504: Chapter 504 The Frontier of the Immortal Realm: This Pengcheng is a Bit "Intoxicating"!

Peng City.

A dilapidated city on the westernmost edge of West Qingyou Continent.

To call it a city, it's more like a giant military camp wedged into a mountain pass.

The walls were built from blocks of black stone, surfaces pitted with marks from blades and axes, looking rugged and tough.

There were quite a lot of people at the city gate.

Coming and going, it was very lively.

However, this liveliness was of a completely different breed from the "ethereal and jade-like" bustle of the Immortal Capital, Chang'an.

The liveliness here—was rough.

Cultivators filled the streets, dressed in either hemp or beast skins, carrying a unique "Peng City Fragrance," a mix of blood and sweat.

Groups of hunters, three to five strong, carried packs taller than themselves, preparing to head into the mountains to slaughter Immortal Beasts.

Others were just returning from the mountains, covered in blood, hauling the carcasses of unknown creatures, rushing into the city with large strides.

It was a perfect cultivation version of a frontier hunter town.

...

A hundred miles outside the city.

On a stretch of empty wasteland, the space trembled with a "buzz."

A small teleportation formation platform lit up.

Three figures appeared on the platform.

Lin Wan, Zhang Ningshuang, Zhao Qingyi.

"Pah, pah, pah!"

The first to speak was Zhang Ningshuang.

As soon as she stood firm, her face crumpled into a ball, and she fanned the air in front of her frantically, as if warding off a plague.

"What kind of hellhole is this!"

"It's one thing for the Immortal Qi to be thin, but it's as muddy as a stirred-up stream!"

She sniffed hard again.

"...And there's a smell of blood! Mixed with the scent of earth!"

Her gaze fell on the dark, massive city in the distance, her lips curling down in disdain.

"This is Peng City?"

"Even the Spirit Beast sheds at the foot of our Xuantian Immortal Sect are more decent than this place."

Zhao Qingyi didn't say a word; she didn't waste breath.

The moment she landed, she began scanning the surroundings alertly, while secretly circulating her Immortal Qi to test the Law suppression here.

It was completely different from the Sect.

Rough, chaotic, the Law fluctuations were as unruly as an untamed wild horse.

It made her feel quite uncomfortable.

Only Lin Wan.

From the moment she stepped out of the teleportation formation, a gentle smile was on her face.

She took a deep breath.

Slow and long.

Like savoring a pot of thousand-year-old vintage wine.

Then she smiled.

She looked like a girl-next-door big sister who was traveling far for the first time and found everything fresh.

"I think it's very good here,"

she said softly.

"In the air, there's the scent of freedom."

Zhang Ningshuang and Zhao Qingyi looked at her at the same time.

Their gazes were unified.

The kind used for looking at a monster.

The scent of freedom?

This was clearly the scent of "barren lands breed unruly people."

Lin Wan didn't care.

She just lightly raised her hand and tapped herself with a slender fingertip.

"Buzz—"

A faint halo, like a ripple, spread from her fingertip and flowed over her entire body.

Then.

That terrifying aura belonging to the Seventh Level Heavenly Immortal Realm, which made both Zhang Ningshuang and Zhao Qingyi instinctively hold their breath, receded like the tide.

Peeling off layer by layer.

Restraining layer by layer.

Finally, it settled steadily at the First Level of the Quasi-Emperor Realm.

Even the plain white long dress she wore, woven from Heavenly Silkworm Immortal Silk, dimmed and turned into an ordinary, light green cloth dress that looked like it had been washed many times.

At first glance, she looked like a small Loose Cultivator who had just ascended from some remote backwater.

Flawless.

"Lin... Junior Sister Lin?!"

Zhang Ningshuang's jaw almost hit the ground.

She stared wide-eyed, looking at Lin Wan three times over.

She had heard of cultivation disguises.

She had seen several secret techniques that could restrain one's aura so the true Realm couldn't be seen.

But to change even the clothes like this?

To even switch one's temperament?

To even make that "I am a Seventh Level Heavenly Immortal, you all better kneel" pressure disappear without a trace?

This wasn't a disguise.

This was a complete transformation.

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

Lin Wan turned around.

She smiled at them.

That smile was pure, harmless, with a hint of a newcomer's shyness.

It was as if she wasn't the same person who had that "hollow as a dry well" gaze on Hundred Flowers Peak.

The hair on the back of Zhao Qingyi's neck stood up.

She couldn't say why.

She just felt...

This smile was too perfect, so perfect it was unsettling.

"From now on."

Lin Wan's voice was still so light and soft.

Like a spring breeze wrapped in flower petals.

"My name is Lin Wan. A Loose Cultivator who just recently ascended from the Lower Realm. I've come to Peng City to find lost relatives."

She looked at the two of them, her smile unfading.

"Senior Sister Zhang, Senior Sister Zhao, you are my fellow villagers who came with me."

"Got it?"

Zhao Qingyi silent for a moment.

She nodded.

Zhang Ningshuang, however, looked unhappy, pouting: "Disguising as a Quasi-Emperor? That's so beneath us! I am, after all, an Inner Sect True Disciple of the Xuantian Immortal Sect—"

Before she could finish.

Lin Wan looked at her, her smile not changing at all.

She just lightly added a sentence.

"Senior Sister Zhang, your immortal body marrow core."

Just a few words.

Zhang Ningshuang's face turned pale instantly. Her mouth snapped shut.

It was more effective than any silence Restriction.

Without a second word, she followed Lin Wan's example and quickly suppressed her own cultivation.

Down to the Quasi-Emperor Realm.

Obedient as a quail.

...

The three of them, properly disguised.

Followed the sparse crowd into Peng City.

As soon as they entered the city gate.

The smell hit them right in the face.

The blood of Immortal Beasts, the bitterness of herbs, sweat, the smell of burnt meat from some unknown stall... all mixed together.

Like a hodgepodge stew that no one dared to drink.

Zhang Ningshuang's brow was tied in a knot, her stomach churning, almost losing her breakfast on the spot.

Zhao Qingyi remained expressionless, but her nostrils flared slightly.

Lin Wan was still smiling.

She observed the scenery on both sides of the street with great interest.

There were no exquisite pavilions here.

Only low houses made of rough stone, with a few stone slabs thrown on the roof to call it a day.

The street vendors weren't picky either.

They just spread a beast skin on the ground, piled their goods on it, and were open for business.

They sold everything.

Bloody Immortal Beast thighs, the kind that hadn't completely stopped breathing.

Strangely shaped Ores, some of which were emitting an eerie green light.

And a pile of mushrooms so brightly colored it hurt the eyes—no need for appraisal, one look and you knew they were highly toxic.

"Let's go."

Lin Wan withdrew her gaze, her pace steady.

"First, let's find a place to gather some information."

She led the two of them, her eyes scanning the street, accurately locking onto a teahouse with the most bustle and people at the entrance.

They pushed the door open and entered.

Inside, the teahouse was like a vegetable market.

Dozens of burly men, some shirtless, some with their feet on stools, were boasting loudly about their heroic deeds.

"I'm telling you! Yesterday I went into Black Wind Mountain and ran into an Iron-Armored Boar! That thing's hide was ridiculously thick; my Dark Iron Blade fucking chipped!"

"That's it? The day before yesterday, our squad killed an Earth Immortal Rank Three-Eyed Green Toad in the Miasma Forest! Ten of us surrounded it and fought for half a day to kill it; that venom almost finished me off!"

"Earth Immortal Rank? You're full of it—"

Then.

They saw Lin Wan.

All sounds in the teahouse seemed to be pinched off.

They stopped for half a beat.

Dozens of eyes turned in unison toward the door.

A woman in a light green cloth dress stood there quietly.

No makeup, no ornaments.

But that face was as gentle as peach blossom water in March.

When she smiled, the two shallow dimples on her cheeks were sweet enough to melt one's bones.

The teahouse went silent for a moment.

Then, a burly man with a full beard came to his senses first, grinned, and whistled.

"Yo! A fresh little sister has arrived!"

Zhang Ningshuang's face darkened immediately.

The pressure of the Heavenly Immortal Realm instinctively surged from within her.

A hand pressed down on her.

Lin Wan's hand was very light, as light as a petal landing on the back of her hand.

But Zhang Ningshuang froze, not because of the physical force, but because of the look Lin Wan gave her.

Smiling.

Gentle.

But the meaning was clear: don't move.

Zhang Ningshuang bit her teeth and forced the pressure back down.

Lin Wan turned her head.

Toward the bearded man, she gave a shy, somewhat timid smile.

She bowed slightly in greeting.

Her movements were perfectly polite.

"Hello, big brothers."

Her voice was soft and gentle, like a goose feather brushing against the ear.

"I am Lin Wan, a newcomer. I'd like to ask you big brothers about something, if it's convenient?"

That bearded man had looked like a rogue just a moment ago.

At her smile and being called "big brother," his face flushed red.

The hand he had extended to flirt with her now didn't know where to go.

"Sis... sister, what do you want to ask? Just ask away!"

Lin Wan walked to a table.

The tabletop was so greasy it could reflect a person's shadow.

She didn't even give it a second look and just sat down.

She was so natural, she didn't look like a pampered Sect Disciple at all.

She really looked like a little Loose Cultivator who had suffered and wasn't picky.

"I've come to find relatives."

Her eyes turned slightly red, the mist coming at just the right moment, not too much, not too little.

Just enough to make the protective instinct of every rough man present surge up.

"Some time ago, a distant cousin of mine, along with a few companions, ascended from the Lower Realm."

She lowered her head, her voice carrying a hint of unease.

"I heard the last place they appeared was near Peng City."

"I wonder if you big brothers... have recently seen any Cultivators who just ascended, like them?"

As she spoke, she did something in a dimension that no one could perceive.

A tiny, extremely faint trace of Heavenly Immortal Divine Soul power, like a transparent thread thinner than a spider's silk, silently merged into her voice.

It wasn't aggressive.

It wasn't coercive.

It was just like spring rain, sprinkling on the surface of everyone's Divine Soul.

Moistening things silently.

Making people unknowingly lower their guard.

Making them unknowingly develop a good impression of her.

Making them unknowingly... want to tell this pitiful young girl everything they knew.

"Ascended from the Lower Realm?"

The bearded man scratched the back of his head, trying hard to remember.

"It seems... it seems a few days ago, I did hear something! The guards at the city gate received a batch of newcomers!"

"Yes, yes, yes! I heard about it too!"

A tall, thin man next to him suddenly leaned in, slapped the table, and rushed to speak.

"Supposedly in that group, there were several female Cultivators who were incredibly beautiful! The whole city was stunned when they walked down the street!"

"More than just beautiful!"

Another burly man cut in, not wanting to be outdone.

"A brother of mine was at the city gate at the time and saw it with his own eyes! He said the man leading them was dressed in white, looked like he came out of a painting, and he had a little girl with him, with two pigtails—"

The teahouse suddenly became lively.

A group of men chattered all at once, vying to be first.

Fearing they would say less than others and lose face in front of this little sister.

Lin Wan's heart stirred slightly.

But the expression on her face didn't change at all.

She still had that gentle, grateful, and slightly tearful look.

"Really? Then what did they look like? What were their features? Where are they staying?"

Her questions came one after another, the pace steady.

Between each question, she left just enough space for the men to scramble for an answer.

Occasionally, she would let out a timely "Ah."

Occasionally, she would show a look of realization.

Occasionally, she would frown slightly, looking "very worried."

Every reaction hit the mark.

Every expression was precise to the millimeter.

In less than fifteen minutes.

From these rough men, she had gathered about seventy to eighty percent of the information regarding Su Chen's group: their number, characteristics, where they were staying, and even the general times they went in and out.

And those men were smiling the whole time, not only completely unguarded, but some even took the initiative to ask: "Sister, which one is your cousin? Do you want me to help you find him?"

...

The three left the teahouse.

Zhang Ningshuang walked behind Lin Wan, completely dazed.

She looked back at the teahouse door.

The group of rough men inside were still heatedly discussing how "that little sister just now was really pretty."

Having no idea they had already spilled every bit of information they could.

Zhang Ningshuang swallowed hard.

She quietly leaned into Zhao Qingyi's ear, her voice extremely low.

"Senior Sister Zhao..."

"Who on earth did Junior Sister Lin learn this information-gathering skill from?"

"This is too ridiculous. Those people were sold and were still helping her count the money!"

Zhao Qingyi kept an expressionless, cold face, looking straight ahead.

She was silent for two breaths.

Then, in her heart, she silently added a sentence.

Probably from reading too many interrogation manuals from the Sect's Discipline Hall.