the future Shi Lan stepped into the Emperor level, or even the Emperor Realm, the gap between them would only grow wider and wider. Even if Shi Lan did not mind, Wu Lingkong herself probably would not be able to remain as casual as she was now.

As the two spoke, a middle-aged man walked in with a smile. He wore a brocade robe with a white base and blue trim, and his features bore some resemblance to Wu Lingkong’s.

“This must be Miss Shi Lan?”

“And this is…”

Shi Lan turned to Wu Lingkong in puzzlement.

“This is my father.”

“My name is Wu Minglie. I am the City Lord of Shenfeng City. I have long heard of Miss Shi Lan’s great name.”

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After the brief introduction, Wu Minglie solemnly bowed to Shi Lan.

“Uncle, what are you doing?”

Shi Lan rose to avoid the gesture, puzzled.

“When my daughter returned earlier, she already told me some things about you. If not for you, it would have been very difficult for her to survive the demon scourge.”

“Here, I thank you for looking after my daughter amid the fighting and allowing her to return home safely.”

Wu Minglie’s gratitude was so sincere that Shi Lan felt a little embarrassed.

“You are too courteous, Uncle. Lingkong also took care of me quite a lot before. It is not something that rises to the level of a debt.”

“Since Miss Shi Lan has come to Shenfeng City, if there is anything you need, just let me know, so that I may do my part as a host.”

Wu Minglie did not stay long. After giving Wu Lingkong a few instructions and glancing at Tianbai, who was squatting on the chair, he took his leave.

If Shi Lan had been a man, they could at least have sat together over wine. But she was, after all, a young woman, so it was naturally more appropriate for Wu Lingkong to receive her personally.

“Come on, I’ll take you around the city.”

After Wu Minglie left, Wu Lingkong took Shi Lan by the hand and headed out of the residence.

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…

There were quite a few pedestrians on the streets, but those with deep cultivation were extremely rare.

Shi Lan had already changed into a different outfit, while Tianbai nestled inside her sleeve, quietly looking around.

Her fame was no longer what it had once been. Her portrait had spread through almost all the Nine Provinces, so naturally she had to make some disguise when going out, lest she draw strange looks.

Along both sides of the street, aside from shops selling cultivation arts, talismans, treasure artifacts, and divine weapons, the most common establishments were still restaurants and teahouses.

There were not many forms of entertainment in the Lingyang Realm. For cultivators, aside from daily practice, their leisure usually consisted of gathering together to listen to music, watch beauties dance, exchange insights into the Martial Dao, or compare skill in qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting. It relaxed their taut nerves while also cultivating their temperament, clearing their hearts, and nourishing their souls.

Beyond that, only special seasons or large gatherings such as auctions would draw groups of martial artists together.

But things like auctions were not very common. According to Wu Lingkong, in all her years growing up, she had only seen two or three, and none of them had even been particularly large. Rare treasures were seldom seen there.

As for stumbling across hidden bargains, she had never even heard of such a thing. For appraisers in an auction hall, possessing divine ocular abilities was the most basic requirement. Treasures capable of deceiving such eyes were rare even in the Lingyang Realm.

If an ordinary person possessed some rare treasure and wished to sell or exchange it, they would usually go straight to the Imperial Court, meaning the Prefectural Lord of the local prefecture. Whether bartering it for another item or exchanging it for spirit crystals, the Imperial Court could always offer a suitable price.

From the restaurants and teahouses on either side came bursts of laughter and conversation from time to time. The aroma of mountain delicacies and spirit dishes mingled with the fragrance of spirit wine and drifted through the air, almost intoxicating.

This was the true scene of the Central Heaven Domain, the most peaceful land of the human race.