At sunset!
The sky had gradually darkened, and the sun’s radiance was slowly receding beyond the horizon.
As the steel ship slowly docked, Xu Chang and the others finally successfully set foot on Lake Heart Island in the middle of the Firefly Sea, which is also the true base of the Ghost Ridge Palace.
Upon disembarking, Xu Chang did not see the human skin lanterns, piles of bones, swarms of poisonous insects, or corpse oil lamps illuminating the Demon Cave that he had imagined.
What he saw instead was a bustling cityscape.
Exquisite palace houses, pavilions, temples, and pagodas were distributed in a scattered yet orderly fashion, and along the streets, many rchants were setting up stalls and shouting for business, with nurous Ghost Ridge Palace disciples bustling around, the sounds of bargaining rising and falling.
The goods being sold ranged from the most common household items to various elixirs, talismans, and magic artifacts. Poisonous insects were the most common items for sale here, and the entire city was full of life and order, even more lively than the docks outside.
"Don’t get lost, follow ."
Zhang Xin bid farewell to the traveling rchants on the ship and then led Xu Chang and the others through the bustling city.
"Why aren’t these people afraid of your Ghost Ridge Palace?"
Zhang Xin couldn’t help but ask. Whether it was the scene they saw at the dock outside the Firefly Sea or the scene on Lake Heart Island, it all challenged his perception. How could demon cultivators mix so freely with ordinary people?
"Because Su Sect Master has given strict orders to conduct open trade and welco rchants from all over the world to trade. rchants who co here are not to be forced to buy or sell by sect disciples, nor are they allowed to use magic or spiritual power indiscriminately. If found or reported, the consequences are..."
Zhang Xin shook his head, seemingly thinking of sothing cruel. Demon cultivators are not always honest, especially when doing business with ordinary people, where little tricks are all too common.
Yet, the Ghost Ridge Palace’s trade has been getting more and more prosperous, and they haven’t hard any rchants or civilians. The implications of this are self-evident. Without sufficiently strict asures, those eccentric demon cultivator disciples wouldn’t be so compliant.
Xu Chang nodded thoughtfully. He had naturally heard of Su Jie’s na.
However, most of Su Jie’s reputation was tied to words like cruel, heartless, inhuman, and evil.
Now, hearing about Su Jie from Zhang Xin gave Xu Chang a slightly new perspective.
By now, the sky had gradually darkened, and Xu Chang and the others were walking when suddenly there was a bright light above, and the surroundings beca as bright as day. They thought soone was using magic and were startled.
Xu Chang instinctively looked at Zhang Xin, who had just said no one would disturb the trade here. Wasn’t this contrary to his words?
But soon, Xu Chang realized he was mistaken.
Because enlightening the darkness was not a cultivator using magic, but bright lights lighting up at the tops of iron fras on both sides of the road, and the shops along the street also lit up with soft lights, illuminating the dark environnt, and so lights were even colorful.
"What on earth."
Xu Chang was puzzled and exclaid, "Your Ghost Ridge Palace is so wealthy, using so many magic artifacts to replace oil lamps and lanterns for lighting? Do you have too much money and nowhere to spend it?"
Zhang Xin laughed heartily, saying, "What magic artifacts! Those are a type of lamp produced by the Puppet Hall. I don’t know the principle of how they light up, but you just need to connect them to electricity.
Speaking of which, the Puppet Hall is still promoting these lamps, expanding power stations across Qingzhou. It’s said that soon there will be no night in Qingzhou. If you ca down the mountain a few months later, you could see them in many cities."
Xu Chang carefully sensed and indeed didn’t feel the fluctuations typical of magic artifacts. He blushed with embarrassnt, feeling like a country bumpkin entering the city, regretting overreacting, and making a fool of himself.
The rest of the journey was without incident. Zhang Xin led the Golden Sword Sect disciples into an ancient-style palace.
Stepping onto the white jade steps and pushing open the three-zhang tall, heavy door made of star magnetic bronze, inside was a spacious Martial Arts Arena.
Nearby were courtyards with places for cultivation and ditation, connected to the underground spirit vein, with much richer spiritual energy.
Here was also brightly lit. Although it was nightti, many cultivators were still present.
Xu Chang spotted female disciples from the Miao Yin Temple with graceful figures, Dragon and Tiger Sect disciples with towering physiques pursuing body cultivation, and Cloud Sea Cave disciples in white robes with an ethereal disposition...
Over a hundred disciples from Qingzhou’s righteous sects had gathered here, including quite a few inner disciples and even so talented disciples at the ten levels of Yunling Realm.
Not everyone was trying to trick Ghost Ridge Palace by sending outer disciples to deceive them. Many righteous sects understood the irreversible trend and sent real talents here for further study to build relations with Ghost Ridge Palace.
These disciples sat cross-legged in the Martial Arts Arena, engaging in lively discussions, laughing and chatting, creating a lively atmosphere.
Xu Chang, seeing this scene, felt an odd sensation in his heart.
Because he clearly saw a dozen or so Ghost Ridge Palace disciples present too, discussing the Dao with righteous disciples, and the scene was surprisingly harmonious. The two sides, who were supposed to be at each other’s throats, were sitting together, drinking tea and chatting.
Zhang Xin patted Xu Chang’s shoulder, explaining the rules: "This is your Study Palace for further training. Besides three als a day, there are appointed elder tutors every morning to guide you in cultivation knowledge and answer your questions, but it’s up to you whether to listen. In the afternoon and evening, you’re free to do as you please, there are no restrictions on your freedom; you can work, make friends, or visit the Book Collection Pavilion, anything goes."
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