Chapter 494 - The Ninth City
Under Fan Xinru’s lead, Qin Nan and the others exited the Heavenly Barrier Mountain Range.
“Mm?”
Qin Nan floated in mid-air and glanced downward. With his left eye, he instantly discovered that the surrounding soil contained traces of Qi. The flowers and plants growing on the soil appeared to be healthier and prettier too, resulting in a comfortable sight.
“Both the Qi in the surroundings and the soil are better here compared to the lower district.”
Qin Nan mumbled to himself.
As the saying went, the environment played an important role in defining the growth of the people living in it[1]. As a result, the geniuses in the upper district were significantly stronger than those from the lower district.
In the meantime, Qin Nan began to wonder, why was the Canglan Continent split into the upper and lower districts?
“Brother Qin Nan, we are entering the Sky-Scorching Ancient Kingdom.” Fan Xinru explained, “The Sky-Scorching Ancient Kingdom is different from the other factions. It covers half the area of the Eastern Continent. Meanwhile, it contains over a hundred thousand villages, towns, cities, and smaller factions.”
Qin Nan was astonished hearing the words.
He had initially thought that the Sky-Scorching Ancient Kingdom was similar to the Luohe Kingdom.
Fan Xinru continued, “The Sky-Scorching Ancient Kingdom is a famous faction with a total of one hundred and eighty-eight cities, which are ranked according to their strength. Our Ninth City has two half-Martial Highness Realm experts, thus we are ranked ninth. The first ranked city is known as White Tiger City, which contains the powerful royal family and the ten dukes of the kingdom. Furthermore, the main headquarters of the Trading Alliance is located in White Tiger City as well.”
“White Tiger City?”
A map somehow appeared in Qin Nan’s mind when he heard the name. On the map was a majestic city where all the experts and geniuses gathered.
Fan Xinru continued to explain the information regarding the upper district in detail while leading the way.
On their journey, Qin Nan did notice quite a number of villages. These villages were considered rural in the Sky-Scorching Ancient Kingdom. Even so, he could still see a few Martial Emperor Realm experts teaching their disciples in the villages.
He could not help but exclaim; previously in the Qin Clan of Linshui City, Qin Tian—who was considered the strongest cultivator—only possessed a cultivation of the Xiantian Realm, while a Martial Emperor could easily dominate the Luohe Kingdom.
Besides, Qin Nan also learned that in the Sky-Scorching Ancient Kingdom, the young men from each village would head to one of the one hundred and eighty-eight cities to participate in the Martial Spirit Awakening Ceremony. If they managed to awaken a powerful Martial Spirit, they would be recruited by the factions.
That being said, be it in the Sky-Scorching Ancient Kingdom or any other place, everyone’s dream was to join the Four Great Factions.
However, the requirements for joining the Four Great Factions were extremely high. Only those with at least a third-grade Xuan ranked Martial Spirit were allowed to join.
After flying for five hours, Fan Xinru reached out her finger and pointed, “Brother Qin Nan, this is the Ninth City.”
Qin Nan followed the direction and was stunned with a glance.
He could only see a magnificent city standing firmly, covering an area of almost ten thousand li while emitting a majestic aura, which was not weaker than that of Feiyang City.
Besides, Qin Nan could see runes intertwining with one another on the surface of the city walls, which combined to form the outline of beasts. The patterns of the runes resembled different beasts when looked upon from different directions.
“It’s a Sacred Weapon…”
Qin Nan took a deep breath.
Did that mean that the Ninth City was a similar existence to the Feiyang Sacred Area?
Fan Xinru let out a smile after seeing Qin Nan’s confusion. Her squinted eyes resembling the shape of crescents. “Brother Qin Nan, the top ten cities are granted a Sacred Weapon by the Sky-Scorching Ancient Kingdom as a safety measurement, which can only be used as a last resort. That being said, our Ninth City is under the authority of the Sky-Scorching Ancient Kingdom.”
Qin Nan immediately came to a realization, while his heart was filled with slight astoundment.
Even though Progenitor Wen Dao and the Wen Dao Elders were only Martial Sacred Realm experts—the same as Sacred Leader Feiyang and Sacred Leader Qinglong—there existed a great difference still, especially in terms of heritage.
Feiyang City Sacred Weapon of the Feiyang Sacred Area was their limit already, but the Sky-Scorching Ancient Kingdom had ten Sacred Weapons on the surface.
“There exists three factions in our city; which are the City Lord’s Mansion, us of the Fan Clan, and the division of the Trading Alliance. Our clan is located in the eastern part of the city, the City Lord’s Mansion in the west, while the division of the Trading Alliance is in the center. Our clan focuses on Pill Alchemy and Weapon Forging…” Fan Xinru led Qin Nan into the Ninth City as she spoke.
Qin Nan stood at the entrance to the city while gazing at the sight before him. Several widely-spaced streets could be seen lying in front of him like huge dragons, with palaces and residences on their sides. There were also street stalls selling elixirs, pills, manuals, etc., that were swarmed with cultivators, resulting in a lively scene.
With a rough scan, Qin Nan identified at least five Martial Dominator Realm experts and over ten Martial Ancestor Realm experts among the crowd of over a hundred cultivators, while the rest were all Martial Emperor Realm cultivators. It was difficult to find any Xiantian Realm cultivators here.
“Brother Qin Nan, here it is—the Fan Clan.”
Fan Xinru halted in her tracks while the eyes of the young men beside her became teary. They had been extremely worried throughout the journey that Qin Nan would suddenly target them.
Qin Nan raised his head and saw a huge residence covering an area with a circumference of a thousand li before him. The residence was enclosed within various formations, preventing one from peeking into it.
“A half-Martial Highness, three peak Martial Dominators, and over twenty Martial Dominators…”
Qin Nan’s left eye flickered as he immediately inspected the Fan Clan’s strength.
“Come, let’s go inside. I’ll bring you to my father.”
Fan Xinru said while leading the way into the residence.
“Young Mistress.”
“Greetings, Young Mistress.”
“……”
Along the journey, the servants, disciples, and Martial Artists all greeted her with in respectful manners while glancing at Qin Nan curiously. It was their first time seeing their Young Mistress bringing a man back to the clan.
Qin Nan wore a calm expression. He had already guessed Fan Xinru had an extraordinary identity.
Fan Xinru brought Qin Nan to the entrance of a hall and knocked on the door, “Father, I’m back.”
“Come in!”
An imperious voice could be heard coming from inside.
Fan Xinru brought Qin Nan into the hall. He immediately saw a middle-aged man with a square face sitting on the throne, looking with a sharp gaze at a scroll made of lambskin in a thoughtful manner.
He was the Patriarch of the Fan Clan: Fan Hao.
It was as if he was aware of the aura of his guests, causing him to straighten his face and snap without raising his head, “Xinru, how many times have I told you not to bring random people to our clan? Bring him out now.”
Fan Xinru immediately blurted out, “Father, you’ve misunderstood, while I was looking for the Agile Monkey Fruits…”
“Mm? Did you really manage to find them?” Fan Hao raised his head hearing this, but he soon collected his calmness and glanced at Qin Nan, before saying in a cold tone, “Either way, not everyone is welcome in our Fan Clan. Bring him out first——”
As a half-Martial Highness Realm expert, as soon as Qin Nan entered the hall, he could easily sense his aura to be merely at the peak Martial Emperor Realm.
Furthermore, since Fan Xinru was a kind person, she had brought many cultivators of the lower district to the Fan Clan in the past. Therefore, he instantly assumed that Fan Xinru had brought another one today, causing him to feel unpleasant.
However, as his gaze landed onto Qin Nan’s face, he was utterly stunned.
Where have I seen this person before? Why did he look so familiar?
Fan Hou frowned, before he suddenly recalled a portrait that had been sent here half a month ago from White Tiger City!
Why did this person look exactly the same as the man in the portrait?
Fan Hao held his breath as his eyes contracted to the size of needles.
Could this person be the one wanted by the Four Great Factions; the genius from the lower district, Qin Nan?
Translator: XephiZ
Editor: DOCuinn
[1] TL Note: A Chinese idiom that describes how the environment plays an important role in defining the unique characteristics of the people living there.