Chapter 145 - 4: Entering Kanming City

Chapter 145: Chapter 4: Entering Kanming CityFreezing cold, flying frost, a blast of chilling air sweeping across the wilderness. It was another year of heavy snow. Between the vast heaven and earth, as the snow drifted through the sky, a silver falcon streaked across the horizon. Cutting through the dense clouds, turbulent flows, and the undulating mountains and rivers, the silver falcon eventually perched atop an ancient, abandoned tower, turning its head from side to side, surveying the lives below. Within a pure white realm, a black road stretched straight as an arrow, bustling with merchants and travelers like clouds. Seeing this ancient tower and heading east, one would reach the strategic border area of the Western Mountain region of Da Chen, Kanming City. A young man wrapped in a black leather coat, his face half-hidden by a hood, walked along this road. Unlike in the Tianyuan Realm, where his ignorance of local customs made it easy for others to identify him as a ’wilderness man’... In the Embracing the Void Realm, An Jing had studied and practiced martial arts since his youth, his family was in business, and with Innate Wisdom hearing rumors from all directions, he was extremely clear about his homeland and knew how to disguise himself as any character he wished. Now, his identity was that of a person from the ’Dust Li domain,’ beyond the northern frontier of Da Chen. However, when speaking of Dust Li, one needs to understand the geographical layout of Da Chen, the North Mysterious Sacrifice Continent, and even the entire Embracing the Void Realm. The Embracing the Void Realm is vast beyond measure, comprising ten continents of five colors in five directions. The North Mysterious Sacrifice Continent, as its name suggests, is one of the three northern continents representing the color "Xuan." Unlike most other continents where Sects reign high and allow countless kingdoms and Sect domains to engage in ceaseless warfare, nearly half of the North Mysterious Sacrifice Continent is unified by a local Great Dao, which is also a major country. That is, the [Ten Heavenly Sects·Northern Star Dynasty]. In the Embracing the Void Realm, the existence of nations is actually considered lower than that of Sects, with most nations or powers being created by powerful Fate Pattern martial artists to realize their ideals and Fate Patterns. And whether their endeavors eventually succeed or fail, they will return to their Sects to advance further, while their bloodline descendants become the royal family of that nation, supported by their Sect. But Da Chen is different. Da Chen was founded on True Martial principles and is one of the rare powers in the Embracing the Void Realm that is based on a lineage originating from a single bloodline. Although the lineage may seem more fragile compared to other Sects, power is more centralized and its system of Granting Talismans to its officials is stunning and emulated by many major forces. The lineage of the Emperor of the Northern Star can also be seen as a Great Sect lineage, revered as the True Martial Mountain Xuan Clan. The entire Da Chen is considered a practice ground for the True Martial Mountain lineage, thus the nation venerates the virtues of water and holds the color black in high esteem. Including the Western Sea, Northern Sea, and the southern sea islands, the North Mysterious Sacrifice Continent has thirty-six major regions. Da Chen possesses the richest fourteen of these, excluding the special [Shenjing] and [Red Border Region], the remaining twelve major regions are divided into three domains, each covering seven provinces. Including the three autonomous provinces within the Red Border Region, the Northern Star Dynasty is a colossal entity, controlling fourteen major regions, thirty-six domains, and two hundred and fifty-five provinces—nearly half the territory of the North Mysterious Sacrifice Continent. The Western Mountain Region is located in the northwest of Da Chen. It borders [Taiyuan] to the west and connects to [Minhai] to the south. To the southeast lies [Yandao] and to the northeast is [Hanhai]. In the west of the Western Mountain Region and north of An Jing’s homeland of Hanhai, lies the great region beyond Da Chen’s boundaries, known as [Dust Li]. Dust Li, derived from the white frost that covers the entire region like endless dust, is the homeland of the Northern Barbarians. To the people of Da Chen, it is a wild and uncultivated land, simply put, a rural area untouched by royal civilization and uneducated in societal norms. However, as a frontier youth who has dealt with the Northern Barbarians for many years, An Jing is very clear that Dust Li is far from a wasteland. Contrarily, it houses many famous rivers and Spirit Mountains. Although the Northern Barbarian tribes are technologically behind Da Chen, they also have their own civilization and tribes. Deep within Dust Li, there are many Martial Dao Sects that, unwilling to accept Da Chen’s jurisdiction, have relocated or even been expelled, reestablishing their Sect residences. [Xu Shen Mountain][Mei Yu Mountain][Hong Fu Mountain][Yu Yuan Mountain][Visible Empty Mountain] ... are all renowned Great Sect home mountains in the vast region of Dust Li. Among them, the Bright Mirror Sect of Visible Empty Mountain, is the Sect behind True Person of the Divine Repository who once confronted the Heaven’s Will Demon of the Northern Patrol Envoy, and is closely related to Da Chen as a native major Sect of Dust Li. In Dust Li, there are martial artist Sects and naturally, there are tribes and large clans protected by these Sects, nearly akin to small nations, which also engage in external exchanges. This is also the most crucial function of Kanming City, a major frontier city. That is, it serves as a hub for inter-domain exchanges. The fierce wind swept through, and the black Xuan Water Flag in Kanming City fluttered loudly, with the Xuanwu totem seeming to come alive, making the surrounding snow and wind much milder. Outside the city gate, in the long queue, An Jing was disguised in the attire typical of the tribes around Visible Empty Mountain, black on the outside and white on the inside, just like a mirror, murky at the base but clear on the surface. He planned to pretend to be a young, solo-acting young Dust Li martial disciple. Back home, he’d actually encountered such people, so An Jing was confident in portraying the role exquisitely, even if he met a real Dust Li person, his disguise wouldn’t be seen through. It was now time to register for city entry, and while queueing, An Jing saw the city guard in front yawning as he registered the names of those entering the city. It was his turn. "Name?" "Jing Xuan." "Dust Li?" "From Visible Empty Mountain!" An Jing, having stated a false name, widened his eyes as if he was very angry—for Da Chen, Dust Li were either barbarians or those sheltered by sects, generally considered people from outside civilization. But for the Dust Li themselves, the struggle between the great sects and tribes was fierce, and no one could admit to being kin with people from other places. In simple terms, they were loose Dust Li. "Okay, okay, from Visible Empty Mountain..." The city guard seemed used to the reactions of Dust Li people like An Jing, and he even teased An Jing knowing he was young, seeing such a fierce reaction made him laugh, and he registered the name in the book: "Jing Xuan. Your entry fee is..." Before the guard could finish, An Jing handed over a piece of broken silver. He was clear about this procedure. As for the silver, it was cheap silver obtained from the Tianyuan Realm, a hundred pieces of silver which, unless it was the spiritual type like heavy silver, would cost just over twenty good deeds, a benefit of the different worlds. "You may enter." The guard smoothly took the silver, and An Jing entered the city without a hitch. Neither the city guards nor the other Dust Li in the queue behind reacted, as An Jing, in both accent and response, was unmistakably a seasoned, authentic Dust Li, obviously one who had been around for many years. "Good!" After entering the city, An Jing still didn’t let his guard down completely, but he did sigh with relief, "Though it should have been this smooth, it’s really great that it went without a hitch." "Once I’m at Kanming City, I’ll be much safer." As a frontier metropolis, Kanming City was guarded by Martial Meridian Grandmasters, and even divine weapons at the Divine Repository level could be summoned, definitely not a place where any ordinary force could cause trouble. The residents lived and worked in peace and contentment; even if there were scouts from the Demon Sect, they couldn’t act openly. Even with divine tracking skills, they wouldn’t be able to find An Jing again amidst the sea of people. With such reflections, An Jing, having finally entered the city, continued walking down the street, taking in everything before him. Even though it had been snowing heavily not long ago, the vibrant sounds of people were still coming and going everywhere. "Hot fresh baked cakes, roasted sweet potatoes..." a middle-aged man fanned the tempting aroma. "Cloth brocade from Shenjing, all five colors, sturdy and durable..." an old lady called out from the street-side. "White Mountain Snow Ginseng, nourishes and benefits the kidneys, calms the spirit, no deception old or young..." a herb picker with a fur hat and carrying a knife stood in front of the shop. "Meatball soup! Spicy soup!" cries from afar continued nonstop. The long street was bustling, filled with various peddlers and performers, those carrying coal, those displaying flowers, those selling dried fruits, those frying dough and turning sugar, those performing arts and martial demonstrations... the diversity was endless. And the street vendors’ wares, apart from food, drink, and clothing, included even more fascinating items, such as daylight-bright pearls, color-changing pottery, iron stones floating on platforms... Amidst such lively noise, ordinary scene after scene moved An Jing to the point of wanting to shed tears. Finaally. After surviving the Frost Calamity, fleeing famine, selling himself, struggling against the Demon Sect and another world... after countless deadly flights and fights. He had finally returned to the world of humans.