330: Rare treasures

After those two lines of text appeared, the Man in Black stared fixedly at the bluestone slab in front of him, his entire body trembling violently.

After a long time, he finally regained his composure. With a flick of his palm, a small snake emitting white light all over its body slithered out from his sleeve.

"Now, take me to find Huangfu Yunyan."

His voice was cold, as if he were forcefully suppressing his emotions.

The small snake flicked its tongue as if it possessed spirituality and understood the Man in Black's words. Its eyes darted around before it finally turned its head in one direction.

The Man in Black kept his gaze fixed on the small snake. Seeing it determine the direction, he immediately stood up and, without a moment's delay, rushed out of Yin Feng Valley toward the direction the small snake indicated... Speaking of prosperity, one could absolutely not find a second place in the entire Bright Moon Dynasty more prosperous than the Imperial Capital; it was not only the core of the Bright Moon Dynasty.

It was also the place that all Cultivators dreamed of and yearned for.

Supplies were abundant, cultivation resources were plentiful, and there were many rare treasures that only existed in legends. Cultivation Techniques, divine weapons, and even secret methods—everything was available.

Puppets of all grades were also readily available. Of course, this was a paradise for the wealthy; for the poor, any single item was enough to be beyond their reach.

In the eyes of most Cultivators, in the Imperial Capital, there was only what you couldn't afford, absolutely nothing you couldn't buy.

This was Feng Ming's previous fantasy of the Imperial Capital, and of course, the others felt much the same.

In any case, they definitely never expected that the Imperial Capital would be a desolate wilderness with only bare hills and nothing at all.

At this moment, Feng Ming and the others emerged from the teleportation Formation. Looking at the uninhabited, bare mountain range before them, they couldn't help but feel bewildered in the wind.

"Wait, no one ever said the Imperial Capital was like this?"

Someone couldn't help but cry out in surprise.

Jiang Bing chuckled. "This is the Imperial Capital, yet it's not. One can only say it's within the range of the Imperial Capital, but it's not the true Imperial Capital."

As he spoke, Jiang Bing pointed ahead.

"The Imperial Capital is still a dozen days' journey from here. When you arrive and see a capital city rising from the ground, you'll know that the Imperial Capital is even more prosperous than you imagined."

"Traveling? Since there's no more teleportation Formation, can we fly?" someone asked.

Hearing this, Jiang Bing said crossly, "This distance is calculated at flight speed. If we walked, it would take at least two months. However, once we get close to the capital city's boundaries, we can no longer fly."

"Anyway, let's set off. Just follow me."

Everyone was dazed. The teleportation Formation was actually so far from the Imperial Capital, and even if it was the outskirts, it shouldn't be this uninhabited.

Feng Ming, however, scanned the surrounding environment and understood in his heart. This was likely King Haoyue's intention—deliberately choosing a bare mountain range so that even if someone wanted to use underhanded means, they would have nowhere to hide.

It was just a guess at first, but the closer they got to the capital city, the more Feng Ming felt that this King Haoyue was quite lacking in a sense of security.

This gave him a sense of the 'there are always wicked subjects wanting to harm me' trope manifesting in reality.

The time spent traveling was very boring, and along the way, they didn't encounter a single person.

Of course, this was mainly because their Formation had broken and the Trial had ended early, causing them to set off a few days ahead of schedule.

Under normal circumstances, they would have set off with people from other provinces, and the journey would have been much livelier.

Of course, there would also be no shortage of trouble. After all, the common ailment of young people is to spar and compete at the slightest disagreement. If that were the case, Jiang Bing, as the team leader, wouldn't have had such an easy time.

Feng Ming even suspected that Jiang Bing had deliberately avoided the main group and set off early just to be safe... Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was fourteen days later. By now, the surroundings were no longer so desolate, and many towering trees had appeared on the mountain range.

However, the path beneath their feet still appeared very dilapidated.

Jiang Bing spoke up, "Don't have doubts in your hearts. This path we're taking isn't the official road; it's a path specially opened for Cultivators."

"After all, even in the Imperial Capital, commoners are the most numerous. Those official roads are generally used by commoners. If we were to take the official road, it would inevitably cause chaos."

"Because of this, any Cultivator coming to the Imperial Capital for an appointment or assignment, as well as any other Cultivators, can only take this path if they want to go to the Imperial Capital."

"Alright, let's head down. We can't continue flying ahead; we can only walk."

After finishing his explanation, Jiang Bing pointed to a stone monument standing on one side of the road at the foot of the mountain range.

Feng Ming saw two words carved on the stone monument: 'Capital Boundary!'

Jiang Bing's voice rang out again: "Ten miles into the Capital Boundary is the Imperial Capital. You'll be able to see the majestic capital city then!"

They had been flying all the way, and now they landed on a hill on the side of the road.

As Jiang Bing spoke, he was about to call everyone down to head for the capital city. However, before everyone could walk down the hill...

The sound of many hoofbeats came from the distance on the small path.

Everyone followed the sound with their eyes.

They saw a team of over a dozen people wearing armor, rapidly approaching the Capital Boundary. In the team, someone was actually holding a battle flag with a black background and gold characters.

On it was written the character 'Xun'!

"What's the situation?" Feng Ming's brow furrowed slightly. Judging by this group's posture, they didn't look ordinary.

Zhang Bai, who was next to Feng Ming, looked excited. "Whoa, black background and gold characters, with the single character Xun!"

"Isn't that King Xibei's battle flag?"

"But why is the person at the lead a girl?"

Hearing this, Feng Ming's mouth twitched. "King Xibei??"

Seeing that everyone was curious, Jiang Bing also explained: "King Xibei is a general under King Haoyue's command. He has been following him since the time King Haoyue was expanding the territory, and his military achievements are illustrious."

"It's also quite lamentable. Of the first group of people who followed King Haoyue back then, now besides this King Xibei, only one Prince Zhenwei is still alive."

"I heard that King Xibei's health is also declining day by day. On the path of cultivation, if one does not become an Immortal, they ultimately cannot resist the erosion of time."

Zhang Bai didn't care about those details but looked at the leading woman with a curious face and asked, "Uncle, then this girl is?"

Jiang Bing said crossly, "Brat, you should call me Lord Jiang outside. You can call me Uncle when we get home, don't be so informal."

Zhang Bai chuckled, and only then did Jiang Bing explain: "I just said King Xibei's health is poor. For this woman to be able to go out with the Xun family's flag, she should be King Xibei's daughter, County Princess Yuanluo, Xun Yuanluo."

Zhang Bai nodded, his eyes filled with a bit of enthusiasm. "She really looks valiant in that armor, as expected of a descendant of a military family."

"By the way, Uncle, is Xun Yuanluo married?" Zhang Bai asked curiously, immediately drawing a round of eye-rolls from the people around him.

Jiang Bing said crossly, "No!"