YM778.TV Chapter 134: City of Zizhu Cheng (Part 1)
Xie Qing sat in the flying carriage and looked at the retreating silhouettes of his women with a sense of melancholy. Before leaving, he spent a week fulfilling all their desires. He spent a lot of time with them but still felt unsatisfied. "Well, at least I have the communication token," he thought.
Thanks to this invention, he did not have to worry about loneliness. "How beautiful the world is..." he thought, looking at the wonderful mountains and forests.
With the help of the carriage, Xie Qing reached the teleportation formation located on the very edge of the Eastern Continent fairly quickly. The air here was much colder. There were few people in the city of Zizhu Cheng. Perhaps this was because the city was too remote and there were few goods. It was difficult for mortals to live in such cold places.
Moreover, the soil was not very fertile, and remoteness created a big problem in feeding - at least, transportation cost a lot of money.
Zizhu Cheng should have been called a fortress city. However, it looked rather shabby. There were holes in the walls, stones were covered with moss, and a terrible stench indicated the level of sanitation here. It took Xie Qing a few seconds to get used to the annoying smell. Then he looked at the gate.
"Well, at least the gate is in order," the young man thought.
The gate was made of Immortal Stone. No matter how many generations died, this stone was long-lasting and could serve for up to a thousand years with the right approach. The dynasty strictly controlled the Immortal Stone like the pupil of an eye. The mines where this stone/ore was located were so strictly guarded that even a cultivator of Divine Transformation would find it difficult to get inside.
"Hm? Only two guards?" Xie Qing was puzzled.
Indeed, as he approached the gate, he discovered that there were only two guards at the level of Core Formation - 6th stage. This power could not be considered worthy of guarding such a city. Although it was partly abandoned, there was a valuable teleportation formation here.
"Something is wrong here..." Xie Qing frowned: "How can such an important city allocate two miserable guards to priceless gates?"
The gate was the most important part of the city. With the special technologies of the Dynasty, formations were poured into them, which created an enormous invisible dome around the city. This dome could withstand a one-time attack of a hundred cultivators at the level of Soul Integration.
And his doubts only increased as he approached the guards. The distance between them was ten steps. However, even so, the guards did not pay attention to him. They just looked in a daze somewhere in the distance.
"My sixth sense... cannot detect any danger in them. This only means one thing - their power is at the level of mortals, or... corpses? I hope it\'s the first option."
Because if they were not even corpses, then... the situation was very bad.
And, unfortunately, the red flag was high on the forehead of our young master. As soon as he patted the guard on the shoulder, they immediately fell to the ground. They did not even have the usual, most basic reflex - to support themselves with their hands to avoid kissing the ground.
"They... they have no souls! Their hearts are beating, but they have no souls!"
The bodies functioned. However, the problem was that they had no soul - this was the most important part of the being in which personality, memories, and reason were preserved.
And if there was no soul, then who needed a healthy but soulless body?
The gate was too heavy to be opened by hand. Even a kick would not help. Therefore, Xie Qing took out the token of the imperial censor. It acted as a special permission that could open most gates.
And, as expected, with difficulty, but the gate still opened. Xie Qing entered inside, and after that, the gate closed again.
"Wh-what... is this?!"
***
The Eastern Continent. Near the city of Zizhu Cheng...
On a high rocky mountain, in one huge cave...
Hundreds, no, thousands of eyes opened.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!"
***
The city of Zizhu Cheng was in a deplorable state. Wherever he went, people looked as if they had lost their souls. They stood in place with a lack of emotions on their faces.
"Strange... they look as if everything was normal," thought Xie Qing: "There are not even those who would try to escape. As if it were an ordinary day."
Someone was buying vegetables, someone was holding a child\'s hand and walking along the spacious streets, and someone - from the guards - was guarding important buildings.
In the end, wherever he went, there were motionless and soulless bodies everywhere. As if in one moment, under a special power, all souls were devoured.
"This is terrible... I didn\'t expect that my journey would become so dangerous" thought Xie Qing angrily: "Can\'t I relax for a few days? This shit is too dangerous!"
He took out his token of the imperial censor and poured Qi into it, trying to contact the Empress, but...
"Hsh-sh..."
CRASH!
"A?!"
The token emitted only white noise, and Xie Qing himself received slight damage from the lightning that appeared out of nowhere.
"What the hell?!"
He could not help but shout, being shocked by this situation. Then, Xie Qing became serious.
"World Sealing Formation... no wonder I felt a sense of suppression and undefined sensations from the Tender Dragon Token"
The Tender Dragon Token allowed him to know the location of his women at any second, moreover, it gave them a little bonus to strength. But now it emitted the same white noise and a feeling as if he was looking into the darkness.
"The Empress is really funny" Xie Qing snorted angrily: "Having reached the peak of her reign, it\'s no wonder that she has relaxed. Now an important city is under threat of destruction."
However, Xie Qing did not care about the fate of this city. He wanted to get rid of the danger as soon as possible and find the treasure. Therefore, he headed to the place where the formation was, but...
"BITCH! SHIT! I HATE THIS BULLSHIT!"
Loud explosions shook the earth. Xie Qing looked with gloom at the destroyed teleportation formation.
"And now what should I do?! The nearest teleportation formation is ten thousand miles away!"
The situation was not the best. He had to go on a path that was even further. Moreover, he got into someone\'s conspiracy.
"Aagh! I even lost my calmness! Annoying!"
Xie Qing clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. Now he very much wanted to break the face of that bastard who made him waste so much time in vain. However, before he began a new wave of insults, Xie Qing fell silent and his eyes narrowed.
"Five hundred... no... five thousand hostile creatures. Southeast, distance one hundred meters, average level - Core Formation - 9th stage... highest level - Soul Nascent - 7th stage... minimum level Core Formation - 4th stage..."
With each second, his face became darker and darker. In the end, the result was:
"I\'m in shit. In full, viscous and annoying shit."
And when he already thought about running away, above the city there was a flash, and as if a flock of crows, five thousand flying creatures appeared!
"Teleportation?! Plus... fuck, there are a lot of them!" Xie Qing thought in surprise. He took out his Nameless Sword and gritted his teeth: "I\'ll have to fight. Damn, here\'s a gift for the trip! There will be something to tell the descendants..."
Ignoring the stream of disappointment inside him, Xie Qing took a stance. And then, taking a deep breath, he aimed the blade of the sword straight at the sky.
"Will of the Empress of Swords... World of Blades!"
At first glance, nothing happened. However, as soon as these creatures descended below the city barrier, suddenly...
Slap!
The weakest died instantly - their number reached a hundred. While the stronger ones received only deep and not very deep wounds.
Boom!
"Oh..."
Xie Qing dodged the falling head of a creature. Recognizing who it was, he was very surprised.
"Three-legged crow? This is impossible, they are not aggressive creatures. But... wait a minute..." the young man widened his eyes when he discovered something: "They are emanating devilish Qi! They were infected?!"
This alone was amazing. A creature that represented the Sun was infected with the power of darkness. What kind of monster should the devilish cultivator be, capable of this?
However, of course, he could not be admired for a long time.
Immediately after he demonstrated weakness, sounds of "bdzin" were heard from the sky.
"Dangerous!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Xie Qing dodged the threatening rays of black color. Wherever he went, these rays followed him and filled him with devilish Qi. At the same time, the soulless bodies... suddenly moved.
More than a thousand residents... from the old to the children. Holding in their hands a sword created from dark energy, they slowly approached Xie Qing.
And he, avoiding the rays of the Three-legged crows, could only grit his teeth.
"I don\'t even have time to counterattack!"
Looking at this dangerous situation... cold sweat ran down Xie Qing\'s forehead.
"I\'m in deep shit!"
BOOM!