Immortal Refiner

The cultivation civilization of the Great Yu Kingdom was exceptionally prosperous. Teleportation formations were established between its various prefecture cities, allowing for easy travel across multiple regions.

Of course, this was provided one had enough spirit stones.

The cost of maintaining a teleportation formation was not small, but compared to the super teleportation arrays used for crossing continents, the fee for a single trip on a smaller formation was relatively acceptable.

It only cost five thousand spirit stones per trip, and there was no need to wait for a large group to assemble—it could be activated with just twenty or thirty people.

Li Qing and Xia Wushuang crossed the vast desert region and finally saw a walled city nestled within an oasis ahead.

”I asked that female rider named Zhou Lin for a map of the Great Yu Kingdom earlier. I’ve made a rough calculation: we can take a teleportation formation from Yellow Sand City directly to Xidu Prefecture, and then teleport from Xidu Prefecture straight to the Imperial Capital of the Great Yu Kingdom.”

”This way, we can save a great deal of travel time for just ten thousand spirit stones.”

Xia Wushuang took out a map of the Great Yu Kingdom and turned it over several times, as if confirming something.

Li Qing naturally had no objections to this.

The Great Yu Kingdom was an ancient nation with an extremely long inheritance. Its Imperial Capital possessed more than one spiritual vein, all of which were of remarkably high grade.

Next, Li Qing needed to begin his preparations for advancing to the Void Refinement Realm. Choosing a spiritual vein with sufficient spiritual energy was of paramount importance.

The walled city nestled within the oasis was Yellow Sand City, so named because one could observe the endless sandstorms raging outside its walls from within the city.

”Let’s go, into the city!”

Yellow Sand City was a small town on the borderlands of the Great Yu Kingdom, yet its security was exceptionally tight—evidently due to the recent disturbances caused by the Shadow Clan.

While entering the city required no identity check, one still had to undergo an inspection by the Profound Light Platform.

With their previous experience, Li Qing and Xia Wushuang were quite familiar with the process and did not feel nervous about the Profound Light Platform.

Buzz!

As a beam of clear light swept over them, the two successfully entered the city.

The main streets and alleys were teeming with peddlers and laborers. Not only were there humans, but many members of foreign races could also be seen.

Witnessing this scene, Xia Wushuang couldn’t help but remark, ”Such a sight is rare even in the Spirit Realm. There’s a reason why the Great Yu Kingdom has prospered for so many years.”

All the different races lived together in harmony, supporting one another, with no trace of racial or clan prejudice.

Even in the Azure Floating Islands, relations between the various races were far from harmonious—at best, they barely maintained a fragile peace.

Not only Xia Wushuang, but even Li Qing found his horizons greatly expanded.

As they entered the walled city, they received no special attention; clearly, the city’s residents were accustomed to such sights.

”Let’s go. The teleportation formation is located in the city center. We need to reach the Imperial Capital as quickly as possible. That’s where the Great Yu Kingdom’s nobility gathers, so we won’t have to worry about selling the Monkey Wine.”

Xia Wushuang was thrilled at the thought of selling his Monkey Wine at an astronomical price.

Li Qing didn’t respond.

On the verge of breaking through to the Void Refinement Realm, his mind was completely consumed by the mysteries of the Unity of the Five Elements. Even as he walked, he was lost in thought, striving to make his own Five Elements Harmony process more perfected.

So deeply immersed was he that he passively followed Xia Wushuang the entire way.

He was completely unaware of the events that transpired: arriving at the city center, paying the spirit stones, and stepping onto the teleportation formation.

If anyone had looked closely into Li Qing’s eyes, they would have seen five-colored glimmers flickering within his pupils.

Beside them, Xia Wushuang shook his head but said nothing more. He simply dragged Li Qing along—a complete burden—and boarded the teleportation formation.

The group filled up quickly. In just a few hours, dozens of people had gathered.

Boom!

The teleportation formation flared to life. The surrounding space rippled, and Li Qing and the others vanished from Yellow Sand City.

They repeated this process in Xidu Prefecture.

Before nightfall, they arrived at the Imperial Capital of the Great Yu Kingdom: Yujing City!

It was truly a vast Immortal Capital. From the ground to the sky, jade towers and pavilions could be seen everywhere.

Yujing City was the most prosperous place on the entire Azure Profound Continent. It was a gathering place for the strongest cultivators, home to the elite of the Great Yu Kingdom.

”The Heavenly White Jade Capital, with twelve cities and five towers.”

”The saying is truly well-deserved. I’d believe it if someone told me this capital was a city from the Immortal Realm.”

A newcomer couldn’t help but exclaim in awe. Even standing in an ordinary district of Yujing City, one could feel the exceptionally abundant spiritual energy rippling through the air.

”Some say Yujing City is an Immortal Capital built of spirit stones. Before coming here, I thought it was an exaggeration. Now I see it’s true.”

Yujing City’s layout was clearly stratified. Because there were also many buildings high in the sky, there were no flight restrictions here.

Just by looking up, one could see cultivators soaring through the air, weaving between the jade towers and pavilions.

Some rode atop remarkable spirit beasts, others flew on swords, and some steered flying boats. It was truly a holy city of Dao cultivation.

Li Qing and his companions were in the outermost district of Yujing City. This area housed great teleportation formations from various prefectures. By spending spirit stones, one could quickly travel from here to any part of the Great Yu Kingdom, eliminating the need for long journeys.

Because of this, the Great Yu Kingdom had expanded its territory vasty without worrying about foreign invasions. The experts in Yujing City could reach the borders to provide immediate reinforcement.

”Tsk, tsk, tsk. Even on the Heavenly Origin Continent, such magnificent walled cities are few and far between,” Xia Wushuang remarked in constant amazement.

As for Li Qing, he remained immersed in his Dao of the Unity of the Five Elements, completely unfazed by the bustling Immortal Capital.

At this moment, nothing in the outside world mattered to him. He had thrown himself entirely into his enlightenment.

Watching this, Xia Wushuang sighed and finally spoke, ”Fine. I’ll just rent a cave abode for you in the city. I might as well see this good deed through to the end.”

Li Qing merely nodded with a flat expression. ”Alright.”

With that, Xia Wushuang led the dazed Li Qing through the city.

In Yujing City, a cultivator at the Divine Transformation stage was hardly noteworthy—so common, in fact, that they could be seen anywhere.

Finally, Xia Wushuang brought Li Qing to a sixth-rank spirit vein within the city and completed the necessary paperwork for his residency.

Renting a spot on this spirit vein for a single year would cost an exorbitant twelve thousand spirit stones.

After all, cultivators at this level typically measured their cultivation in centuries. A single session of secluded cultivation could easily consume a million spirit stones!

And there were several other sixth-rank spirit veins like this in Yujing City. In the city center, there was even a seventh-rank spirit vein!

However, that place was the secluded cultivation ground for the Great Yu Kingdom’s Royal Family and its court’s powerful experts, and was not open for public rental.