"Are the three seniors visiting Chaoyang City for the first time? Don't you know that Chaoyang Immortal City is the premier immortal city in the Eastern Leaving Continent!"
"Hoh~ So boastful? I've lived on the YuRou Plains for over eight hundred years, and this is the first time I've heard that Chaoyang City is the premier immortal city in the Eastern Leaving Continent? Ye Yudong, that scoundrel, always talks about how Chaoyang Sect has declined, yet he never mentioned how prosperous Chaoyang Sect once was!"
Hearing the Nascent Soul cultivator guiding them speak with pride, Ran Boren exclaimed in surprise. Currently, among the Qingfeng Villa members, only Ke Ji Mei was older than him at 853 years old, yet he had never heard of Chaoyang Sect's reputation as the "Premier Immortal City of the Eastern Leaving Continent." He suspected it might be an exaggeration.
"Hmph~ You must be from some remote village! Sixty-five thousand years ago, when the demon realm invaded the TaiYuan Continent, Chaoyang Immortal City was established. During that invasion, it stood tall, and the title of 'Premier Immortal City of the Eastern Leaving Continent' has been firmly held by Chaoyang Immortal City ever since. Furthermore, Chaoyang Immortal City is the only immortal city in the Eastern Leaving Continent that has stood tall from 650,000 years ago to this day!"
The guiding cultivator's voice grew more impassioned as he spoke, his head held high, his expression brimming with pride.
"Is this true? I've lived for over eight hundred years and I never knew?"
Ran Boren was even more astonished, and he began to understand what Ye Yudong meant by the decline of Chaoyang Sect.
Beside him, Yang Hong had remained silent. He was using his rules of time, emitting a faint Dao charm, sensing the immortal city. Upon entering the city, he felt a profound sense of gravitas. Listening to the guiding cultivator's words, he finally understood. Although he had never heard of Chaoyang Immortal City's history, he now believed the cultivator's words. Just the journey to the inn where they would be staying had significantly refined his domain of time. Although he no longer had the system's direct data, he could feel that his domain of time had now reached approximately 40% completion.
"You two go and sell everything you brought. Sell it even at half price. Convert it all into spirit stones."
Upon arriving at their temporary lodging, Yang Hong handed a pile of storage rings to Ran Boren and said.
"Sect Master, won't you take a look around? This is a 650,000-year-old city!"
"You two go explore. After selling our goods, each of you will have a budget of 500,000 spirit stones to spend."
"Ah~ Thank you, Sect Master. We'll go sell these items then."
"Go ahead. Wake me up before the auction."
"Don't worry, Sect Master, we'll wake you up on time."
After dismissing the two, Yang Hong entered a state akin to enlightenment, his soul leaving his body to observe the history that Chaoyang City had endured. In the distant past, a massive bluestone fell, followed by more bluestones, and a grand city slowly emerged. As the city was being built, a group of terrifying, monstrous creatures appeared, ravaging the city and hunting its human inhabitants. Time flowed rapidly, and the humans battled the monstrous creatures for an unknown number of years. The main structure of Chaoyang Immortal City, the green walls Yang Hong saw upon entering, was completed. The humans began to fight the monsters within the city walls, relying on them for defense. After an indeterminate period of time, the monstrous creatures ceased their attacks, and the city began to develop. From low-rise buildings to various arrays of tall buildings and magical artifact towers, the city grew increasingly lively and prosperous. During this time, the city faced various enemies, including monsters, beasts, and even other humans. Fortunately, it seemed fate had favored this city, and it had persevered.
"Hoo~ This Chaoyang Immortal City is extraordinary."
After an unknown period, Yang Hong opened his eyes. An ancient and desolate aura emanated from him, and the passage of time around him seemed to accelerate.
Crack~ Crack~
As the sound of cracking echoed, Yang Hong stepped forward. The wooden floorboards made of spirit wood he passed over began to decay and crumble. Even his fourth-grade magical artifact clothing started to turn to dust and drift in the air. Stepping out of the room and onto the ground, Yang Hong immediately used an earth遁 (earth evasion) technique, sinking into the ground.
Shortly after Yang Hong disappeared, two Taoists in black robes appeared in Yang Hong's room.
"It's the Dao charm of time. Someone here has comprehended the Dao charm of time acceleration."
"Heh heh~ You should say, 'Someone else has comprehended the Dao charm of time.' How many years go by in Chaoyang Immortal City without a cultivator comprehending the Dao charm of time?"
"Heh heh~ That's true. Comprehending the Dao charm of time is easy, but comprehending the rules of law is extremely difficult."
"Find out who comprehended it. If there's a chance, recruit them into Chaoyang Sect; otherwise, if they have good potential, kill them. If their potential is low, just let them be."
"Alright, it's the same old rule."
Both black-robed Taoists were at the eighth-stage Tribulation Crossing realm. They merely glanced at Yang Hong's room, saw no one, and then left. Yang Hong was unaware of this interlude. After an hour of acclimatizing underground, he integrated the newly mastered rules of time into his own.
"Not bad, time acceleration can reach ten thousandfold. As long as my magic power is sufficient, I can accelerate everything within a 300-zhang radius by ten thousand times."
After emerging, Yang Hong noticed there was still a day and a half before the auction began. He left the inn and began to explore Chaoyang City, walking through it like an ordinary mortal. The primary color of Chaoyang Immortal City was green, exuding an ancient and heavy atmosphere. The buildings within the city were also predominantly green, complemented by heavier black structures, with occasional red buildings for accent. Bright colors like white were almost invisible within Chaoyang City. This seemed somewhat contradictory to the name "Chaoyang City." However, this was the characteristic of Chaoyang City, a city that had endured the desperate invasion of the demon race. It was said that the name was bestowed by a True Immortal from the Upper Realm, who also inscribed the characters. Amidst the somber colors of the buildings in Chaoyang City, the cultivators gave Yang Hong a feeling of progress and prosperity, which was truly rare. In the immortal cultivation cities Yang Hong had visited, most low-level cultivators were listless, and high-level cultivators were merely getting by. Only those in the middle tier, from Foundation Establishment to below Soul Transformation, cultivated with desperation. However, in Chaoyang Immortal City, all cultivators, even those at the first level of Qi Refining, had a remarkably positive mindset. Occasionally, a Tribulation Crossing cultivator would fly by, but they did not exude a sense of twilight; instead, they were full of vitality.
"Truly miraculous. Sixty-five thousand years of historical accumulation has actually sparked such a youthful aura. It's truly incredible."
After touring Chaoyang City, Yang Hong had completely shed his previous contempt for Chaoyang Sect.
"With such a vibrant city, even if Chaoyang Sect experiences a low ebb, it cannot truly decline."
In Yang Hong's opinion, the only drawback was that there were no mortals in Chaoyang City. Even if a cultivator wished to have a child, they had to leave Chaoyang City. Mortals were not permitted within the city.
"Perhaps this is why Chaoyang City's destiny aura is only a faint golden hue, not orange or red?"
A silver light flashed in Yang Hong's eyes as he looked up at the faint golden dragon of destiny in the sky with a touch of emotion. What made him uncertain whether to be happy or worried was that the form of this destiny dragon was somewhat unusual.