Beside the great lake, fine trees were lush and verdant, strange rocks were arranged in rows, the sound of strings and flutes floated gently, and a constant stream of people passed by — many could not help but linger as they walked through.

Suddenly, a jade vessel cleaved through the horizon and arrived above the great lake. Clouds and mist swirled around it, wisps of colored radiance glimmering, otherworldly and sacred.

Wondrous music played, lingering and melodic as it drifted down, intoxicating to the senses — like celestial music from the ninth heaven, stirring the soul and cleansing the heart.

“The successor of the Miaoyu Nunnery has come!”

“An Miaoyi — it must be her. Word has long been out that the female disciples of the Miaoyu Nunnery are about to make their debut in the world. Some disciples from the Desolate Ancient families came to the Holy City just because of her.”

“She is the future abbess of the Miaoyu Nunnery. Has she truly come? In that case, the disciples of the Holy Lands and the Desolate Ancient families are bound to vie openly and covertly once again.”

…

The jade vessel radiated five-colored light. Atop it stood a young woman, dressed in a flowing snow-white dress that moved lightly around her, tracing the contours of her perfect figure with breathtaking elegance.

On the lakeshore, the vast majority of those present were cultivators, their eyesight naturally exceptional — they could see the young woman’s features with perfect clarity.

She was like a luminous pearl releasing its splendor — transcendent and graceful, of incomparable beauty, with an inner spiritual refinement, jade bones born of heaven, her countenance approaching perfection, without the slightest flaw to find.

Ye Fan’s heart stirred as well. This woman named An Miaoyi was truly beautiful beyond measure — a match for Yan Ruyu, without a flaw to be found.

She looked no more than eighteen or nineteen years old. Her figure was slender and willowy, as if carved from the finest jade, her temperament coldly captivating — skin like snow, seemingly touched with frost.

“This must surely be An Miaoyi. I heard long ago she was peerlessly beautiful, unrivaled in the Eastern Desolation — a truly matchless beauty. What a pity she was born into this sect, destined to have her brilliance tarnished.”

Someone shook their head and sighed, seemingly full of regret.

The Miaoyu Nunnery’s reputation was genuinely poor — hence why it operated pleasure quarters in the Holy City, for their cultivation was intertwined with such affairs.

Yet the radiant An Miaoyi bore no trace of worldliness. She was brilliantly beautiful and coldly aloof, as if made of ice and jade — she appeared transcendent and pristine.

The contrast was stark. Many people guessed that she must be a peerless temptress who ought to be made of melted spring water — yet the reality was a woman of icy skin and jade bones.

Colored light glimmered all around. An Miaoyi stood alone atop the jade vessel, her dark hair dancing, white robes flowing. She did not partake of the mortal world’s smoke and dust — like an immortal from the Lunar Palace, purer and more sacred even than the Holy Maidens of any Holy Land.

Ye Fan’s expression remained calm. He did not quite believe this woman’s icy purity of temperament was entirely natural.

He felt that the Miaoyu Nunnery had seized upon human nature. Though it was a great power with a poor reputation, by sculpting such a divine woman — a sacred woman — it was entirely exploiting human psychology.

Because their cultivation ultimately led to jade lotuses stained by dust — they could not remain spotlessly pure for a lifetime, and must eventually descend into the world of pleasure. This only made things more alluring and stirring — fashioning a woman of lofty and elegant temperament who did not belong to the mortal world was simply a more powerful hook to draw people in.

“You’re smiling very wickedly. What scheme are you cooking up?” the man nearby, who had shared some information with Ye Fan earlier, asked.

Ye Fan smiled and said: “Nothing. I simply feel the Miaoyu Nunnery is quite extraordinary — they’ve wrapped their gift this magnificently and are here fishing for the finest fish in the world.”

“What do you mean?”

Ye Fan smiled faintly and said: “What one cannot have is always the best. Fashion an ultimate celestial being, then satisfy certain people with the chance to bring her down to the mortal world — as you said, even disciples from the Holy Lands and Desolate Ancient families would mostly be drawn in.”

The man retorted: “What are you talking about? An Miaoyi was born attended by immortal light — her beauty and purity are heaven-given, not artifice.”

“Is that so? I was wrong, then?” Ye Fan would never believe such tales.

“Though the Miaoyu Nunnery has a poor reputation, An Miaoyi truly grows like a lotus from mud without being tainted.” The man was quite protective.

Ye Fan let a faint smile touch the corner of his lips and said: “You are already like this, having only just seen her. It seems the Miaoyu Nunnery truly is masterful — they make the pleasure of it about the human heart, not the physical form.”

“Swish!”

A flash of light — the five-colored jade vessel in the sky disappeared into the heavens above the lake’s depths, where jade towers and jeweled palaces stood amid swirling clouds and mist, half-hidden and mysterious.

“This servant, An Miaoyi, will play the zither beneath the night moon…” The sound of celestial music drifted from the mist-shrouded palace halls — clear, unhurried, and elegant.

Yet upon careful reflection, it seemed to intoxicate one to the very bone — amid pure and lofty elegance, it moved the heart.

News that An Miaoyi had arrived in the Holy City spread quickly. When the bright moon first rises, she would play the zither out on the lake, stirring endless discussion.

Without doubt, tonight the shores of the Miaoyu Lake would be a sea of people.

An Miaoyi making her debut in the world had long been rumored. She was said to be one of the most beautiful women in the present-day Eastern Desolation, her beauty renowned throughout the land.

Now, with the jade lotus not yet stained, disciples from the Holy Lands and Desolate Ancient families would all be moved to come.

Ye Fan left the Miaoyu Lake and continued on his way. After walking for more than an hour, he had only turned through a single corner of the Holy City.

Circling around the emerald lake, he entered an ancient alley. No one could say how many years had passed — the stones laid underfoot had been worn perfectly smooth by countless footsteps.

Growing weary of seeing magnificent palace complexes and unbroken rows of halls, Ye Fan wanted to enter these ancient alleys and see what might turn up in these out-of-the-way corners.

After twisting and winding through the alley, he emerged into a free market — a busy and lively place.

Ye Fan was quite astonished. Though this was a collection of stalls, far more modest compared to those great palaces and towers, the ground was spread with many fine things.

Green copper-gold essence, crimson red jade marrow, divine blood earth, star-origin stones… every kind of precious material was present.

Many of the things here were treasures the Great Black Dog had always wanted to gather for engraving Dao patterns — hard to find in the outside world. Yet here in an obscure corner of the Holy City, one could find them.

He couldn’t help but exclaim that the Holy City was worthy of being the center of the Northern Region — a place where the winds and clouds of the world gathered.

These objects could only be displayed on market stalls, and in such a corner alone there were already countless similar free markets. The same kind of place must be too numerous to count.

One could surmise that within those magnificent towers and palace halls, far more precious things were certainly to be found.

Ye Fan made a half-circuit and encountered many more rare medicinal herbs: jade-serpent orchids, nine-leaf phoenix grass, crimson moon fruits, ebony-jade divine lotus… fragrant and impossible to mistake — undeniably the finest quality.

“As long as you have source stones, you really can buy anything here,” he sighed to himself. Source stones are not everything, but without them one can do nothing at all.

Ye Fan circled half the market and arrived at the area where stone materials were sold. The stalls here each displayed only a few stones — ordinary in appearance, with nothing visibly unusual about them.

Yet Ye Fan felt a jolt of alarm. These stone materials were not simple at all — they were faintly touched with a breath of primordial origin. He asked the price and found it absurdly expensive.

“Young man, why not buy a stone? I guarantee quality — seed material from an ancient primordial pit. Sometimes it yields world-shaking treasures when cut.” An old man crouched on the ground, trying to sell Ye Fan the few unusual stones on his stall.

The free market had a heavy flow of people coming and going, and from time to time someone would stop.

Ye Fan raised his head and gave a start — above the free market, there was an enormous suspended celestial palace floating in the sky, towering and impressive.

“What is that place? Don’t tell me it’s another pleasure establishment?”

“What are you thinking, young man? That is the treasure-palace of the Celestial Demon Palace — one of the Holy City’s Seven Great Auction Houses. Peerless treasures are frequently auctioned here for astronomical prices,” the old man beside him said.

“An auction house suspended in the sky — truly extravagant…” Ye Fan was speechless for a long moment before asking: “Have they ever auctioned divine source stones?”

“Yes, they truly have. Source stones have indeed been auctioned there.” The old man nodded earnestly.

“Hiss!” Ye Fan drew a sharp breath. He felt that coming to the Holy City had truly been the right decision.

The old man continued: “That’s nothing. The Celestial Demon Palace’s treasure-palace is one of the Holy City’s Seven Great Auction Houses — it has auctioned everything imaginable. Half a year ago, an ancient scripture scroll was on display there.”

“What?!” Ye Fan was genuinely shocked. Supreme secret texts were the exclusive possession of Holy Lands.

“It wasn’t complete — reportedly only a fragmentary scroll, covering only a certain realm.”

Even so, Ye Fan was deeply astonished. The Holy City truly was extraordinary — even divine source stones and ancient scriptures had been put up for auction here.

The old man laughed: “First time in the Holy City, young man? Heh heh — just a few days ago, the Celestial Demon Palace’s treasure-palace auctioned dragon-pattern black gold.”

“Impossible — even something like that is up for auction? That is the exclusive sacred object of a great emperor, seen perhaps once in a thousand lifetimes!” Ye Fan’s heart was pounding. Yao Guang’s Extreme Dao holy weapon was forged from dragon-pattern black gold.

“Only a piece the size of a fingernail — far too little. Even if an ancient great emperor were reborn, it would not be enough to forge an Extreme Dao weapon.”

Ye Fan was somewhat relieved and nodded. His thoughts drifted to that fist-sized piece of phoenix-blood red gold he possessed — certainly enough to forge a Vajra Ring.

Perhaps, if absolutely necessary, he could put it up for auction and exchange it for divine source stones.

But unless he was truly at his wit’s end, Ye Fan would never take it out to auction. Phoenix-blood red gold was nearly impossible to find across a thousand lifetimes — he intended to keep it and forge a holy weapon himself.

In the end, he left the free market.

The Holy City was extravagant to the extreme and had everything. Not only were there places to inspire advancement — the Demon King Pavilion, the Holy Master Palace — but also stone gambling houses, pleasure quarters, Intoxicated Immortal Residences and the like. It was a city that could spur one to strive, or consume one’s time and cause one to sink into decadence.

After wandering for the better part of a day, Ye Fan had only covered a small patch of ground — less than one corner of the Holy City. The city was simply too enormous. From one end to the other was said to be nearly a hundred li.

“I need to find Li Heishui and have him give me a proper introduction to this city,” Ye Fan felt. Getting to know it this way was far too superficial — he needed someone familiar to serve as a guide.

Before arriving, Tu Fei had already told him how to find Li Heishui.

Before the sun set, Ye Fan came to an ancient alley and walked into a very small source-stone appraisal shop — and there he finally found Li Heishui.

Li Heishui had dark, swart features, a powerful build, and looked about twenty-three or twenty-four years old — he was the grandson of Li Heng, the Eighth Great Outlaw.

Before his arrival, Tu Fei had told him: Li Heishui had schemes when he needed schemes, and methods when he needed methods. True to his name, he was deeply calculating.

Tu, the big mouth, had said self-deprecatingly that he himself could only talk, while Li Heishui not only talked but would absolutely follow through.

“Little Ye, you’re quite the famous figure now — no one in the Northern Region doesn’t know your name. Don’t worry — coming to the Holy City and finding me was the right move,” Li Heishui said after reading Tu Fei’s letter, slapping his chest. “Let me take you somewhere to unwind first.”

“You’re the host here — I’ll follow your lead in everything,” Ye Fan said with a smile.

“The Holy City has Ten Great Pleasure Quarters. The Miaoyu Nunnery, the Water Moon Small Lodge, and the Vast Cold Palace are the three finest choices — you decide,” Li Heishui said. With his thick brows, big eyes, and dark complexion, he looked honest and straightforward — but one absolutely could not be deceived by his appearance.

Ye Fan was first taken aback, then laughed helplessly and said: “Let’s just find somewhere to have a drink. What I mainly want is to learn more about the Holy City from you — give me a thorough introduction.”

Li Heishui waved his hand with great lordly authority: “Tonight, we speak only of pleasure — nothing else. We’ll talk about those other matters tomorrow. You’ve arrived, and how could I not give you a proper welcome?!”

The night-time Holy City was a blaze of splendor. Starlight poured down in vast sheets like thin mist, settling over the city, while the moonlight flowed like waves washing down.

“The Holy City can naturally breathe in and out the stellar power of all the heavens,” Li Heishui explained.

“This city is truly extraordinary!” Ye Fan could only marvel.

“Tonight, let’s go to the Miaoyu Lake. I didn’t expect An Miaoyi to make her debut — the most beautiful woman in the Eastern Desolation has come to the Holy City. For the younger generation, this is absolutely a major event. Disciples from the Holy Lands and the Desolate Ancient families are sure to go. Tonight will definitely be lively.” Li Heishui grinned with a heh-heh laugh.