Chapter 687: Put down
Translator: Sigma Editor: Hitesh
With only one step and his Soul Consciousness, he could arrive at his destination easily.
Shi Yan arrived in the Utmost Eight Purgatories City in just a blink.
After one year, the city he had built himself had new changes.
The city center wasn’t changed, but the outer city had been expanded by three times. The Radiant God Cult, Fighting Union, and the other small forces had set up many formations and barriers. They had used their sect’s formation and barriers to make the city bigger and stronger.
Many warriors with shabby clothing gathered and built shelters several hundred miles around the silver city.
Shi Yan stood on the city wall of the outer city, as his Soul Consciousness glided over those people. He found that they were also human, but they didn't belong to the group he had allowed to stay in the city.
Bao Ao and Jie Ji took the Demon Clan and left nine months ago. They had been waiting for Shi Yan for so long. Eventually, they couldn’t help but leave and go on with their business.
Li Zheng Rong, Cao Qiu Dao, Di Shan, and Yu Rou came to see him at the city wall, their faces filled with sincere smiles.
"I met some changes in my advancement, so it took a lot of time. Anyway, I’m alright. You don’t need to worry." Shi Yan told them his situation first, not waiting for them to ask him. "What’s happened to those people?"
"Argh, they are the survivors. They were lucky that they survived the pagans’ hunting." Li Zheng Rong frowned and explained. "After you got into the divine pond, alien tribes hunted people in the Perpetual Night Forest everywhere. Many people got killed, while some had left the Perpetual Night Forest to some places far away. However, their results were also tragic. Those who were lucky enough to survive came here on their own. They want to get in the city to save their lives. Without you here, we won’t let them in. Hence, they camped out there."
"Harrumph… Those people seem to be smart, choosing this place to take shelter. Otherwise, I guess they would have been killed already," Cao Qiu Dao sneered.
Alien tribes were hunting Human Clan everywhere. Only this Utmost Eight Purgatories City could stay away from that massacre. On one hand, this city had strong forces, and on the other hand, the Demon Clan and Monster Clan supported them, which made the other four clans spare this city during their hunt.
Thus, those who weren’t allowed to enter the city and had camped outside also survived. Alien tribes didn’t target them anymore.
Shi Yan scanned them. He could see that they were living in poor conditions. Some still had open wounds.
Many of them brought their families along with senile members. The survival pressure had affected them badly. They seemed to be subdued by some invisible force. Their eyes were always gloomy and distressed.
"Shi Yan..." Long Zhu appeared all of a sudden, wearing a merciful face, looking at him miserably. "No matter what, they are the members of the Human Clan. If we don’t care about them, once the pagans come, they will be eradicated in just a blink."
Shi Yan frowned. He pondered for a while and then asked the others. "What do you think?"
"Old Long is right," Li Zheng Rong and Cao Qiu Dao said in a low tone, their faces solemn.
Those people had gathered there for a long time. They had spent months to beg for a slot in the city. As the others had heard a lot of their whining and begging, even a man with a steel heart couldn’t help but agree with them.
Many of them were old and wounded. If they didn’t care, perhaps they would die sooner.
"Alright," Shi Yan nodded, "Open another region in the outer city and let them in. Yeah, let them stay alone. Remember, don't let them enter the city center. Although they are miserable, they are to be blamed for what they've done. These people change their minds often. They had aimed at us. The city center's really important, so we can't make a mistake. If they destroy our effort, there will be no place for our regret."
"Okay, I will arrange this myself," Long Zhu smiled, turning around to prepare for those people.
"When Bao Ao and Jie Ji left, they left you a note saying that you should go to their place after you get out. They have something important they want to talk with you." Cao Qiu Dao took out a map of the Grace Mainland, which had a location marked in bold red ink.
Shi Yan skimmed the map, but he didn’t receive it. "What’s the current situation?"
Cao Qiu Dao, Di Shan, Yu Rou, and Yang Tian Emperor shook their head as they felt a little bit embarrassed.
"You don’t know?" Shi Yan was surprised.
"We've been here, and we rarely go out. Our operation range is within the Perpetual Night Forest," Yu Rou smiled tenderly and explained. "Half a year ago, all alien tribes left the Perpetual Night Forest. At this moment, only the Monster Clan and us stay in this forest. The alien tribes have claimed the rest of the continent. The five great alien tribes have divided the Grace Mainland into many regions, and each of them rules an area. We feel lucky they don’t come here to attack us anymore..."
"I heard Yan Long of the Monster Clan say that the five alien tribes have an internal dispute. They seemed to be having a war too. But I don't know the details," added Cao Qiu Dao.
Human Clan in the Perpetual Night Forest didn’t dare to leave the Perpetual Night Forest, but the Monster Clan didn’t have this restriction.
Yan Long and Xue Lie, the rulers of the Monster Clan, often got out of the forest. They knew the situation of the continent out there. However, they weren’t interested in this stuff, so their information wasn’t clear enough.
"Yeah, seems like I have to go out and check the situation of the continent," Shi Yan pondered for a while and then came to the city center to prepare for his trip.
Shi Yan spent three days in the city center to check every formation, barrier, and restriction once. He found that everything still worked well after he had left the city. There were no big issues.
This relaxed his mind. He talked to Yang Tian Emperor, Di Shan, and Yu Rou about the mysteries and the important features of the Utmost Eight Purgatories City. After he left, if something happened, they would know how to solve it.
After he prepared everything properly, he left to see Bao Ao and Jie Ji of the Demon Clan.
He Qing Man and Qu Yan Qing came to him before he left. Their complexion looked complicated.
That year, when they were still in the Endless Sea, Shi Yan had helped the Yang family to confirm their overlord position in the Endless Sea. At that time, they had an abyss between each other already.
He Qing Man and Qu Yan Qing had survived and left the Endless Sea. They had become Yan Ke’s disciples, which helped their cultivation base increase fast. The two girls thought that it would help them shorten the distance between them and the man. However, when they met him again, Shi Yan had reached the Second Sky of Spirit Realm. Even their teacher couldn’t do anything to him.
After the earth-shaking event in the Perpetual Night Forest, they had a new cognition of the fact that the distance between them had never been shortened. Quite the contrary, it was getting bigger and bigger.
Shi Yan had reached the True God Realm, and the two girls, although they were always doing their best, hadn’t even reached the Spirit Realm yet. It seemed that they were a life away.
Today, Shi Yan’s position and profile had gone beyond their imagination. He would possibly become the future leader of Human Clan, with good relationships with the Monster Clan and the Demon Clan.
This made them understand that no matter how hard they tried, they would never reach Shi Yan. At this moment, there were so many beautiful women in the city, and each of had wished that Shi Yan would favor them, even for only one night. It was enough for them to be proud.
Compared to those women, they found that they had not many advantages. The thought of being together with Shi Yan for the rest of their lives had faded away.
Life was always cruel. To warriors, if the realms were too much different, it was hard to be together.
Shi Yan had many companions now, which made them recognize that leaving him when he was weak had become the thing they had regretted the most.
"I’m surprised I can meet you guys here. How are you doing? If you need anything, just tell me. I will help you," Shi Yan talked first as he saw the two staying silent.
"No, we live well. Thank you. If you hadn't let us in, perhaps we would be dead already," He Qing Man whispered.
Shi Yan nodded. "Then it's good. We've known each other since we were in the Endless Sea. We're friends. It's natural if I help you, right?"
"Shi Yan, if you meet our teacher this time, please spare her life, as she had helped us before," begged Qu Yan Qing.
"Which teacher? Wu Qin of the Endless Sea or... Yan Ke?" Shi Yan was surprised.
"Our teacher in the Endless Sea is dead. It’s Yan Ke," Qu Yan Qing sighed, her face dreary.
Shi Yan nodded, "Yeah, if I meet Yan Ke, as long as she won’t want to kill me, I will give you face."
The two women then thanked him.
"Qing Man... I want to have a word with him in private. Could you?" Qu Yan Qing bowed her head shyly.
He Qing Man was surprised for a while, then she left begrudgingly.
Waiting until the other woman left, Qu Yan Qing’s beautiful eyes sparkled. She stooped her blushed face, talking shyly. "That year in the Endless Sea, before you left, I had told you that if you take me to the Divine Great Land, I will... be your woman."
Shi Yan was startled. Then, he waved his hand generously. "I was messing around. Don’t mind that… Haha."
"I'm serious," Qu Yan Qing lifted her head, her beautiful eyes sparkling while looking at him. "If you want me, you can come to me at any time. I'm always willing to be with you."
Then, Qu Yan Qing blushed, running away without waiting for Shi Yan to answer. She left an enchanting fragrance in Shi Yan’s nostrils.
Shi Yan rubbed his nose, smiling and sighing quietly.
As he had experienced so many things, he wasn’t so arrogant and compulsive like before. He understood that the debt of love was the most difficult debt to be paid off.
When he had just entered the Endless Sea, He Qing Man and Qu Yan Qing were the famous beauties he could never reach. They were the pearls of the sea that many young men had yearned for.
At that time, if He Qing Man and Qu Yan Qing showed him a flash of their affection, he would be touched so much that he could have cried, as he would have felt proud beyond comparison.
However, Qu Yan Qing had humbled herself to ask for his night now. Human affairs were unpredictable and marvelous indeed.