Chapter 253 Little Lake City

Yuan Ming left Xu's house and found another inn in the city to stay. He also secretly released the Soul Crow to investigate the movements in Xu's house.

As mortals, his uncle and his friends didn't know much about Shengye Sect. His cousin Xu Tian, ​​as a disciple of Shengye Sect, followed him and waited for him to return to the sect, so he could help him lead the way.

But it seemed that his actions at the abdication ceremony had spread throughout the Shengye Sect. If he joined with his real identity, it would really attract too much attention.

In this case, it would be better to join Shengye Sect as an ordinary disciple, so as to avoid trouble.

After careful consideration, if he entered Shengye Sect, he would be exposed sooner or later, which might bring disaster to the sect.

Yuan Ming made up his mind and decided to wait for Xu Tian and Luo Xing'er to return to the sect and secretly follow them to find the location of Shengye Sect's mountain gate. He didn't plan to get involved with anyone during this period. He would make a decision after finding the location of the sect.

…

Three days later, Xu Tian said goodbye to his parents and took Luo Xing'er with him on a flying boat and left Leizhou City.

Yuan Ming saw this scene through the soul crow, and immediately released the jade shuttle and followed behind.

Xu Tian and the others headed north and soon entered a huge swamp.

The sky of Leizhou is gloomy most of the time, and this swamp area is full of poisonous miasma all year round. It is pitch dark. All kinds of poisonous insects and beasts lurk in it. Mortals dare not approach it easily, and they may lose their lives if they are not careful.

However, Xu Tian and Luo Xing'er seemed to take something out before entering the swamp, and a circle of light mist was stimulated around them, which not only separated the poisonous miasma, but also the poisonous insects and beasts would avoid it and dare not approach.

Yuan Ming also had the miasma-avoiding beads left when he explored the Snake King Valley. With his foundation-building cultivation, he was not afraid of those poisonous insects and beasts at all. However, before entering the swamp, he suddenly stopped, took out the spirit beast bag, and released the flower branch.

"Master, where is this place? The mist here is so fragrant and sweet!" As soon as Huazhi landed, he took a deep breath and swallowed all the nearby poisonous miasma into his stomach, even showing an intoxicated look.

"Huazhi, you hide underground and move forward with me." Yuan Ming ordered.

Huazhi nodded happily and flew into the swamp.

Yuan Ming continued to move forward. Fortunately, the soul crow he released in advance was not disturbed by the poisonous miasma and still followed Xu Tian and the others, so he didn't lose them.

An hour later, it suddenly rained in the sky, and Yuan Ming also followed Xu Tian and the others to fly out of the swamp and entered a mountain range.

Not far away, a huge mountain gate hidden in the green shade was looming in the drizzle. Xu Tian and the others flew to the mountain gate and stopped, but did not go in. Instead, they said something, and then drove the magic weapon again and flew towards the northwest.

Yuan Ming was curious, so he left a soul crow to guard in front of the gate of Shengye Sect, and he continued to follow.

About half an hour later, Yuan Ming saw a giant shield appeared in the mountains under the gloomy sky.

Under the rain curtain, a blue giant shield wrapped up the city that Yuan Ming saw.

Silky fine raindrops fell one after another, hitting the shield, and disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving no trace.

Under the shield, hundreds of streets and alleys crisscrossed, and countless houses and pavilions stood in them. On each house, there were four white pearls placed on the corners of the roof, and their light intertwined and blended, illuminating the entire city brightly.

In the center of the city, a small lake covering an area of ​​dozens of acres was rippling with clear waves. In the center of the lake was a square paved with white jade bricks, connected to the avenue by four jade arch bridges.

On the square, a square pavilion twenty feet high rose from the ground. Its body was pale white, but the bricks and tiles on it were azure blue, as crystal-clear as crystal.

There was a giant city gate on each edge of the shield, slightly lower than the crystal pavilion, but much higher than the houses in the city. There was a stone statue of a mythical beast on each gate, which was so exquisitely carved that even the scales on the body and the feathers on the wings were lifelike.

Before Xu Tian and Luo Xing'er approached the shield, they took the initiative to land the flying boat and walked to one of the city gates.

Yuan Ming also landed the jade shuttle in a valley in the distance, watched the two enter the city from the peak, and then slowly walked towards the city.

There was a plaque hanging on the gate of the city gate, with only three words on it: "Xiaohu City".

After paying a toll of one spirit stone, Yuan Ming was about to pass through the city gate when he found that some cultivators entered the city gate without paying spirit stones. He was surprised and asked about it. It turned out that cultivators with houses here did not have to pay to enter and exit the city gate. Yuan Ming kept it in mind.

After entering the city, compared with the distant view just now, he felt more like he was there.

The drizzle was blocked by the shield, and the city was extremely dry. Many pedestrians on the wide streets had cultivation.

However, after observing carefully for a while, Yuan Ming found that the clothing of pedestrians on the street vaguely showed two completely different styles.

One type was mostly long gowns and skirts, with red as the main color, and the wearers often had jade pendants around their necks and waists. The clothes were flowing like surging flames.

The other type was mostly brocade trousers, with red and blue colors mixed together. The wearers had few jewelry, but most of them carried swords and knives, and had weapons hanging on their bodies.

Yuan Ming was observing the pedestrians on the road, and suddenly his expression changed, and he turned his head to look to the side.

"It seems that this is your first time in Xiaohu City, and it is fate that we meet." Under Yuan Ming's gaze, a male cultivator wearing a red robe and a hooked nose stopped and smiled at him.

This person's cultivation level is not high, only the fourth level of Qi Refining, but Yuan Ming also used the Cang Yuan Technique to suppress his cultivation level to the late stage of Qi Refining, so the other party did not notice Yuan Ming's true cultivation level.

"Seeing that Daoyou looks so heroic, I guess you must be from Zhao State? Do you need a guide?" The hook-nosed man said familiarly.

Yuan Ming looked at him and couldn't help but think of the broker Gu Yue he met in Black Rock City, but still shook his head: "Thank you, I don't need a guide."

"Then Daoyou, do you need a map of Xiaohu City? It's not expensive, just one spirit stone." The hook-nosed man was not discouraged. He flipped his right hand and a jade slip appeared.

"One spirit stone? So expensive?" Yuan Ming was surprised.

"Fellow Daoist, this is a fair price. Do you know how many shops there are in Xiaohu City? Which ones are rip-offs, which ones are cheap, which ones are opened by big sects, and which ones are founded by scattered alliances? I have them all on this map. How many detours can I save you with just one spirit stone? Time is a spirit stone." The hook-nosed man shook the jade slip in his hand.

Yuan Ming heard that what he said made sense, so he didn't care anymore and took out the spirit stone to buy the map.

He took the jade slip and saw that Xiaohu City was the largest immortal cultivation market in Leizhou. The cultivators of Dajin and the neighboring Zhao State came here to trade. The map not only clearly marked the locations of large and small shops in Xiaohu City, but also included a lot of reviews about the shops.

Yuan Ming put away the jade slip with satisfaction, and according to the instructions on the map, he quickly found a shop called "Bai Shu Ge".

This is a shop that specializes in selling classics. As soon as he entered the door, Yuan Ming saw seven or eight tall wooden bookcases neatly arranged in the shop. The cabinets were filled with all kinds of classics, all wrapped in a light blue light.

A special counter was placed next to these bookcases, with many wooden boxes of the same style placed inside. Most of the wooden boxes contained some broken classics or jade slips, some of which even had only one page of paper.

A clerk in a long gown saw Yuan Ming coming in and immediately came up to him.

"Are you here to buy or sell martial arts?"

"Do you have any spell books for sale here?" Yuan Ming asked.

"There are many kinds of spell books in our store. I wonder which one you need? If you just want some basic ones, then I recommend you to choose this one. It records many commonly used spells. Although they are all very superficial, they are good in quantity and variety." The clerk thought for a while and took a slightly thicker book from the bookshelf.

"I want this. What else is sold in this counter?" Yuan Ming nodded and pointed to the counter with the wooden box.

"These are some nameless secret books we collected. Most of them are missing pages. Some of the words on them are not commonly used in the Central Plains. They are not expensive. If you are interested, you can buy a few and take them home to study. However, once you leave the store, we will not be responsible for any mistakes in subsequent practice." The waiter said.

Yuan Ming shook his head and only asked for the magic secret book. Since it only recorded basic spells, it cost him less than 30 spirit stones.

After the waiter received the spirit stones, he took out a jade ruyi from the storage bag and lightly tapped the magic secret book. The light blue light wrapped in the secret book instantly shattered and turned into a dim talisman, which fell to the ground.

"This is a special seal talisman made by our store. It can only be unlocked with a specific magic weapon. Otherwise, it will burn to ashes together with the things inside." Seeing Yuan Ming's curiosity, the waiter explained with a smile.

At this moment, a bearded man wearing brocade clothes and a long sword on his waist suddenly came, and another waiter in the store immediately greeted him.

Whether it was the bearded man or the waiter, the tone of their speech was different from what Yuan Ming often heard.

"I see that many people in the market are dressed like them. I wonder where they are from?" Yuan Ming raised his chin towards the bearded man and asked the waiter.

"Oh, they are all from Zhao. Our Leizhou is located on the border of Dajin, adjacent to Zhao. Xiaohu City is also located at the junction of Dajin and Zhao, so many cultivators from Zhao appear here." The waiter explained.

Yuan Ming suddenly realized, thanked the waiter and left the store.

He bought the spell secret book, and then he set his sights on the elixir.

At present, his cultivation requires a lot of elixir assistance. This time he happened to encounter such a large-scale market, so he naturally had to take a good look.