150: Ling Kingdom, Lingtian City

The next day.

In the distance, Jiang Lan saw a massive city situated in the plains.

By then, he had already flown out of the desert and arrived in the Ling Country territory.

And this huge city was the first city he encountered after arriving in the Ling Country.

According to the map, this city was named Black Stone City.

It was also the largest city Jiang Lan had ever seen in terms of land area.

He had seen the capitals of several other countries before.

But purely in terms of size, two or three other national capitals combined couldn't compare to this Black Stone City.

Moreover, the city's defenses were extremely strict; Jiang Lan noticed that the soldiers guarding the city gate were all in the Spirit Gathering Realm.

This was almost unimaginable in the previous countries.

For a small country like Yan Country, a Peak Spirit Gathering Realm Martial Artist was already the highest combat power openly available in the entire country.

Yet, in this Ling Country, Gathering Yuan Martial Artists seemed to be worthless.

In the short time Jiang Lan had been in the Ling Country territory, he had encountered five or six Spirit Gathering Realm Martial Artists.

He even encountered a Mortal Shedding Martial Artist.

However, Jiang Lan was flying in the sky, so the Mortal Shedding Martial Artist did not notice him.

Mortal Shedding Martial Artists, in the countries he had passed through before, were considered top-tier powerhouses.

But here, they seemed to be no different from ordinary people.

For a moment, this made Jiang Lan even more curious about the Ling Country.

However, Jiang Lan did not choose to enter Black Stone City; he merely stopped to observe for a while, then his figure soared into the sky again, leaving directly.

He was headed to the Ling Country's border, a place where demons gathered... He flew for another full day.

Along the way, as he approached the Ling Country's edge, the terrain gradually rose.

By evening, an even larger city than Black Stone City appeared before Jiang Lan.

He had already seen it on the map.

This place was named Lingtian City.

Beyond Lingtian City, the map was blank, only recording a few words:

'Demon Territory, Do Not Enter!'

Lowering his head, Jiang Lan surveyed the massive city.

Jiang Lan was currently about two to three hundred meters above the ground, giving him an almost unobstructed view of the city below.

Just by looking, a chilling aura of Kill ( Stern) permeated the city.

The city hung high on the mountain Peak, like an inverted sharp sword, deeply rooted in the ground.

Outside the city was a colossal cliff, like a natural chasm.

The cliff was a hundred zhang wide, with a flat edge and a bottomless depth.

Across the cliff was another landmass of similar height.

From Jiang Lan's vantage point, it looked as if the originally flat earth had been cut open by a giant's sword, creating a chasm.

On the landmass across the cliff stood a city several sizes smaller than the Lingtian City before him.

However, the city walls of this city were exceptionally exaggerated.

Jiang Lan estimated them to be thirty to forty zhang tall.

Outside the city walls were countless dismembered bodies and limbs; blood had long since stained the original yellow earth a deep brown.

Jiang Lan gently exhaled.

He could imagine that outside these city walls, countless soldiers and demons likely died every day.

Previously, Jiang Lan had been curious about what the boundary between humans and demons was like.

His guesses included a desolate, barren land or a place where demons ran rampant and the populace was at their mercy.

But he had never imagined it would be this situation.

Countless people, with their blood and lives, had actually split this border in two.

Jiang Lan felt a bit emotional.

He wondered if this place was still recruiting soldiers.

He felt that if he could guard the city walls on the other side, the incoming demons would probably allow him to kill to his heart's content.

Jiang Lan descended from the sky and walked to the outskirts of Lingtian City.

The strength of the soldiers guarding the city here was even greater; the one who appeared to be the leader was even in the Mortal Shedding Realm.

Although he was in the Early Stage, he was a genuine Mortal Shedding Martial Artist.

At the city gate, two armed soldiers blocked Jiang Lan's path.

"Are you entering the city?"

Jiang Lan nodded and replied:

"Yes."

"What is your name? Where are you from? Do you have proof?"

The city guard's inspection was quite strict.

But Jiang Lan could understand.

In this place, outside were demons everywhere; if the screening was lax, who knew how many demons would infiltrate the city.

"My name is Jiang Lan, I come from Great Yan, and as for proof..." Jiang Lan thought for a moment, "I was originally from Great Yan's Demon Suppression Division, and later joined the Zhenwu Pavilion. I wonder if these two tokens can serve as proof?"

As he spoke, Jiang Lan pulled out two tokens from his pocket.

One was the Demon Suppression Envoy token from the Demon Suppression Division, and the other was from the Zhenwu Pavilion.

Both had Jiang Lan's name written on them.

Upon hearing the words "Demon Suppression Division," the city guard's expression softened slightly.

One of the soldiers took the tokens, inspected them, confirmed there were no issues, then returned them to Jiang Lan and continued to ask:

"You're from the Yan Country Demon Suppression Division, how did you end up in Lingtian City? As far as I know, the two places are very far apart; even a Mortal Shedding Martial Artist would need over a month to travel."

"I came here, naturally, to slay demons and eradicate evil."

The city guard's eyes held a strange look, but it quickly turned to admiration.

"Ordinary people, upon hearing of demons, wish their parents had given them two more legs to run faster, but you, unexpectedly, are eager to rush towards them."

Having guarded the city gate for a long time, he had seen all kinds of people.

Someone like Jiang Lan, though not entirely unheard of, was still very rare.

After all, those who would risk their lives just to slay demons and protect humanity were ultimately a small minority.

Before Jiang Lan could speak, the soldier continued:

"What is your strength?"

Jiang Lan did not hide it and truthfully said:

"Core Formation Fourth Stage."

Previously, he had been with Liu Wei in the demonic cave, making it inconvenient to Breakthrough.

And after coming out, he had been constantly on the road, without time to improve his strength.

Therefore, although he still had a lot of lifespan left, he had saved it and hadn't used it yet.

"Core Formation?!"

The city guard's eyes widened in surprise.

He hadn't felt any pressure from Jiang Lan just now, and since Jiang Lan came from a small place, he hadn't expected Jiang Lan's strength to be very high.

But he was actually in Core Formation?

"Do you need proof?"

As Jiang Lan spoke, he deactivated the Hidden God Art.

This Hidden God Art indeed had many wonderful uses; at the very least, Martial Artists whose Realm was lower than his could not detect his Realm.

Most importantly, even if they couldn't detect it, the other party wouldn't think deeply about it; instead, they would be completely unconcerned.

One must know that, normally, two Martial Artists facing each other could relatively easily discern each other's strength.

Even the weaker party could vaguely deduce it based on the pressure emanating from the other.

The moment the Hidden God Art was deactivated, a faint pressure emanated from Jiang Lan.

But even this slight pressure that escaped caused the city guard who had just spoken to feel a suffocating sensation.

Swallowing hard, the soldier put away his weapon, stepped aside to make way for Jiang Lan, and said:

"I apologize for the offense, Senior; I hope you won't take it to heart."

"I can enter the city now?"

"Yes! Of course, you can!"