Chapter 18: First Encounter with the Fairy City
Through chatting with Luo Shou and his sister, Xiao Lin finally understood that in the Tianlu Mountains, in addition to Wuyin Xiancheng, there were several slightly larger Xianchengs, but only Wuyin Xiancheng gathered a large number of independent cultivators.
Luo Shou told Xiao Lin that in the Tianlu Mountains, independent cultivators did not dominate, but the five major sects were the leader, and the various cultivation families were the auxiliary, plus a large number of independent cultivators, forming a huge cultivation world.
The five major sects are Qianling Valley, Bailian Sect, Dancao Mountain, Tianyun Pavilion and Qianfu Sect. The five major sects divided the spiritual mountains and veins within a million miles of the Tianlu Mountains, while the other lesser spiritual veins were occupied by some cultivation families. These cultivation families were mostly attached to the five major sects, and even many of the high-level cultivation families were originally disciples of the five major sects. The relationship between them was complicated.
Apart from the five major sects and cultivation families, the rest are independent cultivators like Luo Shou. Although the high-level cultivators among independent cultivators are far less than those of the five major sects and cultivation families, they are superior in the number of low-level cultivators. Therefore, the power that has been condensed for thousands of years should not be underestimated. The Wuyin Immortal City gathers a large number of independent cultivators. Of course, some disciples of major sects or children of cultivation families will occasionally come to the Wuyin Immortal City to trade some materials or magic tools and elixirs.
For independent cultivators, the path of cultivation is more difficult. After all, the resources necessary for cultivation, such as spiritual mountains, spiritual veins, and spiritual stone mines, are most likely concentrated in the hands of several large sects, leaving very little for independent cultivators. The most important thing is that the refining formula of the foundation-building pills necessary for low-level cultivators to build their foundations is also in the hands of the five major sects. It is precisely because of this that it has caused strong dissatisfaction among independent cultivators, so the Wuyin Immortal City was built specifically for independent cultivators to trade in daily life. Every three years, the five major sects will release a pitiful number of foundation-building pills, which will flow into the trading places of several immortal cities to appease the dissatisfaction of independent cultivators.
From Luo Shou and his sister, Xiao Lin felt their worries and dissatisfaction about the path of cultivation, which also gave him a deeper understanding of the law of the jungle in the world of cultivation. In his opinion, the five major sects were like the landlord Wang in their village, occupying the best fields and mountains, and were the richest. The next were the tenants who farmed for the landlord Wang. Although they had to hand over most of their harvests every year, they could still get enough food and clothing. The worst were the poor peasants like them, who had no fields or forests, and could only rely on themselves to survive, go hunting in the most dangerous places, and exchange the captured prey for meager food to make a living.
Soon, they came to a forest, and the whole forest was shrouded in thick fog. Seeing this, Xiao Lin couldn't help but show a puzzled expression.
Seeing Xiao Lin's expression, Luo Shou smiled and explained to Xiao Lin that there was a large formation outside the Wuyin Immortal City. This formation did not have any defensive means, but it would condense a thick fog within a hundred miles to cover the entire immortal city. This method of hiding the residence of cultivators was extremely common in the entire cultivation world and was not a great method.
This made Xiao Lin suddenly realize that he had passed by here a few days ago and had also gone deep into the woods, but he would always return to the starting point after going around. Now it seems that he should have been confused by this large formation and lost his way.
Xiao Lin was a little excited. The hard work of more than half a year was not in vain. Soon he would be able to see the legendary city where cultivators gathered, which made him extremely excited.
The Luo Shou brothers and sisters took Xiao Lin and turned seven or eight corners along the way. They also explained to him in detail how to enter and exit the Wuyin Immortal City. Xiao Lin listened carefully and remembered it firmly in his heart.
After walking for half an hour, the three of them suddenly saw a clear view. In front of a lush, thousand-foot-high peak, stood a majestic city. The city wall was more than ten feet high and was made of bluestone. However, these bluestones showed mottled marks, and the wall skin in many places had fallen off, forming a bumpy surface. It was obvious that this city had probably experienced endless years.
"This Wuyin Immortal City has a history of thousands of years, covering an area of 70 to 80 miles. There are at least hundreds of thousands of low-level cultivators gathered in it." Luo Shou looked at the fairy city and smiled at Xiao Lin.
At this moment, Xiao Lin's eyes had already been looking around. At the huge city gate, there was a square of hundreds of feet in radius. Countless low-level cultivators were driving magic weapons of various shapes. Some soared into the sky, and some fell like meteors. It was a prosperous and lively scene.
Xiao Lin was stunned and his face flushed with excitement. Wasn't this the scene of the world of cultivation that he dreamed of day and night? Xiao Lin felt that all his efforts were worthwhile.
Hearing what Luo Shou said, Xiao Lin showed an expression of surprise on his face. Hundreds of thousands of cultivators, this was a number he could not even imagine.
Seeing Xiao Lin's expression, Luo Shou and Luo Shuang could not help but smile at each other. They were all casual cultivators born and raised in this fairy city, but they had also seen many cultivators like Xiao Lin who accidentally encountered immortal fate from outside and embarked on the road of cultivation. Basically, every cultivator who had just come to Wuyin Fairy City had the same expression as Xiao Lin.
After watching for a while, it seemed that he felt that his performance was completely unsophisticated, and Xiao Lin could not help but look a little embarrassed.
"Brother Xiao, don't be embarrassed. Many outsiders are more shocked than Brother Xiao when they come here for the first time. After a long time, they will get used to it. Let's go, let's go into the city together."
The three of them quickly arrived at the city gate. It was not noticeable from a distance, but when they looked closer, Xiao Lin discovered that the city gate was actually ten feet high. It was made of dark red bronze, and it was simple and majestic.
"There are four such city gates in Wuyin Xiancheng. They are usually open. People are restricted from entering and leaving only when they are in danger. However, there have been no emergencies in hundreds of years." Luo Shou explained to Xiao Lin beside him.
In front of them, there were already dozens of low-level cultivators queuing to enter the city. Xiao Lin and the other two also lined up behind the team obediently.
At this time, a red light descended from the sky. The light dissipated, and a handsome young man in his twenties appeared, wearing an emerald green robe with green patterns embroidered on the collar and cuffs. The young man had fair skin and carried an ancient sword with a sheath on his back. He glanced at the long team, showing a proud expression, and then walked towards the city gate in a swagger.
There were five or six guards wearing scale armor at the gate of the city. Those scale armors were obviously not ordinary worldly things. They actually flashed a faint black light. What surprised Xiao Lin was that they turned a blind eye to the green-robed youth and let him walk into the city.
Many cultivators in the queue showed dissatisfaction on their faces, but no one went up to stop them.
"That man is an outer disciple of Dancao Mountain. He has already reached the late stage of Qi Refining. Alas, these people guarding the city are also snobbish. They have always been servile to the disciples of the five major sects." Luo Shou's face was also full of dissatisfaction. He whispered to Xiao Lin.
Xiao Lin's heart moved when he heard this. He looked deeply at the outer disciple of Dancao Mountain and did not speak.
"Brother Xiao, since we have arrived in the Immortal City, let's part ways. We brothers and sisters still have to deal with the materials we have obtained. There is a long way to go. We will meet again if we are destined." After entering the city, Luo Shou and his sister hurriedly said goodbye to Xiao Lin.
Although Xiao Lin was reluctant to leave and still had many questions in his mind, he still thanked Luo Shou and his sister, and then watched them leave.
After Luo Shou and his sister left, Xiao Lin began to observe this fairy city of casual cultivators. He saw that after entering the city gate, there was a wide main street. The main street was very clean and crowded. There were rows of shops on both sides of the street. Xiao Lin walked towards the city curiously, wanting to see what these shops were selling?
After walking around for most of the day, Xiao Lin finally got a little understanding of the city. Those shops sold some materials for cultivators to refine magic tools, such as black iron ore, red copper ore, steelmaking, etc., as well as some monster skeleton scales. Xiao Lin had learned about many of those ores during his years in Bailianmen, but this was the first time he saw them. As for the monster skeleton scales, Xiao Lin had not only never seen them, but had never even heard of them, which made Xiao Lin curious about everything.
There are also some shops selling various herbs and plasters, such as black jade paste that can heal broken bones, marrow refining pills that can cleanse the bones and muscles of mortals, and detoxification liquid that can detoxify. Xiao Lin once saw the Lu brothers taking detoxification liquid to detoxify black-scaled snake venom.
Xiao Lin even saw some shops selling various yellow talismans, talisman pens, spiritual ink, etc., but after browsing for a long time, he found that if he wanted to buy these things, except for some low-value items that could be exchanged for silver, most of the materials needed to be exchanged for something called spiritual stones.
When he was with Luo Shou and the others, he heard them mention spiritual stones, but he didn't pay much attention to it at the time and didn't ask in detail. Now he was embarrassed to ask openly for fear of being laughed at.
The only thing that comforted Xiao Lin was that the steamed buns in the fairy city could be purchased with silver. Although the price was not cheap, the silver on Xiao Lin was enough for him to live here for a few days.
When it was almost dark, he found an inn in a more remote place in the city and asked for an ordinary room, but the price made Xiao Lin feel distressed. It cost one tael of silver to stay here for one night. He touched the ten taels of silver in his arms, his face full of bitterness.
Before he went into the mountains to look for minerals, he asked Xiao Shi to take most of the silver back to Huai County. In his opinion, he didn't need the silver, and he kept more than ten taels just in case. However, he never thought that one day he would be in such an embarrassing situation in this Wuyin Immortal City.
When checking in, Xiao Lin chatted with the store owner and learned that there was a large area in the east of Wuyin Immortal City that was a free market. Usually, cultivators exchanged the items they needed there, and not many went to those big stores.
In addition, Xiao Lin also learned that there was an inner city in this Wuyin Immortal City. Most cultivators in the late stage of Qi Refining would choose to trade there, but if they wanted to enter the inner city, they had to pay an entry fee of a low-grade spirit stone.