EFB Chapter 188 Observations in the Lonely City
Chapter 188 Observations in the Lonely City
Only after watching Xia Linxian's nine streaks of light completely disappear beyond the city's edge did the tense atmosphere in the hall ease slightly.
The city lord's respectful expression remained unchanged. When he turned to face Lu Ming, he was still attentive and showed no sign of neglect.
"Fellow Daoist Lu, please don't be so formal. The immortals have entrusted me with taking good care of you, and I will certainly handle everything perfectly."
The city lord bowed slightly and raised his hand to instruct the boy standing beside the hall, "Quickly clear out the best quiet courtyard in the city, and send over the top-quality spirit stones from the storeroom. Do not delay."
The boy quickly stepped back in response, and the city lord then stepped aside to lead the way, personally accompanying Lu Ming down the high platform steps.
The walls of this human city were built using stones quarried from the ground. The surface of the stones is perpetually stained with the malevolent energy of the valley, giving them a faint gray hue.
The city wall is over three zhang high, and there are guard towers at intervals along the wall, where monks take turns on duty.
The city's streets and alleys are well-planned, crisscrossing and orderly.
However, the city lacked the dazzling spiritual light of the otherworldly cities. All the houses were built of bluestone, which made it less ethereal and more oppressive.
The spiritual energy in the valley was depleted, and no one had the spare energy to set up a protective spiritual array. The entire city was shrouded in a persistent gray and murky light, and at a glance, it showed no signs of the immortals from the outside world.
Human cultivators passing by stopped and stood with their heads bowed when they saw the city lord accompanying them, only daring to straighten up after the two had gone far away.
Lu Ming's gaze slowly swept across the streets and alleys, and everything he saw along the way seemed very different from the outside world.
The first place on the street was the mineral exchange workshop, where dozens of cultivators covered in black ore powder lined up, each holding only a few spirit stones in their hands, handing them into the workshop to exchange for a small amount of low-grade spirit stones.
The cultivator in charge of the transaction was indifferent. If the ore was of slightly inferior quality, he would simply wave the person away without showing any mercy.
A young cultivator was desperately pleading for spirit stones to heal his injured family member. Instead, he was pushed to the ground by the guards, causing the ore at his waist to fall to the ground and be snatched up instantly by the people waiting nearby.
The young man slumped onto the cold bluestone road, clutching his empty hands.
He dared not be angry, much less resist; he could only plead desperately.
Lu Ming stopped and glanced at it, but ultimately said nothing and walked away silently.
The city lord walked beside Lu Ming, glancing at him indifferently without showing the slightest emotion, and explained softly, "The mineral output is limited and is all allocated uniformly by the city. No one can break the rules."
Lu Ming remained silent, his gaze shifting to the medical hut beside him.
There wasn't a single healing herb in the room. Against the wall were rows of stone beds, on which several severely injured cultivators lay, their wounds so deep that the bone was visible.
The only option was to apply a mixture of crushed spirit stone powder and demonic beast bone ointment to the wound, relying on the physical body to endure the excruciating pain.
The cultivator in charge of the care had a limited supply of ointment, which he was only willing to distribute to clansmen who could regularly hand over a sufficient amount of spirit stones.
The wounded, who have nothing, can only huddle alone in a corner and endure the pain, their survival entirely dependent on their own fate.
"There are no spiritual plants in the valley, and elixirs from the outside world are extremely rare. Only the Spirit-Suppressing Stone can suppress the erosion of evil energy. It is truly a last resort." The city lord spoke in a calm tone, as if the clansmen struggling to survive in front of him were nothing more than ordinary objects.
"This Spirit-Suppressing Stone can not only suppress spiritual power, but also suppress malevolent energy. Cultivators are often easily corroded by malevolent energy when they are injured, so Spirit-Suppressing Stone powder is used to suppress malevolent energy," the city lord added.
As you walk to the middle of the street, a large stone prison comes into view, with the prison door made of black iron mixed with spirit stones.
The iron cage was covered with dense runes, and more than a dozen cultivators were imprisoned inside.
Looking at them, Lu Ming saw that none of them had any fatal injuries, but they all looked pale and weak.
"What mistakes did they make?" Lu Ming asked.
"Disobedient, trespassing into the mine without permission, attempting to bypass the city's allocation, and hoarding the Spirit Stones."
The city lord replied casually, "Resources in Tianqi Valley are already scarce. If everyone hoards minerals, the clan will not be able to survive. Publicly executing them here is a form of punishment."
Several guarding monks, armed with spears, stood beside the stone cell, their eyes cold and indifferent.
Anyone in the prison who dared to argue loudly would be struck with a spear, with no room for leniency.
Looking at the numb and empty eyes of the cultivators in the prison, Lu Ming felt increasingly uncomfortable.
These cultivators were even less vibrant than ordinary people from the outside world.
Everyone here fights for survival against monsters and for minerals, but most of the resources they manage to acquire end up in the hands of the city lord, leaving the lower classes with only scraps.
But if they don't do this, they will only face death.
Along the way, we also saw many young boys, no more than thirteen or fourteen years old, carrying heavy pickaxes to the mine.
Most of them had little cultivation; they were descendants of cultivators in the city. Lacking combat power, they could only do manual labor.
Their small bodies carried ore far exceeding their own weight, and if they hesitated even slightly, they would be scolded and driven away by the foreman.
Born in this desolate place, their fate seemed to have been predetermined from the very beginning.
The city lord noticed that Lu Ming's expression was off, and quickly changed the subject with a smile: "If you find these scenes of the marketplace troubling you, we can return to the Quiet Courtyard."
"The quiet courtyard is ready. It will be peaceful and undisturbed. I have arranged for two guards to stand guard outside the courtyard. No one in the city will dare to approach and disturb it."
"If you have any needs, just call upon the guards."
As they spoke, the two walked to a quiet courtyard made of bluestone in the city.
The courtyard is surrounded by high walls to keep out the noise of the streets and alleys, and the interior is fully furnished.
Two bags of high-quality spirit stones were neatly arranged on the table, and two communication jade talismans were placed on the desk. One was given to Lu Ming, and the other was carried by the city lord for easy communication.
"This jade talisman is not greatly affected by the evil energy in the valley. If you notice any unusual activity in the city, or if you want to find out about the direction of the Spirit Abyss, you can use this jade talisman to send a message."
The city lord respectfully handed the jade talisman to Lu Ming, then waved his hand to summon two heavily armored cultivators to guard the courtyard gate on both sides. "These two will be on duty around the clock to keep out any unauthorized personnel and ensure your peace and quiet, fellow Daoist."
After doing all this, the city lord added, "When the evil winds come, you can take any of these spirit-repelling stones in the courtyard to resist the erosion of the evil energy."
The city lord's attentive and courteous manner, his attempts to please and flatter, seemed entirely for Lu Ming's benefit.
But Lu Ming really didn't like him.
As Lu Ming walked through the streets and alleys, he witnessed most of his clansmen struggling to survive, and he had already seen through many of their struggles.
The city lord was so enthusiastic for two reasons. First, he was wary of his senior brother and his group's strength, which was at the Nascent Soul stage, and dared not neglect Lu Ming, who had stayed behind.
Secondly, they also wanted to use Lu Ming to establish a relationship with them and conduct business dealings.
Lu Mingzao saw through his thoughts and naturally didn't bother with any more pleasantries or perfunctory words.
After exchanging pleasantries for a while, the city lord, seeing that Lu Ming had no intention of continuing the conversation, tactfully bowed and took his leave.
The courtyard gate closed gently, shutting out the sounds of the city lord's deliberate flattery from outside, but it couldn't stop the struggles coming from the depths of the streets and alleys.
Lu Ming stood alone in the courtyard, picked up a spirit-suppressing stone from the table, and found that the flow of spiritual energy within his body was indeed slightly sluggish.
But as he continued to activate the Nine Revolutions Profound Technique, this feeling of stagnation was gradually broken through.
Moreover, after not touching the Spirit-Slaying Stone, the Nine Revolutions Profound Technique actually circulated faster than before!
Lu Ming had an idea and muttered to himself, "If I cultivate the Nine Revolutions Profound Technique in an environment with a large number of spirit-scarce stones, wouldn't that better unleash the potential of the technique?"
"Forget it, the spirit stones here are extremely precious. Let's try again when we get out."
Considering the scarcity of spiritual energy in this place, and the need to carry spirit stones for occasional use, Lu Ming abandoned the idea for the time being.