Chapter 118: Hanyang City

  "What Fang Mu said is true... The Pu Qiang department's Yong Ming and Na Wu Sen are all cultivating with a dead air, but looking at it, it's obviously not comparable to Wu Sen." Su Ming murmured, and after a long time, he withdrew his gaze from the mountain peak, looked at the distant Handan City, got up and took a step down, following the mountain road, heading towards Handan City in the dusk.

  "If I really refine the Soul-Seizing Powder, from now on, I will indeed conform to the evil and tyrannical identity that others have said... In the dusk, Su Ming's figure cast a very long shadow, in which there was a lonely and determined aura."

  The warm sunset shines on this vast mountain land, Su Ming walks towards the unfamiliar Handan City with the setting sun.

  The city looks majestic from afar, and now with Su Ming's approach, the city walls look even more magnificent. The mountains serve as the city walls, blending the height of the mountains into a sense of oppression, forming a strong sense of pressure that can make anyone who approaches the city feel it clearly at the foot of the mountain. Furthermore, the three rings of fog surrounding the city add to its intimidating effect, making even those with extraordinary cultivation cautious in their actions when they arrive here.

  Su Ming looked at the city of Hanyang, took a deep breath, his expression calm, and walked step by step along the mountain road upwards. At the foot of Hanyang City, there were eight wide steps, straight up like a ladder, connecting to the eight gates of the city that began to appear on the waist of the mountain.

  To enter this city, you must follow the mountain path.

  Of the eight gates, only four are open to outsiders. The remaining four belong to the three tribes that control this city. One of them is called the Guest Road, and the mountain path and gate it connects to can only be walked by the strongest guests of these three tribes.

  The three tribes are as strong as a forest, and this is used to highlight the greatness of the Hakka strongman's heart.

  Su Ming first came to this place, along the mountain stairs leading to Xun Band's gate, walking slowly. The stairs were unguarded all the way until Su Ming walked halfway up the mountain and saw one of the eight gates of Yan Mountain City.

  The gate is arched, with two giant stone statues over ten meters high standing beside it. The two stone statues belong to the barbarian tribe and seem to be fighting each other, although they are motionless, but there is a strong murderous intent that hits you in the face.

  The gate is formed by the two stone statues with their arms embracing each other as a frame. At that height, on the doorframe formed by the two stone statues' embracing arms, there was an old man wearing a grey robe, leaning against it and lying down, with one leg hanging down and swaying casually.

  The young man had a token hanging from his waist, with a blue base and a splash of red on it. He closed his eyes as if in a daze, with a green gourd beside him, emitting a strong smell of wine that even the wind couldn't disperse.

  As he gazed at the gate, a glint of light flashed in Su Ming's eyes. This was what he had been longing for his entire life - the most magnificent city. He deeply etched the appearance of this gate into his memory. With that, Su Ming took a step forward and directly stepped over the threshold. The moment he entered the city of Huo Shan, a lazy voice drifted over.

  "Do you understand the rules?"

  The person speaking was the young man. He opened his eyes, took a sip from the blue gourd beside him, and with a drunken gaze, he swept a glance at Su Ming, whose attire made his eyes slightly clearer.

  Su Ming's expression remained calm, and at the moment the man finished speaking, he raised his right hand and with a flick of his wrist, a white stone coin flew out, shooting straight towards the young man, who caught it in one grasp.

  From Fangmu, Su Ming had learned that anyone could enter the city of Hanyang as long as they paid a certain amount of stone coins, and the longer they stayed, the more stone coins would be collected.

  The young man put away the stone coins and threw out a grey token, then leaned back against it, drinking wine from his gourd and pretending to fall asleep.

  Taking the token, Su Ming tied it around his waist. The token had three colors: black, red and white. Except for the three tribes, others could not use it. The strong guest family was blue at the bottom, adding a color according to different tribes.

  As for ordinary people entering and leaving the city, they are gray. According to the luster on them, if it is dull, it means that they cannot stay in the city. Unless they spend more stone coins to increase their time, otherwise, once discovered by the city guards, they will be severely punished.

  Moreover, those who enter this city mostly have tokens that must be worn on their waists or other conspicuous places.

  Su Ming remained silent, holding the grey token, and walked through the gate into the city of Handan. A hubbub of noise hit him in the face, and it was as if the tranquility outside the gate had become two different worlds. This made Su Ming slightly surprised.

  Handan City is crowded with people, and in this city built around the mountain peaks, there are many shops, a prosperous scene, and those houses are also made of mountain rocks, which cannot be compared with the earth city.

  Walking in the city of Handan, Su Ming looked around, almost everything here gave him a sense of unfamiliarity, the prosperity, the noise, seemed to be incompatible with his silence.

  Piece by piece of houses, piece by piece of shops, and even the towering buildings that were over a dozen zhang high. Among the pedestrians in this place, Su Ming had hardly seen anyone wearing animal hides; at the very least, they wore coarse linen clothes with many colors, and there were quite a few people like him who wore those obviously expensive robes.

  "Equivalent to nearly ten earthen cities in size, the gate" Su Ming stood calmly on the mountain path of Mount Hua, his gaze sweeping over the people walking by.

  "There aren't many ordinary people here, mostly barbarians... and none of their cultivation is weak." Su Ming walked while continuously observing his surroundings. Before long, the sky gradually darkened, but the liveliness of this place didn't decrease in the slightest.

  According to his experience in Fengying Mudstone City, combined with what he learned from Fangmu Kou, Su Ming, although it was his first time coming to Handan City, did not appear bewildered. Instead, he made a choice and observed carefully, finding a place that Fangmu had mentioned before - a loft specifically for providing accommodation to outsiders.

  At this time, it was extremely hot inside. Su Ming remained expressionless and calm, scanning the area with his eyes as he entered. There were many tables and chairs here. He walked calmly to an empty seat and sat down, after which someone came over with a smile on their face.

  After a few words of conversation, Su Ming settled on a room to rest and ordered some food. He also ordered wine that was available at most tables, then sat down, gazing out the window as if deep in thought.

  But his ears were listening to the conversations of people around him, and many of those words were useless to him, but there were also many that seemed to be talking about some subtle things related to this city.

  "In recent months, this city of Handan will be even more bustling. The three departments of Puqian, Yan Chi and Andong have somehow increased the absorption of Shike's family."

  "You haven't been here for long, so you don't know the specifics. These three small tribes have been openly and secretly fighting each other. Every now and then, they will absorb the strength of the Tiangu family, in order to learn from the former Tianhan tribe and expand their own power."

  "But now, for us, it's an opportunity. I heard that the Yan Chi department has selected ten women from their tribe to absorb outsiders through marriage. You know that the women of the Yan Chi department are helpful to our cultivation. This time, the Yan Chi department is really investing."

  "It's a pity we aren't the ones who started this, otherwise there would be more benefits. I heard that when Xuan Ren joined Pu Qiang Department back then, Pu Qiang Department even gave him a majestic gift!"

  Time slowly passed, Su Ming sat there, drinking the liquor that made him frown slightly. The liquid was very spicy and made him uncomfortable, but as he drank on, a strange feeling gradually arose, and he slowly got used to it.

  He knew everything here was unfamiliar to him, so after entering the city, he had been observing and listening. At this moment, he had been standing here for almost two hours, and the sky outside had completely darkened, but the city of Handan was still brightly lit, and even in this attic, there were bright lights emanating from several high candle holders.

  He drank wine while listening to the conversations of the locals, and his understanding of Handan City also grew.

  "Fang Mu had repeatedly hinted that if I joined the An Dong Department and became a guest of the An Dong Department, there would be a grand gift and many conditions would be met. Such absorption of guests must have its reasons." Su Ming sipped his wine again, listening silently to Si Dan's discussion until midnight when the crowd thinned out, he was about to get up and rest in his room, but suddenly his expression changed, he didn't get up, instead picked up his wine and took another sip.

  But then, from outside the door, a man in his thirties walked in. This man was different from others, and the reason why Su Ming didn't leave was that he was wearing animal hide on his body.

  This is the first familiar dress that Su Ming saw today in this Handan city. The man's face was a bit pale, frowning tightly, and walked into here, sat down at a table far away from Su Ming, ordered some wine, and drank silently there.

  His expression showed hesitation, indecision, and a hint of panic.

  "This person should be at least a tenth-level Coagulation Realm cultivator, and it's even possible that he has reached the peak of the Coagulation Realm, only one step away from leaving the mortal world." Su Ming remained expressionless, but the subtle pressure emanating from this burly man made him feel a clear sense of intimidation.

  Time passed for half a time, the man drank wine mouth by mouth, not saying a word, but the struggle in his eyes became more and more intense, even occasionally raising his head to look at the door, as if waiting for someone's arrival.

  But as time passed, when the medicine was almost gone and Su Ming was still there, even the waiter who was serving the guests fell asleep on the table. The man's expression showed disappointment, and after glancing at Su Ming casually, he quietly drank his wine, his hesitant expression gradually turning into determination and ruthlessness.

  Su Ming reluctantly got up and walked towards the backyard of this place. Through his observation during this period, he had already understood that behind here was a specially prepared residence for outsiders to rest. Moreover, he had also booked a room before. As he walked away, suddenly there seemed to be a gust of wind blowing from the door, causing the lamp on the candle holder here to flicker suddenly bright and dark.

  At this time, a woman wearing a white dress walked in slowly. The woman looked young, with a layer of white gauze on her face, making it impossible to see her features clearly, only her eyes were visible, like the stars in the sky, with an unusual charm.