Chapter 332: The thousand dao city 2.

. Their cultivation was not especially high compared with the monstrous experts who lived deep within the city, but every guard carried himself with discipline. They checked identification tokens, inspected suspicious cargo, guided large spirit beasts toward separate lanes, and occasionally helped confused travelers understand which district they needed.

Nobody shouted. Nobody demanded bribes. Nobody acted like an arrogant young master just because they wore a city uniform. One elderly merchant seemed to have trouble with his travel token. A guard took the token, checked the formation pattern, and calmly explained that the merchant’s temporary pass had expired by one day. The merchant immediately apologized. The guard did not insult him or make trouble. He simply issued a replacement pass after recording a small fee. Mo Yuxin raised an eyebrow. Su Yubing noticed.

"Disappointed?"

"Actually, yes."

"Why?"

"I was expecting someone to say, ’Do you know who I am?’"

Su Yubing laughed.

"Give it time."

Mo Yuxin smiled. "That is true." Their own entry took less than a minute. A female guard looked at their travel permits, glanced at them, and asked, "Cultivators?" "Yes," Mo Yuxin replied.

"What realm?"

"Nascent Soul."

The guard’s eyes flickered briefly. That was not unusual in Thousand Dao City, but it was certainly respectable. She nodded. "Wandering cultivators?"

"Yes."

"Any sect affiliation?"

"No."

"Where will you be staying?"

"We do not know yet."

The guard looked surprised.

"You came to Thousand Dao City without an inn?"

"We thought we would choose one after entering."

The guard’s expression became strange, like she could not decide whether that answer was careless or simply honest.

"There are guest districts in the eastern and western quarters. The eastern district is quieter. The western district is more expensive but closer to the entertainment streets. If you want something more private, there are several cultivator lodges near the central formation ring."

Su Yubing thanked her. The guard gave them their tokens back. Then she hesitated.

"One more thing."

Mo Yuxin looked at her.

"The city is safe, but do not get involved in sect disputes."

Su Yubing smiled politely. "Why?" The guard glanced toward the northern district.

"Because the major sects are all here."

That was all she said. Mo Yuxin and Su Yubing walked through the gate. The moment they crossed into the city, Su Yubing stopped again. The street ahead was wider than most town squares. It stretched for so long that the buildings near the other end had begun to fade into the morning haze. On both sides stood shops several stories high, many of them with giant hanging signs written in elegant cultivation script. Spirit herbs, formation supplies, weapons, clothing, food, alchemy ingredients, beast eggs, talismans, treasure maps, and all kinds of strange goods were being advertised. There were ordinary mortals walking among cultivators. There were Foundation Establishment disciples carrying baskets. Golden Core cultivators rode flying swords between buildings.

Nascent Soul elders walked calmly along the streets. And far above them, hidden in the layers of the city’s formation network, there were faint traces of cultivation pressures that were considerably stronger. Mo Yuxin sensed them immediately. Su Yubing did too. Neither said anything. The city was full of strong people. That was the point. Here, even extraordinary cultivators could disappear into a crowd. Mo Yuxin looked around slowly.

"So this is the heart of the Southern Continent."

Su Yubing leaned slightly closer to her.

"It feels less like a city and more like a whole world."

Mo Yuxin smiled.

"Then we should explore it."

"All of it?"

"Eventually."

Su Yubing laughed. "It would take years."

"We have time."

They began walking. THOUSAND DAO CITY was divided into many major districts, but nobody had bothered putting enormous walls between them. Instead, the streets themselves changed slowly as one moved from one section to another. The eastern district smelled of spices, wood, sea salt, and spirit herbs. Merchant clans had built rows of enormous pavilions here, each one carrying signs that displayed trade routes stretching across the Southern Continent. There were maps showing mountain passes, spirit mines, river systems, dangerous beast territories, and even routes leading toward other continents. The western district looked completely different. It was noisy even during the morning. Restaurants were crowded, theaters and cultivation performance halls were already preparing for the evening, and shops sold all kinds of entertainment treasures. There were illusion formations that let people experience ancient battles, spiritual chess boards, music halls, and little competition stages where cultivators challenged each other for bets.

The southern district was a paradise for cultivators who cared about refining. Alchemy furnaces. Artifact shops. Formation towers. Talisman studios. Spiritual beast medicine. Rare minerals. Everything was there. The northern district belonged to the sects. That was where the true giants of the Southern Continent had established their city headquarters and branch palaces. And in the center of everything stood Ten Thousand Dao Plaza. The plaza was so large that several thousand cultivators could gather there without crowding one another. At its center was a circular platform surrounded by enormous stone pillars. Each pillar represented one of the major paths of cultivation recognized in the city. Sword Dao. Formation Dao. Alchemy Dao. Artifact Dao. Beast Dao. Water Dao. Fire Dao. Body Dao. Soul Dao. Array Dao. Talismans. Spiritual Music. Medicine. And countless others.

The city had truly earned its name. Ten thousand paths met here. Mo Yuxin and Su Yubing spent the better part of the morning simply walking. They did not rush. They had nowhere they needed to be. They stopped at a small breakfast stall because Su Yubing smelled something interesting. The woman running the stall sold steamed buns filled with spirit vegetable paste and a sweet red bean filling made from low-level spiritual grain. Mo Yuxin bought six. The vendor blinked.

"Six?"

"Yes."

"Two people?"

"Yes."

The vendor looked at Mo Yuxin’s tall figure and then at Su Yubing’s more elegant appearance.

"I see."

Su Yubing covered her smile. Mo Yuxin asked, "What?"

"Nothing."

The vendor handed them the food. They sat on a bench nearby. Su Yubing bit into one of the buns. Her eyes brightened.

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TO BE CONTINUED.