521: Chapter 521 Vientiane City

"Senior," Su Ming lifted his head, breaking the silence, his tone still respectful. "May I ask, what are the intricacies of that specific method using a Formation to transform Spiritual Qi?"

Daoist Xuanming looked at Su Ming with some surprise. He had thought this brutal beating would shock this Foundation Establishment Disciple somewhat, but he hadn't expected the other's first reaction to be about the method of transforming Spiritual Qi. After all, when he first brought Master Xuan Heng, who was still at the Golden Core Stage back then, to the Central Continent, that kid had been dazed for a whole day.

"Heart-Nature is not bad," Daoist Xuanming snorted coldly in his heart, but on the surface, he unceremoniously cut Su Ming off.

"We'll talk about it when we reach Myriad Forms City," Daoist Xuanming turned around, no longer looking at them, and walked straight back to the cushion in the center of the flying boat to close his eyes and rest. "Teaching you now would be useless; you wouldn't be able to memorize the complex Spiritual Qi flows of the Central Continent."

Su Ming nodded and did not press further.

In front of this old monster who reeked of calculation everywhere, acting too eager would only expose his own bottom line. He silently tucked his hands into the wide sleeves of his robe, his gaze calm as he looked towards the front of the flying boat.

The spirit boat continued to speed through the gray, murky clouds, penetrating ever deeper into the heartland of the Central Continent.

Su Ming stood at the bow, watching the land rapidly receding beneath his feet.

Occasionally, he could see some Mortal cities, but without exception, those cities were shrouded in grayish-yellow miasma, forming an extremely glaring contrast with those Sect floating islands in the sky that faintly emitted spiritual light and were protected by powerful Formations.

The divide between Immortal and Mortal was stretched to a despairing dimension here.

Just then, on the horizon ahead, an intensely dazzling light suddenly flared up.

It was not natural sunlight, but an extremely magnificent sea of light formed by countless vast streams of Spiritual Qi intertwining together.

"That is..." Qingfeng couldn't help but exclaim, pointing ahead.

Daoist Xuanming did not open his eyes, only uttering a few hoarse words.

"Myriad Forms City. The largest city on the Central Continent's border, and also where we'll be staying tonight."

The spirit boat began to slow down. The sea of light ahead gradually enlarged in their vision, finally revealing its breathtaking true outline.

It was a gigantic city, so vast its boundaries were impossible to discern.

The entire city was not built against a mountain like the Iron Wall Pass in the Northern Territories, but was instead spread directly across a vast plain. Above the city, an enormous, semi-transparent dome was inverted over it.

Upon the dome, tens of thousands of Array Patterns flowed like liquid golden metal, intertwining and operating in mid-air, completely isolating the entire city from the barren world outside.

"This city-protecting grand Formation..."

Su Ming stood at the bow, his pupils involuntarily contracting slightly.

Within his Sea of Consciousness, the 750 Array Talismans instinctively began to frantically deduce. But merely glancing at that dome for a moment caused a sharp, intense pain in his Divine Sense.

"Don't look too long," Lin Yu's voice promptly rang out in his mind, carrying a hint of warning. "This is a true composite Heaven-Grade grand Formation. It contains at least 360 nested lethal arrays. With your current Divine Sense strength, forcibly trying to comprehend its principles would only cause your Sea of Consciousness to burst from the massive influx of information."

Su Ming immediately withdrew his gaze, forcefully suppressing the churning Qi and blood within his body.

"Chirp—"

Ying emitted a faint chirp from within Su Ming's collar. Clearly, it also sensed the terrifying Spiritual Pressure emanating from the city-protecting grand Formation.

The flying boat slowly descended in mid-air, about three li from the city gate.

The rule in the Central Continent: any flying Magical Artifact not directly under the City Lord's Mansion is forbidden to take flight within one li of the city gates.

The four of them disembarked. Daoist Xuanming put away the flying boat and led them on foot towards the massive, thirty-zhang tall white jade city gate.

At the city gate, Cultivators streamed in an endless flow, like a school of fish crossing a river.

Su Ming blended into the crowd, his eyes lowered, appearing submissive, but in reality, the corner of his eye never stopped gathering information from his surroundings.

Cultivators in robes of various colors hurried along, each face bearing a fatigue and wariness difficult to conceal. Occasionally, a few Loose Cultivators had stalls by the roadside, arguing heatedly over the price of a few Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

What shocked Su Ming the most was the cultivation levels of these people.

In the Cloud Hidden Sect, the Golden Core Stage was enough to become an Inner Sect Disciple, even a True Disciple; the Soul Transformation Stage made one the master of a peak.

But at the gate of Myriad Forms City, with just a few glances, Su Ming saw at least five Golden Core Stage Cultivators with unfathomable auras, queuing up waiting to enter the city. The Spiritual Pressure they emitted caused the low-level Cultivators around them to instinctively keep a wide berth.

Golden Core Cultivators are everywhere, Foundation Establishment ones are worse than dogs.

This saying, treated as an exaggerated joke in the Northern Territories, had become reality here.

"This is how the Cultivation World should be."

Lin Yu let out a long sigh within the xuantian ring. His soul body stretched slightly within the Void Realm, seeming to feel quite nostalgic for this environment brimming with pressure and competitive spirit.

Su Ming did not respond, only silently adjusting his breathing rhythm. Using the Breath Concealment Art, he suppressed his Late Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation aura to the very edge of the Early Stage.

The guards at the city gate were extremely strict. Every Cultivator entering the city had to pay an entry fee of three Low-Grade Spirit Stones and receive a jade token proving their identity.

When it was their turn, Daoist Xuanming casually tossed out over a dozen Spirit Stones. The guard, glancing at his unfathomable aura, didn't even ask for their identities. He respectfully handed over four jade tokens and let them pass.

The moment they stepped through the city gate.

An incredibly rich concentration of Spiritual Qi rushed over them.

Although this Spiritual Qi couldn't compare to the spiritual lake within the Cloud Hidden Sect's Secret Realm, compared to the depleted world outside, it was like an oasis in the desert. Qingfeng and Mingyue couldn't help but take a few deep breaths, their tense expressions finally easing somewhat.

However, Su Ming keenly sensed that the Spiritual Qi within the city was mixed with an extremely complex Formation fluctuation. This Spiritual Qi did not exist naturally; it was forcibly drawn from deep underground by the grand Formation, purified, and then released.

The streets were wide enough to accommodate twenty carriages side by side.

Shops lined both sides: Medicinal Pill pavilions, Magical Artifact stores, Spirit Beast houses... Tall towers and pavilions flashed with various dazzling Formation lights, and Waiters vigorously called out to attract business at the entrances.

"Let's find a place to settle first," Daoist Xuanming said, ignoring the surrounding clamor, and directly led them deeper into the street.

Finally, they stopped in front of an inn named 'Cloud Return'.