Translator: AnubisTL
Faced with Li Qing's questioning, the four bat variants remained silent, their eyes narrowed as they scrutinized him intently, as if trying to see through him completely.
"Friend, you're not from our Autumn Mountain Domain, are you?"
"Your body shows no signs of mutation, yet your vital energy is remarkably abundant. Could you be practicing the vital energy martial dao?"
Li Qing replied calmly, "What if I am?"
Though uncertain of the relationship between Giant Rock City's martial alliance and the Autumn Mountain Domain, Li Qing openly admitted the truth.
This was because the bat variants before him posed no real threat. Li Qing was confident he could crush them all with a casual gesture, leaving him utterly unconcerned.
"Haha, it matters not. Though there were some tensions in recent years, we've now established a cooperative relationship."
"We are hunters from North Mang City. Please forgive our initial suspicion, friend!"
The tense atmosphere that had hung in the air just moments ago instantly relaxed.
From their words, Li Qing gleaned some basic information about the Black Wind Domain and the Autumn Mountain Domain.
It seemed that some conflicts and struggles had occurred when the two domains first made contact a few years ago, but for some reason, they had since subsided.
Hearing this news, Li Qing let out a slight sigh of relief. It seemed there was no need to worry too much about the martial alliance.
"Having achieved some progress in my Martial Dao, I was suddenly seized by the desire to travel the world. I only recently arrived in this domain. May I ask where North Mang City is located?"
Traveling the world alone!
The bat variants immediately grasped the implications of Li Qing's words, their hearts slightly startled. They instantly grew wary of him.
"So that's it! No wonder you can hunt strange beasts alone! You're truly remarkable, friend!"
"North Mang City isn't far to the south. If you head in that direction, you should see the city walls in about half a day's journey."
"However, we still need to hunt strange beasts to survive, so we won't accompany you any further!"
With that, the group clasped their fists in unison towards Li Qing.
"Heh, please carry on as you wish. Don't mind me," Li Qing chuckled softly, then bid farewell to the bat variants.
After watching the bat people fly away, Li Qing began to ponder whether he should visit North Mang City.
He was particularly intrigued by the Blood Lotus Sect, a faction formed by cultivators from the End of Dao Era.
If he could acquire some immortal cultivation inheritance, all the better!
"Since it's still early, I might as well check out North Mang City."
The city was named North Mang City because of the vast North Mang Swamp nearby.
The swamp was enormous, rivaling the size of a typical lake. Before the sun went out, it had been a major obstacle. But with the arrival of the eternal night and the emergence of ferocious strange beasts, the deep, expansive swamp had become a natural barrier protecting North Mang City.
Over the years, the swamp had claimed the lives of countless strange beasts, with only a few peculiar species managing to survive in its muddy depths.
Perhaps due to the swamp's consumption of so many beasts, strange mushrooms grew in abundance, their colorful spores drifting through the air above the swamp.
After storing Fan Tong in his spirit beast pouch to recover, Li Qing arrived alone at North Mang City, located in the northern part of the Autumn Mountain Domain.
Unlike Giant Rock City, North Mang City contained no normal humans. Every person Li Qing saw exhibited some degree of mutation.
Absurd and eerie!
With his normal human body, Li Qing felt completely out of place in this city.
The mutated residents of the city cast glances at Li Qing, their eyes filled with a mixture of reverence and a surprising lack of curiosity.
Noticing this, Li Qing grew increasingly puzzled.
Soon, an old woman with tentacle-like growths on her face shuffled toward him, wailing mournfully:
"Blood Lotus Sect Master, my grandson hasn't returned in so long. Do you know where he is? The poor child was orphaned at birth, and then his father was devoured by a strange beast..."
"Waaah, my grandson! Will he ever come back?!"
They've mistaken me for someone from the Blood Lotus Sect?!
Li Qing frowned, his voice cold as he said, "I am not a member of the Blood Lotus Sect, old woman. You've mistaken me."
The moment these words left his lips, the old woman's facial whiskers bristled, her face contorting in shock.
"Impossible! Who else would dare show their face like this except the Blood Lotus Sect Master?!"
"You... you insolent fool! How dare you impersonate the Blood Lotus Sect Master?!"
The old woman's tone was filled with disbelief, as if Li Qing's denial were an outrageous lie.
"I am indeed not a member of the Blood Lotus Sect. Farewell."
With that, Li Qing, unwilling to prolong the confrontation, immediately turned and strode toward another part of the city, shaking off the persistent old woman.
Blood Lotus Sect, Li Qing murmured to himself, mentally repeating the name. He resolved to make contact with the sect's followers to gather more information.
However, after searching the city for hours, Li Qing found no trace of the Blood Lotus Sect beyond the mutated citizens.
There was no sign of the sect's stronghold, not even a shadow of their presence.
Watching the bustling crowds of people moving through the city, Li Qing fell silent, a strange and absurd feeling creeping over him.
Standing in the middle of the street, he drew the attention of more and more onlookers—the city's residents, their bodies twisted into grotesque shapes.
Their gazes, sharp as physical blades, pierced into Li Qing's flesh.
"Something's wrong," he muttered, activating his divine sense power to sweep the surroundings.
In an instant, the scene around him transformed!
The images transmitted by his divine sense power were utterly different from what his eyes perceived. This wasn't a thriving city teeming with life; it was a desolate, empty ghost town.
Where his eyes saw bustling crowds, his divine sense power revealed only deathly silence.
The lively pedestrians he saw with his eyes were, in truth, nothing more than a few bleached skeletons scattered across the streets.
"How is this possible?!"
Li Qing gasped, momentarily unable to discern whether his eyes were deceiving him or if his divine sense power had malfunctioned.
He withdrew his divine sense power, and the figures on the street instantly regained their lifelike appearance.
"No! I've been caught in an illusion technique? When did this happen?!"
A cold sweat drenched Li Qing's back. He was now certain that everything he saw with his naked eye was a fabrication.
To test his theory, Li Qing reached out and grabbed an elderly man passing by.
"Excuse me, sir."
The words had barely left his lips when Li Qing froze in place again.
Contrary to his expectation that his hand would pass right through the man, his fingers firmly gripped the old man's shoulder, sending a tangible sensation back to his palm.
"Young man, is there something you need?" The old man, covered in fish scales, grinned at Li Qing with an unsettling smile.
Li Qing's heart skipped a beat. He released his divine sense power.
The image returning from his divine soul showed his hand grasping empty air. There was no old man beside him—the space was utterly deserted!
Yet the sensation in Li Qing's palm remained undeniably real, and the old man had genuinely responded to his greeting.
"Am I going mad, or has this city gone mad?"
At that moment, Li Qing had only one thought: to escape this eerie city as quickly as possible.
(End of the Chapter)
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