Ye Fan traveled north without pause, flying for over ten days, crossing thousands of mountains and rivers, covering countless tens of thousands of li before he finally approached the Holy City of the Northern Region.
The Holy City of the Northern Region — the absolute center. On this vast crimson earth, it was as famous as the Primordial Ancient Mine. The residents of the Northern Region revered it as sacred ground.
Deep autumn had arrived, the weather already quite cold. On the bare, leafless branches, an occasional remnant leaf or two still clung stubbornly.
The oasis in which the Holy City stood was extraordinarily vast — tens of thousands of li in circumference. Towns were plentiful here. Compared to other prefectures, the Sacred Prefecture was the most peaceful of all. No matter how audacious outlaws might be, they dared not raid this oasis, for every major power had forces stationed here.
The northern winds swept the earth, bending the white grass flat — the season of snowfall was not far off. Most travelers on the road had already donned beast-fur garments.
The great road leading to the Holy City was wide enough for over a dozen horse-drawn carriages side by side. Aside from Northern Region residents, one could frequently see cultivators flying through the sky overhead.
At this moment, Ye Fan was still nearly six hundred li from the Holy City. On both sides of the road, towering mountains rose up — shattered stone cliffs, all of them grand and imposing — while this bluestone avenue seemed as if someone had cleaved through the mountains and cut away the cliffs to carve it out.
When less than two hundred li from the Holy City, the travelers on the road noticeably increased. Strange beasts surged past like the wind and lightning — the majority of them carrying cultivators.
Suddenly, a low rumble like rolling thunder approached, and dozens of riders came surging forward like a tide.
It had to be said — these people were extraordinarily arrogant. They rode their beasts through the air, only a few meters above the ground, racing along the great road at full gallop.
Their fierce beasts roared, and a gust of wild wind tore past, ruffling the hair of many people on the road. Not a few cast angry glares upward.
One could see clearly: just a few meters overhead, dragon horse hooves and scaled leopard paws treaded through the void, which was a profound show of disrespect to the travelers below.
The riders on those mid-air beasts raced forward without any consideration for the people on the road below, charging toward the Holy City before vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Ordinary people would never dare behave so recklessly — because the vast majority of those traveling to the Holy City were cultivators, and acting this way very easily made enemies.
“Are these disciples of some ancient family? Truly arrogant, riding over our heads like this.” someone on the road complained.
“Let it go — say less. If they happen to hear you and turn back to cause you trouble, it’ll be a disaster.” someone counseled.
“I think those might be people from the Northern Plains Golden Family. They probably didn’t mean anything by it — they may have urgent business.”
“A descendant of a great figure from the Golden Family got into trouble with a young master of the Celestial Demon Palace. Both sides fought it out and badly damaged each other — they’re most likely rushing because of that.”
…
Even before truly entering the Holy City, Ye Fan could already feel that ahead lay a place where all the winds and clouds of the world converged.
This city brought together the heroes of the age from everywhere: the imperial family of the Central Province, the Golden Family of the Northern Plains, great figures from the Southern Ridge, and the various Holy Lands of the Eastern Desolation.
Before long, Ye Fan finally drew near to the premier city of the Northern Region.
This was a pristine land. Outside the Holy City, for a radius of one hundred and fifty li, everything was lush and green — untouched by the change of seasons.
Though it was already deep autumn, this place was entirely verdant, without a trace of chill — warm as spring, with a gentle breeze, lush vegetation, and the sound of spiritual springs gurgling.
The spiritual energy here was incomparably dense, many times more concentrated than anywhere else. Ancient trees soared a hundred meters tall, like small mountains, their boughs spreading wide toward the sky. Ancient vines hung one after another like gnarled dragons crawling across the cliff faces.
“It’s already deep autumn — why is everything still so full of life here?” someone walking alongside Ye Fan wondered aloud, and asked a person on the road.
“The Holy City has stood since ancient times without end. It is the city itself that influences the environment of the surrounding land,” another replied.
A quarter of an hour later, Ye Fan finally beheld the legendary Holy City — and it struck him with a tremendous sense of awe.
The ancient city was extraordinarily majestic. Its walls stretched on like a vast sleeping dragon, unbroken in all directions, seemingly cast from molten copper, gleaming with the luster of metal.
The grand city gatehouse soared a hundred meters high, its momentum immense and sweeping. From far away, the enormous ancient city gave one a suffocating sense of oppression.
“So this is the heart of the Northern Region’s winds and clouds…”
Throughout the ages, there had been many legends surrounding the Holy City. When one consulted various ancient texts, one would be astonished to discover just how ancient it truly was.
Its origins could not be traced to any particular era. From the earliest written records onward, this city had never moved from its location, and no one knew how many ages it had stood.
Sacred City — that too was one of its names. Legend said that in ages beyond reckoning, it had once been suspended in the sky, and it was only during the Desolate Ancient era that it sank down to the earth.
This ancient city was many times larger than the capital of any great nation — vast and majestic to the extreme. If one did not fly but walked on foot like a mortal, crossing the city from one end to the other would take an entire day.
Within the city, there was an abundance of everything. Halls and palaces stood in forests, the ancient streets were wide, and the city was replete with stone gambling houses, Immortal Ascension Towers, pleasure pavilions, Holy Master Palaces, and Demon King Pavilions — all luxurious beyond measure, mortals and cultivators mingling together.
Inside the city, people came and went in an endless stream, half of whom were cultivators. In a place like this, everyone dared not act rashly — one wrong step might bump into the descendant of an ancient family. If luck was particularly bad, one might step directly on the foot of a Grand Elder of a Holy Land — and none of this was beyond possibility, for figures of that caliber frequently moved about within the Holy City.
Ye Fan found that his eyes were hardly sufficient to take it all in. The ancient city was enormous, its layout intricate and profound, and he suspected that some of the halls and palaces were as ancient as the city itself.
Along the flourishing main streets, one would come upon an expansive palace complex every little while — carved beams and painted rafters, like a royal palace.
“What is this place?” he occasionally asked passers-by.
“This is an inn opened by the Five Elements Palace — quite decent, actually.”
“An entire palace complex used as an inn… and merely ‘quite decent.'” Ye Fan was rather dumbfounded.
Before he had gone much farther, he spotted another palace courtyard — the scenery exquisite, the towers and pavilions towering, brilliant with gold and jade.
“And what is this?”
“This is a stone gambling house — rather small, actually. I’d suggest going to one of the Holy Lands’ gambling houses,” a nearby person replied.
“A courtyard like this, and it’s considered a small gambling house…” Ye Fan was nearly speechless.
Not long after, he spotted some towers and pavilions suspended in mid-air. They were not disordered but arranged with considerable regularity and elegance.
“Old sir, may I ask — what is this place?” Ye Fan had no choice but to ask again.
“First time in the Holy City, I take it,” said a half-centenarian at the roadside, casting him a glance. “This is a restaurant — quite decent.”
Ye Fan rubbed his chin, at a loss for what to say. Everything was extravagance beyond measure.
The middle-aged elder said: “If you have enough source stones, you can go up and have a meal. Every kind of rare delicacy under heaven is available, with young female cultivators serving wine and playing the zither for guests.”
No one flew within the city — even cultivators strictly observed the city’s rules. The prosperous main streets were alive with flowing crowds, shoulder to shoulder.
After walking for a short time, Ye Fan finally came to a quiet spot: a Daoist temple complex. It was neither grand nor towering, but it occupied a vast area of land.
All around it, many ancient trees had been planted, lush and verdant. The Daoist temple nestled within ten thousand feet of mortal dust, far quieter than anywhere else, giving one a feeling of returning to simplicity.
It was a peculiar place. An aura of great Dao seemed to circulate here. There were many people coming and going, yet it was thoroughly tranquil and serene.
“Sir, I’d like to ask — what is this place, with a Daoist temple here?” Ye Fan asked a portly middle-aged man of about forty-odd years.
“You must be new — I can tell just by looking at you that you’ve just arrived in the Holy City…” — again, that same phrase. Every time he asked someone something, he heard it.
The somewhat rotund middle-aged man laughed with a heh-heh and said: “This is the stone-gambling house of the Dao-Yi Holy Land — quite famous, and a very fine place. Lately, their Holy Maiden has been appearing frequently and is stationed here. For young people wanting a glimpse of her beauty, don’t miss the opportunity.”
“Why is your laughter so lecherous, sir?”
“Heh heh… You don’t know — things have been lively here lately. Eight madmen appeared out of nowhere, loudly declaring they want to gamble for stones at the Dao-Yi Holy Land and win away their Holy Maiden.”
“Sir, I can see you’re quite the gossip,” Ye Fan said, glancing at the portly middle-aged man.
“These eight madmen have serious backing. Even the Grand Elder of the Jiang Family failed to suppress them. After the eight of them produced a crimson jade tablet, that old codger from the Jiang Family turned around and left.”
“What is the background of these eight?” Ye Fan asked with curiosity.
“Who knows,” the portly man muttered, then said: “Come on — shall we go in and take a look?”
Ye Fan politely declined. The portly man laughed with a lecherous heh-heh and waddled in with his generous backside, entering the Dao-Yi Holy Land’s stone-gambling house alone.
“Who wants to win away a Holy Land’s Holy Maiden — competing with my livelihood. But then again, the more people like this there are, the easier it is for me to fish in troubled waters here in the Holy City,” Ye Fan muttered to himself.
Rounding a corner, he found a great lake ahead — its waters a brilliant blue, like an enormous sapphire embedded in the earth.
Crowds flowed in all directions. Many people strolled along the lakeshore, willows swaying, a warm breeze washing over them.
Out on the lake, many dragon boats and phoenix pavilion-vessels were moored, the sound of stringed instruments and bamboo flutes drifting over. Ye Fan noticed that most of those on the shore were young people.
When he raised his eyes to look, he was startled once more: deep within the great lake, in the sky overhead, clouds and mist swirled, and several large ships floated in the air, along with palace halls and pavilions.
“And what is this place?” Ye Fan wondered with curiosity.
This time, no one told him it was his first time. Instead, he was treated with contempt.
“You’ve already come here — and you’re still acting like an innocent young man?!”
“Older brother, I genuinely don’t know what this place is — would you introduce it?” Ye Fan asked humbly.
People flowed in all directions, willows lining the lakeshore in stretches. The man cast him a glance and said: “This is the Miaoyu Nunnery, one of the Holy City’s famous places. You don’t know about it?”
“What is the Miaoyu Nunnery? This is my first time in the Holy City,” Ye Fan said.
“Naturally, it’s one of the Holy City’s Ten Great Pleasure Quarters. Lately the successor of the Miaoyu Nunnery is about to make her public debut. I expect some Holy Sons and descendants of the Desolate Ancient families have quietly made their way here. For you to come straight here on your first visit to the Holy City…”
“I’d certainly like to experience it — but I truly didn’t know about it before.”
The man looked him over and said: “It’s most lively here at night — the lights blazing, the immortal lake gleaming, jade towers and jeweled palaces appearing in the sky above, jade ships crossing the heavens. The most outstanding successor of the Miaoyu Nunnery is making her debut, and certain Holy Sons and young people from the Desolate Ancient families are likely to come in secret.”
“Is the Miaoyu Nunnery really that famous?” Ye Fan asked in surprise.
“The Miaoyu Nunnery has an ancient lineage and an enormous sphere of influence. Its fame has naturally reached its absolute peak — not much weaker than a Holy Land.”
The Holy City had Ten Great Pleasure Quarters. Setting aside the Miaoyu Nunnery’s reserves and power, in terms of pleasure alone it ranked among the top three.
They say that throughout every generation, the nunnery’s abbess, in her girlhood, had relationships with Holy Sons that were difficult to explain clearly — and some of those Holy Sons later became Holy Masters.