Chapter 117 Leaving the City

"You're signing up too? Is that eighty thousand really so easy to get?"

The owner of Building No. 18 could not believe that Chen Li, a mere Eighth Level of Qi Refining Cultivator, would dare to sign up for this escort mission.

"Let me tell you, don't hold out hope that there won't be any attacks from Demonic Path Cultivators; many people don't make it back alive!"

The owner tried to persuade Chen Li with great patience; he really felt a connection with Chen Li, which was the only reason he was wasting so much breath.

"Thank you for your concern, Building Owner, but my mind is made up!"

"Sigh, fine. Gather at the base on the westernmost side of the city in a month. Everyone will be notified when the time comes."

"Understood, thank you, Building Owner!"

"You can still cancel your registration in the next few days. Come find me if you change your mind!"

Chen Li nodded. The Building Owner was truly treating him well. "Understood, thank you, Building Owner."

...

On the seventh day, seeing that Chen Li had not regretted his decision, the Building Owner sighed to himself and then submitted the name.

A month later, quite a few people had gathered at the base on the westernmost side of the city.

Chen Li blended into the crowd, appearing unremarkable. Yang Ziyang was just a few meters ahead of him.

Yang Ziyang glanced back. He had been feeling restless lately. How strange?

"Patriarch Chen, you're here too?"

Chen Li turned his head upon hearing the voice and saw Family Head Fang.

Chen Li instinctively said, "Family Head Fang, are you also here for those eighty thousand Spirit Stones? It's so risky."

Family Head Fang was stunned for a moment. *Wait, brother, aren't you at the Eighth Level of Qi Refining?*

"Patriarch Chen, you jest. Aren't you taking a risk as well?"

Chen Li smiled slightly, realizing his mistake. It was rather awkward; he had instinctively spoken to Family Head Fang from the perspective of his Foundation Establishment Perfection Realm.

The two exchanged pleasantries for a while. Most of the people present were Foundation Establishment Cultivators, with a small number of Late Stage Qi Refining Cultivators, all hoping to gamble for those eighty thousand Spirit Stones.

After a while, a Golden Core Cultivator appeared, followed by several Late Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

At this time, one of the Late Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators began to explain the details of the escort mission.

"This escort mission requires going to three liaison points in the Northern Territory, five thousand miles to the north. The round trip will take about a month. You can freely choose one of the three directions: Luo'an, Luoyun, or Luoyue. You may step forward to collect your token."

He continued, "On the road, you may encounter attacks from Demonic Path Cultivators. Do not panic; protect the cargo with all your might. Our team leaders will notify our Immortal Master Du!"

"If you are separated and still have your token, you can return to an Alliance stronghold, where you will also be accepted!"

Chen Li thought that five thousand miles wasn't very far. If they set up that kind of large-scale Teleportation Array, it should be feasible, right?

However, since they were opting for an escort, perhaps the cost of such a large-scale Teleportation Array was even higher than the cost of the escort, or there was some other reason he didn't know about.

"Patriarch Chen, which location are you choosing?" Family Head Fang asked.

"I'm not sure yet. Let me look around."

"How about we team up? We can look out for each other if we're together!"

Chen Li hadn't answered him yet because he was watching to see where Yang Ziyang would choose.

Seeing Chen Li remain silent, Family Head Fang assumed he had refused. He didn't mind and went up to choose a token himself.

At this moment, many people went forward to collect tokens. Chen Li saw Yang Ziyang walk over to the Luoyun token.

Chen Li also walked over and collected a Luoyun token.

By now, the teams were almost all divided. Each team had roughly the same number of people, at least a hundred per team, led by five Late Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators from the Alliance.

When they returned from the escort, the Golden Core Cultivator would also return, but would accompany one team of Cultivators. If the other two teams encountered an attack, the Golden Core Cultivator would go to support them.

After the teams were divided, they boarded the spirit boats. They were all fifth-grade spirit boats, one grade lower than the sixth-grade one from the Beast Hunting Sect last time, but the space was much larger, likely due to modifications.

Chen Li boarded the ship. A few minutes later, the five Late Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators started the spirit boat, and with a boom, it took off.

Unlike last time, where there were private rooms, this spirit boat only had a large public area on the first floor. Chen Li found an empty spot and sat cross-legged.

Everyone else did the same. The first floor was filled with Cultivators sitting cross-legged, all conserving their energy!

The speed of the spirit boat was still very fast. Although it couldn't compare to that sixth-grade spirit boat, it should only take six or seven days to reach the location five thousand miles away!

Chen Li looked at Yang Ziyang, who was also sitting cross-legged not far away. The other party likely possessed many fifth-grade Talismans, which would make capturing him a bit troublesome. Right now, there was absolutely no opportunity.

The further north they went, the lower the temperature became. The northern part of the Southern Border was endless permafrost, collectively known as the Northern Territory.

At the very top of the Northern Territory was a large frozen ocean; it was boundless, and no one had ever crossed it. The resources in the sea were extremely abundant.

Cultivators in the north relied on those ocean resources and had established many Sects. These three cities were all liaison points between the Northern Territory Sects and the Southern Border, mainly acting as frontier trading hubs to sell resources to the Southern Border.

They hadn't encountered any attacks from Demonic Path Cultivators in the past two days; the most likely time would be on their return journey.

By the fifth day, the five Late Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators told them there was only a thousand-plus miles left; they were almost there!

By the evening of the sixth day, the spirit boat arrived at Luoyun City.

This city was only about three thousand miles from the Northern Territory. It was said that this trading hub had existed for several hundred years and was extremely prosperous.

Now that the Southern Border was fighting with the East Sea Islands, it was the Cultivators of the Northern Territory who were making a fortune, as they could sell off their decades or even centuries of stockpiled goods.

This city was even larger than Dengling City, but there were not many guard Cultivators. The surroundings were not barren either; one could see an endless stream of merchant ships operated by merchant Cultivators.

Their spirit boat did not enter the city but went to the northeast corner of the city gate to load goods; they went straight there!

As soon as they landed, they saw several warehouses. This must be the cargo storage center, guarded by quite a few Cultivators!

The reception Cultivators in the city saw that the spirit boat had stopped steadily, stepped forward to communicate with the five Late Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators on the boat, and then directed the Cultivators by the cargo to move the items from the warehouse onto the spirit boat.

At this time, the five Late Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators took out two more fifth-grade spirit boats from their Storage Pouches and began loading items.

They had come with one spirit boat, but were returning with three, because they had to split up the personnel to guard the other spirit boats. Seeing Yang Ziyang go to a new spirit boat, he went there too!

Half a day later, the three spirit boats were loaded. The five Foundation Establishment Cultivators also assigned one person to his spirit boat, and they began the return journey.

At this moment, the hearts of many escorting Cultivators began to race.

The return journey was the most dangerous part. As long as they returned safely, those eighty thousand Spirit Stones would be theirs!

Everyone hoped there would be no attacks from Demonic Path Cultivators!

The three cities of Luo'an, Luoyun, and Luoyue were all separated by more than two thousand miles. The Golden Core Cultivator would return with the Luo'an team and meet up with the others two thousand miles away to return together; it would be much safer then!

Therefore, the two thousand miles in between were the most dangerous. At this time, the speed of the spirit boats was very slow because they were carrying too much cargo. At this speed, it would take more than two days for everyone to regroup.

The morning and afternoon of the first day of departure went smoothly. Just as night fell, a piece of news arrived.

The Luo'an team had encountered an attack led by a Demonic Path Golden Core Cultivator, and Immortal Master Du had been pinned down!

This news made the hearts of all the escorting Cultivators sink!

Since the Luo'an team had encountered a Demonic Path attack, surely there wouldn't be a second wave of Demonic Path Cultivators to attack them here, right?

Many people thought this way! They desperately hoped this was the case—better the Fellow Daoist dies than me.

As they continued for another hundred miles, their wish was shattered!

They had arrived!