Shen and Long Xue’er flew south towards the nearest cultivator city. Shen had learned from Long Tian that there were empires made up of mortals that occupied the land. To the majority of mortals, cultivators were myths and were looked up to as gods for they could accomplish things that were out of a mortal’s common sense.

There is an unwritten rule that a cultivator would not use one’s power to bully mortals, for it would result in bad karma and bring upon heavenly tribulation. Therefore, cultivators tended to avoid mortals and established many cultivator cities throughout the land.

Shen slowed his speed to match Xue’er as she was a strong cultivator but lacking when compared to her father. For a being that was not bound by the rules of the universe, in other words, the confines of space, Shen could go anywhere within the universe instantaneously.

Shen did not go straight to their destination, for this would rob them of the joy of having a journey. Xue’er’s excited expression had somehow brought a small smile to Shen.

Shen thought this to be strange, but the thought was quickly discarded as they neared the outer areas of the forest. His divine sense had detected a few human cultivators a short distance from their location.

The couple had encountered many magical beasts along the way. Xue’er’s aura had kept them from approaching as the bloodline of a Gold Dragon was an absolute existence in the forest.

“Xue’er, there are people up ahead. They seem to be fighting with low level monster beasts. Do you want to go straight to the city or would you like to meet them?” Everything was a fresh and new experience to Shen so he would likely not object to whatever Xue’er wanted.

They were nearing the group of people and sounds of fighting could be heard.

“I think they are cultivators who hunt monster beasts around here. I have been to the cultivator city just outside the forest a few times with father.

A lot of low level cultivators enter the outskirts to hunt beasts and collect spirit herbs. They sell them to earn cultivation resources.”

Magical beasts were beings who had gained intelligence upon reaching a cultivation base of Nascent Soul stage. Core Formation stage and lower beasts were referred to as monster beasts as they were mostly hostile and would attack anyone. The outer areas of the forest were filled with monster beasts and human cultivators would hunt them for their materials.

Although it is also true that human cultivators were prey to monster beasts, as devouring the cultivation of either humans and other monster beasts was a quick way to strengthen a monster beast.

Shen recalled the information from Long Tian.

“Let’s avoid them. They don’t seem to be in danger. I want to go to the city.” Xue’er replied with a dazzling smile. The illusion cast on Xue’er did not have any effect on Shen as he was the caster and chaos power was not a hindrance to him.

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Shen observed the group for a while.

There were two Foundation stage cultivators attacking a large wolf. Every time the wolf attempted to escape, the surrounding Qi Condensation stage cultivators who were in a battle formation would delay the wolf.

The Foundation stage cultivators would then chase the wolf and launch another round of attacks. Even though the wolf was faster, it could not escape the encirclement. It was apparent that the group had excellent teamwork and the wolf would be brought down soon.

Shen took back his vision from the fight. Shen and Long Xue’er once again resumed their flight towards the cultivator city.

The couple flew even slower as they did not wish to stand out too much. Xue’er happily narrated some details of the city to Shen along the way.

‘Xue’er has become really lively. She really wanted to go out, huh.’ Shen thought as he listened to Xue’er with a smile.

For the past few days, Shen had constantly been accompanied by either Long Tian or Long Xue’er. He found it very enjoyable to converse with other beings. Shen had always been the observer. He could only see the actions and he found trying to figure out the emotions and reasoning behind the actions rather confusing.

However, Shen was very intelligent and talking with the father and daughter cleared up a lot of his confusion.

Shen and Long Xue’er soon came upon a few more cultivators flying to and from the forest. Some were flying just like Shen while others used flying swords or flight tools. He observed that those flying with the use of tools avoided cultivators like Shen.

Shen could see the energy fluctuations within a cultivator and judged that it was Foundation stage or lower cultivators giving respect to Core Formation and higher experts.

‘A world where strength rules all.’ Shen had those thoughts as he recalled a few similar environments in the vast universe.

A large transparent barrier could be seen in the distance. A bustling city could be seen under the barrier.

“There is a spiritual vein under the city. The founders of the city erected the barrier using the spiritual power from the spirit vein to protect from monster beast attacks.” Xue’er explained to Shen as they landed outside the barrier.

There were a few cultivators lined up in front of the gate as each of them were let into the city by uniformed guards.

There were ten cultivators stationed as guards and all of them were of at least Foundation stage. The leader dressed in a different uniform was a Core Formation stage cultivator.

When it was Shen and Xue’er’s turn, Xue’er had taken the initiative to give ten low grade spirit stones to a guard. The guard then gave two wooden badges marked with ‘Entry’ on one side to Xue’er.

Due to the illusion, there was no other trouble as the couple managed to enter the city safely.

“This badge allows one person to stay in the city for one month. After one month, you have to pay additional spirit stones to stay longer in the city.” Long Xue’er said towards Shen who then put away the badge.

They saw a wide street and many small houses built on either side of the street. Some of the houses were larger and had small courtyards. A few of the houses were covered with fog as a protection barrier was activated to protect the privacy of the owner.

It turned out that these houses were owned and managed by the city. One could rent out a house for a period of time which would provide a place to stay in the city. All houses had a small spirit gathering formation as well as a protection barrier and were more suitable for cultivation than inns.

There were cultivators walking to and from along the street. Flying was forbidden inside the city, unless one had reached False Immortal cultivation.

Long Xue’er pulled Shen’s hands as she started walking excitedly into the city.