210: One clan builds one city, the Qin family of Zhongqianzhou

"Please rest, honored guest. I'll go soothe the others first." The waiter bowed and started to leave.

Qiu Qiu, who had been quietly perched on Qin Wangchuan's shoulder, suddenly tilted its head and, with a 'puff,' spat out a Spirit Stone the size of a grain of rice, yet shimmering with iridescent light, which landed precisely in the waiter's palm.

It flapped its wings, as if saying: "Well done! This is your reward!"

It was very pleased with the scene where Jiang Yan had been so terrified his face lost all color.

"Oh, honored guest, your Spirit Pet is truly intelligent!" The waiter looked at Qiu Qiu with curiosity before excusing himself again.

Once he had left, Qin Wangchuan lightly tapped the window frame with his fingertip: "It seems we have a destination for our next stop."

"The Qin Family?" Jiang Yan was astonished. "But didn't the waiter say that Cultivation Technique isn't something everyone can obtain..."

"Others are others," Qin Wangchuan turned to look at the deepening twilight outside the window. "We are us."

Meanwhile, the waiter, having stepped out of the room, weighed the pitifully small Spirit Stone in his hand and chuckled, "It's the first time I've been rewarded by a bird; how novel..."

His words abruptly stopped.

He suddenly brought the Spirit Stone close to his eyes, only to see that within the tiny crystal, there was a continuous flow of Dao rhyme, like a galaxy in motion.

This was fundamentally not an ordinary High-Grade Spirit Stone, or even a Top-Grade Spirit Stone, nor was it even the legendary Spirit Jade.

Instead, it was something he couldn't comprehend!

This meant... "This bird... that Young Master... is not simple!" The waiter's heart pounded, and a surge of warmth rushed through him.

The waiter instinctively wanted to turn back and curry favor, but after taking a step, he abruptly stopped.

"Never mind, getting too entangled with such distinguished guests will only spoil the impression. Everything must be left to fate." He shook his head with a bitter smile, carefully tucking the Spirit Stone close to his body. The light from many years ago rekindled in his eyes, "Perhaps..."

"I should resume my Cultivation path?"

Outside the window, thunderclouds churned in the distant sky, signaling a rainy day.

As Qin Wangchuan and the others had just finished packing and were about to leave, large raindrops began to patter down.

From the Middle Thousand Province onwards, the rain was no longer ordinary raindrops.

It contained the Qi of the Great Dao's nourishment, harmless to plants and Mortals, but if Cultivators were to be exposed to it, Impurities would easily accumulate within their bodies, hindering their Cultivation.

Jiang Yan looked at the dense curtain of rain outside the door and asked with a worried expression, "Big Brother, do you have any way to avoid the rain? Like a rain-shelter talisman or something?"

Qin Wangchuan nodded: "I do."

Jiang Yan immediately breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good..."

But before he could fully relax, he heard Qin Wangchuan continue, "But I haven't learned it."

... Jiang Yan almost choked, coughing twice.

Looking helplessly at the gray sky, he half-jokingly lamented, "What luck! Just as we were about to leave, we ran into such a big rain. If only it could stop immediately."

Qin Wangchuan also looked up at the sky and casually echoed, "Yes, if only the rain would stop."

Within a few breaths after he spoke, the torrential rain actually diminished rapidly at a visible rate.

In just a moment, the clouds dispersed, the rain ceased, and the sun shone again, leaving only the wet ground as proof that it had just rained.

"?!" Jiang Yan was dumbfounded, then overjoyed, and suddenly jumped up. He pointed one hand at the sky and the other at his nose, shouting excitedly at Qin Wangchuan, "Big Brother, look! This rain is so obedient! I said stop, and it stopped! Could I be the Reincarnation of a True Dragon? My words carry the Dao!"

His exaggerated actions drew the attention of several passersby who were also sheltering from the rain. They looked at the gesticulating man with strange eyes and spoke bluntly:

"Another one gone mad."

"I saw another one a while ago; that person was screaming in the street, saying there were red-haired monsters everywhere."

Qin Wangchuan ignored the gazes of others, but he did genuinely ponder for a moment because of Jiang Yan's words.

Reincarnation of a True Dragon?

He then shook his head slightly, his tone flat as he shattered Jiang Yan's fantasy: "Even the Reincarnation of a True Dragon isn't necessarily that powerful."

Jiang Yan had certainly never seen one, but Qin Wangchuan had truly seen and even killed them.

After speaking, he no longer lingered and took a step forward.

Ye Jianwei followed closely, stepping into the fresh, post-rain air.

Jiang Yan scratched his head, quickly suppressed his excitement, and hurried to catch up.

After another period of travel, they finally arrived at their destination.

The group stood before the massive city.

The towering city walls were out of sight, with only a magnificent 'Qin' character suspended above the heavenly gate, exuding an invisible pressure.

At the city gate, people flowed like weaving threads, yet in an orderly manner.

Jiang Yan stood on his tiptoes, hearing two Loose Cultivators ahead complaining:

"Have you heard? Seventy percent of the pavilions inside, we outsiders aren't even allowed to approach!"

"Exactly. There's only one place to even drink tea, no other branches. This Qin Family is just too..."

The Loose Cultivator didn't finish his sentence before being elbowed by his companion, then sheepishly shut up.

Jiang Yan pulled his head back, leaned close to Qin Wangchuan, and whispered, "Big Brother, this place sounds a bit... stingy, doesn't it?"

Just then, Qin Wangchuan's facial contours rippled like water with an extremely subtle tremor, and his originally handsome face became utterly ordinary, making him impossible to recognize if lost in a crowd.

In fact, Qin Wangchuan and Ye Jianwei had always worn specially made masks.

These masks were Magic Treasures specially crafted by his second brother, not complete disguises, but rather subtle adjustments to the spacing of eyebrows and eyes, the curve of the nose bridge, and other details, making their appearance "ordinary."

This was to suppress their inherent aura.

But now, entering the Qin Family's territory, these subtle adjustments were no longer enough; greater changes were needed.

Ye Jianwei's plain white veil also rippled, transforming in an instant into a bland face.

Jiang Yan, standing beside them, widened his eyes, his finger gesturing back and forth between the two: "You, you two... What are you doing?"

Qin Wangchuan looked at him calmly with his new face, his voice extremely low, only audible to those nearby: "Actually, I have an old grudge with the Qin Family."

"An old grudge?!" Jiang Yan's eyes instantly widened, his voice sharply rising, then he quickly covered his mouth, looking around in fright, and whispered:

"You have an enemy, yet you dare to go into their lair?! Are you tired of living?!"

"It's a gamble," Qin Wangchuan's tone remained unruffled. "They won't recognize me."

Jiang Yan looked at Qin Wangchuan's unmoving composure, then at the blind girl and Qiu Qiu, and had no choice but to forcibly swallow his myriad questions and worries, his face clearly expressing, "You'd better be confident."

After paying the entrance Spirit Stones, the group followed the crowd through the deep archway.

As soon as they stepped inside the city, Jiang Yan's steps abruptly halted, and he gasped.

"This...!"

All his previous imaginings of "stinginess" were shattered in an instant.

Big!

This was the first word that popped into his mind.

The street before them was unimaginably wide, enough for dozens of carriages to race side-by-side, stretching straight to the horizon.

The buildings on either side were not exquisitely carved and painted pavilions, but rather constructed from massive black stone, ancient and grand in style, reaching into the clouds and exuding a powerful sense of oppression.